Thermodynamic Assessment of the Cu-Pt System

A CALPHAD assessment of the Cu-Pt system has been carried out. Two and four sublattice models were applied to describe the Gibbs free energies of ordered phases where the contribution of SRO is taken explicitly into account through the reciprocal parameters. The disordered fcc A1 and liquid phases were treated as substitutional solutions. A consistent set of parameters for the phases in the Cu-Pt system as obtained, and those parameters can satisfactorily reproduce the experimental phase equilibria and thermodynamic properties, such as enthalpies, activity of Cu, and long-range order parameters

Career Satisfaction of Texas School-Based Female Agriculture Mechanics Teachers: An Examination of Influential Factors

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental descriptive study is to assess the job satisfaction of female agricultural mechanics teachers in the state of Texas. Job satisfaction of agriculture teachers is an important issue due to high teacher turnover and low retention rate, which are linked to the teachers’ job satisfaction rating (Padilla-Velez, 1993). Female teachers are currently only staying in the agricultural education field for 6.49 years and this trend is perceived to be related back to their job satisfaction (Castillo, Conklin, & Cano, 1999). This study focuses on why teachers choose to enter the field of agricultural education, why they choose to stay, and if they are satisfied teaching agricultural mechanics courses at the secondary level. The target population of this study consisted of all female school-based agricultural science teachers in Texas, who at the time of the study, taught agricultural mechanics curriculum (n = 50). This group was contacted seven times using the modified Tailored Design Method (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2014). The initial contact was an e-mail pre-notice. Next, there were five e-mail invitations for participants to complete an online data collection instrument. Finally, a mailed survey was sent to all non-respondents to give them one final opportunity to complete the questionnaire (n = 32). This final process yielded a response rate of 78% (n = 39) for the study.Agricultural Science