“I’m Teaching What?!”: Preparing University Faculty for Online Instruction

The percentage of higher education students enrolled in online courses has increased from 9.6 percent in fall 2002 to 33 percent in fall 2010. Due to the increased importance of online courses and programs on university campuses there is a need to better prepare novice technology faculty for the delivery of these courses. This article provides a description of the process through which a group of faculty with low to high technology skills prepared to deliver an online masters program. Minutes of meetings, documents produced, online discussion transcripts, and informal conversations were all used as data to analyze outcomes of the process. The paper concludes with the presentation of practical recommendations, derived from documentation of the process, for preparing novice technology faculty for the delivery of online programs

Vocabulary Development in the Science Classroom: Using Hypermedia Authoring to Support English Learners

This study investigated the impact of authoring hypermedia projects on the academic vocabulary development of middle school, ESL students. Vocabulary definitions, inprocess verbalizations, observations and semi-structured interviews were the primary means of collecting data and assessing vocabulary growth. The results of this study indicate that hypermedia authoring had a positive impact on students\u27 understanding of grade level, science concepts as well as on student engagement in and attitudes toward vocabulary building activities. Thus, the procedures implemented in this study provide a potential model for teachers to follow as they attempt to facilitate their students\u27 vocabulary and concept development

Teaching with and for Metacognition in Disciplinary Discussions

Teaching metacognitively, which involves teaching with metacognition and teaching for metacognition, is critical for learners of any age. With enables teachers to gain awareness about and control over how they think and teach, and to monitor, evaluate, and adjust their instructional practices in accordance with specific students, goals and contexts. For enables teachers to design instruction that will develop and activate their students’ metacognition, enabling them to be aware of what they know and do not know, and take action to address flaws or gaps in what they know. Our research findings, based on empirical studies conducted in a variety of educational settings, have identified effective instructional practices for teaching metacognitively. This chapter focuses on practices that support the metacognition of learners engaged in disciplinary discussions. This emphasis addresses a significant void in the research literature which more commonly targets metacognition in learning generally or applied specifically to reading and writing

The Academic Language Development Program: A Capacity-building Approach to Supporting Secondary Teachers of English Learners

This study reports the results of the first phase of a multiyear project designed to develop a capacity-building, professional development model for teachers of English learners. Preliminary analyses show that teacher knowledge and use of appropriate instructional approaches improved, but challenges that still need to be addressed were identified

Establishing volumetric biomarkers in MRI of the digestive tract

This extended abstract describes the background to the 14 research papers that the author, as staff candidate, is submitting for the award of PhD by published works. The core part of this work refers to the development of volumetric biomarkers within the human digestive tract using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and their application to answer novel biomedical research questions. In particular the author’s work has focussed on applying these techniques within the human colon and the first two papers (which detail this work) were led and written by the author. This work was pioneering in its field, the first time that physiologically undisturbed colon volumes were measured in healthy human subjects and in patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and provided novel insights into the post-prandial symptoms experienced. Subsequently the effect of an experimental stress on this post prandial response was evaluated in healthy subjects, also the first time such an effect had been measured. The third paper, also written by the author, describes her work on the first clinical application of similar volumetric techniques to assess the human nasal airways and their response to pharmacological intervention, in this case the efficacy of a nasal decongestant. This document seeks to set the gastro-intestinal papers within their scientific and physiological background and to show their original contribution to the current understanding of the physiological processes within the human gastro-intestinal tract. Between mouth and anus, a complex myriad of mechanical, chemical and biological procedures interact to liquefy and transport food; to break it down into increasingly simpler chemical forms; absorb nutrients and then eject what is no longer required. MRI provides a unique window into the functions and form of this environment at the macroscopic level; a non-invasive tool for detecting and measuring the structure and physical movements of the abdominal organs and their contents, monitoring fluid transport and providing insights into the biological processing therein. This can provide quantitative biomarkers to rigorously assess the normal undisturbed physiology in health and disease and the effect of pharmacological interventions. It is a hitherto relatively unexplored area and it is the development and application of such measurements that form the bulk of the author’s research contained within the presented publications

Effects of landmark distance and stability on accuracy of reward relocation

This work was supported by the University of St Andrews, the University of Lethbridge and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada.Although small-scale navigation is well studied in a wide range of species, much of what is known about landmark use by vertebrates is based on laboratory experiments. To investigate how vertebrates in the wild use landmarks, we trained wild male rufous hummingbirds to feed from a flower that was placed in a constant spatial relationship with two artificial landmarks. In the first experiment, the landmarks and flower were 0.25, 0.5 or 1 m apart and we always moved them 3–4 m after each visit by the bird. In the second experiment, the landmarks and flower were always 0.25 m apart and we moved them either 1 or 0.25 m between trials. In tests, in which we removed the flower, the hummingbirds stopped closer to the predicted flower location when the landmarks had been closer to the flower during training. However, while the distance that the birds stopped from the landmarks and predicted flower location was unaffected by the distance that the landmarks moved between trials, the birds directed their search nearer to the predicted direction of the flower, relative to the landmarks, when the landmarks and flower were more stable in the environment. In the field, then, landmarks alone were sufficient for the birds to determine the distance of a reward but not its direction.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe

Mentoring Secondary Novice Teachers to Develop Academic Language of English Language Learners

This exploratory, qualitative study examines the foundational knowledge and instructional methods needed for academic language teaching of English language learners (ELLs). It also examines how mentoring practices can build secondary content-based novice teachers’ instructional capacity in this area. The study uses synthesized data from two independent studies to contextualize findings on essential instructional practices within the process of mentoring new teachers. Three themes emerged: novices need the foundational, theoretical and practical knowledge underlying essential practices for academic language development; essential practices must be articulated in detail for enactment by teachers; and balancing explicit and immersive academic language instruction is a major paradigm shift for novices. Implications for mentor and teacher professional development are discussed, as mentors are key to supporting the uptake of dynamic instructional methods needed to enact essential practices. While mentoring is a common strategy for supporting new teachers, few models exist for how mentors can support new teachers with building the academic language development of ELLs. Further, few studies examine mentoring exchanges that can promote teachers’ understanding and practices to support ELL students’ academic language development. Limitations of the study include sample size and use of varied respondent data sets

Compétences en santé mondiale en éducation médicale postdoctorale : un revue exploratoire et mise en correspondance le référentiel de compétences CanMEDS pour les médecins

Background: Global Health opportunities are popular, with many reported benefits. There is a need however, to identify and situate Global Health competencies within postgraduate medical education. We sought to identify and map Global Health competencies to the current CanMEDS physician competency framework to assess the degree of equivalency and uniqueness between them. Methods: JBI scoping review methodology was utilized to identify relevant papers searching MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science. Studies were reviewed independently by two of three researchers according to pre-determined eligibility criteria. Included studies identified competencies in Global Health training at the postgraduate medicine level, which were then mapped to the CanMEDS framework. Results: A total of 19 articles met criteria for inclusion (17 from literature search and 2 from manual reference review). We identified 36 Global Health competencies; the majority (23) aligned with CanMEDS competencies within the framework. Ten were mapped to CanMEDS roles but lacked specific key or enabling competencies, while three did not fit within the specific CanMEDS roles. Conclusions: We mapped the identified Global Health competencies, finding broad coverage of required CanMEDS competencies. We identified additional competencies for CanMEDS committee consideration and discuss the benefits of their inclusion in future physician competency frameworks.Contexte: Les opportunités de santé mondiale sont populaires, avec de nombreux avantages rapportés. Il est toutefois nécessaire d’identifier et de situer les compétences en santé mondiale dans la formation médicale postdoctorale. Nous avons cherché à identifier et à mapper les compétences en santé mondiale au cadre le référentiel CanMEDS d’évaluer le degré d’équivalence et d’unicité entre elles. Méthodologie : La méthodologie de revue exploratoire de JBI a été utilisée pour identifier les articles pertinents qui recherchent MEDLINE, Embase et Web of Science. Les études ont été examinées indépendamment par deux des trois chercheurs selon des critères d’admissibilité prédéterminés. Les études incluses ont permis d’identifier les compétences dans la formation en santé mondiale au niveau de la médecine postdoctorale, qui ont ensuite été mises en correspondance avec le cadre le référentiel CanMEDS. Résultats : Au total, 19 articles répondaient aux critères d’inclusion (17 provenant d’une recherche documentaire et 2 d’un examen manuel des références). Nous avons identifié 36 compétences en santé mondiale; la majorité (23) correspondait aux compétences CanMEDS dans le cadre. Dix d’entre eux ont été mappés à des rôles canMEDS, mais n’avaient pas de compétences clés ou habilitantes précises, tandis que trois ne correspondaient pas aux rôles spécifiques de CanMEDS. Conclusions : Nous avons cartographié les compétences en santé mondiale identifiées, en trouvant une large couverture des compétences CanMEDS requises. Nous avons identifié d’autres compétences à examiner par le comité CanMEDS et nous discutons des avantages de leur inclusion dans les futurs cadres de compétences des médecins

Establishing volumetric biomarkers in MRI of the digestive tract

This extended abstract describes the background to the 14 research papers that the author, as staff candidate, is submitting for the award of PhD by published works. The core part of this work refers to the development of volumetric biomarkers within the human digestive tract using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and their application to answer novel biomedical research questions. In particular the author’s work has focussed on applying these techniques within the human colon and the first two papers (which detail this work) were led and written by the author. This work was pioneering in its field, the first time that physiologically undisturbed colon volumes were measured in healthy human subjects and in patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and provided novel insights into the post-prandial symptoms experienced. Subsequently the effect of an experimental stress on this post prandial response was evaluated in healthy subjects, also the first time such an effect had been measured. The third paper, also written by the author, describes her work on the first clinical application of similar volumetric techniques to assess the human nasal airways and their response to pharmacological intervention, in this case the efficacy of a nasal decongestant. This document seeks to set the gastro-intestinal papers within their scientific and physiological background and to show their original contribution to the current understanding of the physiological processes within the human gastro-intestinal tract. Between mouth and anus, a complex myriad of mechanical, chemical and biological procedures interact to liquefy and transport food; to break it down into increasingly simpler chemical forms; absorb nutrients and then eject what is no longer required. MRI provides a unique window into the functions and form of this environment at the macroscopic level; a non-invasive tool for detecting and measuring the structure and physical movements of the abdominal organs and their contents, monitoring fluid transport and providing insights into the biological processing therein. This can provide quantitative biomarkers to rigorously assess the normal undisturbed physiology in health and disease and the effect of pharmacological interventions. It is a hitherto relatively unexplored area and it is the development and application of such measurements that form the bulk of the author’s research contained within the presented publications

Wild rufous hummingbirds use local landmarks to return to rewarded locations

This work was supported by the University of St Andrews, the University of Lethbridge and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada.Animals may remember an important location with reference to one or more visual landmarks. In the laboratory, birds and mammals often preferentially use landmarks near a goal (“local landmarks”) to return to that location at a later date. Although we know very little about how animals in the wild use landmarks to remember locations, mammals in the wild appear to prefer to use distant landmarks to return to rewarded locations. To examine what cues wild birds use when returning to a goal, we trained free-living hummingbirds to search for a reward at a location that was specified by three nearby visual landmarks. Following training we expanded the landmark array to test the extent that the birds relied on the local landmarks to return to the reward. During the test the hummingbirds' search was best explained by the birds having used the experimental landmarks to remember the reward location. How the birds used the landmarks was not clear and seemed to change over the course of each test. These wild hummingbirds, then, can learn locations in reference to nearby visual landmarks.PostprintPeer reviewe