Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of emotionality on the memory of children with an autism spectrum disorder. Although emotional events enhance memory in adults and children without an autism spectrum disorder, there are different memory patterns among individuals on the autism spectrum. Specifically, individuals with autism may show a decreased advantage in memory for emotional content and may have deficits in memory for information that is not presented visually. Currently, however, there are no studies that look at how emotional content affects memory specifically in children with autism. In the current study, children with and without autism were presented with stimuli contrasting emotional and neutral content using one of two modalities, auditory and visual, and then completed memory recognition tasks for the stimuli. Results indicate that children with an autism spectrum disorder did not demonstrate enhanced memory for emotional information. Rather, they were equally able to remember emotional and neutral stimuli. Additionally, individuals on the spectrum demonstrated better memory for visual stimuli compared to their neurotypical peers. These results support the notion that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder may learn and remember material differently than those without the disorder and that educators need to acknowledge these differences as children with autism spectrum disorders continue to be integrated into classroom settings.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / El propósito del presente estudio es cultivar un entendimiento avanzado de este proceso de construcción identitaria por medio del análisis de un cuestionario diseñado para explorar las relaciones complicadas entre el estudio de lenguas extranjeras, la cultura y la identidad. Específicamente, examinaré los efectos del componente cultural en sus diversas manifestaciones durante el estudio de una lengua extranjera para acertar cómo interactúan varias experiencias culturales en la creación de una identidad L2, qué efectos tienen ciertas experiencias en esta construcción o renegociación identitaria y cuáles son las experiencias culturales que más influyen y contribuyen a la creación de una identidad L2. Además, exploraré las varias combinaciones de tales experiencias culturales para relacionarlas con la fuerza y la profundidad de la identidad L2 construida, estableciendo así patrones preestablecidos si los resultados del cuestionario revelan correlaciones claras. Este proceso de crear, reconstruir y renegociar una identidad L2 por medio de un conjunto de experiencias de exposición cultural es un fenómeno válido con importantes implicaciones pedagógicas tanto para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras como para el campo de la adquisición de segundas lenguas. Es mi creencia que las conclusiones del presente estudio serán imprescindibles para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, puesto que los patrones revelados por el cuestionario podrían influir la formación de nuevos currículos y programas de estudio orientados más a la enseñanza—y exposición—de la cultura de la lengua meta. Con el propósito de ayudar con el proceso de renegociación identitaria ya establecido en la metodología de enseñanza, estos nuevos currículos podrían incorporar los componentes culturales más efectivos en la construcción de una identidad L2. Por extensión, la implementación de estos nuevos programas de estudio quizá cambiará la manera en la que los estudiantes se acerquen al estudio lingüístico y facilitará el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras tanto en el aula como en el extranjero, logrando de este modo mejores resultados y la creación exitosa de más hablantes proficientes.

The ability to think critically is considered an essential skill of nursing graduates and competent nursing practice. Yet, the literature reports that teachers are having difficulty teaching for critical thinking and that critical thinking is lacking in new nursing graduates. This research study sought to identify barriers to the implementation of critical thinking teaching strategies by nursing faculty currently teaching in generic baccalaureate programs in Tennessee. Surveys were mailed to 262 nursing faculty; 194 were returned, and 175 were usable. Students' attitudes and expectations represented the single greatest barrier to the implementation of critical thinking teaching strategies, followed by time constraints and the perceived need to teach for content coverage. Recommendations to support and encourage faculty to teach for critical thinking are outlined.

<p dir="ltr">Student attitudes towards chemistry are a contributing factor to their success in chemistry courses and retention in STEMM in higher education. In the last decade, STEMM attrition rates have been an area of concern in the United States. Research in K12 classrooms has demonstrated that culturally relevant pedagogies (CRP) can improve student learning and attitudes toward STEMM. CRP consists of instructional practices and lessons that connect with students’ cultural backgrounds, experiences, and interests. However, few studies on these practices address long term improvements or treatments in a higher education setting. Integration of ethnoscience in course material is a CRP strategy that utilizes cultural systems of knowledge in relation to coursework. This strategy is now an area of interest in the field of chemistry education. This study uses an action research methodology to integrate ethnochemistry into a large, multicultural, first-year general chemistry course and evaluate the impact on student attitudes towards chemistry.</p>

Synthesis of d10 complexes of monovalent coinage metals, copper(I) and gold(I), with dithiophosphinate/diphosphine ligands -- along with their targeted characterization and screening for inorganic or organic light emitting diodes (LEDs or OLEDs, respectively) -- represents the main scope of this dissertation's scientific contribution in inorganic and materials chemistry. Photophysical studies were undertaken to quantify the phosphorescence properties of the materials in the functional forms required for LEDs or OLEDs. Computational studies were done to gain insights into the assignment of the phosphorescent emission peaks observed. The gold(I) dinuclear complexes studied would be candidates of OLED/LED devices due to room temperature phosphorescence, visible absorption/excitation bands, and low single-digit lifetimes -- which would promote higher quantum yield at higher voltages in devices with concomitant lower roll-off efficiency. The copper(I) complexes were not suited to the OLED/LED applications but can be used for thermosensing materials. Crystallographic studies were carried to elucidate coefficients of thermal expansion of the crystal unit cell for additional usage in materials applications besides optoelectronic devices. This has uncovered yet another unplanned potential application for both copper(I) and gold(I) complexes herein, as both types have been found to surpass the literature's threshold for "colossal" thermal expansion coefficients. Two other investigations represent contribution to the field of chemistry education have also been accounted for in this dissertation. First, a 12-week advanced research discovery experiment for inorganic chemistry has been designed to help students develop application-based content expertise, as well as to introduce students to research experiences that are similar to those found in academia, industry, and government research laboratories. Students are expected to develop a novel research project through conducting a literature search to find suitable reaction protocols, incorporating synthetic techniques, collecting data, characterizing products and applications of those products, and presenting their results. This multi-week research discovery experiment is centered on applications of inorganic synthetic techniques to design, analyze, and screen d10 coinage metal complexes for possible LED/OLED-based applications that were presented in chapter 3 of the dissertation. The second chemistry education contribution pertains to designing a pilot research study to investigate undergraduate chemistry majors' perceptions of environmental sources/influences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, career interests, and career choice goals in the lab designed in chapter 4 of the dissertation. Specifically, this research aims to gauge students' perceptions of their ability to perform synthetic and analytical methods for the creation of materials that were used in a novel research experiment in the context of an inorganic chemistry laboratory. This research study used a survey to collect data on students' motivation, self-efficacy, career interests, and career goals upon graduation, along with their perceived barriers within the course. This research study is guided by the following research question: How does an inorganic chemistry laboratory course, following a research discovery model, impact undergraduate students' (a) confidence with techniques and skills, (b) perception of ability to conduct research, and (c) interest in pursuing careers involving chemistry?

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Background. Traditionally, departmental appointment type (basic science or clinical) and/or degree earned (PhD, MD, or MD-PhD) have served as proxies for how we conceptualize clinical and basic science faculty. However, the landscape in which faculty work has considerably changed and now challenges the meaning of these cohorts. Within this context I introduce a behavior-based role variable that is defined by how faculty spend their time in four academic activities: teaching, research, patient care, and administrative duties. Methods. Two approaches to role were compared to department type and degree earned in terms of their effects on how faculty report their perceptions and experiences of faculty vitality and its related constructs. One approach included the percent of time faculty spent engaged in each of the four academic activities. The second approach included role groups described by a time allocation rubric. This study included faculty from four U.S. medical schools (N = 1,497) and data from the 2011 Indiana University School of Medicine Faculty Vitality Survey. Observed variable path analysis evaluated models that included traditional demographic variables, the role variable, and faculty vitality constructs (e.g., productivity, professional engagement, and career satisfaction). Results. Role group effects on faculty vitality constructs were much stronger than those of percent time variables, suggesting that patterns of how faculty distribute their time are more important than exactly how much time they allocate to single activities. Role group effects were generally similar to, and sometimes stronger than, those of department type and degree earned. Further, the number of activities that faculty participate in is as important a predictor of how faculty experience vitality constructs as their role groups. Conclusions. How faculty spend their time is a valuable and significant addition to vitality models and offers several advantages over traditional cohort variables. Insights into faculty behavior can also show how institutional missions are (or are not) being served. These data can inform hiring practices, development of academic tracks, and faculty development interventions. As institutions continue to unbundle faculty roles and faculty become increasingly differentiated, the role variable can offer a simple way to study faculty, especially across multiple institutions.

The Directorate of Adult Education and Training of the national Department of Education views Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) not merely as literacy, but as the general conceptual foundation towards lifelong learning and development. This includes knowledge, skills, and attitudes which are needed for social, economic and political participation and transformation. These skills will assist learners in becoming more active participants in their communities, their workplaces and contribute towards the development of South Africa. This study aims to examine whether ABET programmes prepare learners to acquire the language which is needed to achieve this objective. It falls within one of the eight learning areas defined by the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), namely the language, literacy and communication learning area. In order to research the effectiveness of learning within this area, it is important to analyse the interaction which takes place within a classroom; the type of questions both educators and learners ask; the type of errors learners make in the classroom; and how the educators treat these errors. What is also of paramount importance is whether the language skills learnt in the classroom are transferred to outside the classroom. To examme this, various authors' views on classroom interaction; questions; errors; treatment of errors; and evaluating the effectiveness of learning are presented. Instruments were designed to analyse these aspects within an ABET programme, and include: • the framework used to undertake the classroom interaction analysis, • the instrument used to explore the type of questions educators and learners ask in the classroom, • how an error analysis is used to identify typical learners' errors which occur frequently, • the methodology used to uncover how educators treat their learners' errors, and • the various stakeholders' questionnaires which were used to ascertain the effectiveness of learning at an ABET Centre. The research findings are presented and interpreted in order to provide recommendations for the development of language learning and teaching within the ABET field. The findings also gave rise to recommendations for classroom practices for ABET educators, and particularly the need for educator training and development. Recommendations for curriculum designers of ABET materials are also presented. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

The Directorate of Adult Education and Training of the national Department of Education views Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) not merely as literacy, but as the general conceptual foundation towards lifelong learning and development. This includes knowledge, skills, and attitudes which are needed for social, economic and political participation and transformation. These skills will assist learners in becoming more active participants in their communities, their workplaces and contribute towards the development of South Africa. This study aims to examine whether ABET programmes prepare learners to acquire the language which is needed to achieve this objective. It falls within one of the eight learning areas defined by the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), namely the language, literacy and communication learning area. In order to research the effectiveness of learning within this area, it is important to analyse the interaction which takes place within a classroom; the type of questions both educators and learners ask; the type of errors learners make in the classroom; and how the educators treat these errors. What is also of paramount importance is whether the language skills learnt in the classroom are transferred to outside the classroom. To examme this, various authors' views on classroom interaction; questions; errors; treatment of errors; and evaluating the effectiveness of learning are presented. Instruments were designed to analyse these aspects within an ABET programme, and include: • the framework used to undertake the classroom interaction analysis, • the instrument used to explore the type of questions educators and learners ask in the classroom, • how an error analysis is used to identify typical learners' errors which occur frequently, • the methodology used to uncover how educators treat their learners' errors, and • the various stakeholders' questionnaires which were used to ascertain the effectiveness of learning at an ABET Centre. The research findings are presented and interpreted in order to provide recommendations for the development of language learning and teaching within the ABET field. The findings also gave rise to recommendations for classroom practices for ABET educators, and particularly the need for educator training and development. Recommendations for curriculum designers of ABET materials are also presented. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)