Faith Integration in the Higher Education Online Classroom: Perspectives and Practice

Online instruction in higher education has grown dramatically in recent years, and more faith-based colleges and universities are including online courses as a part of their educational offerings. The integration of faith in learning is an important goal in many of these faith-based institutions; however, the practice of faith integration in online settings presents unique challenges for faculty members. The purpose of this article is to provide support for faculty members teaching online in Christian colleges and universities with faith integration by presenting a series of strategies for their use. Approaches to faith integration are grouped utilizing a model presented by Dulaney et al. (2015) and adapted here for online contexts. Recommendations for working with students of differing faith backgrounds are also provided

Organisational implications of virtual simulation tools adoption in the automotive industry

High-latitude reefs support unique ecological communities occurring at the biogeographic boundaries between tropical and temperate marine ecosystems. Due to their lower ambient temperatures, they are regarded as potential refugia for tropical species shifting poleward due to rising sea temperatures. However, acute warming events can cause rapid shifts in the composition of high-latitude reef communities, including range contractions of temperate macroalgae and bleaching-induced mortality in corals. While bleaching has been reported on numerous high-latitude reefs, post-bleaching trajectories of benthic communities are poorly described. Consequently, the longer-term effects of thermal anomalies on high-latitude reefs are difficult to predict. Here, we use an autonomous underwater vehicle to conduct repeated surveys of three 625 m(2) plots on a coral-dominated high-latitude reef in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia, over a four-year period spanning a large-magnitude thermal anomaly. Quantification of benthic communities revealed high coral cover (>70%, comprising three main morphospecies) prior to the bleaching event. Plating Montipora was most susceptible to bleaching, but in the plot where it was most abundant, coral cover did not change significantly because of post-bleaching increases in branching Acropora. In the other two plots, coral cover decreased while macroalgal cover increased markedly. Overall, coral cover declined from 73% to 59% over the course of the study, while macroalgal cover increased from 11% to 24%. The significant differences in impacts and post-bleaching trajectories among plots underline the importance of understanding the underlying causes of such variation to improve predictions of how climate change will affect reefs, especially at high-latitudes

Principal coordinates plot of shifts in composition of dominant benthic taxa from 2010–2013.

<p>Shapes indicate the different plots (circles = plot 1, diamonds = plot 2 and crosses = plot 3, while colours indicate different years (blue = 2010, red = 2011, orange = 2012 and green 2013). A general trend of declines in plating corals and increased macroalgae were observed in all plots, although coral decline was most pronounced in plot 3. Declines in plating corals were offset by increases in branching <i>Acropora</i> in plots 1 and 2 between 2012 and 2013.</p

Location of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia (a); location of the study site Geebank between the Easter and Southern (Pelseart) island groups (b).

<p>Black squares indicate the location of replicate plots (c).</p

Summary statistics of the final GLMMs for coral percent cover (LMM) and algal percent cover (two-part model) from 2010–2013.

<p>SE = standard error, Coeff. = Coefficient.</p><p>Summary statistics of the final GLMMs for coral percent cover (LMM) and algal percent cover (two-part model) from 2010–2013.</p

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) images showing examples of shifts in community composition from 2010–2013; (a) high abundance of branching <i>Acropora</i>, plating <i>Acropora</i> and <i>Montipora</i> in 2010; (b) bleached <i>Montipora</i> adjacent to unbleached <i>Acropora</i> in 2011; (c) red macroalga <i>Asparagopsis</i> colonising substrate exposed by coral decline in 2013.

<p>Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) images showing examples of shifts in community composition from 2010–2013; (a) high abundance of branching <i>Acropora</i>, plating <i>Acropora</i> and <i>Montipora</i> in 2010; (b) bleached <i>Montipora</i> adjacent to unbleached <i>Acropora</i> in 2011; (c) red macroalga <i>Asparagopsis</i> colonising substrate exposed by coral decline in 2013.</p

Most abundant taxa in each plot in each year, identified using Similarity Percentages (SIMPER) analysis.

<p>* indicates significant change in community composition from 2010; * = 0.1, ** = 0.001, *** = 0.0001.</p><p>Most abundant taxa in each plot in each year, identified using Similarity Percentages (SIMPER) analysis.</p

Changes in the abundance of the dominant coral and macroalgal taxa across the three plots from 2010–2013.

<p>Changes in the abundance of the dominant coral and macroalgal taxa across the three plots from 2010–2013.</p