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Teaching and Learning: The Impact of the Hope College Summer Enrichment Program on Hope Students and Child Attendees
No full textThe present study collected anonymous data, using questionnaires, from Hope student teachers and the parents of children who attended the Summer Enrichment Program (SEP). The SEP provided a learning laboratory experience for four Hope students in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program. Hope students planned, implemented and assessed developmentally appropriate activities and experiences to meet the needs of a diverse group of 3- and 4-yearold children, with the support of the Director of the ECE program. Recruitment for the SEP intentionally targeted children who attend local Head Start and Great Start to Readiness programs, in order to include a diverse group of children who typically would not have educational/enrichment opportunities during the summer months. The program was designed to benefit Hope student teachers through opportunities to apply what they learned during ECE coursework and to participate in a co-investigation with faculty. The program design also benefitted child attendees and their families through opportunities to interact with well-qualified educators, experience low student-teacher ratios and participate in a research-based, developmentally appropriate program. Hope student and parent questionnaire responses provided quantitative data using a Likert scale and qualitative data from responses to follow-up, open-ended questions about the perceived effects of the overall experience. Preliminary data analysis was focused by question and analyzed across all respondents to identify consistencies and differences. Responses from parents and Hope student teachers were overwhelmingly positive. Responses from parent questionnaires included that children enjoyed the experience and benefitted from program activities and interactions with teachers. Responses from Hope student teacher questionnaires included that they benefitted from having the responsibility to plan and teach for an entire week, and they would like to have more opportunities to interact with families
Impact of a Nature- Based Science Enrichment Program for Preschoolers on Body Mass Index and Activity Preferences
No full textThis study explores children’s health as it relates to Body Mass Index (BMI), sedentary or active play prferences, and solitary versus active social play. To find the interrelatedness between the variables, 400 preschool children aged 3-5 from West Michigan schools were interviewed. BMI was assessed using portable stadiometers and digital scales. The BMI percentiles and the BMI of each student was calculated by utilizing the Centers for Disease Control BMI Tool for School Groups calculator in addition to their heights and weights. A face to face interview was conducted to measure the sedentary versus active play preferences and to gain insight into the children’s preferences for active or sedentary activities when participating with family and friend groups as compared to solitary playing. The interview collected data based on questions such as, “What is your favorite thing to do with your friends and family?” and “What types of things do you like to do when you are alone (by yourself)?” A negative correlation was predicted for BMI and activity preference such that participants with higher BMIs were more likely to prefer sedentary activities. We expected statistical analysis to demonstrate that children in a social atmosphere were more likely to engage in active play and when they engaged in solitary play they would tend toward more sedentary activities. If the data provides evidence that BMI is associated with one’s preferred choice of activity for preschoolers, it will support previous findings that BMI is negatively correlated with higher levels of physical activity for other age groups. If our hypothesis regarding social versus solitary play is supported such that group activity encourages a more active preference, this has implications for community programming initiatives and for parent education encouraging group play in order to yield higher levels of physical activity
Learning to Reappraise or to Accept? The Effects of Acceptance and Reappraisal Training on Emotion, Mental Health, and Physiology
No full textExisting research has shown that adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., acceptance, reappraisal) reduce physiological reactivity, and are negatively related to psychopathology and positively related to self-report. This study examines the effectiveness of training participants to use either reappraisal or acceptance after a transgression. We predicted reappraisal would produce the most positive outcomes, followed by acceptance. In this study, participants (N = 90) identified an interpersonal transgression within the past year and attended two visits, one week apart. We randomly assigned participants to a condition (reappraisal, acceptance, control). Participants described the transgression, completed self-report measures, and engaged in imagery during each visit. Physiology was monitored during 120s imagery trials. All participants completed baseline and rumination trials; participants in the acceptance and reappraisal groups implemented their strategies in the final trial while controls ruminated again. Using a mixed-design ANOVA (3 Condition X 2 Visit) the data revealed significant decreases in blame, rumination, and anxiety between visits while benevolence, acceptance, emotional flexibility, and life satisfaction increased. During visit one, imagery, accepters reported significantly less sadness and more happiness and peace. During visit two, reappraisers reported less anger and more gratitude and joy while preliminary physiological data showed interaction effects for blood pressure; reappraisers experienced greater reductions. Overall, participants in all three conditions benefited from the study; for example, thinking about the transgression positively impacted rumination, anxiety and life satisfaction. When comparing the specific strategies, acceptance resulted in more immediate impacts (e.g., reductions in arousal and negative emotion), while reappraisal impacted cardiovascular functioning in the short term and more sustained emotional impacts, potentially moving participants toward greater forgiveness of their offenders
Preschool Participation in a Nature-based Science Enrichment Program: Evaluation of Children’s Activity Preference, Literacy Skills, and Development
No full textThis study examines the physical and intellectual effects of a nature-based science enrichment program for preschool-aged children. The current study looks at the relationship between active outdoor preferences and academic performance. We expect that children who participate in the nature-based enrichment program will demonstrate greater literacy skills and development. Participation in the program should lead to increased outdoor activity preferences. Past studies have shown that sacrificing classroom time for physical activity corresponds with positive academic performance (Robert, 2007, p.2). Thus, inclusion of outdoor education is likely to demonstrate positive effects. Participants were recruited from local preschools on the basis of grant funding from the Kellogg Foundation and the Outdoor Discovery Center in Holland, Michigan. Participants were males and females ages 3-5 years old. Activity preferences were evaluated using an adaption of Leary’s Preschool Activity Preferences measure (2009). This specific measure includes children’s preference toward sedentary indoor or active outdoor activities. Academic performance will be assessed using the Preschool Early Literacy Indicators (PELI) assessment. The PELI examines early literacy skills in a storybook format (Kaminski, Abbott, Bravo-Aguayo, Latimer, & Good, 2013). The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) was used to examine developmental stages. The ASQ examines developmental and social-emotional characteristics of young children (Brookes Publishing, 2014). Higher PELI and ASQ scores correspond with greater skills development. Expected outcomes are that greater literacy skills will positively correlate with development, through comparison of PELI and ASQ scores. Outdoor activity preference will correlate positively with higher PELI scores. Additionally, outdoor activity preference will positively correlate with higher ASQ scores. Outcomes of this study will show the effectiveness of a nature-based science enrichment program for use in future preschool educational planning
And the Internet Went Wild: Social Psychological and Social Conflict Functions of the Vaccine Debate
No full textThe introduction of vaccines has been hailed by the medical field as one of the biggest public health victories of human history. Despite greatly declining rates of vaccine-preventable diseases, there is a growing movement against vaccinations. A growing number of parents are choosing to forego vaccines for their children altogether or to determine their own schedule of vaccines in lieu of what is recommended. This issue has sparked an incredible amount of polarization and conflict. The Internet has become a battleground for this conflict. Parenting forums have become places for both pro and anti-vaccine individuals to go to receive support as well as to refute the ideas of the other. The present research uses data collected from online vaccinations debate forums to find evidence of Coser’s Theory and several social psychological phenomena including Social Identity Theory, confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, and collective hysteria. This research shows the transference of these theories into the online world and may be used in the future to find solutions to the current conflict
Light-curve Modelling Constraints On The Obliquities And Aspect Angles Of The Young Fermi Pulsars
No full textIn more than four years of observation the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi satellite has identified pulsed gamma-ray emission from more than 80 young or middle-aged pulsars, in most cases providing light curves with high statistics. Fitting the observed profiles with geometrical models can provide estimates of the magnetic obliquity alpha and of the line of sight angle zeta, yielding estimates of the radiation beaming factor and radiated luminosity. Using different gamma-ray emission geometries (Polar Cap, Slot Gap, Outer Gap, One Pole Caustic) and core plus cone geometries for the radio emission, we fit gamma-ray light curves for 76 young or middle-aged pulsars and we jointly fit their gamma-ray plus radio light curves when possible. We find that a joint radio plus gamma-ray fit strategy is important to obtain (alpha,zeta) estimates that can explain simultaneously detectable radio and gamma-ray emission: when the radio emission is available, the inclusion of the radio light curve in the fit leads to important changes in the (alpha,zeta) solutions. The most pronounced changes are observed for Outer Gap and One Pole Caustic models for which the gamma-ray only fit leads to underestimated alpha or zeta when the solution is found to the left or to the right of the main alpha-zeta plane diagonal respectively. The intermediate-to-high altitude magnetosphere models, Slot Gap, Outer Gap, and One pole Caustic, are favoured in explaining the observations. We find no apparent evolution of a on a time scale of 10(6) years. For all emission geometries our derived gamma-ray beaming factors are generally less than one and do not significantly evolve with the spin-down power. A more pronounced beaming factor vs. spin-down power correlation is observed for Slot Gap model and radio-quiet pulsars and for the Outer Gap model and radio-loud pulsars. The beaming factor distributions exhibit a large dispersion that is less pronounced for the Slot Gap case and that decreases from radio-quiet to radio-loud solutions. For all models, the correlation between gamma-ray luminosity and spin-down power is consistent with a square root dependence. The gamma-ray luminosities obtained by using the beaming factors estimated in the framework of each model do not exceed the spin-down power. This suggests that assuming a beaming factor of one for all objects, as done in other studies, likely overestimates the real values. The data show a relation between the pulsar spectral characteristics and the width of the accelerator gap. The relation obtained in the case of the Slot Gap model is consistent with the theoretical prediction
Great Expectations: Using an Analysis of Current Practices To Propose a Framework for the Undergraduate Inorganic Curriculum
No full textThe undergraduate inorganic chemistry curriculum in the United States mirrors the broad diversity of the inorganic research community and poses a challenge for the development of a coherent curriculum that is thorough, rigorous, and engaging. A recent large survey of the inorganic community has provided information about the current organization and content of the inorganic curriculum from an institutional level. The data reveal shared core concepts that are broadly taught, with tremendous variation in content coverage beyond these central ideas. The data provide an opportunity for a community-driven discussion about how the American Chemical Society\u27s Committee on Professional Training\u27s vision of a foundation and in-depth course for each of the five subdisciplines maps onto an inorganic chemistry curriculum that is consistent in its coverage of the core inorganic concepts, yet reflects the diversity and creativity of the inorganic community. The goal of this Viewpoint is to present the current state of the diverse undergraduate curriculum and lay a framework for an effective and engaging curriculum that illustrates the essential role inorganic chemistry plays within the chemistry community
Harvesting Cu-67 from the Collection of a Secondary Beam Cocktail at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
No full textIsotope harvesting is a promising new method to obtain isotopes for which there is no reliable continuous supply at present. To determine the possibility of obtaining radiochemically pure radioisotopes from an aqueous beam dump at a heavy-ion fragmentation facility, preliminary experiments were performed to chemically extract a copper isotope from a large mixture of projectile fragmentation products in an aqueous medium. In this work a 93 MeV/u secondary beam cocktail was collected in an aqueous beam stop at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) located on the Michigan State University (MSU) campus. The beam cocktail consisted of similar to 2.9% Cu-67 in a large mixture of co-produced isotopes ranging in atomic number from similar to 19 to 34. The chemical extraction of 67Cu was achieved via a two-step process: primary extraction using a divalent metal chelation disk followed by anion-exchange chromatography. A significant fraction (74 +/- 4%) of the 67Cu collected in the aqueous beam stop was recovered with \u3e99% radiochemical purity. To illustrate the utility of this product, the purified 67Cu material was then used to radiolabel an anti-EGFR antibody, Panitumumab, and injected into mice bearing colon cancer xenografts. The tumor uptake at 5 days postinjection was found to be 12.5 +/- 0.7% which was in very good agreement with previously reported studies with this radiolabeled antibody. The present results demonstrate that harvesting isotopes from a heavy-ion fragmentation facility could be a promising new method for obtaining high-quality isotopes that are not currently available by traditional methods