Incorporating a new bioinformatics component into genetics at a historically black college: outcomes and lessons

Many students at minority-serving institutions are underexposed to Internet resources such as the human genome project, PubMed, NCBI databases, and other Web-based technologies because of a lack of financial resources. To change this, we designed and implemented a new bioinformatics component to supplement the undergraduate Genetics course at Clark Atlanta University. The outcomes of the Bioinformatics course were assessed. During the first week of the semester, students were assigned the Felder-Soloman's Index of Learning Styles Inventory. The overwhelming majority of students were visual (82.1%) and sequential (75.0%) learners. Furthermore, pre- and postcourse surveys were administered during the first and the last week of the course to assess learning, confidence level, and mental activity. These indicated students increased the number of hours spent using computers and doing homework. Students reported confidence in using computers to study genetics increased, enabling them to better visualize and understand genetics. Furthermore, students were more mentally engaged in a more social learning environment. Although the students appreciated the value of the bioinformatics component, they reported the additional work load was substantial enough to receive additional course credit.     

Revisioning Philosophy of Education Instruction in Competency-Based B. Ed. Programs

This article concerns the relationship between classroom assessments that are aligned with “competencies-based” teaching in Teacher Education programs on the one hand, and on the other hand, the challenge of offering authentic “philosophy of education,” “education theory,” or “education foundations” courses for student–teachers who are enrolled in a professional degree and on the way towards certification. Briefly, administrative and accreditation concerns with developing and demonstrating core “competencies” when teaching is considered strictly as a “profession” do not align with more ancient understandings of teaching as a “way of life”—especially when that life is led in some relation to philosophy, or “the pursuit of wisdom.” This article examines the disjunction between these two conceptualizations of teaching; it encourages readers to think about how this disjunction problematizes their pedagogy as “philosophers of education.”     

From the kids to ‘The Kids’ – the development of negative social capital I a Little League Baseball organization

Abstract

Based on extensive fieldwork within a youth baseball league in the American Southwest, this paper has two goals. First, I make a conceptual distinction between the dark side of social capital and what I term “negative social capital.” Second, I detail how negative social capital developed and was deployed within the Valley City Little League, with an emphasis on origins and the consequences for both the individuals involved as well as the league as a whole. I also examine how negative social capital was able to develop in a child-centered voluntary organization, an anomaly within extant research on negative relationships in such organizations.     

Experimental analysis of ice friction in the sport of bobsleigh

We report the first derivation of the coefficient of friction between bobsleigh runners and ice from experimental measurements performed in a controlled environment. In a series of experiments on both horizontal ice and a track sloped at 6.80°, a radar gun was used to sample the speed of a moving sled in the range of (1–10) m/s at a sample rate of 31.25 Hz. The acceleration of the sled, and thus the coefficient of friction, was extracted from these data, with a value of (4.2 ± 0.9) × 10^?3 for the coefficient of friction associated with a set of two-man bobsleigh runners. There was no detectable variation in the coefficient of friction with velocity at this range of speeds and experimental accuracy. This result improves our knowledge of this coefficient over currently accepted values determined from indirect measurements, and indicates that the coefficient is lower than the currently accepted range.     

‘Your Shire,Your Sharks’: The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Delocalization v. Glocalization in Australian Rugby League

Delocalization has become an enduring theme in sports historiography. In Australian rugby league much of the work on this theme has been associated with the so-called ‘Super League War’ and the disconnection of sporting teams from place and local identity. Not all clubs, however, suffered such a fate. The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are one such team that endured the travails of the 1990s and maintained a strong connection with their geographical community. Problematizing delocalization in this context, the study explores the Sharks' Super League experience and finds strong evidence to support the contention that the Sharks provide a local sporting example of ‘glocalization’.     

Communicating the need for a new field of dreams: If we don’t rebuild it will they go?

Convincing the public to finance a stadium is often contentious and even more so in smaller communities with limited funding options. In this case study of Cobb Field, the city of Billings, Montana must address the disrepair of its municipally owned baseball stadium. The field is used by a minor league professional baseball team, two American Legion teams, and a university program. Cobb Field is in violation of the rules that govern minor league professional baseball, and must seek waivers each year to allow the professional team to remain. As a result, community leaders are concerned the team could relocate. The city council wants a new stadium, but must seek approval for a tax increase from a community that has recently rejected levies for schools, libraries, and museums. Students should ponder what public relations strategies are available to the supporters of a new stadium while considering the needs, wants, and desires of the various stakeholders involved.