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Are Ohio's Nursing Homes Ready for an Emergency?
Get PDFOn any given day in Ohio's nursing homes, there are nearly 78,000 residents with physical or cognitive impairments. This means that nursing homes may be vulnerable during emergencies that require either evacuation or necessitate sheltering in place. A module regarding preparedness and planning in Ohio nursing homes was included in the 2013 Biennial Long-term Care Survey administered by the Scripps Gerontology Center. Findings and implications are discussed
Seeking public space: Architecture, democracy and citizenship in Turkey
Get PDFArchitecture is fundamentally a political activity.
What makes living interesting is the environment
that changes constantly, and politics is not only
the essence of this alternating environment, but
also it is the essence of the design process. The
experience I had during Gezi Park protests in
Turkey has changed my perspective about
occupying and sharing a public space. The social
and political influences of the protest have
encouraged many citizens to be aware of their
environment. In the course of demonstrations,
protestors chose a symbol that reflects the
ideology of the uprising: a tree. Certainly the
issue was beyond a tree, but it was representing
the connection between urban public spaces and
citizens. This paper investigates how to create a
political public space that minimizes government
resistance and empowers citizens to actively
participate in the decision-making process. The
research is executed using an empirical method
and through observations, case studies,
interviews, and literature, data is collected for
analysis. The potential of 'virtual' public space in
conjunction with the importance of 'physical'
public space allows for the expansion of
conventional criteria of democratic action, which
further empowers the citizen by alleviating the
force of government interventi
Manifesting Movement
No full textAre you stressed? What makes us so stressed? With my proposed
research I hope to find how we can use the study of human movement
through built space and sensory environments to shape an architecture that
can help relieve the stresses brought by the modern mode of life. Is it even
possible to use architecture to help free the minds of its users to allow them
to over come the many negative affects of stress on the body? To help find
the answer to such questions I will be using a multidisciplinary approach
focusing mainly on the psychological, biological and social movement of
humans through their environments. In the development of my own research
I will be using several different forms of participatory observation studies,
case studies of relevant architectural projects dealing with movement as well
as number of face to face interviews with distinguished members of the many
fields connected to human movement. With the use of such research methods
I hope to garner further understanding of the many levels of interaction
between humans and their built Environment, the psychology of natural
human movement as well as the role of light in human spatial cognition,
understanding and movement through space. The use of the previously
stated research methods will allow me to successfully connect and understand
the movement of the human body, which will allow me to more dynamically
create an architectural intervention that responds to both the natural
movement tendency of humans as well as the many stresses brought by the
rushed disconnected lies we live
“MOOCing” On Up? Experiences of an Elusive Course Completer
Get PDFIn this article, I apply autoethnography to recount and analyze my experiences as a recent enrollee and course completer of a massive open online course (MOOC). Research surrounding MOOCs heretofore has been predominantly quantitative in nature, whereas this research utilizes a qualitative approach and offers a student’s in-depth perspective. While participating in the course, and in its aftermath, I engaged in systematic observation and reflection. Generally, my experience was positive, prompting me to analyze consistencies and discrepancies between my vantage points and those stemming from emerging MOOC research and media discourse. Most significantly, my lived experience might provide a window into better understanding MOOC access, persistence, and course completion, each of which is central to current discourse regarding MOOCs, including appraisals of their worth. It is hoped that this exploratory research will supplement current research and suggest future research in these areas
Inoculative freezing and the problem of winter survival for freshwater macroinvertebrates
Get PDFDue to the thermal buffering of their environment, aquatic invertebrates are less likely than their terrestrial counterparts to face temperatures substantially below 0°C. Aquatic invertebrates may not be able to avoid internal freezing by supercooling (remaining unfrozen at temperatures below the freezing point of their body fluids), however, because when their body temperatures reach the freezing point of body fluids, these organisms will likely be in contact with external ice, which may induce formation of internal ice (i.e., inoculative freezing). In this study, a variety of winter-collected, aquatic invertebrates (a clam, Sphaerium sp.; an isopod, Lirceus fontinalis; a mayfly, Stenomena femoratum; a belostomatid, Belostoma flumineum; 2 dytiscids, Ilybius oblitus and Agabus disintegratus) and, for comparison, a terrestrial beetle (Hippodamia convergens) were studied with respect to their low temperature tolerance. No species appeared to lower its freezing point appreciably by accumulating colligatively active solutes in body fluids, and all aquatic species supercooled moderately (-5 to -7°C), but significantly less than the terrestrial beetle (-16°C), before freezing when chilled in a dry environment. However, when chilled in contact with external ice, all animals froze at their melting points or just below (as low as ∼-2°C for the beetles), showing that they are susceptible to inoculative freezing. All aquatic species readily survived exposures to sub-zero temperatures when supercooled, but succumbed to the same conditions when inoculated by external ice. Survival of low temperatures by temperate zone aquatic invertebrates appears to depend upon thermal buffering provided by the aquatic environment, slow progress of ice formation in bodies of water at high sub-zero temperatures, avoidance of contact with external ice, and tolerance of high sub-zero temperatures when freezing does not occur in the animals themselves
Student Perceptions of an Introductory Laboratory Course
Get PDFWe surveyed students taking an introductory university physics laboratory course over the summer. These
students are science majors, but not physics majors. Eighteen students were interviewed, asked what they thought the purpose of the laboratory course was. Student perceptions of the purpose of the laboratory course and about what they liked and did not like about the course will be shared. These student responses lead to implications for instruction and implications for improving communication among faculty, teaching assistants, and students
Making Sense: Can Makerspaces Work in Academic Libraries?
Get PDFMakerspaces are a growing service area for many
libraries in school, public, and academic settings.
Participants, or makers, can create digital and physical
items in common working spaces using shared
equipment and resources. The essential makerspace
elements of makers, tools, space, and shared expertise
are also often joined by a spirit of individual exploration
and discovery through creative activities.
One area of balance in makerspaces is in providing
group training on specific creative activities while
also offering open lab times in the makerspace for individuals
to work independently or in small collaborative
groups on their projects. This is particularly acute in the
academic environment, where lab spaces (whether for
computers, biology, chemistry, engineering, or nursing)
are often imagined for use by classes of students
working on an assignment or project. Can an open,
self-directed approach work in an environment where
much learning is encapsulated in semester-long courses
and student learning is assessed by assignments with
relatively rigid timelines and criteria? The alternative,
maker-focused mindset would allow for tinkering and
play to be utilized by makers as they create and learn.
Makerspaces can be a mechanism for encouraging
students to experiment and learn beyond the
classroom and outside of the normal structure of
their assignments. Students are encouraged to examine
new means of creation and in doing so they
strengthen and apply more broadly the learning they
experience in their courses. The following paper presents
a positive case for pursuing an academic library
makerspace and helpful steps to pursue