Undergraduate geriatric education through community service learning

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2010.00444.x Undergraduate geriatric education through community service learning Introduction: Despite the exponential growth of the elderly population worldwide, geriatric education has been a formal component of only a few dental schools’ curricula. Objective: To describe the geriatric community service learning (CSL) component of the professionalism and community service (PACS) module, and to explore a CSL project carried out by a group of first year dental students at a long‐term care facility. Methods: A literature review was performed to present and describe the CSL component of the PACS module. Students’ personal reflections were used to illustrate some of the joys and challenges of experiencing a long‐term care facility environment. Results: The newly developed PACS module combines community service learning with the long‐term care experience. Students develop, apply and evaluate an educational health promotion activity in a long‐term care facility. Conclusions: The PACS module has encouraged students to acquire comprehensive knowledge and awareness of the needs and dynamics of a long‐term care as they collaboratively interacted with personnel from the facility to develop their projects. The authors would like to engage other schools in discussing the need to integrate community‐based geriatric education into their dental curricula.     

Evaluating Stream Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed through Practitioner Interviews

River restoration is an integral part of restoring the Chesapeake Bay. As part of the National River Restoration Science Synthesis (NRRSS), we conducted 47 independent interviews with stream restoration project managers randomly selected from a database of 4,700 projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Here we present results from those interviews and characterize patterns in project goals, design, and expenditures, trends in project evaluation, and characterize project success as reported by interviewees. Interviewed practitioners reported that the majority of their projects were designed by private consultants. One‐third of projects were part of a watershed management plan and 70% were linked to other projects within the same watershed. Most interviewees considered their projects to be successful, and 76% of projects had conducted some form of project‐associated monitoring. Although most interviewees based their evaluation of success on observations or monitoring data, respondents indicated that very few projects had explicitly stated quantifiable project objectives within their design plans. Many interviewed practitioners specifically commented at the end of the surveys on the important role of stakeholder involvement and the need for initiatives to fund project monitoring.     

An inexpensive gel electrophoresis-based polymerase chain reaction method for quantifying mRNA levels

In order to engage their students in a core methodology of the new genomics era, an ever-increasing number of faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions are gaining access to microarray technology. Their students are conducting successful microarray experiments designed to address a variety of interesting questions. A next step in these teaching and research laboratory projects is often validation of the microarray data for individual selected genes. In the research community, this usually involves the use of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technology that requires instrumentation and reagents that are prohibitively expensive for most undergraduate institutions. The results of a survey of faculty teaching undergraduates in classroom and research settings indicate a clear need for an alternative approach. We sought to develop an inexpensive and student-friendly gel electrophoresis-based PCR method for quantifying messenger RNA (mRNA) levels using undergraduate researchers as models for students in teaching and research laboratories. We compared the results for three selected genes measured by microarray analysis, real-time PCR, and the gel electrophoresis-based method. The data support the use of the gel electrophoresis-based method as an inexpensive, convenient, yet reliable alternative for quantifying mRNA levels in undergraduate laboratories.     

Cultural Ecosystem Services and Popular Perceptions of the Benefits of an Ecological Restoration Project in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

It is essential to understand how ecological restoration (ER) improves human well‐being in order to justify more investments and upscaling in this emergent field of action. As part of a 22‐year‐old, 80 ha ER project being carried out around a water reservoir that supplies drinking water to the city of Iracemápolis (population 19,700), in the mega‐diversity Atlantic Forest biome of Brazil, we assessed local community perceptions of the tangible and intangible benefits expected to arise from this project. A detailed questionnaire was completed for 292 members of the local community to gauge perceptions of benefits arising from various cultural and provisioning ecosystem services (ESs; especially safe and clean drinking water) provided by the 80 ha forest restoration project. A striking 94% of those interviewed wanted more ER projects in their community. Participants reported an appreciation for cultural ESs such as esthetic landscape improvement, tourism, recreation, as well as various religious, spiritual, and educational services. In addition, 87% of interviewees believed that the restoration project improved the quality of their drinking water, and 63% said they would agree to an increase in water tariffs if the proceeds were to be invested in more forest restoration. Judging from this study, investigation and subsequent communication of popular perceptions of the various benefits of ER projects could promote consensus‐building and support for projects among stakeholders, and inform governmental and societal investments in restoration .     

A creative collaboration between the science of ecosystem restoration and art for sustainable stormwater management on an urban college campus

This article presents an interdisciplinary, on‐campus, student project, titled “The Rain Project” that I designed as an urban ecosystem restoration model as well as a collaborative pedagogical approach between ecological science and art at George Mason University (GMU), Virginia, U.S.A. A group of students from several disciplines (e.g. environmental science, art, civil engineering, biology, communication, and film/media) participated in designing and constructing a floating wetland for a campus stormwater pond as part of sustainable stormwater management. The Rain Project has numerous implications for college education, scholarship, and service while presenting a novel way of building a sense of community among undergraduate students for ecological awareness and literacy. The work of Jackie Brookner, a renowned eco‐artist who worked extensively on stormwater, and its relevance to the project is discussed. I strongly suggest the need for linking art and the science of ecosystem restoration to best obtain improvements in much‐needed communication for the success of community participatory restoration projects. I also believe that this kind of interdisciplinary, campus project can facilitate the changes we need to train higher education students to be able to both think differently and communicate effectively. The Rain Project introduced students to new learning strategies that connected “systems thinking” with art, ecological science, and restoration practices.     

Improving the public understanding of science: New initiatives

The United States may be on the brink of losing its global edge in science. Many American students are underprepared for and uninterested in the scientific and technical careers they may be asked to take on. Furthermore, these students, their teachers, and the broader public lack basic understandings of what science is and how it works, which may negatively impact their ability to make reasoned and informed decisions about science-related issues. We describe two unique and recently developed projects designed to help tackle these problems by improving public understanding of and interest in science. The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science is a grassroots effort to lower the barriers between the scientific community and the public. It aims to inspire broad appreciation of science, inform the public about the nature and process of science, and make science accessible to everyone. Understanding Science is a web-based project that aims to improve teacher understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise, to provide resources that encourage and enable kindergarten through undergraduate (K-16) teachers to reinforce the nature of science throughout their teaching, and to serve as a clear and accessible reference that accurately portrays the scientific endeavor. The botanical and broader scientific communities are invited to participate in these efforts.     

Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from a Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners

Despite expenditures of more than 1 billion dollars annually, there is little information available about project motivations, actions, and results for the vast majority of river restoration efforts. We performed confidential telephone interviews with 317 restoration project managers from across the United States with the goals of (1) assessing project motivations and the metrics of project evaluation and (2) estimating the proportion of projects that set and meet criteria for ecologically successful river restoration projects. According to project managers, ecological degradation typically motivated restoration projects, but post‐project appearance and positive public opinion were the most commonly used metrics of success. Less than half of all projects set measurable objectives for their projects, but nearly two‐thirds of all interviewees felt that their projects had been “completely successful.” Projects that we classified as highly effective were distinct from the full database in that most had significant community involvement and an advisory committee. Interviews revealed that many restoration practitioners are frustrated by the lack of funding for and emphasis on project monitoring. To remedy this, we recommend a national program of strategic monitoring focused on a subset of future projects. Our interviews also suggest that merely conducting and publishing more scientific studies will not lead to significant improvements in restoration practice; direct, collaborative involvement between scientists, managers, and practitioners is required for forward progress in the science and application of river restoration.     

UNDP与中国合作实施GEF生物多样性项目的成就与经验

全球环境基金(GEF)作为《生物多样性公约》财务机制的运行主体,已在全球范围内实施了7个周期,各国在执行GEF项目期间,遇到了可持续性不强、项目设计方案复杂、期望过高等挑战.作为GEF的国际实施机构,联合国开发计划署(UNDP)与中国政府合作,针对各项挑战,采取综合应对措施,优化设计与实施的生物多样性项目取得了系列成就...     

Urban and rural river restoration in France: a typology

River restoration (RR) is widely practiced in both rural and urban contexts by combining various goals and measures. The theoretical discourse on RR not yet adequately reflects this breadth of restoration practice. In this study, we investigated 110 French RR projects implemented between 1980 and 2015. We analyzed projects considering eight key design features, main project motivation, restoration goals, project dates, costs, size, funding, river annual discharge, and implemented evaluation procedures. The study (1) provides a detailed account of the French RR effort, (2) compares restoration efforts in urban and rural contexts, and (3) establishes a RR project typology. The results also show that urban RR comprises a wider range of goals and measures than its rural counterpart, includes restoration of riparian habitats, and integrates ecological and social goals. A hierarchical multiple factor analysis yielded five types of projects, Fish RR (14% of the urban and 53% of the rural projects), Blue RR (4%, 7%), Water Framework Directive RR (36%, 40%), Flood protection RR (14%, 0%), and Human RR (32%, 0%). We suggest that the restoration community needs databases that use a project typology as developed in this study. This approach would take into account the multiple facets of RR projects, enabling more transparency into their communication and allow more suitable project comparisons.     

Lessons from community-based payment for ecosystem service schemes: from forests to rangelands

Climate finance investments and international policy are driving new community-based projects incorporating payments for ecosystem services (PES) to simultaneously store carbon and generate livelihood benefits. Most community-based PES (CB-PES) research focuses on forest areas. Rangelands, which store globally significant quantities of carbon and support many of the world''s poor, have seen little CB-PES research attention, despite benefitting from several decades of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) projects. Lessons from CBNRM suggest institutional considerations are vital in underpinning the design and implementation of successful community projects. This study uses documentary analysis to explore the institutional characteristics of three African community-based forest projects that seek to deliver carbon-storage and poverty-reduction benefits. Strong existing local institutions, clear land tenure, community control over land management decision-making and up-front, flexible payment schemes are found to be vital. Additionally, we undertake a global review of rangeland CBNRM literature and identify that alongside the lessons learned from forest projects, rangeland CB-PES project design requires specific consideration of project boundaries, benefit distribution, capacity building for community monitoring of carbon storage together with awareness-raising using decision-support tools to display the benefits of carbon-friendly land management. We highlight that institutional analyses must be undertaken alongside improved scientific studies of the carbon cycle to enable links to payment schemes, and for them to contribute to poverty alleviation in rangelands.     

An interview with Olivia Gude about connecting school and community arts practice

ABSTRACT

Olivia Gude has a long and distinguished career as both a public artist and an art educator. She is currently the Angela Gregory Paterakis Professor and Chair of Art Education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where she works with graduate and undergraduate students to prepare for working as artist educators in school and community settings. Her scholarly work includes a number of articles and book chapters about art education and community art. Prof. Gude has worked as a community public artist for many years and has created over 30 large-scale mural and mosaic projects, working with intergenerational groups, teens, elders, and children. I interviewed Prof. Gude at the SAIC building in downtown Chicago to discuss how her school, university, and community art engagement as well as her work with the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, might offer suggestions for transforming arts education for the twenty-first century and provide authentic connections between school and community. Prof. Gude discusses important enduring understandings and big ideas from the new Visual Arts National Core Arts Standards, the Spiral Workshop youth art and research project she created while at University of Illinois at Chicago, and how her experience as a community artist informs her work with students in classroom settings.     

Minimal information about T cell assays: the process of reaching the community of T cell immunologists in cancer and beyond

Many assays to evaluate the nature, breadth, and quality of antigen-specific T cell responses are currently applied in human medicine. In most cases, assay-related protocols are developed on an individual laboratory basis, resulting in a large number of different protocols being applied worldwide. Together with the inherent complexity of cellular assays, this leads to unnecessary limitations in the ability to compare results generated across institutions. Over the past few years a number of critical assay parameters have been identified which influence test performance irrespective of protocol, material, and reagents used. Describing these critical factors as an integral part of any published report will both facilitate the comparison of data generated across institutions and lead to improvements in the assays themselves. To this end, the Minimal Information About T Cell Assays (MIATA) project was initiated. The objective of MIATA is to achieve a broad consensus on which T cell assay parameters should be reported in scientific publications and to propose a mechanism for reporting these in a systematic manner. To add maximum value for the scientific community, a step-wise, open, and field-spanning approach has been taken to achieve technical precision, user-friendliness, adequate incorporation of concerns, and high acceptance among peers. Here, we describe the past, present, and future perspectives of the MIATA project. We suggest that the approach taken can be generically applied to projects in which a broad consensus has to be reached among scientists working in fragmented fields, such as immunology. An additional objective of this undertaking is to engage the broader scientific community to comment on MIATA and to become an active participant in the project.     

Transposing from the Laboratory to the Classroom to Generate Authentic Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Large lecture classes and standardized laboratory exercises are characteristic of introductory biology courses. Previous research has found that these courses do not adequately convey the process of scientific research and the excitement of discovery. Here we propose a model that provides beginning biology students with an inquiry-based, active learning laboratory experience. The Dynamic Genome course replicates a modern research laboratory focused on eukaryotic transposable elements where beginning undergraduates learn key genetics concepts, experimental design, and molecular biological skills. Here we report on two key features of the course, a didactic module and the capstone original research project. The module is a modified version of a published experiment where students experience how virtual transposable elements from rice (Oryza sativa) are assayed for function in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. As part of the module, students analyze the phenotypes and genotypes of transgenic plants to determine the requirements for transposition. After mastering the skills and concepts, students participate in an authentic research project where they use computational analysis and PCR to detect transposable element insertion site polymorphism in a panel of diverse maize strains. As a consequence of their engagement in this course, students report large gains in their ability to understand the nature of research and demonstrate that they can apply that knowledge to independent research projects.     

Demonstrating social accountability in medical education

The author considers the University of Toronto''s Health, illness and the Community course for undergraduate medical students, described in this issue by Wasylenki and associates (see pages 379 to 383). Social accountability in medical education demands a community orientation and hence an emphasis on outreach. Medical schools should expand their clinical service to the community, provide community-based residency placements and offer continuing medical education in rural and regional centres. Accountability also requires community involvement in planning and implementing research projects. Placing students in a community setting as part of the curriculum is praiseworthy, but it is not sufficient to ensure social accountability. What is needed now is a more comprehensive acceptance by faculties of medicine of the mandate of community-centred learning, together with well-targeted funding for education and research initiatives.     

基于生态监管的生态保护修复工程实施成效评估指标体系

生态监管是保障生态保护修复工程有效实施的重要途径,生态保护修复监督评估是我国当前维护生态环境安全的迫切需求和生态监管开展的有力抓手。在对国内外已有生态保护修复成效评估相关理论方法进行分析的基础上,围绕生态保护修复工程实施目标,结合生态监管要求,统筹考虑“山水林田湖草生命共同体”理念、生态保护修复工程类型、指标可操作性和兼容性等因素,综合运用频度分析法、专家咨询法和层次分析法等方法,提出了生态保护修复工程实施成效评估指标体系,构建了包括生态环境成效和工程管理成效的指标体系。其中,生态环境成效指标由共性指标和个性指标组成,共性指标包括生态系统格局、生态系统功能、生态干扰等方面的具体指标,个性指标包括森林保护修复工程、草原保护修复工程、湿地保护修复工程、矿山修复工程、防沙治沙工程、石漠化治理工程、水土流失治理工程、地质灾害治理工程、流域综合治理工程等不同工程类型的具体指标。工程管理成效指标主要包括工程绩效、工程实施及公众满意等方面的具体指标。在对各项指标评估的基础上,通过综合评估计算对生态保护修复工程实施成效进行评估。基于生态系统格局指数、生态系统功能指数、生态干扰指数、工程管理成效指数及不...     

Eating money: Narratives of equality on customary land in the context of natural resource extraction in the Solomon Islands

Why do Solomon Islands’ villagers continue to engage with large scale logging projects by foreign companies when they have decades of experience of the disadvantages of such deals? This paper explores village level narratives of equality surrounding a logging dispute in a village on Kolombangara Island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. Drawing on empirical evidence I seek to understand firstly, why villagers continue to engage with logging companies, and secondly, why seemingly viable and financially attractive alternative forestry projects may not be taken up. Additionally, I examine legal recognition of a local conservation Non‐Government organisation as an environmental ‘stakeholder’, with an accepted interest in customary land as distinct from the categorisation of ‘landowners’. I conclude that village communities may continue to engage with foreign logging companies, despite their clear knowledge of the disadvantages of such projects, partly as a means of maintaining some measure of social equality in the village.     

Conservation and development through medicinal plants: a case study from Ludian (Northwest Yunnan,China) and presentation of a general model

A model for community-based conservation and development is presented, potentially applicable wherever communities rely on locally collected medicinal plants. The motivational foundation for conservation offered by these plants relates to people’s interests in health support, financial income and cultural identity. The model is based on experiences in the Medicinal Plants Conservation Initiative, a four-year programme (2005–2008) of Plantlife International with national partners, involving 14 projects in 8 countries in East Africa and the Himalayas. All projects provide evidence on the question “How best can communities conserve their medicinal plants?”. One of the projects (in China) is described to illustrate the types of evidence offered by the projects. The model consists of three social elements (community groups, project teams, policy makers), the relationships between them, and types of activity suggested for each group. Not all types of activity are relevant in all contexts. It is suggested that faith-based organisations, women’s associations and indigenous people’s groups are often well placed to take the model forward in terms of practical application at the landscape scale. The (on-going) project in China is at Ludian, a Naxi community in Northwest Yunnan. There is a secondary project site at Yongzhi, a Tibetan and Lisu village. The Ludian project is notable within the modern Chinese context for establishment of the first community group concerned specifically with the conservation of medicinal plants and the first community protected areas for medicinal plants.     

Culturally Situated Design Tools: Ethnocomputing from Field Site to Classroom

Ethnomathematics is the study of mathematical ideas and practices situated in their cultural context. Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDTs) are web-based software applications that allow students to create simulations of cultural arts—Native American beadwork, African American cornrow hairstyles, urban graffiti, and so forth—using these underlying mathematical principles. This article is a review of the anthropological issues raised in the CSDT project: negotiating the representations of cultural knowledge during the design process with community members, negotiating pedagogical features with math teachers and their students, and reflecting on the software development itself as a cultural construction. The move from ethnomathematics to ethnocomputing results in an expressive computational medium that affords new opportunities to explore the relationships between youth identity and culture, the cultural construction of mathematics and computing, and the formation of cultural and technological hybridity.     

A Bioinformatician's Guide to Metagenomics

Summary: As random shotgun metagenomic projects proliferate and become the dominant source of publicly available sequence data, procedures for the best practices in their execution and analysis become increasingly important. Based on our experience at the Joint Genome Institute, we describe the chain of decisions accompanying a metagenomic project from the viewpoint of the bioinformatic analysis step by step. We guide the reader through a standard workflow for a metagenomic project beginning with presequencing considerations such as community composition and sequence data type that will greatly influence downstream analyses. We proceed with recommendations for sampling and data generation including sample and metadata collection, community profiling, construction of shotgun libraries, and sequencing strategies. We then discuss the application of generic sequence processing steps (read preprocessing, assembly, and gene prediction and annotation) to metagenomic data sets in contrast to genome projects. Different types of data analyses particular to metagenomes are then presented, including binning, dominant population analysis, and gene-centric analysis. Finally, data management issues are presented and discussed. We hope that this review will assist bioinformaticians and biologists in making better-informed decisions on their journey during a metagenomic project.     

Engaging the broader community in biodiversity research: the concept of the COMBER pilot project for divers in ViBRANT

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a citizen science pilot project, COMBER (Citizens' Network for the Observation of Marine BiodivERsity, http://www.comber.hcmr.gr), which has been initiated under the ViBRANT EU e-infrastructure. It is designed and implemented for divers and snorkelers who are interested in participating in marine biodiversity citizen science projects. It shows the necessity of engaging the broader community in the marine biodiversity monitoring and research projects, networks and initiatives. It analyses the stakeholders, the industry and the relevant markets involved in diving activities and their potential to sustain these activities. The principles, including data policy and rewards for the participating divers through their own data, upon which this project is based are thoroughly discussed. The results of the users analysis and lessons learned so far are presented. Future plans include promotion, links with citizen science web developments, data publishing tools, and development of new scientific hypotheses to be tested by the data collected so far.