Teacher Preparation for Social Studies on the Secondary Level as Recommended by Selected Colleges of Education and as Preferred by Selected School Districts

The curriculum changes in the social studies from the expostulatory method with history and economics content, to the inductive method with an interdisciplinary approach which included all the social studies, made it difficult for those prepared in the traditional teacher education patterns to adapt to the new social studies. It was the purpose of this study to survey the programs recommended by selected colleges of education, and to survey the programs preferred by the school districts. This study also attempted to survey any changes that had taken place in teacher preparation on the one hand, and any changes in teaching problems in the schools. A preliminary letter of invitation to participate in an assessment of teacher preparation was sent to no more than three selected colleges of education, having a student population of over 20,000, in each state. Three selected school districts, varied as to size, were contacted in each state where a college of education was invited to participate. The data indicated that a teacher education program, which was interdisciplinary in scope and which was coordinated by the academic disciplines in cooperation with the department of education, was the first choice of both the colleges of education and the school districts. This reflected an increase in preference for this program in the last fifteen years. Some changes were noted in the rank order of importance of several common educational problems over the last fifteen years. These findings seemed to indicate that the education degree was least popular with both sets of respondents, while the cooperatively sponsored interdisciplinary program was preferred. This would seem to indicate a need for increased interdepartmental cooperation

Nalmefene for the treatment of alcohol dependence: a mixed-methods study of primary care prescribing patterns, pharmaceutical marketing and other influences

Background: Nalmefene is the first pharmacotherapy to be licensed for the reduction of alcohol consumption in patients with alcohol dependence. Marketed mainly for prescribing in primary care, the evidence supporting its efficacy and use in this setting remains contested. This thesis aims to describe and understand patterns of, and influences on, nalmefene prescribing in UK primary care. Methods: A mixed-methods study including (1) a quantitative analysis of prescribing data; (2) a qualitative documentary analysis of nalmefene marketing; and (3) semi-structured interviews (n=19) with alcohol treatment and policy professionals. Findings: (1) Nalmefene prescribing in UK primary care was low, apart from a temporary increase after nalmefene was recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2014, and prescribing was poorly aligned with licensing conditions; (2) An extensive range of marketing activities for nalmefene was undertaken by the pharmaceutical company, Lundbeck, creating opportunities to influence nalmefene uptake in UK alcohol treatment; (3) Whilst marketing activities may have garnered some support for nalmefene, there remained substantial barriers to its use, including poor compatibility with current models of alcohol treatment, and a lack of skills, resources and confidence in primary care to treat alcohol dependence. Conclusion: Despite limitations in existing evidence, nalmefene marketing activities helped generate support for its use in alcohol treatment in the UK. Despite this, several barriers to its use meant that uptake in UK primary care remained low. Alcohol treatment policy should be underpinned by robust evidence and free from commercial influence. The introduction of nalmefene into UK prescribing had neither of these features. Among the implications for future research and policy is a need to support publically-funded research and to engage primary care professionals in developing effective interventions and supporting them to deliver these

Stock market random forest-text mining system mining critical indicators of stock market movements

Stock Market (SM) is believed to be a significant sector of a free market economy as it plays a crucial role in the growth of commerce and industry of a country. The increasing importance of SMs and their direct influence on economy were the main reasons for analysing SM movements. The need to determine early warning indicators for SM crisis has been the focus of study by many economists and politicians. Whilst most research into the identification of these critical indicators applied data mining to uncover hidden knowledge, very few attempted to adopt a text mining approach. This paper demonstrates how text mining combined with Random Forest algorithm can offer a novel approach to the extraction of critical indicators, and classification of related news articles. The findings of this study extend the current classification of critical indicators from three to eight classes; it also show that Random Forest can outperform other classifiers and produce high accuracy

Student Project Environmental influences on box blight epidemics

Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae are two recently differentiated fungal species responsible for box blight, a disease that threatens the Buxus genus. Infection can be introduced to gardens on new plants and is spread through the use of tools. The fungus survives on stem lesions and fallen leaves when spores are dispersed by rainsplash. In this study, 195 Calonectria UK isolates collected by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Advisory Service were identified to species level. Detached stem assays were performed to assess how long stem and leaf lesions remain infectious, and their sensitivity to fungicides. A survey was also carried out at three National Trust properties on the effect of clipping on box blight distribution and severity. It was found that C. henricotiae was only present in and after 2011. C. henricotiae is more thermotolerant, and the increase in prevalence may be a result of increasing temperature and longer dry spells in the UK. Sporulation could occur multiple times on both stem and leaf lesions in humid conditions, although spore production dropped markedly after six sporulation events. Fungicides were effective at preventing spore production on stem lesions. Long dry spells may also reduce Calonectria’s ability to sporulate, leading to limited box blight spread between plants

Extending Diversity in the Classroom: How Librarians Contribute

Six ULS librarians participated in the 2017-2018 University of Pittsburgh Extended Diversity Experience on the Oakland campus. This presentation highlights a selection of the library's expertise, resources, and services that were incorporated by our faculty fellows in the program

Indigenous Languages Programmes in Australian Schools - A Way Forward

Currently, over 16,000 Indigenous students and 13,000 non-Indigenous students located in 260 Australian schools are involved in an Indigenous language program. More than 80 different Indigenous languages are taught. This project sought to present practice which would strengthen the quality of Indigenous language programs in schools. The report consists of a literature review, a mapping exercise to document current practices relating to Indigenous languages in Australian schools, an analysis of existing models of teacher preparation, and six case studies of good practice examples