E-Mentoring an Educator in a State School for the Deaf: An Action Research Study

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore the benefits and challenges of e-mentoring an adult learner in a rural state school for the deaf that taught children with hearing loss to listen and speak. This school lacked the benefit of a spoken language programs for deaf children. This study focused on e-mentoring the Lead Teacher/SLP, in order to enhance her understanding of language development in children with hearing loss and improve her ability to use diagnostic teaching, in order to implement strategies that would allow the children in this specialized classroom to continue to develop spoken language. Through use of synchronous and asynchronous e-mentoring, I assisted the mentee as she developed a plan specifically focused on providing her with the skills needed to lead/direct the program independently, in order for it to continue successfully. The mentee and supervisory/administrative staff were participants of this study. The mentee participated in the e-mentoring process twice each month, for 30-45 minutes per session, for one academic school year. The mentee typically guided the topic of the e-mentoring session by asking for assistance in a particular instructional area. On alternate weeks, I was in contact with the mentee via email, text, and/or phone. After e-mentoring, I completed a journal entry with my thoughts about the session and the mentee responded to questions about the e-mentoring experience. At the conclusion of the academic year, I conducted a focus group with the supervisors and administrators of the spoken language program asking for input about this new program. Secondary data were collected from vocabulary and concept tests on the children attending the program using. Results from the journaling and responses to questions and focus group were coded and analyzed for emerging themes. One major themes was Change, with subthemes of opportunities, e-mentoring the spoken language program, progress of the children, perceptions of the program, increase in enrollment, and scheduling. Other major themes included Andragogy and e-mentoring, Teaching Strategies, and Technology. The results of this study may be important to administrative personnel in state schools for the deaf, interested in initiating a spoken language classroom

Keefektifan Penggunaan Model Pembelajaran Kooperatif Tipe Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) dalam Meningkatkan Minat Belajar Siswa dalam Pembelajaran PKM Kelas XI Mesin di SMK PIRI Sleman

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui penggunaan metode pembelajaran kooperatif tipe Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian tindakan kelas. Penelitian menggunakan dua siklus, dalam setiap siklus meliputi tahap persiapan, observasi, implementasi tindakan, observasi dan interpretasi, dan refleksi. Tempat penelitian di Jurusan Teknik Mesin, SMK Piri Sleman. Obyek penelitian ini berupa meningkatkan minat belajar siswa khususnya pada pokok bahasan poros dan momen puntir. Metode yang digunakan dalam pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui angket dan lembar observasi. Metode yang digunakan untuk menganalisis data adalah dengan teknik analisis deskriptif. Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) untuk meningkatkan minat belajar siswa dalam mata diklat Perhitungan Konstruksi Mesin kelas XI Mesin di SMK Piri Sleman. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan metode pembelajaran kooperatif tipe TAI dapat meningkatkan minat belajar siswa dalam mata diklat Perhitungan Konstruksi Mesin kelas XI Mesin di STM Piri Sleman. Hasil penelitian ditandai dengan dengan peningkatan hasil observasi maupun isian angket yaitu hasil observasi aktivitas siswa meningkat dari 72,5% "baik" pada siklus I menjadi 75,8% "sangat baik" pada siklus II, hasil observasi minat belajar siswa meningkat dari 46.6% "cukup baik" pada siklus I menjadi 64,16% "baik" pada siklus II, dan hasil isian angket minat belajar siswa meningkat dari 64,3% :cukup berminat" sebelum tindakan menjadi 79% "berminat" pada akhir tindakan

The Experiences of Women Executive Leaders in a Leadership Development Program

The host organization is a nonprofit that has a mission of supporting the work of 19 other separate organizations, 47% of which are run by women. The problem addressed in this research is the host organization’s lack of knowledge related to how to create a leadership development program that will maintain or increase the current gender diversity. The purpose of this research was to gather information about the current leaders to inform the creation of a leadership development program for the host organization based on research conducted at Harvard University. The aim was to understand the experiences of the women leaders within the association and the components of a leadership development program. There were nine women leaders within the host organization; all were invited to participate, and eight agreed. With a general qualitative research design, semistructured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes, which resulted in four primary themes: mentorship, communication skills, leadership self-assessment, and business acumen. These themes and recommendations for a leadership development program were reported in an executive summary provided to the host organization. By providing this information, the research has a positive social change on future leaders within the host organization

Oxide Free Wire Arc Sprayed Coatings—An Avenue to Enhanced Adhesive Tensile Strength

Conventionally, thermal spraying processes are almost exclusively carried out in an air atmosphere. This results in oxidation of the particles upon thermal spraying, and thus, the interfaces of the splats within the coating are oxidized as well. Hence, a full material bond strength cannot be established. To overcome this issue, a mixture of monosilane and nitrogen was employed in the present study as the atomising and environment gas. With this approach, an oxygen partial pressure corresponding to an extreme-high vacuum was established in the environment and oxide-free coatings could be realized. It is shown that the oxide-free particles have an improved substrate wetting behaviour, which drastically increases the adhesive tensile strength of the wire arc sprayed copper coatings. Moreover, the altered deposition conditions also led to a significant reduction of the coating porosity

Keefektifan Penggunaan Model Pembelajaran Kooperatif Tipe Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) dalam Meningkatkan Minat Belajar Siswa dalam Pembelajaran PKM Kelas XI Mesin di SMK PIRI Sleman

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui penggunaan metode pembelajaran kooperatif tipe Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) untuk meningkatkan minat belajar siswa dalam mata diklat Perhitungan Konstruksi Mesin kelas XI Mesin di SMK Piri Sleman. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian tindakan kelas. Penelitian menggunakan dua siklus, dalam setiap siklus meliputi tahap persiapan, observasi, implementasi tindakan, observasi dan interpretasi, dan refleksi. Tempat penelitian di Jurusan Teknik Mesin, SMK Piri Sleman. Obyek penelitian ini berupa meningkatkan minat belajar siswa khususnya pada pokok bahasan poros dan momen puntir. Metode yang digunakan dalam pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui angket dan lembar observasi. Metode yang digunakan untuk menganalisis data adalah dengan teknik analisis deskriptif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan metode pembelajaran kooperatif tipe TAI dapat meningkatkan minat belajar siswa dalam mata diklat Perhitungan Konstruksi Mesin kelas XI Mesin di SMK Piri Sleman. Hasil penelitian ditandai dengan dengan peningkatan hasil observasi maupun isian angket yaitu hasil observasi aktivitas siswa meningkat dari 72,5% "baik" pada siklus I menjadi 75,8% "sangat baik" pada siklus II, hasil observasi minat belajar siswa meningkat dari 46.6% "cukup baik" pada siklus I menjadi 64,16% "baik" pada siklus II, dan hasil isian angket minat belajar siswa meningkat dari 64,3% :cukup berminat" sebelum tindakan menjadi 79% "berminat" pada akhir tindakan

The Experiences of Women Executive Leaders in a Leadership Development Program

The host organization is a nonprofit that has a mission of supporting the work of 19 other separate organizations, 47% of which are run by women. The problem addressed in this research is the host organization’s lack of knowledge related to how to create a leadership development program that will maintain or increase the current gender diversity. The purpose of this research was to gather information about the current leaders to inform the creation of a leadership development program for the host organization based on research conducted at Harvard University. The aim was to understand the experiences of the women leaders within the association and the components of a leadership development program. There were nine women leaders within the host organization; all were invited to participate, and eight agreed. With a general qualitative research design, semistructured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes, which resulted in four primary themes: mentorship, communication skills, leadership self-assessment, and business acumen. These themes and recommendations for a leadership development program were reported in an executive summary provided to the host organization. By providing this information, the research has a positive social change on future leaders within the host organization

Oxygen-Free Production—From Vision to Application

As oxygen negatively affects most production processes in the metalworking industry, a truly oxygen-free production environment appears attractive in terms of the resulting material and component properties. This overview summarizes research conducted within the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1368. The objectives of this CRC are twofold. First, a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that govern the interaction between a metal surface and the environment is established. Second, it is researched how this understanding can be exploited to improve current production processes and even develop completely new ones. Herein, data obtained within the first funding period, which already demonstrate that significant effects can be realized in processes such as thermal spraying, cold rolling, compound casting, laser brazing, milling or hot stamping to name just a few examples, are presented. In addition, key aspects such as initial deoxidation of the workpieces, their transport under conditions that prevent reoxidation, and the tools needed to establish and control an oxygen-free process environment are given, and the ramifications with respect to actual applications are discussed

CHO1, a mammalian kinesin-like protein, interacts with F-actin and is involved in the terminal phase of cytokinesis

CHO1 is a kinesin-like protein of the mitotic kinesin-like protein (MKLP)1 subfamily present in central spindles and midbodies in mammalian cells. It is different from other subfamily members in that it contains an extra ∼300 bp in the COOH-terminal tail. Analysis of the chicken genomic sequence showed that heterogeneity is derived from alternative splicing, and exon 18 is expressed in only the CHO1 isoform. CHO1 and its truncated isoform MKLP1 are coexpressed in a single cell. Surprisingly, the sequence encoded by exon 18 possesses a capability to interact with F-actin, suggesting that CHO1 can associate with both microtubule and actin cytoskeletons. Microinjection of exon 18–specific antibodies did not result in any inhibitory effects on karyokinesis and early stages of cytokinesis. However, almost completely separated daughter cells became reunited to form a binulceate cell, suggesting that the exon 18 protein may not have a role in the formation and ingression of the contractile ring in the cortex. Rather, it might be involved directly or indirectly in the membrane events necessary for completion of the terminal phase of cytokinesis

Gas Phase Reaction of Silane with Water at Different Temperatures and Supported by Plasma

The interaction of silane and water is discussed controversially in literature: some authors suggest monosilane and water react kinetically and sufficiently fast enough to remove water, while others state the reaction occurs only at elevated temperatures. This question is of technological interest for the removal of unavoidable water residues in Ar gases. Thermodynamic calculations show that virtually complete removal of water is expected with superstoichiometric silane addition. However, mass spectrometric and infrared spectroscopic experiments give evidence that the addition of monosilane to such an Ar gas at room temperature is unable to remove residual water, which disagrees with some current hypotheses in the literature. This holds even for very high SiH4 concentrations up to 2 vol.-%. Silane reacts with water above temperatures of 555 °C, initiated by the thermal decomposition of silane. A cold dielectric barrier discharge-plasma used for silane and water dissociation enhances reactivity similar to elevated temperatures. Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy points toward silanol generation at temperatures between 400 and 550 °C, while quadrupole mass spectrometry indicates the creation of SiOH+, SiHOH+, SiH2OH+, and SiH3OH+. Cold plasmas generate smaller amounts of SiOH+, SiHOH+, and SiH2OH+ compared to elevated temperatures. Reaction products are hydrogen and nanoscaled particles of non-stoichiometric silicon oxides. The silicon-oxide particles produced differ in elemental composition and shape depending on the prevailing water content during decomposition: SiOx generated with residual water appears with relatively smooth surfaces, while the addition of water supports the formation of significantly rougher particle surfaces. Higher initial water contents correlate with higher oxygen contents of the particles