How Useful is IS 2002? A Case Study Applying the Model Curriculum

IS 2002 is the most recent iteration of the Information Systems (IS) model curriculum. After many years of effort, there is little consensus on the definition and core requirements of IS, or the appropriate use of the model curriculum. This paper reports on our recent experience using IS 2002 to revise an undergraduate IS curriculum. This work exposed similar disagreements and uncertainty among our students and faculty. Focus groups with juniors and seniors presented a variety of opinions on the nature of IS. A survey of faculty about the fundamental objectives of IS 2002 was used to determine faculty ranking of overall goals. We found that IS 2002 provided a useful, practical framework for discussion and structuring of IS course topics, goals, and sequence. The culture of the IS academic field seems to resist conformity to a single curriculum, yet IS 2002 proved in our experience to be a flexible resource easily adapted to our institution\u27s vision of an IS undergraduate degree

Integrated Visionaries

Integrated Visionaries, David Ocelotl Garcia, University Art Collection, College of Science and Mathematics. Acrylic on board. Cal Poly’s College of Science and Mathematics unveiled a 22’ by 6’foot diversity-themed mural on May 26, 2017 in the main lobby of the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics (No. 180). The mural—“Integrated Visionaries”—represents the study and research of science and mathematics while considering themes of inclusivity, diversity and community. It integrates a stylized approach that allows viewers to see themselves in the mural. This catalog is based on the onsite installation and opening reception for the mural in May 2017

Leadership for Learning Improvement in Urban Schools

Examines urban school leaders' efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning by supporting progress for diverse students, sharing leadership work, and aligning resources. Analyzes school environments and coordination of various leadership roles

EDS Usability Testing Final Report

Usability studies in academic libraries are essential tools to assess functionality and accessibility of library services. The University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries recently conducted usability studies on EBSCO’s Discovery Service, which is to be the default search platform on the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries’ website beginning on July 2017. During the spring of 2017, Information Resources Management’s Usability Team utilized surveys, focus groups, and hands-on testing of students and faculty to assess how library patrons interacted with the new discovery service (EDS) and other related library services. The following report documents this usability study, findings discovered, and recommendations hitherto. The following recommendations are broken into three categories: dataload (i.e. bibliographic records), design, and library services

Cost-Effectiveness of an Online Intervention for Caregivers of People Living With Dementia

OBJECTIVES: Little evidence exists on costs or cost-effectiveness of online interventions for caregivers of people living with dementia. We aimed to assess cost-effectiveness of online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for dementia caregivers with mild-to-moderate depression/anxiety, with or without telephone support, relative to a psychoeducational control treatment. DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness study of data from 3-armed randomized controlled trial comparing computerized CBT (cCBT) or telephone-supported cCBT (cCBT+Telephone) to modular online educational program on dementia (Psychoeducation). SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: UK-resident adult dementia caregivers with mild-to-moderate anxiety/depression. COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS: We calculated health and social care costs, from participant-reported data collected at baseline, 12, 26 weeks, costs of intervention delivery. We examined 3 outcomes: cost of one-point reduction in General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) rating at 26-weeks, cost of prevented "caseness" on GHQ-12 at 26 weeks, and cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) based on Short Form-6 Dimensions (SF-6D) over 26 weeks. RESULTS: Data from 176 participants (44 cCBT, 91 cCBT+Telephone, 41 Psychoeducation) were analyzed. Costs did not differ between cCBT and Psychoeducation; costs were £125 higher in cCBT+Telephone. Control and intervention groups did not differ on GHQ-12. Caseness was lower in cCBT+Telephone than Psychoeducation; cost of preventing a case was £610, and probability of cost-effectiveness on this outcome reached 98.5% at willingness to pay (WTP) of £12,900. Mean QALY did not differ between cCBT+Telephone and Psychoeducation. QALY gain in cCBT was 0.01 (95% CI 0.001, 0.021). Cost per QALY was £8130. Although base case probability of cost-effectiveness of cCBT was 93% at WTP-per-QALY of £27,600, sensitivity analyses suggested cCBT+Telephone was the more cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: We report preliminary evidence for adopting telephone-supported online CBT. This may be cost-effective in preventing a case of mental health disorder if, absent a societally accepted WTP threshold for this outcome, payers are willing to pay £12,900. Future research should investigate whether supported/unsupported online CBT improves health-related quality of life

Antiferromagnetism and charged vortices in high-Tc superconductors

The effect of the long-range Coulomb interaction on charge accumulation in antiferromagnetic vortices in high-Tc superconductors is studied within a Bogoliubov-de Gennes mean-field model of competing antiferromagnetic and d-wave superconducting orders. Antiferromagnetism is found to be associated with an accumulation of charge in the vortex core, even in the presence of the long-range Coulomb interaction. The manifestation of Pi-triplet pairing in the presence of coexisting dSC and AFM order, and the intriguing appearance of one-dimensional stripe-like ordering are discussed. The local density of states (LDOS) in the vortex core is calculated and is found to be in excellent qualitative agreement with experimental data.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 2 column RevTex4 PRB forma

National Evaluation of the Partnerships for Older People Projects: Interim Report of Progress

This second interim report provides a summary of key findings from the National Evaluation of the Department of Health’s POPP Programme. These summary findings are based on data collected and analysed over the last two years of the POPP programme (April 2006 to March 2008) and are made available to support emerging learning around prevention and early intervention. As the majority of the pilot sites still have one year to run, these findings, outcomes and subsequent discussion may be subject to change. All the issues and evidence on which these findings are based will be made available in the Final Report of the National Evaluation to be published in Autumn 2009

Examining the Attitudes and Knowledge of Pregnant Teens on the Topic of SIDS

Background: Norfolk has the second highest teen pregnancy rate and third highest infant mortality rate in Southeastern Virginia. SIDS is the third leading cause of infant death in Virginia. Providing a group education intervention modeled after centering pregnancy gives teen mothers the opportunity to learn and receive support in a safe space in hopes of making a positive impact on their attitudes and knowledge regarding SIDS. Hypothesis: Do the attitudes and knowledge of pregnant teens and recent teen mothers change positively after a group education intervention on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Method: Quasi-experimental non-randomized group trial. This includes pregnant females ages fifteen to nineteen in Norfolk, Virginia at a city general hospital. The data will be collected from a pretest before and posttest after a group education intervention on SIDS. Data Collection: Hypothesis testing will be conducted using a t-test to determine group differences in attitudes and knowledge after the intervention. Participants will also be completing a PRAMS demographics survey. Goal: To see if the SIDS education intervention has an impact on the knowledge of teen mothers in efforts to reduce the current SIDS rate contributing to Norfolk\u27s high infant mortality rate

SWATted away : the challenging experience of setting up a programme of SWATs in paediatric trials

The authors wish to acknowledge the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research funding for the TRECA study (NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research Project: 14/21/21). The NIHR did not have a role in the design of the study or the writing of this manuscript. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.Peer reviewedPublisher PD