Record Values and Surviving Glacial Moraines

Estimating the number of glacial advances from surviving glacial debris can, amazingly enough, be cast as a records problem for which there is a substantial statistical literature. As a result, instructors may illustrate method of moments and maximum‐likelihood estimation techniques with an interesting problem in the physical sciences.     

Enhancing nursing home care for seniors: impact of a living classroom on nursing assistant’s education

ABSTRACT

Nursing Assistants (NAs) are the largest workforce in nursing homes, but often lack adequate preparation for their role. The Living Classroom (LC) is an integrated learning approach, whereby a NA program is delivered in a nursing home (NH) in collaboration with a community college. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of the LC. Mixed methods were used to gather data from 48 NA students, 5 faculty, and 42 NH staff over 30 weeks. Students, faculty, and nursing home staff described the LC as a positive learning experience. Students’ gerontological knowledge increased over time (p = .0012). Students reported very positive relationships with program mentors and NH residents. The LC provides a unique approach to prepare NAs to work in nursing homes. This model could expand to other educational programs with a gerontology focus.     

Starting and Sustaining an Undergraduate Research Program: The SURIEM Experience at Michigan State University

Abstract

Mentoring undergraduate students in research is both rewarding and challenging. In this paper we present how we established a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in the mathematical sciences at Michigan State University. A goal of our REU is to include students who are at an early stage of their study of mathematics. We share our experiences in recruiting students, designing research projects, and mentoring our participants. We discuss the challenges we faced and the solutions we found while working with a diverse group of undergraduate students from across the nation.     

Attitudes of Business Faculty Towards Two Methods of Collecting Teaching Evaluations: Paper vs. Online

Business professors were surveyed to determine their attitudes towards two methods of collecting students' teaching evaluations of faculty--the traditional paper-and-pencil method conducted in class and the online method conducted via the Internet. Faculty preferred the traditional paper method, mainly because they believed it would produce a higher and more accurate response than the online method. Faculty characteristics were examined to determine whether they were related to attitudes towards the online method of collecting teaching evaluations. No characteristics were found to be significantly associated with attitudes towards the online method. Suggestions for future researchers are offered.     

Identification of Alcohol by Smell among Preschoolers: Evidence for Early Socialization about Drugs Occurring in the Home

This study tested preschoolers' ability to provide accurate verbal associations to alcoholic beverage odors and whether this ability was related to parental drinking patterns and motivations. Older preschoolers performed better than younger preschoolers; photographic cues improved performance; children who correctly identified a substance by smell had socially appropriate knowledge of the culturally appropriate users of the substance; children reported liking substances that are used mainly by children and adults, and generally reported disliking substances whose use is legally limited to adults only; children were better at identifying substances they commonly use, but success at recognition of alcoholic beverages was related to heavier parental drinking and use of alcohol for escape reasons. Findings have implications for theories of socialization to drug use and for models of prevention.     

Using a Substitute Activity to Eliminate Eye Poking in a 3‐year‐old Visually Impaired Child in the Classroom

This paper documents the effectiveness of a substitute activity in decreasing the frequency of eye poking in a 3‐year‐old nonretarded visually impaired child who was involved in a highly participatory, full‐day reading program with four sighted classmates. Following 49 days of training, eye poking had been eliminated, and the subject was able to read 25 word cards. Elements to consider when selecting a substitute activity to interrupt an established self‐stimulating behaviour such as eye poking are discussed.     

Girls in science — An evaluation of one school's approach to the gender bias in science

Conclusions As the pilot project has only been in operation for one semester there are no profound statements that can be made. What we have at present is the base information for comparison of all data over the duration of the project. Cross tabulation of the data to date has begun. However it should be re-iterated here that there appears to be a lack of understanding by the parents' as to the reason for the all-girls classes at the school and that this situation may be due to the fact that in this school community we have the typical sex-stereotyping roles and attitudes existing. The big question is, Will this intervention strategy of single-sex science classes be effective in altering the girls views about what is appropriate for them to study or follow as a career?     

Matching Cloze as an Evaluation Procedure for Slow Learning Children

The matching cloze procedure, which does not require language production skills and which is simple enough for the classroom teacher to construct unaided, was originally developed to measure reading skills of elementary English‐second‐language pupils. The results of this pilot study with opportunity school children indicate the validity of the procedure as an evaluation technique for slow learning children.