EarthScope

EarthScope applies modern observational, analytical, and telecommunications technologies to investigate the structure and evolution of the North American continent and the physical processes controlling earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Imaging the crust and mantle at an unprecedented scale, EarthScope integrates new observations from cutting-edge land and space based technologies to measure deformation in real-time at continental scales. These observations, integrated with geologic data, yield a comprehensive time-integrated picture of continental evolution and link surface features with their structures at depth. The site houses a number of original data sources (such as real-time seismic data and maps), a gateway to current seismic news and events, and Earth sciences related community event calendars. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division

Design, Implementation, and Evaulation of GIS-Based Learning Materials in an Introductory Geoscience Course

Little is known about how well GIS-based learning lives up to its potential for improving students' skills in problem solving, analysis, and spatial visualization. This article describes a study in which researchers determined ways to quantify student learning that occurred with a GIS-based module on plate tectonics and geologic hazards, and to improve the materials design with the use of classroom observations and field testing. The study found that student difficulties in working with GIS-based activities can be overcome by making some features of the GIS transparent to the user, that a lack of basic geography skills can interfere in the progression of a GIS-based activity, and that some conceptual difficulties can be overcome by providing guiding questions that help students interrogate visual data. In addition, it was noted that some misconceptions in interpretation of two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional block diagrams can persist even after direct instruction. In general, a positive correlation was noted between spatial thinking and GIS-based learning. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

Women and workplace training : an analysis of policy and practice

[No abstract/summary in thesis

Rhetorical Strategies for Audience-Specific Science Communication: Professional Writing Portfolio

In order to learn methods for communicating about science in an approachable manner to popular and more advanced audiences, I have rhetorically analyzed five pieces of popular science communication (including written pieces and oral presentations). They are: 1. Big Bang by Simon Singh, Harper Perennial 2005 2. A Geometric Theory of Everything by A. Garrett Lisi and James Owen Weatherall, Scientific American Dec. 2010 3. Blood from Stone by Mary H. Schweitzer, Scientific American Dec. 2010 4. Garrett Lisi on his theory of everything, TED 2008 Conference Feb. 2008, http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/garrettJisi_on_his_theory_of_everything.html 5. Patricia Burchat sheds light on dark matter, TED 2008 Conference Feb. 2008, http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/patricia_burchat_leads_a_search_for_dark_energy.html 6. NASA\u27s Spitzer Spies Monster Galaxy Pileup by Whitney Clavin, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 6 Aug, 2007, http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/260-ssc2007-13-NASA-s- Spitzer-Spies-Monster-Galaxy-Pileup By rhetorically analyzed, I simply mean that I judged each piece based on my perceptions of its approachability, understandability, and appeal to reader interest. To do so, I tried to put myself in the shoes of a layman. At the time of publication, I have almost completed a major in English literature with a minor in astronomy from Western Washington University. As such, I consider myself far from an expert, but rather as a beneficial liaison between experts and laymen

Study abroad as a tool for internationalization and linguistic justice: A case study on Latine medical humanities and healthcare interpreting students

Study abroad as a tool for internationalization and linguistic justice: A case study on Latine medical humanities and healthcare interpreting students Mobility programs are an essential vehicle for fomenting global competencies and for internationalizing the curricula of students preparing to serve patients as clinicians or as healthcare interpreters (Wu et al. 2020). This presentation examines a study abroad program designed for Spanish-speaking students of medical humanities and healthcare interpreting at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a public Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) where 59 percent of students identify as Latine (UTSA 2022b) and 45 percent are first-generation college students (UTSA 2022a). At UTSA, less than ½ of 1 percent of undergraduates participate in study abroad programs (Nolan-Ferrell, Catherine, personal communication, July 2, 2023); however, all participants in the study abroad experience examined here (n=11) identify as Latine. Because study abroad for minoritized students is often seen as frivolous or irrelevant, or as the purview of white students (Kentengian and Peace 2019: 87), the positionality of our students was an essential consideration throughout the design and execution of the experience. In the present case study, personal and social dimensions of instruction, in line with Martínez-Gómez 2020, were leveraged to foment dialog about identity, race, discrimination, health equity, and language access. Furthermore, Latine students’ bilingualism in Spanish and English was leveraged, with the primary objective of facilitating unique access to transnational systems. Internationalization of the curriculum was implemented via a comparative approach to (a) public health and preventive medicine, (b) hospital administration, (c) dietary diversity and health, (d) medicine and the arts, and (e) healthcare interpreting and language access. Encouraging Latine students to more effectively position themselves in communities of (medical) practice as Spanish speakers contributed directly to facilitating dialog about language access as an issue of social justice. With these objectives in mind, students were required to do extensive guided journaling and craft ontological narratives via written reflections and oral presentations. Through exposure to facilities, resources, and expertise at a multi-campus Spanish university, students acquired substantive knowledge in the five aforementioned domains while engaging in conversations around health inequities, access to care, discrimination (personal, cultural, systemic), and location of the self as Spanish speakers. Their reflections on these elements were examined through thematic coding, revealing high levels of self-awareness and self-assurance in the face of discrimination, confidence in their Spanish, and revelations about language access as an issue of social justice. The first iteration of this study abroad experience for Spanish-speaking Latine students promises to shed light on as-yet uninterrogated dimensions of global medical education for primarily heritage speakers of Spanish in Spain. References Kentengian, I. M. and Peace, M. M. (2019). Mi Idioma’: Heritage speakers’ language varieties and identity positioning during study abroad. Contact, community, and connections: Current approaches to Spanish in multilingual populations: 83-108. Martínez-Gómez, A. (2020). Language brokering experience among interpreting students: pedagogical implications for the development of interpreting competence. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 14(3), 303–321. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2020.1736436 University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) (2022a). First-generation & transfer student programs. https://www.utsa.edu/firstgen/ University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) (2022b). Institutional research and analysis: Student demographics. https://www.utsa.edu/ir/content/dashboards/student-demographics.html Wu, A., Leask, B., Choi, E., Unangst, L., & de Wit, H. (2020). Internationalization of medical education—a scoping review of the current status in the United States. Medical Science Educator, 30(4), 1693–1705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-020-01034-

How to Create a Great Video Tutorial (Pre Conference Workshop)

This pre-conference will cover the basics of planning, editing and publishing a video tutorial or tour. The presenters will cover the basics of creating a high quality product. We will discuss and demonstrate audio recording. Attendees will be given video samples to practice hands on editing with iMovie software. At the end of the workshop, students should be comfortable with the process and motivated to plan and produce their own videos

Do Human Resource Practices, Employee Remuneration And Employee Benefits Have Significant Influence On The Retention Of Childcare Teachers In The Childcare Service Industry?

This study investigates the impact of human resource practices, employee remuneration and employee benefits on childcare teachers' intentions to stay in the Singaporean workforce. This mixed methods study focuses on current qualified childcare teachers, their perspectives on human resource practices, employee remuneration and employee benefits in their workplaces and their intentions regarding whether to continue working in the childcare sector in Singapore. In the first phase of the study, which was qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 current qualified childcare teachers. In the second phase of the study, which was quantitative, 202 current qualified childcare teachers in Singapore participated in a paper-based and web-based survey. The findings indicate that childcare teachers in Singapore want to be rewarded with fair human resource practices and employee wages are not the only dominant factor on the retention of childcare teachers in the Singaporean childcare industry. This study addresses a knowledge gap about childcare teacher retention in the childcare service industry in Singapore

Is individual employment law displacing the role of trade unions?

peer-reviewedTrade unions have experienced significant turbulence over the past three decades. In the UK and Ireland, a key change has been a substantial increase in the individual rights-based employment legislation, raising important questions about its impact on trade unions. Based on a survey and interviews with union officials in Ireland, we examine whether individual employment law acts to undermine or enhance the role of trade unions and whether trade union officials use employment law to achieve change in the workplace and to mobilise workers. We find that while unions believe in the superiority of collective bargaining to pursue individual rights, and consider the law as having an individualising effect, they also recognise its benefits in the current environment. Given the legal restrictions on collective action in individual disputes, union officials believe that employment law can be used to support and protect vulnerable groups of workers. The increasing resort to individual employment rights in Ireland is contrasted with an alternative system in Sweden which has a strong collectivist ethos. We conclude that the dilemmas faced by unions regarding the pursuit of rights are symptoms of Ireland's weak statutory framework.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

Associated Shale Gas- From Flares to Rig Power

From September 2011 to July 2013 the percentage of flared associated gas produced in the Bakken shale formation decreased from 36% to 29%. Although the percentage decreased, the volume of associated gas produced has almost tripled to 900 MMcf/D, resulting in the flaring of approximately 266 MMcf/D. The Bakken area is one of the most produced shale oil and condensate formations in the US. Reported volumes for this formation suggest that the amount of associated gas flared is enough to power drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations. This research shows the technical feasibility of replacing diesel for powering drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations in the Bakken formation with flared associated shale gas. We show that this is a more efficient solution to powering drilling rigs and hydraulic fracturing equipment while also reducing the amount of gas being flared in shale oil and condensate plays producing associated gas. To do this, we investigated the composition and volumes of gas being flared and the average energy requirements for drilling rigs and hydraulic fracturing equipment in the Bakken area. The investigation reveals that the amount of associated shale gas being flared is more than enough to supply the energy required for power to the drilling rig and frac spreads. After reviewing power sources that can use natural gas (including turbines, dual-fuel, and dedicated spark ignited engines) and associated gas separation technologies, we are able to make recommendations for the best use of flared associated shale gas. We show that making the switch to natural gas from diesel can result in cost savings for drilling rig and hydraulic fracturing operators. Natural gas costs less than diesel and is more environmentally friendly