Exploring the recontextualisation of biology in the CAPS for Life Sciences

AbstractThis study is concerned with the recontextualisation of biology in the most recent version ofthe South African Life Sciences curriculum, the CAPS (Curriculum and Assessment PolicyStatements). The following aspects of the curriculum were assessed: the balance ofcanonical and humanistic material, the inclusion and weighting of the core concepts ofbiology, and the overall curriculum coherence. The results were compared with those forearlier versions of the curriculum, and the implications for South African students areconsidered. The study reveals that, according to these criteria, the content material of theCAPS faithfully reflects the hierarchical nature of its parent discipline biolog

The Effect of Using E-Learning Tools in Online and Campus-based Classrooms on Student Performance

Creating an integrative research framework that extends a model frequently used in the Information Systems field, the Technology Acceptance Model, together with variables used in the Education field, this empirical study investigates the factors influencing student performance as reflected by their final course grade. The Technology Acceptance Model explains computer acceptance in general terms. The model measures the impact of external variables on internal beliefs, attitudes, and intentions. Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use, two main constructs in the model, refer to an individual\u27s perception of how the adoption of a new technology will increase their efficiency, and the individual\u27s perception of how easy the technology will be to use. The lower the perceived effort is, the easier the technology will be to adopt. Thus, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Computer Self-Efficacy, and Computer Anxiety were measured to determine their effect on student performance. The proliferation of the personal computer was possible because of the applications written for it. The continuous creation of new applications has created ample ground to test the Technology Acceptance Model to determine how a user will decide to adopt such applications. The recent escalation of delivering online education via the Internet has again sparked a new dimension of information systems. This has given rise to research using the Technology Acceptance Model for applications in the Education field. Today’s modern classroom, whether online or campus-based, uses e-learning tools and Learning Management Systems that capture student cognition and engages them in the learning process via technology, while increasing their need for self-directedness. In view of this, the present study also considers the students’ ability to work independently. The results of the statistical analysis used in this study revealed marked differences in student perceptions of e-learning tools between students who chose to take an online course and students who preferred to take the campus-based section. Additionally, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and the students’ ability to work independently were all statistically significant factors in predicting students’ final grades

The cost-effectiveness of nivolumab monotherapy for the treatment of advanced melanoma patients in England

Background: Nivolumab was the first programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor to demonstrate long-term survival benefit in a clinical trial setting for advanced melanoma patients. Objective: To evaluate the cost effectiveness of nivolumab monotherapy for the treatment of advanced melanoma patients in England. Methods: A Markov state-transition model was developed to estimate the lifetime costs and benefits of nivolumab versus ipilimumab and dacarbazine for BRAF mutation-negative patients and versus ipilimumab, dabrafenib, and vemurafenib for BRAF mutation-positive patients. Covariate-adjusted parametric curves for time to progression, pre-progression survival, and post-progression survival were fitted based on patient-level data from two trials and long-term ipilimumab survival data. Indirect treatment comparisons between nivolumab, ipilimumab, and dacarbazine were informed by these covariate-adjusted parametric curves, controlling for differences in patient characteristics. Kaplan–Meier data from the literature were digitised and used to fit progression-free and overall survival curves for dabrafenib and vemurafenib. Patient utilities and resource use data were based on trial data or the literature. Patients are assumed to receive nivolumab until there is no further clinical benefit, assumed to be the first of progressive disease, unacceptable toxicity, or 2 years of treatment. Results: Nivolumab is the most cost-effective treatment option in BRAF mutation-negative and mutation-positive patients, with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of £24,483 and £17,362 per quality-adjusted life year, respectively. The model results are most sensitive to assumptions regarding treatment duration for nivolumab and the parameters of the fitted parametric survival curves. Conclusions: Nivolumab is a cost-effective treatment for advanced melanoma patients in England

The Iowa Homemaker vol.13, no.5

What a Big Difference… By Ruth Cook If You Can Can… By Hazel Moore Children Need Toys… By Gladys M. Johnson Miss 4-H Goes to College… By Edith Bloo

(The) micro method in organic chemistry ..

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Typewritten sheets in cover. Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University Bibliography: p. 77

Associations between maternal characteristics and pharmaceutical treatment of gestational diabetes: an analysis of the UK Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort study

Objectives: To identify the maternal characteristics associated with pharmaceutical treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Design: Prospective birth cohort study. Setting: Bradford, UK. Participants: 762 women from the Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort who were treated for GDM in a singleton pregnancy. BiB cohort participants were recruited from 2007 to 2010. All women booked for delivery were screened for GDM between 26 and 28 weeks of gestation using a 75 g 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Outcome measure: GDM treatment type: lifestyle changes advice (lifestyle changes), lifestyle changes advice with supplementary insulin (insulin) and lifestyle changes advice with supplementary metformin (metformin). Results: 244 (32%) women were prescribed lifestyle changes advice alone while 518 (68%) were offered supplemental pharmaceutical treatment. The odds of receiving pharmaceutical treatment relative to lifestyle changes advice alone were increased for mothers who were obese (OR 4.6, 95% CI 2.8 to 7.5), those who smoked (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 5.5) and had higher fasting glucose levels at OGTT (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.6 to 2.7). The odds of being prescribed pharmaceutical treatment rather than lifestyle changes advice were lower for Pakistani women (OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.4 to 1.0)) than White British women. Relative to insulin treatment, metformin was more likely to be offered to obese women than normal weight women (relative risk ratio, RRR 3.2, 95% CI 1.3 to 7.8) and less likely to be prescribed to women with higher fasting glucose concentrations at OGTT (RRR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.6). Conclusions: In the BiB cohort, GDM pharmaceutical treatment tended to be prescribed to women who were obese, White British, who smoked and had more severe hyperglycaemia. The characteristics of metformin-treated mothers differed from those of insulin-treated mothers as they were more likely to be obese but had lower glucose concentrations at diagnosis

Partnering with Faith Communities: Challenges of Religious and Secular Literacy

Partnering with Faith Communities: Challenges of Religious and Secular Literacy While many scholars have noted the necessity of a grasp of the complexity of religious belief for engagement in international relations, human rights, and humanitarian work, the topic of religious belief remains fraught and underdeveloped in human rights activism. Concerns include the conviction that religion must be treated as private in order to preserve an inclusive public life; evidence that religious communities may oppose the human rights\u27 groups commitments on LGBTQI and women\u27s rights; and anxieties that various religious groups will exclude or manipulate those who are not members and use their influence to proselytize. On the other hand, some faith communities interested in partnering with human rights activism struggle to express and maintain their own distinctive missions, resisting instrumentalization of their resources. This session will focus on the challenges of promoting religious literacy among international organizations and among partners. What is ‘religious literacy’? How is it related to a need for “secular literacy,” i.e. an understanding of the complexity of secularisms and the assumptions that undergird them, the biases that they entail? To what extent can various faiths and secularisms “translate” their beliefs, and how will faith actors and human rights activists cooperate around those aspects that cannot be translated? Rob Brodrick, one of the authors of the Harvard Religious Literacy Project’s paper, “Local Humanitarian Leadership and Religious Literacy: Engaging with Religion, Faith, and Faith Actors,” will provide an overview of the state of the question. Three responses will be offered, including representation from faith communities interested in collaboration on human rights, human rights activism working to include faith communities, and scholars examining questions of “translation” of faith traditions. Convener: Kelly Johnson Main Presenter: Rob Broderick, Ph.D. Respondents: Anwar Khan (Islamic Relief, USA), Edith Tapia (Hope Border Institute), Leocadie Lushombo (Boston College

Partnering with Faith Communities: Challenges of Religious and Secular Literacy

Partnering with Faith Communities: Challenges of Religious and Secular Literacy While many scholars have noted the necessity of a grasp of the complexity of religious belief for engagement in international relations, human rights, and humanitarian work, the topic of religious belief remains fraught and underdeveloped in human rights activism. Concerns include the conviction that religion must be treated as private in order to preserve an inclusive public life; evidence that religious communities may oppose the human rights\u27 groups commitments on LGBTQI and women\u27s rights; and anxieties that various religious groups will exclude or manipulate those who are not members and use their influence to proselytize. On the other hand, some faith communities interested in partnering with human rights activism struggle to express and maintain their own distinctive missions, resisting instrumentalization of their resources. This session will focus on the challenges of promoting religious literacy among international organizations and among partners. What is ‘religious literacy’? How is it related to a need for “secular literacy,” i.e. an understanding of the complexity of secularisms and the assumptions that undergird them, the biases that they entail? To what extent can various faiths and secularisms “translate” their beliefs, and how will faith actors and human rights activists cooperate around those aspects that cannot be translated? Rob Brodrick, one of the authors of the Harvard Religious Literacy Project’s paper, “Local Humanitarian Leadership and Religious Literacy: Engaging with Religion, Faith, and Faith Actors,” will provide an overview of the state of the question. Three responses will be offered, including representation from faith communities interested in collaboration on human rights, human rights activism working to include faith communities, and scholars examining questions of “translation” of faith traditions. Convener: Kelly Johnson Main Presenter: Rob Broderick, Ph.D. Respondents: Anwar Khan (Islamic Relief, USA), Edith Tapia (Hope Border Institute), Leocadie Lushombo (Boston College