156 research outputs found
An exodus of enthusiasm: G. Alder Blumer, eugenics, and U.S. psychiatry, 1890-1920
No full textTracks the change of heart on the subject of eugenics experienced by notable psychiatrist G. Alder Blumer during 1890-1920. Negative eugenics, stressing the need to eliminate unfavorable traits through reproductive control, resulted in thousands of the mentally ill being sterilized. While working at the New York State Lunatic Asylum in Utica, Blumer became an enthusiastic proponent of negative eugenics. But upon moving to the more progressive Butler Hospital for the Insane in Providence, Rhode Island, Blumer came to believe more in therapeutic approaches to mental illness.Documentation: Based on Blumer's papers, New York State Lunatic Asylum records, and secondary sources; illus., 76 notes.; Abstracter: R. HaasSource type: Electronic(1
Psychometrics of the SDQ in Spanish
No full textABSTRACT With the recent influx of Latinos into the United States, it is essential to understand how their backgrounds and cultures will affect the way they view their children’s emotional, social, and educational development. Researchers continue to evaluate the psychometrics of various screening instruments in order to ensure a reliable and valid Spanish-language instrument is being used to measure children’s behaviors. The purpose of this study was to compare the psychometric properties of the Spanish version with the English version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a 25-item behavioral screener. Participants included in this study were 488 English-speaking parents and 435 Spanish-speaking parents of preschool age children (ages 3-5) that took part in the California University (Irvine) Initiative for the Development of Attention and Readiness (CUIDAR) program from 2004-2008. This study used data from the CUIDAR program to explore mean rating differences between the English and Spanish versions of the SDQ, along with coefficient alpha as an indicator of reliability at the scale and composite level, and factor analytic evidence of score validity. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the relative fit of multiple models, including the Five First Order Factor (5F) Model that is prevalent in research on the SDQ. Results indicated mean ratings of the individual scales and the Total Difficulties scales were very similar across both language forms. Reliability coefficients indicated alphas were higher for the English forms compared to the Spanish forms at the scale and composite level, although neither form had adequate reliability at the scale level. Finally, the 5F Model was the best-fitting and most valid representation of all 25 items of the SDQ, despite the language of the form. The English models also fit the proposed factor structure better than the Spanish models did.Psy. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Heather Marie Blumer
Light Bulb Efficiency and Environmental Impacts
No full textThe most important global environmental issue of our times is climate change and global warming. In the decades to come, no one will be untouched by the impacts of rising temperatures, droughts, violent storms, rising sea level and weather extremes that are being induced by human activity. Governments around the world have committed to slowing and eventually controlling global warming (Paris Accord 2015 and Kigali Accord 2016) but those efforts seem to focus on large scale targets such as energy production, major industries and transportation systems. Individuals seem to have little or no possible role in addressing this major problem. Yet, we all use energy and the choices we each make about the automobile we drive, home appliances we use, and even the light bulbs in our homes will have a collective impact on the emissions of greenhouse gases and the rate of global warming. In this study, students, working in groups, evaluate the three major forms of electric light bulbs, incandescent (I), compact fluorescent (CF) and light emitting diode (LED). Students design and conduct experiments to compare light bulb efficiencies, visible light outputs, and waste heat outputs. The purpose of this work is for each student group to make recommendations on which light bulb type is the best buy and which would be best for the environment
Research Immersion Improves Outcomes for Underprepared Freshmen
No full textOur implementation of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Science Education Alliance, Phage Hunters curriculum (www.seaphages.org) at Morehouse College differed from the implementations at other colleges and universities. We intentionally limited our enrollment to entering freshmen who were deemed underprepared to begin a biology major based on SAT scores. These students were not permitted to initially enroll in a traditional gateway survey-type biology course (BIO 111). Underprepared students were invited to apply for our Phage Hunters course to assess the effectiveness of this research immersion experience on their future success in BIO 111. Six cohorts (N=90) of Phage Hunters students have taken the gateway majors course permitting us to compare their academic performance to peers (N=45) who were similarly underprepared first-time freshmen but who did not participate in Phage Hunters, and to non-peers (N=182) all other students in the same gateway course. Phage Hunters students had a significantly greater pass rate (A,B,C grades) and a significantly lower withdrawal rate than did their peers. Compared to non-peers, Phage Hunters has a significantly lower withdrawal rate and no significant difference in pass rates. These findings indicate that an authentic research immersion experience can dramatically improve student outcomes for underprepared students and consequently improve freshmen student retention
Satorial Manipulation Within Historical Politics
No full textFashion\u27s impact on the course of history largely unexplored. Herbert Blumer, a noted sociologist at UC Berkeley, accurately credits this oversight to
a failure to observe and appreciate the wide range of operation of fashion; a false assumption that fashion has only nivial or peripheral significance; a mistaken idea that fashion falls in the area of the abnormal and irrational and thus is out of the mainsneam of human group life; and, finally, a misunderstanding of the nature of fashion.
Blumer was criticizing sociologists, but he may as well have been criticizing historians; scholarly works analyzing fashion\u27s impact are rare enough within the sociological realm, but comparatively absent within the historical field. Economic sociologist Thorstein Veblen\u27s theory of conspicuous consumption may have been the first to suggest that clothing (and other material wealth) was frequently manipulated to convey social status. Georg Simmel\u27s 1904 sociological essay on fashion is perhaps the most influential scholarly work on the subject and argued that fashion acts as a means of unification and segregation: elites manipulate trivialities in adornment to set themselves apart from the lower classes, which then try to mimic the trivialities to reassert their status. Ferdinand Tonnies\u27s Essay on Social Codes analyzed fashion\u27s significance within social custom and determined that fashion can act as a means of communication. In 1965, two professors of sociology and anthropology decided to compile articles on clothing from disciplines including cultural anthropology, economics, sociology, social psychology and home economics into a single anthology. The result (Dress, Adornment and the Social Order) is the text from which are derived many of this paper\u27s sociological sources. Herbert Blumer\u27s 1969 response to Simmel\u27s essay argues that fashion is less of a top-down divisive measure than an expression of collective taste. Aside from these few examples, little scholarly attention has been applied to fashion\u27s impact on history and society
The global challenges and opportunities in the practice of rheumatology: White paper by the World Forum on Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases
No full textRheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) represent a multitude of degenerative, inflammatory and auto-immune conditions affecting millions of people worldwide. Persons with these diseases may potentially experience severe chronic pain, joint damage, increasing disability and even death. With an increasingly ageing population, the prevalence and burden of RMDs are predicted to increase, placing greater demands on the global practice of rheumatology and related healthcare budgets. Effective treatment of RMDs currently faces a number of challenges in both the developed and developing world, and individual countries may face more specific local challenges. However, limited understanding of the burden of RMDs amongst public health professionals and policy-makers means that these diseases are often not considered a public health priority. The objective of this review is to increase awareness of the RMDs and to identify opportunities to address RMD challenges on both a local and global scale. On 26 September 2014, rheumatology experts from five different continents met at the World Forum on Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (WFRMD) to discuss and identify some key challenges for the RMDs community today. The outcomes are presented in this review, focusing on access to rheumatology services, diagnostics and therapies, rheumatology education and training and on clinical trials, as well as investigator-initiated and epidemiological research. The long-term vision of the WFRMD is to increase perception of the RMDs as a major burden to society and to explore potential opportunities to improve global and local RMD care
A Model for an Intensive Hands- on Faculty Development Workshop to Foster Change in Laboratory Teaching
No full textFaculty development workshops are frequently used to bring about change in faculty teaching. Yet, the characteristics of successful faculty professional development in the context of laboratory teaching are unclear. In this Perspective, we describe our approach to intensive hands-on faculty development workshops for fostering change in laboratory teaching and present evidence for the effectiveness of the approach. The outcomes from our workshops and feedback from past participants support the following recommendations: 1) faculty should attend workshops in teams from their institutions, 2) workshops should allow participants to develop curricula that can be implemented with relatively little additional work after the workshop, 3) workshops should allow faculty time to �work� on tangible products and should involve hands-on activities, 4) workshops should be of sufficient duration to allow for faculty to develop expertise and tangible products but short enough that faculty do not "burn out," and 5) a structure for ongoing and systematic follow-up with participants is essential
Multi-Institutional, Multidisciplinary Study of the Impact of Course-Based Research Experiences
No full textNumerous national reports have called for reforming laboratory courses so that all students experience the research process. In response, many course-based research experiences (CREs) have been developed and implemented. Research on the impact of these CREs suggests that student benefits can be similar to those of traditional apprentice-model research experiences. However, most assessments of CREs have been in individual courses at individual institutions or across institutions using the same CRE model. Furthermore, which structures and components of CREs result in the greatest student gains is unknown. We explored the impact of different CRE models in different contexts on student self-reported gains in understanding, skills, and professional development using the Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) survey. Our analysis included 49 courses developed and taught at seven diverse institutions. Overall, students reported greater gains for all benefits when compared with the reported national means for the Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE). Two aspects of these CREs were associated with greater student gains: 1) CREs that were the focus of the entire course or that more fully integrated modules within a traditional laboratory and 2) CREs that had a higher degree of student input and results that were unknown to both students and faculty. KEYWORDS: course-based research experiences, CREs, Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE), Biology, Education, Life Science
Introduction Remarks
No full text1) The core of the current issue of the SAHS Newsletter consists of a long article on Abraham Blumer, Swiss Reformed clergyman in the Lehigh Valley during the period of the American Revolution. Professor William T. Parsons, the author, writes Blumer and his contemporary Swiss and German church leaders are universally overlooked even in specialized words on the independence era. The article thus opens a window into a little known aspect of Swiss emigration to this country. Blumer was a man of many qualities with a wide variety of interests. The reader wishes he would learn even more about him and has a number of questions he hopes Parsons will answer in a longer study of Blumer and his fellow clergymen
Laboratory Courses with Guided-Inquiry Modules Improve Scientific Reasoning and Experimental Design Skills for the Least-Prepared Undergraduate Students
No full textPast studies on the differential effects of active learning based on students' prior preparation and knowledge have been mixed. The purpose of the present study was to ask whether students with different levels of prior preparation responded differently to laboratory courses in which a guided-inquiry module was implemented. In the first study, we assessed student scientific reasoning skills, and in the second we assessed student experimental design skills. In each course in which the studies were conducted, student gains were analyzed by pretest quartiles, a measure of their prior preparation. Overall, student scientific reasoning skills and experimental design skills did not improve pretest to posttest. However, when divided into quartiles based on pretest score within each course, students in the lowest quartile experienced significant gains in both studies. Despite the significant gains observed among students in the lowest quartile, significant posttest differences between lowest and highest quartiles were observed in both scientific reasoning skills and experimental design skills. Nonetheless, these findings suggest that courses with guided-inquiry laboratory activities can foster the development of basic scientific reasoning and experimental design skills for students who are least prepared across a range of course levels and institution types
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