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Views of critical thinking were culled from the literature and developed into a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) model that was implemented into the Internet course, "The Politics and Psychology of Hatred." Assessment of student course postings demonstrated a strong relationship between interpersonal skills (referred to in the curriculum as "course etiquette") and advancement on the levels of critical thinking. The implications of these findings are discussed.

This article explores lessons learned from a decade of teaching an online course on the politics and psychology of hatred using a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) model. The authors illuminate course etiquette and a critical thinking model that incorporates SoTL into the ongoing fabric of the classroom. In addition, discussion centers on utilizing SoTL to satisfy colleagues concerned about "loss of content" in process oriented courses, and how to engage students in an ongoing, ever-changing, dialogue that can lead them to accept a more inclusive world view.

The associations of personality, affect, trait emotional intelligence (EI) and coping style measured at the start of the academic year with later academic performance were examined in a group of undergraduate students at the University of Edinburgh. The associations of the dispositional and affect measures with concurrent stress and life satisfaction were also examined. The survey was completed by 238 students, of whom 163 gave permission for their end-of-year marks to be accessed. Complete data for modelling stress and academic success were available for 216 and 156 students respectively. The associations of academic success and stress differed, and high stress was not a risk factor for poor academic performance. Further analyses were based on the extraction of three composite factors (Emotional Regulation, Avoidance and Task Focus) from the EI and coping subscales. Structural equation modelling showed that academic performance was predicted by Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, positive affect and the Task Focus factor. Modelling for stress and life satisfaction showed relationships with personality, affect, and the Task Focus and Emotion Regulation factors. The Task Focus factor played a mediating role in both models, and the Emotion Regulation factor acted as a mediator in the model for stress and life satisfaction. The theoretical interpretation of these results, and their potential applications in interventions targeting at-risk students, are discussed. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

Prompted by a previous study investigating the effects of pacing on the academic testing performance of college students with AD/HD, we further explored our preliminary findings, which suggested that a computerized testing environment enhanced the testing performance of college students with AD/HD. We compared the effects of a computerized vs. paper-pencil testing format as well as the effects of regular time vs. extended time on the students' testing performance. Students taking the computerized version of the test performed significantly higher than those who took the paper and pencil version of the same test. The amount of time the participants had to take the test did not significantly affect their performance. Insights gleaned from the qualitative data furthered our understanding of testing accommodation concerns shared by many college students with AD/HD. (Contains 4 tables.)

The education literature is blossoming with work on perceptions of distance education, online teaching, hybrid courses, and the like. Although this literature is important for helping faculty to understand the costs and benefits for teaching in these newer formats, little attention has been paid to documenting potential differences between student expectations for taking and faculty perceptions about teaching online courses. The current project gathered perceptual data from students and faculty about online courses. Findings suggest that differences between student and faculty perceptions of online courses might create barriers that diminish the effectiveness of the teaching-learning environment in such courses. (Contains 3 tables.)

Minimal research has been conducted contrasting the effectiveness of various testing accommodations for college students diagnosed with ADHD. The current assumption is that these students are best served by extending the time they have to take a test. It is the supposition of these investigators that paced item presentation may be a more beneficial accommodation than extended time. To test the effects of paced item presentation, the investigators designed a mixed methods sequential explanatory study to explore the relationship between computer-paced and student-paced item presentation on the academic test performance in college students diagnosed with ADHD. The participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 testing conditions. Half of the participants were provided a computer-paced testing condition, and half were provided a student-paced testing condition within a computer-based environment. Interviews were conducted after the test administration to discern the students' perceptions of the value of the various components of the testing environment. No significant differences were found in performance scores between the students tested under the two conditions; however, the interview data illuminated the quantitative findings in that the students reported that the computer-based testing environment itself, as well as other environmental variables, provided a beneficial structure and format conducive to their overall successful performance under both accommodations. The practicability of university disability offices offering a computerized format for students diagnosed with ADHD is also discussed. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

Four sections of an undergraduate pharmacy communications course were randomly assigned to include either a traditional laboratory project or a service-learning project. Data collected late in the semester revealed significant positive changes for the service-learning participants in cognitive complexity, social competency, perceived ability to work with diverse others, and self-certainty. (Author/MSE)

Abstract Background The survival of Salmonella enterica within the intracellular host niche requires highly co-ordinated expression of virulence effectors predominantly regulated by the SsrAB two-component regulatory system. S. enterica serovar Typhimurium mutants lacking the ssrAB genes are avirulent in mice, highlighting the importance of this regulatory system in vivo. Mutants lacking the gene encoding the alternative sigma factor σE (rpoE) are also highly attenuated for intracellular survival, pointing to a potential connection with the SsrAB regulatory system. Results In this study we demonstrate that RpoE is involved in fine-tuning the expression of a subset of SsrB-regulated genes found in the Salmonella pathogenicity island-2 (SPI-2) genetic locus that encodes a horizontally acquired type III secretion system, and unlinked genes integrated into this regulon that are required for virulence in host animals. Conclusion These data point to a potential connection between the virulence phenotype of strains lacking ssrB and rpoE, and highlight new transcriptional regulation that might be essential for appropriate temporal and spatial control of the virulence-associated type III secretion system during host infection.