The Alignment of Instructional Practices with Digital Learning Environments

The purpose of this study was to examine how teacher instructional practices aligned with digital learning environments. The following four research questions guided this investigation: How do teachers demonstrate leadership in digital learning? How do teachers model and teach digital citizenship? How do teachers use digital content and resources for instruction? How do teachers use technology for data and assessment? The North Carolina (NC) Digital Learning Competencies for Classroom Teachers (NCDPI Digital Teaching and Learning Division, 2016) provided the theoretical framework for this study, and the research questions aligned with the four focus areas of these competencies. This mixed-methods study used data from a survey of 187 K–12 teachers in a district in southeastern NC as well as interview responses from two elementary, two middle, and two high school Teachers of the Year in this district. Additional data from the district’s AdvancED (2015) ELEOT ratings were reported in the results and analyzed in the findings. Survey data were analyzed for responses by grade level taught, years of teaching experience, and participants’ highest level of education.The findings from this study indicate teachers believed they were most capable of demonstrating competencies in digital citizenship, although interview data did not support translation into instructional practices. Teachers also indicated highest self-confidence in their abilities to demonstrate leadership in digital learning, and interview data indicated these skills were shown with instructional practices. Data showed elementary teachers need additional support in several areas of digital learning environments including demonstrating leadership outside one’s own classroom, immersing students in exploration of relevant issues and analysis of authentic problems through digital tools and resources, and evaluating and appropriately modifying the form and function of the physical learning environment to create a conductive digital learning environment. In these competencies, K–5 teachers rated lower means than those in Grades 6–8 and 9–12

Controlling the Structure, Dynamics, and Rheology of Colloidal Gels with Active Motion

In this dissertation, we investigate the connection between the microscopic structure and dynamics and the macroscopic rheology of gels. We study two different types of gels – fractal cluster gels made of polystyrene colloids and psyllium polysaccharide gels. Fractal cluster colloidal gels are a well characterized, model gel system, and they are technologically relevant for industrial applications of colloids. Exploring the effects of embedded active matter in colloidal gels is of scientific interest to improve the understanding of activity on disordered solids and of technological interest for the design of reconfigurable materials with multi-state mechanical properties. In chapter two, we examine the microscopic dynamics of fractal cluster colloidal gels embedded with active matter. We developed a novel experimental set-up that utilizes a hydrogel membrane to controllably deliver hydrogen peroxide – a fuel that drives diffusiophoretic motion of the active Janus colloids – to the gel without disrupting the gel structure. We measure the dynamics of the gel network before and after addition of active motion. We find the addition of active motion to colloidal gels leads to an increase (as large as a factor of 3) in the dynamics of all particles in the gel network. The amount of increase is a function of the ratio of active to passive colloids and the energy of the active colloids. We model the amount of enhancement by accounting for the direct motion of the active colloids and the indirect contribution due to the strain field that the displacement of the active colloids induces on the gel network. In chapter three, we explore how the increase in dynamics is correlated to mechanical properties of the gel network. We designed an experimental approach that combines anti-foam chemicals and oxygen permeable surfaces of rheometer fixtures to suppress the formation of oxygen bubbles (a disruptive by-product of the mechanism for generating active motion) during rheology measurements. We find the incorporation of active matter to colloidal gels leads to a decrease in the viscoelastic moduli of the gels. We measure the moduli as a function of the total active energy, and find the moduli of the gels decrease (by up to a factor of 8.5) with increasing active particle energy. We explore the connections between the microscopic dynamics and macroscopic rheology through microrheology measurements. We also explore potential mechanisms that describe the effects of the activity on the gel structure and the effects of activity acting to change the dynamics of the gel. In chapter four, we characterize the relationship between gel stability, mechanical properties, and hydration kinetics of psyllium polysaccharide gels. Psyllium powders readily absorb water and swell to form a gel, which makes them useful as gelators or thickeners in industrial applications. The kinetic process of hydration and gelation of these gels is not well characterized or understood. We characterize the relationship between hydration kinetics, gel stability, and mechanical rheology of psyllium gels. We present a novel technique to quantify the hydration kinetics by incorporating a fluorescent dye that binds to psyllium and allows us to image the grains during hydration. We find a correlation between gel stability and transient rheological measurements; samples prone to consolidation had lower viscosity at short times, when the hydration process is most active.PHDChemical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147483/1/meganesz_3.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147483/2/meganesz_2.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147483/3/meganesz_1.pd

What if I can\u27t PLC?

The purpose of this learning module is to provide information for teachers and administrators to learn ways to overcome barriers to participate in PLCs. The goal of this learning module is to provide teachers and administrators with resources to employ facilitation skills, create trust among colleagues, develop collective wisdom, build ownership, and take action to support student learning. Visit professional learning module.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/improve/1007/thumbnail.jp

PLC Participation: Roadblocks, Speed Bumps, and Detours

Educators have a tendency to downplay their own awesomeness; this session will remind us of how great we are and what we can do to meet all of the Teacher Leader Model Standards. We are all leaders in some way by nature of what we do in our individual classrooms. In this session, participants will understand how they can become or already are teacher leaders in their schools and districts. Teachers may be organic leaders (the “doers”- the people everyone assumes will lead the committee because that’s just what you do). This session will introduce the idea of how to identify and transition organic teacher leaders to intentional teachers as leaders. The demands of today’s 21st century education system require a move to intentional teacher leadership

Diversity and activity of sugar transporters in nematode-induced root syncytia

The plant-parasitic nematode Heterodera schachtii stimulates plant root cells to form syncytial feeding structures which synthesize all nutrients required for successful nematode development. Cellular re-arrangements and modified metabolism of the syncytia are accompanied by massive intra- and intercellular solute allocations. In this study the expression of all genes annotated as sugar transporters in the Arabidopsis Membrane Protein Library was investigated by Affymetrix gene chip analysis in young and fully developed syncytia compared with non-infected Arabidopsis thaliana roots. The expression of three highly up-regulated (STP12, MEX1, and GTP2) and three highly down-regulated genes (SFP1, STP7, and STP4) was analysed by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). The most up-regulated gene (STP12) was chosen for further in-depth studies using in situ RT-PCR and a nematode development assay with a T-DNA insertion line revealing a significant reduction of male nematode development. The specific role of STP12 expression in syncytia of male juveniles compared with those of female juveniles was further shown by qRT-PCR. In order to provide evidence for sugar transporter activity across the plasma membrane of syncytia, fluorescence-labelled glucose was used and membrane potential recordings following the application of several sugars were performed. Analyses of soluble sugar pools revealed a highly specific composition in syncytia. The presented work demonstrates that sugar transporters are specifically expressed and active in syncytia, indicating a profound role in inter- and intracelluar transport processes

The complex cell wall composition of syncytia induced by plant parasitic cyst nematodes reflects both function and host plant

Plant–parasitic cyst nematodes induce the formation of specialised feeding structures, syncytia, within their host roots. These unique plant organs serve as the sole nutrient resource for development and reproduction throughout the biotrophic interaction. The multinucleate syncytium, which arises through local dissolution of cell walls and protoplast fusion of multiple adjacent cells, has dense cytoplasm containing numerous organelles, surrounded by thickened outer cell walls that must withstand high turgor pressure. However, little is known about how the constituents of the syncytial cell wall and their conformation support its role during nematode parasitism. We used a set of monoclonal antibodies, targeted to a range of plant cell wall components, to reveal the microstructures of syncytial cell walls induced by four of the most economically important cyst nematode species, Globodera pallida, Heterodera glycines, Heterodera avenae and Heterodera filipjevi, in their respective potato, soybean and spring wheat host roots. In situ fluorescence analysis revealed highly similar cell wall composition of syncytia induced by G. pallida and H. glycines. Both consisted of abundant xyloglucan, methyl-esterified homogalacturonan and pectic arabinan. In contrast, the walls of syncytia induced in wheat roots by H. avenae and H. filipjevi contain little xyloglucan but are rich in feruloylated xylan and arabinan residues, with variable levels of mixed-linkage glucan. The overall chemical composition of syncytial cell walls reflected the general features of root cell walls of the different host plants. We relate specific components of syncytial cell walls, such as abundant arabinan, methyl-esterification status of pectic homogalacturonan and feruloylation of xylan, to their potential roles in forming a network to support both the strength and flexibility required for syncytium function