A Comprehensive Evaluation Model for Cumputer Based Educaton

As opportunities to use computers in learning laboratory settings increase,directors will be faced with the problem of assisting faculty to select and evaluate themost appropriate courseware for their needs. This article presents a comprehensiveevaluation model that could be applied for computer based education programs in avariety of arts and sciences areas. The model includes a pre-implementation stage.This stage determines program compatibility, content evaluation and hardwareconsiderations. A second stage considers formative evaluation, continued availabilityof equipment and the recording of time records. Finally, the last phase, summativeevaluation, includes collecting student attitudes, assessing cost effectiveness,determining external influences and finally, suggesting ways of reaching a decision ofworth. The implementation of this model should provide a system where studentscould work with computer programs of a proven quality. Also, learning laboratorydirectors and faculty could show a certain level of accountability towards spendingmoney on computer software or courseware

Arts Corps Program Evaluation Report

Founded in 2000 on the principle that all young people -- not just those with resources -- should have access to quality arts learning opportunities, Arts Corps is now a leading nonprofit arts education organization in Seattle. Starting with just a few classes at six sites, Arts Corps now serves over 2,000 K-12th grade students a year at approximately 40 sites. Arts Corps places after-school classes and in-school residencies primarily at schools and community centers serving low-income youth who often have few other opportunities for arts learning. Programs cover the spectrum of arts disciplines from dance to visual arts to photography to music, and include popular classes such as Brazilian dance, theater, comic illustration, spoken word, sculpture and more. Programming is designed to foster artistic competencies and creative habits of mind such as imagination, healthy risk-taking, reflection, persistence and critical thinking. The program operates on a school year, with select workshops occurring in the summer months. Arts Corps has conducted program evaluation since inception and has refined its focus each year to better explore and describe the impacts of arts classes on students. This report represents Arts Corps' evaluation work during the 2011-2012 program year

Habermas, the Public Sphere, and WikiLeaks: The Public Sphere and the Right to Know

Jürgen Habermas, a German theorist, coined the public sphere as a place where citizens could interact, study, and debate issues together outside the realm of the home or family, which was defined as the private sphere. The public sphere can also be seen as a “manifestation of citizen sovereignty”. At its core, Habermas centered the public sphere around feudalism and the shift of one all-powerful individual reigning and representing the public to those citizens under the control of the state. Some critics argue voices encouraging the minorities were actually private voices leaking into the public sphere, while others argue the shift in digital media and political climates contribute to complications in achieving Habermas’s true public sphere. In today’s modern era, the public sphere can be manifested through citizen journalism and independent media sources, especially on the Internet. The debate between the power and weight of the public sphere, or the public’s right to know, and the government’s claims to protect national security has been rampant as more leakers and whistleblowers share information. I use the Habermasian theory of the public sphere to gain insight into three case studies: the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden’s leaks about the U.S. National Security Agency, and Julian Assange’s whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks. Ultimately, the public sphere allows for the media and the citizenry to hold their governments accountable for wrongdoings

Sex- and season-dependent behaviour in a flightless insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica)

In a polygynous mating system, males frequently compete by locating and defending sites with resources essential to female survival and reproduction. We investigated seasonal changes in site occupancy in a sexually dimorphic, harem-forming insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica). First we established artificial cavities as diurnal refuge cavities and potential harem guarding sites. We then examined cavity occupancy changes, and, based on our knowledge of prior occupants, determined sex-specific patterns of arrival, departure, and aggregation at a population level throughout the year. Both season and the sex of prior occupants influenced weta occupancy patterns. Most observations were of single females. However, both males and females moved into cavities previously occupied by a weta of the opposite sex more often than expected by chance alone. Females avoided cavities where other females were present, except during summer when most harems formed. In early summer, male and female tree weta previously living apart began co-habiting. Generally there was little relationship between the number and sex of the weta inside cavities and female departure rates from cavities. Males who were sharing with other males departed cavities more frequently than single males, as might be expected in a polygynous species with male-male combat. Males were less likely to depart if they were sharing a cavity with a harem of more than two females during the summer-autumn period. Analysis of departure rates from artificial cavities indicates males are more mobile than females only in winter and spring. Based on our arrival and departure data, and high occupancy of artificial cavities, we suggest that female weta at this site are mobile and may search for mates during the summer. The data are consistent with a polygynandrous mating system as inferred for other tree weta species (Hemideina spp.)

The Effectiveness of Sentence Combining on the Reading, Writing, and Knowledge of Selected Aspects of English Grammar of Sixth Grade Students

Purpose This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of sentence combining exercises on the reading, writing, and knowledge of selected aspects of English grammar on sixth grade students. The experiment sought to discover whether or not transformational sentence combining activities could teach grammar more effectively than did the traditional approach of memorizing and identifying terminology. The experiment also sought to determine the possibility of teaching students traditional grammar terminology and at the same time illustrating through sentence combining the function of grammatical operations. Secondarily, this study sought to discover a connection between syntactic awareness through sentence combining and reading comprehension. The study further sought to validate the already established finding that practice in sentence combining would enable students to write syntactically more mature sentences. The null hypotheses formulated were: (1) As measured by Hayes Standardized Test on Parts of Speech and a teacher-made test on transformations, there is no difference in knowledge and understanding of grammar between students who have received sentence combining treatment and those who have not. (2) As measured by T-units in writing samples, there is no difference in syntactic maturity of writing between students who have received sentence combining instruction and those who have not. (3) As measured by the Nelson Reading Test (Form A), there is no difference in the Reading Comprehension scores between students who received sentence combining instruction and those who have not. Procedure Daily lessons were taught on sentence combining procedure and transformational grammar. Self-instructional worksheets and task sheets were used in conjunction with daily lessons. For the study, 47 students who composed two intact classes were assigned the control group and 47 students composing two intact classes were assigned the experimental group. The investigator was the instructor for both experimental English classes. Students in the-control group were taught by two separate instructors, one for each of the two classes. Control group students were taught grammar by the traditional method. At the end of a six-month period, subjects were asked to take two grammar tests, one standardized and one teacher-made, a reading test, and to produce a narrative writing sample. The T-test for independent samples was applied using group means and standard deviations for each of the three test instruments. Results Both hypotheses (1) and (2) were rejected. Since the ability level in control class 1 ( gifted and talented ) was significantly higher than control class 2 and the experimental classes, the control group was separated for comparisons. When comparing the experimental classes with control class 2, a class of students of equal ability with the experimental classes, the results of the data showed that the experimental classes were significantly higher than control class 2 using the t test of significance. There was no significant difference found on the standardized parts of speech test between the experimental classes and the control class 1 ( gifted and talented ), although the mean average was higher in control class 1. However, there was a significant difference on the transformation test between the experimental class and control class 1 in favor of the experimental classes. The experimental classes were also found to be significantly higher on both grammar tests than was control class 2. In comparing the writing samples there was no significant difference between the experimental classes and control class 1. The results, in fact, were nearly equal. However, when comparing the experimental classes with control class 2, the results were significantly higher at the .05 level of significance. Hypothesis (3) was not rejected. The scores for control class 1 were significantly higher than for the experimental classes, and there was no significant difference between the scores of the experimental classes and control class 2. However, the rate of growth in the experimental classes and control class 2 was four times as great as the control class 1 ( gifted and talented ). Conclusion It was concluded that there is a difference in knowledge and understanding of grammar between students who receive transformational sentence combining instruction and practice and those who are exposed to the traditional approach of memorizing terminology. It was further concluded that sentence combining practice does enable students to write syntactically more mature sentences. The investigation, however, did not find any difference in reading comprehension between students who had received sentence combining treatment and those who did not. The results in the reading comprehension suggest that the approach and instruments used in the control classes were equally effective in enhancing students\u27 reading comprehension as those used in the experimental classes. Therefore, according to the results of this experiment, while sentence combining practices are an effective approach to teaching English grammar and writing skills, they do not necessarily enhance reading comprehension

Predictors of Success in Entry-level Master\u27s Degree Programs in Athletic Training

ABSTRACT Athletic training educational program directors use a variety of admission criteria to select qualified applicants who they anticipate will succeed academically and professionally. No standard sets of admission criteria exist for identifying a student’s ability to succeed in an entry-level master’s degree athletic training program or on the Board of Certification (BOC) examination. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the relationship between entry-level master’s degree athletic training student demographic and academic factors and first- attempt passing rate on the BOC examination. The research questions examined the relationship between age, gender, admission grade point average (GPA), final GPA, and BOC exam success. Data (N = 73) from 3 Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE)-accredited entry-level master’s athletic training education programs were used in this study. The results of the Pearson correlation indicated a positive relationship between admission GPA and final GPA and a positive relationship between final GPA and passing the BOC examination on the first attempt. With an increased demand for athletic training professionals (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) and a new focus on the program outcomes by the accrediting association (CAATE, 2013), the results of this study will assist athletic training educators in selecting and preparing students who have the greatest potential to succeed

All the World\u27s a Stage...

The art of painting the face in private life has been in vogue from the earliest days of the world\u27s history. To this day, scores of the races of mankind paint their bodies and faces. The gentle art of make-up was known in England as far back as the fourteenth century, long before there were any regular stages or actors