ABSTRACT
The purpose of this project was to investigate the influence of a job-shadowing program on first year students' retention in STEM majors. Many students enter STEM majors with little knowledge about what a career in their fields entail and may be discouraged from persisting in those majors if they face obstacles in their first-year STEM classes. This NSF-funded IUSE project developed an intervention to address this issue by pairing first-year STEM students with a near-peer mentor currently enrolled in a co-operative education program and allowing them to job shadow the mentor at their place of employment. The goal of the job-shadowing was to allow first-year students to increase their knowledge about careers in STEM fields, and their self-efficacy to succeed in STEM majors. The program was implemented for three years, with three cohorts of first year students, with 136 total students participating across the three years. Results of three years of implementation of this intervention will be discussed, as well as the lessons learned from shifting the intervention from face-to-face activities (touring the company, observing hands-on activities, participating in company events), to a virtual shadowing program during the covid-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that students who participated in the job shadowing program were retained at a higher rate than a comparison group with similar demographics and academic profile. Students found the program to be valuable to learn about STEM industries and reported that participating in job shadowing increased their interest in remaining in their majors. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.
ABSTRACT
For over 50 years, psychology leaders have called for fundamental changes in how we undertake research, education, and community interaction. This paper provocatively argues the case for "why now, and how." The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that psychology must contribute more to the wellbeing of local and global communities. We propose that a primary mechanism for doing so is by reinventing the undergraduate psychology program. This paper provides a stimulus to initiate international discussion of interconnected graduate capabilities, which we propose to be: Knowledge, Research Methods, Application of Knowledge to Personal, Professional and Community (Local, National, Global) Domains, Values and Ethics, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Cultural Responsiveness. Focusing on core aspects of psychology (Knowledge, Research Methods, Application) and more generic but evidence-informed capabilities is a unique formulation and should well serve graduates, employers, society, and the psychology discipline and profession in the uncertain "post-pandemic" era. We also propose psychological literacy as a promising unifying approach for psychology. Finally, we provide a "road-map" for curriculum renewal at international, national, and institutional levels, involving a consensus-seeking process (an extensive scholarly overview of the proposed capabilities is provided).
ABSTRACT
Background: The mechanism of bone loss in antiretroviral-treated HIV-positive patients is poorly understood. Plasma bone turnover markers(BTMs) suggest uncoupling of bone resorption and formation by a treatment effect on bone cells. Switching away from TDF to TAF-containing regimens has been associated with bone mineral density(BMD) gains measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). One explanation is reversal of ongoing subclinical bone loss in the TDF to TAF switchers. Quantitative imaging with 18F-PET/CT allows assessment of regional bone formation at specific skeletal sites and can help differentiate if BMD changes are associated with increased bone formation or reduced bone loss. Methods: PETRAM, an open-label, randomised study conducted at a single UK site, enrolled non-osteoporotic virologically suppressed HIV-positive males, on >24 weeks rilpivirine/emtricitabine/TDF (RPV/FTC/TDF). They were randomised 1:1 to remain on RPV/FTC/TDF or switch to RPV/FTC/TAF. The protocol specified scanning by DXA (to measure BMD) and 18F-PET/CT at several regions of interest-with primary focus on the lumbar spine (LS) and total hip (TH)-at baseline, 24 weeks, and 48 weeks. However, the timing of scans was disrupted, and in some cases considerably delayed, by COVID-19. The primary analysis was therefore based on change between the baseline and final scans, adjusting for the interval between them. Regions of interest were drawn on the PET/CT images and the standardised uptake value (SUV) measured. A sample of 30 (15 per arm) was estimated to provide 90% power to detect a difference in change of 25% in SUV between the randomised groups. Results: 32 males, median age 51 years, 76% White ethnicity, median duration RPV/FTC/TDF of 49 months, BMI 25.5 kg/m2 were enrolled;27(16 TAF:11 TDF) were included in the final analysis. The interval between baseline and final scans ranged between 23-103 weeks (median 55 weeks). There was no significant difference in change in SUV(18F-PET/CT) at the LS or TH between the TAF and TDF arms (Table);there was a trend towards improved LS BMD, but not TH BMD, in the TAF arm. Conclusion: As measured by 18F-PET/CT, regional bone formation at the hip or LS in patients replacing TDF with TAF in their ART combination did not differ, and contrary to our hypothesis, switching to TAF vs. remaining on TDF over 23-103 weeks did not change BMD or SUV at these key skeletal sites. The improved LS BMD in those switching to TAF is consistent with findings from other TAF-switch studies.
ABSTRACT
If the unfolding of the Covid-19 pandemic in spring 2020 demonstrated one thing, it was that educators, especially psychology educators, can be nimble and adaptable when it comes to teaching and learning. Spring 2020 was a brave new world for many psychology teachers and faculty members, who had to quickly move from their physical classrooms to online teaching using their computers— many, perhaps most, inhabited and led virtual classes for the first time. Many continued doing so again in the fall of 2020. Students, too, had to regroup and settle into a new and unfamiliar set of routines dictated by the need for remote learning. © 2021. American Psychological Association