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- All Subjects: Collaboration
- All Subjects: COVID-19
- Status: Published
As the return to normality in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic enters its early stages, the necessity for accurate, quick, and community-wide surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 has been emphasized. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been used across the world as a tool for monitoring the pandemic, but studies of its efficacy in comparison to the best-known method for surveillance, randomly selected COVID-19 testing, has limited research. This study evaluated the trends and correlations present between SARS-CoV-2 in the effluent wastewater of a large university campus and random COVID-19 testing results published by the university. A moderately strong positive correlation was found between the random testing and WBE surveillance methods (r = 0.63), and this correlation was strengthened when accommodating for lost samples during the experiment (r = 0.74).
In this thesis paper, the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed. Chapter 1 discusses what inspired me to write this thesis and follows with a discussion of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapter 2 takes a step back and discusses biological effects of social isolation in general. Chapter 3 discusses the psychological effects of social isolation. Finally, this thesis concludes with a discussion of what can be done to help those experiencing social isolation during the pandemic.
Collaborating with others is a crucial part of growing creatively, and gaining perspective. With different artistic mediums like dance, film, music and design, there is a lot artists can learn from one another. Art is also a way to convey important messages that reflect social, political and cultural issues, and artists have become increasingly responsible for presenting these issues in a way that will provoke thought and create change. “Luna” is a series of compositions with a goal of inviting the audience into a different world. The use of sound design and electronic music production paired with piano arrangements creates a vast, sonic landscape, and the titles of each piece are related to space. The live performance of the album also involves dance, which adds another human element to the experience.
Quantitative data consisted of responses to a survey given as a pre-, post-, and retrospective pre-test. Results showed significant gains for all three constructs between the retrospective pre-test and the post-test, but no significant gain between the pre- and post-test. Analysis of qualitative data produced four assertions. First, the process of peer observation during a PLC meeting benefitted the personal learning of teachers. Second, peer observation benefitted teacher teams' abilities to demonstrate the critical behaviors of a true PLC. Third, the process of facilitating peer observation through video recordings evoked negative emotions. Fourth, the degree to which teachers were able to learn from a video was influenced by their perceptions of the video's authenticity and similarity to their own classrooms.
In the discussion, complementarity of the quantitative and qualitative data was described and results were explained in terms of previous research and established theory. Additionally, practical lessons that were learned, limitations, and research implications were described. In a concluding section, I discussed my personal learning regarding leadership, innovation, and action research; the purpose of the doctorate in education; and strengthening connections between research and practitioners.
Cosplay, or the act of dressing up as a character, is a hobby that has become increasingly popular over the last several decades. Since its conception in 1939, the practice of cosplaying has always been heavily tied to that of conventions. Until 2019 these conventions were utilized by cosplayers to showcase their outfits and creations – in a phenomenon called “masking” – but with the widespread emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, conventions were put on hold for over a year. This paper questions how convention culture has changed in a world where cosplay can no longer rely on it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through analysis, personal narrative, and a critical reflection, the authors compare Saboten Con 2019 and 2021 to discuss that despite the numerous changes to the physical culture of conventions, the social essence of conventions has remained the same.
This study found that the preservice teachers who participated in the peer observation intervention improved in their teaching practices over the course of the semester, valued the experience of peer observation visits, and increased their ability to talk about teaching and learning in more sophisticated and complex terms.