26 research outputs found
Investigating test anxiety and the effects of supportive messages
No full textMany students underperform on exams due to experiencing high test anxiety. In this dissertation, I present three studies examining how test anxiety affects students taking open-ended computer programming exams and methods to reduce it. In the first study, I conduct a survey to show the prevalence of test anxiety in computer science and the methods students use to cope with it. In the second study, I report on an experimental study comparing a novel intervention of seeking support from one’s own social network to the more common approaches of expressive writing and studying task-relevant materials for open-ended test questions. In the final study, I present an experimental study comparing how the perceived authorship of supportive messages affects the anxiety and performance of students completing open-ended programming questions. The results show that 23% of students experience high test anxiety when taking computer based programming exams and 22% of students have no method of coping with it. They also show that soliciting messages from social media can result in a 21% reduction in anxiety, an increase in testing performance, and the perceived author of these messages affects the magnitude of the decrease in anxiety. These studies have implications for students who take, instructors who write, and companies that use programming tests to evaluate new hires. I aim to demonstrate why test anxiety should be considered when designing or preparing for exams and how to integrate reduction strategies into the testing process.Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2017-09-29 without embargo termsThe student, Robert Deloatch, accepted the attached license on 2017-07-07 at 11:52.The student, Robert Deloatch, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2017-07-07 at 11:58.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2017-07-09 at 15:57.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11334 on 2017-09-29 at 11:28:24Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-29T17:56:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3
DELOATCH-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf: 3805616 bytes, checksum: 0d6e5befcf224474de50ba46a443bad2 (MD5)
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Previous issue date: 2017-07-0
Culture Change through Credit (C3) - TAG F
No full textTBD: Implementing author credit/recognition practice
Data and DOI Workflows and Handoffs - TAG E
No full textTBD: Implementing workflow issues around the data/DOI over time across publishers and repositorie
Publishers in the ESS team (PESST) - TAG B
No full textTBD: Implementing a common set of publishing policies and workflows on FAI
Repository Guidance for Researchers - TAG A/D
No full textTBD, potentially Implementing a tool to provide guidance for researchers to find appropriate repositories for their data and other digital research products
Repository Policy Template - TAG H
No full textESS Metadata standards identified and included in FAIRSharin
FAIR Resources and Training for Researchers - TAG C
No full textTBD: Implementing guidance/training for researchers on repositories and FAI
Working Group Nine (I)
No full textTBD: Implementing repository policy template (building on ESIP, RDA, FORCE11 working groups; harmonizing existing policies
Effects of alirocumab on cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes after acute coronary syndrome in patients with or without diabetes: a prespecified analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES randomised controlled trial
No full textBACKGROUND: After acute coronary syndrome, diabetes conveys an excess risk of ischaemic cardiovascular events. A reduction in mean LDL cholesterol to 1·4-1·8 mmol/L with ezetimibe or statins reduces cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome and diabetes. However, the efficacy and safety of further reduction in LDL cholesterol with an inhibitor of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) after acute coronary syndrome is unknown. We aimed to explore this issue in a prespecified analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial of the PCSK9 inhibitor alirocumab, assessing its effects on cardiovascular outcomes by baseline glycaemic status, while also assessing its effects on glycaemic measures including risk of new-onset diabetes. METHODS: ODYSSEY OUTCOMES was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, done at 1315 sites in 57 countries, that compared alirocumab with placebo in patients who had been admitted to hospital with an acute coronary syndrome (myocardial infarction or unstable angina) 1-12 months before randomisation and who had raised concentrations of atherogenic lipoproteins despite use of high-intensity statins. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive alirocumab or placebo every 2 weeks; randomisation was stratified by country and was done centrally with an interactive voice-response or web-response system. Alirocumab was titrated to target LDL cholesterol concentrations of 0·65-1·30 mmol/L. In this prespecified analysis, we investigated the effect of alirocumab on cardiovascular events by glycaemic status at baseline (diabetes, prediabetes, or normoglycaemia)-defined on the basis of patient history, review of medical records, or baseline HbA1c or fasting serum glucose-and risk of new-onset diabetes among those without diabetes at baseline. The primary endpoint was a composite of death from coronary heart disease, non-fatal myocardial infarction, fatal or non-fatal ischaemic stroke, or unstable angina requiring hospital admission. ODYSSEY OUTCOMES is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01663402. FINDINGS: At study baseline, 5444 patients (28·8%) had diabetes, 8246 (43·6%) had prediabetes, and 5234 (27·7%) had normoglycaemia. There were no significant differences across glycaemic categories in median LDL cholesterol at baseline (2·20-2·28 mmol/L), after 4 months' treatment with alirocumab (0·80 mmol/L), or after 4 months' treatment with placebo (2·25-2·28 mmol/L). In the placebo group, the incidence of the primary endpoint over a median of 2·8 years was greater in patients with diabetes (16·4%) than in those with prediabetes (9·2%) or normoglycaemia (8·5%); hazard ratio (HR) for diabetes versus normoglycaemia 2·09 (95% CI 1·78-2·46, p<0·0001) and for diabetes versus prediabetes 1·90 (1·65-2·17, p<0·0001). Alirocumab resulted in similar relative reductions in the incidence of the primary endpoint in each glycaemic category, but a greater absolute reduction in the incidence of the primary endpoint in patients with diabetes (2·3%, 95% CI 0·4 to 4·2) than in those with prediabetes (1·2%, 0·0 to 2·4) or normoglycaemia (1·2%, -0·3 to 2·7; absolute risk reduction pinteraction=0·0019). Among patients without diabetes at baseline, 676 (10·1%) developed diabetes in the placebo group, compared with 648 (9·6%) in the alirocumab group; alirocumab did not increase the risk of new-onset diabetes (HR 1·00, 95% CI 0·89-1·11). HRs were 0·97 (95% CI 0·87-1·09) for patients with prediabetes and 1·30 (95% CI 0·93-1·81) for those with normoglycaemia (pinteraction=0·11). INTERPRETATION: After a recent acute coronary syndrome, alirocumab treatment targeting an LDL cholesterol concentration of 0·65-1·30 mmol/L produced about twice the absolute reduction in cardiovascular events among patients with diabetes as in those without diabetes. Alirocumab treatment did not increase the risk of new-onset diabetes. FUNDING: Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.sponsorship: Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. (Sanofi, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals)status: Publishe
