Effective Elements of Science Teacher Professional Development

Educational reform efforts to improve students\u27 learning outcomes are often present in teacher professional development opportunities; however, the structure and design of these opportunities vary and often focus on a homogenous student population; that is, White students in suburban schools. Reform efforts in teacher professional development that aim to educate teachers not only about science content and pedagogy, but also about practices that aim to reach a diverse student population is needed. This study examines three, science teacher summer professional development (PD) programs [SUN, SEPA, and CLA], and explores how programs affect teacher learning outcome(s) and any subsequent translation into classroom practice(s). The design and delivery, alignment to Ladson-Billings (1994) tenets of culturally responsive practices, and measurement(s) of teachers\u27 learning outcome(s) are evaluated. Fliers were sent to science teachers who participated in SUN, SEPA, and CLA in an effort to recruit volunteers for this study. Program document analysis and teacher post-survey data from each program, focus groups, evidence of program integration, and a culturally responsive practice survey were collected and analyzed. Results show SEPA to include content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), culturally responsive practices (CRP), and some elements of the conceptual change model (CCM) (Larkin, 2012) in program design, structure, and delivery along with translation into classroom practice. SUN and CLA both show incorporation of CK and PCK, with SUN also showing some evidence of CRP. The findings indicate that when teachers are modeled a practice they are able to translate that practice in their classroom. The potential impact of modeling CRP during science teacher PD may address the achievement gap still present among students of color. Program designers must consider the inclusion of CRP alongside CK and PCK during the development of science teacher PD

Seniors Living in Humboldt Durinng Covid 19

For the “Humboldt in Time of Covid” project, I decided to focus on senior citizens living in Humboldt County at the time of the Covid 19 pandemic. The goal of this project is to get a general understanding of what life has been like for the retirement community during the pandemic. I decided to focus on seniors because they are the age group most vulnerable to the pandemic. I was interested in what precautions they had to take in order to get through the pandemic avoiding infections. I also thought that since they have lived longer, their life experiences would give me some valuable insights on what\u27s it is like in Humboldt County during covid. Every senior I interviewed responded to an ad I put on the Redwood Village Coast Village newsletter. The Redwood Village Coast is a nonprofit volunteer-based organization in the County. This organization’s mission is to support seniors to live independently in their own homes while helping them engage with their local communities. Within The Village, four seniors, Marjorie Malcolm, Jessie Wheeler, Gayle Olson-Raymer, and Vicki Silkiss, agreed to share their experiences with me. Jessie, Gayle, and Vicki wanted to participate in one-on-one interviews while Marjorie wrote me a long email detailing her experience throughout this pandemic. The interviews were done through Zoom a video conference platform that allows for its users to connect online through a computer or phone tablet. Throughout the pandemic, Zoom became the number one form of communication. Unfortunately, I was unable to record my interviews on Zoom, so I just recorded using my phone instead. While I never ask about their backgrounds before retirement because it did not seem relevant, I did learn that Vicki is a former schoolteacher; Gayle is a retired history professor at Humboldt State University who specializes in domestic terrorism, and Marjorie before covid spent her time volunteering at the library. I did not learn much about Jessie’s experience prior to Covid. Their outlook in regard to Humboldt in the Time of Covid differed greatly. However, through these interviews, I gained some valuable insight. It seemed quarantine had some positive impacts on the social lives of many of these seniors. Covid brought them closer to their family and friends. With Zoom they were able to keep in touch with family and friends in distant places more than before Covid. Rather than being isolated during quarantine, they made an effort to reach out to their community for support. Everyone I interviewed supported the mask and vaccine mandates here in Humboldt County. However, many of them were concerned about those who refused to get vaccinated or wear masks. All interviewees shared their concerns about how the Covid 19 pandemic became a political issue rather than a public health issue. They were all disappointed by the response of Americans, specifically, Conservatives, who refuse to get vaccinated on the grounds that it infringed on their rights as Americans. Even in Humboldt, California, a liberal hotspot, at the time of Covid many locals refuse to get the vaccine. One pointed out that on a local bridge above Highway 101, there is graffiti that said 20,000 vaccination deaths and no vaccine mandates. None of them understood why Americans were acting this way because my interviewees were alive before or at the beginning of past campaigns to get vaccinated for other diseases. Some of the seniors remember diseases like mumps, measles, and polio that plagued their childhood. Some of them like Jessie witness firsthand what these diseases could affect a person; when vaccines originally came out, my interviewees claimed that everyone despite their political beliefs got them. They were just grateful for a cure. None of the seniors support the ideals of individual rights regarding COVID vaccines because it contradicts with their rights to be protected. Jessie pointed out that her parents grew up during the second world war, a time were Americans banded together to support the war effort. Now many Americans are fighting for their individual rights rather than following health mandates. I do regret not asking about other health mandates seniors might have experienced in the past; for example, how the American publicreacted towards the polio vaccinations versus how the public is reacting now. Another interesting point is that although the hospitals are filled with the unvaccinated, only Margery was personally affected by the lack of medical resources. I would have thought that seniors or at least the ones who wanted to share their experience with me would have been more affected because seniors tend to have more health problems. Marjorie’s story on this point stood out to me. Marjorie\u27s mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and her husband could not travel because he needed hip surgery. There was a waitlist because the hospitable were overbooked so her husband could noy get surgery in time to see his mother before she passed. What has even more disturbing is the scene Maggie described when she went to visit her mother-in-law after she died: “After she passed, I returned to Tucson to collect her belongings and found that in the previous week they hadn\u27t even taken trash, bloody bandages, or the many canisters of oxygen out of the room”. This type of situation is another impact of the pandemic that I was interested in. Based on what I heard, I can say Covid alone is not all that dangerous, but with seniors, it has a much bigger impact because not only are they more susceptible the effects of Covid, but they are also at a higher risk of being neglected which further impacts their health. I do wish I spent more time interviewing seniors outside the Redwoods Coast Villages to understand impacts of being a senior and isolated because I do not believe isolation was as severe for participants in the Villages. One thing every senior I interviewed had in common is that Covid showcased how politically divided our country is, and that the life changes in response to the pandemic also brought people together.Families and friends would get on zoom and communicate with each other more frequently than before. Because seniors were in quarantine, they were put in a position where they had to rely on technology to socialize, and the convenience of this may have induced them to socialize more often, especially with friends and family outside of Humboldt County. I do not believe Covid 19 will have a major impact on Humboldt County’s future, however, Covid did bring to the forefront a significant political divide in this country and how far people are willing to go in order to hold on to their political beliefs, even at the expense of others

Women and Volunteerism in America

Is volunteerism an expectation of American women? Do we belive that women are responsible for the nurturing elements in our American culture? Are women, more so than men, expected to volunteer, serve, educate, protest, advocate, and organize, and do so in stereotypical gender roles? Are these ideas depicted in American media, publications, events, and organizations that are targeted at women? This thesis examines the profile of volunteers in America for the period of 2000-2010. Through the examination of American media, publications, events, and organizations that are targeted toward women over the same decade this thesis reveals that women are targeted for specific cultural cues through media. These findings demonstrate that there is an American expectation that women are responsible for nurturing a healthy public through volunteerism.Master'sCollege of Arts and Sciences: Liberal StudiesUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117971/1/Zientek.pd

Formation and evolution of the chromitites of the Stillwater Complex : a trace element study

Large layered intrusions, such as the Stillwater Complex, contain cyclic units of chromite-rich layers (cm to m thick) having kilometre-scale lateral extension. Chromite cumulates are among the first to form after new primitive melt injections into the magma chamber. Therefore, chromite cumulates could be used to investigate the nature of the parental magma, given the fact that chromite preserves its primary original magmatic composition. The cooling and crystallization history of large layered intrusions is long, complex, and involves multiple injections of hot primitive magma into an evolving and fractionating magma chamber. Our study on Stillwater chromites shows that the early crystallized chromite experiences various post-cumulus processes with the interstitial silicate melt, such as the precipitation of chromite overgrowths on early formed cumulus chromite and/or the reaction - reequilibration of early formed cumulus chromite. These processes have modifed the primary magmatic composition of the chromite making it difficult to identify the parental magma. Moreover, mineralogical evidence for chromite - interstitial melt interactions have probably been obliterated during late post-magmatic textural maturation and recrystallization which tends to homogenize chromite grain size and composition

The Assumption of a Reliable Instrument and Other Pitfalls to Avoid When Considering the Reliability of Data

The purpose of this article is to help researchers avoid common pitfalls associated with reliability including incorrectly assuming that (a) measurement error always attenuates observed score correlations, (b) different sources of measurement error originate from the same source, and (c) reliability is a function of instrumentation. To accomplish our purpose, we first describe what reliability is and why researchers should care about it with focus on its impact on effect sizes. Second, we review how reliability is assessed with comment on the consequences of cumulative measurement error. Third, we consider how researchers can use reliability generalization as a prescriptive method when designing their research studies to form hypotheses about whether or not reliability estimates will be acceptable given their sample and testing conditions. Finally, we discuss options that researchers may consider when faced with analyzing unreliable data

The Origin of Xenoliths with Cumulus Textures Found Above the Subsurface Extension of the Stillwater Complex, Montana

The Archean Stillwater Complex is a large layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion (LMI) exposed in the Beartooth Mountains of south-central Montana. Gravity measurements suggest that the north-dipping complex extends under cover at depth. Some of the exposures located above the subsurface Stillwater Complex are younger Cretaceous stocks (Susie Peak and Sliderock Mountain stocks), diorite sills and andesite dikes, exposed north of the complex, passed through area of the gravity anomaly that may be the Stillwater Complex. In the summer of 2013, samples of the stocks and their included xenoliths (foreign rock fragments; commonly metamorphosed to greenschist facies conditions) were collected for study. Xenoliths with textures reminiscent of Stillwater Complex cumulates were chosen for further investigation. The host andesitic rocks containing the xenoliths exhibit porphyritic textures—phenocrysts of plagioclase, amphibole ± biotite occur in a finer-grained groundmass of the same minerals. Electron microprobe analyses of amphibole grains from both the host and xenolith are comparable in composition. Electron microprobe analyses for two samples of coexisting xenolith amphibole (Tschermakitic hornblende, magnesio-hastingsite) and plagioclase (rim An83-91Ab17-9) constrain temperature conditions at various pressures (P at 3, 5, and 6 kb; T = 500-656°C, respectively using Holland and Blundy (1994). These conditions are consistent with amphibolite facies metamorphism. Few xenoliths retain the original igneous mineralogy (with the exception of plagioclase) but one sample contains relict “Stillwater-like” mineralogy (e.g., clinopyroxene) and another contains chromite. Plagioclase and relict clinopyroxene compositions are somewhat comparable to Stillwater mineral compositions. The fact that the xenoliths are now metamorphosed and highly altered suggests that either they were metamorphosed prior to their inclusion in the melt or were metamorphosed or hydrothermally altered as a result of incorporation into the melt

Website Design

Tato bakalářská práce si klade za cíl vytvoření kompletní internetové prezentace pro firmu HYGIPACK s.r.o., která bude sloužit jako elektronická podoba katalogu a tím i základ databáze pro následnou tvorbu elektronického obchodu této firmy. Práce je rozdělena do dvou hlavních části, z nichž první se zabývá analýzou dostupných informací, druhá tvorbou designu a koderskými prácemi.This bachelor thesis aims to create a complete online presentation for the company HYGIPACK s.r.o., which will serve as an electronic version of the catalog and data base for an e-commerce. The work is divided into two main parts, the first dealing with the analysis of available information, the second creating the design and the code.

Website Optimization in Terms of SEO and Responsive Web Design

Import 26/06/2013Diplomová práce je věnována vytvoření nové internetové prezentace www.chceteweb.cz použitím technik SEO a responsivního web designu. Teoretická část je uvedena pojednáním o rychlém vývoji mobilních zařízení schopných přistupovat na web a zamyšlením se nad prostředím českého Internetu. Následuje rozbor základních technik optimalizace pro vyhledávače. Dále je analyzována návštěvnost vybraného souboru internetových stránek z různých odvětví, testy jsou zaměřeny na podíl návštěvníků používajících pro zobrazení mobilní zařízení a také na hlubší členění těchto zařízení. K závěrům vyvozeným z analýz je posléze přihlédnuto při rozboru technik responsivního webdesignu. Těm je věnována větší část teoretického rozboru s důrazem na potřeby projektu. Rozbor zahrnuje základní způsoby, jimiž jsou stránky optimalizovány a teoretická východiska pro identifikaci zlomových bodů v responsivitě web designu. Teoretická část je zakončena pojednáním o možné syntéze technik SEO a responsivního web designu. V analýze současného stavu je analyzována původní podoba stránek a vytyčeny jejich nedostatky, zjištěné informace jsou reflektovány v části věnující se požadavkům k realizaci. Zde jsou na základě rozborů z teoretické části uvedeny klíčové požadavky na formu prezentace a její obsah a optimalizaci pro mobilní zařízení. Návrh řešení a jeho realizace je popsána v předposlední kapitole diplomové práce. Návrh bere ohledy na doposud zjištěná fakta o návštěvnosti, za jejichž pomoci jsou zde identifikovány detailní předpoklady nových stránek. Realizace se pak věnuje samotnému vytvoření prezentace a jejímu uvedení do provozu.The thesis is devoted to the creation of new website www.chceteweb.cz using SEO techniques and responsive web design. The theoretical part is introduced with a discussion of the rapid development of mobile devices able to access the web and a discussion about the environment of the Czech Internet. The analysis of the basic techniques of Search Engine Optimization follows. Further there is analyzed traffic on the selected set of web pages from different sectors, tests are focused on the proportion of visitors using mobile devices to view the pages and also on the deeper structure of these devices. The conclusions drawn from the analysis is then taken into account in the analysis of responsive web design techniques. To those is devoted the greater part of the theoretical analysis with an emphasis on the needs of the project. The analysis covers the basic ways in which the pages are optimized and theoretical basis for the identification of break points in responsivity of web design. The theoretical part is concluded with a discussion of possible synthesis techniques, SEO and responsive web design. In the analysis of the current situation is the original form of the pages reviewed and set out their shortcomings, the findings are reflected in the section that deals with the requirements for implementation. These are based on the analysis that took place in the theoretical part and presents the key requirements for the presentation content and optimization for mobile devices. The proposed solution and its implementation is described in the penultimate chapter of the thesis. New design takes into account the previously established facts about traffic, for their help are identified detailed requirements for the new site. Implementation part is devoted to creation of the web presentation and its commissioning.155 - Katedra aplikované informatikyvýborn

System and method for improved rotor tip performance

Embodiments of systems and methods for enhancing the performance of rotary wing aircraft through reduced torque, noise and vibration are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes configuring the rotorcraft in a selected flight condition, communicating input signals to a control system operable to position sails coupled to tips of blades of a rotor assembly, processing the input signals according to a constraint condition to generate sail positional information, and transferring the sail positional information to the sail. Alternately, input signals may be communicated to a control system operable to position a plurality of sails, each sail having an aerodynamic shape and positioned proximate to a tip portion of the rotor blade. The input signals may be configured to rotate each sail about a longitudinal axis into a corresponding pitch angle independently of the other sails