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The current state of math education at a tribal college / university, TCU, will be presented, particularly with respect to entry into STEM majors. The alternative developmental math curriculum offered at a TCU institution using a modified pedagogical delivery system offers sound mathematical principals based on life-skills with relevant problem-solving, while explicitly addressing other holistic needs of the student such as math anxiety, persistence, mindset, and the value of collaboration (group work). This cooperative work is intended to create a community of learning which is in tune with traditional Native American cultural practices. Students learn to be responsible for their learning, engage in team work, and develop a “can-do” attitude towards mathematics. Implementation of two separate approaches at two separate institutions will be presented. 

Typically college STEM instructors implicitly expect a level of meta-cognition, emotional resiliency, and general student readiness that largely exceeds any training or preparation students receive in K-12. Not meeting such expectations is perhaps a more significant barrier to student success than deficits in subject-based knowledge. This paper discusses initiatives at Sitting Bull College that seek, without substantial curricular change, to enhance student meta-cognition and emotional intelligence through the use of contextualized & project-based learning in a cohort model that incorporates specific skills training (such as Motivational Interviewing) for both students and instructors. 

Abstract  We present the first results from a 100-day Swift, NICER, and ground-based X-ray–UV–optical reverberation mapping campaign of the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Mrk 335, when it was in an unprecedented low X-ray flux state. Despite dramatic suppression of the X-ray variability, we still observe UV–optical lags as expected from disk reverberation. Moreover, the UV–optical lags are consistent with archival observations when the X-ray luminosity was >10 times higher. Interestingly, both low- and high-flux states reveal UV–optical lags that are 6–11 times longer than expected from a thin disk. These long lags are often interpreted as due to contamination from the broad line region; however theu-band excess lag (containing the Balmer jump from the diffuse continuum) is less prevalent than in other active galactic nuclei. The Swift campaign showed a low X-ray-to-optical correlation (similar to previous campaigns), but NICER and ground-based monitoring continued for another 2 weeks, during which the optical rose to the highest level of the campaign, followed ∼10 days later by a sharp rise in X-rays. While the low X-ray countrate and relatively large systematic uncertainties in the NICER background make this measurement challenging, if the optical does lead X-rays in this flare, this indicates a departure from the zeroth-order reprocessing picture. If the optical flare is due to an increase in mass accretion rate, this occurs on much shorter than the viscous timescale. Alternatively, the optical could be responding to an intrinsic rise in X-rays that is initially hidden from our line of sight. 

Abstract The semiconductor tracker (SCT) is one of the tracking systems for charged particles in the ATLAS detector. It consists of 4088 silicon strip sensor modules.During Run 2 (2015–2018) the Large Hadron Collider delivered an integrated luminosity of 156 fb -1 to the ATLAS experiment at a centre-of-mass proton-proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The instantaneous luminosity and pile-up conditions were far in excess of those assumed in the original design of the SCT detector.Due to improvements to the data acquisition system, the SCT operated stably throughout Run 2.It was available for 99.9% of the integrated luminosity and achieved a data-quality efficiency of 99.85%.Detailed studies have been made of the leakage current in SCT modules and the evolution of the full depletion voltage, which are used to study the impact of radiation damage to the modules.