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Team science research heavily relies on communication data—that is, data derived from audio, video, or text-chat communication streams between team members. Between transcription and content analysis, significant overhead is required to work with these data. Recent developments in natural language processing (NLP) may help ameliorate time constraints in this domain. Using transcript data, the present study, presented as a proof-of-concept, assesses how the BERT NLP model performs in a team communication categorization task, in comparison to ground truth measures. This work builds upon past work that relied on human-coded transcripts to identify phase transitions in team collaboration. Results suggest BERT’s capabilities at phase change detection are promising for experienced teams, though further iteration is needed on the methods in the current study. Applications of this work extend to real-time collaboration with an artificial agent, as this requires the real-time semantic processing of human communication data.

Objective: This study examines low-, medium-, and high-performing Human-Autonomy Teams' (HATs') communication strategies during various technological failures that impact routine communication strategies to adapt to the task environment. Background: Teams must adapt their communication strategies during dynamic tasks, where more successful teams make more substantial adaptations. Adaptations in communication strategies may explain how successful HATs overcome technological failures. Further, technological failures of variable severity may alter communication strategies of HATs at different performance levels in their attempts to overcome each failure. Method: HATs in a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System-Synthetic Task Environment (RPAS-STE), involving three team members, were tasked with photographing targets. Each triad had two randomly assigned participants in navigator and photographer roles, teaming with an experimenter who simulated an AI pilot in a Wizard of Oz paradigm. Teams encountered two different technological failures, automation and autonomy, where autonomy failures were more challenging to overcome. Results: High-performing HATs calibrated their communication strategy to the complexity of the different failures better than medium- and low-performing teams. Further, HATs adjusted their communication strategies over time. Finally, only the most severe failures required teams to increase the efficiency of their communication. Conclusion: HAT effectiveness under degraded conditions depends on the type of communication strategies enacted by the team. Previous findings from studies of all-human teams apply here; however, novel results suggest information requests are particularly important to HAT success during failures. Application: Understanding the communication strategies of HATs under degraded conditions can inform training protocols to help HATs overcome failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty simulations can be effective experiential learning tools for educating community members about the impact of poverty on families. The project described here includes survey results from three simulations with community leaders and teachers. This project illustrated how such workshops can help Extension professionals extend their reach and impact by engaging coalitions and volunteers and building community partnerships with school systems and community leadership groups.

A key component to eliminating the achievement gap is building relationships between educators and students of color. In working toward social justice in schools, the authors encounter people at different places on the continuum. Educators in the large, primarily white, suburban Parkway School District in St. Louis, Missouri, range from the resistant to the eager reformer. The majority of teachers in this district are white, and they are responsible for teaching all students. If African-American students do not believe that teachers care about them, they are less likely to work for their teachers. Therefore, the authors help white teachers understand how to build relationships with African-American students in particular. A good relationship includes holding all students to the highest expectations, and working to understand and accept students' culture. In this article, the authors describe how Parkway School District uses culturally responsive instruction to close the achievement gap.

Purpose: This preliminary study compared clinical evaluations for guardianship in three states with varying levels of statutory reform. Design and Methods: Case files for 298 cases of adult guardianship were reviewed in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, three states with varying degrees of statutory reform. The quality and content of the written clinical evidence for guardianship and the hearing outcome were recorded. Results: The quality of the written clinical evidence for guardianship was best in Colorado, the state with the most progressive statutory reform, earning a grade of B in our ratings, and worst in Massachusetts, a state with minimal reform, earning a grade of D--with nearly two thirds of the written evidence illegible. Information on specific functional deficits was frequently missing and conclusory statements were common. Information about the individual's key values and preferences was almost never provided, and individuals were rarely present at the hearing. Limited orders were used for 34% of the cases in Colorado, associated with more complete clinical testimony, but such orders were used in only 1 case in either Massachusetts or Pennsylvania. Implications: In this study, states with progressive statutes that promote functional assessment are associated with increased quality of clinical testimony and use of limited orders. A continuing dialogue between clinical and legal professionals is needed to advance reform in guardianship, and thereby provide for the needs and protect the rights of adults who face guardianship proceedings. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) [This work was funded by the Charles H. Farnsworth Trust.]