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The University of Montana's Research Education on Air and Cardiovascular Health (REACH) Program works with teachers to engage high school juniors and seniors in rudimentary real-world scientific research with the goals of improving their understanding of and interest in science, and to increase their interest in science careers. To evaluate the program, mixed-method approaches based on surveys that include both fixed-response and free-response questions for students has been used. Thematic analysis of student written responses to free-response questions provided evaluators with unanticipated student-centered information that was not targeted by the fixed-response questions. The analysis of student responses to free-response questions over a three to four-year period are the focus of this manuscript along with the implications such a STEM outreach program has to environmental and science education.

The United Nations has identified the COVID-19 pandemic as the largest global disruption of education in history. Collaborative and hands-on learning activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were particularly challenging to maintain during this period. Future large-scale disruptions of schools are considered likely, leading to questions about how educators can be better prepared. Since 2019, the REACH program has worked with schools in Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii to educate students about air quality and health. The program also provides a framework and support for teachers to incorporate rudimentary student-led scientific field research in middle and high school science courses. Through student and teacher surveys, we inquired about how the pandemic affected program experiences during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 school years. Responses from 416 students and 31 teachers showed both difficulties and adaptive capacity in implementing the REACH program during COVID-19-related restrictions. It is encouraging to appreciate the resilience of students and teachers as they adapted to emergency remote teaching and learning strategies. However, the extent and the specific kinds of difficulties they encountered may inform efforts to help schools and teachers become better prepared for potential future events that may disrupt in-classroom learning.

In today's science classes, where standards are shifting toward engaging in scientific practices, a shift in science assessments to better reflect the skills and knowledge achieved in modern science classrooms is needed. If science is a discipline to be practiced rather than memorized, then science assessments should be designed to gauge a student's progress toward employing better science practices. A substantive alternative assessment in science--one that provides authentic and meaningful feedback to students as they do science--is the science symposium. The University of Montana's Research Education on Air and Cardiovascular Health (REACH) program provides opportunities for high school students to conduct student-designed science research projects (Delaloye et al. 2016; Delaloye et al. 2018; Ward et al. 2016). The culminating event of this yearlong REACH program is the Environmental Health Science Symposium. This year's 18th annual symposium will bring together high school students from Montana, Idaho, and Alaska to present their research findings and engage with their peers, University faculty and staff, and a panel of judges--just as research scientists would do. The science symposium provides students with experience in science communication and an alternative assessment providing meaningful, timely, and relevant feedback to students and their teachers. In this article, the authors present findings from student survey data and teacher interviews regarding their experiences with the REACH symposia.

The paper presents some results obtained through the implementation of the Erasmus LLP "SALEIE" (Strategic Alignment of Electrical and Information Engineering in European Higher Education Institutions). The aim of the project was to bring together experts from European universities to enhance the competitiveness of Electrical and Information Engineering (EIE) education within Europe, especially in relation to modern global technical challenges and to provide higher education models in a few EIE fields in accordance with these challenges. One of the outcomes of the project was a new ICT (Information and Computer Technology) Security curriculum for bachelor and master levels. The research methodology comprised such stages as: identifying the most important current global challenges, conducting a survey related to existing EIE programs in order to establish the top-level criteria for an EIE curriculum, analyzing the results of the survey, obtaining the industry feedback related to technical and non-technical skills required for the specific field, and proposing a new curriculum for ICT Security programmes to respond to the modern technical challenges and to meet the needs of the industry, students, academics and graduates.

Exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from solid fuel combustion affects almost half of the world population. Adverse respiratory outcomes such as respiratory infections, impaired lung growth and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have been linked to HAP exposure. Solid fuel smoke is a heterogeneous mixture of various gases and particulates. Cell culture and animal studies with controlled exposure conditions and genetic homogeneity provide important insights into HAP mechanisms. Impaired bacterial phagocytosis in exposed human alveolar macrophages possibly mediates several HAP-related health effects. Lung pathological findings in HAP-exposed individuals demonstrate greater small airways fibrosis and less emphysema compared with cigarette smokers. Field studies using questionnaires, air pollution monitoring and/or biomarkers are needed to better establish human risks. Some, but not all, studies suggest that improving cookstove efficiency or venting emissions may be associated with reduced respiratory symptoms, lung function decline in women and severe pneumonia in children. Current studies focus on fuel switching, stove technology replacements or upgrades and air filter devices. Several governments have initiated major programmes to accelerate the upgrade from solid fuels to clean fuels, particularly liquid petroleum gas, which provides research opportunities for the respiratory health community.

This article argues the importance of animal spirits throughout the economy in improving productivity performance. It overviews the idea of animal spirits and people's level of confidence in undertaking economic activity. It then notes a gap, a missing residual, in economists' efforts to understand productivity growth. Two well‐documented measures indicating animal spirits are the levels of social trust and of corruption. Surveying the literature, the article shows both of these correlate with economic performance, and demonstrates they are correlated with each other. A case study of the impact of changes in corruption levels shows animal spirits can have significant effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment programs for serious offenders such as sex offenders typically include an empathy training component as part of a comprehensive intervention package. The reasons for doing so are partly based on research evidence indicating that social disconnection and relationship ruptures related to empathy failures often trigger offending, and also because it is hard for people to grasp how individuals can inflict severe harm on others without lacking empathic capacities. In this paper we examine Philip Kitcher's concept of psychological altruism and altruism failure and consider its conceptual relationship to empathy and morality. We then apply Kitcher's multidimensional concept of altruism to the field of sex offender rehabilitation and argue that it can provide a useful ethical resource through which to approach the various tasks of practice.

The Air Toxics under the Big Sky program developed at the University of Montana is a regional outreach and education initiative that offers a yearlong exploration of air quality and its relation to respiratory health. The program was designed to connect university staff and resources with rural schools enabling students to learn and apply science process skills through self-designed research projects conducted within their communities. As part of the program, students develop and conduct independent projects, then share their findings at the conclusion of the school year in some type of interactive capstone experience, the most prominent being a high school symposium held at The University of Montana campus. Student feedback collected through a carefully controlled evaluation program suggest that the annual symposium as the culminating event is a critical component of the Air Toxics Under the Big Sky program, and a valuable learning experience as many of the students go on to post-secondary education. (Contains 1 table.)

Background: Millions of rural U.S. households are heated with wood stoves. Wood stove use can lead to high indoor concentrations of fine particulate matter [airborne particles [less than or equal to] 2.5 [micro]m in aerodynamic diameter ([PM.sub.2.5])] and is associated with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children. Objectives: We assessed the impact of low-cost educational and air filtration interventions on childhood LRTI and indoor [PM.sub.2.5] in rural U.S. homes with wood stoves. Methods: The Kids Air Quality Interventions for Reducing Respiratory Infections (KidsAIR) study was a parallel three-arm (education, portable air filtration unit, control), post-only randomized trial in households from Alaska, Montana, and Navajo Nation (Arizona and New Mexico) with a wood stove and one or more children RESULTS: There were 61 LRTI cases from 14,636 child-weeks of follow-up among 461 children. In the intent-to-treat analysis, children in the education arm [odds ratio (OR) = 0.98; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.35, 2.72] and the filtration arm (OR = 1.23; 95% CI: 0.46, 3.32) had similar odds of LRTI vs. control. Geometric mean [PM.sub.2.5] concentrations were similar to control in the education arm (11.77% higher; 95% CI: -16.57, 49.72) and air filtration arm (6.96% lower; 95% CI: -30.50, 24.55). In the exposure-response analysis, odds of LRTI were 1.45 times higher (95% CI: 1.02, 2.05) per interquartile range (25 [micro]g/[m.sup.3]) increase in mean indoor [PM.sub.2.5]. Discussion: We did not observe meaningful differences in LRTI or indoor [PM.sub.2.5] in the air filtration or education arms compared with the control arm. Results from the exposure-response analysis provide further evidence that biomass air pollution adversely impacts childhood LRTI. Our results highlight the need for novel, effective intervention strategies in households heated with wood stoves. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9932, Introduction Nearly 13 million homes in the United States (U.S.) burn wood fuel in wood stoves or fireplaces as a primary or secondary heating source (EIA 2015). Approximately half of [...]

The University of Montana (UM)-Missoula has implemented a problem-based program in which students perform scientific research focused on indoor air pollution. The Air Toxics Under the Big Sky program (Jones et al. 2007; Adams et al. 2008; Ward et al. 2008) provides a community-based framework for understanding the complex relationship between poor air quality and respiratory health outcomes by teaching students chemical, physical, and health concepts in the classroom setting. In addition to designing controlled experiments, students are guided through the process for conducting independent research projects to explore a real-world issue in their communities.