45507 research outputs found
Sort by
Middle-school Language Arts Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences Modifying State-prepared Curricular Resources: A Qualitative Descriptive Study
No full textThe problem addressed through this study was that many teachers often precisely follow state-prepared curricular resources and do not understand how to tailor instruction to diverse learners’ needs, creating inequitable learning opportunities for students. The purpose of this study was to explore the participants’ perception of the EngageNY language arts modules and their experiences with the resources’ use and differentiation when creating fair learning opportunities for diverse learners. The differentiated instruction model, proposed by Carol Ann Tomlinson, served as the theoretical framework for this study. A qualitative descriptive design was applied to answer two research questions concerning the middle-school language arts teachers’ perceptions and experiences with implementing and differentiating the EngageNY modules to assure fair access to learning. Ten purposefully selected middle-school teachers representing various schools across the United States participated in semistructured interviews and focus groups. The six-step thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The findings comprise six major themes: 1. Curriculum and resources provide a framework or roadmap to help teachers meet students’ needs. 2. EngageNY ELA middle-school modules guide the teachers through the instructional process as they comprise rigorous, relevant texts, activities, assessments, and standards. 3. Teachers encountered obstacles when implementing resources for the first time. 4. Thorough preparation helped teachers successfully implement the modules. 5. Building relationships with students helps teachers know how to differentiate. 6. Teachers use various strategies to differentiate instruction based on their prior knowledge and available resources in the modules. The study’s implications were that the Common Core-aligned resources that consider diverse learners provide teachers, who often misinterpret personal responsibility in translating curriculum into equitable teaching, with prepared plans and students with fair access to rigorous content but necessitate thorough planning for their modification to ensure equal learning opportunities for all students. Recommendations for practice comprise concrete ideas for administrative support, teachers’ implementation of the modules, and curriculum developers’ consideration. Recommendations for future research include additional qualitative descriptive studies with the same and different participants, supplemental conceptual framework, other data collection and analysis methods, and a mixed-method study that gathers quantitative data through a survey
A Causal-Comparative Examination of CLABSI, Vascular Access Teams and Hospital Types
No full textThe purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine if there is a difference in reported CLABSI rates based on hospital type and if a difference in reported CLABSI rates was based on the presence or absence of a vascular access team in a random sample of 3700 hospitals in the United States. The Donabedian structure-process-outcome theoretical model were used to guide this study. The sample included 128 hospitals reporting CLABSI rates to NHSN during 2016-2017. Archived secondary data and a hospital phone inquiry were used for this research. The research questions were: 1. Is there a difference in reported CLABSI rates based on hospital type (teaching and non-teaching) for hospitals with a vascular access team?; 2. Is there a difference in reported CLABSI rates based on a vascular access team present or absence? ANOVA and the t-test were used to determine whether there were any statistically significant differences between the groups being examined. The findings rejected the null hypotheses and accepted the alternate hypotheses for hospitals with a team F(2, 125) = 16.54, p < .001, and team present F(1, 125) = 8.54, p = .004. These findings may be used to inform healthcare leaders of best practices concerning vascular access teams
Educational Equity: Examining How Middle School Educators Implement and Practice Culturally Responsive Teaching
No full textThe purpose of this mixed methods Delphi study was to determine how teachers are utilizing Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) in middle schools within the United States using a survey modified to conform to the middle school setting. This descriptive study features results from ten experts in the field of CRT using a Delphi technique, think-aloud protocol, pilot study, and 234 middle school teachers from across the United States who reported how they incorporate CRT practices into their work with students. The most common and least common practices were identified and discussed in this study. The most common practices used by middle school educators were: incorporating culturally relevant icons into questions, collaborative learning, and recognizing and respecting differences in family structures. The least common practices identified were traditional learning, guest speakers, and gaining information about students from familial sources. The findings of this study suggest that CRT practices are frequently used by middle school teachers in the United States. These findings have important implications considering the benefits and impact the use of these practices have with all students and teachers, but particularly middle school students
The Influence of Implicit Bias on Student Evaluations of Teaching at a Missouri Community College
No full textStudent Evaluations of Teaching (SET) are the primary instrument used to measure teaching effectiveness by colleges and universities nationwide (Wallace, Lewis, & Allen, 2019). Many colleges and universities use the SET for personnel decisions regarding tenure, promotion, and termination. Yet, the possibility of implicit bias impacting the SET and resulting in discriminatory practices against marginalized faculty continues to be a concern for higher education (Mitchell & Martin, 2018). The effectiveness of the SET continues to be debated by faculty and administrators due to concerns about reliability, validity, and bias (Bonitz, 2011). This quantitative study was conducted to examine the influence of implicit bias on the SET. The goal of this study was to determine if students were more influenced by instructor characteristics than teaching effectiveness when completing the SET and to determine how faculty perceived student responses on the SET. During the fall 2019 semester, faculty and students in the Communication and World Languages department at a Missouri community college were asked to complete a survey. The results from the student survey indicated the students were influenced by instructor characteristics, and they preferred native English-speaking instructors. The results from the faculty survey indicated the faculty believed students were influenced more by instructor characteristics than by teaching effectiveness. The findings in this study may serve as a reminder that the SET is influenced by implicit bias; therefore, marginalized groups may be negatively affected by SET results
Functional Singular Spectrum Analysis: Nonparametric Decomposition and Forecasting Approaches for Functional Time Series
No full textIn this dissertation, we develop nonparametric decomposition methods and the subsequent forecasting techniques for functional, time-dependent data known as functional time series (FTS). We use ideas from functional data analysis (FDA) and singular spectrum analysis (SSA) to introduce the nonparametric decomposition method known as functional SSA (FSSA) and its associated forecasting techniques. We also extend these developed methodologies into multivariate FSSA (MFSSA) over different dimensional domains and its subsequent forecasting routines so that we may perform nonparametric decomposition and prediction of multivariate FTS (MFTS). The FSSA algorithm may be viewed as a signal extraction technique and we find that the method outperforms other competing approaches in estimating the underlying deterministic nature of an FTS. We then develop the FSSA recurrent forecasting (FSSA R-forecasting) and FSSA vector forecasting (FSSA V-forecasting) algorithms to predict future observations and we find that these methods outperform the current gold standard for nonparametric forecasting of periodic FTS. Finally, we finish with the implementation of MFSSA and the respective forecasting algorithms (MFSSA R-forecasting and MFSSA V-forecasting), which are used to decompose and forecast MFTS. We find that the MFSSA methods outperform their univariate FSSA counterparts in signal extraction and forecasting of MFTS data
Dissecting SWI/SNF Subcomplex Chromatin Dynamics in ARID2 Deficient Melanoma
No full textPBAF is a mammalian chromatin-remodeling complex of the SWI/SNF family, essential for transcriptional regulation and development, which is frequently mutated in cancer. In melanoma, ARID2, a subunit of the PBAF complex, is the most mutated subunit (~11-18% depending on the cohort), and its recurring loss-of-function mutations point towards a tumor suppressive role. In this study we aim to better understand the mechanisms by which mutations in ARID2 contribute to melanoma progression. To this end, we evaluated the levels of ARID2 in a panel of ARID2 mutant melanoma cell lines and showed that they all displayed a significant depletion of ARID2, PBRM1 and BRD7 at the chromatin level, suggesting defective assembly of the PBAF complex. To test the impact of PBAF complex depletion in an isogenic model, we generated ARID2 knockout CRISPR clones in 501mel and SKmel147 melanoma cell line. We examined how PBAF loss affected chromatin structure by assaying for open chromatin (via ATAC-sequencing), active and repressive histone post-translational modifications (H3K27ac, H3K27me3), and subunits of the PBAF and BAF subcomplexes (ARID2 and SS18) in ARID2 wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO) cell lines. We found that most of the regions that lost chromatin accessibility were active promoters with high ARID2 enrichment, whereas virtually all the regions that gained chromatin accessibility were at distal regulatory sites, with low enrichment of ARID2 and H3K27ac. Strikingly, loss of chromatin accessibility was concomitant with loss of H3K27ac and SS18, indicating a dominant role of the PBAF subcomplex in these regions. Alternatively, gain of chromatin accessibility was accompanied with increase H3K27ac and SS18, indicating invasion of the BAF subcomplex to these regions. Further transcription factor analysis in these deregulated regions revealed that the binding of transcription factors associated with SWI/SNF and important for melanoma, FOSL2, TEAD4 and MITF, were also altered in these regions. Transcriptomic analysis showed significant enrichment of pathways involved in antigen presentation, cell migration, invasion and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in ARID2 KO cells. Conversely, amino acid metabolism and ribosome-related pathways were consistently downregulated in ARID2 KO cells. Importantly, after integration of transcriptomic and epigenomic results, we found that most of the transcriptional changes were highly correlated with nearby alterations in chromatin. Functionally, as hinted by some of the upregulated pathways, ARID2 KO cells displayed an increased dissemination rate to the liver and lower chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of chicken embryos, and no significant difference in primary tumor growth. Collectively, our findings provide novel insight into inter-SWI/SNF subcomplex dynamics, their impact on melanoma relevant transcription factor binding and their transcriptional targets
Nursing Faculty Caring Attributes
No full textCaring is a core-concept in the nursing profession, but the nature of the academia influences how caring is demonstrated in the faculty-student relationship making this a complex topic. Faculty are called upon to serve in a variety of roles, some of which may cause contention with nursing students. The purpose of this study was to understand gaps in what faculty expect in an ideal caring environment versus what they experience daily when working with students. Watson’s Theory of Human Caring was used as the theoretical framework for this mixed methods research study. Participants were given a survey using an adapted version of Nyberg's Caring Assessment Scale, measuring experience-expectation gap scores of caring attributes, which included additional open-ended questions. Purposive homogenous sampling was used to target all nursing faculty employed at six colleges in the Midwest region of the U.S. Quantitative findings support that faculty meet the needs of students through communication, helping them to grow, listening, believing in them, and respecting their unique needs. Time was the most common theme identified in qualitative data analysis and was equally evidenced in quantitative results. Taking time for personal needs and allowing time for caring opportunities with students earned the top two highest gap scores. Outcomes of caring identified in the literature review from the student perspective concur with the results from this study. Both identified respect, role modeling, trust, increased satisfaction, open communication, academic success, confidence, persistence, and motivation as outcomes of caring. Five additional categories emerged to include: time and workload, flexibility, technical caring versus personal caring, respect versus disrespect, and power differential. The results described relating the combination of time requirements, flexibility variations, power differential, respect versus disrespect, and personal versus technical caring demonstrate how caring can directly lead to conflict in nursing education
Identifying Training Competencies to Enhance Community-Based Program After-School Volunteer Performance
No full textBetween 2013 and 2014, 25.2% of 10th grade algebra students who worked with 870,000 adult volunteers in after-school programs in the United States met their goals of improved math proficiency scores. A gap exists involving volunteer training strategies for after-school programs that are effective in improving math proficiency of 10th grade math students. The purpose of this study was to explore what seven experts in the Atlantic Coastal Region of the United States believe are optimal practices for training volunteers in after-school settings. A modified Delphi process evolved towards consensus in three iterative rounds. Goffman’s framing communication theory was the foundation to support the findings of the panelists. The research question that guided this study was: What math instructional strategies can leaders and trainers in low socioeconomic status (SES) communities use to enhance the support of volunteers who work in after-school settings with 10th grade students? Through purposive sampling, experts were selected based on their understanding of concepts related to math instruction and at least 10 years’ experience working with the appropriate volunteers. Data analysis included extracting themes in each round and using these in subsequent rounds, while testing for and, ultimately, reaching consensus. Results involve 10 strategies for altering leaders’ viewpoint regarding communication and collaboration between volunteers and trainers, building trust between volunteers and students, understanding needs of SES students, and teaching pedagogy using real-world examples. Organizational leaders and human service staff may gain key volunteer training strategies to develop robust after-school training programs. If adopted, strategies may transform contributions of volunteers to 10th grade math student learning and the employment trajectory of low SES high school students
Sync Variations
No full textAlmost every ensemble in nature demonstrates synchronized behavior, from thousands of fireflies blinking, schooling fish swimming as a group, the singing of crickets, and even the synchronization of menstrual cycles of women living in the same household. In physics, synchronization appears from the largest scales such as clusters of galaxies to the smallest scales such as subatomic particles, and from slow-coupled planets to ultrafast-coupled lasers. All these synchronized phenomena require coupling between the different components of the ensemble, and the synchronization depends on the specific parameters of the system. In many cases, it is possible to shift the system from a synchronized state into a chaotic state by changing a single parameter. The transition from a synchronized ensemble to chaotic behavior is not abrupt but rises after splitting the entire system into more and more synchronized clusters. When introducing human nature into a coupled physical system, the situation becomes even more interesting. In some cases, people can behave as simple oscillators and in other cases, they enrich the system thanks to their complicated psychology. This is the main focus of this piece. We demonstrate this unique conflict between synchronization and chaos of an ensemble of people to the audience while investigating new and novel aspects of the interaction within complex human networks. This piece is the outcome of the synchronization between professional violin players in complex human networks with full and accurate control over the network connectivity, coupling strength of each connection, and delay between players. We set 16 isolated electric violin players to repeatedly play a musical phrase. We collect the sound output from each violin and control the input to each player via noise-cancelling headphones. The players cannot see or hear each other apart from what is heard in their headphones. All the players start playing the musical phrase with the help of an external rhythmical beat, to verify that they all start together. The external rhythmical beat is stopped after one cycle of the phrase and the only instruction to the players is to try to synchronize their rhythm to what they hear in their headphones. At this point we establish a chain of connectivity between the players and begin to incorporate delays in the system of communication
Body Mass Index, Breastfeeding Duration, and Cortisol Patterns among Low-Income Women
No full textFlattened diurnal cortisol patterns are a biomarker of stress and have been associated with a number of negative health outcomes, especially after pregnancy. Women from low-income backgrounds and women with higher body mass index (BMI) were found to have flattened diurnal cortisol patterns. Research examining the risk factors, as well as protective factors, for diurnal cortisol patterns as they pertain to maternal health is needed. Some evidence suggests that breastfeeding is protective and can reduce or prevent the flattening of diurnal cortisol patterns. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether higher BMIs and shorter breastfeeding durations are associated with flatter diurnal cortisol patterns in a sample of 100 postpartum women from low-income backgrounds. To test this question, participants reported their BMI and collected salivary cortisol and completed a health interview at 3 months postpartum. Results indicated that BMI and breastfeeding duration were not associated with diurnal cortisol patterns. The implications of the current study help to further our understanding of what risk factors contribute to chronic stress in low-income, postpartum women