Effecting Consistency Across Curriculum: A Case Study

Continuous quality improvement is the clarion call across all business schools which is driving the emphasis on assessing the attainment of learning outcomes. An issue that deems special attention in assurance of learning outcomes is related to consistency across courses and, more specifically, across multiple sections of the same course taught by different professors.  This paper is intended to accomplish the two objectives.  First, identify and discuss the situational factors that are driving the need for improving quality through assessment.  The expectations of students and parents, employers and graduate programs, accrediting organizations, and faculty are examined in this situational assessment.  Second, a review of the process utilized by the School of Business at a small, private, liberal arts college to address consistency issues that adversely impact quality improvement is provided.  This process, still in the early stages of evolution, has had a significant impact on the culture of the institution as it strives to meet AACSB requirements. The process described in this paper has been utilized to address concerns and fears of faculty, and has resulted in improvements in consistency among courses in the curriculum.  Concluding remarks provide general recommendations that can be used by our peers who aspire to travel down the same path of using assessment data to improve quality

Laptop Technology in Classrooms: How Student Perceptions Shape Learning and Satisfaction

This study is based on perceptions of students regarding the integration of laptops in classroom endeavors. Empirical findings are based on data collected from a sample of 392 students in undergraduate and graduate universities in twelve states of the USA. Three key findings related to the integration of laptop technology into classrooms of higher education are reported. First relates to student perceptions and feelings surrounding laptop use in the classroom. Secondly, we report how these perceptions vary depending on personal characteristics of students. Lastly, we examine the role these perceptions play in student learning, as well as student satisfaction. Traditionally, laptop technology has been viewed as tool for facilitating note taking. However, our findings indicate that the learning experience is equal, and in some instances greater, when laptops are used to develop a more interactive learning environment, increase information gathering during class time, and enhance classroom discussion

Content and Feedback Analysis of YouTube Videos: Football Clubs and Fans as Brand Communities

The use of Web 2.0 tools has been transforming the interaction between companies and their clients, especially for those that are selling emotional products. Consumers are generating and sharing contents concerning their favourite products on the web. Even if this process has been widely acknowledged, only a few studies have been specifically devoted to the analysis of both the contents and the feedback the consumers receive from other users. This article analyzes the online presence of sport brands through contents that are generated by sport clubs (official contents) and their fans (User Generated Content, UGC) on YouTube. After a description and classification of video contents, it examines the factors that influence the performance of the videos in terms of passive (videos views) and active behaviour (any kinds of interaction with videos) among the viewers. In order to carry out this analysis, 125 YouTube channels were considered thereby accounting for a total of 375 videos. Results show that official contents are those preferred by the users/consumers and that if the video displays a passive/purely informative content, the chance of getting an active behaviour from the users tends to decrease. These findings may help companies manage their online presence, creating awareness about contents and information that should be spread and shared on the web

New insight into the effects of lead modulation on antioxidant defense mechanism and trace element concentration in rat bone

Risks of heavy metals-induced severe bone disorders generate interest to their toxicity. The present study was undertaken to monitor the biochemical and antioxidant status of bone of 30 and 80 days old male Wistar rats exposed to 5 week lead treatment. At the end of study, the rats were sacrificed, their long bone i.e. femur were excised, cleaned of soft tissue, minced and homogenized. Nucleic acid content, alkaline phosphatase, lipid peroxidation, catalase, glutathione S-transferase and superoxide dismutase were determined in bone. In both groups of treated animals lead treatment increased the production of malondialdehyde, while reducing activities of catalase, glutathione S-transferase and superoxide dismutase, indicating that it causes oxidative stress. Parallely with these effects lead significantly reduced the nucleic acid content and the activity of alkaline phosphatase, considered as biomarkers of osteoblast's function, conditions and development of bones. Moreover the concentrations of copper, zinc, iron and sodium were reduced in the excised bones. The present study indicates that the lead induced bone toxicity and its deteriorated development is the consequence of a primary oxidative stress. Our results may be helpful in understanding the modulation of biochemical parameters under lead toxicity

Antioksidativni potencijal i sposobnost hvatanja slobodnih radikala metanolnog ekstrakta plodova Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad.

Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. (Cucurbitaceae) is a medicinal plant traditionally used as an abortifacient and to treat constipation, oedema, bacterial infections, cancer and diabetes. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the plant showed the presence of large amounts of phenolics and flavonoids. Subsequent quantification showed the presence of 0.74% phenolics (calculated as gallic acid) and 0.13% flavonoids calculated as catechin equivalents per 100 g of fresh mass. The presence of phenolic compounds prompted us to evaluate its antioxidant activity. In the present study, methanolic fruit extract of C. colocynthis was screened to evaluate its free-radical scavenging ability. The highest antioxidant and free radical scavenging effect of the fruit extract was observed at a concentration of 2500 µg mL1.Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. (Cucurbitaceae) je ljekovita biljka koja se tradicionalno upotrebljava kao abortiv i za liječenje konstipacije, edema, bakterijskih infekcija, karcinoma i dijabetesa. Preliminarno fitokemijsko pretraživanje ukazalo je na prisutnost velikih količina fenola i flavonoida. Udio fenola bio je 0,74% (preračunato na galnu kiselinu), a flavonoida 0,13% preračunato na ekvivalente katehina na 100 g svježe mase. Zbog prisutnosti fenolnih spojeva ispitivano je antioksidativno djelovanje i sposobnost hvatanja slobodnih radikala metanolnog ekstrakta plodova. Koncentracija 2500 µg mL1 imala je najjači učinak

Drought Impact Is Alleviated in Sugar Beets (Beta vulgaris L.) by Foliar Application of Fullerenol Nanoparticles

Over the past few years, significant efforts have been made to decrease the effects of drought stress on plant productivity and quality. We propose that fullerenol nanoparticles (FNPs, molecular formula C-60(OH)(24)) may help alleviate drought stress by serving as an additional intercellular water supply. Specifically, FNPs are able to penetrate plant leaf and root tissues, where they bind water in various cell compartments. This hydroscopic activity suggests that FNPs could be beneficial in plants. The aim of the present study was to analyse the influence of FNPs on sugar beet plants exposed to drought stress. Our results indicate that intracellular water metabolism can be modified by foliar application of FNPs in drought exposed plants. Drought stress induced a significant increase in the compatible osmolyte proline in both the leaves and roots of control plants, but not in FNP treated plants. These results indicate that FNPs could act as intracellular binders of water, creating an additional water reserve, and enabling adaptation to drought stress. Moreover, analysis of plant antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, APx and GPx), MDA and GSH content indicate that fullerenol foliar application could have some beneficial effect on alleviating oxidative effects of drought stress, depending on the concentration of nanoparticles applied. Although further studies are necessary to elucidate the biochemical impact of FNPs on plants; the present results could directly impact agricultural practice, where available water supplies are often a limiting factor in plant bioproductivity