Students’ experiences of supervision in academic and industry settings: results of an Australian study

The joint supervision of Research Higher Degree (RHD) students by an industry and university supervisor is likely to increase in forthcoming years with a rise in the number of university–industry collaborations. Research students may become involved in these collaborative arrangements for a variety of reasons and may launch into their RHD without considering how they will serve two masters, and how this complex relationship will affect their RHD experience. Moreover, little research has been conducted to assess the impact of these arrangements on current RHD students’ experiences. The experiences of students with academic and industry supervisors were, therefore, explored in a survey of confirmed RHD students at an Australian research‐intensive university. This paper investigates whether RHD students conducting research in traditional academic settings have a different experience to students working on industry‐related projects in industry settings, specifically in regards to supervision and institutional access and engagement.     

Validity of High‐Stakes Assessment: Are Students Engaged in Complex Thinking?

The validity of high-stakes assessments and accountability systems is discussed in relation to the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The extent to which content standards and assessments are cognitively rich, the challenges in setting performance standards, and the impact of high-stakes assessments on instruction and student learning are addressed. The article argues for quality content standards, cognitively rich assessments, and a cohesive, balanced assessment system.     

Thermally multiplexed polymerase chain reaction

Amplification of multiple unique genetic targets using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is commonly required in molecular biology laboratories. Such reactions are typically performed either serially or by multiplex PCR. Serial reactions are time consuming, and multiplex PCR, while powerful and widely used, can be prone to amplification bias, PCR drift, and primer-primer interactions. We present a new thermocycling method, termed thermal multiplexing, in which a single heat source is uniformly distributed and selectively modulated for independent temperature control of an array of PCR reactions. Thermal multiplexing allows amplification of multiple targets simultaneously—each reaction segregated and performed at optimal conditions. We demonstrate the method using a microfluidic system consisting of an infrared laser thermocycler, a polymer microchip featuring 1 μl, oil-encapsulated reactions, and closed-loop pulse-width modulation control. Heat transfer modeling is used to characterize thermal performance limitations of the system. We validate the model and perform two reactions simultaneously with widely varying annealing temperatures (48 °C and 68 °C), demonstrating excellent amplification. In addition, to demonstrate microfluidic infrared PCR using clinical specimens, we successfully amplified and detected both influenza A and B from human nasopharyngeal swabs. Thermal multiplexing is scalable and applicable to challenges such as pathogen detection where patients presenting non-specific symptoms need to be efficiently screened across a viral or bacterial panel.     

Enhancing large-class teaching: a systematic comparison of rich-media materials

Large cohorts (>200 students) are an ever-increasing presence in the UK higher education (HE) sector. Providing excellent teaching and learning to these large classes is an ongoing challenge for teaching faculty, a challenge intensified when the cohort comprises 85% non-native English speakers. This paper presents the findings of a project to supplement face-to-face lectures on a large campus-based taught MSc programme with a set of rich-media materials. These resources consisted of audio podcasts, audio-narrated slides, short video segments and full-video lecture capture. The aim of the study was to examine student usage of, and preference for, these different rich-media materials. Key findings are that students valued most highly the full-video lecture capture followed by the audio-narrated slides, using the materials primarily to consolidate their understanding and as revision aids. Students also emphasised the central importance of the face-to-face lecture – viewing the rich-media materials as complementary to, rather than as a replacement for the traditional lecture. Nor did the majority of students see the provision of videoed lectures as a reason for non-attendance at lectures. The findings of this study provide confirmatory evidence of the ongoing importance of the traditional lecture in large cohort HE teaching together with an acknowledgement of the benefits that rich-media materials can bring to the student learning experience.     

They do not buy it: exploring the extent to which entering first-year students view themselves as customers

While a number of scholars have discussed the pervasiveness of the conceptualization of students as customers, to date there has been limited reliable research examining the extent to which students actually view themselves as customers. Using a survey that was administered to a census of entering first-year students at a large public research university (59.8% response rate), this study shows that students do not agree with many of the educational beliefs and planned behaviors associated with a customer orientation. Results of exploratory factor analysis suggested only 28.9% of respondents expressed a customer orientation. These results show that contrary to what has become common sense in postsecondary education, most students at this public university do not express a customer orientation towards their education. Such findings should make scholars and practitioners rethink some of their embedded assumptions with regards to the goals, motivations, and general educational orientations of today's college students.     

Organizational identity challenges in a post-merger context: A case study of an information system implementation project

This study examines the effects of the differences in organizational identities that emerged during a post-merger project that aimed at unifying the laboratory services of a large healthcare center that resulted from the merging of three hospitals by supporting them with a unique information system. We draw on the concepts of organizational identity and sensemaking to analyze the laboratory information system implementation project. Organizational identity is conceptualized as the mental representation that organizational members have of themselves as a social group in terms of practices, norms, and values and how they understand themselves to be different from members of other organizations. Data analysis suggests that divergent organizational identities and team members’ alternative interpretations of others’ practices, norms and organizational symbols, coexist during the post-merger integration phase. These interpretations are reflected in the final functionality of the information system that was different from the planned one.     

Neuromuscular control and running economy is preserved in elite international triathletes after cycling

Running is the most important discipline for Olympic triathlon success. However, cycling impairs running muscle recruitment and performance in some highly trained triathletes; though it is not known if this occurs in elite international triathletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cycling in two different protocols on running economy and neuromuscular control in elite international triathletes. Muscle recruitment and sagittal plane joint angles of the left lower extremity and running economy were compared between control (no preceding cycle) and transition (preceded by cycling) runs for two different cycle protocols (20-minute low-intensity and 50-minute high-intensity cycles) in seven elite international triathletes. Muscle recruitment and joint angles were not different between control and transition runs for either cycle protocols. Running economy was also not different between control and transition runs for the low-intensity (62.4 +/- 4.5 vs. 62.1 +/- 4.0 ml/min/kg, p > 0.05) and high-intensity (63.4 +/- 3.5 vs. 63.3 +/- 4.3 ml/min/kg, p > 0.05) cycle protocols. The results of this study demonstrate that both low- and high-intensity cycles do not adversely influence neuromuscular control and running economy in elite international triathletes.     

儿童青少年运动员的营养需要

1. 儿童青少年运动员应该食用多样化的食物，其中，蛋白质应占膳食总能量的12％-15％，碳水化合物至少占55％，而脂肪至多占30％。日常生活中如何吃才能满足这些要求呢？膳食指南宝塔提供了一条可行之道。2.有些营养素对热爱运动的儿童青少年运动员非常重要，要保证摄入充足，这些营养素是碳水化合物（包括纤维素）、维生素B6、维生素D、铁、钙、镁、锌、铬。科学合理、包罗各类食物的平衡膳食，对青少年运动员最大程度地全面摄取各种营养素，满足生长发育和运动训练的需要，是非常必要的。3.鼓励儿童青少年运动员在运动训练前、中、后进行补液，以避免脱水的发生。4.如果膳食合理平衡，就没必要额外补充营养品。     

Exploring connections between information retrieval systems and information literacy standards

Information literacy involves the location and access of information through retrieval systems, and many information retrieval systems are designed with specific capabilities to support these very skills. In some cases, system enhancements go beyond simple support and alleviate some of the searcher's responsibilities by performing certain tasks for them. By comparing information retrieval functions to the Association of College and Research Libraries' information literacy standards, this article investigates the extent of support that these enhanced systems can offer, and gives librarians greater insight into how these design enhancements could have an impact on information literacy instruction.