Preparing Students for Success on Examinations: Readiness Assurance Tests in a Graduate-Level Statistics Course

Formative feedback is one way to foster students' readiness for statistics examinations. The use of Readiness Assurance Tests was examined as an educational intervention in which feedback was provided for both correct and incorrect responses in a graduate-level statistics course. Examination scores in the intervention group ( n = 56) were compared with those in a control group ( n = 42). Intervention group examination scores significantly improved from 75.92 ± 14.52 on the Readiness Assurance Test to 90.06 ± 7.06, p < .001, on the midterm, and final examination scores improved from 78.23 ± 17.29 to 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .002. Intervention group midterm scores were significantly higher than those of the control group (90.06 ± 7.06 versus 79.7 ± 11.6, p < .001); however, no differences were found between the groups on the final examination (85.35 ± 9.46 versus 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .91). Use of Readiness Assurance Tests was an effective modality to increase student self-efficacy, learning experience, and, relative to a control group, midterm examination performance in statistic

Review of \u3cem\u3eFeminism and Social Change: Bridging Theory and Practice.\u3c/em\u3e Heidi Gottfried (Ed.). Reviewed by Rebecca S. Carter, Louisiana State University.

Heidi Gottfried (Ed.), Feminism and Social Change: Bridging Theory and Practice. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1996 $39.95 hardcover,$14.95 papercover

Musical achievement and attitude of beginning piano students in a synchronous videoconferencing lesson environment

The purposes of this study were to examine the effects of an online synchronous lesson environment on beginning piano students’ musical achievement, time spent in target behaviors across the study period, and attitude toward piano lessons. Beginning piano students (N = 19) between ages 6-9 with no prior private music instruction served as participants, receiving 30-minute weekly lessons throughout a 7-month period. Participants were grouped into one of the two lesson groups: a face-to-face traditional lesson group or distance lesson group. Pre-treatment assessments included a beginner readiness assessment and online attitudinal survey. The post-treatment musical achievement tasks (a prepared performance task, sight-reading task, aural memory, visual memory task), final interviews, and attitudinal survey were conducted after lessons concluded and comparisons were made between the lesson environments. Each lesson was videoed in order to analyze how time was spent in the different lesson environments in a beginning, middle, and ending lesson during the treatment period. A multivariate ANOVA found no significant difference due to the main effect of lesson environment on the musical achievement tasks. However, participants in the traditional group scored slightly higher than the distance group in all four achievement tasks. A three-way repeated measure ANOVA found a significant interaction effect due to the effects of Lesson Time (beginning, middle, and ending) x Behaviors (15 target behaviors) x Lesson Group (traditional and distance). This indicates that lesson time spent in some target behavior categories were disparate between the lesson groups across the beginning, middle, and ending lesson combinations, such as the categories of student performance, interactive performance, feedback instruction, transitions, and technology issues. Despite these differences in the way time was spent in the lesson, there was no effect on musical achievement. Attitudinal questionnaire items’ total scores were compared pre-lesson to post-lesson to note changes in attitude across time and between lesson groups. Traditional students remained more consistent in answer responses than distance students from pre- to post-lesson. Online students reported gaining confidence in their music reading and playing abilities after lessons. This study offers empirical evidence to support online learning in piano instruction for beginning students

Relating to People Living with Dementia as Equals

As populations around the globe grow older, a greater number of people are becoming susceptible to the diseases and chronic illnesses associated with age. Recent international studies concur that, of these, dementia is either the most feared by the general population, or among the most. It is no small wonder, then, that analytic philosophy in the Anglo-American tradition on dementia repeatedly invokes what Rebecca Dresser calls the “tragedy narrative.” So understood, arguments about dementia rely on the idea that a life lived with it represents an unfortunate and intolerable indignity. There is, however, an alternative narrative present in the work of dementia self- advocates, which suggests that dementia can be considered as what Elizabeth Barnes calls a mere difference. So understood, we can think of people living with dementia as a distinct social group who experience life in just one of many of the ways human diversity offers. Proceeding from the tragedy narrative, the notion of justice for people living with dementia might focus on compensating or insuring people against this loss of dignity. The mere difference narrative, on the other hand, invites us to consider what would be necessary for people living with dementia to be fully integrated into society and for the distinctive kind of life they experience to be treated with respect. This thesis considers the question of justice for people living with dementia on these terms

Domestic Labor and the Earnings of Professionals.

This dissertation focuses on how time allocated to domestic responsibilities affects the earnings of professionals. Although the earnings gap between women and men has narrowed, women are paid less than their male counterparts and a substantial part of the gender earnings gap remains unexplained. Women\u27s growing entry into the full-time labor force has created new challenges for working women and dual-earner families. Professionals may manage domestic responsibilities differently than non professionals because they are likely to have jobs that offer higher pay and more autonomy. With fewer domestic demands placed on these households, we would expect to observe more gender equality in professionals\u27 earnings than between women and men in the population as a whole. However, the earnings gap is largest between men and women with the highest levels of education. Using two waves of data from the National Survey of Families and Households, I examine how various domestic labor tasks including daily grind tasks, female- and male-type tasks, parent-child interaction activities, and elder care affect earnings. My study revealed expected and unexpected findings that taken together lack a convincing explanation. For example, as expected, professional women earned less than professional men, net of controls. The results also show that in the late 1980s, performing daily grind tasks reduced both women\u27s and men\u27s earnings and these inflexible tasks explained an additional 18 percent of the gender gap in earnings. I found evidence that female- and male-type tasks affected earnings differently than daily grind tasks by either increasing or not affecting professionals\u27 earnings. This finding is consistent with the idea that flexible tasks do not interfere with paid labor and thereby do not reduce earnings. However, what was unexpected was that female-type tasks actually increased earnings. Contrary to expectations, there was no evidence that domestic labor affected professionals\u27 earnings five years later in the early 1990s, although a substantial gender gap in earnings remained. Explanations for why the domestic labor effects on earnings found in the late 1980s did not persist in the 1990s are not clear-cut. It appears that domestic labor inconsistently affects the earnings of professionals

Impacts of harmonic distortion from charging electric vehicles on low voltage networks

Paper focusing on the impacts of harmonic distortion from charging electric vehicles on low voltage networks

Accounting for indebtedness: geopolitics, technocracy and advanced financial capital

This paper explores the role of accounting within the context of Lazzarato’s theorization of indebtedness. Accounting is often depicted as neutral, objective and technocratic, and despite Lazzarato referencing accounting within his exploration of indebtedness, we believe the role of accounting is underexplored in his analyses. Our intervention suggests that accounting is the primary language of financialisation, securitization, financial capital and indebtedness. This paper also extends Lazzarato’s thesis by arguing that, with new accounting technologies, indebtedness is being spread to emerging economies. This extension is mobilized through the work of the International Accounting Standards Board, as a private accounting standard setter, in partnership with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as accounting is language of advanced financial accounting and indebtedness

Could inter-agency working reduce emergency department attendances due to alcohol consumption?

Background: Excess alcohol consumption and associated harms in terms of health, crime and disorder have been highlighted by the government and media, causing considerable public concern. This study quantified the number of patient attendances at an urban adult and children's emergency department (ED) directly attributable to alcohol intoxication, and investigated ways in which the inter-agency sharing of anonymised information could be used to design, implement and monitor interventions to reduce these harms. Methods: Intoxicated patients attending either the adult or children's ED were prospectively identified by qualified nursing staff and anonymised data collected by a dedicated researcher. Collaboration and data sharing between health, police, social services, university experts and local authorities was achieved through the establishment of steering and operational groups with agreed objectives and the formation of a shared anonymised database. Results: The proportion of patients attending the ED as a result of alcohol intoxication was 4% in adults an

Variational Bayes for Merging Noisy Databases

Bayesian entity resolution merges together multiple, noisy databases and returns the minimal collection of unique individuals represented, together with their true, latent record values. Bayesian methods allow flexible generative models that share power across databases as well as principled quantification of uncertainty for queries of the final, resolved database. However, existing Bayesian methods for entity resolution use Markov monte Carlo method (MCMC) approximations and are too slow to run on modern databases containing millions or billions of records. Instead, we propose applying variational approximations to allow scalable Bayesian inference in these models. We derive a coordinate-ascent approximation for mean-field variational Bayes, qualitatively compare our algorithm to existing methods, note unique challenges for inference that arise from the expected distribution of cluster sizes in entity resolution, and discuss directions for future work in this domain

Selective Lanthanide Sensing with Gold Nanoparticles and Hydroxypyridinone Chelators.

The octadentate hydroxypyridinone chelator 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) is a promising therapeutic agent because of its high affinity for f-block elements and noncytotoxicity at medical dosages. The interaction between 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) and other biomedically relevant metals such as gold, however, has not been explored. Gold nanoparticles functionalized with chelators have demonstrated great potential in theranostics, yet thus far, no protocol that combines 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) and colloidal gold has been developed. Here, we characterize the solution thermodynamic properties of the complexes formed between 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) and Au3+ ions and demonstrate how under specific pH conditions the chelator promotes the growth of gold nanoparticles, acting as both reducing and stabilizing agent. 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) ligands on the nanoparticle surface remain active and selective toward f-block elements, as evidenced by gold nanoparticle selective aggregation. Finally, a new colorimetric assay capable of reaching the detection levels necessary for the quantification of lanthanides in waste from industrial processes is developed based on the inhibition of particle growth by lanthanides