Teaching Goals of Interpreter Educators

Angelo & Cross (1993) found substantial differences in the teaching goals of faculty from different disciplines, yet they found no differences for educators based on their employment status or the type of institution in which they worked. The current quantitative study compared the teaching goals of interpreter educators with those of educators from other disciplines. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of 52 goal statements from Angelo & Cross’ Teaching Goal Inventory (TGI) in terms of what they aim to have students accomplish in their courses. The data suggest that interpreter education constitutes a separate discipline from the nine disciplines identified by Angelo & Cross. Interpreter educators place far more emphasis on the development of higher order thinking skills than do educators from most other disciplines. There appear to be no differences in the teaching goals of interpreter educators employed in a full-time or adjunct capacity, nor for interpreter educators employed at two-year and four-year institutions. In sum, there is consensus among interpreter educators that conveying higher order thinking skills is the most important teaching goal

Educational Interpreters and the Dunning-Kruger Effect

Kruger and Dunning (1999) found the least skilled individuals significantly overestimate their performance. However, as individuals increase their awareness their skills their predictions also become more accurate – the Dunning-Kruger Effect. This study examined the ability of educational interpreters working in public schools to predict their scores on the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) a measure of interpreting skills. Findings indicate interpreters experience a Dunning-Kruger Effect in that the least skilled interpreters overestimate their interpreting skills, whereas better interpreters underestimate their interpreting skills. These findings raise important questions about whether lesser skilled educational interpreters are able to adhere to ethical requirements of only accepting assignments they are qualified for, if they are prone to overestimate their skills

South Carolina Educational Interpreting Center Annual Report

Clemson University and its partners at the South Carolina State Department of Education and the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind manage the South Carolina Educational Interpreting Center (SCEIC) at the University Center in Greenville, South Carolina. The SCEIC provides national performance and knowledge assessments, mentoring and educational opportunities for South Carolina Educational Interpreters. This annual report details the SCEIC outputs and outcomes for Educational Interpreters in the state for the 2017-2018 academic year

American Sign Language: Innovations in Teaching and Learning in One of the Most Popular Languages in the United States

With the skyrocketing interest in American Sign Language (ASL) courses and the increase in programs in two- and four-year institutions offering ASL, it is important to understand ASL as an autonomous language independent of English. Studying ASL can, alongside other benefits, offer perspective on American life and culture and provide dynamic employment opportunities in the sectors of education, government, and business by way of interpretation, now in high demand. While Spanish and French have been the two most-studied languages since 1998, ASL made the jump to third place in 2013, surpassing German, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese (Looney and Lusin 48). In this piece, we take Clemson University, a comprehensive landgrant research university with nearly 26,000 students and our home institution, as a case study to glean insight into the ways in which studying ASL can provide important cultural, critical, and professional opportunities for students of modern languages (Oropesa)

Disfluent Pausing Effects on Listener Judgments of an ASL-English Interpretation

Although not all spoken language pauses are purposeful or functional, there is general agreement on the function and appropriate length and placement of pauses in English. Failing to conform to this agreement constitutes a pausing disfluency. In an interpreted environment, pauses do not generally detract from the discourse event, nor do they negatively impact the participants’ perception of one another, as long as the interpreter maintains generally acceptable pausing parameters (Fors, 2011; Heldner & Edlund, 2010; Krivokapi, 2007). Listeners of any communication event invariably form opinions about the speaker’s personality and make judgments about their character and background, forming a favorable or unfavorable attitude (Isham, 1986). Cokely (1981, 2007) refers to these judgments or attitudes as metannotative qualities: non-content characteristics that guide a listener’s overall impression of a speaker. This study investigated the effect pausing disfluencies have on a listener’s judgment of the speaker; specifically, the effect of disfluent pausing on a listener’s judgment of a speaker in an ASL-English interpreted text. Relevant to practicing interpreters, findings indicate pausing disfluencies in an ASL-English interpreted text negatively affect the listener’s judgment of the ASL user

DNA-controlled assembly of protein-modified gold nanocrystals

The controlled assembly in solution of gold nanocrystals modified by attachment of complementary protein-DNA conjugates is described. The size of the aggregates formed can be controlled by the addition of single-stranded DNA, which quickly terminates the assembly process. The rate of formation of the aggregates can also be controlled by varying the salt concentration. Consequently, two distinct regimes of aggregation kinetics are observed. At low salt concentrations, aggregation is shown to be dependent on the rate of duplex formation between the modified gold nanocrystals, i.e., reaction-limited. At higher salt concentrations, aggregation is shown to be dependent only on the rate of diffusion of the nanocrystals, i.e., diffusion-limited. The results presented provide important insights into the rates of formation of nanocrystal assemblies. Moreover, the approach adopted is modular, requiring only the relevant biotin linker chemistry to be developed for a given nanoparticle, while also precluding unfavorable interactions between the DNA and the streptavidin-coated nanoparticle. The ability to control the rate of formation and size of nanocrystal aggregates assembled is important new knowledge. Application of this knowledge will inform future studies of nanocrystal assembly in solution involving different types of nanocrystals, which is of increasing technological significance.This research was supported by a grant from the Petroleum Research Fund (Grant No. PRF# 32879-ACS). The Authors also thank Dr. Hakan Rensmo for helpful discussions and express their gratitude for the services provided by D. Cottell and the staff at the Electron Microscopy Centre, National University of Ireland, Dublin.Peer reviewe

Supporting patients to self-monitor their oral anticoagulation therapy: recommendations based on a qualitative study of patients' experiences.

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials suggest that oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT) self-monitoring is safe and effective, however little is known about the patient experience of this process. There is a lack of understanding about how best to train and support patients embarking on OAT self-monitoring. AIM: To collect in-depth information about patients' experiences of OAT self-monitoring outside of clinical trial conditions and to produce a set of recommendations on how best to support such patients. DESIGN AND SETTING: Semi-structured qualitative interviews with patients who self-monitor and live in England. METHOD: In total, 26 of the 267 (9.7%) who participated in the Cohort study of Anticoagulation Self-Monitoring (CASM) and were still self-monitoring after 12 months' follow-up were interviewed. Topics discussed included experiences of OAT self-monitoring, healthcare support, training, and decision making. Framework analysis was used. RESULTS: Following initial problems using the monitoring device, interviewees described a mostly positive experience. Although less effort was expended attending monitoring appointments with health professionals, effort was required to conduct self-monitoring tests and to interpret and act on the results. Desire to self-manage was variable, especially when dosing advice systems worked promptly and reliably. Interviewees overcame patchy healthcare system knowledge and support of self-monitoring by educating themselves. Family and friends provided support with learning to use the monitor and managing OAT dosage adjustments. CONCLUSION: Better, more-consistent training and health-service support would have alleviated a number of problems encountered by these patients who were self-monitoring. This training and support will become even more important if self-monitoring becomes more accessible to the general population of people on OAT

Cohort study of Anticoagulation Self-Monitoring (CASM): a prospective study of its effectiveness in the community.

BACKGROUND: Trials show that oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT) substantially reduces thromboembolic events without an increase in major haemorrhagic events, but it is not known whether these results translate into routine practice. AIM: To estimate the current levels of control and adverse events in patients self-monitoring OAT, explore the factors that predict success, and determine whether the level of side effects reported from randomised controlled trials are translated to a non-selected population. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cohort study in the UK. METHOD: Participants were aged ≥18 years and registered with a GP. Main outcomes were the proportion of participants, over 12 months, who were still self-monitoring, had not experienced adverse events, and had achieved >80% of time in therapeutic range (TTR). RESULTS: In total, 296 participants were recruited; their median age was 61 years and 55.1% were male. Participants were predominately professional or held a university qualification (82.7%). At 12 months, 267 (90.2%) were still self-monitoring. Mean TTR was 75.3% (standard deviation 16.9).Six serious and two minor adverse events were reported by GPs. Only 45.9% of participants received any in-person training at the outset. Increased age (P = 0.027), general wellbeing (EQ-5D visual score, P = 0.020), and lower target international normalised range (INR, P = 0.032) were all associated with high (>80% TTR) levels of control. CONCLUSION: The findings show that, even with little training, people on OAT can successfully self-monitor, and even self-manage, their INR. TTR was shown to improve with age. However, widespread use of self-monitoring of INR may be limited by the initial costs, as well as a lack of training and support at the outset

Economic inequalities in the effectiveness of a primary care intervention for depression and suicidal ideation.

BACKGROUND: Economic disadvantage is associated with depression and suicide. We sought to determine whether economic disadvantage reduces the effectiveness of depression treatments received in primary care. METHODS: We conducted differential-effects analyses of the Prevention of Suicide in Primary Care Elderly: Collaborative Trial, a primary-care-based randomized, controlled trial for late-life depression and suicidal ideation conducted between 1999 and 2001, which included 514 patients with major depression or clinically significant minor depression. RESULTS: The intervention effect, defined as change in depressive symptoms from baseline, was stronger among persons reporting financial strain at baseline (differential effect size = -4.5 Hamilton Depression Rating Scale points across the study period [95% confidence interval = -8.6 to -0.3]). We found similar evidence for effect modification by neighborhood poverty, although the intervention effect weakened after the initial 4 months of the trial for participants residing in poor neighborhoods. There was no evidence of substantial differences in the effectiveness of the intervention on suicidal ideation and depression remission by economic disadvantage. CONCLUSIONS: Economic conditions moderated the effectiveness of primary-care-based treatment for late-life depression. Financially strained individuals benefited more from the intervention; we speculate this was because of the enhanced treatment management protocol, which led to a greater improvement in the care received by these persons. People living in poor neighborhoods experienced only temporary benefit from the intervention. Thus, multiple aspects of economic disadvantage affect depression treatment outcomes; additional work is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms