Search for: All records

Adult learners have different needs than traditional college-aged students. We present the first year results of a targeted learning community for high-achieving, low-income engineering and engineering technology adult students. Students in this project received academic support and mentorship to prepare them for entering the engineering workforce. By including the adult learners in the development of their learning outcomes, students increased their sense of engineering connectedness, comfort, and security to enable them to confidently enter the engineering and engineering technology workforce. 

Abstract The southwestern and central United States serve as an ideal region to test alternative hypotheses regarding biotic diversification. Genomic data can now be combined with sophisticated computational models to quantify the impacts of paleoclimate change, geographic features, and habitat heterogeneity on spatial patterns of genetic diversity. In this study, we combine thousands of genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) loci with mtDNA sequences (ND1) from the Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) to quantify relative support for different catalysts of diversification. Phylogenetic and clustering analyses of the GBS data indicate support for at least three primary populations. The spatial distribution of populations appears concordant with habitat type, with desert populations in AZ and NM showing the largest genetic divergence from the remaining populations. The mtDNA data also support a divergent desert population, but other relationships differ and suggest mtDNA introgression. Genotype–environment association with bioclimatic variables supports divergence along precipitation gradients more than along temperature gradients. Demographic analyses support a complex history, with introgression and gene flow playing an important role during diversification. Bayesian multispecies coalescent analyses with introgression (MSci) analyses also suggest that gene flow occurred between populations. Paleo-species distribution models support two southern refugia that geographically correspond to contemporary lineages. We find that divergence times are underestimated and population sizes are overestimated when introgression occurred and is ignored in coalescent analyses, and furthermore, inference of ancient introgression events and demographic history is sensitive to inclusion of a single recently admixed sample. Our analyses cannot refute the riverine barrier or glacial refugia hypotheses. Results also suggest that populations are continuing to diverge along habitat gradients. Finally, the strong evidence of admixture, gene flow, and mtDNA introgression among populations suggests that P. cornutum should be considered a single widespread species under the General Lineage Species Concept. 

A model for facilitating veteran students’ learning and retention is presented based on andragogy - the science of adult learning. Adults are independent self-directed learners who accept responsibility for their own learning. Adults can be skeptical and challenge new information but are particularly motivated when the information presented is applicable and relevant to their careers. With a growing number of veterans entering higher education and the challenges associated with retention, it is important to understand and incorporate the basics of andragogy in curriculum and course development to facilitate veteran and adult students’ learning and degree completion. STEM education, and in particular engineering education, continues to be a major focus in K-12 and higher education. Funded by the NSF, this S-STEM project proposes interventions to retain and graduate students with academic promise and strong financial need. The researchers for this project seek to develop innovative, reliable, and replicable ways in which to affect the learning and retention of engineering students, with a focus on veteran students and adult learners. Drawing on the lessons of andragogy, in this paper, faculty share the processes implemented, content derived, and preliminary data from a faculty-student partnership in the development of a mid- to near-degree completion seminar as a model of an evidence-based practice that is affecting student learning and retention. 

Room-temperature macromolecular crystallography allows protein structures to be determined under close-to-physiological conditions, permits dynamic freedom in protein motions and enables time-resolved studies. In the case of metalloenzymes that are highly sensitive to radiation damage, such room-temperature experiments can present challenges, including increased rates of X-ray reduction of metal centres and site-specific radiation-damage artefacts, as well as in devising appropriate sample-delivery and data-collection methods. It can also be problematic to compare structures measured using different crystal sizes and light sources. In this study, structures of a multifunctional globin, dehaloperoxidase B (DHP-B), obtained using several methods of room-temperature crystallographic structure determination are described and compared. Here, data were measured from large single crystals and multiple microcrystals using neutrons, X-ray free-electron laser pulses, monochromatic synchrotron radiation and polychromatic (Laue) radiation light sources. These approaches span a range of 18 orders of magnitude in measurement time per diffraction pattern and four orders of magnitude in crystal volume. The first room-temperature neutron structures of DHP-B are also presented, allowing the explicit identification of the hydrogen positions. The neutron data proved to be complementary to the serial femtosecond crystallography data, with both methods providing structures free of the effects of X-ray radiation damage when compared with standard cryo-crystallography. Comparison of these room-temperature methods demonstrated the large differences in sample requirements, data-collection time and the potential for radiation damage between them. With regard to the structure and function of DHP-B, despite the results being partly limited by differences in the underlying structures, new information was gained on the protonation states of active-site residues which may guide future studies of DHP-B. 

The gap in the area of advanced manufacturing skilled workforce and the efforts in guiding veterans towards STEM careers are merged in the NSF funded project presented in this paper. While most of the products and STEM educational programs focused on a maker concept that are currently available are specifically designed for the young population, at various K-12 grade levels, to increase their interest in STEM and engineering careers, in particular, there is limited availability of such programs to address adult population. The study presented in this paper focuses on developing and implementing a series of workshops for veterans, using bio-inspired robots as a learning platform. The design, making and controlling of bio-inspired robots require knowledge of mechanical, electrical, computer, and material science engineering, and have the potential to spark interest in a wide variety of engineering pathways. The paper discusses the topics covered by the workshops, the scaffolding of the activities, and the assessment conducted on how the bio-inspired robotics activities may influence veterans’ attitude towards advanced manufacturing careers.