Undergraduate students' reflections on engaging in a student-staff collaborative study

This article provides insights into undergraduate students’ reflections on their learning from taking part in a student-staff collaborative study in their first year at a UK university. The study comprised a series of small-scale research and evaluation activities. In the individual narratives and jointly developed model presented in the article, the student authors identify a range of learning from their participation in this study and from co-authoring this article.Final Published versio

A water quality evaluation of the Heron Haven Wetland in Omaha, Nebraska.

Introduction: Wetlands are ubiquitous but extremely variable and important elements of the landscape that are characterized by water saturation for at least part of the year. They may receive water from groundwater sources but many are recharged only from rainfall and surface runoff. Wetlands are found in most climates and in widely varying sizes and topographic settings. The soil/substrate, water chemistry, vegetation, groundwater, and other factors also vary (Environmental Protection Agency, 1999). Cowardin et al. (1979) describe wetlands as transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is at or near the surface. They contain hydrophytes, or water-loving plants, at least part of the year (Cowardin, et al., 1979). Inland wetlands, such as those in Nebraska, are commonly found on River floodplains, pliers, lake margins, and other low-lying areas where the water table intercepts the surface or soil permeability is diminished

The impact of whole-plant instruction preservice elementary teachers\u27 understanding of plant science principles

The purpose of this research was to determine how an inquiry-based, whole-plant instructional strategy would affect preservice elementary teachers’ understanding of plant science principles. This study probed: what preservice teachers know about plant biology concepts before and after instruction, their views of the interrelatedness of plant parts and the environment, how growing a plant affects preservice teachers’ understanding, and which types of activity-rich plant themes studies, if any, affect preservice elementary teachers’ understandings. The participants in the study were enrolled in two elementary science methods class sections at a state university. Each group was administered a preinstructional test at the beginning of the study. The treatment group participated in inquiry-based activities related to the Principles of Plant Biology (American Society of Plant Biologists, 2001), while the comparison group studied those same concepts through traditional instructional methods. A focus group was formed from the treatment group to participate in co-concept mapping sessions. The participants’ understandings were assessed through artifacts from activities, a comparison of pre- and postinstructional tests, and the concept maps generated by the focus group. Results of the research indicated that the whole-plant, inquiry-based instructional strategy can be applied to teach preservice elementary teachers plant biology while modeling the human constructivist approach. The results further indicated that this approach enhanced their understanding of plant science content knowledge, as well as pedagogical knowledge. The results also showed that a whole-plant approach to teaching plant science concepts is an instructional strategy that is feasible for the elementary school. The theoretical framework for this study was Human Constructivist learning theory (Mintzes & Wandersee, 1998). The content knowledge and instructional strategy was informed by the Principles of Plant Biology (American Society of Plant Biologists, 2001) and Botany for the Next Millennium (Botanical Society of America, 1995). As a result of this study, a better understanding of the factors that influence preservice elementary teachers’ knowledge of plant science principles may benefit elementary science educator in preparing teachers that are “highly qualified.

Health Promotion Profile of Beliefs, Attitudes and Activities of Tennessee Primary Care Physicians

The primary purpose of this study was to develop a profile of selected health promotion beliefs, attitudes and activities of Tennessee primary care physicians. A secondary purpose was to identify physicians’ perceived need for training and support activities in health promotion on selected lifestyle behaviors. This study was undertaken using a mail survey of 628 randomly selected primary care physicians practicing medicine in Tennessee. The target population was stratified on the basis of the following subgroups: specialty, population size of county, and state grand division in which they practice. Four hundred sixty-one questionnaires were returned resulting in a 73.4% response rate. Analysis of the cross classified data took place busing logistic tests for multivariate discrete data. Analysis of the findings of this investigation led to the following conclusions: 1. Interspeciality differences exist among Tennessee primary care physicians with response to the frequency in which they gather information from their patients on smoking, alcohol, diet, and stress. 2. Significant interspeciality differences exist among Tennessee primary care physicians with response to their self-reported success in counseling patients on smoking and blood pressure. 3. Tennessee primary care physicians tend to agree that there is a need for information and training concerning health promotion in smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise, stress, and blood pressure. 4. Tennessee primary care physicians report that support and assistance would be valuable in helping patients with health promotion. 5. There is some evidence of a relationship between Tennessee primary care physicians\u27 self-reported health behavior and self-reported success in counseling patients on smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise, stress and blood pressure

Drivers for change:Reflective practice to enhance creativity in sports coaches

Reflective practice has become a standard component of coach development programmes, almost taken for granted. This research examines the links between long-term reflective learning and the application to, and ongoing effect on coaching practice. Twelve elite sport coaches, from a range of sports, previously took part in a reflective intervention. Nine months after the intervention these coaches participated in semi-structured interviews, specifically, we were interested in what, if any, drivers for change had arisen from critical reflection. Data from the interviews revealed three key themes: extended role of the coach; evolution of decision-making; and creativity and innovation. Reflective practice must be a tool for coach development but to be an effective tool it must be utilised to its full effect, as it has the potential to drive change and encourage creative thinking and practice within sports coaching

‘It pushed me back into the human race’: evaluative findings from a community Christmas event

Many older people in Britain spend Christmas day alone. The Christmas period may be especially difficult for older people who are socially isolated, living with dementia or who have physical impairments, and may feel particularly marginalised at this time of year. This paper draws on evaluative research findings from a community Christmas event held in December 2014 at the University of Salford for older people and their carers who would be on their own on Christmas day. A multi-method approach was employed, seven guests took part in semi-structured interviews to explore their experiences and perceptions of the event, seven staff and student volunteers participated in a group interview to explore and discuss their participation in the event. Data collection took place during April and May 2015. Interview transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were identified from the interviews: ‘reasons for participants attending the event’, ‘a different Christmas day: the impact on guests and volunteers’, and ‘learning, planning and moving forwards’. The findings illustrate that a range of people participated in the Christmas day event for a variety of reasons. The event itself had a positive impact, including the shared experience of social belonging, for all involved. There are tangible longer term benefits as a result of the event, such as ongoing contact between participants and the development of supportive networks in the local community

Global Analysis of Fragmentation Functions for Eta Mesons

Fragmentation functions for eta mesons are extracted at next-to-leading order accuracy of QCD in a global analysis of data taken in electron-positron annihilation and proton-proton scattering experiments. The obtained parametrization is in good agreement with all data sets analyzed and can be utilized, for instance, in future studies of double-spin asymmetries for single-inclusive eta production. The Lagrange multiplier technique is used to estimate the uncertainties of the fragmentation functions and to assess the role of the different data sets in constraining them.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, updated reference

Assessing the Interoperability of mLab and Ushauri mHealth Systems to Enhance Care for HIV/AIDS Patients in Kenya

The core thesis of this study is to explore the legal and technological feasibility to interoperate two mobile health-based solutions in Kenya: Ushauri-Text for Adherence (T4A), and Mobile Laboratory (mLab), to enhance HIV/AIDS care and treatment. This paper focuses on two aspects namely data interoperability by analysing secondary data abstracted from the mLab and the Ushauri databases from June 2017 to June 2018 and doctrinal analysis of the legal and policy environment to support the interoperability. This paper is a case study of the mLab and the Ushauri systems in terms of the technological stack for interoperability which has some legal implications. It includes a pilot study that employed a multistage sampling method in which thirty-nine health facilities in Siaya, Homa bay, Nyeri, and Muranga were selected. Findings show a satisfactory legal environment to augment the interoperability of the two mHealth systems. It is also evident that the two systems were considerably interoperable in terms of technology, semantics, data, and processes. However, interoperating them could largely be compromised by language semantics leading to a discrepancy of characters and numbering in unique identifiers in data entry. Though data in the systems were for the same individuals, it is critical to note that there was a low level of concordance in patient identification numbers in the same facilities where the same patients were receiving clinical services. Additionally, healthcare workers across the various facilities did not follow the NASCOP (2010) eleven-digit unique identifier system. Standardizing human activities while using systems such as the allocation of patient identifiers and following laid down standards while developing systems are critical ways of ensuring interoperability. This paper highlights the need to achieve full-scale implementation of laid down policies and legal requirements such as the systems’ interoperability certification process to standardise the systems and make them interoperable