A New Agenda for Deafness Rehabilitation: Embracing Multicultural Diversity

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Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Black Deaf

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Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Black Deaf

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A National Agenda of Excellence and Equity for Deaf People of Color

Produced by Center on Disabilities, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Frank Sawyer School of Management, Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts and The School of Social Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas for The Society for Disability Studies

Identifying Standards for the Training of Interpreters for Deaf People

Major findings of a national project on identifying standards for the training of interpreters for deaf people are presented. The data produced for this project was based on information collected from two separate national surveys during Summer and Fall, 1987. Selected findings on the student, faculty, and program characteristicsof51federal and non-federal sponsored interpreter training programs are presented. Attention is then directed to a summary of the opinions of a sample of403 interpreter educators, interpreting service professionals, and deaf and hearing consumers regarding desirable competencies for interpreter trainees to attain as part of their training. Finally, drawing on selected findings from the project, five (5) recommendations for future action are presented, with focus on the role of federal leadership in support of interpreter training

Improving Pharmacy Student Communication Outcomes Using Standardized Patients

Objective. To examine whether standardized patient encounters led to an improvement in a student pharmacist-patient communication assessment compared to traditional active-learning activities within a classroom setting. Methods. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with second-year pharmacy students in a drug information and communication skills course. Student patient communication skills were assessed using high-stakes communication assessment. Results. Two hundred and twenty students’ data were included. Students were significantlymore likely to have higher scores on the communication assessment when they had higher undergraduate GPAs, were female, and taught using standardized patients. Similarly, students were significantly more likely to pass the assessment on the first attempt when they were female and when they were taught using standardized patients. Conclusion. Incorporating standardized patients within a communication course resulted in improved scores as well as first-time pass rates on a communication assessment than when using different methods of active learning

Cost-Effectiveness of Using Standardized Patients to Assess Student-Pharmacist Communication Skills

Objective. To explore the cost-effectiveness of including standardized patients (SP) in the didactic curriculum for application and assessment of students’ pharmacist-patient communication skills. Methods. Five role play/case study (RP/CS) activities from a communication skills curriculum were replaced with five SP encounters. Communication was assessed using a rubric. This study developed an economic model to examine the costs and effectiveness of replacing RP/CS events with SP events in knowledge-application and communication assessment. Costs consisted of SP hourly wages for training and delivery of SP events. Outcomes examined were the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per student. Results. The ICER comparing SP to RP/CS was $100.93 higher per student on first-attempt pass rates and$9.04 per one-point increase in the mean score. Conclusion. SP was more effective and more costly than RP/CS. Further research into students’ willingness to pay needs to occur before determining if using SPs is cost-effective in teaching communication skills

Comparison of Pharmaceutical Calculations Learning Outcomes Achieved Within a Traditional Lecture or Flipped Classroom Andragogy

Objective. To compare learning outcomes achieved from a pharmaceutical calculations course taught in a traditional lecture (lecture model) and a flipped classroom (flipped model). Methods. Students were randomly assigned to the lecture model and the flipped model. Course instructors, content, assessments, and instructional time for both models were equivalent. Overall group performance and pass rates on a standardized assessment (Pcalc OSCE) were compared at six weeks and at six months post-course completion. Results. Student mean exam scores in the flipped model were higher than those in the lecture model at six weeks and six months later. Significantly more students passed the OSCE the first time in the flipped model at six weeks; however, this effect was not maintained at six months. Conclusion. Within a 6 week course of study, use of a flipped classroom improves student pharmacy calculation skill achievement relative to a traditional lecture andragogy. Further study is needed to determine if the effect is maintained over time

In situ measurements of tropospheric volcanic plumes in Ecuador and Colombia during TC

A NASA DC‐8 research aircraft penetrated tropospheric gas and aerosol plumes sourced from active volcanoes in Ecuador and Colombia during the Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4 ) mission in July–August 2007. The likely source volcanoes were Tungurahua (Ecuador) and Nevado del Huila (Colombia). The TC4 data provide rare insight into the chemistry of volcanic plumes in the tropical troposphere and permit a comparison of SO2 column amounts measured by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite with in situ SO2 measurements. Elevated concentrations of SO2, sulfate aerosol, and particles were measured by DC‐8 instrumentation in volcanic outflow at altitudes of 3–6 km. Estimated plume ages range from ∼2 h at Huila to ∼22–48 h downwind of Ecuador. The plumes contained sulfate‐rich accumulation mode particles that were variably neutralized and often highly acidic. A significant fraction of supermicron volcanic ash was evident in one plume. In‐plume O3 concentrations were ∼70%–80% of ambient levels downwind of Ecuador, but data are insufficient to ascribe this to O3 depletion via reactive halogen chemistry. The TC4 data record rapid cloud processing of the Huila volcanic plume involving aqueous‐phase oxidation of SO2 by H2O2, but overall the data suggest average in‐plume SO2 to sulfate conversion rates of ∼1%–2% h−1 . SO2 column amounts measured in the Tungurahua plume (∼0.1–0.2 Dobson units) are commensurate with average SO2 columns retrieved from OMI measurements in the volcanic outflow region in July 2007. The TC4 data set provides further evidence of the impact of volcanic emissions on tropospheric acidity and oxidizing capacit

Evolution of brown carbon in wildfire plumes

Particulate brown carbon (BrC) in the atmosphere absorbs light at subvisible wavelengths and has poorly constrained but potentially large climate forcing impacts. BrC from biomass burning has virtually unknown lifecycle and atmospheric stability. Here, BrC emitted from intense wildfires was measured in plumes transported over 2 days from two main fires, during the 2013 NASA SEAC4RS mission. Concurrent measurements of organic aerosol (OA) and black carbon (BC) mass concentration, BC coating thickness, absorption Ångström exponent, and OA oxidation state reveal that the initial BrC emitted from the fires was largely unstable. Using back trajectories to estimate the transport time indicates that BrC aerosol light absorption decayed in the plumes with a half-life of 9 to 15 h, measured over day and night. Although most BrC was lost within a day, possibly through chemical loss and/or evaporation, the remaining persistent fraction likely determines the background BrC levels most relevant for climate forcing