Developing a Homeland Security Curriculum: A Case Study in Outcomes-Based Education Using the Delphi Method

The field of homeland security is a nascent discipline, and as such does not have a national accreditation body to promulgate a standardized, outcomes-based curriculum for future homeland security professionals seeking university degrees. This qualitative study was designed to identify a set of program-level, learning-based outcomes for an undergraduate degree in homeland security. The research project used a case study methodology to examine and validate the results of earlier studies on homeland security (HS) curriculum development. A consensus-driven, iterative Delphi technique was used to survey a purposive, convenience sample of homeland security experts to ascertain their ideas on what elements (i.e., knowledge, skills, and abilities) should comprise an undergraduate degree in HS, and then compare and contrast the data to earlier research projects. In addition, a 5-point Likert scale survey was distributed to gather basic demographics on the panel and to gauge the respondents\u27 thoughts regarding additional elements that should be included in an HS degree. The participants in the study identified a list of 15 core academic areas (CAAs) with a set of 50 associated program-specific objectives (PSOs), and a list of eight overarching program objectives (OPOs) that could comprise a standardized model homeland security curriculum. The proposed curriculum developed by this study enables an institution of higher learning to offer a unified, outcomes-based curriculum that would achieve a measurable level of knowledge, skills, and abilities a student must have to perform successfully as a homeland security professional in the 21st century. Additionally, adoption of such a model curriculum would be a precursor for an institution seeking program accreditation from a national accrediting body in the field of academic homeland security

Motion and equilibrium of a spheromak in a toroidal flux conserver

A number of experiments have been performed on spheromaks injected into the empty vacuum vessel of the Caltech ENCORE tokamak (i.e., without tokamak plasma) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 2144 (1990); Phys. Fluids B 2, 1306 (1990)]. Magnetic probe arrays (in a number of configurations) have been used to make single shot, unaveraged, in situ measurements of the spheromak equilibrium. These measurements are important because (i) they reveal for the first time the equilibrium structure of spheromaks in a toroidal geometry, (ii) they provide a reliable estimate of magnetic helicity and energy of spheromak plasmas used in injection experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 2144 (1990)], and (iii) they constitute the first measurements of spheromak motion across and interaction with static magnetic fields (which are useful in corroborating recent theories). Probe measurements in the tokamak dc toroidal field show for the first time that the spheromak exhibits a ``double tilt.''The spheromak first tilts while in the cylindrical entrance region, emerging into the tokamak vessel antialigned to the dc toroidal field, then expands into the tokamak vacuum vessel, and finally tilts again to form an oblate (nonaxisymmetric, m=1) configuration. In addition, the spheromak drifts vertically in the direction given by Jcenter×Btok, where Jcenter is the unbalanced poloidal current that threads the center of the spheromak torus. Probe arrays at different toroidal locations show that the spheromak shifts toroidally (horizontally left or right) in the direction opposite that of the static toroidal field. In the absence of toroidal flux, the m=1 object develops a helical pitch, the sense of the pitch depending on the sign of the spheromak helicity. The spheromak equilibrium in the toroidal vessel is well fit by a pressureless infinite cylindrical model; however, there is evidence of deviation from m=1 symmetry because of toroidal effects, nonuniform J/B profile, and finite beta. Experiments performed in a test facility consisting of the spheromak gun and a replica of the entrance region (with a closed end) show that the spheromak is generated with its axis coaxial with that of the gun. Coherent, m=2 magnetic modes are observed during the formation stage rotating in the E×B direction at about 125 kHz (rotation velocity corresponding to 40% of the Alfvén speed)

Developing a Homeland Security Curriculum: A Case Study in Outcomes-Based Education

In 2007, I began research for my doctoral dissertation on what a curriculum in an undergraduate degree in homeland security should look like. At that time, the field of homeland security was a nascent discipline, and as such it did not have a standardized academic curriculum. There were several institutions of higher learning in the United States that were offering degrees in homeland security, but no consensus existed on what the curriculum should contain. This is what prompted me to perform a case study, gathering input from a body of subject matter experts as to what these experts felt were the necessary learning objectives for an undergraduate degree in homeland security. The research project used a qualitative, case study methodology to examine and validate the results of earlier studies on homeland security curriculum development. I used a consensus-driven, iterative Delphi technique to survey a sample of homeland security experts to ascertain their ideas on what elements should comprise an undergraduate degree in homeland security and then compared the data with earlier research projects. The participants in the study identified a list of 15 core academic areas with a set of 50 associated program-specific objectives and a list of eight overarching program objectives that in their eyes could comprise a standardized model homeland security curriculum. I felt that adoption of such a model curriculum would not only aid in standardization but could be a precursor for an institution seeking program accreditation in the field of academic homeland security

NSU- LSMSA Makers Club: Advanced STEM Educational Modules and Enhanced Experiential Learning

This paper describes advanced educational activates of STEM makers club, which combines Northwestern State University (NSU) and The Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA). The main objective of this Makers Club is to make students excited about STEM and to increase the number of students who are interested in STEM related careers. The newly founded club (NSU-LSMSA Makers Club) emphasizes innovation and hands-on experience for all participants. Furthermore, it promotes building a spirit of teamwork and sharping problem-solving skills. Different teaching modules have been developed and applied. The paper presents various structured activities reports experiential learning from its participants.Cockrell School of Engineerin

The Benefit of Literacy Coaching for Initial Resistance to Implementation of a Literacy Program for Struggling Readers

Literacy coaching as part of professional development models has become a successful way to enhance the instructional abilities of classroom teachers. Literacy coaching has become a key component included in state and federal literacy reform initiatives (Mraz, Kissel, Algozzine, Babb, & Foxworth, 2011) and has spread to nearly every school district in the country as a strategy for increasing early elementary classroom teacher skills in helping struggling readers who may be poor, minority, or English language learning (ELL) students (Matsumura, Garnier, Correnti, Junker, & Bickel, 2010). Inquiries on this reform topic in education are timely because of promising findings in recent studies about the effectiveness of literacy coaching for classroom teachers in helping to prevent reading failure in young children (Amendum, Vernon-Feagans, & Ginsberg, 2011; Carlisle & Berebitsky, 2011; Neuman & Cunningham, 2009; Vernon-Feagans, Kainz, Amendum, Ginsberg, Wood, & Bock, 2012). The purpose of this embedded multi-case study was to explore and describe the interactive processes between coaches and teachers. Of particular interest was how kindergarten classroom teachers acted out initial resistance in the context of participating in a hard coaching model of literacy intervention called the TRI within rural low-wealth school settings. Four major findings emerged from this study. TRI literacy coaches enacted coaching strategies focused within three major coaching domains (relationships-focused strategies, processes-focused strategies, and results-focused strategies) in order to support both high-implementing and reluctant, low-implementing/initially resistant kindergarten teachers during TRI intervention. Kindergarten teacher response to strategies within the three coaching domains appeared to differ by high-implementing classroom teachers and reluctant, low-implementing teachers. The data analysis suggested further that whereas a single approach, incorporating one essential domain of coaching strategies, was sufficient for high-implementing teachers, one essential domain of coaching strategies was simply not sufficient to support reluctant, low-implementing/initially resistant teacher participants in implementing the TRI with their kindergarten students. Data analysis also revealed that in live TRI coaching sessions, literacy coaches provided a different type of support to low-implementing teachers than they provided to high-implementing teachers. Reluctant teachers who were initially resistant to the TRI also cited additional perceived barriers to literacy coaching.Doctor of Philosoph

Development of an Outcomes-Based Undergraduate Curriculum in Homeland Security

As a professional discipline, homeland security is complex, dynamic, and interdisciplinary and not given to facile definition. As an academic discipline, homeland security is relatively new and growing, and its workforce aging. As such, there is an acknowledged need to develop academic homeland security programs to try and meet anticipated workforce needs. However, the lack of an accreditation system or a set of available published outcomes (or standards) have complicated efforts towards homeland security program development. At present, determining which courses to teach and which outcomes in each course to pursue must be left to anecdotal conversations, reviews of the scant textbooks available, and idiosyncratic experience and judgment. Consequently, as homeland security programs have proliferated throughout the country even a cursory review of these programs on the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) website reveals an uneven and inconsistent set of core student outcomes. Using practicing professionals in a variety of homeland security areas as subject matter experts, this study was designed to elucidate a set of core academic areas and student learning outcomes that could characterize the intellectual underpinnings of the discipline and the outcomes on which an undergraduate degree in homeland security could be based