How Team-Based Learning Fosters Student Well-Being in Higher Education

Background: Team-based learning (TBL) was developed in the 1970s to improve student engagement in college courses. TBL, which promotes active learning through four key components (1) carefully formed and managed teams (2) frequent and timely feedback (3) student peer evaluation and (4) problem solving, stems from an earlier model, Adult Learning Theory (ALT). Implemented into higher education in 1968, ALT emphasized the importance of keeping adult learners engaged because adults learn 80% of what they discover for themselves. The findings of three theorists in the fields of public health and psychology support active modes of learning; Dr. Dan Gerber, and psychologists Alexander W. Astin and Terrell Strayhorn. The academic benefit of teambased learning is already documented with statistically significant data through a variety of cohort studies and empirical analyses. This thesis aims to investigate the health and well-being benefits of TBL in higher education. It will analyze these perceived benefits relating to ideas introduced by the three theorists through original survey data.Methods: Original data was collected through a descriptive research study consisting of ranking and short answer questions about student experiences in both TBL and lecture style courses. All data was considered to draw insights and suggest implications for future TBL practiceHypothesis: UMass students who engage in team-based learning environments will self-report higher levels of social, emotional and intellectual well-being compared to those enrolled in lecture based learning

Microchip lasers : an investigation of transverse mode definition, spectral selectivity and novel frequency modulation/up-conversion techniques

In this thesis describes experimental and theoretical work is described for a class of solid-state lasers which are classified by the term "microchip". The work presented here may be grouped into two parts. Chapters 2 and 5 describe work directed towards novel frequency modulation and up-conversion and are therefore of a more developmental flavour. The work presented in chapters 3 and 4 are of a more fundamental nature and pertains to transverse mode definition and spectral selectivity in these devices. In chapter 2 a laser diode array pumped, electro-optically tunable microchip laser is described. Based on the combined gain/non-linear material neodymium doped magnesium oxide lithium niobate (Nd:MgO:LiNbO3) tuning of the six oscillating axial modes was achieved at a sensitivity of 8.9 MHz V-1 mm. Chapter 3 describes the mechanisms observed to define the transverse mode of operation in lithium neodymium tetraphosphate, LiNdP4O12, or LNP, microchip lasers. This material was of interest in this particular study in that the dn/dT of the material was negative and would clearly preclude the guiding mechanisms postulated for the Nd:MgO:LiNbO3 microchip laser as described in chapter 2. The LNP microchip laser was excited by a Ti:sapphire laser and a HeNe based Fizeau interferometer was used to map out the pump induced changes in optical thickness between the cavity mirrors. Further investigation using a modified interferometer revealed that definition of the transverse mode of operation was primarily due to pump induced input surface deformation. The single frequency properties of a laser diode pumped LNP device, as a function of gain length, are the subject of chapter 4. The diode pumped LNP device output exhibited the same excellent spatial characteristics of operation as the Ti:sapphire pumped device. Fourteen milliwatts of single frequency output was obtained. A model, based on spatial dephasing of longitudinal modes, was modified appropriately to predict the single frequency performance of the LNP device as a function of gain length within the resonator. Chapter 5 deals with developmental work on a laser diode array pumped, composite material microchip laser for green output. The device consisted of a neodymium doped yttrium vanadate (Nd:YVO4) gain section in intimate optical contact with a non-linear material (potassium titanyl phosphate, or KTP) for frequency doubling of the 1.064 ?m line in Nd:YVO4. Initial experiments on the device were performed using a laser diode and coupling optics. Six milliwatts of C.W. green power were obtained for 150 mW of incident pump radiation. The device operated in a near diffraction limited spatial mode (M2=1.1) at all the incident pump powers. The oscillating waist within the device was found to be pump power dependent. The conversion of the fundamental into the green was observed to be only slightly reduced by the variable elliptical eigenpolarisation within the cavity. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.

Distributions of Error Correction Tests for Cointegration

This paper provides cumulative distribution functions, densities, and finite sample critical values for the single-equation error correction statistic for testing cointegration. Graphs and response surfaces summarize extensive Monte Carlo simulations and highlight simple dependencies of the statistic's quantiles on the number of variables in the error correction model, the choice of deterministic components, and the estimation sample size. The response surfaces provide a convenient way for calculating finite sample critical values at standard levels; and a computer program, freely available over the Internet, can be used to calculate both critical values and p-values. Three empirical examples illustrate these tools.

Immunology of Injectable Collagen in Human Subjects

Associated with the use of Zyderm Collagen Implant (ZCI) for soft tissue augmentation, the rate of localized hypersensitivity reactions to the initial test injection of ZCI range from 3.0–3.5% in the literature, and subsequent reactions to treatment have reportedly ranged from 1.1–5.0%. The inflammatory symptoms to the Collagen Test Implant occur within 72 hours in 2% of those injected, indicating a preexisting sensitivity to bovine collagen in this healthy population. Most adverse treatment reactions follow the first treatment and after injection of <5 ml of collagen. Furthermore, antibodies against collagen in sera of subjects reporting localized symptoms of hypersensitivity at test or treatment sites are specific for bovine interstitial collagens and show no cross-reactivity with human collagens. Thus, immunologic reaction to ZCI results in antibovine collagen antibodies and localized inflammatory symptoms in those few subjects who experience hypersensitivity to test or treatment. Glutaraldehyde cross-linked Zyplast Implant (ZI), has demonstrated a lower incidence of hypersensitivity reactions than ZCI. In examining patients tested with ZI or treated for intradermal and subdermal indications, we have experienced only 7 hypersensitivity reactions at test sites of ZI, out of 803 tested subjects, and only 3 reactions among 498 treated patients. Therefore, ZI appears to induce a lower incidence of hypersensitivity reactions than ZCI in man.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74914/1/j.1524-4725.1988.tb04040.x.pd

Microfluidic Overhauser DNP chip for signal-enhanced compact NMR

Nuclear magnetic resonance at low field strength is an insensitive spectroscopic technique, precluding portable applications with small sample volumes, such as needed for biomarker detection in body fluids. Here we report a compact double resonant chip stack system that implements in situ dynamic nuclear polarisation of a 130 nL sample volume, achieving signal enhancements of up to − 60 w.r.t. the thermal equilibrium level at a microwave power level of 0.5 W. This work overcomes instrumental barriers to the use of NMR detection for point-of-care applications

Advanced Microfluidic Assays for Caenorhabditis elegans

The in vivo analysis of a model organism, such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, enables fundamental biomedical studies, including development, genetics, and neurobiology. In recent years, microfluidics technology has emerged as an attractive and enabling tool for the study of the multicellular organism. Advances in the application of microfluidics to C. elegans assays facilitate the manipulation of nematodes in high-throughput format and allow for the precise spatial and temporal control of their environment. In this chapter, we aim to illustrate the current microfluidic approaches for the investigation of behavior and neurobiology in C. elegans and discuss the trends of future development