713 research outputs found
Levels of School Libraries: A Problematic Paradigm
Past research studies have consistently demonstrated a positive correlation between high-quality
school library programs and student achievement. Minorities, students from low
socioeconomic families, and students with disabilities benefit most from strong school library
programs which contribute to closing the achievement gap for vulnerable learners. This work in
progress outlines a planned research-practice partnership between faculty at East Carolina
University and the Community School. Currently, Community School students only have access
to classroom collections and a book repository. This serendipitously occurring environment
provides the opportunity for a pilot study to define current access and impact on student
achievement. The researcher will conduct semi-structured interviews of the school librarian in
the local elementary school as well as Community School administrators, parents, and teachers
(N = 8). Results of these interviews will describe the levels of access for Community School
students and the possible impact on student achievement, laying the groundwork for a causal
research study when the Community School students gain access to the school library
Construction of an Auger Microscope
This thesis describes the design, adaptations and characterizations necessary to partially turn an Auger Electron Spectroscopy Instrument (AES) into an Auger Electron Microscope (AEM). The completed AEM will be able to scan and characterize materials over an area, unlike the AES which only took data from a single point. However, due to time constraints, this thesis only partially describes the creation of an AEM. We were able to show proof-of-concept, though, we were unable to run AEM on a material. We have also increased the theoretical accuracy of the instrument by replacing decades-old electronics with modern alternatives. Again, due to time constraints, we are currently unable to certify this, as we are limited by certain reoccurring errors in our data. Auger Microscopes are powerful tools in surface and deposition characterization. We intend to use the AEM to analyze deposition processes used in the creation of thin film solid state batteries and determine possible defects in the deposition process. To characterize the abilities of our instrument, we first replicated and compared our instrument against the spectrometer\u27s current capabilities. Then we scanned the electron beam across a surface to show that we can create a one dimensional map of our Cylindrical Mirror analyzer\u27s focal point. While we have not successfully shown Auger Microscopy with this instrument, we have left this project with the necessary tools to do so
A Continuum of Care: School Librarian Interventions for New Teacher Resilience
School librarians occupy a unique position to offer supports for first year teachers to build resilience, reduce burnout, and ensure retention. The researcher used the psychology theory of resilience to develop the Continuum of Care model which initiates in mentoring and moves toward a collaborative partnership. Fifteen school librarians in one urban district recruited 26 new teachers in their schools to form the treatment group. All new teachers in the district were surveyed to establish their initial level of resilience and collect demographics. A comparison group of 26 new teachers were matched by scores on a resilience scale at the start of the school year, by school level and by Title I status of the school. The treatment group received interventions using the Continuum of Care model over the course of the following four months. Post-treatment, the comparison group and treatment group were surveyed for level of resilience, burnout, and retention. ANOVA was used to find change in resilience over time for the treatment group. ANCOVA was used to compare resilience and burnout scores for the comparison and treatment groups. Binary logistic regression was used to compare retention of the comparison and treatment groups. Interviews of three school librarian-new teacher pairs brought forth the lived experiences of participants. Findings show that new teachers in the treatment group received significantly higher levels of mentoring and collaboration than new teachers in the comparison group. There was a significant effect for the interaction between level of resilience for the treatment group and age. School librarians and new teachers valued their relationship and voiced the effect on resilience, burnout, and retention. Reaching out to new teachers to bridge the gap between the library and classroom may be considered as best practice for school librarians. This exploratory research study laid the groundwork for further study of the role of the school librarian to support new teacher resilience in the authentic school setting
Research-Practice Partnerships: Reaching Underserved Students in the School Library
The media coordinators in one school district undertook a year-long action research
project to increase diversity of materials in their library collections and the use of these
diverse materials. This study will document and describe their efforts within a researchpractice
partnership, while also providing an analysis of the change in practice over time from
pre- to post-intervention. Content analysis will be used to evaluate purchase orders made
prior to the interventions. Interventions to increase diverse collections and programming will
be instituted by the lead media specialist. During the action research project, the media
coordinators used diversity tools to analyze their collections. Content analysis will again be
used to evaluate purchase orders made after the interventions were implemented. Interviews
of school librarians and the lead media specialist will provide thick description of change in
materials purchasing and use due to professional development interventions
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Jesus and the Divine Name
In his estimable work Not Every Spirit: A Dogmatics of Christian Disbelief, Christopher Morse wisely observes that in the biblical context God’s name is understood to be communicated by God. God’s name "is revealed as a proper and not a generic name or an appellation chosen by human preference." He goes on to elaborate: According to ancient tradition in Genesis the names of creatures are chosen by human selection: "whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name" (Gen. 2:19). Not so with the name of God. So sacred is this name in Hebraic tradition that it is not spoken. Another word, "LORD" (Adonai), is substituted in its place wherever the original appears."
In this essay, I want to explore the scriptural dynamics of God’s self-communicated name with special attention to what is no doubt a simple but nevertheless important and often overlooked fact. The practice of honoring the divine name by avoiding its use is not only a Jewish tradition, as Morse rightly observes, but a Christian one as well. I offer these reflections in token of my great esteem for Christopher Morse as a theologian of the church and in gratitude for his unfailing friendship and generosity
Organizational Commitment, Perceived Supervisor Support, and Performance: A Field Study
This study examined the relationships among supervisor support, organizational commitment, and job performance in a work environment. Specifically, differential relationships between supervisor support, affective commitment, and continuance commitment were explored. The relationship between commitment dimensions and job performance in the presence of supervisor support was also investigated.
A sample of 96 social workers completed measures of affective commitment, continuance commitment, and perceived supervisor support. Participants’ supervisors provided ratings of job performance and withdrawal behaviors. Results indicated that affective commitment is positively related to supervisor support (r = .42, p\u3c.01) and performance (r = .18, p\u3c.05). Continuance commitment was unrelated to any measured variable. When added to the model, affective commitment did not predict performance (β= .11, SE= .17, p\u3e.05), but perceived supervisor support did significantly predict performance (β = .38, SE= .16, p\u3c.05).
Results support past research and extend current knowledge on the relationship between organizational commitment, supervisor support, and job performance. Findings from this study also highlight the importance of supportive treatment by a supervisor on employees’ commitment and job performance
Building Resilience in New and Beginning Teachers: Contributions of School Librarians
Building beginning teachers\u27 resilience may contribute to increasing teacher retention in the early years, in turn improving student academic achievement. School librarians contribute to developing teaching skills by mentoring new teachers. This qualitative study of first to third year teachers and school librarians investigated the contributions that school librarians made in building resilience of beginning teachers through a focus group of new teachers and interviews of school librarians. Findings show that school librarians may contribute to early career teacher resilience, especially during the first days of school, by encouraging perseverance, providing nourishment and empathy, and offering the library as a resource, especially for researc
Exceptional type-I superconductivity of the layered silver oxide AgPbO
We report zero-resistivity transition and the details of magnetic transition
of a layered silver oxide AgPbO single crystal, which make
definitive evidence of superconductivity in this compound. In the AC
susceptibility of a mono-crystal, we observed large supercooling, as well as
positive peaks in the real part of the susceptibility indicating the
reversibility of magnetic process. These observations reveal that
AgPbO is probably the first oxide that shows type-I
superconductivity. Evaluation of the superconducting parameters not only gives
confirming evidence of type-I superconductivity, but also indicates that it is
a dirty-limit superconductor. We also analyze supercooling to determine the
upper limit of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter.Comment: v2: PACS numbers are adde
Temperature dependence of transport spin polarization in NdNi5 measured using Point Contact Andreev reflection
We report a study in which Point contact Andreev reflection (PCAR)
spectroscopy using superconducting Nb tip has been carried out on NdNi5, a
ferromagnet with a Curie temperature of TC~7.7K. The measurements were carried
out over a temperature range of 2-9K which spans across the ferromagnetic
transition temperature. From an analysis of the spectra, we show that (i) the
temperature dependence of the extracted value of transport spin polarization
closely follows the temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetization;
(ii) the superconducting quasiparticle lifetime shows a large decrease close to
the Curie temperature of the ferromagnet. We attribute the latter to the
presence of strong ferromagnetic spin fluctuations in the ferromagnet close to
the ferromagnetic transition temperature.Comment: pdf file including figures-Typographical error and errors in
references correcte
Giant magnetoresistance in quantum magnetic contacts
We present calculations of quantized conductance and magnetoresistance in
nanosize point contacts between two ferromagnetic metals. When conductance is
open for only one conduction electrons spin-projection, the magnitude of
magnetoresistance is limited by the rate of conduction electron spin-reversal
processes. For the case when both spin-channels contribute to the conductance
we analyze the influence of the point contact cross-section asymmetry on the
giant megnetoresistance. Recent experiments on magnetoresistance of magnetic
point contacts are discussed in the framework of the developed theory.Comment: 11 pages, TEX, 2 Figures. Journ. Magn. Magn. Mater. (2002) submitte
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