Student evaluations of teaching: teaching quantitative courses can be hazardous to one's career

Published VersionAnonymous student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are used by colleges and universities to measure teaching effectiveness and to make decisions about faculty hiring, firing, re-appointment, promotion, tenure, and merit pay. Although numerous studies have found that SETs correlate with various teaching effectiveness irrelevant factors (TEIFs) such as subject, class size, and grading standards, it has been argued that such correlations are small and do not undermine the validity of SETs as measures of professors’ teaching effectiveness. However, previous research has generally used inappropriate parametric statistics and effect sizes to examine and to evaluate the significance of TEIFs on personnel decisions. Accordingly, we examined the influence of quantitative vs. non-quantitative courses on SET ratings and SET based personnel decisions using 14,872 publicly posted class evaluations where each evaluation represents a summary of SET ratings provided by individual students responding in each class. In total, 325,538 individual student evaluations from a US mid-size university contributed to theses class evaluations. The results demonstrate that class subject (math vs. English) is strongly associated with SET ratings, has a substantial impact on professors being labeled satisfactory vs. unsatisfactory and excellent vs. non-excellent, and the impact varies substantially depending on the criteria used to classify professors as satisfactory vs. unsatisfactory. Professors teaching quantitative courses are far more likely not to receive tenure, promotion, and/or merit pay when their performance is evaluated against common standards

The identification of individual differences in safety performance : development and validation of a safety values instrument

93 leaves : col. ill. ; 29 cm.Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-61).In the past century, there has been little to no attention focused on an individual’s values towards safety. In this thesis, I have developed and validated a safety values scale with the purpose of investigating the extent to which employees’ safety values are related to safety performance. In study 1, nine subject matter experts identified six items that represent the safety values domain. In study 2 (N= 182), the factor structure of the SVS was examined using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and was affirmed through a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in study 3 (N =410). The EFA and CFA supported the unidimensional structure of the SVS, χ2 (9, N = 410) = 20.88, p = .01, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .06 (90% CI =.025, .089), SRMR = .02. The internal consistency of the SVS was α=.85. Results from a hierarchical multiple regression supported that the SVS contributed significant incremental validity over the Big-Five personality traits and safety climate for safety performance and injury metrics. Practically, the SVS has the potential to be utilized in a selection or training context

Student evaluations of teaching: teaching quantitative courses can be hazardous to one's career

Published VersionAnonymous student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are used by colleges and universities to measure teaching effectiveness and to make decisions about faculty hiring, firing, re-appointment, promotion, tenure, and merit pay. Although numerous studies have found that SETs correlate with various teaching effectiveness irrelevant factors (TEIFs) such as subject, class size, and grading standards, it has been argued that such correlations are small and do not undermine the validity of SETs as measures of professors’ teaching effectiveness. However, previous research has generally used inappropriate parametric statistics and effect sizes to examine and to evaluate the significance of TEIFs on personnel decisions. Accordingly, we examined the influence of quantitative vs. non-quantitative courses on SET ratings and SET based personnel decisions using 14,872 publicly posted class evaluations where each evaluation represents a summary of SET ratings provided by individual students responding in each class. In total, 325,538 individual student evaluations from a US mid-size university contributed to theses class evaluations. The results demonstrate that class subject (math vs. English) is strongly associated with SET ratings, has a substantial impact on professors being labeled satisfactory vs. unsatisfactory and excellent vs. non-excellent, and the impact varies substantially depending on the criteria used to classify professors as satisfactory vs. unsatisfactory. Professors teaching quantitative courses are far more likely not to receive tenure, promotion, and/or merit pay when their performance is evaluated against common standards

A Systematic Genetic Screen to Dissect the MicroRNA Pathway in Drosophila

A central goal of microRNA biology is to elucidate the genetic program of miRNA function and regulation. However, relatively few of the effectors that execute miRNA repression have been identified. Because such genes may function in many developmental processes, mutations in them are expected to be pleiotropic and thus are discarded in most standard genetic screens. Here, we describe a systematic screen designed to identify all Drosophila genes in ∼40% of the genome that function in the miRNA pathway. To identify potentially pleiotropic genes, the screen analyzed clones of homozygous mutant cells in heterozygous animals. We identified 45 mutations representing 24 genes, and we molecularly characterized 9 genes. These include 4 previously known genes that encode core components of the miRNA pathway, including Drosha, Pasha, Dicer-1, and Ago1. The rest are new genes that function through chromatin remodeling, signaling, and mRNA decapping. The results suggest genetic screens that use clonal analysis can elucidate the miRNA program and that ∼100 genes are required to execute the miRNA program

The MicroRNA miR‐8 is a positive regulator of pigmentation and eclosion in Drosophila

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non‐coding RNAs that post‐transcriptionally silence gene expression by binding to target mRNAs. Previous studies have identified the miRNA miR‐8 as a pleiotropic regulator of Drosophila development, controlling body size and neuronal survival by targeting multiple mRNAs. In this study we demonstrate that miR‐8 is also required for proper spatial patterning of pigment on the adult abdominal cuticle in females but not males. Results: Female adult flies lacking miR‐8 exhibit decreased pigmentation of the dorsal abdomen, with a pattern of pigmentation similar to wild type flies grown at higher temperatures. This pigmentation defect in miR‐8 mutants is independent of the previously reported body size defect, and miR‐8 acts directly in the developing cuticle to regulate pigmentation patterning. The decrease in pigmentation in miR‐8 mutants was more pronounced in flies grown at higher temperatures. We also found that loss of miR‐8 dramatically affected the ability to eclose at higher temperatures. Conclusion: Loss of miR‐8 increased the sensitivity of Drosophila to higher temperatures for both pigmentation patterning and the ability to eclose. Together, these data suggest that miR‐8 acts as a buffer to stabilize gene expression patterns in the midst of environmental variation. Developmental Dynamics 241:161–168, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Key findings: miR‐8 is required for proper spatial patterning of pigment on adult female abdomens. The pigmentation patterning defect in miR‐8 mutants is independent of the small body size defect. Loss of miR‐8 in the developing cuticle results in cell‐autonomous loss of pigmentation. MiR‐8 is expressed in the epidermis underlying the dorsal abdominal cuticle. Loss of miR‐8 sensitizes flies to effects of higher growth temperatures on eclosion success and pigmentation patterning.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89565/1/23705_ftp.pd

Single Cell Analysis of Blood Mononuclear Cells Stimulated Through Either LPS or Anti-CD3 and Anti-CD28.

Immune cell activation assays have been widely used for immune monitoring and for understanding disease mechanisms. However, these assays are typically limited in scope. A holistic study of circulating immune cell responses to different activators is lacking. Here we developed a cost-effective high-throughput multiplexed single-cell RNA-seq combined with epitope tagging (CITE-seq) to determine how classic activators of T cells (anti-CD3 coupled with anti-CD28) or monocytes (LPS) alter the cell composition and transcriptional profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy human donors. Anti-CD3/CD28 treatment activated all classes of lymphocytes either directly (T cells) or indirectly (B and NK cells) but reduced monocyte numbers. Activated T and NK cells expressed senescence and effector molecules, whereas activated B cells transcriptionally resembled autoimmune disease- or age-associated B cells (e.g., CD11c, T-bet). In contrast, LPS specifically targeted monocytes and induced two main states: early activation characterized by the expression of chemoattractants and a later pro-inflammatory state characterized by expression of effector molecules. These data provide a foundation for future immune activation studies with single cell technologies (https://czi-pbmc-cite-seq.jax.org/)

The influence of microRNAs and poly(A) tail length on endogenous mRNA–protein complexes

Background: All mRNAs are bound in vivo by proteins to form mRNA-protein complexes (mRNPs), but changes in the composition of mRNPs during posttranscriptional regulation remain largely unexplored. Here, we have analyzed, on a transcriptome-wide scale, how microRNA-mediated repression modulates the associations of the core mRNP components eIF4E, eIF4G, and PABP and of the decay factor DDX6 in human cells. Results: Despite the transient nature of repressed intermediates, we detect significant changes in mRNP composition, marked by dissociation of eIF4G and PABP, and by recruitment of DDX6. Furthermore, although poly(A)-tail length has been considered critical in post-transcriptional regulation, differences in steady-state tail length explain little of the variation in either PABP association or mRNP organization more generally. Instead, relative occupancy of core components correlates best with gene expression. Conclusions: These results indicate that posttranscriptional regulatory factors, such as microRNAs, influence the associations of PABP and other core factors, and do so without substantially affecting steady-state tail length.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant K99GM102319)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant T32GM007753)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01GM067031)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R35GM118135)Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant