Abstract For the last six years a STEM outreach center at an urban R1 university has worked with programs that utilize near-peer mentoring of pre-college students by undergraduate students in engineering and science. In 2012, engineering and science undergraduate students participating in a social entrepreneurship course developed a proposal to create a student organization that used Science Olympiad as a vehicle to inspire middle school students to consider STEM majors and to increase their interest in STEM. Science Olympiad is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to "improve the quality of K-12 science education, increase male, female and minority interest in science, [and] create a technologically-literate workforce". The undergraduate students served as mentors to local schools with Science Olympiad teams. Near-peer mentoring has been shown to be a powerful tool for outreach efforts, both for the mentee (SIGCSE '18 Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education Pages 664-669) and the mentor – especially for underrepresented minorities (Perspect Undergrad Res Mentor. 2015;4(1)). Strategic partnerships, member motivations, financial support and strong student leadership were the main factors in the exponential growth and success of the organization. The organization grew from five initial mentors in 2012 to over 100 mentors in 2018 serving more than 500 middle school students since 2012. The two main strategic partnerships were the STEM outreach center of the R1 university and the local Science Olympiad coordinator. The STEM outreach center had the connections to the local school district as well as in-house expertise on curriculum development and implementation of out-of-school time STEM programming in PK-12 settings. These connections and expertise allowed the student organization to build a strong foundation of well-trained mentors and locate a pilot school with which to work as it began. The local Science Olympiad coordinator was invested in the success of the local teams and welcomed the support that the student organization gave to both new and veteran coaches. Many of the undergraduate mentors chose to join this organization because of their own experiences with Science Olympiad before attending university. Not only did they thoroughly enjoy their past experience, most of them wrote or spoke about their experience in their mentor applications or interviews as the reason they were pursuing a STEM major. The success is shown by both the expansion of the program at the university level (it is currently one of the largest student organizations on campus) as well as integration into the school system's plan as it seeks to continue the expansion of Science Olympiad to include high schools. The student organization is actively taking a role in supporting this progression into the local high schools.
Abstract Background Clinical trials are fundamental to healthcare, however they also contribute to anthropogenic climate change. Following previous work to develop and test a method and guidance to calculate the carbon footprint of clinical trials, we have now applied the guidance to 10 further UK and international, academically-sponsored clinical trials to begin identification of hotspots and opportunities for lower carbon trial design. Methods 10 collaborating Clinical Trial Units (CTUs) self-identified and a trial was selected from their portfolio to represent a variety of designs, health areas and interventions. Trial activity data was collated by trial teams across 10 modules spanning trial set up through to closure, then multiplied by emission factors provided in the guidance to calculate the carbon footprint. User feedback was collected on the process of applying the draft guidance. Results Six completed and four ongoing trials (two in follow up, two recruiting) were footprinted across a variety of interventions (6 IMP trials, one nutritional, one surgical, one health surveillance and one complex intervention trial). The carbon footprint of the 10 trials ranged from 15 to 765 tonnes CO2e. Common hotspots were identified as CTU emissions, trial-specific patient assessments and trial team meetings and travel. Hotspots for specific trial designs were also identified. Time taken to collate activity data and complete carbon calculations ranged from 5–60 hours. The draft guidance was updated to include new activities identified from the 10 trials, and in response to user feedback. Discussion There are opportunities to reduce the impact of trials across all modules, particularly trial specific meetings and travel, patient assessments and laboratory practice. A trial’s carbon footprint should be considered at the design stage, but work is required to make this common place.
Preparing high school students for engineering disciplines is crucial for sustainable scientific and technological developments in the USA. This paper discusses a pre-college program, which not only exposes students to various engineering disciplines but also enables them to consider engineering as the profession. The four-week long “Engineering Innovation (EI)” course is offered every year to high school students by the center of outreach, Johns Hopkins University. EI program is designed to develop problem-solving skills through extensive hands-on engineering experiments. A team consisting of an instructor, generally a PhD in Engineering, and a teaching fellow, generally a high school science teacher, closely work with students to pedagogically inculcate basics of core engineering disciplines such as civil, mechanical, electrical, materials, and chemical engineering. EI values independent problem-solving skills and simultaneously promote the team spirit among students. A number of crucial engineering aspects such as professional ethics, communications, technical writing, and understanding of common engineering principles are inculcated among high school students via well-designed individual and group activities. This paper discusses the model of EI program and its impact on students learning and their preparation for the engineering career.
The objective of this case is to report the highly unusual occurrence of uterine metastasis from a papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). PTC is rarely associated with distant metastases and typically spreads to bone or pulmonary tissue. In this case a 69-year-old female presented with post menopausal bleeding (PMB). She was otherwise well with no significant medical history or regular medications and reported no family history of thyroid disease. A subsequent endometrial polyp was identified as the cause of her PMB and removed. In addition as part of her clinical examination a goitre was noted and radiological imaging (including an ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging of the neck and computer tomography of thorax, abdomen and pelvis) was performed and demonstrated a large thyroid mass which extended retrosternally and caused tracheal narrowing. The remainder of the imaging was unremarkable. The endometrial biopsy demonstrated morphological features of PTC. BRAF V600 mutation was not detected. A subsequent core biopsy of the mediastinal mass displayed morphological and immunohistochemical characteristic similar to that of the endometrial polyp. In combination this confirmed a diagnosis of primary papillary thyroid carcinoma. Surgical treatment included a total thyroidectomy, sternotomy and left neck dissection. Lymph node involvement was demonstrated at levels II-VI. Despite radioactive iodine and the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors this lady died from complications of her disease. J Endocrinol Metab. 2019;9(4):113-116 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem591
The Gartner Hype Cycle has placed virtual worlds on the climb up the Slope of Enlightenment. While some authors in the past have made much of the educational use of virtual worlds languishing in the Trough of Disillusionment, there has been a community of authors, designers and educators working to further understanding of the limitations and affordances of such technologies. It is time to pool this knowledge, experience, tools and practice to solidify best
practice, focus research on development of specific elements and forge ahead to shape the third wave of educational virtual worlds. This paper attempts to outline this information and practice while offering solutions for further development.
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