5 research outputs found
Implementing Peer Coaching in a State Funded Pre-Kindergarten Program: An Autoethnography
No full textThis autoethnography - rooted in the qualitative tradition of field research, explored the life experiences of the researcher which subsequently led to the preparation, implementation, and analysis of a professional development program. The purpose of this study was to reflect upon whether or not a peer coaching program would enhance the development of pre-kindergarten teachers\u27 emergent literacy strategies in the Greater New Orleans area. This autoethnography employed the author as the research tool in order to understand the researcher\u27s personal self within the context of the professional development. The guiding question of this study is as follows - does utilizing peer coaching increase teachers\u27 emergent literacy development strategies in a pre-kindergarten program? This research will not only add to the body of early childhood research in the area of professional development, but also distinguish autoethnography as a viable, emerging, qualitative research method; this is because it acknowledges the link between the personal and the cultural. The study will give information relating to the effectiveness of the peer coaching program as a means to provide professional development for teachers. More importantly, students in the classrooms may benefit from the newly implemented professional development, as teachers may improve emergent literacy in the classroom
The Role Model Effect on Gender Equity: How are Female College Students Influenced by Female Teaching Assistants in Science?
No full textabstract: The gender gap of women in science is an important and unresolved issue in higher education and occupational opportunities. The present study was motivated by the fact that there are typically fewer females than males advancing in science, and therefore fewer female science instructor role models. This observation inspired the questions: Are female college students influenced in a positive way by female science teaching assistants (TAs), and if so how can their influence be measured? The study tested the hypothesis that female TAs act as role models for female students and thereby encourage interest and increase overall performance. To test this "role model" hypothesis, the reasoning ability and self-efficacy of a sample of 724 introductory college biology students were assessed at the beginning and end of the Spring 2010 semester. Achievement was measured by exams and course work. Performance of four randomly formed groups was compared: 1) female students with female TAs, 2) male students with female TAs, 3) female students with male TAs, and 4) male students with male TAs. Based on the role model hypothesis, female students with female TAs were predicted to perform better than female students with male TAs. However, group comparisons revealed similar performances across all four groups in achievement, reasoning ability and self-efficacy. The slight differences found between the four groups in student exam and coursework scores were not statistically significant. Therefore, the results did not support the role model hypothesis. Given that both lecture professors in the present study were males, and given that professors typically have more teaching experience, finer skills and knowledge of subject matter than do TAs, a future study that includes both female science professors and female TAs, may be more likely to find support for the hypothesis.Dissertation/ThesisM.S. Biology 201
Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density [Elektronisk resurs]
No full textOptical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.AuthorOverflow(1393
Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
No full textOptical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data
