Journals at the University of Arizona
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Computational thinking skills and its impact on TIMSS achievement: An Instructional Design Approach
No full textThe need in raising levels of achievement in math and science has led instructional design researchers to a focus on investigating the factors that shape achievement in these subjects. Understanding how students think might influence Mathematics achievement may guide educators in their efforts to raise achievement by designing learning models that provide most efficient and effective instructional strategies and learning experiences. This research examined relationships between Computational thinking skills (CT) and their results in Mathematics test in TIMSS. Five skills of CT were considered: creativity, algorithmic thinking, cooperativity, critical thinking and problem solving. Being aware of thinking skills and their influence on students' results may provide educators with ideas for designing instruction and may help improve TIMSS achievement. Participants were 46 Students; 100% were female. Results indicated that high CT levels predicted of high Mathematics results in TIMSS. Problem solving skill had the highest impact in the test result, while the creativity skill was the least influential. It was concluded that students might need to improve their solving problems skill rather than their critical thinking skill in order to become successful in TIMSS assessments. Further empirical evidence is needed for whether CT tools improves students’ achievement.DOI:10.2458/azu_itet_v7i1_alyahy
The Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality on Learning, Post-Hoc; a Cautionary Tale
No full textWith the growing push to implement innovative technologies in today’s classroom, the prospect of infusing extended reality (XR)-learning has jettisoned education into uncharted territory, creating dynamic learning experiences with a potential breadth of unknown effects (Ahn, Bailenson Park, 2014; Ahn, Bostick, Ogle, Nowak, McGillicuddy Bailenson, 2016; Lieberman, 2018). While there are significant merits of transporting learners to places that were previously inaccessible in the traditional classroom through immersive experiences, we must walk back the preconceived notion that because technology itself is engaging, students will be more engaged. Additionally, the K-12 learning environment does not exist in a vacuum; what students experience in one part of their day has the potential to create a ripple effect in their subsequent lessons. This quasi-experimental study looked to explore the effects of XR-learning, specifically virtual reality (VR) on student motivation and engagement, post-hoc, in a middle school. The implications of this research are promising and showed varying results based on engagement. The results themselves provide significant foundations for future investigations, however, the survey tool utilized in this research proved problematic and needs retuning for future studies.DOI:10.2458/azu_itet_v7i1_schneide
ADJUNCTIVE ROLE OF MANUAL LYMPH DRAINAGE IN THE HEALING OF VENOUS ULCERS: A COMPARATIVE PILOT STUDY
No full textCompression therapy plays a pivotal role in the treatment of venous leg ulcers and clinical observations include lymph stasis as contributing to the maintenance of chronic wounds. This finding raises the question whether further improvement in lymph circulation with manual lymph drainage (MLD) as a part of complex decongestive physiotherapy (CDP) can improve ulcer healing. We examined whether CDP improves healing of venous leg ulcers and compared the efficacy of CDP with that of multilayered compression with short-stretch bandages. Eight patients (mean age: 64.8 years, mean ulcer area: 23.07 cm2, duration of ulcers: 25.37 months) were treated with a 5-day-course of CDP and 9 patients (mean age: 70.77 years, mean ulcer area: 21.47 cm2, duration of ulcers: 15.8 months) were included in a 10-day-course of CDP. Control goup consisted of 9 patients (mean age: 56.33 years, mean ulcer area: 13.87 cm2, duration of ulcers: 6.11 months) receiving multilayered compression. Wound surface measurement was carried out on days 5 and 10 and ulcer area reduction rate was calculated as area (initial)-area (final)/time unit. There was no statistical difference between the 5-day-course of CDP and compression of the same duration regarding ulcer healing (t=-1.62, df=15, p= 0.125). A 10-day-course of CDP significantly increased ulcer healing compared to compression of the same duration (t=-2.42, df=16, p= 0.039). Our preliminary results suggest that MLD as a part of CDP supports healing of venous leg ulcers
Slaves, Sheikhs, and Sovereignty: British Imperial Sovereignty versus a Sheikh’s Local Autonomy in the Trucial States in 1931
No full textFocusing my study on one manumission case from early 1931 documented within the records of the British India Office, I argue that the conflict described within where the Sheikh of Sharjah sought to challenge British authority to manumit slaves in his town demonstrates issues of sovereignty and authority between the sheikh of Sharjah and the British Political Agent in Bushire stemming from the legal imperialism of Britain embedded within the treaties signed between the two political actors. In the anti-slavery clauses of these treaties, Britain held the right to manumit slaves hailing from the Trucial States. However, in the case under review, the enactment of this right led to push back from the sheikh and a slave owner in the form of armed protest outside the British Resident Agent’s home in Sharjah. This, in turn, led to British demandfor restitution in the form of fines, threatening to destroy a nearby tower if left unpaid. This case also demonstrates the role of the Resident Agent as an inter-state intermediary whose position can be described as trans-jurisdictional as he often worked in favor of the local slave owners within the Trucial states as much as he worked for and was considered an advisor by British officialdom in the Persian Gulf. I further argue that British intervention in the Arabian Sea constituted legal imperialism despite the lack of outright colonization of the Trucial sheikhdoms because the basis of Britain’s claims rested upon the enactment of several treaties and the implicit recognition of the claims by the growingly influential international community.Focusing my study on one manumission case from early 1931 documented within therecords of the British India Office, I argue that the conflict described within where the Sheikh ofSharjah sought to challenge British authority to manumit slaves in his town demonstrates issuesof sovereignty and authority between the sheikh of Sharjah and the British Political Agent inBushire stemming from the legal imperialism of Britain embedded within the treaties signedbetween the two political actors. In the anti-slavery clauses of these treaties, Britain held theright to manumit slaves hailing from the Trucial states. However, in the case under review, theenactment of this right led to push back from the sheikh and a slave owner in the form of armedprotest outside the British Resident Agent’s home in Sharjah. This, in turn, led to British demandfor restitution in the form of fines, threatening to destroy a nearby tower if left unpaid. In myopinion, this case also demonstrates the role of the Resident Agent as an inter-state intermediarywhose position can be described as trans-jurisdictional as he often worked in favor of the localslave owners within the Trucial states as much as he worked for and was considered an advisorby British officialdom in the Persian Gulf. I further argue that British intervention in the ArabianSea constituted legal imperialism despite the lack of outright colonization of the Trucialsheikhdoms because the basis of Britain’s claims rested upon the enactment of several treatiesand the implicit recognition of the claims by the growingly influential international community
Three implications of political ontology for the political ecology of conservation
No full textWithin political ecology, an important and timely critique has emerged which questions ontology and the nature of reality. This turn to ontology has been expressed in a new and influential paradigm, Political Ontology. In this article, I interrogate the politics of three tenets that seem central to this ontological turn within a political ecology of conservation context: (a) the insistence on the local, Indigenous and homogeneous subject and its corollary, the homogeneous Modern, Western subject; (b) the hegemony of the (green) neoliberal project, and (c) the incommensurability of non-modern and Western ontologies. I base my arguments on two case studies of resistance and/or struggle against green and un-green grabbing, the Skouries gold mine in Greece and the Lodge Hill development in England.Keywords: political ontology, neoliberal nature, conservation, Indigenous, Greece, Englan
Contested natures: Coca, the War on Drugs, and ecologies of difference in Colombia's Afro-Pacific
No full textWhile there is growing consensus that the 'war on drugs' has failed to decrease drug consumption in the Global North, we know much less about how drug production has impacted communities of the Global South. This is particularly true for the cultivation of coca leaf in Colombia, which is increasingly planted in isolated rural areas such as national parks and in the collectively titled lands of ethnic communities (indigenous and Afro-descendant) where it is both difficult to detect and to eradicate. This article explains how Afro-descendant communities in Colombia have resisted both coca cultivation and a controversial war on drugs strategy to eliminate coca –aerial eradication – through a framework of ecological difference. It also explores why political ecologists can be important allies in this struggle and in the greater context of socio-environmental justice for rural communities in the Global South. Key Words: rural, ethnic, difference, war, coca, Colombi