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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (4 results)

  • Thesis
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Merced Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2021)

Ceftolozane/tazobactam (c/t) is a fifth generation β-lactam cephalosporin and β-lactam inhibitor, recently approved in the United States for treatment of complicated Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) and complicated intra-abdominal infections. While third generation cephalosporins are commonly used for Enterobacteriaceae infection treatment, fourth generation cephalosporins are used less frequently to spare them from rising antibiotic resistance, and fifth generation cephalosporins, such as c/t, are last-resort treatment options. Surveillance for c/t resistance is essential to identifying current resistance patterns and to identify causes of any observed resistance. We performed Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion tests on a collection of Extended Spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae collected mainly from urine samples at Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center (DHMMC) in Merced, CA (n = 993), and found low rates of c/t resistance (3.24%). We used a PCR screen to quantify the presence of four common ESBLs (blaTEM, blaOXA, blaSHV, and blaCTX-M) on 852 isolates and assessed their association with c/t resistance. We then screened the genomic sequences of 123 isolates and used PCR to identify the presence of four non-ESBL genes, emrD (gene for efflux pump), ramR (gene for efflux pump repressure), and ompK35 and ompK37 (genes for porins in bacterial outer membrane) in 96 isolates subset. We found that the presence of blaCTX-M, blaSHV independently contributed to c/t resistance. We did not find significant interactions between the non-ESBLs and c/t resistance, nor did we find any significant interactions between having a combination of ESBL and non-ESBL genes with c/t resistance. We then wanted to find the teaching patterns in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) classrooms. We investigated how STEM instructors, who are mainly faculty on the forefront of scientific discoveries, discuss scientific content with their students. We looked at instructional and discourse practices of 35 STEM instructors across variables such as STEM discipline, years of teaching experience, and class size. We found that chemistry instructors used more instructor-centered teaching practices (i.e., lecturing with real world examples) than biology instructors. We also found that teaching faculty use more student-centered teaching practices than lecturers. Additionally, we found that neither years of faculty teaching experience nor class size impacted teaching practices. Investigating resistance patterns to newly available antibiotics is essential for prolonging its efficacy, while studying patterns of effective communication of these scientific findings in undergraduate STEM classrooms are equally important, and both contribute to the betterment of our society.

    Cover page: Ceftolozane/Tazobactam Antibiotic Activity in a Rural California Region and Improving Science Communications in Undergraduate Classrooms to Broaden Impact
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Merced Previously Published Works (2022)

    Background

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities moved to emergency remote teaching (ERT). This allowed institutions to continue their instruction despite not being in person. However, ERT is not without consequences. For example, students may have inadequate technological supports, such as reliable internet and computers. Students may also have poor learning environments at home and may need to find added employment to support their families. In addition, there are consequences to faculty. It has been shown that female instructors are more disproportionately impacted in terms of mental health issues and increased domestic labor. This research aims to investigate instructors' and students' perceptions of their transition to ERT. Specifically, during the transition to ERT at a research-intensive, Minority-Serving Institution (MSI), we wanted to: (1) Identify supports and barriers experienced by instructors and students. (2) Compare instructors' experiences with the students' experiences. (3) Explore these supports and barriers within the context of social presence, teaching presence, and/or cognitive presence as well as how these supports and barriers relate to scaffolding in STEM courses.

    Results

    Instructors identified twice as many barriers as supports in their teaching during the transition to ERT and identified casual and formal conversations with colleagues as valuable supports. Emerging categories for barriers consisted of academic integrity concerns as well as technological difficulties. Similarly, students identified more barriers than supports in their learning during the transition to ERT. More specifically, students described pre-existing course structure, classroom technology, and community as best supporting their learning. Barriers that challenged student learning included classroom environment, student availability, and student emotion and comfort.

    Conclusions

    Together, this research will help us understand supports and barriers to teaching and learning during the transition to ERT. This understanding can help us better plan and prepare for future emergencies, particularly at MSIs, where improved communication and increased access to resources for both students and instructors are key.

    Supplementary information

    The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40594-022-00335-1.
      Cover page: I will teach you here or there, I will try to teach you anywhere: perceived supports and barriers for emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Merced Previously Published Works (2022)
      [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s40594-022-00335-1.].
        Cover page: Correction to: I will teach you here or there, I will try to teach you anywhere: perceived supports and barriers for emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Merced Previously Published Works (2021)
        Students are more likely to learn in college science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classrooms when instructors use teacher discourse moves (TDMs) that encourage student engagement and learning. However, although teaching practices are well studied, TDMs are not well understood in college STEM classrooms. In STEM courses at a minority-serving institution (MSI; n = 74), we used two classroom observation protocols to investigate teaching practices and TDMs across disciplines, instructor types, years of teaching experience, and class size. We found that instructors guide students in active learning activities, but they use authoritative discourse approaches. In addition, chemistry instructors presented more than biology instructors. Also, teaching faculty had relatively high dialogic, interactive discourse, and neither years of faculty teaching experience nor class size had an impact on teaching practices or TDMs. Our results have implications for targeted teaching professional development efforts across instructor and course characteristics to improve STEM education at MSIs.
          Cover page: Look Who's Talking: Teaching and Discourse Practices across Discipline, Position, Experience, and Class Size in STEM College Classrooms
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