Digital Commons Network^™

Global Education In Stem And Healthcare: Implications Of Covid-19, Jessica Hallet, Santanu De

Biology Faculty Articles

The Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic in March of 2020. Since then, most schools, colleges, and universities across the globe stopped delivering classes face-to-face and transitioned into virtual modalities of instruction. This reformation of academics has had an impact on every field of study, especially those students in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and in the realm of healthcare education. Ranging from middle/high school to undergraduate and graduate programs, STEM degrees require intensive curricula integrating extensive lectures on theoretical topics and laboratory exercises to apply those concepts in a practical setting. Likewise, …

Seizure Prediction In Epilepsy Patients, Gary Dean Cravens

NSU REACH and IPE Day

Purpose/Objective: Characterize rigorously the preictal period in epilepsy patients to improve the development of seizure prediction techniques. Background/Rationale: 30% of epilepsy patients are not well-controlled on medications and would benefit immensely from reliable seizure prediction. Methods/Methodology: Computational model consisting of in-silico Hodgkin-Huxley neurons arranged in a small-world topology using the Watts-Strogatz algorithm is used to generate synthetic electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals. ECoG data from 18 epilepsy patients is used to validate the model. Unsupervised machine learning is used with both patient and synthetic data to identify potential electrophysiologic biomarkers of the preictal period. Results/Findings: The model has shown states corresponding to …

Diabetes Mellitus An Epidemic In Haitian American Afro Caribbeans, Balkys L. Bivins

NSU REACH and IPE Day

Purpose To measure the prevalence of diabetes mellitus among Haitian Americans Afro-Caribbeans living in the United States. Background Devastatingly, 422 million individuals are affected by diabetes mellitus (DM) (WHO, 2021). In the United States, the age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes is 16.8% in Black, non-Hispanic Americans (CDC, 2020). Haitian Americans (HAs) are among vulnerable populations that experience challenges to treatment and management of DM. In the U.S. HAs are often subsumed in the Black demographic therefore there is limited data addressing the prevalence of DM in this population. Ethical Considerations, Methodology and Analysis This descriptive quantitative cross-sectional pilot study was approved …

A Review Of Formative Assessment Techniques In Higher Education During Covid-19, Daniel Asamoah, Masitah Shahrill, Siti Norhedayah Abdul Latif

The Qualitative Report

To meaningfully determine how well students have achieved learning targets, instructors must adopt specific formative assessment techniques. During the COVID-19 pandemic, existing studies have discovered the techniques instructors in higher education use in their formative assessment practices. However, there has not been any consensus on the prevalent formative assessment techniques used. In this study, we examined empirical documents to determine to what extent formative assessment has supported formal or informal techniques, or both. A total of 15 samples of published documents on the formative assessment techniques used by instructors in higher education were purposively selected and subjected to summative content …

From Derivation To Error Analysis Of Splitting Methods—A Contemporary Review, Qin Sheng

Mathematics Colloquium Series

Splitting methods, with representative examples such as ADI (alternating-direction implicit) method and LOD (local one-dimensional) method, have been playing a significant role for the numerical solution of differential equations. In this talk, we will start from a seemed-to-be obvious issue as an introduction of the modern splitting methods. Historical roots of the literature will be mentioned. We will then use a splitting approach for solving a semi-linear Kawarada partial differential equation which is extremely important to numerical combustion, environmental protection, and biomedical research. Finally, the concept of global error and its estimates will be discussed and extended.

Body Mass Index (Bmi): A Screening Tool Analysis, Deepesh Khanna, Cadynce Peltzer, Payal Kahar, Mayur S. Parmar

HPD Articles

Body mass index (BMI), a measurement based on a person's height and weight, allows the classification of individuals into categories such as obese or overweight. With these classifications, we can assess risk for hypertension, diabetes, cancer, hypercholesterolemia, and other chronic diseases. Furthermore, childhood BMI serves as a prediction method for health and disease later in life. Along with BMI, researchers also study waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio in correlation with the above-mentioned chronic illnesses. This brief review explores the associations between body mass index, waist circumference, and the waist-hip ratio as measurements and their capability as predictors for persistent conditions …

Student Confidence, Success, And Retention: The Impact Of Military Experience On The College Lives Of Korean Males, Sun Young Kim

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study was designed to investigate the experiences of Korean male college students within the context of higher education and the military. Twenty Korean male undergraduate students, recently discharged from compulsory military service, participated in this study. The data for the study were collected through semi-structured interviews, each lasting approximately 70-90 minutes. Data analysis was based on Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory. Findings indicate that these students are more academically motivated as compared to their own freshman year. During their term of military service, they have experienced goal commitment, leadership, and diverse relationships. Upon returning to school, they exhibited a …

Qualitative Coding As A Pedagogy For Fostering Professional Dispositions And Reflexivity, Kristina M. Valtierra, Lesley N. Siegel

The Qualitative Report

Many fields require practitioners to develop the dispositions, reflection, and reflexivity skills to navigate complex professional demands. Yet, there are limited methods for fostering these skills. Given that the act of qualitative coding is both iterative and reflexive, this paper shares an innovative approach to teaching students how to apply coding to their own reflective writing. We feature our process of teaching preservice teachers our self-coding method and lessons learned along the way from engaging 100 teacher candidates in the practice. Over four years, across three different higher education settings, graduate and undergraduate teacher candidates alike demonstrated insightful reflections about …

Standards Recommendations For The Earth Biogenome Project, Mara K. Lawniczak, Richard Durbin, Paul Flicek, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Xiaofeng Wei, John M. Archibald, William J. Baker, Katherine Belov, Mark L. Blaxter, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Keith A. Crandall, Andrew J. Crawford, Robert P. Davey, Federica Di Palma, Qi Fang, Wilfried Haerty, Neil Hall, Katherine J. Hoff, Kerstin Howe, Erich D. Jarvis, Warren E. Johnson, Rebecca N. Johnson, Paul J. Kersey, Xin Liu, Jose V. Lopez, Eugene W. Myers, Olga Vinnere Pettersson, Adam M. Phillippy, Monica F. Poelchau, Kim D. Pruitt, Arang Rhie, Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio, Sunil Kumar Sahu, Nicholas A. Salmon, Pamela S. Soltis, David Swarbreck, Françoise Thibaud-Nissen, Sibo Wang, Jill L. Wegrzyn, Guojie Zhang, He Zhang, Harris A. Lewin, Stephen Richards

Biology Faculty Articles

A global international initiative, such as the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), requires both agreement and coordination on standards to ensure that the collective effort generates rapid progress toward its goals. To this end, the EBP initiated five technical standards committees comprising volunteer members from the global genomics scientific community: Sample Collection and Processing, Sequencing and Assembly, Annotation, Analysis, and IT and Informatics. The current versions of the resulting standards documents are available on the EBP website, with the recognition that opportunities, technologies, and challenges may improve or change in the future, requiring flexibility for the EBP to meet its goals. …

Progressive Islamic Education: Bridging The Gap Of Islam, Indonesianness, And Modernity, Suyatno Suyatno, Wantini Wantini, Sukiman Sukiman, Yulia Rachmawati

The Qualitative Report

Progressive Islamic education is a model developed by Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s largest modern Islamic organization. This model combines secular sciences from the modern education system with religious ones from Islamic teachings to reduce the gap between Islamic values, Indonesianess, and modernity, often a source of tension. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate Progressive Islamic education values and consider how to bridge the gap between Islam, Indonesianess, and modernity. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used to conduct semi-structured interviews with ten Muhammadiyah elementary and middle school teachers. The results showed that participants believe Progressive Islamic education comprises dynamic values, …

Case Study: Degenerative Joint Disease In Canines, Zachary B. Lawrence, Rusty Rogers, Emily Schmitt Lavin

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

Degenerative joint disease (DJD) is the gradual degeneration of cartilage in joints, resulting in pain for the affected areas. This study focused on Lacy (name changed for privacy), a 10-year-old spayed female chihuahua mix, that was clinically diagnosed for DJD and treated by Dr. Rogers over a period of 15 months. DJD is typically treated through a combination of pharmacological management, nonpharmacological treatment, and changes in lifestyle. Pharmacological treatment utilized pain medications, such as Gabapentin and Tramadol. Nonpharmacological treatment and changes in lifestyle involve methods, such as maintaining an ideal body weight, to decrease pain and increase mobility. However, during …

Creating An Interdisciplinary Curriculum Within The Undergraduate Arts And Sciences Through Agar Art, Julie Torruellas Garcia, Kandy Lopez, Véronique Côté, Katie E. Crump

Biology Faculty Articles

Evidence-based studies on the benefits of integrating STEM into the arts are limited; however, some suggest that it can lead to improved scientific literacy and new approaches for artistic scholarship. Unfortunately, undergraduate education often creates disciplinary silos where the two are not integrated. Here, we discuss a unique collaboration between professors in the art and biology departments. Our goal was to integrate science into art courses using an agar art activity. We hypothesized that art students could effectively learn microbiology laboratory techniques and use them as novel tools for artistic practice. The activity was integrated into two to four sessions …

Light-Driven Dynamics Between Calcification And Production In Functionally Diverse Coral Reef Calcifiers, Jennifer Mallon, Tyler Cyronak, Emily R. Hall, Anastazia T. Banaszak, Dan A. Exton, Adrian M. Bass

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral reef metabolism underpins ecosystem function and is defined by the processes of photosynthesis, respiration, calcification, and calcium carbonate dissolution. However, the relationships between these physiological processes at the organismal level and their interactions with light remain unclear. We examined metabolic rates across a range of photosynthesising calcifiers in the Caribbean: the scleractinian corals Acropora cervicornis, Orbicella faveolata, Porites astreoides, and Siderastrea siderea, and crustose coralline algae (CCA) under varying natural light conditions. Net photosynthesis and calcification showed a parabolic response to light across all species, with differences among massive corals, branching corals, and CCA that …

Flexible Facilitation: Coaching And Modelling To Support Inclusive Education, Danielle Lane, Sarah Semon, Nicholas Catania, Khalid M. Abu-Alghayth Phd

The Qualitative Report

The practices of education, such as separate and resource placements, pull-out services, scripted intervention programmes, an emphasis on diagnoses, and behaviorist discipline practices, are not conducive to the goals of inclusive education. This study demonstrates how one instructional coach worked to disrupt traditional special education practices and guide special educators towards the use of more effective research-based instructional strategies and collaborative practices to promote inclusion. Using Robert Stake’s intrinsic case study methodology, we explored the perceived roles of coaching and modelling to promote inclusion through the lens of one coach who modelled methods for the special education teachers in multiple …

Sign Language Interpreter-Mediated Qualitative Interview With Deaf Participants In Ghana: Some Methodological Reflections For Practice, Stephen Baffour Adjei, Sarah Tara Sam, Frank Owusu Sekyere, Philip Boateng

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative research is adventurous and creative, and committed to understanding unique human experiences in specific cultural ecologies. Qualitative interviewing with Deaf participants is far more challenging for hearing researchers who do not understand sign language, and for this reason such interactions may require the use of a sign language interpreter to facilitate the interview process. However, the quality of sign language interpreter-mediated interactions is likely to be compromised due to omissions, oversights, misinterpretations or additions that may occur during translation. An unthoughtful and poor interpretation of a communicative event by a sign language interpreter during a qualitative interview with Deaf …

Experiment 1.02: Acceleration Due To Gravity: Vertical Drop, Diego Castano

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

The acceleration due to gravity is determined from the fall of a metal sphere.

Experiment 1.04: Newton's 2nd Law, Diego Castano

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

The motion of a modified Atwood-type machine is studied.

Experiment 1.08: Buoyancy, Diego Castano

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

Archimedes Principle is used to determine the density of an unknown metal.

Experiment 1.05: Energy, Diego Castano, Victor Castro

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

The conservation of energy for the case of a descending glider on an inclined air-track is examined.

Experiment 1.06: Momentum, Diego Castano, Andrew Kiene

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

The conservation of momentum for the case of colliding gliders on an air-track is examined.

Experiment 1.03: Acceleration Due To Gravity: Inclined Surface, Diego Castano

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

The acceleration due to gravity is determined from the descent of a near frictionless glider on an inclined air-track.

Experiment 1.10: Standing Waves On Strings, Diego Castano

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

The fourth harmonic of a vibrating string is used to determine the acceleration due to gravity.

Experiment 1.09: The Simple Pendulum, Diego Castano

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

A simple pendulum is used to determine the acceleration due to gravity.

The Inim Fall 2022, Nova Southeastern University

INIM Newsletters

No abstract provided.

2022 F1rst Look, Nova Southeastern University

First Look

No abstract provided.

Experiment 1.07: Torque, Diego Castano

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

A mechanical balance is used to study the role of torque in states of static equilibrium.

Experiment 1.01: Measurement, Diego Castano, Victor Castro

Physics Lab Experiments with Simulated Data for Remote Delivery

Introduction to measurement/data analysis; measurements of an aluminum cylinder and cuboid are used to determine their densities.

2022 Nsu Fact Book, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Fact Book

The 30th edition of the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Fact Book provides perspective on the university’s character, growth, and accomplishments. The 2022 Fact Book includes narrative, numeric, and graphic representation of the university, including history, characteristics, and development of the institution. Data are presented in both tabular and graphic formats to provide pertinent detail, and general trends are highlighted.

Like all previous editions of the Fact Book, this edition is a snapshot of the university during the academic year that concludes in the year of its publication. Therefore, the 2022 Fact Book represents NSU from fall 2021 through spring …

2022-2023 Nsu Undergraduate Student Catalog, Nova Southeastern University

Undergraduate Programs Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Challenges And Issues Faced By Saudi Women When They Are Appointed To New Unconventional Jobs, Ghadah Abdulhadi Alghamdi

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Advancing awareness of the workforce and job issues faced by women in the KSA will encourage HRM departments to enhance Saudi women's work experience by implementing more gender-friendly work environments, practices, and processes. Therefore, the researcher decided to implement this research to shed light on the role of Saudi women working in community development, to identify the most important challenges and issues facing Saudi women working in new unconventional jobs, and to discuss methods that can be followed to reduce these challenges and issues. To achieve this, the researcher used a descriptive-analytical approach and qualitative research methods (interviews). The interviews …