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In an effort to reduce the engineering student withdrawal rate due to mathematics, The University of Alabama developed a unique, informal, interactive, and interdisciplinary five-week summer residence program called the Engineering Math Advancement Program (E-MAP). The program aims to increase retention by preparing students to be successful in calculus and excited about engineering. In addition to a nontraditional math class, the program includes hands-on "Living-Lab" experiences, field trips and a community service project led by professional engineers. The non-math aspects of the program strengthened mathematical skills indirectly through engagement of the students in laboratory and real world engineering problems, in the idea that solving skills are best nurtured through hands-on experiences. E-MAP improved retention of students in STEM fields overall by approximately 12% after three years with 36% increase in retention of students who entered with placement scores within the target math range for the program.

The study used earliest available student data from a flagship university in the southeast United States to build data mining models like logistic regression with different variable selection methods, decision trees, and neural networks to explore important student characteristics associated with retention leading to graduation. The decision tree and logistic regression models indicated first semester GPA, earned credit hours after end of first semester, status (full/part time) at the end of semester, and high school GPA as the most important variables. Of the 22,099 students who were full-time, first time freshmen from 1995-2005, 7,293 did not graduate (33%). Out of the 7,293 who did not graduate, 2,845 students (39%) had first semester GPA < 2.25 with less than 12 earned credit hours. Characteristics of student retention leading to graduation can be predicted as early as end first semester instead of waiting until the end of the first year of school.

A statistics course can be a very challenging subject to teach. To enhance learning, today's modern course in statistics might incorporate many different aspects of technology. Due to advances in technology, teaching statistics online has also become a popular course option. Although researchers are studying how to deliver statistics courses in this new technological environment, there is still much to learn about how to effectively implement these online courses. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an extensive review of the literature conducted across several disciplines from the last decade in an effort to summarize, identify, and understand overall trends and themes in online instruction. A summary of effective practices that might be useful to teachers teaching statistics online concludes this paper. (Contains 7 tables.)

The following study explored the relationship between trust and collaboration in one Northeastern suburban district. In sum, 122 teachers responded to a trust and a collaboration survey. We hypothesized that the level of trust would be correlated with the level of collaboration. Bivariate and canonical correlations were used to analyze the findings. This study confirmed that trust in the principal was correlated with collaboration with the principal and that trust in colleagues was correlated with collaboration with colleagues. However, trust in clients (students and parents) was not correlated with collaboration with parents. The set of trust variables together explained 71% of the variance in the collaboration variables, with trust in clients being the most significant variable in predicting teacher-teacher collaboration. Collaboration with colleagues was the most potent of the collaboration variables. These findings suggest the importance of establishing a culture of trust in fostering collaboration between teachers. More research is needed to understand the complexities involved with parent collaboration. (Contains 3 tables.)

The current study investigated the effects of proton pump inhibitor use and apolipoprotein ε4 carrier status on changes in neuropsychological functioning in healthy adults with familial risk factors for dementia. As part of the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention study, 1,573 subjects were administered questionnaires on their medical history, gave blood samples, and were administered neuropsychological assessments during four visits over a 10–15 year period. Linear mixed models assessed if non-users, subjects who stopped, started, or consistently used proton pump inhibitors differed in changes in working memory, verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and cognitive flexibility. The models did not yield significant main effects for proton pump inhibitor use or interaction effects between proton pump inhibitor use and apolipoprotein ε4 carrier status on a decline in memory or processing speed. An interaction effect suggested stopping a proton pump inhibitor may be protective against declines in cognitive flexibility among non-carriers. Although stopping a proton pump inhibitor use may have mild protective effects on executive functioning for non-apolipoprotein ε4 carriers, proton pump inhibitor use was not associated with memory decline in a sample of subjects with familial risk factors for dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current study assessed the effects of statin and CoQ10 supplement use on changes in cognitive functioning in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention study. Methods: 1,573 subjects were administered medical histories, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Wechsler Memory Scale, Logical Memory subtest, and the Trail Making Test, Parts A (TMT-A) and B (TMT-B) 3-4 times over 5-10 years. Results: Linear mixed models did not yield significant effects for statin or CoQ10 supplement use on changes in mental status, learning and memory, psychomotor speed, and cognitive flexibility. Conclusions: Statin and/or CoQ10 supplement use was not associated with neuropsychological test performance in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: In two previous studies, the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) Workload Perception Scale (CWPS) was developed. The purpose of this paper is to report the final psychometric validation of the CWPS. Methods: An 11-item CWPS was tested in a population of CRNAs. Classical psychometrics were performed on the 11-item instrument piloted in a sample of 393 CRNAs. Results: Parametric and non-parametric analysis indicated 7 of 11 items were a good fit to measure perception of workload. Conclusions: A revised 7-item final CWPS was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]