Listening and Negotiation

Negotiation is an important skill for faculty at all stages of their career, but one that research suggests is often uncomfortable for women faculty to employ. This paper focuses on the topic of negotiation, with an emphasis on providing practical ideas and strategies relevant to academic professionals at both entry-level and mid-career who find that they need to negotiate a career opportunity. The paper will review negotiation basics, as well as discuss what can be negotiated, how one might proceed to discuss these, and how listening is critical to negotiation. By viewing negotiation as a wise agreement 1 that seeks to meet the needs of both parties to the extent possible, this paper presents several common cases or scenarios that illustrate the importance of understanding the elements involved both from the faculty member’s perspective as well as from the perspective of their department head, dean or provost

CCLI: Model Eliciting Activities: Experiments and Mixed Methods to Assess Student Learning – Part II

As part of a seven university CCLI* Type 3 collaborative effort focused on models and modeling, we have extended the model eliciting activity (MEA) construct to upper division engineering programs. Originally developed and validated by mathematics education researchers, MEAs were found to have significant value as an educational tool. In particular, our overall goal has been to use this construct as a means for enhancing engineering students‟ problem solving and modeling skills as well as their conceptual understanding of certain engineering topics. Specifically,we have pursued two main research avenues: MEAs as teaching tools and MEAs as learning assessment tools. This paper summarizes our results for these two research thrusts as we enter our fourth project year. Particular emphasis is placed on our mixed measurements for student learning and achievement, and an examination of the relative conceptual gain for a series of MEA experiments, including those where a comparison group was available

Evaluation of the Workplace Environment in the UK, and the Impact on Users’ Levels of Stimulation

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a number of recently completed workplaces in the UK. The first aim is to assess the impact of various aspects of the workplace environment on users’ levels of stimulation. The body of previous research undertaken into the workplace environment, identified the aspects to be investigated. Samples of employees from the sixteen businesses were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the workplaces. The results were entered into a regression analysis, and the most significant predictors of perceived stimulation identified. The data also revealed a dramatic reduction in staff arousal levels from mornings to afternoons. Thus, there is a second aim to determine whether changes to significant aspects of the workplace environment during the day can counteract the reduction in users’ stimulation. Two further workplaces were studied to enable changes to be made over a 12-week period. A sample of employees completed questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews revealed the reasons behind the results. It was found that provision of artwork, personal control of temperature and ventilation and regular breaks were the most significant contributions to increasing stimulation after lunch; while user choice of layout, and design and décor of workspaces and break areas, were the most significant aspects at design stage

Development of a SERS strategy to overcome the nanoparticle stabilisation effect in serum-containing samples: Application to the quantification of dopamine in the culture medium of PC-12 cells

The analysis of serum samples by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has gained ground over the last years. However, the stabilisation of colloids by the proteins contained in these samples has restricted their use in common practice, unless antibodies or aptamers are used. Therefore, this work was dedicated to the development of a SERS methodology allowing the analysis of serum samples in a simple and easy-to-implement way. This approach was based on the pre-aggregation of the colloid with a salt solution. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used as the SERS substrate and, owing to its physiopathological importance, dopamine was chosen as a model to implement the SERS approach. The presence of this neurotransmitter could be determined in the concentration range 0.5 to 50 ppm (2.64 – 264 μM) in the culture medium of PC-12 cells, with a R2 of 0.9874, and even at lower concentrations (0.25 ppm, 1.32 μM) in another matrix containing fewer proteins. Moreover, the effect of calcium and potassium on the dopamine exocytosis from PC-12 cells was studied. Calcium was shown to have a predominant and dose-dependent effect. Finally, PC-12 cells were exposed to dexamethasone in order to increase their biosynthesis and release of dopamine. This increase was monitored with the developed SERS approach

A portal of educational resources: providing evidence for matching pedagogy with technology

The TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge) model presents the three types of knowledge that are necessary to implement a successful technology-based educational activity. It highlights how the intersections between TPK (Technological Pedagogical Knowledge), PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) and TCK (Technological Content Knowledge) are not a sheer sum up of their components but new types of knowledge. This paper focuses on TPK, the intersection between technology knowledge and pedagogy knowledge – a crucial field of investigation. Actually, technology in education is not just an add-on but is literally reshaping teaching/learning paradigms. Technology modifies pedagogy and pedagogy dictates requirements to technology. In order to pursue this research, an empirical approach was taken, building a repository (back-end) and a portal (front-end) of about 300 real-life educational experiences run at school. Educational portals are not new, but they generally emphasise content. Instead, in our portal, technology and pedagogy take centre stage. Experiences are classified according to more than 30 categories (‘facets’) and more than 200 facet values, all revolving around the pedagogical implementation and the technology used. The portal (an innovative piece of technology) supports sophisticated ‘exploratory’ sessions of use, targeted at researchers (investigating the TPK intersection), teachers (looking for inspiration in their daily jobs) and decision makers (making decisions about the introduction of technology into schools)

Sustained remission of rheumatoid arthritis with a specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The mainstay of pharmacologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis includes the use of disease-modifying agents like sulfasalazine and methothrexate, and more recently, anti-tumor necrosis factor-α agents. Depression remains a major co-morbidity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and is thought to contribute to disability and mortality in these patients. Evidence now suggests that a biologic link exists between substrates responsible for inflammatory conditions and mood disorders. Most of this evidence comes from preclinical studies. Nevertheless, more research into this area is helping us to understand the possible mechanisms through which these conditions interact with each other.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe a 60-year-old Indian man with rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed 15 years ago who had minimal response to multiple therapies with disease-modifying agents and whose arthritis symptoms surprisingly remitted when he was started on a specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant, three years ago, for co-morbid major depression. This remission has been maintained with this medication, and the patient is currently not taking any antirheumatoid medications.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Possible mechanisms linking substrates of mood disorders and inflammation are reviewed in this case report, particularly the serotonergic system. Evidence seems to suggest a significant interaction between the serotonergic systems and inflammation. This interaction seems to be bidirectional. An understanding of this relation is most important to gain insight not only into pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this condition, but also into how treatments for these conditions may complement each other and possibly provide greater therapeutic options in both of these disabling conditions.</p

Entrepreneurship Assessment in Higher Education: A Research Review for Engineering Education Researchers

BackgroundDespite the wide adoption of entrepreneurship by United States engineering programs, there have been few advances in how to measure the influences of entrepreneurial education on engineering students. We believe the inadequate growth in engineering entrepreneurship assessment research is due to the limited use of research emerging from the broader entrepreneurship education assessment community.PurposeThis paper explores entrepreneurship education assessment by documenting the current state of the research and identifying the theories, variables, and research designs most commonly used by the broader community. We then examine if and how these theories and constructs are used in engineering entrepreneurship education.Scope/MethodTwo literature databases, Scopus® and Proquest, were searched systematically for entrepreneurship education assessment research literature. This search yielded 2,841 unique papers. Once inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 359 empirical research papers were coded for study design, theory, variables measured, instruments, and validity and reliability.ConclusionsWhile there has been growth in entrepreneurship education assessment research, little exchange of ideas across the disciplines of business, engineering, and education is occurring. Nonempirical descriptions of programs outweigh empirical research, and these empirical studies focus on affective, rather than cognitive or behavioral, outcomes. This pattern within the larger entrepreneurship community is mirrored in engineering where the use of theoryâ based, validated entrepreneurship education assessment instruments generally focuses on the context of intent to start a new company. Given the engineering community’s goals to support engineering entrepreneurship beyond business creation, the engineering education community should consider developing assessment instruments based in theory and focused on engineeringâ specific entrepreneurship outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145556/1/jee20197.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145556/2/jee20197_am.pd