We have prepared thousands of future STEM faculty around the world to adopt evidence-based instructional practices through their participation in two massive open online courses (MOOCs) and ...facilitated in-person learning communities. Our novel combination of asynchronous online and coordinated, structured face-to-face learning community experiences provides flexible options for STEM graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to pursue teaching professional development. A total of 14,977 participants enrolled in seven offerings of the introductory course held 2014-2018, with 1,725 participants (11.5% of enrolled) completing the course. Our results of high levels of engagement and learning suggest that leveraging the affordances of educational technologies and the geographically clustered nature of this learner demographic in combination with online flexible learning could be a sustainable model for large scale professional development in higher education. The preparation of future STEM faculty makes an important difference in establishing high-quality instruction that meets the diverse needs of all undergraduate students, and the initiative described here can serve as a model for increasing access to such preparation.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professional societies (ProSs) are uniquely positioned to foster national-level diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) reform. ProSs serve ...broad memberships, define disciplinary norms and culture, and inform accrediting bodies and thus provide critical levers for systems change. STEM ProSs could be instrumental in achieving the DEI system reform necessary to optimize engagement of all STEM talent, leveraging disciplinary excellence resulting from diverse teams. Inclusive STEM system reform requires that underlying "mental models" be examined. The Inclusive Professional Framework for Societies (
) is an interrelated set of strategies that can help ProSs change leaders (i.e., "boundary spanners") and organizations identify and address mental models hindering DEI reform. The
uses four "I's"-Identity awareness and Intercultural mindfulness (i.e., equity mindset) upon which inclusive relationships and Influential DEI actions are scaffolded. We discuss how the
complements existing DEI tools (e.g.,
Framework for Promoting Gender Equity within Organization;
Equity Environmental Scan Tool). We explain how the
can be applied to existing ProS policy and practice associated with common ProS functions (e.g., leadership, membership, conferences, awards, and professional development). The next steps are to pilot the
with a cohort of STEM ProSs. Ultimately, the
has potential to promote more efficient, effective, and lasting DEI organizational transformation and contribute to inclusive STEM disciplinary excellence.
Abstract
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory was constructed at the South Pole during the 2004/05 to 2010/11 austral summer seasons. IceCube transforms 1 km
3
of Antarctic ice into an astrophysical ...particle detector composed of 86 cables (strings) of optical sensors buried deep beneath the surface. Each string required drilling a borehole ∼60 cm in diameter to a depth of 2500 m. The 5 MW Enhanced Hot Water Drill was designed and built specifically for this task, capable of producing the required boreholes at a rate of one hole per 48 hours. Hot-water drilling on this scale presented unique challenges and was rich in lessons learned, yielding a collection of notable developments and takeaways (e.g. fuel-saving measures, thermal modeling, firn drilling and closed-loop computer control). Descriptions of system functionality and of lessons learned from IceCube drilling are presented.
Abstract
IceCube, a cubic-kilometer neutrino detector, was built at the South Pole using a hot-water drill system. Deep holes were drilled into the Antarctic ice sheet and filled with highly ...sensitive optical instrumentation. For the hot-water drilling, a computer model was developed to predict the hole sizes and hole lifetimes during construction. The goal was to predict ultimate size and freezeback rates based on water flow rate and temperature, drill speed, ice temperature and ream parameters (for a secondary operation where hot water continues to flow as the drill is withdrawn). This model proved to be very successful. It increased confidence that the holes would remain open long enough after drilling to allow the deployment of the necessary instrumentation. It also allowed for a decrease, over the course of the project, in the amount of overdrilling that was used as a margin against a too-rapid freeze-in. This resulted in significant fuel savings.
Designers of professional development activities and programs within higher education generally believe workshop learning outcomes and learner-created materials are what graduate students and ...postdoctoral scholars value from participating in these activities. We created a new structure for online synchronous workshops that integrates active learning, participant reflection, and skill development. Our design was informed by the hypothesis that participants value the work that they do and the materials they create during our online workshops. In our evaluations we examined students’ self-reported behavioral and attitudinal changes and perspectives on professional development. We learned that participants considered their sense of community and opportunities for reflection to be valued elements of the workshops. We found that these workshops added to students’ self-reflective practices and skill-building processes. Participants suggested that workshops should integrate active learning and skills application with deliberate reflection and community building to increase the potential for long-term change.
The Daya Bay reactor antineutrino experiment is designed to make a precision measurement of the neutrino mixing angle theta13, and recently made the definitive discovery of its nonzero value. It ...utilizes a set of eight, functionally identical antineutrino detectors to measure the reactor flux and spectrum at baselines of 300 - 2000m from the Daya Bay and Ling Ao Nuclear Power Plants. The Daya Bay antineutrino detectors were built in an above-ground facility and deployed side-by-side at three underground experimental sites near and far from the nuclear reactors. This configuration allows the experiment to make a precision measurement of reactor antineutrino disappearance over km-long baselines and reduces relative systematic uncertainties between detectors and nuclear reactors. This paper describes the assembly and installation of the Daya Bay antineutrino detectors.
Background/Purpose:
Childhood‐onset lupus (cSLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease and its effect on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) has not been systematically established. The Patient Reported ...Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS™, http://nihpromis.org) is a publicly available system to measure patient reported outcomes that features electronic data collection. Although several validated legacy QoL measures exist for cSLE, each is longer than the PROMIS™ Pediatric Short Forms (Short Forms). The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility, construct and discriminant validity of the Short Forms in cSLE in a clinical setting.
Methods:
In this ongoing study at two sites, 98 of 100 projected patients completed the Pediatric PROMIS™ Short Forms (Anger, Anxiety, Depressive, Fatigue, Mobility, Upper Extremity, Pain Interference, Peer Relations) and legacy QoL measures (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ Generic Core GC & Rheumatology Modules RM, Simple Measure Of Impact Of Lupus Erythematosus In Youngsters SMILEY, Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire CHAQ, Child Health Questionnaire CHQ, pain and well‐being visual analog scales VAS). Questionnaire scores were compared and Spearman correlation analysis was performed in support of the construct validity of the Short Forms when used in cSLE. The discriminant validity was supported by analysis of PROMIS™ and legacy QoL score change at sequential visits and relationship of change was made with Spearman correlation analysis (to be shown).
Results:
Participants (78% female; 41% White, 44% Black, 6% Asian) had a mean age of 16 yrs (SD 3) and mean SLEDAI score of 6.07 (SD 5.99). There were no problems with completion of any of the PROMIS™ Short Forms (mean score = 50, clinically relevant difference = 10) which required 5–10 minutes in total (legacy QoL tools >15 min. each). On average, cSLE patients scored importantly worse in the Short Form assessing upper extremity function and mobility than the healthy children, while the other QoL domains were less affected (Table ). This is also supported by the scores of the CHQ–PHS. Concurrent validity of the Short Forms is supported by moderate correlations with the scores of various legacy measures (to be shown).
Comparative scores for HRQoL in cSLE*
PROMIS Short forms
CHAQ
PedsQL‐GC
PedsQL‐RM
SMILEY
CHQ‐P50
Anger
52.0 (4.3)
Emotional
74.1 (21.1)
Worry
70.0 (27.6)
Effect
63.3 (19.9)
Behavior (BE)
83.4 (15.9)
Anxiety
49.6 (3.8)
Treatment
80.8 (15.0)
Burden
60.1 (17.4)
Mental Health (MH)
77.5 (15.9)
Depression
51.9 (3.2)
Self‐esteem (SE)
81.8 (15.5)
Fatigue
53.5 (3.4)
Role/Social Limits‐Physical (RP)
87.5 (25.8)
Mobility
42.8 (3.5)
Walk
0.3 (0.6)
Physical
74.0 (20.3)
Activity
87.0 (17.7)
Limitation
68.2 (17.0)
Physical Function (PF)
78.2 (30.5)
Arise
0.4 (0.6)
Hygiene
0.3 (0.7)
Play
0.7 (0.9)
Upper Extremity Function
46.1 (3.9)
Dress & Groom
0.3 (0.7)
Physical Summary (PHS)
43.0 (13.2)
Eat
0.3 (0.7)
Reach
0.5 (0.8)
Grip
0.4 (0.7)
Pain
52.7 (3.1)
Pain
66.1 (28.2)
Bodily Pain/Discomfort (BP)
65.7 (29.7)
Peer Relations
46.7 (3.5)
Social
82.4 (20.0)
Social
72.8 (18.6)
Social & Emotional Limits (REB)
86.0 (29.3)
General Health Perception (GH)
56.6 (14.9)
School
66.0 (20.3)
Communicate
71.6 (27.6)
Psychosocial Summary (PSS)
52.8 (7.9)
Completed by Child
Completed by Parent
Values are means (standard deviations).
The PROMIS™ short forms use T score distributions (50 represents the average for the US general population, with a standard deviation of 10. High scores represent more of the concept being measured (for negatively‐worded concepts like pain, fatigue, and anxiety, a 60 is one standard deviation worse than average; for positively‐worded concepts like physical or peer relationships, a 60 is one standard deviation better than average).
Conclusion:
This pilot study supports QoL measurement using the PROMIS™ Short Forms as feasible and concurrently valid. PROMIS™ measures can now be utilized by clinicians treating cSLE for a more efficient patient reported health outcomes measure, taking advantage of their easy interpretation of scores and changes in scores, thereby, reducing respondent burden and making QoL assessment feasible in both research and clinical care settings.
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