Diagnosis of Teacher\u27s Reading Instruction as Well as the Pupil\u27s Reading Program

Diagnosis is the heart of effective reading instruction. This educational tenet em bodies the expertise of the teacher to collect relevant data on pupils, to interpret and synthesize the data, and to prescribe appropriate instruction. One assumption underlying the traditional diagnostic-prescriptive model is that the teacher possesses techniques and materials to provide appropriate instruction. The primary focus of such an approach is on the pupil and little attention is given to teachers and their instructional programs. It is our contention that tantamount to diagnosis of the pupil is close scrutiny by teachers of their instructional practices. Teachers should be encouraged to concurrently evaluate their reading instructional program and diagnose its strengths and weaknesses as well as focusing on the pupil. The detection and correction of reading problems are depending not only on noting pupil\u27s strengths and weaknesses, but are also reliant on the examination of the type and quality of instruction that can be provided by the reading teacher to meet the pupil\u27s individual needs

The Effective Reading Teacher: What Are the Missing Pieces?

No abstract available

Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Observations of a Supernova Remnant in the Line of Sight to HD 5980 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We report a detection of far ultraviolet absorption from the supernova remnant SNR 0057 - 7226 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The absorption is seen in the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spectrum of the LBV/WR star HD 5980. Absorption from O VI 1032 and C III 977 is seen at a velocity of +300 km/s with respect to the Galactic absorption lines, +170 km/s with respect to the SMC absorption. The O VI 1038 line is contaminated by H_2 absorption, but is present. These lines are not seen in the FUSE spectrum of Sk80, only ~1' (~17 pc) away from HD 5980. No blue-shifted O VI 1032 absorption from the SNR is seen in the FUSE spectrum. The O VI 1032 line in the SNR is well described by a Gaussian with FWHM=75 km/s. We find log N(O VI)=14.33-14.43, which is roughly 50% of the rest of the O VI column in the SMC (excluding the SNR) and greater than the O VI column in the Milky Way halo along this sight line. The N(C IV)/N(O VI) ratio for the SNR absorption is in the range of 0.12-0.17, similar to the value seen in the Milky Way disk, and lower than the halo value, supporting models in which SNRs produce the highly ionized gas close to the plane of the Galaxy, while other mechanisms occur in the halo. The N(C IV)/N(O VI) ratio is also lower than the SMC ratio along this sight line, suggesting that other mechanisms contribute to the creation of the global hot ionized medium in the SMC. The O VI, C IV, and Si IV apparent column density profiles suggest the presence of a multi-phase shell followed by a region of higher temperature gas.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, uses emulateapj5.sty. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

NSF-style peer review for teaching undergraduate grant-writing

The Biology Department at Jacksonville State University (JSU) in Alabama has incorporated an undergraduate research experience (URE) into its curriculum for both BA and BS degree programs . This experience involves the following semester courses: • BY 370 (Introduction to Research in Biology): two semester credits, sophomore level • BY 327 (Directed Studies in Biology) or BY 427 (Independent Study in Biology): variable credits, junior year • BY 496 (Senior Seminar) two credits, senior level The Department has recognized the need for both substantive coursework and an undergraduate research experience in its biology curriculum . The JSU URE is the outcome of curricular revision over the past 14 years . BY 370 and BY 496 are required courses, whereas independent research involves optional courses intended to interest students in research. BY 327 and BY 427 had been in the curriculum for some time, available for student research projects under the tutelage of a faculty mentor . BY 370 was initiated in 1991 to introduce majors to the science and art of biological research and grant-writing in an effort to strengthen the outcome of BY 327 and BY 427 . This course is now offered with multiple sections and instructors both semesters every year . Today, BY 327 and BY 427 enable students to conduct original field and/or laboratory research, educational research in biology, or substantive library-based research of an approved biological topic . BY 496, a required course since 2002, involves both a senior thesis and an oral presentation, the latter given in a department-wide symposium format . BY 496 is the Biology Department’s capstone course for all matriculating biology majors . The overall URE Experience has enabled the Department to integrate “communication across its curriculum” in a way that was never possible before . This paper concerns a modification to BY 370 . In this course, students now actively participate in an NSF-style peer review of their own undergraduate research proposals in biology

A Detailed Analysis of a Cygnus Loop Shock-Cloud Interaction

The XA region of the Cygnus Loop is a complex zone of radiative and nonradiative shocks interacting with interstellar clouds. We combine five far ultraviolet spectral observations from the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), a grid of 24 IUE spectra and a high-resolution longslit Halpha spectrum to study the spatial emission line variations across the region. These spectral data are placed in context using ground-based, optical emission line images of the region and a far-UV image obtained by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT). The presence of high-ionization ions (OVI, NV, CIV) indicates a shock velocity near 170 km/s while other diagnostics indicate v_shock=140 km/s. It is likely that a large range of shock velocities may exist at a spatial scale smaller than we are able to resolve. By comparing CIV 1550, CIII 977 and CIII] 1909, we explore resonance scattering across the region. We find that a significant column depth is present at all positions, including those not near bright optical/UV filaments. Analysis of the OVI doublet ratio suggests an average optical depth of about unity in that ion while flux measurements of [SiVIII] 1443 suggest a hot component in the region at just below 10^6K. Given the brightness of the OVI emission and the age of the interaction, we rule out the mixing layer interpretation of the UV emission. Furthermore, we formulate a picture of the XA region as the encounter of the blast wave with a finger of dense gas protruding inward from the pre-SN cavity.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, accepted by the Astronomical Journal, July 2001 Full resolution figures available at http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/~danforth/xa

Building Conceptual Understanding through Vocabulary Instruction

Instructional design is an integral part of a balanced approach to teaching vocabulary instruction. This article presents several instructional procedures using research-based vocabulary strategies and explains how to design and adapt those strategies in order to reach desired learning outcomes. Emphasis is placed on research-based principles that guide effective vocabulary instruction and on the importance of incorporating vocabulary instruction into all phases of the reading lesson framework--before, during, and after reading (Blair, Rupley, & Nichols 2007; Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz 2011). Vocabulary instruction should encourage students to make associations and accommodations to their experiences and provide them with varied opportunities to practice, apply, and discuss their word knowledge in meaningful contexts (Beck & McKeown, 2002; Rupley & Nichols, 2005). The ultimate goal of teaching vocabulary is for the students to expand, refine, and add to their existing conceptual knowledge and enhance their comprehension and understanding of what they read (Baumann, Font, Edwards, & Boland , 2005; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). This article seeks to provide educators with both a theoretical framework and practical classroom instructional suggestions for doing so

Establishing a Total Safety Culture within a Flight Department

This article will present behavior-based principles and procedures that can be successfully applied to change safety attitudes in a Flight Department. First, limitations and flaws of the human condition are discussed, and three basic ways employees can learn safe behavior are addressed. Next, Crew Resource Management is proposed as a tool to increase overall safety in Business Aviation. Safety is then reviewed in the context of the overall goals of the corporation and the cost of doing business. Senior Corporate management is identified as holding the key to the successful and safe operation of the corporate Flight Department. Finally, critical issues surrounding Corporate Culture and the ultimate goal of a Total Safety Culture are discussed. Recommendations are then made to increase the overall safety level of the Business Aviation environment

Possible Detection of OVI from the LMC Superbubble N70

We present FUSE observations toward four stars in the LMC superbubble N70 and compare these spectra to those of four comparison targets located in nearby field and diffuse regions. The N70 sight lines show OVI 1032 absorption that is consistently stronger than the comparison sight lines by ~60%. We attribute the excess column density (logN_OVI=14.03 cm^-2) to hot gas within N70, potentially the first detection of OVI associated with a superbubble. In a survey of 12 LMC sight lines, Howk et al. (2002a) concluded that there was no correlation between ISM morphology and N_OVI. We present a reanalysis of their measurements combined with our own and find a clear difference between the superbubble and field samples. The five superbubbles probed to date with FUSE show a consistently higher mean N_OVI than the 12 non-superbubble sight lines, though both samples show equivalent scatter from halo variability. Possible ionization mechanisms for N70 are discussed, and we conclude that the observed OVI could be the product of thermal conduction at the interface between the hot, X-ray emitting gas inside the superbubble and the cooler, photoionized material making up the shell seen prominently in Halpha. We calculate the total hydrogen density n_H implied by our OVI measurements and find a value consistent with expectations. Finally, we discuss emission-line observations of OVI from N70.Comment: 9 pages in emulateapj style. Accepted to Ap

The Distance to the Cygnus Loop from Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the Primary Shock Front

We present a Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 narrow-band H-alpha image of a region on the northeastern limb of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant. This location provides a detailed example of where the primary blast wave first encounters the surrounding interstellar medium. The filament structure is seen in exquisite detail in this image, which was obtained primarily as an EARLY ACQuisition image for a follow-up spectroscopic program. We compare the HST image to a digitized version of the POSS-I red plate to measure the proper motion of this filament. By combining this value for the proper motion with previous measurements of the shock velocity at this position we find that the distance to the Cygnus Loop is 440 (+130, -100) pc, considerably smaller than the canonical value of 770 pc. We briefly discuss the ramifications of this new distance estimate for our understanding of this prototypical supernova remnant.Comment: 18 pages, 3 Figures (2 JPEG and one Postscript