Fusionando la realidad aumentada en la educación bilingüe y ESL: Percepciones de futuros maestros

En los últimos años, los programas de Formación Docente han aumentado el interés por capacitar a sus futuros maestros en la integración de las tecnologías inmersivas. Esto había llevado a un mayor auge y exploración de las posibilidades de enseñanza de estas tecnologías, especialmente con la realidad aumentada y su integración al aula bilingüe y de inglés como segundo idioma (ESL). El siguiente artículo presenta un estudio reciente que se realizó en la Texas Woman’s University con n = 27 futuros maestros bilingües y de ESL. Sirvió como piloto y buscó determinar las percepciones de los futuros maestros en sobre las fortalezas y limitaciones en el uso de la realidad aumentada (RA) para el aula bilingüe y de ESL. También buscó proporcionar una comprensión de posibles aplicaciones móviles, implicaciones educativas y actividades para el aula. El estudio utilizó un método cualitativo siguiendo un diseño exploratorio e integró un análisis de contenido. Los resultados indicaron que los participantes ven la RA como una fortaleza para mantener a los estudiantes comprometidos y motivados. Por otro lado, el acceso a la tecnología fue percibido como una limitación. La integración de aplicaciones de RA como Quiver y HP Reveal junto con la integración de la Enseñanza Culturalmente Relevante (Gay, 2013) apoyó en la creación de actividades (por ejemplo, muros de RA y demostraciones de clase) que fueron percibidas por los candidatos a maestros como posibilidades para apoyar el aprendizaje en el aula bilingüe y de ESL. El estudio también señaló la necesidad de más investigación sobre el tema.

COVID-19: The Awareness of Health-Related Complications of COVID-19 among College Students

Background: COVID-19 affects the health and quality of life of the entire world. Despite the toll COVID-19 places on the diverse body systems involving the health of those who suffer from this illness and the communication capabilities of the current era, there are still gaps in information related to the repercussions of this virus. Purpose: To identify the common proficiency of the complications of COVID-19 in a diverse population of college students. Methods: The present study employed a survey created in Google forms and shared online with students from Texas Woman’s University Dallas and Denton Campus. Results: The complications of COVID-19, which are thoroughly recognized and repeatedly selected, were a sense of smell, changes in taste, loss of appetite, and muscle pain. However, we identified a shortage of awareness regarding the more severe problems of the virus, such as heart failure, heart arrhythmias, liver damage, long-term musculoskeletal issues, and kidney failure. Conclusion: Despite the health-related complications of COVID-19, the current study determined a disquieting disparity in education attributed to the long-and short-term impairments of this virus. We encourage anyone exposed to COVID-19 or with the possibility of being exposed to delve into all the various health issues created by this virus, such as those alluded to in this report. Future research should focus on strategies to assemble and disseminate the complications associated with COVID-19 more effectively.

Anatomy Observational Outreach: A Multimodal Activity to Enhance Anatomical Education in Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students often have difficulty relating the Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) course to their future careers, which may lead to difficulties in graduate school. Thus, the purpose of the Anatomy Observational Outreach (AOO) was to help students make the connection and application between the information presented in A&P labs and real human cadaver, which could encourage students to pursue graduate degrees. The outreach consisted of 99 undergraduate A&P students from Texas Woman’s University in the biology, nursing, kinesiology, health studies, physical therapy, and occupational therapy departments. The methodology consisted of a 30-minute orientation, a graduate student panel, a Q&A session, a 60-minute cadaver observation, and Anatomage table demonstration, amongst others. The impact of AOO was measured by 10-question pre-tests and identical post-tests (1 point each) along with a survey at the end. The tests result demonstrated a significant increase [t(62)=-9.3, p=0.001] in anatomical knowledge. The survey results showed that out of 99 participants, 84% of the students interested in applying to graduate school, 32% of students felt that all of the teaching tools were useful, while 68% concluded the cadaver prosections were the most potent sole educational aid. 65% of the students were ethnic minorities, and 97% were gender minorities. We conclude that AOO yielded distinguished results in retention, and application of A&P knowledge, along with increased interest and excitement for pursuing a STEM and Allied Health degrees.

Designing a Future Classroom Laboratory for Exploring the Science of Teaching and Learning

The Texas Woman’s University Future Classroom Laboratory (TWUFCL) is a unique learning space designed for use by university faculty, future teachers, and local PreK-12 teachers and students. Part of the European Schoolnet’s Network of Future Classroom Labs, the TWUFCL offers users the chance to explore the science of teaching and learning in a technology-rich environment containing a multitude of individual approaches and applications that are available to teachers throughout the U.S. Centered around the Four C’s of 21stCentury Learning: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. This unique learning space allows future teachers to explore technology and applications available in schools prior to student teaching. The space allows faculty to incorporate practical, interactive teaching experiences into coursework. Local K-12 teachers and students can use the innovative environment to explore ideas and applications they can take back to their own classrooms and use with students across the curriculum. The collaborative design approach to this evolving educational laboratory for training teachers and students included stakeholders from throughout the university and community in its state-of-the-art design described within.

Anatomy Observational Outreach: A Multimodal Activity to Enhance Anatomical Education in Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students often have difficulty relating the Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) course to their future careers, which may lead to difficulties in graduate school. Thus, the purpose of the Anatomy Observational Outreach (AOO) was to help students make the connection and application between the information presented in A&P labs and real human cadaver, which could encourage students to pursue graduate degrees. The outreach consisted of 99 undergraduate A&P students from Texas Woman’s University in the biology, nursing, kinesiology, health studies, physical therapy, and occupational therapy departments. The methodology consisted of a 30-minute orientation, a graduate student panel, a Q&A session, a 60-minute cadaver observation, and Anatomage table demonstration, amongst others. The impact of AOO was measured by 10-question pre-tests and identical post-tests (1 point each) along with a survey at the end. The tests result demonstrated a significant increase [t(62)=-9.3, p=0.001] in anatomical knowledge. The survey results showed that out of 99 participants, 84% of the students interested in applying to graduate school, 32% of students felt that all of the teaching tools were useful, while 68% concluded the cadaver prosections were the most potent sole educational aid. 65% of the students were ethnic minorities, and 97% were gender minorities. We conclude that AOO yielded distinguished results in retention, and application of A&P knowledge, along with increased interest and excitement for pursuing a STEM and Allied Health degrees.

Low Food Security Present on Texas College Campuses Despite High Nutrition Literacy

Objectives The relationship between student food security and nutrition literacy on college campuses has not been explored previously. Objectives of this study were to assess the relationship between student food security and nutrition literacy, and to explore associations of food security and nutrition literacy with demographic characteristics of college students. Methods An online survey tool in Psych Data was used to assess food security and nutrition literacy of students (n = 672) on the three Texas Woman's University (TWU) campuses. The USDA Six-Item Short Form assessed food security and nutrition literacy questions were derived from a large valid and reliable assessment instrument. Cross tabulations using Pearson's chi-square or Fisher's exact test were used to explore the relationship among demographics, food security levels, and nutrition literacy. All analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics v25, with significance set as P < 0.05. Results Students (n = 672) from all three campuses participated in the survey and 88.4% were females. The total prevalence of food insecurity (low and very low food security) was high across all campuses: Denton (47.3%), Dallas (36.1%), and Houston (45.9%). Significant differences in the degree of food security existed when the three campuses were compared (P = 0.001). The highest percentage of very low food security existed among black (30%) and freshman (32.7%) students. The overall likelihood of adequate nutrition literacy among students was high (90.0%) with white students (95.7%) being more likely to have adequate nutrition literacy compared to other races/ethnicities (P < 0.001). A greater proportion of students with adequate nutrition literacy were food secure (58%) than students with very low food security (18%). Graduate students had the highest nutrition literacy (95.7%) and campus residents had the lowest nutrition literacy (83.9%). Conclusions Food insecurity undermines educational success of students. Targeted measures to address the crisis of food security on college campuses must also address disparities by race and student class. Universities and colleges must consider creative, sustainable solutions to help improve student food security. Funding Sources Internally funded by Texas Woman's University.

Association of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) Score of Children Enrolled in School Lunch and Breakfast Program and Frequency of Meals at School: NHANES 2015–2016

Objectives Nutritious and well-balanced school meals are critical to curbing the obesity epidemic in school-aged children while also providing adequate nutrition to sustain healthy growth and development. The school lunch program underwent a significant revamp in 2012 to align the menu with the US Dietary Guidelines. The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a metric that measures this alignment. The purpose of this study is to calculate usual HEI scores for children and compare HEI scores across frequency of school meals consumed using NHANES 2015–2016. Methods Children 18y and younger were included in the analyses and categorized into one of five groups for breakfast and lunch, each. Either consuming no school breakfast/lunch or consuming school breakfast/lunch 1–5 times daily. Usual HEI scores and standard errors were determined using the NCI method. Independent samples t-tests were computed for pairwise comparisons between no school breakfast/lunch consumption and increasing frequency of consumption. All analyses were performed using SAS version 9.4. Results Mean HEI scores for children consuming 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 school breakfasts per week was 44.7 ± 0.8, 44 ± 1.9, 41.4 ± 2.4, 43.9 ± 1.4, 40.8 ± 2.3, 42.7 ± 1.0 and the mean HEI score for children consuming 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 lunches per week was 44.7 ± 0.8, 46.7 ± 0.8, 42.3 ± 2.5, 45.0 ± 0.9, 46.1 ± 0.9, 43.3 ± 0.8, respectively. These results indicate that there are no significant differences across children who consumed these meals at various frequencies with those that do not consume school meals. Although there were no observed differences, overall diet quality was poor for those who do and do not consume school breakfast/lunch. Conclusions Although children and adolescents who consumed school breakfast/lunch did not appear to have greater diet quality than those who did not, overall diet quality was poor for all groups. Therefore, additional efforts are needed to improve diet quality in children and adolescents. Funding Sources Texas Woman's University.