bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adipose Cell Size and Regional Fat Deposition as Predictors of Metabolic Response to Overfeeding in Insulin-Resistant and Insulin-Sensitive Humans
Authors: McLaughlin Tracey , Craig Colleen , Liu Li-Fen , Perelman Dalia , Allister Candice , Spielman Daniel , Cushman Samuel W.
Published: February 2016

Obesity is associated with insulin resistance, but significant variability exists between similarly obese individuals, pointing to qualitative characteristics of body fat as potential mediators. To test the hypothesis that obese, insulin-sensitive (IS) individuals possess adaptive adipose cell/tissue responses, we measured subcutaneous adipose cell size, insulin suppression of lipolysis, and regional fat responses to short-term overfeeding in BMI-matched overweight/obese individuals classified as IS or insulin resistant (IR). At baseline, IR subjects exhibited significantly greater visceral adipose tissue (VAT), intrahepatic lipid (IHL), plasma free fatty acids, adipose cell diameter, and percentage of small adipose cells. With weight gain (3.1 ± 1.4 kg), IR subjects demonstrated no significant change in adipose cell size, VAT, or insulin suppression of lipolysis and only 8% worsening of insulin-mediated glucose uptake (IMGU). Alternatively, IS subjects demonstrated significant adipose cell enlargement; decrease in the percentage of small adipose cells; increase in VAT, IHL, and lipolysis; 45% worsening of IMGU; and decreased expression of lipid metabolism genes. Smaller baseline adipose cell size and greater enlargement with weight gain predicted decline in IMGU, as did increase in IHL and VAT and decrease in insulin suppression of lipolysis. Weight gain in IS humans causes maladaptive changes in adipose cells, regional fat distribution, and insulin resistance. The correlation between development of insulin resistance and changes in adipose cell size, VAT, IHL, and insulin suppression of lipolysis highlight these factors as potential mediators between obesity and insulin resistance.
Glucagon Nasal Powder: A Promising Alternative to Intramuscular Glucagon in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Sherr Jennifer L. , Ruedy Katrina J. , Foster Nicole C. , Piché Claude A. , Dulude Hélène , Rickels Michael R. , Tamborlane William V. , Bethin Kathleen E. , DiMeglio Linda A. , Fox Larry A. , Wadwa R. Paul , Schatz Desmond A. , Nathan Brandon M. , Marcovina Santica M. , Rampakakis Emmanouil , Meng Linyan , Beck Roy W. ,   for the T1D Exchange Intranasal Glucagon Investigators
Published: February 2016

OBJECTIVE

Treatment of severe hypoglycemia outside of the hospital setting is limited to intramuscular glucagon requiring reconstitution prior to injection. The current study examined the safety and dose-response relationships of a needle-free intranasal glucagon preparation in youth aged 4 to <17 years.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A total of 48 youth with type 1 diabetes completed the study at seven clinical centers. Participants in the two youngest cohorts (4 to <8 and 8 to <12 years old) were randomly assigned to receive either 2 or 3 mg intranasal glucagon in two separate sessions or to receive a single, weight-based dose of intramuscular glucagon. Participants aged 12 to <17 years received 1 mg intramuscular glucagon in one session and 3 mg intranasal glucagon in the other session. Glucagon was given after glucose was lowered to <80 mg/dL (mean nadir ranged between 67 and 75 mg/dL).

RESULTS

All 24 intramuscular and 58 of the 59 intranasal doses produced a ≥25 mg/dL rise in glucose from nadir within 20 min of dosing. Times to peak plasma glucose and glucagon levels were similar under both intramuscular and intranasal conditions. Transient nausea occurred in 67% of intramuscular sessions versus 42% of intranasal sessions (P = 0.05); the efficacy and safety of the 2- and 3-mg intranasal doses were similar in the youngest cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS

Results of this phase 1, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic study support the potential efficacy of a needle-free glucagon nasal powder delivery system for treatment of hypoglycemia in youth with type 1 diabetes. Given the similar frequency and transient nature of adverse effects of the 2- and 3-mg intranasal doses in the two youngest cohorts, a single 3-mg intranasal dose appears to be appropriate for use across the entire 4- to <17-year age range.
Long Series of GNSS Integrated Precipitable Water as a Climate Change Indicator
Authors: Kruczyk Michał
Published: February 2016

This paper investigates information potential contained in tropospheric delay product for selected International GNSS Service (IGS) stations in climatologic research. Long time series of daily averaged Integrated Precipitable Water (IPW) can serve as climate indicator. The seasonal model of IPW change has been adjusted to the multi-year series (by the least square method). Author applied two modes: sinusoidal and composite (two or more oscillations). Even simple sinusoidal seasonal model (of daily IPW values series) clearly represents diversity of world climates. Residuals in periods from 10 up to 17 years are searched for some long-term IPW trend – self-evident climate change indicator. Results are ambiguous: for some stations or periods IPW trends are quite clear, the following years (or the other station) not visible. Method of fitting linear trend to IPW series does not influence considerably the value of linear trend. The results are mostly influenced by series length, completeness and data (e.g. meteorological) quality. The longer and more homogenous IPW series, the better chance to estimate the magnitude of climatologic IPW changes.
Public Pre-K and Test Taking for the NYC Gifted-and-Talented Programs
Authors: Lu Ying , Weinberg Sharon L.
Published: February 2016

The New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) gifted-and-talented programs aim to support all students of exceptional learning potential within the public school system. Using proprietary data made available to us by the NYC DOE, we show, however, that substantial disparities exist in the rates of gifted-and-talented admission test taking, the first step in the process of accessing these more challenging educational opportunities. While Black and Latino/a students take the test for gifted-and-talented admission at substantially lower rates than their White and Asian counterparts, we find the disparity to be significantly less for those enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. We likewise find similar results when comparing other subgroups defined by students’ family, borough, and neighborhood characteristics. These results suggest that public prekindergarten gifted-and-talented attendance could have played a role in ameliorating the gaps in test taking by providing greater access to information about the gifted-and-talented programs across subgroups of students.
Prozessintegration der Wärmebehandlung in die Fertigung*
Authors: Goy W. , Altena H.
Published: February 2016

Kurzfassung

In der klassischen Getriebefertigung eines Automobilunternehmens ist die Wärmebehandlung als Produktionsschritt zwischen Weich- und Hartbearbeitung zumeist in einem separaten Bearbeitungsbereich – der Zentralhärterei – untergebracht, sodass die Werkstücke zwischen den Bearbeitungsstationen hin und her transportiert werden müssen. In unserer modernen und schnelllebigen Zeit werden in der Produktion zunehmend höhere Flexibilität und kürzere Durchlaufzeiten gefordert, was auch den Abbau von Zwischenpuffern bedingt. Da erscheint der Wunsch nur folgerichtig, die Wärmebehandlung vollständig in die Fertigungslinie zu integrieren. In dem Beitrag werden unterschiedliche Lösungen aufgezeigt, wie konventionelle Chargenprozesse der Wärmebehandlung schrittweise in die Fertigung integriert werden können. Als Idealzustand wird dabei ein Umbau der kompletten Produktion auf eine Einzelteilfertigung in der Linie, den sogenannten „One-Piece-Flow“, angesehen. Die Wärmebehandlung mittels Induktion ist generell eine Einzelteilbehandlung und daher für eine Linienproduktion im „One-Piece-Flow“ ideal. Die beiden induktiven Einzelprozesse Härten und Anlassen werden beschrieben, einer konventionellen Wärmebehandlung gegenübergestellt und die besonderen Bedingungen für eine Umstellung auf Induktion erörtert. Abschließend wird versucht, einen Ausblick auf zukünftige Entwicklungen in Hinblick auf die in die Fertigungslinie integrierte Wärmebehandlung zu geben.
Stranger Danger, Cell Phones, Traffic, and Active Travel to and from Schools: Perceptions of Parents and Children
Authors: Sweeney Shannon M. , Von Hagen Leigh Ann
Published: February 2016

This paper summarizes one-on-one interviews with parents and their middle school children to identify similarities and differences in parents’ and children’s perceptions of the environment that surrounds travel to and from school, how these perceptions form, and how they influence travel mode choice to and from school. Forty-eight interviews were conducted with parent–child pairs in three New Jersey communities. In particular, the interviews examined active travel modes, such as walking and bicycling, to and from school. Direct communication with parents and students allowed for a thick description of perspectives and concerns. Analysis of qualitative data showed differences in adult versus child perceptions and the emergence of several themes related to the environment and children’s capacity for independence. Themes included differences in comfort with solo travel, which depended on time of day, parental concern with abductions and sexual offenders, common use of cell phones and GPS technology to address safety fears, and perceptions with respect to the safety of travel modes on the basis of gender. Implications for practice included the support of opportunities for children to walk in groups, such as the designation of meet-up locations, where students could gather without parental accompaniment, and the encouragement of Walk to School and Walk from School days to help parents and students become comfortable with walking trips. To help children attain the benefits of active travel, schools and communities also could provide skills-based education on personal safety and could identify safe areas, where students could go if problems arose.
Recommendations for Acceleration Lane Length for Metered On-Ramps
Authors: Yang Guangchuan , Tian Zong , Xu Hao , Wang Zhongren
Published: February 2016

AASHTO’s A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (Green Book) is currently used by most state departments of transportation in the United States in determining the design length of acceleration lanes of metered on-ramps; however, the recommended acceleration lengths have not been updated for several decades. This study aimed to develop a method for determining acceleration lengths at metered on-ramps. Vehicle location versus time information was collected via parallel cameras at seven metered on-ramps in California; then, a piecewise constant acceleration model was proposed to calculate the spot speeds of individual samples at predetermined locations. The percentile distance-versus-speed profiles at each ramp were built, and regression models were generated to predict the required acceleration length at a given merge speed. The 85th percentile data were recommended as the minimum acceleration length to accommodate most drivers in accelerating to a safe merging speed. The new recommendation was compared with the existing guidance in the Green Book. On the basis of 1,658 individual samples, it was found that the recommended acceleration lengths were shorter than the Green Book guidelines by 10% to 35%. Also, results showed that acceleration lengths for tractor trailer trucks were approximately 60% greater than the Green Book guidelines.
Effects of Cross-Slope Break on Roadway Departure Recovery for Trucks on Horizontal Curves
Authors: Brewer Marcus A. , Abu-Odeh Akram , Rau Kimberly , Torbic Darren , Depwe Elizabeth
Published: February 2016

A 2009 crash involving a tanker truck that departed the roadway on a freeway connection ramp led the National Transportation Safety Board to suggest a review of current AASHTO policy for pavement–shoulder cross-slope breaks on horizontal curves to determine whether updates to the design criteria were needed. As part of NCHRP Project 03-105, the research team reviewed and summarized existing policies and conducted a pair of studies focusing on large trucks on horizontal curves. Researchers conducted a vehicle dynamics simulation study and a crash-based study; both were designed to identify patterns and trends in roadway departure crashes involving large trucks and to develop recommendations for corresponding revisions to AASHTO policy for designing cross-slope breaks on horizontal curves. In the vehicle dynamics simulation study, researchers developed and analyzed results from roadway departure models for a tractor single-van trailer truck, a tractor tanker trailer truck, and a tractor double-van trailer truck for various combinations of roadway departure path, approach speed, superelevation, and cross-slope break. This paper summarizes existing policy, describes the study method, and presents findings from the vehicle dynamics simulation study. Results indicate that no changes need to be recommended for AASHTO’s policy on cross-slope break.
Factors influencing the desire to provide MS patient care in clinical practice among physiatrists
Authors: Kane Heather , Teixeira-Poit Stephanie , Halpern Michael T. , Keating Michael , Olmsted Murrey
Published: February 2016

BACKGROUND:

Rehabilitation care is an important part of care for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Little is known about factors influencing physiatrists’ desire to provide MS care.

OBJECTIVE:

This study examines factors associated with physiatrists’ attitudes towards providing MS care.

METHODS:

We collaborated with the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation to survey a sample of 300 U.S. physiatrists. Analyses examined the association of exposure to MS care resources during residency, physician demographic and practice characteristics with attitudes toward providing MS care.

RESULTS:

Physiatrists indicating negative factors limiting the number of MS patients seen in clinical practice were more likely to practice in a setting other than a major city and less likely to have interacted with MS specialists during residency. Physiatrists indicating factors having a positive influence on providing MS patient care were more likely to practice within a major city, see one or more MS patients per week, and serve as the primary physiatrist directing care for one or more MS patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

Physiatrists indicated positive and negative attitudes towards MS care. Increasing exposure to MS patients, providing resources for MS care, and participating in continuing education on MS, may encourage physiatrists to provide MS patient care.
Ethics in Design
Authors: Stieb James A.
Published: February 2016

This chapter addresses how engineers can incorporate an understanding of human beings into their technological innovations as well as some risks, responsibilities, and social values involved in technological design. It also addresses how best to teach Engineering Ethics. In short, the chapter analyzes Engineering Ethics from a philosophical and educational perspective. The objectives of this chapter are to discuss ethical theories and their significance to Engineering Ethics and relevant and significant case studies of international and national import for future technological designs. Further, the importance of including social and moral values in the engineering design process and the advantages of abiding by the professional ethics code in Mechanical Engineering are also discussed. At the end, the chapter discusses the best way to teach an Engineering Ethics course.
Extending Business Processes with Mobile Task Support
Authors: Pryss Rüdiger , Musiol Steffen , Reichert Manfred
Published: February 2016

Process management technology constitutes a fundamental component of any service-driven computing environment. Process management facilitates both the composition of services at design-time and their orchestration at runtime. In particular, when applying the service paradigm to enterprise integration, high flexibility is required. In this context, atomic as well as composite services representing the business functions should be quickly adaptable to cope with dynamic business changes. Furthermore, they should enable mobile and quick access to enterprise information. The growing maturity of smart mobile devices has fostered their prevalence in knowledge-intensive areas in the enterprise as well. As a consequence, process management technology needs to be extended with mobile task support. However, process tasks, hitherto executed in a stationary manner, cannot be simply transferred to run on smart mobile devices. Many research groups focus on the partitioning of processes and the distributed execution of the resulting fragments on smart mobile devices. Opposed to this fragmentation concept, this chapter proposes an approach to enable the robust and flexible execution of single process tasks on smart mobile devices by provisioning self-healing techniques to address the smooth integration of mobile tasks with business processes.
Designing a cMOOC for Lecturer Professional Development in the 21st Century
Authors: Cochrane Thomas , Narayan Vickel , Burcio-Martin Victorio
Published: February 2016

This chapter explores the design of a framework for up-scaling a lecturer professional development strategy based upon communities of practice from pockets of excellence to span across a university utilizing a cMOOC framework. The framework links global experts into an authentic professional development experience via the integration of a range of mobile social media learning technologies. The framework includes a series of triggering events designed to support the development of participants' personal eportfolios and pedagogical practice that can then be optionally validated by external CMALT accreditation. We believe the framework provides a transferable professional development model for other institutions to explore.
Engineering Ethics in Technological Design
Authors: Akula Giridhar
Published: February 2016

Engineering's main goal is to do and invent. Today's engineering, as the motive force of technology, has reached pressing new ethical issues. The objective of this chapter is to explain the role of engineering ethics in technological design. This chapter concentrates on ethical issues that have a direct influence on the design of a product and the way it is used. In general, it focuses on ethical issues concerning safety and sustainability.
Executive Functions in Digital Games
Authors: Boyle Elizabeth , Terras Melody M. , Ramsay Judith , Boyle James M. E.
Published: February 2016

Despite enhanced appreciation of the nature and scope of the cognitive advantages of playing games, our understanding of the actual mechanisms responsible for generating and maintaining these remains limited. In this chapter, the authors propose that viewing these changes from the information processing perspective of executive functions will help to elucidate the psychological infrastructure that underpins these gains. They apply Anderson's model of executive functions to understanding how games support visual-perceptual processing and higher-level thinking and problem solving. As well as extending our appreciation of how digital games can support learning, research on executive functions highlights the implications of the limitations of our cognitive systems for game design.
Computational Thinking and Mathematics
Authors: Barcelos Thiago Schumacher , Silveira Ismar Frango
Published: February 2016

On the one hand, ensuring that students archive adequate levels of Mathematical knowledge by the time they finish basic education is a challenge for the educational systems in several countries. On the other hand, the pervasiveness of computer-based devices in everyday situations poses a fundamental question about Computer Science being part of those known as basic sciences. The development of Computer Science (CS) is historically related to Mathematics; however, CS is said to have singular reasoning mechanics for problem solving, whose applications go beyond the frontiers of Computing itself. These problem-solving skills have been defined as Computational Thinking skills. In this chapter, the possible relationships between Math and Computational Thinking skills are discussed in the perspective of national curriculum guidelines for Mathematics of Brazil, Chile, and United States. Three skills that can be jointly developed by both areas are identified in a literature review. Some challenges and implications for educational research and practice are also discussed.
Teachers' Use of Social Networking Sites for Continuing Professional Development
Authors: Xerri Daniel
Published: February 2016

On the basis of the results of a study conducted amongst secondary school teachers of English in Malta, this chapter explores the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) for professional development purposes. In the digital era, SNS provide teachers with the opportunity of creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN), which is an increasingly significant way of acquiring new knowledge and enhancing pedagogical skills while also having the capacity of making teachers feel they belong to a Community of Practice (CoP). This chapter shows how despite their regular use of SNS for personal reasons, teachers do not always exploit these sites to achieve professional development. It is argued that training is a necessary means of not only enabling teachers to learn how to use such tools for such a purpose but also of redefining the way they think about the process of acquiring and sharing knowledge and skills in the 21st century.
Using Multimodal Discourse Analysis to Identify Patterns of Problem Solving Processes in a Computer-Supported Collaborative Environment
Authors: Kennedy-Clark Shannon , Thompson Kate
Published: February 2016

Recently, there have been calls to undertake deeper analyses of learner interactions in collaborative computer-supported environments, analyses that move beyond code and count, in order to understand collaboration from multiple viewpoints. In this chapter, two analytical approaches are presented, analyzing and interpreting the same conversational data from learners sharing a computer to solve a virtual inquiry. It is proposed that through the combined use of group function analysis and discourse analysis perspectives, a deeper understanding of how learners interacted on both macro and micro levels can be gained. The patterns of successful and non-successful problem solving are established and, from this, factors that may contribute to goal attainment or non-attainment are outlined.
Teacher Insight on RTI Implementation at the Middle and High School Levels
Authors: Epler Pam L.
Published: February 2016

The Response to Intervention (RTI) service delivery model has been incorporated at the elementary school level with success but is still lagging behind within the secondary school environment. This chapter demonstrates how two secondary schools, one a middle school and the other a high school, implemented the RTI model efficiently and effectively. The chapter shows that the RTI model can be successfully executed in different ways depending on a school's needs, funding, and personnel. The chapter provides details on the diagnostic practices, data collection methods, intervention strategies, administrative support, and professional development of each implemented model and includes insight from actual teachers and school counselors who participated in the implementations. A reflection on lessons learned from each school site is included.
Conducting Ethical Research
Authors: Lobo Sunila
Published: February 2016

Since the 1960s, social scientists have explored the ethics of conducting research. However, there is little guidance in conducting ethical research in the more conservative societies of the Middle East. The rapid progress of technology has meant that these societies have been become increasingly networked, even the most restrictive ones, with a growing use of mobile devices. The purpose of the chapter is to describe the reflection on the research conducted on mobile consumption practices of female Saudi youth. The conduct of the research is based on both the researcher's formal training and also, intuitively negotiated, in practice, as she navigated this particularly sensitive context. The influence of the interplay between culture and gender emerges as the researcher reflects on the research conducted. The consideration of the ethics of the research continues post research completion.
Behavior and Ethical Problems in the Functioning of the Operating Theater (Case Study)
Authors: Wójcik Anita , Chojnacki Michał
Published: February 2016

The progress of civilization and the dynamic development of the various branches of science is inevitable. Subsequent centuries brought behind the systematic development of medicine and nursing. This action always was and still is accompanied by ethical reflection. Widely understood ethics shall attempt to catch an eternal with the changes, especially in the protection of the essence of the man as well as his health. Image of medicine allows us to understand that the subject of immediate medical ethics is not just a doctor and a nurse, but that there are often entire therapeutic teams of health care professionals and patients themselves. Concern about the health of their ownership presupposes and active partnership in the process of treatment. Contemporary ethics interfere in every element of medicine, generating doubts and at the same time trying to normalize them, included in the specified frame. Operating theaters and the people working there are not free from this type of dilemma.
Primary Grades Teachers' Fidelity of Teaching Practices during Mathematics Professional Development
Authors: Martin Christie , Polly Drew , Wang Chuang , Lambert Richard G. , Pugalee David
Published: February 2016

This chapter shares the findings from a study that examined primary grades teachers' fidelity of implementation during a year-long professional development program on formative assessment in mathematics. The project provided over 80 hours of professional development to elementary school teachers regarding their use of an internet-based formative assessment system for their students' mathematics achievement. This study examined teachers' online reflections and data in the internet-based assessment system to identify themes that lead to either a high fidelity or low fidelity of implementation. High fidelity teachers expressed beliefs that formative assessment supported their mathematics teaching, improved their students' learning, and was feasible to carry out in their classrooms. Low fidelity teachers' reflections were associated with numerous barriers to implementation as well as a lack of buy-in that the formative assessment system could benefit their teaching.
Ethics is Not Enough
Authors: Mitcham Carl
Published: February 2016

This chapter argues for understanding engineering ethics in terms of three principles—but then going beyond ethics to political theory. A simplified prefatory comparison between engineering and science points to the importance of ethics in engineering. Section 1 provides a historico-philosophical overview of engineering ethics in the United States, on the premise that American experience can be generally illuminating. The narrative traces a trajectory of commitments from company loyalty to public responsibility, with the public responsibility promoting public engagement. Section 2 considers three influential American cases that together suggest a duty to public disclosure. Section 3 broadens the analysis through selective reviews of engineering ethics profiles in Germany, The Netherlands, Japan, Chile, and in transnational professional engineering organizations, on the basis of which is articulated a duty not only to avoid harm but also to do good. Section 4, a critical reflection on engineering in the intensive form of research and design, posits a synthesis of the principles of participation, disclosure, and beneficence into a duty plus respicare, to take more into account. A concluding section nevertheless suggests the inadequacy of limiting engineering ethics to ethics. Ethics in engineering like ethics generally implicates political theory. Ethics in the absence of politics demands unrealistic personal heroism; political theory without any foundation in ethics promotes tyranny.
Internal Communication in EU Project Management in Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Authors: Irinca Andra Florina
Published: February 2016

The present research underlines the importance of communication within an organization among its main stakeholders and its influence on the external market. It passes through explaining the communication in all fields and domains, creating an overview of the institutional communication, and why it is considered difficult to effectively propagate within a large institution. In addition, the internal communication and information and research so far conducted is analyzed with respect to the findings and lessons learned. In addition, it is important to know and understand how the internal communication evolved during years and which were the main approaches identified throughout the organizations. The case study aims to evaluate the level of information and the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal communication process within Bucharest University of Economic Studies with respect to its projects developed and financed through European funds in the last six years. The study is mainly run through the help of the questionnaire that was addressed to teachers and students within the faculty and has also the purpose to help improve the related communication in the foreseeable future based on the relevant findings.
Quantitative Concession Behavior Analysis and Prediction for Decision Support in Electronic Negotiations
Authors: Carbonneau Réal A. , Vahidov Rustam , Kersten Gregory E.
Published: February 2016

Quantitative analysis of negotiation concession behavior is performed based on empirical data with the purpose of providing simple and intuitive decision support in electronic negotiations. Previous work on non-linear concave preferences and subsequent concession crossover provides a theoretical basis for the model. The authors propose a model which quantifies the remaining concession potential for each issue and a generalization of the model which permits the memory/decay of past concessions. These models permit the analysis of negotiators' concession behavior. Using the proposed models, it was possible to quantitatively determine that negotiators in the authors' negotiation case exhibit concession crossover issues and thus have a tendency to give concessions on issues with the most remaining concession potential. This finding provides empirical evidence of concession crossover in actual concessions and the corresponding model permits the design of a simple and intuitive prediction methodology, which could be used in real world negotiations by decision support systems or automated negotiation agents.
Impact of a Professional Development Programme on Trainee Teachers' Beliefs and Teaching Practices
Authors: Kırkgöz Yasemin
Published: February 2016

This study emerged from the concerns experienced by the last-year English language trainee teachers during their school practicum. An increasing number of trainees complained that their existing beliefs conflicted, in many ways, with the school-based mentor's teaching practice. A collaborative action research (CAR) professional development programme (PDP) was established to help prospective teachers resolve many of the dilemmas and improve their classroom practices in a 10-week practicum course. It was found that CAR has a powerful impact upon teacher candidates as it solves many of the dilemmas and concerns. Belief changes of one trainee teacher are presented as an exemplary case. While such findings can improve our understandings of pre-service teachers' cognitive learning and problem solving skills at the practicum site, they also generate useful insights into designing a PDP to promote trainee teachers' school-based professional development in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematic) education.
The Pivotal Role of Faculty in Online Student Engagement and Retention
Authors: Estes Judi Simmons
Published: February 2016

The premise of this chapter is that higher education online faculty have a pivotal role in student retention; faculty participation is key to student engagement and engaged students tend to complete courses in which they are enrolled. However, frequently faculty members are unaware of the impact their active participation and visibility has on student engagement and retention. In addition, online courses are an important source of revenue for many institutions of higher education and attrition results in loss of revenue. Given that faculty have a pivotal role in retention, institutions of higher education can benefit fiscally from guiding and supporting online faculty in strategies of student engagement and retention. Faculty support is needed during the process of change inherent in faculty adapting to teaching online, through providing on-going faculty professional development and by creating a teaching culture inclusive of informal scholarly investigations related to instructional effectiveness in online course delivery.
Manifestation of Ethical Consumption Behaviour through Five Precepts of Buddhism
Authors: Ratnayake Nilanthi , Jayawickrama Dushan Chaminda
Published: February 2016

Consumption is an essential everyday process. By very nature, it is a means of expressing our moral identities and an outlet for ethical obligations. In more recent years, ethical aspects of consumption have come under greater scrutiny with the emergence of ethical consumption discourses, and are currently associated with a range of consumer behaviours and responsible business practices. To this end, religion is considered an undeniably powerful and concurrently the most successful marketing force that can shape the ethical behaviour, yet under-investigated in consumption practices despite the Corporate Socially Responsibility provoked ethical behaviour. Ethical consumption practices are regularly characterised as consumption activities that avoid harm to other people, animals or the environment where basic Buddhist teachings become more pertinent and practiced in Buddhist communities. This Chapter aims to conceptualise the importance of religious beliefs in ethical consumer behaviour and present the findings of a study that explored whether and how ethical consumerism is reflected through Five Precepts of Buddhism [i.e. (1) abstain from taking life, (2) abstain from stealing, (3) abstain from sexual misconduct, (4) abstain from false speech, and (5) abstain from intoxicants that cloud the mind]. The content of the Chapter contributes to the theory and teaching in the marketing discipline by linking how religious beliefs enhance ethical consumerism that remains largely unexplored.
Factors that Contribute to Students' Course Satisfaction While Attending Online or Distance Learning Courses
Authors: Esquivel Dinah A.
Published: February 2016

This case analyzed what factors contribute to students' satisfaction levels in online classes, and how the instructors' nonverbal immediacy impacts those factors. Surveys were administered to participants that have taken a minimum of one online course. Data was analyzed to identify the specific factors that positively and negatively impact student satisfaction levels.
The Role of Performance Management Practices on Organizational Performance
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: February 2016

This chapter introduces the framework and causal model of leadership style, organizational culture, performance management practices, and organizational performance. It argues that dimensions of leadership style, organizational culture, and performance management practices have mediated positive effect on organizational performance. Performance management practices positively mediate the relationships between leadership style and organizational performance and between organizational culture and organizational performance. Leadership style is positively correlated with organizational culture. Understanding the theoretical learning is positively beneficial for organizations aiming to increase organizational performance and achieve business goals.
Management as a Limit to Organizational Change
Authors: King David R.
Published: February 2016

Acquisitions inherently involve change, but the success of desired change varies. This reflects the inherent difficulty of organizational change and attempts to maintain a fit with an organization's environment. A possible limitation to successful change is that the managers responsible for it face conflicting demands. This chapter develops multiple ways that acquisition circumstances and involved managers can limit organizational change. For example, middle managers can have information about organizational challenges but not the authority to direct change, while top managers have the authority but face implementation constraints. Acquisitions may also offer a solution to these challenges through the reconfiguration of a firm's management to increase management perspectives and to update organizational identities. Implications for management research and practice are discussed.
Becoming Teacher Researchers
Authors: Razfar Aria , Troiano Beverly , Nasir Ambareen , Yang Eunah , Rumenapp Joseph C. , Torres Zayoni
Published: February 2016

Drawing on three years of data, we show how an embedded university research team and eleven K-8 educators reorganized learning and negotiated innovative curricular activities for English learners (ELs) in spite of restrictive curricular mandates in an urban Midwestern district. We analyze how participating teachers appropriated theoretical constructs such as cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), third space, funds of knowledge, as well as using discourse analysis to design curriculum aimed at improving language learning through mathematics, science, and community-based problem solving. The learning of teachers was purposefully designed to develop new professional identities. The learning was also designed to move teachers from deficit views of multilingualism to dynamic stances grounded in polyglot language ideologies. We examine the challenges and opportunities of participants' movement from resistant, procedural, and ethnographic identities towards teacher researcher identities.
Ethics in Management and Institutionalization of Ethics
Authors: Sayan İlknur , Karaca Güngör
Published: February 2016

Throughout world economies, place and role of government and public sector have weakened over time, and on the other hand, efficiency, function, and responsibility of the business world and private sector have increased on the global market system. In addition, changing and developing socio-cultural structure has increased social sensitivity stakeholders' consciousness and importance given to ethic values due to increasing social necessities. Ethics turned out to be one of the most important management subjects for entities and governors in the business world. Ethical performance and ethical quality of enterprises are also important for social responsibility towards all stakeholders, enterprises' ethical values, reputation of the enterprise, increasing brand value of goods produced or service provided, providing trust and support of investors, customers, and the public. In this context, ethics, managerial ethics, institutionalization of ethics, and importance of ethical principles in enterprises in terms of corporate managerial principles are evaluated in this chapter.
Ethical Theories and Teaching Engineering Ethics
Authors: Pritchard Michael S. , Englehardt Elaine E.
Published: February 2016

As an area of academic study, engineering ethics focuses primarily on practical ethical issues. A primary aim of the study of practical ethics is to help students make good ethical decisions in whatever practical endeavors they may undertake, including in their chosen careers. The authors argue that reflection on the sorts of ethical problems that arise in engineering practice should be the starting point, with ethical theory coming into view primarily in this context. This is in contrast to a more “top-down” approach that tries to “apply” theory to practice only after laying out a spectrum of philosophically grounded theories, each of which attempts to give us a comprehensive picture of ethics, as such.
Evolving Pedagogy and Practice
Authors: Hennessey Susan , Olofson Mark W. , Swallow Meredith J. C. , Downes John M.
Published: February 2016

This chapter presents qualitative research describing the pedagogy of middle grades mathematics teachers who participated in professional development in conjunction with classroom integration of 1:1 technology. Through a multiple-case study design, the expression and development of teacher pedagogy that occurred as teachers created self-designed action research projects grounded in pedagogical goals is illustrated. The use of action research in these four case studies as a vehicle for professional growth and as a reflective evaluation tool is discussed. When viewed through the lens of the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), data suggest a technology-mediated shift in pedagogy in the area of differentiation in instruction and assessment in mathematics classrooms. Future implications regarding technology integration, professional development programs, and the use of the TPACK as a descriptive tool are considered.
Newly Created Heterogeneous Groups
Authors: Davis Jr. Theodore E.
Published: February 2016

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of racial and gender diversity on group process and problem solving in an academic setting. The importance of this dynamic is its value in preparing students for the workplace. The supposition is if heterogeneous groups had enough time to resolve group process conflicts, they could significantly increase their performance on group tasks (Davis, 2012). Moreover, their later performance on tasks should exceed the performance of the homogeneous groups (Davis, 2012). However, how much time, as well as tasks, does it take heterogeneous groups to start to exceed the performance of the homogenous groups? Data for the study was collected from upper-level undergraduate male and female students registered in a sixteen-week business course taught by one instructor at a large university in a metropolitan city in the northeastern United States. There were five racially mixed groups of seven members in the four sections of the course. During this period, group members met frequently for a series of case analyses. Only balanced heterogeneous groups significantly enhanced their groups' performance on complicated problem-solving tasks over time. They exceeded the performance of all homogeneous groups, except that of the Black American female homogeneous groups. Ultimately, the academic grades of the balanced heterogeneous groups as well as their individual members were in the upper half of all grades issued.
Preparing Tomorrow's Library Managers
Authors: McLean Evadne , Scale Mark-Shane , Rouse-Jones Margaret D.
Published: February 2016

This chapter reports on a study of leadership development and succession planning at The University of the West Indies Libraries. The research shows that in the absence of formal succession planning, leadership training takes place in tandem with the staff appraisal and career development process. The annual appraisal and assessment system provides the opportunity for staff who aspire to leadership positions to be guided in their career development and thus be better prepared when vacancies arise. The benefits provided to academic, senior administrative and professional staff—for example, funding for travel and professional activities, special leave for scholarly pursuits and other career development opportunities—are utilised by librarians to advance their careers. The chapter highlights the importance of strict adherence by library administration to the annual appraisal and assessment processes and staff use of organisational support for career development as integral components in leadership development and succession planning and implementation.
Navigating 21st Century Multimodal Textual Environments
Authors: Wells Muriel , Lyons Damien
Published: February 2016

In the 21st century young people live and learn in a technological world that is fast paced and in a constant state of change. As technology becomes more and more accessible outside of the classroom, educators are challenged to re-consider the literacy skills required to be successfully literate. Enacting literacy teaching and learning in and for the 21st century requires teachers to update their pedagogical knowledge, skills and contextual understanding of the world children live and learn in. This chapter offers a brief overview of the Australian Curriculum, locating it within a 21st century learning discourse. The authors interpret and analyse one young student's creation of a digital text in a movie modality. Attention is paid to how the case study teacher created meaningful digital literacy learning experiences and opportunities for children to create and interact in social, multimodal textual environments, both within and beyond the school.
Perceptions of Teacher Education Candidates to Digital and Learning Technologies
Authors: Bull Prince Hycy , Patterson Gerrelyn Chunn , Mansaray Mahmud A. , Dunston Yolanda L.
Published: February 2016

The proliferation of learning technologies and new laws supporting digital content in K-12 education have forced teacher education programs to redefine how candidates are prepared to teach with digital content. In preparing teacher education candidates, technological knowledge is just as important as content and pedagogical knowledge. How do teacher education programs ensure that candidates are adequately prepared to teach with learning technologies and digital content? The answer to this question lies not only in the empirical knowledge of how technology is infused in the teacher education curriculum and used during student teaching, but also in the self-efficacy and the self-assessment of candidates' technological skills. Using Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy theory as a guiding framework, this study seeks to address how prepared teacher candidates are to teach with learning technologies and digital content. Findings from the study show positive efficacy of candidates to digital content and learning technologies.
Cultivating 21st Century Skills in Teachers through Project-Based Learning
Authors: Haipinge Erkkie
Published: February 2016

This chapter describes the implementation of a Project Based Learning (PBL) course in a Bachelor of Education at the University of Namibia, whose aim was to develop student teachers' 21st century skills. The course further offered students a model for applying learner-centered education, which is the recommended pedagogical approach in Namibia. Challenges observed in the course, have been limited opportunities for students to share project products and learning experiences. Also, since students use PBL for learning and not as a pedagogical model, challenges are anticipated in using the approach in their own teaching. Using Communities of Practice, 21st Century Skills framework and Project Based Learning, this chapter proposes a framework for creating learning communities for teachers. Recommending the use of online tools to support mentoring, idea and resource sharing, the framework is envisioned to facilitate the pedagogical application of PBL and teachers' modeling of 21st century skills in practice.