Clark State Community College

The potential contribution of co-curricular to develop engaged citizens is relatively unexplored. Much of the available research on college-level has studied the effect of in single courses on a variety of student outcome measures and there are at least two large, multi-campus studies of curricular (Astin, Vogelgesang, Ikeda, & Yee, 2000; Eyler & Giles, 1999). This article reports on analysis of longitudinal surveys completed at 23 liberal arts colleges by participants in four-year, co-curricular service-programs, collectively called the Bonner Scholar Program, sponsored by the Bonner Foundation. The terms service-learning and merit definition. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (2005) defined as a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. A frequent tendency in the field is to use the phrase and assume the reference is to academic based in coursework. Giles and Eyler's (1999) seminal study of programs that linked academic study with service acknowledged the value of co-curricular learning and, in defining service-learning, also mentioned non-course-based programs that include a reflective component and learning goals (p. 5). The terms and civic engagement have recently been used interchangeably in the field. The Bonner Scholar Program (BSP) studied here defines civic engagement as intentional participation in direct service, democratic process, and public policy (Hoy, 2006). Multi-campus studies have demonstrated that college-based, curricular contributes to academic, civic, and personal outcomes. Eyler and Giles (1999) demonstrated that one-semester classes had significant, consistent, and modest effects on student personal, civic, cognitive and academic outcomes in multicampus pre-and post-tests (p. xvii). In another large, longitudinal study, Astin, Vogelgesang, Ikeda, and Yee (2000) compared the effects of classroom-based and other forms of community service. Students who participated in one or more classes and community service experiences which were enhanced by opportunities for reflective dialogue were more likely to evidence personal and academic growth that lasted through the end of the senior year than were students who participated only in academic (p. 41-42). Little research exists on sustained co-curricular service-learning. This study explored two research questions to address that gap. Does co-curricular have an impact on desired outcomes of the college experience, particularly an appreciation of diversity and of dialogue across boundaries of perceived difference? A second question is reported separately. Do characteristics of liberal arts colleges (specifically, more or less internationally-focused, faith-oriented, diverse, urban or elite) increase the effects of participation in co-curricular on college outcomes? The Study Study Context Yearly, the BSP funds approximately 1,500 Bonner Scholars across 23-25 campuses, almost all traditionally-aged college students, and engages them in a four-year program that requires service while offering extensive training and support. Many participating colleges are located in Appalachia. (1) Ten to twenty students are selected yearly on each campus and are required to complete a minimum of ten hours of service, training, and reflection each week. In addition, the program provides financial support for two to three full-time service experiences for at least seven weeks in the summer or during co-op terms, including international service. By graduation, each Bonner Scholar has served at least 1,680 hours. …

The current study tests the underlying structure of a multidimensional construct of helicopter parenting (HP), assesses reliability of the construct, replicates past relations of HP to poor emotional functioning, and expands the literature to investigate links of HP to emerging adults' decision-making and academic functioning. A sample of 377 emerging adults (66% female; ages 17-30; 88% European American) were administered several items assessing HP as well as measures of other parenting behaviors, depression, anxiety, decision-making style, grade point average, and academic functioning. Exploratory factor analysis results suggested a four-factor, 23-item measure that encompassed varying levels of parental involvement in the personal and professional lives of their children. A bifactor model was also fit to the data and suggested the presence of a reliable overarching HP factor in addition to three reliable subfactors. The fourth subfactor was not reliable and item variances were subsumed by the general HP factor. HP was found to be distinct from, but correlated in expected ways with, other reports of parenting behavior. HP was also associated with poorer functioning in emotional functioning, decision making, and academic functioning. Parents' information-seeking behaviors, when done in absences of other HP behaviors, were associated with better decision making and academic functioning.

BACKGROUND: Muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging (mfMRI) measures transverse relaxation time (T2), and allows for determination of the spatial pattern of muscle activation. The purposes of this pilot study were to examine whether MRI-derived T2 or side-to-side differences in T2 (asymmetries) differ in low back muscles between subjects with acute low back pain (LBP) compared to asymptomatic controls, and to determine if a single osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) session alters these T2 properties immediately and 48-hours after treatment. METHODS: Subjects with non-specific acute LBP (mean score on 110 visual analog score = 3.02 +/- 2.81) and asymptomatic controls (n = 9/group) underwent an MRI, and subsequently the LBP subjects received OMT and then underwent another MRI. The LBP subjects reported back for an additional MRI 48-hours following their initial visit. T2 and T2 asymmetry were calculated from regions of interest for the psoas, quadratus lumborum (QL), multifidus, and iliocostalis lumborum/longissimus thoracis (IL/LT) muscles. RESULTS: No differences were observed between the groups when T2 was averaged for the left and right side muscles. However, the QL displayed a significantly greater T2 asymmetry in LBP subjects when compared to controls (29.1 +/- 4.3 vs. 15.9 +/- 4.1%; p = 0.05). The psoas muscle also displayed a relatively large, albeit non-significant, mean difference (22.7 +/- 6.9 vs. 9.5 +/- 2.8%; p = 0.11). In the subjects with LBP, psoas T2 asymmetry was significantly reduced immediately following OMT (25.3 +/- 6.9 to 6.1 +/- 1.8%, p = 0.05), and the change in LBP immediately following OMT was correlated with the change in psoas T2 asymmetry (r = 0.75, p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Collectively, this pilot work demonstrates the feasibility of mfMRI for quantification and localization of muscle abnormalities in patients with acute low back pain. Additionally, this pilot work provides insight into the mechanistic actions of OMT during acute LBP, as it suggests that it may attenuate muscle activity asymmetries of some of the intrinsic low back muscles.

One of the most odious tasks of teaching is testing. A great deal of time and energy goes into the writing and grading of exams. Most teachers will go to any extreme to avoid such tasks. They will adopt only text books that have an accompanying test bank or assign the chore of grading to graduate students. Disappointment in the results of test ing causes much of this disdain. Teach ers often wander the halls of academic institutions proclaiming their inno cence. do not know how they got this from what I taught. know I emphasized this point repeatedly, yet most of them missed it. These and other familiar refrains have their ori gins in confusion over the purpose and goal of testing. Although few would consciously ac knowledge it, most of us act as if test ing were an aspect of submarine war fare, that is, it should torpedo the stu dent. Most professors teach and test the way they were taught and tested. We rarely have the time, inclination, or awareness to explore alternative testing techniques. When one of us does have a revelation, he or she might share it with a few colleagues or write a short notice for a teaching newsletter. How

This paper approaches the use of a Virtual Assistant using neural networks for recognition of commonly used words. The main purpose is to facilitate the users’ daily lives by sensing the voice and interpreting it into action. Alice, which is the name of the assistant, is implemented based on four main techniques: Hot word detection, Voice to Text conversion, Intent recognition, and Text to Voice conversion. Linux is the operating system of choice, for developing and running the assistant because it is in the public domain, also, Linux has been implemented on most Single-board computers. Python is chosen as a development language due to its capabilities and compatibility with various APIs and libraries, which are deemed necessary for the project. The virtual assistant will be required to communicate with IoT devices. In addition, a speech recognition system is created in order to recognize the significant technical words. An artificial neural network (ANN) with different structure networks and training algorithms is utilized in conjunction with the Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) feature extraction technique to increase the identification rate effectively and find the optimal performance. For training purposes, the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) and BGFS Quasi-Newton Resilient Backpropagation are compared using 10 MFCC, utilizing from 10 to 50 neurons increasing in increments of 10 similarly for 13MFCC the training is done utilizing from between 10 to 50 neurons.

SUMMARY Glaucosphaera vacuolata was recently rediscovered, and isolated by Dr. Richard Starr of Indiana University Physiological and ultrastructural studies have been conducted on this cyanome and are reported for the first time. Glaucosphaera has been found to have low rates of photosynthesis, respiration, and Hill activity. Unusual features noted include the presence of R‐phycocyanin as the major accessory pigment, phycobilisomes, and eyeshot‐like structures in the cyanelles.

In this article we provide an example of some ways in which research can be used in the policy change process, using the issue of custody relinquishment ("the custody problem") as an example. Our view is that research findings alone rarely cause needed policy change; however, research can be used to inform policy in a number of ways: (a) identifying and describing the nature and extent of an issue or social problem, (b) revealing the negative consequences of the identified problem, (c) estimating the consequences of various strategies, and (d) studying the process and outcomes of policy implementation. In the case studies profiled here, research was most effective when combined with family stories.The stories gave the problem life, and the research helped find families with stories to tell, established that the problem was more than anecdotal, and suggested ways that the problem could be addressed. Research was also used to identify problems in the implementation of policy change and outcomes.

Automobiles of today must constantly change their speeds in reaction to changing road and traffic circumstances as the pace and density of road traffic increases. In sophisticated automobiles, the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) is a vehicle safety system that enhances the vehicle's stability and steering capabilities by varying the torque to maintain the slip ratio at a safe level. This paper analyzes the performance of classical control, model reference adaptive control (MRAC), and intelligent control for controlling the (ABS). The ABS controller's goal is to keep the wheel slip ratio, which includes nonlinearities, parametric uncertainties, and disturbances as close to an optimal slip value as possible. This will decrease the stopping distance and guarantee safe vehicle operation during braking. A Bang-bang controller, PID, PID based Model Reference Adaptive Control (PID-MRAD), Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC), and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) controller are used to control the vehicle model. The car was tested on a dry asphalt and ice road with only straight-line braking. Based on slip ratio, vehicle speed, angular velocity, and stopping time, comparisons are performed between all control strategies. To analyze braking characteristics, the simulation changes the road surface condition, vehicle weight, and control methods. The simulation results revealed that our objectives were met. The simulation results clearly show that the ANFIS provides more flexibility and improves system-tracking precision in control action compared to the Bang-bang, PID, PID-MRAC, and FLC.

As the sport coaching profession continues to grow, there is a need to reflect upon and revise the knowledge and competencies coaches should possess to support quality sport experiences. The purpose of this paper is to document the revision process of the National Standards for Sport Coaches (NSSC) which were established to outline professional sport coaching standards in the United States of America (USA). The 3-year revision process involved two separate task forces organized by SHAPE America and several public reviews. The final revision aligns the NSSC with quality coaching frameworks and documents seven core responsibilities of sport coaches. Additionally, the NSSC includes standards meant to provide guidance on what a coach should know (e.g., professional knowledge, interpersonal knowledge, and intrapersonal knowledge), what a coach should be able to do (e.g., expectations of performance and developed competencies), and what common practices occur among coaches (e.g., shared values) to meet each core responsibility. It is hoped that the revised version of the NSSC continues to provide direction for all stakeholders to improve coaching practices within the USA.

Although it is the object of vile denouncements when faculty members discuss teaching tech niques, the lecture remains the most common mode of instruction in higher education. The resilience of the lecture may have little to do with its education al soundness and more to do with the perceived ease of preparation and/or faculty members' unfamiliarity with al ternatives. Nonetheless, lecturing can be a vibrant teaching method, if you are well prepared. We would like to de scribe a systematic approach to lecture preparation that we have found useful.

The goal of this study was to determine whether students would be more successful in a traditional 15-week introductory college chemistry course or an intensive three-week version of the same course. In addition to course format, we also analyzed whether the students’ academic experience (measured as the number of college credit hours taken by these students), life experience (measured as the number of years since the student graduated from high school), academic major (categorized as physical science, life science, or nonscience), and gender had an effect on their success in the class. The results of this study showed that, once corrected for student academic ability, students in the intensive course were more successful in this course than the students in the equivalent traditional course. However, we were unable to show that academic experience, life experience, academic major, or gender had any significant effect on student success in these courses.

Two indigenous hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria strains, designated as TKZ and QGR were isolated in oil rich Niger Delta of Nigeria. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding 16S rRNA allowed TKZ and QGR to be identified as Proteus vulgaris and Serratia marcescens. Hydrocarbon degradation potential of the strains was confirmed on hydrocarbon mineral salts medium (1 %, v/v) at 37 °C. Assessment of oil degradation capability of the isolates was monitored using gas chromatographic analysis (GC). The ability of the strains to utilize benzene, diesel, kerosene, and naphthalene was also studied. The results show maximal increase in optical densities at 540 nm and total viable counts was proportional with decrease in pH of the culture media. Percentage degradation in the culture medium showed that the two isolates exhibited biodegradation efficiency above 90 % for kerosene. The two bacterial strains also possess a plasmid of about 9.1 kb size which is suspected to influence the bacterium’s hydrocarbon degradation potential.

Many fields of research converge to assess the impact of plants on human health, well-being, and nutrition. However, even with a recent history of horticulturists contributing to human–plant interaction work, much of the current research is conducted outside the context of horticulture and specifically outside of consumer horticulture (CH). To connect CH to research being conducted by other disciplines that explore the role of plants in improving human quality of life, a workshop was held on 1 Aug. 2018 in Washington, DC, at the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) annual conference. The workshop focused on current food science, nutrition, and crop-breeding efforts to enhance nutrition and flavor, and human health and well-being research related to nature and plant interactions in an increasingly urban population. Following these presentations regarding potential research linkages and collaboration opportunities, a facilitated discussion identified ways to improve future CH research and foster collaborative work. Action items identified included connecting research and vocabulary to help cultivate an interest in plants in younger generations; supporting awareness of collaborative opportunities with health, nutrition, urban planning, and public health practitioners; ensuring CH is known to administrators; and taking responsibility for initiating communication with colleagues in these areas.

Efficient use of real‐time canopy sensors requires knowledge of the scale (resolution) of variation in the measured canopy property. Knowing the amount of needed optical data requires estimation of the optimal combination of physical sensor density (number of sensors along the applicator boom) and sensor output density (sensor readings per unit distance along the travel path). The objective of this study was to determine the sampling grid size that would adequately describe field variation in canopy normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) by varying either physical sensor density or sensor output density. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) canopy NDVI data were collected at Feekes growth stage 3 in five fields in central and western Kentucky in February of 2004 or 2005. Spatial structure of NDVI was characterized by variogram analysis across grid sizes ranging from 0.56 (high‐density) to 5.1 m2 and both semivariance and spatial structure parameters for high‐density data sets were compared to those obtained with decreasing numbers of sampling points (greater grid size). Nugget, range, and sill values were maintained across evaluated grid sizes in four of five site‐years. Correlations between each field's high‐density semivariance values and those for the “low‐density” data sets were generally high (1.0 < R2 < 0.8) for all site‐years, but there were many cases where intercepts deviated significantly from 0.0 and slopes deviated significantly from 1.0. Observed differences in individual sensor performance did not influence the pattern of NDVI spatial structure. Grid size could be increased from 0.56 to 5.1 m2 without significantly affecting the measured spatial structure of canopy NDVI in most fields. Wheat growers might achieve spatially optimal N applications with lower data resolution and less capital intense machinery.

The advancement of technology has made it possible for modern cars to utilize an increasing number of processing systems. Many methods have been developed recently to detect traffic signs using image processing algorithms. This study deals with an experiment to build a CNN model which can classify traffic signs in real-time effectively using OpenCV. The experimentation method involves building a CNN model based on a modified LeNet architecture with four convolutional layers, two max-pooling layers and two dense layers. The model is trained and tested with the German Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB) dataset. Parameter tuning with different combinations of learning rate and epochs is done to improve the model’s performance. Later, this model is used to classify the images introduced to the camera in real- time. The graphs depicting the accuracy and loss of the model before and after parameter tuning are presented. Also, an experiment was performed to classify the traffic sign image introduced to the camera by using the CNN model. A high probability score is achieved during the process.

Coaching at the collegiate level requires a varied skill set in a competitive environment, where coaching positions have a high turnover rate. Preparing to work as a coach at the collegiate level is often self-driven and aligns with how coaches learn in other contexts. Research on the career progression of collegiate coaches is scant and tends to focus on gender differences or one’s desire to become a head coach. Recently, research has expanded to examine the preparation of coach developers and their role in guiding coach development activities in a variety of contexts. Therefore, guided by the literature on coach development, the role of the coach developer in collegiate sport, and insight gleaned from a descriptive study on the career path of collegiate head coaches, this best practices article offers practical recommendations for coach developers to best serve collegiate coaches along their coaching journey.

40 subjects were asked to evaluate the likeability and effectiveness of four professors who were described as either demanding or easy and as either positive or negative to their students. Analysis showed that subjects liked the demanding, positive professor better than the easy, positive professor. Subjects evaluated the demanding professor and the positive professor as more effective than the easy professor and negative professor.

The pursuit of mastery in coaching is an ongoing journey, requiring a commitment to life-long learning (Gallimore, Gilbert, & Nater, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to share the insight of five professionals (i.e., educator, sport ethicist, administrator, sport researcher, and a coach), participating in a panel session at the 2016 U.S. National Coaching Conference, on pursuing mastery as a coach. The term mastery is often associated with expertise. To be considered an expert, a coach must also be effective (Côté & Gilbert, 2009). Coaches that have achieved this level of effectiveness are often referred to as master teachers. Across the session the views of the panel members emphasized the pursuit of mastery as an ongoing journey of continuous learning. Insight from the panelists is compared with literature in coaching science and recommendations are provided for coaches and coaching educators on how to deliberately pursue mastery as a coach.

In the United States, interscholastic sport coach development occurs at the national, regional, and local levels, through higher education institutions, coaching associations, governing bodies of sport, and coach developers. Although each coach development pathway employs similar instructional methods, delivery formats, and often seeks the same outcome (i.e., certification or degree), each is unique in how they educate interscholastic coaches. Research studies on coach development have examined how interscholastic coaches learn, what they need to know, and what they need to know how to do. Furthermore, research studies in sport coaching have examined the role of a coach developer in facilitating, mentoring, and guiding coach development activities. Therefore, guided by the literature on coach development, the role of the interscholastic sport administrator as a coach developer, and insight gleaned from an exploratory descriptive study on interscholastic sport coaches, this best practices paper offers three steps the interscholastic sport administrator can implement in practice to provide ongoing coach development.

The National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture (NICH) is a diverse consortium of leaders who provide a unified voice for promoting the benefits and value of consumer horticulture (CH). NICH endeavors to unite national research efforts with the goals of the diverse stakeholders in the industry, the public sector, and the gardening public in an effort to advance knowledge and increase benefits and application of horticulture for cultivating a healthy world through landscapes, gardens, and plants, and an improved quality of life. Benefits of CH are broadly applicable, whether economic, environmental, or community- and health-related. A benefits approach to marketing sets the stage for unprecedented collaboration, such as that demonstrated by NICH. NICH members have developed three broad goals: recognizing CH as a driver of the agricultural economy; highlighting that CH restores, protects, and conserves natural resources through research and education; and cultivating healthy, connected, and engaged communities through CH. Three NICH committees (Economic, Environmental, and Community and Health Benefits) have focused their efforts on NICH goals for the past 10 months. The three committee chairs, representing ≈30 committee members, presented the results of their efforts and future directions for their committees. The Economic and Environmental committees have proceeded with campaigns to better market CH by promoting the benefits of plants and to increase environmental benefits by changing consumer behavior. After reviewing current research, the Community and Health Benefits Committee suggested that a gap exists in research related to specific benefits of CH and personal gardening (as opposed to benefits accrued by enjoying forests, horticulture therapy, indoor atriums, community gardens, parks, and other public places). The committee suggested that overcoming this gap requires strategic collaboration of skill and expertise from a more diverse group of industry representatives, specialists, and scientists. This approach has tremendous potential to affect the CH marketplace, especially when drawing multiple sources of value from the products and experiences.