The primary focus of chemistry graduate programs in R1 universities in the United States (US) is training students to become research scientists. However, additional skills, such as effective presentations, writing practical proposals, teaching, mentoring, and networking, are essential for successful careers. This study evaluates the emphasis on professional development skills in R1 chemistry graduate programs in the US, as perceived by graduate students and professors, and their perceived adequacy in preparing graduate students for academic careers. A questionnaire survey of current graduate students and faculty members was conducted. Results indicated that current graduate students perceived a lack of development opportunities relative to their future careers. In contrast, current faculty members indicated some deficiencies. However, they agreed that opportunities within graduate programs were generally adequate for skill development. The findings highlight the differences between students and faculty regarding the perceived lack of development opportunities for graduate students in chemistry program.

Yes / Consultant posts were developed to strengthen strategic leadership whilst maintaining front line service responsibilities and clinical expertise. The nursing profession has attempted to develop tools to enable individuals to evaluate their own practice and consider relevant measurable outcomes. This study evaluated the feasibility of transferring such a nursing ‘toolkit’ to another health profession. Method: This evaluation was structured around a one-day workshop where a nurse consultant impact toolkit was appraised and tested within the context of consultant radiographic practice. The adapted toolkit was subsequently validated using a larger sample at a national meeting of consultant radiographers. Results: There was broad agreement that the tools could be adopted for use by radiographers although several themes emerged in relation to perceived gaps within the nursing template, confirming the initial exercise. This resulted in amendments to the original scope and a proposed new evaluation tool. Conclusion: The impact toolkit could help assess individual and collaborat ive role impact at a local and national level. The framework provides consultant radiographers with an opportunity to understand and highlight the contribution their roles have on patients, staff, their organisation and the wider profession.

Studiens syfte är att bidra med en ökad förståelse för vilka pedagogiska färdigheter skidinstruktörerna värdesätter och anser vara centrala i deras arbete och varför. För att undersöka detta så har en fallstudie av en svensk skidskola utförts där skidskolans instruktörer blev intervjuade om vilka pedagogiska färdigheter de värdesatte och även hur den externa samt interna utbildningen upplevdes förhålla sig till dessa. Studiens resultat visar hur instruktörerna värdesatte social kompetens, lyhördhet och förmågan att inspirera som centrala pedagogiska färdigheter för en skidinstruktör. Genom en god förmåga i dessa färdigheter möjliggjordes skapandet av en god relation till elev under lektion och även tillämpning av rätt typ av undervisning som anpassas till eleven och situationen. Den externa utbildningen ansågs inte direkt utveckla dessa färdigheter utan hade snarare ett fokus på skidteknisk förmåga och förståelse. Utbildningen utvecklade dock indirekt färdigheterna genom interaktion med övriga deltagare och ett förebildskap av instruktören. Den interna utbildningen ansågs även den ha ett mer skidtekniskt fokus men också där utvecklades de värdesatta färdigheterna genom deltagande och interaktion mellan skidinstruktörerna. / The purpose of this study is to contribute a deeper understanding about what skills are valued by ski instructors and perceived as central in their line of work and, why. To this end, a case study was conducted of a Swedish ski school. Six ski instructors and one manager were interviewed about what skills they value, and about how the external ski instructor training they underwent were perceived in relation to those skills. The results show that social skills, perceptiveness and the ability to inspire were regarded as central skills for a competent ski instructor. By having this set of skills the instructor is able to create a good social relation to the student by using pedagogy and instruction adapted to the particular student and situation. The external education was not perceived as developing these skills directly; instead, it was perceived as a way of developing a technical understanding of skiing. The instructors however experienced that the education developed the valued skills indirectly through interaction with the participants as well as with the instructor acting as a role model. The workplace education was also perceived as having a ski-technical focus but also as developing the valued skills through participation and interaction between the ski instructors.

The current models of skill in video games make one of two impositions on players: either to provide an estimate of their own skill, or complete several games before they can be properly assessed. However, in order to experience the most enjoyment and greatest sense of immersion, players need to play against the right difficulty. In order to assign the appropriate difficulty, the player's skill must first be captured accurately and quickly, before the player gets frustrated or bored. Rather than relying on game results that need to be averaged over several games, this thesis proposes predicting a player's skill from their behaviour within the first game. In order to do this, we explore methods for measuring skill in both a multiplayer and single-player game and methods for extracting appropriate information from the player's behaviour. The resulting predictions can then be used to automatically assign an appropriate difficulty to the player. In a multiplayer environment, we first demonstrate that a player's final rank canbe predicted within the first 30 seconds of a game with a correlation of over 0.8.This process is transferred to a single-player first-person shooter, where our modelis shown to assign difficulties comparable to a player's own assessment of theirskill within the first 30 seconds of a campaign. We argue that these methods forcapturing skill in a first-person shooter are transferable to other genres, and havethe potential to improve difficulty selection systems.

As a result of both demographic and social changes in the U.S., organizations have become much more diverse. Diversity presents unique challenges for management as it is linked to both positive and negative organizational performance outcomes (Mannix & Neale, 2005). Diversity, by itself, may not be sufficient to achieve competitive advantage. Effective diversity management becomes an important issue for organizations to consider. The current research uses Situational Judgment Test (SJT) methodology to develop an assessment measuring Diversity Management Skill. The development of a SJT involves a three-step process: Creation of critical incidents, generation of response options, and use of SME response option ratings to determine scoring. The Diversity Management Skill SJT displays promising results and is an effective predictor of diversity performance.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess certified athletic trainers' knowledge acquisition, knowledge retention, and satisfaction, following a continuing professional education (CPE) program offered in either a traditional, lecture-oriented format or an interactive format addressing adult learning strategy preferences. Design: We used a pre-test, post-test experimental design with comparison groups utilizing stratified randomization. Setting: The CPE program was held in the University wellness center classrooms. Subjects: Forty-six certified athletic trainers participated. Measurements: After determination of learning strategy preferences, a 30 item multiple-choice exam was administered prior to, immediately after, and one-month following the CPE program to determine level of knowledge acquisition and retention. Participant self-reported level of satisfaction was assessed with a questionnaire immediately following the CPE program. Results: A significant main effect for treatment (F2,70 = 6.02, p < 0.004) was observed indicating that subjects in the lecture format CPE program acquired and retained more knowledge than subjects in the interactive format regardless of learning strategy preference. There was no significant loss in knowledge observed one-month following the CPE program regardless of learning strategy preference or treatment (lecture or interactive CPE format). No significant differences in level of satisfaction by treatment (lecture or interactive CPE format) or by learning strategy preference (navigators, problem-solvers, or navigators) were noted; however, 13 (28.3%) reported an excellent level of satisfaction (mean satisfaction score of 4.0) and 31 (67.4%) reported an above average level of satisfaction (mean satisfaction scores of 3.0 to 3.88). Conclusions: Our data indicate that lecture format CPE programs may be optimal for knowledge acquisition and retention, independent of learning strategy preference. Knowledge retention did not decrease regardless of learning strategy preference or CPE format and actually demonstrated a further increase using the lecture format. Although our data suggest that participant satisfaction is independent of learning strategy preference and CPE format, the homogeneity of responses made it difficult to detect any relationship with regard to learning style preference and satisfaction.

In this dissertation I study the labor market behavior of sciences and engineering (S&E) doctorates trained and employed in the US. The first essay is an empirical study of task-to-task transitions based on the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (1973-2001). It first assesses the relevance of the careers of doctorates to S&E in general, and research and development (R&D) in particular. Second, it evaluates the participation rates and mobility patterns of doctorates in careers of different types using a transition model with independent competing risks. The second essay extends the empirical framework described above and specifies a dynamic model of occupational choices with symmetric learning about one of the task- specific abilities and dependence on past performance to explain the empirical career patterns described in the first essay. The predictions of the model are used to evaluate the effects of two counterfactual experiments on the supply of research skill. The third essay studies geographic choices for first employment of doctorates using the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) 1957-2005. Decisions of Americans, Canadians, and third country nationals to stay in the US after their PhD versus moving to Canada are compared. Individual characteristics and differences in political and economic conditions and career opportunities in the US versus Canada are evaluated to explain the observed differences in the choice of location. / Thesis (Ph.D, Economics) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-31 11:33:27.809

abstract: This study was designed to examine the associations between food skills, resilience, and coping during the Covid-19 pandemic. Between April and June of 2020, a sample of 154 students, faculty, and staff from Arizona State University were surveyed. Each respondent was administered a survey containing demographic questions, a food skill questionnaire, and the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS). Results indicate that food skill was correlated with resilience (p<0.001) at an r=0.364 and r2=0.1243 and that resilience was correlated with coping during the Covid-19 pandemic (p<0.001) at an r=0.455. Correlations were also run between resilience score and the separate domains of food skill score: all domains remained significantly associated with resilience score (p<0.001) with a r=0.340 and r2=0.1173 for ‘Food Selection and Planning,’ r=0.312 and r2=0.0958 for ‘Food Preparation,’ and r=0.294 and r2=0.0767 for ‘Food Safety.’ Data seems to be consistent with contemporary research suggesting positive associations between diet quality and physiological resilience and positive associations between resilience and coping during the Covid-19 pandemic. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Nutrition 2020

Thesis (Ph.D.(Language Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges encountered by teachers in teaching reading to EFAL learners in rural schools. This is based on the fact that reading is a fundamental skill upon which all formal education depends. In view of this, a child who does not learn reading early enough is doom to underperform in their academic pursuits. Thus, any child who doesn’t learn to read early and well would not easily master the other literacy skills and is unlikely to ever perform well in school or in life. However, teaching reading to English first additional language learners comes with a lot of challenges. To this effect, Sentsho (2000) argues that many teachers are not perfect in that regard and this imperfectness impacts negatively on the outcomes which is on the learners (child). If the teachers are incapable of using basic structures correctly, or if his/her pronunciation is so bad that the words are incomprehensible, he/she would not be able to teach the spoken language competently. Among the main challenges identified in the literature review, the lack of teaching skills, remuneration, lack of resources, overcrowded classrooms are the major challenges encountered by the teachers. The study is located in the interpretive paradigm which sought to explore teachers’ experiences and their views. The experiences and the qualifications of teachers were taken into consideration during the empirical study when the interviews, seminar and the observations were conducted. Qualitative research approach was adopted in the study with the intentions of finding as much detail as possible using a case study design. Participants for this study were teachers who teach English first additional language at rural schools in the Seshego Circuit in Polokwane, Limpopo. The empirical investigation revealed that teachers did not have necessary skills and expertise to teach reading to EFAL learners. They knew less about the approaches to teaching reading and that reading was treated as a separate entity from speaking and writing. The conditions that they found themselves were appalling due to lack of motivation and support from the Department of Education, overcrowding in classrooms, lack of resources, socio-economic status etc. and how these factors impact negatively on the teaching of reading. Also important to note was the fact that the teachers did not receive any form of in-service training at their respective schools in relation to the teaching of reading. The investigation concluded that the teachers were qualified and had enough experience in teaching English but not reading per se.

No description available.