Personal Inquiry and Online Research: Connecting Learners in Ways That Matter

This piece introduces a framework for how to envision Personal Digital Inquiry (PDI) in K-8 classrooms. To conceptualize what teaching and learning might look like in these classrooms, important practices are situated along a two-dimensional continuum of digital inquiry that varies in terms of levels of support and purposes of technology use. We then offer several examples of what teaching and learning within a PDI framework can look like; visions that move from teacher directed to student directed inquiry, always informed by purposeful choices about the role that technology plays along the way

The 2014 National Community Summit on Green Infrastructure: Summary Report

This report presents key points from each dialogue session, as well as overall themes from the Summit as a whole. These key points and themes were synthesized by dialogue facilitators and representatives from CSU, NEORSD and EPA. In addition, this report presents narrative versions of the lead presentations for each session. These are meant to serve as case studies of best practices to address each session topic

Repositioning psychiatry in medical school curricula: a study of medical students’ attitudes

Amidst the ongoing global recruitment crisis in psychiatry there are compelling reasons to rethink the approach to, and the content and structure of, educational and experiential opportunities for medical students and foundation doctors. Medical students’ attitudes to mental illness and psychiatry have been a topic of interest for many decades. The literature identifies the undergraduate years as pivotal in the formation of attitudes towards psychiatry and it has been suggested that medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry worsen as they progress through undergraduate education. The aim of this study was to explore University of Glasgow medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry and possible reasons for not choosing psychiatry as a viable career option. An electronic survey was emailed to all medical students in October 2017. A response rate of 24.5% (N=324) was achieved which was representative across year groups one to five. The findings identified generally positive attitudes towards psychiatry as a specialty. However, year group analysis demonstrated a declining level of interest in pursuing psychiatry as a career choice. Negative attitudes towards psychiatry clustered in common themes, namely: stigmatised views about psychiatry and people with mental illness; perceived limited exposure to psychiatry in the curriculum and for experiential learning opportunities. This paper proposes that enhanced coverage of, and exposure to, psychiatry in undergraduate and postgraduate training may provide avenues into reducing negative attitudes towards psychiatry within medicine. This in turn may support national campaigns to 'rebrand' psychiatry and reinvigorate the psychiatry core trainee (CT) supply chain

Characteristics of Early-Winter Caribou, Rangifer tarandus caribou, Feeding Sites in the Southern Purcell Mountains, British Columbia

Mountain Caribou are a rare ecotype of Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) inhabiting the high-snowfall region of southeastern British Columbia, and are defined by their late-winter reliance on arboreal hair lichen of the genus Bryoria. During early winter, there is considerable variation in habitat use among populations. We snow-trailed Caribou in the southern Purcell Mountains during early winter to determine foraging patterns for the Purcell population. When snow was ≤51 cm deep, Caribou fed on Grouseberry (Vaccinium scoparium), the terrestrial lichen Cladonia, and arboreal lichens of the genus Bryoria. When snow was ≥62 cm deep, they ate exclusively arboreal lichens. In both periods, Caribou ate arboreal lichen from essentially every downed tree or branch encountered and fed with a higher intensity at downed trees than standing trees. During the low-snow period, Caribou fed at fewer trees but used those with greater lichen abundance, and fed more intensively at each, compared to the deep-snow period. In comparison to trees occurring on the foraging path but at which Caribou did not feed, those from which arboreal lichen was foraged intensively were of larger diameter, had greater lichen abundance, and were more likely to be Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) or Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii) and less likely to be Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis), Lodgepole Pine (P. contorta) or Alpine Larch (Larix lyalli). The shift in diet between the low-snow and deep-snow periods reflected two modes of foraging within the early winter period, distinct from one another and apparently also distinct from the late-winter season. Management for early-winter habitat will require retention of some commercially significant forest across extensive areas, both near the subalpine forest – subalpine parkland ecotone and lower in the subalpine forest

Use of an interactive video gaming program compared with conventional physiotherapy for hospitalised older adults: a feasibility trial

Author version made available in accordance with the Publisher's policyPurpose: To assess the feasibility of a physiotherapy intervention using an interactive gaming program compared with conventional physiotherapy for hospitalised older people. Methods: Randomised controlled pilot study in a geriatric rehabilitation unit within an acute public hospital. Participants were randomly allocated to physiotherapy using an interactive gaming program (N=22) or conventional physiotherapy in a ward based gym (N=22). Feasibility was assessed by comparing the effects of the intervention on clinical outcome measures (primary outcome: mobility as assessed by the Timed Up and Go Test, secondary outcomes: safety, adherence levels, eligibility and consent rates). Results: Participants (N=44) had a mean age of 85 years (SD 4.5) and the majority (80%) were women. Univariable analyses showed no significant difference between groups following intervention. However, multivariable analyses suggested that participants using the interactive gaming program improved more on the Timed Up and Go Test (P=0.048) than participants receiving conventional physiotherapy. There were no serious adverse events and high levels of adherence to therapy were evident in both groups. Only a small proportion of patients screened were recruited to the study. Conclusions: In this feasibility study the use of a commercially available interactive gaming program by physiotherapists with older people in a hospital setting was safe and adherence levels were comparable with conventional therapy. Preliminary results suggest that further exploration of approaches using games as therapy for older people could include commonly used measures of balance and function

An Analysis of Driving Performance Measures Used to Assess the Effects of Medications on Drowsiness, Sedation and Driving Impairment

The objective of this paper was to discuss driving scenarios and associated driving performance measures on their ability to demonstrate drowsiness, sedation, and driving impairment. The basis of this paper was a study that utilized a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, four-treatment, four-period crossover trial in the Iowa Driving Simulator (IDS). Participants were 40 licensed drivers with seasonal allergic rhinitis who were 25 to 44 years of age. Treatments were Fexofenadine, diphenhydramine, alcohol, or placebo, given at weekly intervals before participants drove for 1 hour in the IDS. Measures examined included coherence, amplitude, phase angle, RMS error, following distance and behavior, lane keeping, response to unexpected vehicle intrusion and drowsiness. Study results show that sedating antihistamines impair driving performance as seriously as alcohol. Statistically significant but small correlations were found between subjective drowsiness and minimum following distance, steering instability, and left-lane excursions but no correlation was greater than 0.21. Drowsiness was a weak predictor of driving impairment. This paper discusses these and other finding with an emphasis on the adequacy of driving scenarios and the sensitivity of driving performance measures analyzed