Kazempour, M., & Amirshokoohi, A. (2014). Transitioning to inquiry-based teaching: exploring science teachers' professional development experiences. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 9(3), 285-309. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=936d35cb-c5b0-4f0a-95a0-fd6167091c01%40sessionmgr120&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=EJ1031455&db=eric
ABSTRACT
The literature on professional development is replete with studies that utilize survey, interview, and classroom observation data, primarily collected post professional development experience, to explore teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and actions; however, we lack a clear understanding of teachers’ learning process and reflections during the professional development. The current study aims to address the abovementioned gaps in the literature, by utilizing participant reflections and assignments during a summer professional development opportunity, to elucidate the process by which teachers learn about inquiry-based teaching and begin to implement it in their planning, in addition to factors they deem influential in this process. The findings address three questions about professional development: 1) participants’ process of developing professionally, 2) features of effective professional development, and 3) the relationship between participants and the program. Furthermore, a web of interrelationships is revealed between participant-identified beneficial programmatic features and the participants’ experiences, processes of personal, social, and professional development, evolving conceptions and beliefs, and the translation of these beliefs into practice, as evident in their immediate implementation of ideas in instructional planning.
Carp, S. (2015). Peripheral nerve injury: An anatomical and physiological approach for physical therapy intervention. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co.
The text’s theme is peripheral nerve injuries and how to recognize and treat these acute and chronic injuries and conditions across the lifespan. It features in-depth discussions to ensure the reader understands the identification, pathophysiology, assessment, and procedural interventions associated with peripheral nerve injuries.
Hojjat, T. A., & Ahmed, M. U. (2015). The employment impact of changing energy price. Pennsylvania Economic Review 22(2), 15-45. Retrieved from http://www.econpea.org/pub/perfall2015.pdf
ABSTRACT
The technology for energy extraction changed significantly during the late 1990s and early 2000s, which affected the production and price of energy. This energy boom has reversed a long downward trend in U.S. oil and natural gas production. This increase has opened new possibilities for the U.S. economy. The consumption and production of energy also became a major component of the global economy. The huge drop in price has a significant impact in the United States – on corporate profits, employment and capital spending. A key question is whether this new abundant and accessible natural resource has positive effect on U.S. economic conditions through higher demand for labor in the energy sector and spillover spending in the local economy. The purpose of this paper is to review the impacts of changes in energy price on the economy; evaluating gains and challenges with a particular emphasis on changes in energy prices on employment in the U. S. Using Rendon Effect Regression we examined how changes in U.S. oil and natural gas production may affect employment. Our result shows that there is a positive impact of lowering energy price on employment. Fracking, renewable energy are just a few of the things that have reshaped the energy picture over the past 20 years, how much it will change in the next 20 years and policy implications are discussed.
Hojjat, T. A. (2015). Economic impacts of energy development: opportunities, challenges and policy implications. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 6(6), 75-88. Retrieved from http://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_6_No_6_June_2015/6.pdf
ABSTRACT
The technology for energy extraction changed significantly during the late 1990s and early 2000s, which affected the production and price of energy. This energy boom has revered long downward trend in U.S oil and natural gas production. This increased has opened new possibilities for the U.S economy. A key question is whether this new abundant and accessible natural resources has positive effect on U.S economic conditions through higher demand for labor in the energy sector and spillover spending in the local economy. The purpose of this paper is to review the impacts of changes in energy price on the economy; evaluating gains and challenges with a particular emphasis on changes in energy prices on employment in the U.S. Using Rendon Effect Regression we examined how changes in U.S. oil and natural gas production may affect employment. Our result shows that there is a positive impacts of lowering energy price on employment. Some of the states providing new energy resources are becoming less economically diversified and more economically vulnerable to energy price declines and benefiting more from price increase. As a result of innovations such as hydraulic fracturing, some government, industry, and academic observers have predicted that the United States will soon become energy self-sufficient and possibly become a net exporter of natural gas and petroleum. Fracking, renewable energy are just a few of the things that have reshaped the energy picture over the past 20 years, how much it will change in the next 20 years and policy implications are discussed.
Langton, J., Moore, J.L., Pochron, J. (2014). The cost of privacy: Riley v. California's impact on cell phone searches. Journal of Digital Forensics and Law 9(3), 7-18.
ABSTRACT
Riley v. California is the United States Supreme Court’s first attempt to regulate the searches
of cell phones by law enforcement. The 2014 unanimous decision requires a warrant for all cell
phone searches incident to arrest absent an emergency. This work summarizes the legal
precedent and analyzes the limitations and practical implications of the ruling. General
guidelines for members of the criminal justice system at all levels consistent with the Supreme
Court’s decision are provided.
Van Beveren, N. J. M., Schwarz, E., Noll, R., Guest, P. C., Meijer, C., de Haan, L., & Bahn, S. (2014). Evidence for disturbed insulin and growth hormone signaling as potential risk factors in the development of schizophrenia. Translational Psychiatry, 4(8), e430–. http://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2014.52. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4150237/.
ABSTRACT
Molecular abnormalities in metabolic, hormonal and immune pathways are present in peripheral body fluids of a significant subgroup of schizophrenia patients. The authors have tested whether such disturbances also occur in psychiatrically ill and unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients with the aim of identifying potential contributing factors to disease vulnerability. The subjects were recruited as part of the Genetic Risk and OUtcome of Psychosis (GROUP) study. The authors used multiplexed immunoassays to measure the levels of 184 molecules in serum from 112 schizophrenia patients, 133 siblings and 87 unrelated controls. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, serum from schizophrenia patients contained higher levels of insulin, C-peptide and proinsulin, decreased levels of growth hormone and altered concentrations of molecules involved in inflammation. In addition, significant differences were found in the levels of some of these proteins in siblings diagnosed with mood disorders (n=16) and in unaffected siblings (n=117). Most significantly, the insulin/growth hormone ratio was higher across all groups compared with the controls. Taken together, these findings suggest the presence of a molecular endophenotype involving disruption of insulin and growth factor signaling pathways as an increased risk factor for schizophrenia.
Osborne-McKnight, J. (2015). The story we carry in our bones: Irish history for Americans. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Co., Inc.
From 3800 B.C. to the twentieth century, this comprehensive history examines the course of Irish-Americans. Celtic legends, the evolution of Christianity, the coming of the Vikings, and the time of the Tudors are just some of the topics covered in these pages. Juilene Osborne-McKnight addresses the events leading up the An Gorta Mor, or the Great Hunger, which initiated the Irish immigration to America. She then follows the Irish as they travel to the new country and establish themselves as Irish-Americans. Whimsical yet complex Celtic drawings and an annotated bibliography of recommended books and movies accent each part. The four sections are entitled “Knock Wood and Light the Pumpkin,” “Keeping Faith at the Cross Road,” “No One Leaves Your Table Hungry,” and “Irish Roots and Rising Irish.”
Pocetto, A. (2014). Positive psychology, Francis de Sales (1567-1622) and character formation: an introduction. Studies in Religion/Science Religieuses, 43(4), 575-591. Retrieved from http://sir.sagepub.com/content/43/4/575.full.pdf+html
Abstract
This study intends to show the convergences and divergences of the spirituality of Francis de Sales as compared to the recent and flourishing work of positive psychologists in furthering the dialogue between psychology and spirituality, especially in the important field of character formation or virtue education. However, the scope of this study will be limited to the character strength or virtue of humility and those virtues closely allied with it as an initial attempt to explore and encourage further research along this line.
Schulz, Joshua (2014). How do you know if you haven't tried it? Aristotelian reflections on hateful humor. Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 87, 295-305.
ABSTRACT
Howard Curzer argues that Aristotle’s virtue of wit is a social virtue, a form of
philia: conversation with a witty person is pleasing rather than offensive or hateful. On the basis
of an analogy between wit and temperance, Curzer holds that the witty person is good at
detecting (and avoiding) hateful humor but is not necessarily an expert in judging the funniness
of jokes. Curzer thus defends a moderate position in contemporary philosophy of humor–a
Detraction Account of hateful humor–arguing that the humorousness of a joke is an aggregate
pleasure resulting from several factors in addition to funniness. While sympathetic to Curzer’s
overall approach to wit, this essay criticizes the Detraction Account as inconsistent with
Aristotle’s text and implausible in its own right, and suggests a friendly amendment based on
those criticisms.
ARTICLES
Schulz, J. (2014). Chastity's children: sexual reality, procreation and the wisdom of virtuous love. Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity 27(1). Retrieved from http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=27-01-025-f.
Schulz, J. (2014). Our final draft: the revisionist conception of Christian hope. Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity 27(2).
Schulz, J. (2014). Machine Grading and Moral Learning. The New Atlantis 41 (Winter 2014), 109-119. Retrieved from http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/machine-grading-and-moral-learning.
Schulz, J. (2014). On Hobby Lobby: where Ginsburg and Alito go astray. Crisis Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/hobby-lobby-ginsburg-alito-go-astray.
Schulz, J. (2014). Pornography's false promise. Crisis Magazine.Retrieved from http://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/pornographys-false-promise#at_pco=smlwn-1.0&at_si=56b15c6cd0379f65&at_ab=per-12&at_pos=0&at_tot=1.
Schulz, J. (2014). The curmudgeon argument against Notre Dame. Ethika Politika. Retrieved from https://ethikapolitika.org/2014/01/20/curmudgeon-argument-notre-dame/.
Schulz, J. (2013). Grounding our right to religious freedom. Public Discourse. Retrieved from http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/08/10633/.
Wisniewski, D.P. (Ed.) (2015). Heart of hearts: writings on the life and spirit of St. Francis de Sales. Stella Niagara, NY. DeSales Resources and Ministries.
From the Introduction:
This collection of essays by the late Salesian scholar, Father Joseph F. Power, O.S.F.S. (1935-2002), weaves together a variety of writings on St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Some pieces in this volume have been published elsewhere, while others are found here in print for the first time. Among the topics discussed, there are some commonalities. In particular, the centrality of the heart in the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales can be found in each one, with the exception of the final two essays (which are historical analyses of the dissemination and influence of Salesian spirituality). When discussing the “heart-center,” the summit of the soul where the human person’s relationship with God originates, Joe often refers to this as the “heart of hearts.” For this reason, this expression has been chosen as the title of this volume. It is also appropriate that this heart theme be associated with the scholarship of Joe Power, a model gentleman-scholar-priest who reflected the virtues found in his patron’s spirituality, which is a spirituality of the heart.
Garey, J. T. and Wisniewski, D. P. (2015). Pre-service teacher preparation in the student learning objective (SLO) process. The Pennsylvania Administrator, 19(2), 28-30.
ABSTRACT
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has begun implementing a process of measuring educator effectiveness based on student achievement of content standards; in particular, PDE has created the Student Learning Objective (SLO) Process as a part of a multiple-measure, comprehensive system of Educator Effectiveness (authorized by Act 82) throughout the state of Pennsylvania. In anticipation of the new procedure on the horizon, pre-service teachers (undergraduate and graduate) at DeSales university (DSU) were required to conduct an SLO Project which follows the template of the PDE assessment process.
Wisniewski, D. P. (2015). Incorporating reading and writing to increase student appreciation of mathematics. PCTM Magazine 54(9), 10-13.
ABSTRACT
In mathematics classrooms, there are students who can be classified as “math-phobes” or who experience “math anxiety,” fearing the subject based on poor performance in previous courses and/or negative experiences in the mathematics classroom. However, the integration of reading and writing into the traditional course curriculum of mathematical content and problem-solving has proven successful at improving mathematics appreciation and thus, reducing fear of the subject and improving student performance in mathematics. This article describes how this is conducted in the Survey of Mathematics (MA-109) course at DeSales University. Along with the study of selected mathematical content from set theory, graph theory, algebra, geometry, and probability, students in this course are required to read selected chapters in a “popular” mathematics book (currently, The Mathematical Universe by William Duhnam [1994]), which integrates historical facts and stories with rigorous mathematics and practical applications. Chosen readings support lectures, providing a broader view of the topics discussed in class.