Teaching Appropriate Play to Replace Stereotypy Using a Treatment Package with Students Having Autism

Students with special education needs such as autism tend to have difficulty with appropriate play skills and leisure time skills.┬á A lack of play may lead to inappropriate behaviors such as stereotypy or passivity.┬á When students have a limited community of reinforcers it may be difficult for educators to find motivators that can be used to teach language, social, academics, and other skills. The present study tested a treatment package in a small group format on the on task painting behavior and stereotypy of four boys between 5 and 12 years old having autism.┬á Using a delayed multiple baseline across students experimental design, a functional relationship was demonstrated between an observed increase in on task painting behavior and decrease in stereotypy of all four students as a function of their participation.┬á Limitations of the present study were also discussed.┬

An Exploratory Study of Personal Reflection and Collaboration Skills using Online Collaborative Tool in Project-Based Learning

By deepening our understanding of the use of Web 2.0 for reflective practice, knowledge co-construction and project based learning this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of collaborative learning. The paper investigates a case study of a post-graduate system development subject to increase student learning through the development of students’ personal reflection and collaboration skills. The project aims to develop key foundational knowledge and skills identified in the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines, i.e. the ability to work collaboratively. Of particular interest was the ability of student collaboration combined with personal reflective learning to lead to negotiation of meaning and co-construction of knowledge. A case study approach was used to investigate the use Web 2.0 tools of wikis and blogs to facilitate online collaborative project development. Our result shows that individual learning experience can influence contribution made to team project

Predicting Aggregate and State-Level US House Price Volatility: The Role of Sentiment

This paper examines the predictive ability of housing-related sentiment on housing market volatility for 50 states, District of Columbia, and the aggregate US economy, based on quarterly data covering 1975:3 and 2017:3. Given that existing studies have already shown housing sentiment to predict movements in aggregate and state-level housing returns, we use a k-th order causality-in-quantiles test for our purpose, since this methodology allows us to test for predictability for both housing returns and volatility simultaneously. In addition, this test being a data-driven approach accommodates the existing nonlinearity (as detected by formal tests) between volatility and sentiment, besides providing causality over the entire conditional distribution of (returns and) volatility. Our results show that barring 5 states (Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska), housing sentiment is observed to predict volatility barring the extreme ends of the conditional distribution. As far as returns are concerned, except for California, predictability is observed for all of the remaining 51 cases

A high-frequency quad-modulus prescaler for fractional-N frequency synthesizer

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Dietary Strategies to Optimize Wound Healing after Periodontal and Dental Implant Surgery: An Evidence-Based Review

Methods to optimize healing through dietary strategies present an attractive option for patients, such that healing from delicate oral surgeries occurs as optimally as possible with minimal patient-meditated complications through improper food choices. This review discusses findings from studies that have investigated the role of diet, either whole foods or individual dietary components, on periodontal health and their potential role in wound healing after periodontal surgery. To date, research in this area has largely focused on foods or individual dietary components that may attenuate inflammation or oxidant stress, or foster de novo bone formation. These studies suggest that a wide variety of dietary components, including macronutrients and micronutrients, are integral for optimal periodontal health and have the potential to accelerate oral wound healing after periodontal procedures. Moreover, this review provides guidance regarding dietary considerations that may help a patient achieve the best possible outcome after a periodontal procedure

Validity and reliability of questionnaires measuring physical activity self-efficacy, enjoyment, social support among Hong Kong Chinese children

AbstractBackgroundPhysical activity (PA) correlates have not been extensively studied in Hong Kong children.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to assess the validity and reliability of translated scales to measure PA related self-efficacy, enjoyment and social support in Hong Kong Chinese children.MethodsSample 1 (n=273, aged 8–12years) was recruited (May–June, 2013) from two primary schools. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted to assess factorial validity. Criterion validity was assessed by correlating measured constructs with self-reported PA. Cronbach's alpha was computed to assess scale internal consistency. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was performed to assess scale test–retest reliability. Criterion validity was further examined in Sample 2 (n=84, aged 8–12years) from a third school by correlating measured constructs with objectively measured PA collected in September 2013 and February 2014.ResultsThe CFA results supported the one-factor structure of the scales. All PA correlates were significantly (p<0.01) associated with self-reported PA in Sample 1. Self-efficacy and enjoyment were significantly (p<0.05) correlated with objectively measured PA in Sample 2. All the scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency. All ICC values of the scales suggested acceptable test–retest reliability.ConclusionThe results provide psychometric support for using the scales to measure PA correlates among Hong Kong Chinese children

Implementing business related projects in Foundation Commerce: Business studies units

Group-based class projects have been used as popular pedagogical tools by many institutions in developing team-work skills among students. The ability to work in teams is a much valued skill sought by many organisations (Shaw, 2004). Studies on the inclusion of business related group projects as assessments at foundation programs level, is scarce. This paper reports on a case study that investigated the perceptions of both students and staff regarding the inclusion of business related group projects in commerce units in a foundation programme. The study looked at students’ learning experiences, knowledge gained, and attitudes towards group-based assessments reflecting the effectiveness and value of including group projects in commerce units. The units which incorporated group based projects include Accounting, Business Management and Economics. In general, students agree that group-based projects facilitate learning new skills or concepts from team members, enhance problem solving skills, and promote team work skills. The teaching staff’s perceptions on the inclusion of the projects were encouraging and positive for most units. However, the implementation process of the projects for some units, warrant further investigation in order to enhance and improve the learning experiences of the students

Development of advanced fragrant rice lines from MR269 × Basmati 370 through marker-assisted backcrossing

Fragrance in rice is an appealing attribute to consumers. The increasing demand for fragrant rice highlights the need to develop fragrant rice variety that suit the preference of local consumers in addition to reduce fragrant rice imports. Marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) was employed to develop advanced fragrant rice lines from the cross between MR269 and Basmati 370. MR269 is a Malaysian high-yielding rice variety but non-fragrant and was used as recurrent parent whereas Basmati 370 is a well-known fragrant traditional rice variety and was used as donor parent for the fragrance gene. Two generations of backcrosses and a generation of selfing were conducted to introgress the fragrance gene and restore the recurrent parent genome in the backcross progenies. As a result, 14 advanced fragrant rice lines were developed. These advanced fragrant rice lines carried homozygous alleles for the fragrance gene, similar to Basmati 370. The average recovery of recurrent parent genome was 88.4%. Besides being fragrant, the advanced fragrant rice lines also had most of the morphological and agronomical traits similar to MR269. Grain quality of the advanced fragrant rice lines in terms of gelatinization temperature, amylose content and gel consistency are also similar to both parents. Besides, the advanced fragrant rice lines had 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline content similar to Basmati 370. MABC approach applied in this study has successfully introgressed the fragrance gene and accelerated the recovery of recurrent parent genome in advanced fragrant rice lines, therefore these lines can be delivered to the farmers and consumers for use in due time