An online international pharmacy summer course during the COVID-19 pandemic

The University of Southern California School of Pharmacy has offered a residential summer course for international undergraduate pharmacy students for many years, with a focus on clinical therapeutics. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to offer the on-campus course. After some discussion, the course was moved online, with the goals of maintaining links with international partners and providing students with a virtual study abroad experience. This article describes the planning and implementation of this course, which was held for two weeks in July 2020 for 19 students from South Korea, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia. The course included an integrated science and clinical approach to diabetes and drug-drug interactions. The facilitation of active learning and problem-solving in transnational student groups through Zoom meetings are described. A post-course survey of students provided positive feedback on the content and online delivery of the course.

Rigorous and Meaningful Science for English Learners: Urban Ecology and Transdisciplinary Instruction

This article describes efforts undertaken by two centers at Loyola Marymount University—the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) and the Center for Urban Resilience (CURes)—in collaboration with five southern California school districts to develop and implement the Urban Ecology for English Learners Project. This project aligns with the 2018 NASEM report call to action to (1) create contexts for systems- and classroom-level supports that recognizes assets that English Learners contribute to the classroom and, and (2) increase rigorous science instruction for English Learners through the provision of targeted program models, curriculum, and instruction. The article presents project highlights, professional learning approaches, elements of the interdisciplinary, standards-based Urban Ecology curricular modules, and project evaluation results about ELs’ outcomes and teachers’ knowledge and skills in delivering high-quality STEM education for ELs. The authors list various implications for teacher professional development on interdisciplinary instruction including university partnerships.

Chemistry of California Lycium cooperi and Lycium andersonii

Aims: To examine the chemistry of two California Lycium species and evaluate the possible use of California Lycium species as dietary supplements especially for age related macular degeneration. Study Design: This exploratory analytical research used samples of Lycium andersonii and Lycium cooperi collected in the field and analyzed in the lab. Place and Duration of Study: University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, 1985 Zonal Avenue, Los Angeles, CA USA 90089. Methodology: Plant extracts were analyzed by high pressure liquid chromatography mass spectrometry with ultraviolet photodiode array detection in order to identify the chemical characteristics of compounds found in the plants. Results: Several known compounds were found in extracts of Lycium cooperi and Lycium andersonii foliage and fruit including: zeaxanthin, zeaxanthin monopalmitate and β-cryptoxanthin. The various California species of Lycium are discussed as possible alternatives to Chinese Lycium barbarum. Conclusion: California Lycium berries may be suitable substitutes for Chinese Lycium berries.

Multilingual Mexican-Origin Students' Perspectives on Their Indigenous Heritage Language

This article focuses on the reported experiences of three focal students who participated in a Spanish/English dual language program in their southern California school district throughout their elementary and middle school years. All three students identify as Mexican-origin and speak Spanish, English, and the Indigenous language of Zapoteco and have different relationships with their languages. The framework of Critical Latinx Indigeneities (Blackwell, Boj Lopez & Urrieta, 2017) is used to explore the practices engaged in by the students, including language use and transnationalism (Sánchez, 2007), as well as the investment to learn and use a language as part of their identity (Norton Peirce, 1995; Norton, 2000). Even though dual language programs provide much needed linguistic supports for language maintenance, perhaps more importantly, they provide support for ideological shifts towards language maintenance rather than transition to English-only instruction. However, the three students experienced a segmented and limited focus on Spanish language development in middle school compared to their elementary school experience. The authors discuss implications for outside school spaces that can support authentic language use, in addition to school-sanctioned language programs promoting multilingualism.

Note From the Editors

In 2015, the University of Southern California School of Social Work convened the Social Work Innovation Roundtable with the goal of rigorously discussing the role of innovation in social work science and research. We convened a group of senior scholars in the field of social work along with emerging scholars (doctoral students and early career professors or researchers) to debate the practice of innovation, the nature of innovation, and how innovation may move social work forward. We posed the following questions to presenters and discussants: (1) Is innovation the enemy of science? (2) Does innovation have a role in science? and (3) Are innovation and scientific ideas simply different? During the course of 2 days, we argued over different perspectives on science and innovation with our colleagues. Out of those debates, this special issue of Research on Social Work Practice emerged.

Community Building in a Virtual Teaching Environment

In 2010, the University of Southern California School of Social Work launched its Virtual Academic Center (VAC) to deliver online MSW programming to students located around the country. USC’s platform is a significant innovation in offering online education and has transformed the traditional educational model for both students and faculty. This research explores the experiences of faculty teaching via the VAC. Twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with USC faculty of different ranks. Inductive data collection using a grounded theory approach with thematic analysis examined experiences teaching in an online program, revealing the strengths and challenges associated with geographic diversity and community-building. Findings warrant the development of innovative practices to build community and to facilitate collaboration among geographically diverse faculty and students in a virtual education program.

Obesity, Parent Perceptions, Child Feeding, and Food Security in First Generation Hispanic Families

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the relationships between parent and child weight status, parental perceptions of weight, child feeding, food insecurity, and acculturation in Hispanic preschoolers and their parents in a southern California school district. Methods: Eighty-five parent-child dyads participated. Height and weight, parental weight perceptions, child feeding, acculturation, and food insecurity data were obtained. Results: Eighty-five percent of parents were born in Mexico, although 94% of their children were born in the US. Eighty percent of parents and 43% of the children were overweight or obese. None of the constructs measured predicted child BMI, although parents significantly underestimated their children's body size. Parents' BMI correlated positively with restrictive child feeding practices, and obese parents pressured their children to eat more than did non-obese parents. Conclusions: Obesity exists disproportionately in Hispanics compared to other ethnic populations. While factors predicting children's weight status are difficult to identify, parents' weight, perceptions of child's weight, adherence to the Hispanic culture, and food insecurity do appear to impact parental concerns and parenting behaviors, particularly restrictive and pressuring-to-eat behaviors. Parental underestimation of their children's weight may hinder behavior change if concerns about unhealthy weight are inaccurate. Interventions should consider parental weight, weight perceptions, and feeding practices.

Living translation in US Chinese medicine

This article demonstrates the ongoing, culturally situated and co-constructed nature of the translation of Chinese medicine from Chinese into English. Building upon scholarship in anthropology, sociolinguistics, and translation studies, this article contributes to the building of an anthropologically grounded theory of translation as an ongoing lived event, with implications far beyond the simple transfer of meaning from “source” to “target” languages. Through the examination of video and audio data collected over two years, I show how participants in classroom interactions at a southern California school of Chinese medicine not only interactively accomplish the work of translating specific Chinese terms, but also accomplish a great deal socially with such translation activity. Participants are thus shown to use translation as a platform for social positioning as well as a tool for socializing interlocutors into various notions of evidence and ideologies of language, both of which have implications for clinical decision-making in practice. (Translation, language ideologies, classroom interaction, Chinese medicine)*