Scientists' conceptions of scientific inquiry: Revealing a private side of science

Science.gov (United States)

Reiff, Rebecca R.

Science educators, philosophers, and pre-service teachers have contributed to conceptualizing inquiry but missing from the inquiry forum is an in-depth research study concerning science faculty conceptions of scientific inquiry. The science education literature has tended to focus on certain aspects of doing, teaching, and understanding scientific inquiry without linking these concepts. As a result, conceptions of scientific inquiry have been disjointed and are seemingly unrelated. Furthermore, confusion surrounding the meaning of inquiry has been identified as a reason teachers are not using inquiry in instruction (Welch et al., 1981). Part of the confusion surrounding scientific inquiry is it has been defined differently depending on the context (Colburn, 2000; Lederman, 1998; Shymansky & Yore, 1980; Wilson & Koran, 1976). This lack of a common conception of scientific inquiry is the reason for the timely nature of this research. The result of scientific journeys is not to arrive at a stopping point or the final destination, but to refuel with questions to drive the pursuit of knowledge. A three-member research team conducted Interviews with science faculty members using a semi-structured interview protocol designed to probe the subject's conceptions of scientific inquiry. The participants represented a total of 52 science faculty members from nine science departments (anthropology, biology, chemistry, geology, geography, school of health, physical education and recreation (HPER), medical sciences, physics, and school of environmental science) at a large mid-western research university. The method of analysis used by the team was grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990; Glaser & Strauss, 1967), in which case the frequency of concepts, patterns, and themes were coded to categorize scientists' conceptions of scientific inquiry. The results from this study address the following components: understanding and doing scientific inquiry, attributes of scientists engaged

The Scientific Theory Profile: A Philosophy of Science Model for Science Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Loving, Cathleen

The model developed for use with science teachers--called the Scientific Theory Profile--consists of placing three well-known philosophers of science on a grid, with the x-axis being their methods for judging theories (rational vs. natural) and the y-axis being their views on scientific theories representing the Truth versus mere models of what…

Science communication at scientific societies.

Science.gov (United States)

Braha, Jeanne

2017-10-01

Scientific societies can play a key role in bridging the research and practice of scientists' engagement of public audiences. Societies are beginning to support translation of science communication research, connections between scientists and audiences, and the creation of opportunities for scientists to engage publics without extensive customization. This article suggests roles, strategies, and mechanisms for scientific societies to promote and enhance their member's engagement of public audiences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scientific production of medical sciences universities in north of iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Siamian, Hasan; Firooz, Mousa Yamin; Vahedi, Mohammad; Aligolbandi, Kobra

2013-01-01

NONE DECLARED. The study of the scientific evidence citation production by famous databases of the world is one of the important indicators to evaluate and rank the universities. The study at investigating the scientific production of Northern Iran Medical Sciences Universities in Scopus from 2005 through 2010. This survey used scientometrics technique. The samples under studies were the scientific products of four northern Iran Medical universities. Viewpoints quantity of the Scientific Products Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences stands first and of Babol University of Medical Sciences ranks the end, but from the viewpoints of quality of scientific products of considering the H-Index and the number of cited papers the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences is a head from the other universities under study. From the viewpoints of subject of the papers, the highest scientific products belonged to the faculty of Pharmacy affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medial Sciences, but the three other universities for the genetics and biochemistry. Results showed that the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences as compared to the other understudies universities ranks higher for the number of articles, cited articles, number of hard work authors and H-Index of Scopus database from 2005 through 2010.

Practical opto-electronics an illustrated guide for the laboratory

CERN Document Server

Protopopov, Vladimir

2014-01-01

This book explains how to create opto-electronic systems in a most efficient way, avoiding typical mistakes. It covers light detection techniques, imaging, interferometry, spectroscopy, modulation-demodulation, heterodyning, beam steering, and many other topics common to laboratory applications. The focus is made on self-explanatory figures rather than on words. The book guides the reader through the entire process of creating problem-specific opto-electronic systems, starting from optical source, through beam transportation optical arrangement, to photodetector and data acquisition system. The relevant basics of beam propagation and computer-based raytracing routines are also explained, and sample codes are listed. the book teaches important know-how and practical tricks that are never disclosed in scientific publications.  The book can become the reader's personal adviser in the world of opto-electronics and navigator in the ocean of the market of optical components and systems. Succinct, well-illustrate...

Support Science by Publishing in Scientific Society Journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Schloss, Patrick D; Johnston, Mark; Casadevall, Arturo

2017-09-26

Scientific societies provide numerous services to the scientific enterprise, including convening meetings, publishing journals, developing scientific programs, advocating for science, promoting education, providing cohesion and direction for the discipline, and more. For most scientific societies, publishing provides revenues that support these important activities. In recent decades, the proportion of papers on microbiology published in scientific society journals has declined. This is largely due to two competing pressures: authors' drive to publish in "glam journals"-those with high journal impact factors-and the availability of "mega journals," which offer speedy publication of articles regardless of their potential impact. The decline in submissions to scientific society journals and the lack of enthusiasm on the part of many scientists to publish in them should be matters of serious concern to all scientists because they impact the service that scientific societies can provide to their members and to science. Copyright © 2017 Schloss et al.

Popularity and Relevance of Science Education and Scientific Literacy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Graeber, Wolfgang; Blonder, Ron; Bolte, Claus

2008-01-01

A consortium of researchers from 8 European nations has successfully applied to the EU commission for funding the PARSEL (Popularity and Relevance in Science Education for Scientific Literacy) project, which aims at raising the popularity and relevance of science teaching and enhancing students...... of a range of personal and social skills (including cognitive skills associated with investigatory scientific problem solving and socio-scientific decision making) and clarify the relevancy of science education for the 21st century. This symposium will introduce and discuss the project PARSEL ideas within...

Popularizing Natural Sciences by Means of Scientific Fair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Cápay

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Science popularization is demanding from the financial as well as the time point of view. It is necessary to find the premises that would be easily available to general public. Another important step is to promote the event so that it would attract the audience. The preparation of scientific experiments itself also requires some financial resources. If we want to take advantage of these resources in the most useful and effective way, we have to find answers to the question: “What, where and how do we want to popularise?” In the paper, we describe one-day project aimed to popularization of scientific fields carried out by eight departments of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. The project was named Scientific Fair – Science you can see, hear and experience. Its main goal was to present seven scientific fields - Physics, Informatics, Mathematics, Geography, Ecology, Chemistry and Biology. Popularization was carried out as experimental interactive activities unveiling the undisclosed corners of science. Their aim was to inspire the audience, arouse their interest in science and motivate the participants to cognitive activities. We introduce the idea of the project in detail concentrating mainly on informatics realized by the Department of Informatics.

The Need for More Scientific Approaches to Science Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Sadri, S.

2015-12-01

Two possible goals for public science communication are: a) improving the public's in-depth understanding of the scientific subject; and b) fostering the public's belief that scientific efforts make a better world. Although (a) is often a natural target when scientists try to communicate their subject, the importance of (b) is underscored by the NSF, who investigated the "cultural authority of science" to understand science's role in policymaking. Surveys consistently find that there is a huge divergence between "knowledge" and "admiration" of science in society because science literacy has very little to do with public perception of science. However, even if both goals could be achieved, it doesn't necessarily mean that the general public will act on scientific advice. Different parts of society have different criteria for reaching judgments about how to act in their best interests. This makes the study of science communication important when controversies arise requiring public engagement. Climate change, sustainability, and water crises are only a few examples of such controversial subjects. Science communication can be designed carefully to sponsor dialogue and participation, to overcome perceptual obstacles, and to engage with stakeholders and the wider public. This study reviews work in social science that tries to answer: When is science communication necessary? What is involved in science communication? What is the role of media in effective science communication? It also reviews common recommendations for improved public engagement by scientists and science organizations. As part of this effort, I will present some portions of my science films. I will conclude with suggestions on what scientific institutions can focus on to build trust, relationships, and participation across segments of the public. Keywords: informal learning, popular science, climate change, water crisis, science communication, science films, science policy.

Scientific Competencies in the Social Sciences

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Dietrich, Heike; Zhang, Ying; Klopp, Eric; Brünken, Roland; Krause, Ulrike-Marie; Spinath, Frank M.; Stark, Robin; Spinath, Birgit

2015-01-01

The aim of the present study was to introduce a general theoretical model of scientific competencies in higher education and to adapt it to three social sciences, namely psychology, sociology, and political science, by providing evidence from expert interviews and program regulations. Within our general model, we distinguished and specified four…

Workshop on scientific and industrial applications of free electron lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Difilippo, F.C.; Perez, R.B.

1990-05-01

A Workshop on Scientific and Industrial Applications of Free Electron Lasers was organized to address potential uses of a Free Electron Laser in the infrared wavelength region. A total of 13 speakers from national laboratories, universities, and the industry gave seminars to an average audience of 30 persons during June 12 and 13, 1989. The areas covered were: Free Electron Laser Technology, Chemistry and Surface Science, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Condensed Matter, and Biomedical Applications, Optical Damage, and Optoelectronics

Making graduate research in science education more scientific

Science.gov (United States)

Firman, Harry

2016-02-01

It is expected that research conducted by graduate students in science education provide research findings which can be utilized as evidence based foundations for making decisions to improve science education practices in schools. However, lack of credibility of research become one of the factors cause idleness of thesis and dissertation in the context of education improvement. Credibility of a research is constructed by its scientificness. As a result, enhancement of scientific characters of graduate research needs to be done to close the gap between research and practice. A number of guiding principles underlie educational researchs as a scientific inquiry are explored and applied in this paper to identify common shortages of some thesis and dissertation manuscripts on science education reviewed in last two years.

Designing Science Games and Science Toys from the Perspective of Scientific Creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Demir Kaçan, Sibel

2015-01-01

This study was conducted with the participation of 21 pre-service science teachers attending the faculty of education of a university in Turkey. The study aims to evaluate pre-service science teachers' science games and science toy designs in terms of scientific creativity. Participants were given a four-week period to design science games or…

Telling Lives in Science: Essays on Scientific Biography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harman, Peter

1997-09-01

This collection of ten essays by historians of science, several of them biographers, is concerned with the role of scientific biography in forming conceptions of science and scientists. The essays include studies of the biographies of individual scientists, assessments of the aims and style of scientific portraits in different historical contexts, examinations of changing biographical interpretations of scientists, and much discussion of the methodological issues involved in the writing of scientific biographies. Many historians consider biography to be an ambiguous genre, its appeal based on nostalgia rather than history, with a focus on personality rather than historical context, but the biographer can reply that scientific biography reveals the practice of science at its most fundamental level. Indeed, scientific biography has provided a powerful medium in which public conceptions of science have been established. Einstein observed that 'the essential being of a man of my type lies in what he thinks and how he thinks', and his Autobiographical Notes suppress personality in favour of physics. But the biographer may see matters differently, and wish to integrate the public and the private life of the scientist. In their substantial introduction the editors discuss these and other problems, and the book is directed to the professional concerns of historians of science. While there is little here on the history of physics, Geoffrey Cantor's essay on public images of Faraday as constructed in popular biographies, a discussion of conflicting portraits of Faraday as romantic genius or hard-working slogger, may interest readers of this journal. (book review)

Telling Lives in Science: Essays on Scientific Biography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harman, Peter

1997-01-01

This collection of ten essays by historians of science, several of them biographers, is concerned with the role of scientific biography in forming conceptions of science and scientists. The essays include studies of the biographies of individual scientists, assessments of the aims and style of scientific portraits in different historical contexts, examinations of changing biographical interpretations of scientists, and much discussion of the methodological issues involved in the writing of scientific biographies. Many historians consider biography to be an ambiguous genre, its appeal based on nostalgia rather than history, with a focus on personality rather than historical context, but the biographer can reply that scientific biography reveals the practice of science at its most fundamental level. Indeed, scientific biography has provided a powerful medium in which public conceptions of science have been established. Einstein observed that 'the essential being of a man of my type lies in what he thinks and how he thinks', and his Autobiographical Notes suppress personality in favour of physics. But the biographer may see matters differently, and wish to integrate the public and the private life of the scientist. In their substantial introduction the editors discuss these and other problems, and the book is directed to the professional concerns of historians of science. While there is little here on the history of physics, Geoffrey Cantor's essay on public images of Faraday as constructed in popular biographies, a discussion of conflicting portraits of Faraday as romantic genius or hard-working slogger, may interest readers of this journal. (book review)

Open Access to Scientific Data: Promoting Science and Innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guan-Hua Xu

2007-06-01

Full Text Available As an important part of the science and technology infrastructure platform of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology launched the Scientific Data Sharing Program in 2002. Twenty-four government agencies now participate in the Program. After five years of hard work, great progress has been achieved in the policy and legal framework, data standards, pilot projects, and international cooperation. By the end of 2005, one-third of the existing public-interest and basic scientific databases in China had been integrated and upgraded. By 2020, China is expected to build a more user-friendly scientific data management and sharing system, with 80 percent of scientific data available to the general public. In order to realize this objective, the emphases of the project are to perfect the policy and legislation system, improve the quality of data resources, expand and establish national scientific data centers, and strengthen international cooperation. It is believed that with the opening up of access to scientific data in China, the Program will play a bigger role in promoting science and national innovation.

Integrated silicon optoelectronics

CERN Document Server

Zimmermann, Horst

2000-01-01

'Integrated Silicon Optoelectronics'assembles optoelectronics and microelectronics The book concentrates on silicon as the major basis of modern semiconductor devices and circuits Starting from the basics of optical emission and absorption and from the device physics of photodetectors, the aspects of the integration of photodetectors in modern bipolar, CMOS, and BiCMOS technologies are discussed Detailed descriptions of fabrication technologies and applications of optoelectronic integrated circuits are included The book, furthermore, contains a review of the state of research on eagerly expected silicon light emitters In order to cover the topic of the book comprehensively, integrated waveguides, gratings, and optoelectronic power devices are included in addition Numerous elaborate illustrations promote an easy comprehension 'Integrated Silicon Optoelectronics'will be of value to engineers, physicists, and scientists in industry and at universities The book is also recommendable for graduate students speciali...

A "Semantic" View of Scientific Models for Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Adúriz-Bravo, Agustín

2013-01-01

In this paper I inspect a "semantic" view of scientific models taken from contemporary philosophy of science-I draw upon the so-called "semanticist family", which frontally challenges the received, syntactic conception of scientific theories. I argue that a semantic view may be of use both for science education in the…

Gaming science: the “Gamification” of scientific thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Bradley J.; Croker, Steve; Zimmerman, Corinne; Gill, Devin; Romig, Connie

2013-01-01

Science is critically important for advancing economics, health, and social well-being in the twenty-first century. A scientifically literate workforce is one that is well-suited to meet the challenges of an information economy. However, scientific thinking skills do not routinely develop and must be scaffolded via educational and cultural tools. In this paper we outline a rationale for why we believe that video games have the potential to be exploited for gain in science education. The premise we entertain is that several classes of video games can be viewed as a type of cultural tool that is capable of supporting three key elements of scientific literacy: content knowledge, process skills, and understanding the nature of science. We argue that there are three classes of mechanisms through which video games can support scientific thinking. First, there are a number of motivational scaffolds, such as feedback, rewards, and flow states that engage students relative to traditional cultural learning tools. Second, there are a number of cognitive scaffolds, such as simulations and embedded reasoning skills that compensate for the limitations of the individual cognitive system. Third, fully developed scientific thinking requires metacognition, and video games provide metacognitive scaffolding in the form of constrained learning and identity adoption. We conclude by outlining a series of recommendations for integrating games and game elements in science education and provide suggestions for evaluating their effectiveness. PMID:24058354

Scientific Visualization & Modeling for Earth Systems Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhury, S. Raj; Rodriguez, Waldo J.

2003-01-01

Providing research experiences for undergraduate students in Earth Systems Science (ESS) poses several challenges at smaller academic institutions that might lack dedicated resources for this area of study. This paper describes the development of an innovative model that involves students with majors in diverse scientific disciplines in authentic ESS research. In studying global climate change, experts typically use scientific visualization techniques applied to remote sensing data collected by satellites. In particular, many problems related to environmental phenomena can be quantitatively addressed by investigations based on datasets related to the scientific endeavours such as the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). Working with data products stored at NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers, visualization software specifically designed for students and an advanced, immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment, students engage in guided research projects during a structured 6-week summer program. Over the 5-year span, this program has afforded the opportunity for students majoring in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering and science education to work collaboratively in teams on research projects that emphasize the use of scientific visualization in studying the environment. Recently, a hands-on component has been added through science student partnerships with school-teachers in data collection and reporting for the GLOBE Program (GLobal Observations to Benefit the Environment).

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Scientific Literacy and Self-Efficacy in Teaching Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Al Sultan

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Many educators and educational institutions worldwide have agreed that the main goal of science education is to produce a scientifically literate community. Science teachers are key to the achievement of scientific literacy at all levels of education because of the essential role they play in preparing scientifically literate individuals. Studies show that pre-service elementary teachers need to build more confidence in teaching science and scientific literacy during their teacher education programs in order for them to successfully teach science knowledge to their students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is threefold. First, pre-service elementary teachers' scientific literacy levels were examined. Second, pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs were measured by distinguishing between their personal and subject-specific self-efficacy beliefs. Third, the extent to which pre-service elementary teachers' scientific literacy levels and self-efficacy levels are related was investigated. Participants were 49 pre-service elementary teachers registered in two science methods courses (introductory and advanced at a mid-sized university in the United States. Quantitative data were collected using the Test of Basic Scientific Literacy, the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument-Preservice, and Beliefs about Teaching. Results showed that participants had a satisfactory level of scientific literacy. However, pre-service teachers had borderline scores on the Nature of Science scale. Regarding self-efficacy, findings showed that both groups had the highest self-efficacy in teaching biology and the lowest in teaching physics. Participants in the advanced science methods course exhibited a moderate preexisting positive relationship between scientific literacy and subject-specific self-efficacy in teaching science.

Scientism and Scientific Thinking. A Note on Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Gasparatou, Renia

2017-11-01

The move from respecting science to scientism, i.e., the idealization of science and scientific method, is simple: We go from acknowledging the sciences as fruitful human activities to oversimplifying the ways they work, and accepting a fuzzy belief that Science and Scientific Method, will give us a direct pathway to the true making of the world, all included. The idealization of science is partly the reason why we feel we need to impose the so-called scientific terminologies and methodologies to all aspects of our lives, education too. Under this rationale, educational policies today prioritize science, not only in curriculum design, but also as a method for educational practice. One might expect that, under the scientistic rationale, science education would thrive. Contrariwise, I will argue that scientism disallows science education to give an accurate image of the sciences. More importantly, I suggest that scientism prevents one of science education's most crucial goals: help students think. Many of my arguments will borrow the findings and insights of science education research. In the last part of this paper, I will turn to some of the most influential science education research proposals and comment on their limits. If I am right, and science education today does not satisfy our most important reasons for teaching science, perhaps we should change not just our teaching strategies, but also our scientistic rationale. But that may be a difficult task.

Scientific literacy of adult participants in an online citizen science project

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Charles Aaron

Citizen Science projects offer opportunities for non-scientists to take part in scientific research. Scientific results from these projects have been well documented. However, there is limited research about how these projects affect their volunteer participants. In this study, I investigate how participation in an online, collaborative astronomical citizen science project can be associated with the scientific literacy of its participants. Scientific literacy is measured through three elements: attitude towards science, belief in the nature of science and competencies associated with learning science. The first two elements are measured through a pre-test given to 1,385 participants when they join the project and a post-test given six months later to 125 participants. Attitude towards science was measured using nine Likert-items custom designed for this project and beliefs in the nature of science were measured using a modified version of the Nature of Science Knowledge scale. Responses were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model. Competencies are measured through analysis of discourse occurring in online asynchronous discussion forums using the Community of Inquiry framework, which describes three types of presence in the online forums: cognitive, social and teaching. Results show that overall attitudes did not change, p = .225. However, there was significant change towards attitudes about science in the news (positive) and scientific self efficacy (negative), p impact on some aspects of scientific literacy. Using the Rasch Model allowed us to uncover effects that may have otherwise been hidden. Future projects may want to include social interactivity between participants and also make participants specifically aware of how they are contributing to the entire scientific process.

Cultivation of students' engineering designing ability based on optoelectronic system course project

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Danhua; Wu, Yubin; Li, Jingping

2017-08-01

We carry out teaching based on optoelectronic related course group, aiming at junior students majored in Optoelectronic Information Science and Engineering. " Optoelectronic System Course Project " is product-designing-oriented and lasts for a whole semester. It provides a chance for students to experience the whole process of product designing, and improve their abilities to search literature, proof schemes, design and implement their schemes. In teaching process, each project topic is carefully selected and repeatedly refined to guarantee the projects with the knowledge integrity, engineering meanings and enjoyment. Moreover, we set up a top team with professional and experienced teachers, and build up learning community. Meanwhile, the communication between students and teachers as well as the interaction among students are taken seriously in order to improve their team-work ability and communicational skills. Therefore, students are not only able to have a chance to review the knowledge hierarchy of optics, electronics, and computer sciences, but also are able to improve their engineering mindset and innovation consciousness.

Science and society: The benefits of scientific collaboration

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

The guest speaker at the next Science and Society symposium is no stranger to CERN. He is, in fact, Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, Director General of CERN from 1994 to 1998. His topic is one with which he is particularly familiar, having "lived" it throughout his time at CERN: international scientific collaboration and its advantages. International scientific collaboration is essential in a wide range of areas and for a large number of reasons: scientific problems have no frontiers; certain subjects are so complex that they require the expertise of numerous countries; certain types of research, such as that carried out at CERN, cannot be pursued by one nation on its own. However, scientific collaboration is not only beneficial to science itself. This is the point Chris Llewellyn Smith intends to demonstrate in his address. Scientific collaboration can help to build bridges between societies and act as a spur to the development of certain countries. It can even help to diminish conflicts in certain cases. The his...

Making Sense of Scientific Biographies: Scientific Achievement, Nature of Science, and Storylines in College Students' Essays

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Seyoung

2015-01-01

In this article, the educative value of scientific biographies will be explored, especially for non-science major college students. During the "Scientist's life and thought" course, 66 college students read nine scientific biographies including five biologists, covering the canonical scientific achievements in Western scientific history.…

Understanding and Affecting Science Teacher Candidates' Scientific Reasoning in Introductory Astrophysics

Science.gov (United States)

Steinberg, Richard; Cormier, Sebastien

2013-01-01

This study reports on a content course for science immersion teacher candidates that emphasized authentic practice of science and thinking scientifically in the context of introductory astrophysics. We explore how 122 science teacher candidates spanning three cohorts did and did not reason scientifically and how this evolved in our program. Our…

Social justice pedagogies and scientific knowledge: Remaking citizenship in the non-science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Lehr, Jane L.

This dissertation contributes to efforts to rethink the meanings of democracy, scientific literacy, and non-scientist citizenship in the United States. Beginning with questions that emerged from action research and exploring the socio-political forces that shape educational practices, it shows why non-science educators who teach for social justice must first recognize formal science education as a primary site of training for (future) non-scientist citizens and then prepare to intervene in the dominant model of scientifically literate citizenship offered by formal science education. This model of citizenship defines (and limits) appropriate behavior for non-scientist citizens as acquiescing to the authority of science and the state by actively demarcating science from non-science, experts from non-experts, and the rational from the irrational. To question scientific authority is to be scientifically illiterate. This vision of 'acquiescent democracy' seeks to end challenges to the authority of science and the state by ensuring that scientific knowledge is privileged in all personal and public decision-making practices, producing a situation in which it becomes natural for non-scientist citizens to enroll scientific knowledge to naturalize oppression within our schools and society. It suggests that feminist and equity-oriented science educators, by themselves, are unable or unwilling to challenge certain assumptions in the dominant model of scientifically literate citizenship. Therefore, it is the responsibility of non-science educators who teach for social justice to articulate oppositional models of non-scientist citizenship and democracy in their classrooms and to challenge the naturalized authority of scientific knowledge in all aspects of our lives. It demonstrates how research in the field of Science & Technology Studies can serve as one resource in our efforts to intervene in the dominant model of scientifically literate citizenship and to support a model of

Scientific Playworlds: a Model of Teaching Science in Play-Based Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Fleer, Marilyn

2017-09-01

Eminent scientists, like Einstein, worked with theoretical contradiction, thought experiments, mental models and visualisation—all characteristics of children's play. Supporting children's play is a strength of early childhood teachers. Promising research shows a link between imagination in science and imagination in play. A case study of 3 preschool teachers and 26 children (3.6-5.9 years; mean age of 4.6 years) over 6 weeks was undertaken, generating 59.6 h of digital observations and 788 photographs of play practices. The research sought to understand (1) how imaginative play promotes scientific learning and (2) examined how teachers engaged children in scientific play. Although play pedagogy is a strength of early childhood teachers, it was found that transforming imaginary situations into scientific narratives requires different pedagogical characteristics. The study found that the building of collective scientific narratives alongside of discourses of wondering were key determinants of science learning in play-based settings. Specifically, the pedagogical principles of using a cultural device that mirrors the science experiences, creating imaginary scientific situations, collectively building scientific problem situations, and imagining the relations between observable contexts and non-observable concepts, changed everyday practices into a scientific narrative and engagement. It is argued that these unique pedagogical characteristics promote scientific narratives in play-based settings. An approach, named as Scientific Playworlds, is presented as a possible model for teaching science in play-based settings.

Optoelectronics circuits manual

CERN Document Server

Marston, R M

2013-01-01

Optoelectronics Circuits Manual covers the basic principles and characteristics of the best known types of optoelectronic devices, as well as the practical applications of many of these optoelectronic devices. The book describes LED display circuits and LED dot- and bar-graph circuits and discusses the applications of seven-segment displays, light-sensitive devices, optocouplers, and a variety of brightness control techniques. The text also tackles infrared light-beam alarms and multichannel remote control systems. The book provides practical user information and circuitry and illustrations.

Perspectives on Open Science and scientific data sharing:an interdisciplinary workshop.

Science.gov (United States)

Destro Bisol, Giovanni; Anagnostou, Paolo; Capocasa, Marco; Bencivelli, Silvia; Cerroni, Andrea; Contreras, Jorge; Enke, Neela; Fantini, Bernardino; Greco, Pietro; Heeney, Catherine; Luzi, Daniela; Manghi, Paolo; Mascalzoni, Deborah; Molloy, Jennifer; Parenti, Fabio; Wicherts, Jelte; Boulton, Geoffrey

2014-01-01

Looking at Open Science and Open Data from a broad perspective. This is the idea behind "Scientific data sharing: an interdisciplinary workshop", an initiative designed to foster dialogue between scholars from different scientific domains which was organized by the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia in Anagni, Italy, 2-4 September 2013.We here report summaries of the presentations and discussions at the meeting. They deal with four sets of issues: (i) setting a common framework, a general discussion of open data principles, values and opportunities; (ii) insights into scientific practices, a view of the way in which the open data movement is developing in a variety of scientific domains (biology, psychology, epidemiology and archaeology); (iii) a case study of human genomics, which was a trail-blazer in data sharing, and which encapsulates the tension that can occur between large-scale data sharing and one of the boundaries of openness, the protection of individual data; (iv) open science and the public, based on a round table discussion about the public communication of science and the societal implications of open science. There were three proposals for the planning of further interdisciplinary initiatives on open science. Firstly, there is a need to integrate top-down initiatives by governments, institutions and journals with bottom-up approaches from the scientific community. Secondly, more should be done to popularize the societal benefits of open science, not only in providing the evidence needed by citizens to draw their own conclusions on scientific issues that are of concern to them, but also explaining the direct benefits of data sharing in areas such as the control of infectious disease. Finally, introducing arguments from social sciences and humanities in the educational dissemination of open data may help students become more profoundly engaged with Open Science and look at science from a broader perspective.

From Islamicizing the Sciences to Strategizing for Muslims’ Scientific Breakthrough

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RAFIU IBRAHIM ADEBAYO

2015-06-01

Full Text Available At inception, science and religion were seen as poles apart and so science was vehemently kicked against by religious leaders. Islam later came to bridge the gap between religion and science only to be later hijacked by the Western world and so science was rewritten from a purely materialist point of view; hence, experts in modern science became over-confident and arrogant to have relegated religion to the lowest ebb and looked down upon any knowledge which could not be scientifically proved. However attempts are being made to reconcile religion and science by Muslim reformers. These attempts are not without their shortcomings, hence the need for Islamization of the sciences for them to conform to the Islamic principle of unity of knowledge. However, the present researcher feels that there should be a step forward from the contemporary approaches to Islamicizing the sciences in form of colouring the Western scientific discoveries Islam, to making their own scientific breakthroughs, the type which immortalized Muslim scientists of the Islam’s golden ages. Without this, Muslims will continue to be mere consumers of the Western products. The strategy for the Ummah to achieve this is suggested in this paper.

Red Science: China's Scientific Capital and the Future of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arturo Salazar

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS produces the scientific and technological breakthroughs that place China among the major players in scientific innovation. However, the control that the Chinese government exerts over the Academy and the tradition of guanxi among its members prevent the CAS from take-off and securing a free environment to conduct original research. The article assesses the economic logic of scientific control and its effects within the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The paper’s aim is to derive to what extent the CAS will remain as China’s main provider of scientific innovation. The “national innovation systems” approach and the cultural traditions rooted in Confucianism are revised in detail to provide an accurate perspective. The paper concludes that the CAS’ international reputation as a center of scientific and technological innovation might be at stake unless the Chinese government makes some critical reforms.

Scientific conference at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rybakova, M.N.

1997-01-01

Review of reports at the scientific conference of the department of biomedical sciences of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, held in April, 1997, on the topic of Novel techniques in biomedical studied. Attention was paid to the creation and uses of rapid diagnosis instruments in micro devices, to the development of electron-photon, immuno enzyme and radionuclide techniques and their realization in automatic special equipment. Delay of native industry in creation of scientific-capacious highly efficient products, especially in the field of radiodiagnosis and instruments for laboratory studies was marked

Developing a Scientific Virtue-Based Approach to Science Ethics Training.

Science.gov (United States)

Pennock, Robert T; O'Rourke, Michael

2017-02-01

Responsible conduct of research training typically includes only a subset of the issues that ought to be included in science ethics and sometimes makes ethics appear to be a set of externally imposed rules rather than something intrinsic to scientific practice. A new approach to science ethics training based upon Pennock's notion of the scientific virtues may help avoid such problems. This paper motivates and describes three implementations-theory-centered, exemplar-centered, and concept-centered-that we have developed in courses and workshops to introduce students to this scientific virtue-based approach.

Influence of Molecular Conformations and Microstructure on the Optoelectronic Properties of Conjugated Polymers

KAUST Repository

Botiz, Ioan; Stingelin, Natalie

2014-01-01

It is increasingly obvious that the molecular conformations and the long-range arrangement that conjugated polymers can adopt under various experimental conditions in bulk, solutions or thin films, significantly impact their resulting optoelectronic properties. As a consequence, the functionalities and efficiencies of resulting organic devices, such as field-effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, or photovoltaic cells, also dramatically change due to the close structure/property relationship. A range of structure/optoelectronic properties relationships have been investigated over the last few years using various experimental and theoretical methods, and, further, interesting correlations are continuously revealed by the scientific community. In this review, we discuss the latest findings related to the structure/optoelectronic properties interrelationships that exist in organic devices fabricated with conjugated polymers in terms of charge mobility, absorption, photoluminescence, as well as photovoltaic properties. © 2014 by the authors.

Influence of Molecular Conformations and Microstructure on the Optoelectronic Properties of Conjugated Polymers

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Ioan Botiz

2014-03-01

Full Text Available It is increasingly obvious that the molecular conformations and the long-range arrangement that conjugated polymers can adopt under various experimental conditions in bulk, solutions or thin films, significantly impact their resulting optoelectronic properties. As a consequence, the functionalities and efficiencies of resulting organic devices, such as field-effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, or photovoltaic cells, also dramatically change due to the close structure/property relationship. A range of structure/optoelectronic properties relationships have been investigated over the last few years using various experimental and theoretical methods, and, further, interesting correlations are continuously revealed by the scientific community. In this review, we discuss the latest findings related to the structure/optoelectronic properties interrelationships that exist in organic devices fabricated with conjugated polymers in terms of charge mobility, absorption, photoluminescence, as well as photovoltaic properties.

Influence of Molecular Conformations and Microstructure on the Optoelectronic Properties of Conjugated Polymers

KAUST Repository

Botiz, Ioan

2014-03-19

It is increasingly obvious that the molecular conformations and the long-range arrangement that conjugated polymers can adopt under various experimental conditions in bulk, solutions or thin films, significantly impact their resulting optoelectronic properties. As a consequence, the functionalities and efficiencies of resulting organic devices, such as field-effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, or photovoltaic cells, also dramatically change due to the close structure/property relationship. A range of structure/optoelectronic properties relationships have been investigated over the last few years using various experimental and theoretical methods, and, further, interesting correlations are continuously revealed by the scientific community. In this review, we discuss the latest findings related to the structure/optoelectronic properties interrelationships that exist in organic devices fabricated with conjugated polymers in terms of charge mobility, absorption, photoluminescence, as well as photovoltaic properties. © 2014 by the authors.

What Constitutes Science and Scientific Evidence: Roles of Null Hypothesis Testing

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Chang, Mark

2017-01-01

We briefly discuss the philosophical basis of science, causality, and scientific evidence, by introducing the hidden but most fundamental principle of science: the similarity principle. The principle's use in scientific discovery is illustrated with Simpson's paradox and other examples. In discussing the value of null hypothesis statistical…

A science confidence gap: Education, trust in scientific methods, and trust in scientific institutions in the United States, 2014.

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Achterberg, Peter; de Koster, Willem; van der Waal, Jeroen

2017-08-01

Following up on suggestions that attitudes toward science are multi-dimensional, we analyze nationally representative survey data collected in the United States in 2014 ( N = 2006), and demonstrate the existence of a science confidence gap: some people place great trust in scientific methods and principles, but simultaneously distrust scientific institutions. This science confidence gap is strongly associated with level of education: it is larger among the less educated than among the more educated. We investigate explanations for these educational differences. Whereas hypotheses deduced from reflexive-modernization theory do not pass the test, those derived from theorizing on the role of anomie are corroborated. The less educated are more anomic (they have more modernity-induced cultural discontents), which not only underlies their distrust in scientific institutions, but also fuels their trust in scientific methods and principles. This explains why this science confidence gap is most pronounced among the less educated.

Scientific Literacy and Student Attitudes: Perspectives from PISA 2006 science

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Bybee, Rodger; McCrae, Barry

2011-01-01

International assessments provide important knowledge about science education and help inform decisions about policies, programmes, and practices in participating countries. In 2006, science was the primary domain for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), supported by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Compared to the school curriculum orientation of Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), PISA provides a perspective that emphasises the application of knowledge to science and technology-related life situations. The orientation of PISA includes both knowledge and attitudes as these contribute to students' competencies that are central to scientific literacy. In addition to students' knowledge and competencies, the 2006 PISA survey gathered data on students' interest in science, support for scientific enquiry, and responsibility towards resources and environments. The survey used both a non-contextualised student questionnaire and contextualised questions. The latter is an innovative approach which embedded attitudinal questions at the conclusion of about two-thirds of the test units. The results presented in this article make connections between students' attitudes and interests in science and scientific literacy.

Improving Scientific Voice in the Science Communication Center at UT Knoxville

Science.gov (United States)

Hirst, Russel

2013-01-01

Many science students believe that scientific writing is most impressive (and most professionally acceptable) when impersonal, dense, complex, and packed with jargon. In particular, they have the idea that legitimate scientific writing must suppress the subjectivity of the human voice. But science students can mature into excellent writers whose…

Science Teaching as Educational Interrogation of Scientific Research

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Ginev, Dimitri

2013-01-01

The main argument of this article is that science teaching based on a pedagogy of questions is to be modeled on a hermeneutic conception of scientific research as a process of the constitution of texts. This process is spelled out in terms of hermeneutic phenomenology. A text constituted by scientific practices is at once united by a hermeneutic…

Science teacher candidates' perceptions about roles and nature of scientific models

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Yenilmez Turkoglu, Ayse; Oztekin, Ceren

2016-05-01

Background: Scientific models have important roles in science and science education. For scientists, they provide a means for generating new knowledge or function as an accessible summary of scientific studies. In science education, on the other hand, they are accessible representations of abstract concepts, and are also organizational frameworks to teach and learn inaccessible facts. As being indispensable parts of learning and doing science, use of scientific models in science classes should be reinforced. At this point, uncovering pre-service science teachers' (PSTs) understandings of scientific models are of great importance since they will design and conduct teaching situations for their students. Purpose: The study aimed to provide an answer to the research question: What understandings do PSTs possess about scientific models? Sample: The sample of the study consisted of 14 PSTs enrolled in an Elementary Science Education program in a public university in Ankara, Turkey. Design and methods: Data were collected by using an open-item instrument and semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed by using qualitative data analysis methods. Results: Findings showed that PSTs held fragmented views of models by having informed views in some aspects while having naïve views on others. That is, although they displayed a constructivist orientation by acknowledging the presence of multiple models for the same phenomenon depending on scientists' perspectives or creativity involved in the production of scientific knowledge, PSTs also expressed logical positivist views by believing that models should be close to the real phenomena that they represent. Findings further revealed that PSTs generally conceptualized models' materialistic uses, yet they did not think much about their theoretical and conceptual uses. It was observed that roles like reifying and visualizing were overestimated and models were dominantly characterized as three-dimensional representations

Science and Scientific Curiosity in Pre-school—The teacher's point of view

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Spektor-Levy, Ornit; Kesner Baruch, Yael; Mevarech, Zemira

2013-09-01

Nowadays, early science education is well-accepted by researchers, education professionals and policy makers. Overall, teachers' attitudes and conceptions toward the science subject domain and science education influence their ways of teaching and engagement. However, there is a lack of research regarding factors that affect this engagement in pre-school years. The main assumption of this study is that teachers' attitudes regarding science in pre-school can shape children's engagement in science and develop their scientific curiosity. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to investigate the attitudes of pre-school teachers toward engaging in science and to explore their views about the nature of curiosity: who is a curious child and how can a child's natural curiosity be fostered? An extensive survey was conducted among 146 pre-school teachers by employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Results indicate that most of the participants believe that scientific education should begin in early childhood; very young children can investigate and take part in a process of inquiry; and scientific activities in pre-school can influence children's long-term attitudes toward science. Despite these views, most participants felt they did not possess sufficient scientific knowledge. Furthermore, participants expressed diverse opinions when asked to identify what constitutes curiosity, how the curious child can be identified and how a child's curiosity can be fostered. The research findings carry significant implications regarding how to implement scientific activities in pre-school, and how to encourage pre-school teachers to engage children in scientific activities in a way that will nurture their natural curiosity.

Realism without truth: a review of Giere's science without laws and scientific perspectivism.

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Hackenberg, Timothy D

2009-05-01

An increasingly popular view among philosophers of science is that of science as action-as the collective activity of scientists working in socially-coordinated communities. Scientists are seen not as dispassionate pursuers of Truth, but as active participants in a social enterprise, and science is viewed on a continuum with other human activities. When taken to an extreme, the science-as-social-process view can be taken to imply that science is no different from any other human activity, and therefore can make no privileged claims about its knowledge of the world. Such extreme views are normally contrasted with equally extreme views of classical science, as uncovering Universal Truth. In Science Without Laws and Scientific Perspectivism, Giere outlines an approach to understanding science that finds a middle ground between these extremes. He acknowledges that science occurs in a social and historical context, and that scientific models are constructions designed and created to serve human ends. At the same time, however, scientific models correspond to parts of the world in ways that can legitimately be termed objective. Giere's position, perspectival realism, shares important common ground with Skinner's writings on science, some of which are explored in this review. Perhaps most fundamentally, Giere shares with Skinner the view that science itself is amenable to scientific inquiry: scientific principles can and should be brought to bear on the process of science. The two approaches offer different but complementary perspectives on the nature of science, both of which are needed in a comprehensive understanding of science.

REALISM WITHOUT TRUTH: A REVIEW OF GIERE'S SCIENCE WITHOUT LAWS AND SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVISM

Science.gov (United States)

Hackenberg, Timothy D

2009-01-01

An increasingly popular view among philosophers of science is that of science as action—as the collective activity of scientists working in socially-coordinated communities. Scientists are seen not as dispassionate pursuers of Truth, but as active participants in a social enterprise, and science is viewed on a continuum with other human activities. When taken to an extreme, the science-as-social-process view can be taken to imply that science is no different from any other human activity, and therefore can make no privileged claims about its knowledge of the world. Such extreme views are normally contrasted with equally extreme views of classical science, as uncovering Universal Truth. In Science Without Laws and Scientific Perspectivism, Giere outlines an approach to understanding science that finds a middle ground between these extremes. He acknowledges that science occurs in a social and historical context, and that scientific models are constructions designed and created to serve human ends. At the same time, however, scientific models correspond to parts of the world in ways that can legitimately be termed objective. Giere's position, perspectival realism, shares important common ground with Skinner's writings on science, some of which are explored in this review. Perhaps most fundamentally, Giere shares with Skinner the view that science itself is amenable to scientific inquiry: scientific principles can and should be brought to bear on the process of science. The two approaches offer different but complementary perspectives on the nature of science, both of which are needed in a comprehensive understanding of science. PMID:19949495

Analysis According to Certain Variables of Scientific Literacy among Gifted Students That Participate in Scientific Activities at Science and Art Centers

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Kömek, Emre; Yagiz, Dursun; Kurt, Murat

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze scientific literacy levels relevant to science and technology classes among gifted students that participate in scientific activities at science and art centers. This study investigated whether there was a significant difference in scientific literacy levels among gifted students according to the areas of…

The role by scientific publications in science communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha Fabbri

2007-03-01

Full Text Available In their contributions to this special issue, the British science writer Jon Turney and the American scholar Bruce Lewenstein discuss the validity of the book as a means for science communication in the era of the Internet, whereas the article by Vittorio Bo deals with scientific publishing in a broader sense.

Social sciences, scientific research, higher education and social developments - An Albanian inside of dialectics and structured scientific research, in social sciences

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Nada Kallçiu

2013-01-01

At first this will involve the policy makers at the central level, like the Ministry of Education and Sciences and the main research actors in the public and in the private sector. The criteria of the geographical and the subjects coverage has been also used in order to be able to present a public institutions of the higher education and research but even the enterprises that act in the research area are mainly focusing to the integration of these two systems which have been working separately for a long period of time and that must become efficient in order to adapt to the conditions of a country that has limited financial resources. This article is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific research in Albania, focusing in defining the priority areas for the research in social sciences. The information about the higher education and the potential problems that it faces, is based on a big number of research institutions, selected based on their involvement in scientific research in social sciences. This article brings into evidence the fact that in order to establish a stable and effective infrastructure in scientific research in Albania, is important to work in different directions. A successful way to increase the efficasity through the elements of the “innovative system” is by working with organizations that work in specific sectors of the economy, aiming for a possible cooperation in scientific search, for an important social contribution.

Recent advances in flexible and wearable organic optoelectronic devices

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Zhu, Hong; Shen, Yang; Li, Yanqing; Tang, Jianxin

2018-01-01

Flexible and wearable optoelectronic devices have been developing to a new stage due to their unique capacity for the possibility of a variety of wearable intelligent electronics, including bendable smartphones, foldable touch screens and antennas, paper-like displays, and curved and flexible solid-state lighting devices. Before extensive commercial applications, some issues still have to be solved for flexible and wearable optoelectronic devices. In this regard, this review concludes the newly emerging flexible substrate materials, transparent conductive electrodes, device architectures and light manipulation methods. Examples of these components applied for various kinds of devices are also summarized. Finally, perspectives about the bright future of flexible and wearable electronic devices are proposed. Project supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2016YFB0400700).

Legal and scientific scrutiny of forensic 'sciences' and 'experts'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metz, H.O.E.

2002-01-01

Full text: Traditional areas of forensic science, such as, handwriting and fingerprint examinations and the newer sciences such as molecular biology are increasingly being scrutinized and challenged by the legal and scientific communities. These older forensic disciplines are targets for critics and skeptics as they are not founded on the traditional sciences but have rather an empirical basis and are supported by what may be considered quasi-validated data. This paper discusses in broad terms the basis of these legal and scientific attitudes and the various solutions to overcoming these negative perceptions. Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976; German physicist) 'An Expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject and who manages to avoid them'. (author)

The Acquisition of Scientific Knowledge via Critical Thinking: A Philosophical Approach to Science Education

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Talavera, Isidoro

2016-01-01

There is a gap between the facts learned in a science course and the higher-cognitive skills of analysis and evaluation necessary for students to secure scientific knowledge and scientific habits of mind. Teaching science is not just about how we do science (i.e., focusing on just "accumulating undigested facts and scientific definitions and…

Organic optoelectronics

CERN Document Server

Hu, Wenping; Gong, Xiong; Zhan, Xiaowei; Fu, Hongbing; Bjornholm, Thomas

2012-01-01

Written by internationally recognized experts in the field with academic as well as industrial experience, this book concisely yet systematically covers all aspects of the topic.The monograph focuses on the optoelectronic behavior of organic solids and their application in new optoelectronic devices. It covers organic electroluminescent materials and devices, organic photonics, materials and devices, as well as organic solids in photo absorption and energy conversion. Much emphasis is laid on the preparation of functional materials and the fabrication of devices, from materials synthesis a

Perspectives of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge and Science Education: a study of Education Journals

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Fernanda Aparecida Meglhioratti

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Despite the fact that Science Teaching emphasizes the importance of researches in Epistemology and History of Science and also covers social aspects of the scientific construction, there are still relatively very few studies which are systematically based on perspectives from the Sociology of Science or from the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge. In this article, it has been outlined a brief history of the sociological perspectives of scientific knowledge, characterizing them as differentiationist, antidifferentiationist and tranversalist. Then, a bibliographical study was developed in journals Qualis A1 and A2 in the area of “Teaching” of CAPES, with emphasis in Science Teaching, from 2007 to 2016, aiming to understand how the sociological perspectives are present in science education. The search for articles which articulate sociological aspects and Science Education was done through use of search engines emerging from the accomplished historic, among them: Sociology of Science, Sociology of Scientific Knowledge, Ethnography, Laboratory Studies, Strong Program, Scientific Fields, Scientific Ethos, Actor-Network Theory, Social and Technical Networks, Latour, Bloor, Merton and Bourdieu. Through this research, we have identified 46 articles which have approaches with the subject. The articles were investigated by Content Analysis and were organized in the units of analysis: 1 Foundations of the sociology of knowledge; 2 Scientific Ethos; 3 Science Working System; 4 Sociogenesis of knowledge; 5 Strong Program of Sociology of Knowledge; 6 Laboratory studies and scientific practice; 7 Actor-Network Theory; 8 Bourdieusian Rationale; 9 Non-Bourdieusian tranversalist approaches; 10 Notes regarding the Sociology of Science. The units of analysis with the greatest number of articles were "Laboratory Studies and Scientific Practice" and "Actor-Network Theory", both closer to an antidifferentiationist perspective of the sociology of science, in which

Telemedicine optoelectronic biomedical data processing system

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Prosolovska, Vita V.

2010-08-01

The telemedicine optoelectronic biomedical data processing system is created to share medical information for the control of health rights and timely and rapid response to crisis. The system includes the main blocks: bioprocessor, analog-digital converter biomedical images, optoelectronic module for image processing, optoelectronic module for parallel recording and storage of biomedical imaging and matrix screen display of biomedical images. Rated temporal characteristics of the blocks defined by a particular triggering optoelectronic couple in analog-digital converters and time imaging for matrix screen. The element base for hardware implementation of the developed matrix screen is integrated optoelectronic couples produced by selective epitaxy.

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Scientific Literacy and Self-Efficacy in Teaching Science

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Al Sultan, Adam; Henson, Harvey, Jr.; Fadde, Peter J.

2018-01-01

Many educators and educational institutions worldwide have agreed that the main goal of science education is to produce a scientifically literate community. Science teachers are key to the achievement of scientific literacy at all levels of education because of the essential role they play in preparing scientifically literate individuals. Studies…

Proceedings of the thirty fifth international conference on contemporary trends in optics and optoelectronics: conference digest - extended abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

Optics and optoelectronics are indispensable in all spheres of human activity, ranging from day to day needs to advanced scientific and technological pursuits and their applications for the benefit of the society. This conference covers the following topics: adaptive optics, biomedical optics and imaging, classical and quantum optics, fibre optics, optics for space applications, optical metrology and NDT, optical information processing, optical and optoelectronic materials. Papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately

Changes in Students' Views about Nature of Scientific Inquiry at a Science Camp

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Leblebicioglu, G.; Metin, D.; Capkinoglu, E.; Cetin, P. S.; Eroglu Dogan, E.; Schwartz, R.

2017-12-01

Although nature of science (NOS) and nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI) are related to each other, they are differentiated as NOS is being more related to the product of scientific inquiry (SI) which is scientific knowledge whereas NOSI is more related to the process of SI (Schwartz et al. 2008). Lederman et al. (Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65-8, 2014) determined eight NOSI aspects for K-16 context. In this study, a science camp was conducted to teach scientific inquiry (SI) and NOSI to 24 6th and 7th graders (16 girls and 8 boys). The core of the program was guided inquiry in nature. The children working in small groups under guidance of science advisors conducted four guided-inquiries in the nature in morning sessions on nearby plants, animals, water, and soil. NOSI aspects were made explicit during and at the end of each inquiry session. Views about scientific inquiry (VASI) (Lederman et al. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65-8, 2014) questionnaire was applied as pre- and post-test. The results of the study showed that children developed in all eight NOSI aspects, but higher developments were observed in "scientific investigations all begin with a question" and "there is no single scientific method," and "explanations are developed from data and what is already known" aspects. It was concluded that the science camp program was effective in teaching NOSI.

Fluorene-based macromolecular nanostructures and nanomaterials for organic (opto)electronics.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Ling-Hai; Yang, Su-Hui; Lin, Jin-Yi; Yi, Ming-Dong; Huang, Wei

2013-10-13

Nanotechnology not only opens up the realm of nanoelectronics and nanophotonics, but also upgrades organic thin-film electronics and optoelectronics. In this review, we introduce polymer semiconductors and plastic electronics briefly, followed by various top-down and bottom-up nano approaches to organic electronics. Subsequently, we highlight the progress in polyfluorene-based nanoparticles and nanowires (nanofibres), their tunable optoelectronic properties as well as their applications in polymer light-emitting devices, solar cells, field-effect transistors, photodetectors, lasers, optical waveguides and others. Finally, an outlook is given with regard to four-element complex devices via organic nanotechnology and molecular manufacturing that will spread to areas such as organic mechatronics in the framework of robotic-directed science and technology.

Using Deep-Sea Scientific Drilling to Enhance Ocean Science Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Passow, Michael; Cooper, Sharon; Kurtz, Nicole; Burgio, Marion; Cicconi, Alessia

2017-04-01

Beginning with confirmation of sea floor spreading in Leg 3 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project in 1968, scientific ocean drilling has provided much of the evidence supporting modern understanding of the Earth System, global climate changes, and many other important concepts. But for more than three decades, results of discoveries were published primarily in scientific journals and cruise volumes. On occasion, science journalists would write articles for the general public, but organized educational outreach efforts were rare. Starting about a decade ago, educators were included in the scientific party aboard the JOIDES Resolution. These "teachers-at-sea" developed formats to translate the technical and scientific activities into language understandable to students, teachers, and the public. Several "Schools of Rock" have enabled groups of teachers and informal science educators to experience what happens aboard the JOIDES Resolution. Over the past few years, educational outreach efforts based on scientific drilling expanded to create a large body of resources that promote Ocean Science Literacy. Partnerships between scientists and educators have produced a searchable database of inquiry-centered classroom and informal science activities. These are available for free through the JOIDES Resolution website, joidesresolution.org. Activities are aligned with the Ocean Literacy Principles (http://oceanliteracy.wp2.coexploration.org/) and Science Education Standards. In addition to a suite of lessons based on the science behind scientific drilling, participants have developed a range of educational resources that include graphic novels ("Tales of the Resolution" (http://joidesresolution.org/node/263) ; children's books ("Uncovering Earth's Secrets" and "Where the Wild Microbes Grow" http://joidesresolution.org/node/2998); posters, videos, and other materials. Cooper and Kurtz are currently overseeing improvements and revisions to the JR education website pages. The

Analysis of scientific production archival science in brazil: a literature review

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José Mauro Gouveia de Medeiros

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: review of the literature resulting from bibliographic survey about the scientific literature of archives in Brazil. Objective: to identify aspects of scientific literature of archival science, through bibliographical research, that aims to introduce the features of the archival science in Brazil. Methodology: Brazilian sites, databases and reference services were used as sources to identify 523 references. 15 texts were selected and analyzed with respect to authorship, affiliation, publication year, publication type, type and size of sources used, methodology, geographical range, results, among other aspects. Results: the scientific articles were the main object of study; the book was the most cited channel; the journal Arquivo & Administração and Encontro Nacional de Pesquisa em Ciência da Informação have importance on the national scene; Rio de Janeiro is the geographic region with greater production; There has been growth in the number of works since the 2007 and increased collaboration. Conclusions: the interest in Archival Science literature is increasing significantly; there was diversification of the publishing channels, mainly works of events and articles since 2013; the Archival Science is consolidating in Brazil with an increasing production, collaboration and interest in its scientific literature.

Associations among attitudes, perceived difficulty of learning science, gender, parents' occupation and students' scientific competencies

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, ShaoHui; Wang, Zuhao; Liu, Xiufeng; Zhu, Lei

2017-11-01

This study investigated the associations among students' attitudes towards science, students' perceived difficulty of learning science, gender, parents' occupations and their scientific competencies. A sample of 1591 (720 males and 871 females) ninth-grade students from 29 junior high schools in Shanghai completed a scientific competency test and a Likert scale questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students' general interest of science, their parents' occupations and perceived difficulty of science significantly associated with their scientific competencies. However, there was no gender gap in terms of scientific competencies.

Science Teachers' Use of Mass Media to Address Socio-Scientific and Sustainability Issues

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Klosterman, Michelle L.; Sadler, Troy D.; Brown, Julie

2012-01-01

The currency, relevancy and changing nature of science makes it a natural topic of focus for mass media outlets. Science teachers and students can capitalize on this wealth of scientific information to explore socio-scientific and sustainability issues; however, without a lens on how those media are created and how representations of science are…

Field Science--the Nature and Utility of Scientific Fields.

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Casadevall, Arturo; Fang, Ferric C

2015-09-08

Fields are the fundamental sociological units of science. Despite their importance, relatively little has been written about their emergence, composition, structure, and function in the scientific enterprise. This essay considers the nature of fields and their important role in maintaining information and providing normative standards for scientific work. We suggest that fields arise naturally as a consequence of increasing information and scientific specialization. New fields tend to emerge as research communities grow, which may reflect biologically determined optima for the size of human groups. The benefits of fields include the organization of scientists with similar interests into communities that collectively define the next important problems to pursue. In the discipline of microbiology, fields are often organized on the basis of phylogenetic differences between microorganisms being studied. Although fields are essential to the proper functioning of science, their emergence can restrict access by outsiders and sustain dogmas that hinder progress. We suggest mechanisms to improve the functioning of scientific fields and to promote interdisciplinary interaction between fields. Copyright © 2015 Casadevall and Fang.

Fostering Scientific Literacy and Critical Thinking in Elementary Science Education

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Vieira, Rui Marques; Tenreiro-Vieira, Celina

2016-01-01

Scientific literacy (SL) and critical thinking (CT) are key components of science education aiming to prepare students to think and to function as responsible citizens in a world increasingly affected by science and technology (S&T). Therefore, students should be given opportunities in their science classes to be engaged in learning…

Pre-service Science Teachers’ Self-efficacy Beliefs to Teach Socio-scientific Issues

OpenAIRE

Muğaloğlu, Ebru Z.; Küçük, Zerrin Doğança; Güven, Devrim

2016-01-01

This study aims to examine self-efficacy of pre-service science teachers to teach socio-scientific issues (SSI). Twenty-three senior pre-service science teachers participated in the study. Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) was modified with an emphasis on SSI rather than scientific issues. The modified STEBI was applied to the participants before and after the intervention. As for the six-week intervention, three modules, which focused on understanding nature of SSI, teachin...

The Relationship in Biology between the Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Kremer, Kerstin; Specht, Christiane; Urhahne, Detlef; Mayer, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Informed understandings of nature of science and scientific inquiry are generally accepted goals of biology education. This article points out central features of scientific inquiry with relation to biology and the nature of science in general terms and focuses on the relationship of students' inquiry skills in biology and their beliefs on the…

Analyzing the Scientific Evolution of Social Work Using Science Mapping

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Martínez, Ma Angeles; Cobo, Manuel Jesús; Herrera, Manuel; Herrera-Viedma, Enrique

2015-01-01

Objectives: This article reports the first science mapping analysis of the social work field, which shows its conceptual structure and scientific evolution. Methods: Science Mapping Analysis Software Tool, a bibliometric science mapping tool based on co-word analysis and h-index, is applied using a sample of 18,794 research articles published from…

Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry as Illustrated in the Scientific Research on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Siu Ling; Kwan, Jenny; Hodson, Derek; Yung, Benny Hin Wai

2009-01-01

Interviews with key scientists who had conducted research on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), together with analysis of media reports, documentaries and other literature published during and after the SARS epidemic, revealed many interesting aspects of the nature of science (NOS) and scientific inquiry in contemporary scientific research in the rapidly growing field of molecular biology. The story of SARS illustrates vividly some NOS features advocated in the school science curriculum, including the tentative nature of scientific knowledge, theory-laden observation and interpretation, multiplicity of approaches adopted in scientific inquiry, the inter-relationship between science and technology, and the nexus of science, politics, social and cultural practices. The story also provided some insights into a number of NOS features less emphasised in the school curriculum—for example, the need to combine and coordinate expertise in a number of scientific fields, the intense competition between research groups (suspended during the SARS crisis), the significance of affective issues relating to intellectual honesty and the courage to challenge authority, the pressure of funding issues on the conduct of research and the ‘peace of mind’ of researchers, These less emphasised elements provided empirical evidence that NOS knowledge, like scientific knowledge itself, changes over time. They reflected the need for teachers and curriculum planners to revisit and reconsider whether the features of NOS currently included in the school science curriculum are fully reflective of the practice of science in the 21st century. In this paper, we also report on how we made use of extracts from the news reports and documentaries on SARS, together with episodes from the scientists’ interviews, to develop a multimedia instructional package for explicitly teaching the prominent features of NOS and scientific inquiry identified in the SARS research.

Organic optoelectronics:materials,devices and applications

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Yi; CUI Tian-hong

2005-01-01

The interest in organic materials for optoelectronic devices has been growing rapidly in the last two decades. This growth has been propelled by the exciting advances in organic thin films for displays, low-cost electronic circuits, etc. An increasing number of products employing organic electronic devices have become commercialized, which has stimulated the age of organic optoelectronics. This paper reviews the recent progress in organic optoelectronic technology. First, organic light emitting electroluminescent materials are introduced. Next, the three kinds of most important organic optoelectronic devices are summarized, including light emitting diode, organic photovoltaic cell, and photodetectors. The various applications of these devices are also reviewed and discussed in detail. Finally, the market and future development of optoelectronic devices are also demonstrated.

Pre-Service Science Teachers in Xinjiang "Scientific Inquiry" - Pedagogical Content Knowledge Research

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yufeng; Xiong, Jianwen

2012-01-01

Scientific inquiry is one of the science curriculum content, "Scientific inquiry" - Pedagogical Content Knowledge is the face of scientific inquiry and teachers - of course pedagogical content knowledge and scientific inquiry a teaching practice with more direct expertise. Pre-service teacher training phase of acquisition of knowledge is…

Changes in Participants' Scientific Attitudes and Epistemological Beliefs during an Astronomical Citizen Science Project

Science.gov (United States)

Price, C. Aaron; Lee, Hee-Sun

2013-01-01

Citizen science projects provide non-scientists with opportunities to take part in scientific research. While their contribution to scientific data collection has been well documented, there is limited research on how participation in citizen science projects may affect their scientific literacy. In this study, we investigated (1) how volunteers'…

Forensic Science--Where Scientific Methods Are Utilized to Fight the Crime.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Henry C.

1980-01-01

Describes various scientific techniques used to analyze physical evidence, ten areas of specialization in forensic science, courses needed by forensic scientists, and the future of forensic science. (DS)

Jim Gray on eScience: A Transformed Scientific Method

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 21; Issue 8. Jim Gray on eScience: A Transformed Scientific Method. Classics Volume 21 Issue 8 August 2016 pp 749-763. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/021/08/0749-0763. Abstract ...

From Scientific Innovation to Popularization of Science: a Theoretical Model TOC \\o "1-5" \\h \\z of Science Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana M. Medvedeva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Science communication is process of promotion of scientific ideas from a scientist through scientific community to muss public. Now this research area attracts a lot of attention from scientists. At the same time science communication suffers from the lack of theoretical framework, which can integrate it. In this article we try to contribute to the further theoretical integration of this area. Here we discuss a model of motion and transformation of ideas from the moment of their generation to the time of their appearance in public movies and literature. The model consists of 5 elements: phase of a scientist (generation of ideas; phase of scientific community (promotion of the ideas among scientists; phase of interested groups (communication with business and government, education of future scientists; phase of popular science (promotion of ideas into mass culture; phase of fiction (subject of communication becomes not scientific knowledge, but myth about science. Each phase is conceived as equal in value stage of existence of scientific ideas. There is a consistent interaction between all phases. The ideas can flow sequentially through all five phases. But independent communication among separate stages is also possible. Furthermore, the ideas can flow in both directions from scientific community to public and visa verse. As a result, scientific communication becomes a real dialogue with equal partners.

Optoelectronic Mounting Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Gene R.; Armendariz, Marcelino G.; Baca, Johnny R. F.; Bryan, Robert P.; Carson, Richard F.; Chu, Dahwey; Duckett, III, Edwin B.; McCormick, Frederick B.; Peterson, David W.; Peterson, Gary D.; Reber, Cathleen A.; Reysen, Bill H.

2004-10-05

An optoelectronic mounting structure is provided that may be used in conjunction with an optical transmitter, receiver or transceiver module. The mounting structure may be a flexible printed circuit board. Thermal vias or heat pipes in the head region may transmit heat from the mounting structure to the heat spreader. The heat spreader may provide mechanical rigidity or stiffness to the heat region. In another embodiment, an electrical contact and ground plane may pass along a surface of the head region so as to provide an electrical contact path to the optoelectronic devices and limit electromagnetic interference. In yet another embodiment, a window may be formed in the head region of the mounting structure so as to provide access to the heat spreader. Optoelectronic devices may be adapted to the heat spreader in such a manner that the devices are accessible through the window in the mounting structure.

A bird's-eye view of scientific trading: Dependency relations among fields of science

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yan, E.; Ding, Y.; Cronin, B.; Leydesdorff, L.

2013-01-01

We use a trading metaphor to study knowledge transfer in the sciences as well as the social sciences. The metaphor comprises four dimensions: (a) Discipline Self-dependence, (b) Knowledge Exports/Imports, (c) Scientific Trading Dynamics, and (d) Scientific Trading Impact. This framework is applied

Think Scientifically: Science Hidden in a Storybook

Science.gov (United States)

Van Norden, W. M.

2012-12-01

The Solar Dynamics Observatory's Think Scientifically (TS) program links literacy and science in the elementary classroom through an engaging storybook format and hands-on, inquiry based activities. TS consists of three illustrated storybooks, each addressing a different solar science concept. Accompanying each book is a hands-on science lesson plan that emphasizes the concepts addressed in the book, as well as math, reading, and language arts activities. Written by teachers, the books are designed to be extremely user-friendly and easy to implement in classroom instruction. The objectives of the program are: (1) to increase time spent on science in elementary school classrooms, (2) to assist educators in implementing hands-on science activities that reinforce concepts from the book, (3) to increase teacher capacity and comfort in teaching solar concepts, (4) to increase student awareness and interest in solar topics, especially students in under-served and under-represented communities. Our program meets these objectives through the National Science Standards-based content delivered in each story, the activities provided in the books, and the accompanying training that teachers are offered through the program.; ;

Guiding students towards sensemaking: teacher questions focused on integrating scientific practices with science content

Science.gov (United States)

Benedict-Chambers, Amanda; Kademian, Sylvie M.; Davis, Elizabeth A.; Palincsar, Annemarie Sullivan

2017-10-01

Science education reforms articulate a vision of ambitious science teaching where teachers engage students in sensemaking discussions and emphasise the integration of scientific practices with science content. Learning to teach in this way is complex, and there are few examples of sensemaking discussions in schools where textbook lessons and teacher-directed discussions are the norm. The purpose of this study was to characterise the questioning practices of an experienced teacher who taught a curricular unit enhanced with educative features that emphasised students' engagement in scientific practices integrated with science content. Analyses indicated the teacher asked four types of questions: explication questions, explanation questions, science concept questions, and scientific practice questions, and she used three questioning patterns including: (1) focusing students on scientific practices, which involved a sequence of questions to turn students back to the scientific practice; (2) supporting students in naming observed phenomena, which involved a sequence of questions to help students use scientific language; and (3) guiding students in sensemaking, which involved a sequence of questions to help students learn about scientific practices, describe evidence, and develop explanations. Although many of the discussions in this study were not yet student-centred, they provide an image of a teacher asking specific questions that move students towards reform-oriented instruction. Implications for classroom practice are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.

Science as a Common Language in a Globalised World - Scientific Collaboration Promoting Progress, Building Bridges

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva. Audiovisual Unit

2003-01-01

International scientific collaboration and co-operation can accelerate the progress of science, help build bridges between diverse societies, and foster the development of science and technology in non-industrialised countries. This is possible because science is a common language (although the progress of science is often influenced by non-scientific factors). I shall describe examples of the role that scientific collaboration can play in bridge building and in conflict resolution. I shall then present a proposal for "Bridge Building Fellowships" which would contribute to strengthening scientific capacity in developing countries by helping to stem the brain drain and providing a basis for collaborations with scientists in industrialised countries.

Scientific and technological information: analysis of periodic publications of information science

OpenAIRE

Mayara Cintya do Nascimento Vasconcelos; Gabriela Belmont de Farias

2017-01-01

The research analyzes the articles published in national scientific journals of the area of Information Science, classified with Qualis A1, having as parameter the term "scientific and technological information". It presents concepts about scientific and technological information and the processes that involve its uses, as well as scientific communication, information flows and sources of information. The methodology used is a descriptive study with a quantitative-qualitative approach, using ...

Sublime science: Teaching for scientific sublime experiences in middle school classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Cavanaugh, Shane

Due to a historical separation of cognition and emotion, the affective aspects of learning are often seen as trivial in comparison to the more 'essential' cognitive qualities - particularly in the domain of science. As a result of this disconnect, feelings of awe, wonder, and astonishment as well as appreciation have been largely ignored in the working lives of scientists. In turn, I believe that science education has not accurately portrayed the world of science to our students. In an effort to bring the affective qualities of science into the science classroom, I have drawn on past research in the field of aesthetic science teaching and learning as well as works by, Burke, Kant, and Dewey to explore a new construct I have called the "scientific sublime". Scientific sublime experiences represent a sophisticated treatment of the cognitive as well as affective qualities of science learning. The scientific sublime represents feelings of awe, wonder, and appreciation that come from a deep understanding. It is only through this understanding of a phenomenon that we can appreciate its true complexity and intricacies, and these understandings when mixed with the emotions of awe and reverence, are sublime. Scientific sublime experiences are an attempt at the re-integration of cognition and feeling. The goal of this research was twofold: to create and teach a curriculum that fosters scientific sublime experiences in middle school science classes, and to better understand how these experiences are manifested in students. In order to create an approach to teaching for scientific sublime experiences, it was first necessary for me to identify key characteristics of such an experience and a then to create a pedagogical approach, both of which are described in detail in the dissertation. This research was conducted as two studies in two different middle schools. My pedagogical approach was used to create and teach two five-week 7 th grade science units---one on weather

Open science: policy implications for the evolving phenomenon of user-led scientific innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria Stodden

2010-03-01

Full Text Available From contributions of astronomy data and DNA sequences to disease treatment research, scientific activity by non-scientists is a real and emergent phenomenon, and raising policy questions. This involvement in science can be understood as an issue of access to publications, code, and data that facilitates public engagement in the research process, thus appropriate policy to support the associated welfare enhancing benefits is essential. Current legal barriers to citizen participation can be alleviated by scientists’ use of the “Reproducible Research Standard,” thus making the literature, data, and code associated with scientific results accessible. The enterprise of science is undergoing deep and fundamental changes, particularly in how scientists obtain results and share their work: the promise of open research dissemination held by the Internet is gradually being fulfilled by scientists. Contributions to science from beyond the ivory tower are forcing a rethinking of traditional models of knowledge generation, evaluation, and communication. The notion of a scientific “peer” is blurred with the advent of lay contributions to science raising questions regarding the concepts of peer-review and recognition. New collaborative models are emerging around both open scientific software and the generation of scientific discoveries that bear a similarity to open innovation models in other settings. Public engagement in science can be understood as an issue of access to knowledge for public involvement in the research process, facilitated by appropriate policy to support the welfare enhancing benefits deriving from citizen-science.

Scientific research in the natural sciences in South Africa: A scientometric study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radhamany Sooryamoorthy

2013-07-01

Full Text Available As a leading producer of scientific publications on the African continent, South Africa has made remarkable progress. However, attempts are yet to be made to comprehend the empirical reality of scientific production in South Africa. One way to do this is to analyse specific science disciplines (such as the natural sciences, publication outputs and their features. A bibliometric study was undertaken of the publication trends and patterns of South African researchers in the natural sciences from 1975 to 2005 (choosing selected sample years, using the Thomson Reuters� Web of Knowledge database of selected indexed natural science journals. Characteristics of natural science publications, such as the trends over the years, were revealed as well as the collaborative dimensions involved in the production of scientific papers in these disciplines in South Africa. The connection between collaboration and publication, as well as between collaboration and sectors of authors was evident. The key findings of this study were that authors were based mostly in universities and were collaborative in their research endeavours. In addition, the participation of international collaborators has increased.

Thai Pre-Service Science Teachers' Struggles in Using Socio-Scientific Issues (SSIs) during Practicum

Science.gov (United States)

Pitiporntapin, Sasithep; Yutakom, Naruemon; Sadler, Troy D.

2016-01-01

In educational reform, teaching through socio-scientific issues (SSIs) is considered the best way to promote scientific literacy for citizenship as the goal of science teaching. To bring SSIs into the science classroom, Thai pre-service science teachers (PSTs) are expected to understand the concept of SSI-based teaching and to use it effectively…

Semiconductor opto-electronics

CERN Document Server

Moss, TS; Ellis, B

1972-01-01

Semiconductor Opto-Electronics focuses on opto-electronics, covering the basic physical phenomena and device behavior that arise from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and electrons in a solid. The first nine chapters of this book are devoted to theoretical topics, discussing the interaction of electromagnetic waves with solids, dispersion theory and absorption processes, magneto-optical effects, and non-linear phenomena. Theories of photo-effects and photo-detectors are treated in detail, including the theories of radiation generation and the behavior of semiconductor lasers a

Supporting Scientific Research with the Energy Sciences Network

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; Monga, Inder

2016-01-01

The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is a high-performance, unclassified national network built to support scientific research. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (SC) and managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, ESnet provides services to more than 40 DOE research sites, including the entire National Laboratory system, its supercomputing facilities, and its major scientific instruments. ESnet also connects to 140 research and commercial networks, permitting DOE-funded scientists to productively collaborate with partners around the world. ESnet Division Director (Interim) Inder Monga and ESnet Networking Engineer David Mitchell will present current ESnet projects and research activities which help support the HEP community. ESnet  helps support the CERN community by providing 100Gbps trans-Atlantic network transport for the LHCONE and LHCOPN services. ESnet is also actively engaged in researching connectivity to cloud computing resources for HEP workflows a...

Assessing the impact participation in science journalism activities has on scientific literacy among high school students

Science.gov (United States)

Farrar, Cathy

As part of the National Science Foundation Science Literacy through Science Journalism (SciJourn) research and development initiative (http://www.scijourn.org ; Polman, Saul, Newman, and Farrar, 2008) a quasi-experimental design was used to investigate what impact incorporating science journalism activities had on students' scientific literacy. Over the course of a school year students participated in a variety of activities culminating in the production of science news articles for Scijourner, a regional print and online high school science news magazine. Participating teachers and SciJourn team members collaboratively developed activities focused on five aspects of scientific literacy: placing information into context, recognizing relevance, evaluating factual accuracy, use of multiple credible sources and information seeking processes. This study details the development process for the Scientific Literacy Assessment (SLA) including validity and reliability studies, evaluates student scientific literacy using the SLA, examines student SLA responses to provide a description of high school students' scientific literacy, and outlines implications of the findings in relation to the National Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (2012) and classroom science teaching practices. Scientifically literate adults acting as experts in the assessment development phase informed the creation of a scoring guide that was used to analyze student responses. Experts tended to draw on both their understanding of science concepts and life experiences to formulate answers; paying close attention to scientific factual inaccuracies, sources of information, how new information fit into their view of science and society as well as targeted strategies for information seeking. Novices (i.e., students), in contrast, tended to ignore factual inaccuracies, showed little understanding about source credibility and suggested

Does the public communication of science influence scientific vocation? Results of a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Stekolschik, Gabriel; Draghi, Cecilia; Adaszko, Dan; Gallardo, Susana

2010-09-01

The purpose of this work was to determine if public communication of science and technology (PCST) has any influence on people's decision to become dedicated to scientific research. For this reason, a national survey involving 852 researchers from all disciplines was conducted in Argentina. The results showed that the factors affecting scientific vocation are many, and that, regardless of differences in gender, age or discipline, the greatest influence on the decision to go into scientific research is exerted by teachers. The analysis also demonstrated that different manifestations of PCST (science books, press articles, audiovisual material, and activities such as visits to science museums) play a significant role in awakening the vocation for science. From these results it may be stated that PCST--in addition to its function of informing and forming citizens--exerts a significant influence in fostering scientific vocation.

The importance of scientific papers publication: An approach to Animal Science Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno do Amaral Crispim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The scientific production, among the various university activities, deserve outstanding importance because it is through them that the knowledge produced in the university is diffused and democratized to the community/society. Thus, information and/or alternatives for many problems solution are raised, discussed and put into practice within the university that are to be used as future basis for the integrated and sustainable development of a community or region. Scientific writing is also the mirror of teacher and student performance in the inseparable activities of teaching, research and extension, translating the institutional force of own production. Increasingly, academic institutions understand the importance of their scientific production. And to the same disclosure is necessary to practice the scientific writing, which enables academic growth, professional development and growing within a institution. The activities in research fulfill the basic function of the University, such as knowledge generating institution, to meet the everyday demands of the society. According to the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC in 2013, Brazil is responsible for 2,7% of world scientific output, but still occupies the 58th place among the most innovative countries in the world. Demonstrating that we must strive so we can achieve the best places in the world rankings for the production of knowledge and Science The scientific production in the field of Animal Science is of great importance for improvement in logistics, efficiency and quality of local animal production. Based on this, research related to the area provide meaningful informations to management and production, genetic characterization of native and exotic breeds, thereby contributing significantly to increase production efficiency to farmers. Therefore, scientific production within the academic environment is essential and the existence of efficient dissemination teams so that

Organic Synthetic Advanced Materials for Optoelectronic and Energy Applications (at Center for Condensed Matter Sciences)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yen, Hung-Ju [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Chemistry Division

2016-11-14

These slides cover Hung-Ju Yen's recent work in the synthesis and structural design of functional materials, which were further used for optoelectronic and energy applications, such as lithium ion battery, solar cell, LED, electrochromic, and fuel cells. This was for a job interview at Center for Condensed Matter Sciences. The following topics are detailed: current challenges for lithium-ion batteries; graphene, graphene oxide and nanographene; nanographenes with various functional groups; fine tune d-spacing through organic synthesis: varying functional group; schematic view of LIBs; nanographenes as LIB anode; rate performance (charging-discharging); electrochromic technology; electrochromic materials; advantages of triphenylamine; requirement of electrochromic materials for practical applications; low driving voltage and long cycle life; increasing the electroactive sites by multi-step synthetic procedures; synthetic route to starburst triarylamine-based polyamide; electrochromism ranging from visible to NIR region; transmissive to black electrochromism; RGB and CMY electrochromism.

The pedagogical possibilities in the education of scientific research methodology in information science and the scientific objects of this field: durkheim approaches

OpenAIRE

Francisco das Chagas de Souza

2003-01-01

This article results of bibliographical, exploratory and qualitative research. Its argues that three approaches are gifts in the educational process of discipline of the Scientific Research Methodology in Information Science. They are the social facts of the Information Science, the types of the research and the social theory. It sees that the pedagogical possibilities of the education of Scientific Methodology in Information Science are related with the practical one of the writing which dep...

Demystifying Scientific Data ­ Using Earth Science to Teach the Scientific Method

Science.gov (United States)

Nassiff, P. J.; Santos, E. A.; Erickson, P. J.; Niell, A. E.

2006-12-01

The collection of large quantities of data and their subsequent analyses are important components of any scientific process, particularly at research institutes such as MIT's Haystack Observatory, where the collection and analyses of data is crucial to research efforts. Likewise, a recent study on science education concluded that students should be introduced to analyzing evidence and hypotheses, to critical thinking - including appropriate skepticism, to quantitative reasoning and the ability to make reasonable estimates, and to the role of uncertainty and error in science. In order to achieve this goal with grades 9-12 students and their instructors, we developed lesson plans and activities based on atmospheric science and geodetic research at Haystack Observatory. From the complex steps of experimental design, measurement, and data analysis, students and teachers will gain insight into the scientific research processes as they exist today. The use of these space weather and geodesy activities in classrooms will be discussed. Space Weather: After decades of data collection with multiple variables, space weather is about as complex an area of investigation as possible. Far from the passive relationship between the Sun and Earth often taught in the early grades, or the beautiful auroras discussed in high school, there are complex and powerful interactions between the Sun and Earth. In spite of these complexities, high school students can learn about space weather and the repercussions on our communication and power technologies. Starting from lessons on the basic method of observing space weather with incoherent scatter radar, and progressing to the use of simplified data sets, students will discover how space weather affects Earth over solar cycles and how severe solar activity is measured and affects the Earth over shorter time spans. They will see that even from complex, seemingly ambiguous data with many variables and unknowns, scientists can gain valuable

Investigation, study and practice of optoelectronic MOOCs

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Jianhua; Liu, Wei; Lei, Bing; Yao, Tianfu; Fu, Sihua

2017-08-01

MOOC(Massive Open Online Course) is a new teaching model that has been springing up since 2012. The typical characters are short teaching video, massive learners, flexible place and time to study, etc. Although MOOC is very popular now, opto-electronic MOOCs are not much enough to meet the need of online learners. In this paper, the phylogeny, the current situation and the characters of MOOC were described, the most famous MOOCs' websites, such as Udacity, Coursera, edX, Chinese College MOOC, xuetangx, were introduced, the opto-electronic MOOCs come from these famous MOOCs' website were investigated extensively and studied deeply, the "Application of Opto-electronic Technology MOOC" which was established by our group is introduced, and some conclusions are obtained. These conclusions can give some suggestions to the online learners who are interested in opto-electronic and the teachers who are teaching the opto-electronic curriculums. The preparation of "Opto-electronic Technology MOOC" is described in short.

Continuous Enhancement of Science Teachers' Knowledge and Skills through Scientific Lecturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Azevedo, Maria-Manuel; Duarte, Sofia

2018-01-01

Due to their importance in transmitting knowledge, teachers can play a crucial role in students' scientific literacy acquisition and motivation to respond to ongoing and future economic and societal challenges. However, to conduct this task effectively, teachers need to continuously improve their knowledge, and for that, a periodic update is mandatory for actualization of scientific knowledge and skills. This work is based on the outcomes of an educational study implemented with science teachers from Portuguese Basic and Secondary schools. We evaluated the effectiveness of a training activity consisting of lectures covering environmental and health sciences conducted by scientists/academic teachers. The outcomes of this educational study were evaluated using a survey with several questions about environmental and health scientific topics. Responses to the survey were analyzed before and after the implementation of the scientific lectures. Our results showed that Basic and Secondary schools teachers' knowledge was greatly improved after the lectures. The teachers under training felt that these scientific lectures have positively impacted their current knowledge and awareness on several up-to-date scientific topics, as well as their teaching methods. This study emphasizes the importance of continuing teacher education concerning knowledge and awareness about health and environmental education.

Frames of scientific evidence: How journalists represent the (un)certainty of molecular medicine in science television programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruhrmann, Georg; Guenther, Lars; Kessler, Sabrina Heike; Milde, Jutta

2015-08-01

For laypeople, media coverage of science on television is a gateway to scientific issues. Defining scientific evidence is central to the field of science, but there are still questions if news coverage of science represents scientific research findings as certain or uncertain. The framing approach is a suitable framework to classify different media representations; it is applied here to investigate the frames of scientific evidence in film clips (n=207) taken from science television programs. Molecular medicine is the domain of interest for this analysis, due to its high proportion of uncertain and conflicting research findings and risks. The results indicate that television clips vary in their coverage of scientific evidence of molecular medicine. Four frames were found: Scientific Uncertainty and Controversy, Scientifically Certain Data, Everyday Medical Risks, and Conflicting Scientific Evidence. They differ in their way of framing scientific evidence and risks of molecular medicine. © The Author(s) 2013.

Analysis of Scientific Production in Food Science from 2003 to 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrero-Bote, Vicente P; Moya-Anegón, Félix

2015-12-01

Food Science is an active discipline in scientific research. The improvements in Food Technology constitute a challenge for society to eradicate hunger, while achieving food safety. This work analyses the scientific production in Food Science of the 25 countries with the greatest output in this subject area in the period 2003 to 2013. The growth of China's production was striking, with the country becoming top-ranked by the end of the period. Some developing countries (such as Nigeria) achieved a major increase in production but reducing their proportion of scientific collaboration and their works' impact. There appear to be 2 international collaboration networks that get good results--one European and the other Pacific. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

Learning by doing? Prospective elementary teachers' developing understandings of scientific inquiry and science teaching and learning

Science.gov (United States)

Haefner, Leigh Ann; Zembal-Saul, Carla

This study examined prospective elementary teachers' learning about scientific inquiry in the context of an innovative life science course. Research questions included: (1) What do prospective elementary teachers learn about scientific inquiry within the context of the course? and (2) In what ways do their experiences engaging in science investigations and teaching inquiry-oriented science influence prospective elementary teachers' understanding of science and science learning and teaching? Eleven prospective elementary teachers participated in this qualitative, multi-participant case study. Constant comparative analysis strategies attempted to build abstractions and explanations across participants around the constructs of the study. Findings suggest that engaging in scientific inquiry supported the development more appropriate understandings of science and scientific inquiry, and that prospective teachers became more accepting of approaches to teaching science that encourage children's questions about science phenomena. Implications include careful consideration of learning experiences crafted for prospective elementary teachers to support the development of robust subject matter knowledge.

Perspectives on open science and scientific data sharing : An interdisciplinary workshop”

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Destro Bisol, G.; Anagnostou, P.; Capocasa, M.; Bencivelli, S.; Cerroni, A.; Contreras, J.; Enke, N.; Fantini, B.; Greco, P.; Heeney, C.; Luzi, D.; Manghi, P.; Mascalzoni, D.; Molloy, J.; Parenti, F.; Wicherts, J.M.; Boulton, G.

2014-01-01

Looking at Open Science and Open Data from a broad perspective. This is the idea behind “Scientific data sharing: an interdisciplinary workshop”, an initiative designed to foster dialogue between scholars from different scientific domains which was organized by the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia

Time, science and consensus: the different times involving scientific research, political decision and public opinion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Aparecido de

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This essay analyses the asymmetrical relationship between the time of scientific research and the time of the different segments interested in their results, focusing mainly on necessity to establish technical consensus about the fields of science that require rigorous investigations and texts. In the last years, civil society sectors - mainly scientific journalism, legislative power, and public opinion - has shown growing interest in participating of the decision making process that regulates science routes. In this study, we analyzed the decision making process of the Biosafety Law, as it allows research with embryonic stem cells in Brazil. The results allow us to conclude that this asymmetrical relationship between the different times (of science, scientific disclosure, public opinion, and public power contribute to the maturing of the dialog on scientific policies, as well as to the establishment of a consensus concerning science routes, which aims at the democratization of scientific work.

Scientific Opportunities to Reduce Risk in Nuclear Process Science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bredt, Paul R.; Felmy, Andrew R.; Gauglitz, Phillip A.; Poloski, Adam P.; Vienna, John D.; Moyer, Bruce A.; Hobbs, David; Wilmarth, B.; Mcilwain, Michael; Subramanian, K.; Krahn, Steve; Machara, N.

2009-01-01

Cleaning up the nation's nuclear weapons complex remains as one of the most technologically challenging and financially costly problems facing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Safety, cost, and technological challenges have often delayed progress in retrieval, processing, and final disposition of high-level waste, spent nuclear fuel, and challenging materials. Some of the issues result from the difficulty and complexity of the technological issues; others have programmatic bases, such as strategies that may provide undue focus on near-term goals or difficulty in developing and maintaining stakeholder confidence in the proposed solutions. We propose that independent basic fundamental science research, addressing the full cleanup life-cycle, offers an opportunity to help address these challenges by providing (1) scientific insight into the fundamental mechanisms involved in currently selected processing and disposal options, (2) a rational path to the development of alternative technologies should the primary options fail, (3) confidence that models that predict long-term performance of different disposal options are based upon the best available science, and (4) fundamental science discovery that enables transformational solutions to revolutionize the current baseline processes. Over the last 3 years, DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) has experienced a fundamental shift in philosophy. The mission focus of driving to closure has been replaced by one of enabling the long-term needs of DOE and the nation. Resolving new challenges, such as the disposition of DOE spent nuclear fuel, have been added to EM's responsibilities. In addition, the schedules for addressing several elements of the cleanup mission have been extended. As a result, EM's mission is no longer focused only on driving the current baselines to closure. Meeting the mission will require fundamental advances over at least a 30-year window if not longer as new challenges are added. The

Scientific Collaboration and Coauthors in Life Science Journal Articles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ya-hsiu Fu

2002-12-01

Full Text Available It is common to conduct collaborative research in science and technology. In particular, the development of big science, Internet, and globalization facilitated the scientific collaboration. This study used two databases, Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports as data sources. From the analysis of 320 papers in 16 journals in life sciences, the results showed that there is no significant correlation between the impact factor of journals and the number of authors. Moreover, there is no correlation of authors and the cited times, either. The number of authors and cited times in most papers are under 10 persons and 25 times, respectively.[Article content in Chinese

Whose Science and Whose Religion? Reflections on the Relations between Scientific and Religious Worldviews

Science.gov (United States)

Glennan, Stuart

2009-06-01

Arguments about the relationship between science and religion often proceed by identifying a set of essential characteristics of scientific and religious worldviews and arguing on the basis of these characteristics for claims about a relationship of conflict or compatibility between them. Such a strategy is doomed to failure because science, to some extent, and religion, to a much larger extent, are cultural phenomena that are too diverse in their expressions to be characterized in terms of a unified worldview. In this paper I follow a different strategy. Having offered a loose characterization of the nature of science, I pose five questions about specific areas where religious and scientific worldviews may conflict—questions about the nature of faith, the belief in a God or Gods, the authority of sacred texts, the relationship between scientific and religious conceptions of the mind/soul, and the relationship between scientific and religious understandings of moral behavior. My review of these questions will show that they cannot be answered unequivocally because there is no agreement amongst religious believers as to the meaning of important religious concepts. Thus, whether scientific and religious worldviews conflict depends essentially upon whose science and whose religion one is considering. In closing, I consider the implications of this conundrum for science education.

Science ethics education part II: changes in attitude toward scientific fraud among medical researchers after a short course in science ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Vuckovic-Dekic, L; Gavrilovic, D; Kezic, I; Bogdanovic, G; Brkic, S

2012-01-01

To determine the impact of the short science ethics courses on the knowledge of basic principles of responsible conduct of research (RCR), and on the attitude toward scientific fraud among young biomedical researchers. A total of 361 attendees of the course on science ethics answered a specially designed anonymous multiple- choice questionnaire before and after a one-day course in science ethics. The educational course consisted of 10 lectures: 1) Good scientific practice - basic principles; 2) Publication ethics; 3) Scientific fraud - fabrication, falsification, plagiarism; 4) Conflict of interests; 5) Underpublishing; 6) Mentorship; 7) Authorship; 8) Coauthorship; 9) False authorship; 10) Good scientific practice - ethical codex of science. In comparison to their answers before the course, a significantly higher (pscience ethics as sufficient after the course was completed. That the wrongdoers deserve severe punishment for all types of scientific fraud, including false authorship, thought significantly (pscience ethics had a great impact on the attendees, enlarging their knowledge of responsible conduct of research and changing their previous, somewhat opportunistic, behavior regarding the reluctance to react publicly and punish the wrongdoers.

Deformable paper origami optoelectronic devices

KAUST Repository

He, Jr-Hau

2017-01-19

Deformable optoelectronic devices are provided, including photodetectors, photodiodes, and photovoltaic cells. The devices can be made on a variety of paper substrates, and can include a plurality of fold segments in the paper substrate creating a deformable pattern. Thin electrode layers and semiconductor nanowire layers can be attached to the substrate, creating the optoelectronic device. The devices can be highly deformable, e.g. capable of undergoing strains of 500% or more, bending angles of 25° or more, and/or twist angles of 270° or more. Methods of making the deformable optoelectronic devices and methods of using, e.g. as a photodetector, are also provided.

Changes in Participants’ Scientific Attitudes and Epistemological Beliefs During an Astronomical Citizen Science Project

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Aaron

2012-01-01

Citizen science projects offer opportunities for non-scientists to take part in scientific research. While their contribution to scientific data collection has been well documented, there is limited research on changes that may occur to their volunteer participants. In this study, we investigated (1) how volunteers’ attitudes towards science and beliefs in the nature of science changed over six months of participation in an astronomy-themed citizen science project and (2) how the level of project participation accounted for these changes. To measure attitudes towards science and beliefs about the nature of science, identical pre- and post-tests were used. We used pre-test data from 1,375 participants and post-test data collected from 175 participants. Responses were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model. The pre-test sample was used to create the Rasch scales for the two scientific literacy measures. For the pre/post-test comparisons, data from those who completed both tests were used. Fourteen participants who took the pre/post-tests were interviewed. Results show that overall scientific attitudes did not change, p = .812. However, we did find significant changes related towards two scientific attitude items about science in the news (positive change; p self-efficacy (negative change, p scale did not change much and this change was not related to any of our recorded project activity variables. The interviews suggest that the social aspect of the project is important to participants and the change in self-efficacy is not due to a lowering of esteem but rather a greater appreciation for what they have yet to learn.

Preaching to the Scientifically Converted: Evaluating Inclusivity in Science Festival Audiences

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Eric B.; Jensen, Eric A.; Verbeke, Monae

2018-01-01

Scientific institutions are increasingly embracing values of inclusivity and public engagement, but how do these two dimensions intersect? Science festivals have rapidly expanded in recent years as an outgrowth of these values, aiming to engage and educate the public about scientific topics and research. While resources invested in public…

A former Romanian scientific society: The Society of Physical sciences (1890-1910

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

IAVORENCIUC GEORGE ANDREI

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The Society of Physical sciences (phisycs, chemistry and mineralogy has been an important Romanian scientific society since its establishment, in 1890 until the middle of the twentieth century. This paper seeks to provide an analysis of its activity in the first two decades of existence, a less studied period, namely how its enterprises contributed to the dissemination and spread of the latest scientific ideas within Romania’s culture. The society was founded at the initiative of some of the most proeminent Romanian scientists of that period and, until the end of the nineteenth century, it expanded its sphere of activity by including sections on mathemathics and natural history. Therefore, its activity, exemplified by public conferences, presentation of members’ personal scientific endeavors, intellectual debates or scientific missions, reflected the general development of physical sciences in Romania in that epoch. This research is based mostly on a close scrutiny of society’s scientific journal.

Scientific Literacy Matters: Using Literature to Meet Next Generation Science Standards and 21st Century Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cynthia Tomovic

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Scientific literacy matters. It matters because it is vitally important to the education and development of America’s children, tomorrow's workforce, and the keepers of our future. If the future of American individual decision making, engagement in civic and cultural affairs, and valuable contributions to economic development is to be protected, it is critical that American students become more scientifically literate than they are today. Today, most Americans, including students, are considered scientifically illiterate. Recognizing the need to develop and enhance scientific literacy (also known as science literacy, science educators have worked diligently at developing new science standards, new approaches to science teaching, and new techniques aimed at engaging students in the practice of science. In this article, the use of literature is discussed as one method to augment or supplement the teaching of science. In the context of making a literature selection, a new conceptual approach is proposed that includes attention to meeting the Next Generation Science Standards while being responsive to the importance of 21st Century Skills. Additionally, a Literary Assessment Tool is shared that demonstrates how science educators can evaluate a literary selection in terms of how well it will help them to enhance scientific literacy.

Zebrafish in Brazilian Science: Scientific Production, Impact, and Collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Gheno, Ediane Maria; Rosemberg, Denis Broock; Souza, Diogo Onofre; Calabró, Luciana

2016-06-01

By means of scientometric indicators, this study investigated the characteristics of scientific production and research collaboration involving zebrafish (Danio rerio) in Brazilian Science indexed by the Web of Science (WoS). Citation data were collected from the WoS and data regarding Impact Factor (IF) were gathered from journals in the Journal Citation Reports. Collaboration was evaluated according to coauthorship data, creating representative nets with VOSviewer. Zebrafish has attained remarkable importance as an experimental model organism in recent years and an increase in scientific production with zebrafish is observed in Brazil and around the world. The citation impact of the worldwide scientific production is superior when compared to the Brazilian scientific production. However, the citation impact of the Brazilian scientific production is consistently increasing. Brazil does not follow the international trends with regard to publication research fields. The state of Rio Grande do Sul has the greatest number of articles and the institution with the largest number of publications is Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. Journals' average IF is higher in Brazilian publications with international coauthorship, and around 90% of articles are collaborative. The Brazilian institutions presenting the greatest number of collaborations are Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rio Grande, and Universidade de São Paulo. These data indicate that Brazilian research using zebrafish presents a growth in terms of number of publications, citation impact, and collaborative work.

ESA's Planetary Science Archive: Preserve and present reliable scientific data sets

Science.gov (United States)

Besse, S.; Vallat, C.; Barthelemy, M.; Coia, D.; Costa, M.; De Marchi, G.; Fraga, D.; Grotheer, E.; Heather, D.; Lim, T.; Martinez, S.; Arviset, C.; Barbarisi, I.; Docasal, R.; Macfarlane, A.; Rios, C.; Saiz, J.; Vallejo, F.

2018-01-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) Planetary Science Archive (PSA) is undergoing a significant refactoring of all its components to improve the services provided to the scientific community and the public. The PSA supports ESA's missions exploring the Solar System by archiving scientific peer-reviewed observations as well as engineering data sets. This includes the Giotto, SMART-1, Huygens, Venus Express, Mars Express, Rosetta, Exomars 2016, Exomars RSP, BepiColombo, and JUICE missions. The PSA is offering a newly designed graphical user interface which is simultaneously meant to maximize the interaction with scientific observations and also minimise the efforts needed to download these scientific observations. The PSA still offers the same services as before (i.e., FTP, documentation, helpdesk, etc.). In addition, it will support the two formats of the Planetary Data System (i.e., PDS3 and PDS4), as well as providing new ways for searching the data products with specific metadata and geometrical parameters. As well as enhanced services, the PSA will also provide new services to improve the visualisation of data products and scientific content (e.g., spectra, etc.). Together with improved access to the spacecraft engineering data sets, the PSA will provide easier access to scientific data products that will help to maximize the science return of ESA's space missions.

IMPACT OF SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW ON MAN: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ike Odimegwu

outlines, therefore, the impact of science on man has moved in three stages: Physical .... of appreciation, understanding and action proper to the scientific mind. It refers ...... This has excluded chain reactions of the warheads that will follow not ...

Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing in Plasma Science

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, William

2005-03-01

Advanced computing is generally recognized to be an increasingly vital tool for accelerating progress in scientific research during the 21st Century. For example, the Department of Energy's ``Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing'' (SciDAC) Program was motivated in large measure by the fact that formidable scientific challenges in its research portfolio could best be addressed by utilizing the combination of the rapid advances in super-computing technology together with the emergence of effective new algorithms and computational methodologies. The imperative is to translate such progress into corresponding increases in the performance of the scientific codes used to model complex physical systems such as those encountered in high temperature plasma research. If properly validated against experimental measurements and analytic benchmarks, these codes can provide reliable predictive capability for the behavior of a broad range of complex natural and engineered systems. This talk reviews recent progress and future directions for advanced simulations with some illustrative examples taken from the plasma science applications area. Significant recent progress has been made in both particle and fluid simulations of fine-scale turbulence and large-scale dynamics, giving increasingly good agreement between experimental observations and computational modeling. This was made possible by the combination of access to powerful new computational resources together with innovative advances in analytic and computational methods for developing reduced descriptions of physics phenomena spanning a huge range in time and space scales. In particular, the plasma science community has made excellent progress in developing advanced codes for which computer run-time and problem size scale well with the number of processors on massively parallel machines (MPP's). A good example is the effective usage of the full power of multi-teraflop (multi-trillion floating point computations

Selling science 2.0: What scientific projects receive crowdfunding online?

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, Mike S; Metag, Julia; Feustle, Jessica; Herzog, Livia

2016-09-19

Crowdfunding has emerged as an additional source for financing research in recent years. The study at hand identifies and tests explanatory factors influencing the success of scientific crowdfunding projects by drawing on news value theory, the "reputation signaling" approach, and economic theories of online payment. A standardized content analysis of 371 projects on English- and German-language platforms reveals that each theory provides factors influencing crowdfunding success. It shows that projects presented on science-only crowdfunding platforms have a higher success rate. At the same time, projects are more likely to be successful if their presentation includes visualizations and humor, the lower their targeted funding is, the less personal data potential donors have to relinquish and the more interaction between researchers and donors is possible. This suggests that after donors decide to visit a scientific crowdfunding platform, factors unrelated to science matter more for subsequent funding decisions, raising questions about the potential and implications of crowdfunding science. © The Author(s) 2016.

Scientific production of Sports Science in Iran: A Scientometric Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yaminfirooz, Mousa; Siamian, Hasan; Jahani, Mohammad Ali; Yaminifirouz, Masoud

2014-06-01

Physical education and sports science is one of the branches of humanities. The purpose of this study is determining the quantitative and qualitative rate of progress in scientific Production of Iran's researcher in Web of Science. Research Methods is Scientometric survey and Statistical Society Includes 233 Documents From 1993 to 2012 are indexed in ISI. Results showed that the time of this study, Iranian researchers' published 233 documents in this base during this period of time which has been cited 1106(4.76 times on average). The H- index has also been 17. Iran's most scientific productions in sports science realm was indexed in 2010 with 57 documents and the least in 2000. By considering the numbers of citations and the obtained H- index, it can be said that the quality of Iranian's articles is rather acceptable but in comparison to prestigious universities and large number of professors and university students in this field, the quantity of outputted articles is very low.

The 'credibility paradox' in China's science communication: Views from scientific practitioners.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Joy Yueyue

2015-11-01

In contrast to increasing debates on China's rising status as a global scientific power, issues of China's science communication remain under-explored. Based on 21 in-depth interviews in three cities, this article examines Chinese scientists' accounts of the entangled web of influence which conditions the process of how scientific knowledge achieves (or fails to achieve) its civic authority. A main finding of this study is a 'credibility paradox' as a result of the over-politicisation of science and science communication in China. Respondents report that an absence of visible institutional endorsements renders them more public credibility and better communication outcomes. Thus, instead of exploiting formal channels of science communication, scientists interviewed were more keen to act as 'informal risk communicators' in grassroots and private events. Chinese scientists' perspectives on how to earn public support of their research sheds light on the nature and impact of a 'civic epistemology' in an authoritarian state. © The Author(s) 2015.

Engaging Pre-Service Teachers to Teach Science Contextually with Scientific Approach Instructional Video

Science.gov (United States)

Susantini, E.; Kurniasari, I.; Fauziah, A. N. M.; Prastowo, T.; Kholiq, A.; Rosdiana, L.

2018-01-01

Contextual teaching and learning/CTL presents new concepts in real-life experiences and situations where students can find out the meaningful relationship between abstract ideas and practical applications. Implementing contextual teaching by using scientific approach will foster teachers to find the constructive ways of delivering and organizing science content. This research developed an instructional video that represented a modeling of using a scientific approach in CTL. The aim of this research are to engage pre-service teachers in learning how to teach CTL and to show how pre-service teachers’ responses about learning how to teach CTL using an instructional video. The subjects of this research were ten pre-service teachers in Department of Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia. All subjects observed the instructional video which demonstrated contextual teaching and learning combined with the scientific approach as they completed a worksheet to analyze the video content. The results showed that pre-service teachers could learn to teach contextually as well as applying the scientific approach in science classroom through a modeling in the instructional video. They also responded that the instructional video could help them to learn to teach each component contextual teaching as well as scientific approach.

Photonic Structure-Integrated Two-Dimensional Material Optoelectronics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianjiao Wang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The rapid development and unique properties of two-dimensional (2D materials, such as graphene, phosphorene and transition metal dichalcogenides enable them to become intriguing candidates for future optoelectronic applications. To maximize the potential of 2D material-based optoelectronics, various photonic structures are integrated to form photonic structure/2D material hybrid systems so that the device performance can be manipulated in controllable ways. Here, we first introduce the photocurrent-generation mechanisms of 2D material-based optoelectronics and their performance. We then offer an overview and evaluation of the state-of-the-art of hybrid systems, where 2D material optoelectronics are integrated with photonic structures, especially plasmonic nanostructures, photonic waveguides and crystals. By combining with those photonic structures, the performance of 2D material optoelectronics can be further enhanced, and on the other side, a high-performance modulator can be achieved by electrostatically tuning 2D materials. Finally, 2D material-based photodetector can also become an efficient probe to learn the light-matter interactions of photonic structures. Those hybrid systems combine the advantages of 2D materials and photonic structures, providing further capacity for high-performance optoelectronics.

Scientific Opportunities to Reduce Risk in Nuclear Process Science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bredt, P.R.; Felmy, A.R.; Gauglitz, P.A.; Poloski, A.P.; Vienna, J.D.; Moyer, B.A.; Hobbs, D.; Wilmarth, B.; McIlwain, M.; Subramanian, K.; Krahn, S.; Machara, N.

2009-01-01

Cleaning up the nation's nuclear weapons complex remains as one of the most technologically challenging and financially costly problems facing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Safety, cost, and technological challenges have often delayed progress in retrieval, processing, and final disposition of high-level waste, spent nuclear fuel, and challenging materials. Some of the issues result from the difficulty and complexity of the technological issues; others have programmatic bases, such as strategies that may provide undue focus on near-term goals or difficulty in developing and maintaining stakeholder confidence in the proposed solutions. We propose that independent basic fundamental science research addressing the full cleanup life-cycle offers an opportunity to help address these challenges by providing 1) scientific insight into the fundamental mechanisms involved in currently selected processing and disposal options, 2) a rational path to the development of alternative technologies should the primary options fail, 3) confidence that models that predict long-term performance of different disposal options are based upon the best available science, and 4) fundamental science discovery that enables transformational solutions to revolutionize the current baseline processes. Over the last 3 years, DoE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) has experienced a fundamental shift in philosophy. The mission focus of driving to closure has been replaced by one of enabling the long-term needs of DOE and the nation. Resolving new challenges, such as the disposition of DOE spent nuclear fuel, have been added to EM's responsibilities. In addition, the schedules for addressing several elements of the cleanup mission have been extended. As a result, EM's mission is no longer focused only on driving the current baselines to closure. Meeting the mission will require fundamental advances over at least a 30-year window if not longer as new challenges are added. The overall

A science confidence gap : Education, trust in scientific methods, and trust in scientific institutions in the United States, 2014

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Achterberg, P.H.J.; De Koster, W.; van der Waal, J.

2017-01-01

Following up on suggestions that attitudes toward science are multi-dimensional, we analyze nationally representative survey data collected in the United States in 2014 (N = 2006), and demonstrate the existence of a science confidence gap: some people place great trust in scientific methods and

(Mis)understanding Science: The Problem with Scientific Breakthroughs.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, James P

2016-09-01

On Saturday morning, February 28, 1953, the mystery of heredity appeared secure. Humans hadn't the faintest idea of how genetic information was transmitted-how the uncanny resemblance between mother and daughter, grandfather and grandson was conveyed across generations. Yet, by that Saturday afternoon, two individuals, James Watson and Francis Crick, had glimpsed the solution to these mysteries. The story of Watson and Crick's great triumph has been told and retold and has rightly entered the pantheon of scientific legend. But Watson and Crick's breakthrough was just that: a rupture and dramatic discontinuity in human knowledge that solved a deep mystery, the likes of which occurs, perhaps, a couple of times each century. And that's the problem. The story is just so good and so irresistible that it has misled generations of scientists about what to expect regarding a life in science. And more damaging, the resulting breakthrough mentality misleads the public, the media, and society's decision-makers about how science really works, all to the detriment of scientific progress and our society's well-being. © 2016 The Hastings Center.

Pre-Service Science Teachers' Perception of the Principles of Scientific Research

Science.gov (United States)

Can, Sendil; Kaymakci, Güliz

2016-01-01

The purpose of the current study employing the survey method is to determine the pre-service science teachers' perceptions of the principles of scientific research and to investigate the effects of gender, grade level and the state of following scientific publications on their perceptions. The sampling of the current research is comprised of 125…

Cross-disciplinary Science and the Structure of Scientific Perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alrøe, Hugo Fjelsted; Noe, Egon

2014-01-01

of science, focusing on the synchronic structure of scientific perspectives across disciplines and not on the diachronic, historical structure of shifting perspectives within single disciplines that has been widely discussed since Kuhn and Feyerabend. We show what kinds of cross-disciplinary disagreement...

Optoelectronic line transmission an introduction to fibre optics

CERN Document Server

Tricker, Raymond L

2013-01-01

Optoelectronic Line Transmission: An Introduction to Fibre Optics presents a basic introduction as well as a background reference manual on fiber optic transmission. The book discusses the basic principles of optical line transmission; the advantages and disadvantages of optical fibers and optoelectronic signalling; the practical applications of optoelectronics; and the future of optoelectronics. The text also describes the theories of optical line transmission; fibers and cables for optical transmission; transmitters including light-emitting diodes and lasers; and receivers including photodi

Pre-service elementary teachers' understanding of scientific inquiry and its role in school science

Science.gov (United States)

Macaroglu, Esra

The purpose of this research was to explore pre-service elementary teachers' developing understanding of scientific inquiry within the context of their elementary science teaching and learning. More specifically, the study examined 24 pre-service elementary teachers' emerging understanding of (1) the nature of science and scientific inquiry; (2) the "place" of scientific inquiry in school science; and (3) the roles and responsibilities of teachers and students within an inquiry-based learning environment. Data sources consisted primarily of student-generated artifacts collected throughout the semester, including pre/post-philosophy statements and text-based materials collected from electronic dialogue journals. Individual data sources were open-coded to identify concepts and categories expressed by students. Cross-comparisons were conducted and patterns were identified. Assertions were formed with these patterns. Findings are hopeful in that they suggest pre-service teachers can develop a more contemporary view of scientific inquiry when immersed in a context that promotes this perspective. Not surprisingly, however, the prospective teachers encountered a number of barriers when attempting to translate their emerging ideas into practice. More research is needed to determine which teacher preparation experiences are most powerful in supporting pre-service teachers as they construct a framework for science teaching and learning that includes scientific inquiry as a central component.

This view of science: Stephen Jay Gould as historian of science and scientific historian, popular scientist and scientific popularizer.

Science.gov (United States)

Shermer, Michael B

2002-08-01

Science historian Ronald Numbers once remarked that the two most influential historians of science of the 20th century were Thomas Kuhn and Stephen Jay Gould. All historians are deeply familiar with Kuhn's work and influence, and most know of the remarkable impact Gould has had on evolutionary theory through both his professional and popular works. But little attention has been paid to the depth, scope, and importance of Gould's rôle as historian and philosopher of science, and his use of popular science exposition to reinforce old knowledge and generate new. This paper presents the results of an extensive quantitative content analysis of Gould's 22 books, 101 book reviews, 479 scientific papers, and 300 Natural History essays, in terms of their subject matter (Evolutionary Theory, History and Philosophy of Science, Natural History, Paleontology/Geology, Social Science/Commentary), and thematic dichotomies (Theory-Data, Time's Arrow-Time's Cycle, Adaptationism- Nonadaptationalism, Punctuationism-Gradualism, Contingency-Necessity). Special emphasis is placed on the interaction between the subjects and themata, how Gould has used the history of science to reinforce his evolutionary theory (and vice versa), and how his philosophy of science has influenced both his evolutionary theory and his historiography. That philosophy can best be summed up in a quotation from Charles Darwin, frequently cited by Gould: 'All observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service'. Gould followed Darwin's advice throughout his career, including his extensive writings on the history and philosophy of science.

The Integration of HIV and AIDS as a Socio-Scientific Issue in the Life Sciences Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Wolff, Eugenie; Mnguni, Lindelani

2015-01-01

The potential of science to transform lives has been highlighted by a number of scholars. This means that critical socio-scientific issues (SSIs) must be integrated into science curricula. Development of context-specific scientific knowledge and twenty-first-century learning skills in science education could be used to address SSIs such as…

Knowledge as a Cultural Product: From the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge to the Cultural Studies of Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Rabbani

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The main characteristic (feature of the sociology of knowledge and science is its emphasis on the culture and cultural analysis within the scientific and technological research. This study concerns with the study of two research fields in which new sociologists of science and technology have presented their cultural analysis. These two fields include: sociology of scientific knowledge and cultural studies of science.Sociology of scientific knowledge is the first school of thought which makes the content of scientific knowledge inclined to and compliant with the cultural and sociological analysis. In SSK, the main presupposition is that “the scientific knowledge is totally arbitrary.” Accordingly, the design and evaluation of scientific theories and claims are the consequence of social interests and cultural inclinations (trends, in a way that the scientific theories become a tool for the justification, legitimating, encouragement and contentment.At the early 1990s, with the rise of crisis (chaos within the explanations of sociology of scientific knowledge and a flood of criticism against it, the whole subjectivity of the field came to a standstill (reached an impasse and the initiatives in scientific research were replaced by different theoretical orientations like cultural studies. In contrast to the sociology of scientific knowledge, the cultural studies of science concerns with the rejection of “explanation” and, instead, focuses on the “meaning” and “understanding”. In other words, it has come back to an old dispute between explanatory and hermeneutic approaches and those  which pursue the regulative (legalistic comprehensiveness along the more positivistic lines.This emerging field emphasizes the issue that the uncertainty, instability, ambiguity (vagueness and difference must be given a more important role in sciences. Cultural studies of science gave rise to a change from the sociology of scientific knowledge to a new

Team Structure and Scientific Impact of "Big Science" Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauto, Giancarlo; Valentin, Finn; Jeppesen, Jacob

This paper summarizes preliminary results from a project studying how the organizational and cognitive features of research carried out in a Large Scale Research Facility (LSRF) affect scientific impact. The study is based on exhaustive bibliometric mapping of the scientific publications...... of the Neutron Science Department of Oak Ridge National Laboratories in 2006-2009. Given the collaborative nature of research carried out at LSRFs, it is important to understand how its organization affects scientific impact. Diversity of teams along the institutional and cognitive dimensions affects both...... opportunities for combination of knowledge and coordination costs. The way specific collaborative configurations strike this trade-offs between these opportunities and costs have notable effects on research performance. The findings of the paper show that i.) scientists combining affiliations to both...

Scientific literacy: Role of natural history studies in constructing understanding of the nature of science

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, Martha Victoria Rosett

2002-01-01

Scientific literacy is a central goal of science education. One purpose of this investigation was to reevaluate the definition of 'scientific literacy.' Another purpose was to develop and implement new curriculum involving natural history experiments with insects, with the goal of allowing students opportunities to construct an understanding of the nature of science, a crucial aspect of scientific literacy. This investigation was a qualitative case study. Methods of data collection included direct observations, analysis of sketches and written products created by students and class-room teachers, and analysis of audio tapes. Major findings include: (1) Scientific literacy is generally defined by lists of factual information which students are expected to master. When asked to evaluate their knowledge of selected items on a list published in a science education reform curriculum guide, 15 practicing scientists reported lack of familiarity or comprehension with many items, with the exception of items within their areas of specialization. (2) Genuine natural history experiments using insects can be incorporated into the existing school schedule and need not require any increase in the budget for science materials. (3) Students as young as first through third grade can learn the manual techniques and conceptual skills necessary for designing and conducting original natural history experiments, including manipulating the insects, making accurate sketches, developing test able hypotheses, recording data, and drawing conclusions from their data. Students were generally enthusiastic both about working with live insects and also conducting genuine science experiments. (4) Girls appear both positive and engaged with natural history activities and may be more likely than boys to follow through on designing, conducting, and reporting on independent experiments. The results imply that a valid definition of scientific literacy should be based on the ability to acquire scientific

The role by scientific publications in science communication (Italian original version

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha Fabbri

2007-03-01

Full Text Available In their contributions to this special issue, the British science writer Jon Turney and the American scholar Bruce Lewenstein discuss the validity of the book as a means for science communication in the era of the Internet, whereas the article by Vittorio Bo deals with scientific publishing in a broader sense.

The Development of a Scientific Motive: How Preschool Science and Home Play Reciprocally Contribute to Science Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, Judith; Fleer, Marilyn

2017-07-01

There are a growing number of studies that have examined science learning for preschool children. Some research has looked into children's home experiences and some has focused on transition, practices, routines, and traditions in preschool contexts. However, little attention has been directed to the relationship between children's learning experiences at preschool and at home, and how this relationship can assist in the development of science concepts relevant to everyday life. In drawing upon Hedegaard's (Learning and child development, 2002) cultural-historical conception of motives and Vygotsky's (The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky: problems of general psychology, 1987) theory of everyday and scientific concept formation, the study reported in this paper examines one child, Jimmy (4.2 years), and his learning experiences at home and at preschool. Data gathering featured the video recording of 4 weeks of Jimmy's learning in play at home and at preschool (38.5 h), parent questionnaire and interviews, and researcher and family gathered video observations of home play with his parents (3.5 h). Findings show how a scientific motive develops through playful everyday learning moments at home and at preschool when scientific play narratives and resources are aligned. The study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the science learning of young children and a conception of pedagogy that takes into account the reciprocity of home and school contexts for learning science.

Increasing Scientific Literacy about Global Climate Change through a Laboratory-Based Feminist Science Course

Science.gov (United States)

George, Linda A.; Brenner, Johanna

2010-01-01

The authors have developed and implemented a novel general education science course that examines scientific knowledge, laboratory experimentation, and science-related public policy through the lens of feminist science studies. They argue that this approach to teaching general science education is useful for improving science literacy. Goals for…

Lasers and optoelectronics fundamentals, devices and applications

CERN Document Server

Maini, Anil K

2013-01-01

With emphasis on the physical and engineering principles, this book provides a comprehensive and highly accessible treatment of modern lasers and optoelectronics. Divided into four parts, it explains laser fundamentals, types of lasers, laser electronics & optoelectronics, and laser applications, covering each of the topics in their entirety, from basic fundamentals to advanced concepts. Key features include: exploration of technological and application-related aspects of lasers and optoelectronics, detailing both existing and emerging applications in industry, medical diag

Science writing heurisitc: A writing-to-learn strategy and its effect on student's science achievement, science self-efficacy, and scientific epistemological view

Science.gov (United States)

Caukin, Nancy S.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine if employing the writing-to-learn strategy known as a "Science Writing Heuristic" would positively effect students' science achievement, science self-efficacy, and scientific epistemological view. The publications Science for All American, Blueprints for Reform: Project 2061 (AAAS, 1990; 1998) and National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996) strongly encourage science education that is student-centered, inquiry-based, active rather than passive, increases students' science literacy, and moves students towards a constructivist view of science. The capacity to learn, reason, problem solve, think critically and construct new knowledge can potentially be experienced through writing (Irmscher, 1979; Klein, 1999; Applebee, 1984). Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) is a tool for designing science experiences that move away from "cookbook" experiences and allows students to design experiences based on their own ideas and questions. This non-traditional classroom strategy focuses on claims that students make based on evidence, compares those claims with their peers and compares those claims with the established science community. Students engage in reflection, meaning making based on their experiences, and demonstrate those understandings in multiple ways (Hand, 2004; Keys et al, 1999, Poock, nd.). This study involved secondary honors chemistry students in a rural prek-12 school in Middle Tennessee. There were n = 23 students in the group and n = 8 in the control group. Both groups participated in a five-week study of gases. The treatment group received the instructional strategy known as Science Writing Heuristic and the control group received traditional teacher-centered science instruction. The quantitative results showed that females in the treatment group outscored their male counterparts by 11% on the science achievement portion of the study and the males in the control group had a more constructivist scientific

The Planetary Science Archive (PSA): Exploration and discovery of scientific datasets from ESA's planetary missions

Science.gov (United States)

Vallat, C.; Besse, S.; Barbarisi, I.; Arviset, C.; De Marchi, G.; Barthelemy, M.; Coia, D.; Costa, M.; Docasal, R.; Fraga, D.; Heather, D. J.; Lim, T.; Macfarlane, A.; Martinez, S.; Rios, C.; Vallejo, F.; Said, J.

2017-09-01

The Planetary Science Archive (PSA) is the European Space Agency's (ESA) repository of science data from all planetary science and exploration missions. The PSA provides access to scientific datasets through various interfaces at http://psa.esa.int. All datasets are scientifically peer-reviewed by independent scientists, and are compliant with the Planetary Data System (PDS) standards. The PSA has started to implement a number of significant improvements, mostly driven by the evolution of the PDS standards, and the growing need for better interfaces and advanced applications to support science exploitation.

Problems in the Science and Mathematics of 'The Logic of Scientific Discovery'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan B. Whiting

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Professor Sir Karl Popper (1902-1994 was one of the most influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century. However, in his most famous work 'The Logic of Scientific Discovery' he displays troubling misunderstandings of science and mathematics at a basic level. These call into question his conclusions concerning the philosophy of science. Quanta 2012; 1: 13–18.

Translanguaging in a middle school science classroom: Constructing scientific arguments in English and Spanish

Science.gov (United States)

Licona, Peter R.

This dissertation investigates translanguaging in an English/Spanish dual language middle school science classroom as the teacher and students worked through a curriculum unit focusing on socioscientific issues and implementing a scientific argumentation framework. Translanguaging is the process in which bilingual speakers fluidly and dynamically draw from their full linguistic repertoire to perform a communicative act. Using ethnographically informed data collection in conjunction with discourse analysis, teacher translanguaging was examined for its related functions in the science classroom and how teacher translanguaging afforded opportunities for framing and supporting scientific argumentation. Results suggest that the functions of teacher translanguaging fell into three main themes: maintaining classroom culture, facilitating the academic task, and framing epistemic practices. Of the three categories of translanguaging, framing epistemic practices proved to be of paramount importance in the teacher presenting and supporting the practice of scientific argumentation. Implications from this study are relevant for pre-service science teacher preparation and in-service science teacher professional development for teachers working with emergent bilingual students.

SPEKTROP DPU: optoelectronic platform for fast multispectral imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Graczyk, Rafal; Sitek, Piotr; Stolarski, Marcin

2010-09-01

In recent years it easy to spot and increasing need of high-quality Earth imaging in airborne and space applications. This is due fact that government and local authorities urge for up to date topological data for administrative purposes. On the other hand, interest in environmental sciences, push for ecological approach, efficient agriculture and forests management are also heavily supported by Earth images in various resolutions and spectral ranges. "SPEKTROP DPU: Opto-electronic platform for fast multi-spectral imaging" paper describes architectural datails of data processing unit, part of universal and modular platform that provides high quality imaging functionality in aerospace applications.

The socializing workshop and the scientific appraisal in pedagogical sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matos, Eneida Catalina

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The systematization of the authors' experiences as agents of the process of Ph. D. formative process in Pedagogical Sciences leads them to propose The Socialization Workshop, as a valid alternative for scientific valuation of pedagogical investigations, supported in the epistemic nature of this science, as well as the author’s previous contributions about epistemic communication. The definition of The Socialization Workshop, its rationale and corresponding methodological stages are presented.

Radiation effects in optoelectronic devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, C.E.; Wiczer, J.J.

1984-05-01

Purpose of this report is to provide not only a summary of radiation damage studies at Sandia National Laboratories, but also of those in the literature on the components of optoelectronic systems: light emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, photodetectors, optical fibers, and optical isolators. This review of radiation damage in optoelectronic components is structured according to device type. In each section, a brief discussion of those device properties relevant to radiation effects is given

Drama-Based Science Teaching and Its Effect on Students' Understanding of Scientific Concepts and Their Attitudes towards Science Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Abed, Osama H.

2016-01-01

This study investigated the effect of drama-based science teaching on students' understanding of scientific concepts and their attitudes towards science learning. The study also aimed to examine if there is an interaction between students' achievement level in science and drama-based instruction. The sample consisted of (87) of 7th grade students…

Scientific integrity and research ethics an approach from the ethos of science

CERN Document Server

Koepsell, David

2017-01-01

This book is an easy to read, yet comprehensive introduction to practical issues in research ethics and scientific integrity. It addresses questions about what constitutes appropriate academic and scientific behaviors from the point of view of what Robert Merton called the “ethos of science.” In other words, without getting into tricky questions about the nature of the good or right (as philosophers often do), Koepsell’s concise book provides an approach to behaving according to the norms of science and academia without delving into the morass of philosophical ethics. The central thesis is that: since we know certain behaviors are necessary for science and its institutions to work properly (rather than pathologically), we can extend those principles to guide good behaviors as scientists and academics. The Spanish version of this book was commissioned by the Mexican National Science Foundation (CONACyT) and is being distributed to and used by Mexican scientists in a unique, national plan to improve scie...

Scientific Productivity of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farahnaz Vatankhah

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Nowadays the scientific research outputs indexed in international databases are used in the bibliometric rankings of researchers, departments and universities. Measuring the impact and value of scientific publications is used by policy makers to distribute the research funds in way that support high quality research projects. Materials and Methods: In this scientometric study, SCOPUS citation database was used to evaluate the scientific research productivity of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences (ZAUMS over the period of 1976-2011. We retrieved the number of publications and citations of researchers, academic groups, and university and calculated their h-index scores. The affiliation varieties were used by researchers to address the university and different spellings of authors names were determind.Results: The results showed that scientific productivity of ZAUMS has been improved so that it’s h-index increased from 1 in 2000 to 19 over the period of the study.Conclusion: Total number of 504 publications were indexed in SCOPUS in the forms of original article, review article, conference paper, letter, editorial, and note. Most of the publications were in the form of research article (91.2%. There was a significant coorelation between the number of publications, citation rates and h-index scores. Departments of biochemistry and infectious disease ranked first on the basis of producing the most scientific output of the university.

Teaching and Learning Scientific Literacy and Citizenship in Partnership with Schools and Science Museums

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dolin, Jens; Evans, Robert Harry; Quistgaard, Nana

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to bring together research on learning and teaching in science – especially for scientific literacy and citizenship – with new insights into museum didactics in order to inform innovative ways of creating museum exhibits and visits and develop new ways of linking formal...... and informal learning environments. Knowledge from different domains that have evolved substantially over the past few decades is brought together with the intention of setting up some relatively concrete guidelines for arranging visits to science museums. First we examine new understandings of science...... learning in relation to the questions of why young people should learn science and what kind of science they should learn. We touch upon issues of scientific literacy and citizenship, dialogical processes, the nature of science, and inquiry-based teaching among others. Secondly, we relate our reflections...

Accelerating Science to Action: NGOs Catalyzing Scientific Research using Philanthropic/Corporate Funding

Science.gov (United States)

Hamburg, S.

2017-12-01

While government funding of scientific research has been the bedrock of scientific advances in the US, it is seldom quick or directly responsive to societal needs. If we are to effectively respond to the increasingly urgent needs for new science to address the environmental and social challenges faced by humanity and the environment we need to deploy new scientific models to augment government-centric approaches. The Environmental Defense Fund has developed an approach that accelerates the development and uptake of new science in pursuit of science-based policy to fill the gap while government research efforts are initiated. We utilized this approach in developing the data necessary to quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas supply chain. This effort was based on five key principles: studies led by an academic researchers; deployment of multiple methods whenever possible (e.g. top-down and bottom-up); all data made public (identity but not location masked when possible); external scientific review; results released in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The research to quantify methane emissions involved > 150 scientists from 40 institutions, resulting in 35 papers published over four years. In addition to the research community companies operating along the oil and gas value chain participated by providing access to sites/vehicles and funding for a portion of the academic research. The bulk of funding came from philanthropic sources. Overall the use of this alternative research/funding model allowed for the more rapid development of a robust body of policy-relevant knowledge that addressed an issue of high societal interest/value.

Scientific Participation at the Poles: K-12 Teachers in Polar Science for Careers and Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Crowley, S.; Warburton, J.

2012-12-01

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program in which K-12 teachers participate in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions. PolarTREC highlights the importance of involving teachers in scientific research in regards to their careers as educators and their ability to engage students in the direct experience of science. To date, PolarTREC has placed over 90 teachers with research teams in the Arctic and Antarctic. Published results of our program evaluation quantify the effect of the field experience on the teachers' use of the real scientific process in the classroom, the improvement in science content taught in classrooms, and the use of non-fiction texts (real data and science papers) as primary learning tools for students. Teachers and students both report an increase of STEM literacy in the classroom content, confidence in science education, as well as a markedly broadened outlook of science as essential to their future. Research conducted with science teams affirms that they are achieving broader impacts when PolarTREC teachers are involved in their expeditions. Additionally, they reported that these teachers making vital contributions to the success of the scientific project.

Science Camps for Introducing Nature of Scientific Inquiry Through Student Inquiries in Nature: Two Applications with Retention Study

Science.gov (United States)

Leblebicioglu, G.; Abik, N. M.; Capkinoglu, E.; Metin, D.; Dogan, E. Eroglu; Cetin, P. S.; Schwartz, R.

2017-08-01

Scientific inquiry is widely accepted as a method of science teaching. Understanding its characteristics, called Nature of Scientific Inquiry (NOSI), is also necessary for a whole conception of scientific inquiry. In this study NOSI aspects were taught explicitly through student inquiries in nature in two summer science camps. Students conducted four inquiries through their questions about surrounding soil, water, plants, and animals under the guidance of university science educators. At the end of each investigation, students presented their inquiry. NOSI aspects were made explicit by one of the science educators in the context of the investigations. Effectiveness of the science camp program and its retention were determined by applying Views of Scientific Inquiry (VOSI-S) (Schwartz et al. 2008) questionnaire as pre-, post-, and retention test after two months. The patterns in the data were similar. The science camp program was effective in developing three of six NOSI aspects which were questions guide scientific research, multiple methods of research, and difference between data and evidence. Students' learning of these aspects was retained. Discussion about these and the other three aspects is included in the paper. Implications of differences between school and out-of-school science experiences are also discussed.

Novel soluble fluorene-thienothiadiazole and fluorene-carbazole copolymers for optoelectronics

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Cimrová, Věra; Kmínek, Ivan; Výprachtický, Drahomír

2010-01-01

Roč. 295, č. 1 (2010), s. 65-70 ISSN 1022-1360. [Prague Meetings on Macromolecules /73./ New Frontiers in Macromolecular Science: From Macromolecular Concepts of Living Matter to Polymers for Better Quality of Life. Prague, 05.07.2009-09.07.2009] R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1M06031; GA AV ČR IAA4050409 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40500505 Keywords : fluorene – thienothiadiazole copolymers * photovoltaics * fluorene-carbazole copolymers Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics , Electrical Engineering

Under-Representation of Women in Science: From Educational, Feminist and Scientific Views

Science.gov (United States)

Sarseke, Gulnar

2018-01-01

The article aims to explore the main reasons why women are under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects and careers. The article critically analyzes three approaches: educational, feminist, and scientific. This work highlights that the subject "gender and science" has been looked at for at least…

Light box for investigation of characteristics of optoelectronics detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Szreder, Agnieszka; Mazikowski, Adam

2017-09-01

In this paper, a light box for investigation of characteristics of optoelectronic detectors is described. The light box consists of an illumination device, an optical power sensor and a mechanical enclosure. The illumination device is based on four types of high-power light emitting diodes (LED): white light, red, green and blue. The illumination level can be varied for each LED independently by the driver and is measured by optical power sensor. The mechanical enclosure provides stable mounting points for the illumination device, sensor and the examined detector and protects the system from external light, which would otherwise strongly influence the measurement results. Uniformity of illumination distribution provided by the light box for all colors is good, making the measurement results less dependent on the position of the examined detector. The response of optoelectronic detectors can be investigated using the developed light box for each LED separately or for any combination of up to four LED types. As the red, green and blue LEDs are rather narrow bandwidth sources, spectral response of different detectors can be examined for these wavelength ranges. The described light box can be used for different applications. Its primary use is in a student laboratory setup for investigation of characteristics of optoelectronic detectors. Moreover, it can also be used in various colorimetric or photographic applications. Finally, it will be used as a part of demonstrations from the fields of vision and color, performed during science fairs and outreach activities increasing awareness of optics and photonics.

Ultrafast Graphene Photonics and Optoelectronics

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-14

AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2017-0032 Ultrafast Graphene Photonics and Optoelectronics Kuang-Hsiung Wu National Chiao Tung University Final Report 04/14/2017...DATES COVERED (From - To) 18 Apr 2013 to 17 Apr 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Ultrafast Graphene Photonics and Optoelectronics 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b...Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 Final Report for AOARD Grant FA2386-13-1-4022 “Ultrafast Graphene Photonics and Optoelectronics” Date May 23th, 2016

Teaching with Socio-Scientific Issues in Physical Science: Teacher and Students' Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Talens, Joy

2016-01-01

Socio-scientific issues (SSI) are recommended by many science educators worldwide for learners to acquire first hand experience to apply what they learned in class. This investigated experiences of teacher-researcher and students in using SSI in Physical Science, Second Semester, School Year 2012-2013. Latest and controversial news articles on…

Nuclear science and society: social inclusion through scientific education

Science.gov (United States)

Levy, Denise S.

2017-11-01

This article presents a web-based educational project focused on the potential value of Information and Communication Technology to enhance communication and education on nuclear science throughout Brazil. The project is designed to provide trustworthy information about the beneficial uses of nuclear technology, educating children and teenagers, as well as their parents and teachers, demystifying paradigms and combating misinformation. Making use of a range of interactive activities, the website presents short courses and curiosities, with different themes that comprise the several aspects of the beneficial applications of nuclear science. The intention of the many interactive activities is to encourage research and to enhance learning opportunities through a self-learning universe where the target public is introduced to the basic concepts of nuclear physics, such as nuclides and isotopes, atomic interactions, radioactive decay, biological effects of radiation, nuclear fusion, nuclear fission, nuclear reactors, nuclear medicine, radioactive dating methods and natural occurring radiation, among other ideas and concepts in nuclear physics. Democratization of scientific education can inspire new thoughts, stimulate development and encourage scientific and technological researches.

The Effectiveness of Data Science as a Means to Achieve Proficiency in Scientific Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Ceccucci, Wendy; Tamarkin, Dawn; Jones, Kiku

2015-01-01

Data Science courses are becoming more prevalent in recent years. Increasingly more universities are offering individual courses and majors in the field of Data Science. This study evaluates data science education as a means to become proficient in scientific literacy. The results demonstrate how the educational goals of a Data Science course meet…

Outline of scientific and research activities of the Faculty of Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loncar, G.

1982-01-01

A survey is presented of scientific and research activities carried out in the departments of the Faculty of Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague. The first section lists the principal results achieved in the course of the 6th Five-Year Plan in Physical Electronics, Solid State Engineering, Materials Structure and Properties, Nuclear Physics, Theory and Technology of Nuclear Reactors, Dosimetry and Application of Ionizing Radiation and Nuclear Chemistry. The second part gives a summary of scientific and research work carried out in the Faculty of Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering in the 7th Five-Year Plan in all branches of science represented. The Faculty's achievements in international scientific cooperation are assessed. (author)

Effect of annealing over optoelectronic properties of graphene based transparent electrodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yadav, Shriniwas, E-mail: sniwas89@gmail.com; Kaur, Inderpreet, E-mail: inderpreety@yahoo.co.in [Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research- Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (AcSIR-CSIO), Sector-30C, Chandigarh (India); Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIR-CSIO), Sector-30C, Chandigarh (India)

2016-04-13

Graphene, an atom–thick two dimensional graphitic material have led various fundamental breakthroughs in the field of science and technology. Due to their exceptional optical, physical and electrical properties, graphene based transparent electrodes have shown several applications in organic light emitting diodes, solar cells and thin film transistors. Here, we are presenting effect of annealing over optoelectronic properties of graphene based transparent electrodes. Graphene based transparent electrodes have been prepared by wet chemical approach over glass substrates. After fabrication, these electrodes tested for optical transmittance in visible region. Sheet resistance was measured using four probe method. Effect of thermal annealing at 200 °C was studied over optical and electrical performance of these electrodes. Optoelectronic performance was judged from ratio of direct current conductivity to optical conductivity (σ{sub dc}/σ{sub opt}) as a figure of merit for transparent conductors. The fabricated electrodes display good optical and electrical properties. Such electrodes can be alternatives for doped metal oxide based transparent electrodes.

Effect of annealing over optoelectronic properties of graphene based transparent electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Yadav, Shriniwas; Kaur, Inderpreet

2016-04-01

Graphene, an atom-thick two dimensional graphitic material have led various fundamental breakthroughs in the field of science and technology. Due to their exceptional optical, physical and electrical properties, graphene based transparent electrodes have shown several applications in organic light emitting diodes, solar cells and thin film transistors. Here, we are presenting effect of annealing over optoelectronic properties of graphene based transparent electrodes. Graphene based transparent electrodes have been prepared by wet chemical approach over glass substrates. After fabrication, these electrodes tested for optical transmittance in visible region. Sheet resistance was measured using four probe method. Effect of thermal annealing at 200 °C was studied over optical and electrical performance of these electrodes. Optoelectronic performance was judged from ratio of direct current conductivity to optical conductivity (σdc/σopt) as a figure of merit for transparent conductors. The fabricated electrodes display good optical and electrical properties. Such electrodes can be alternatives for doped metal oxide based transparent electrodes.

Science Engagement Through Hands-On Activities that Promote Scientific Thinking and Generate Excitement and Awareness of NASA Assets, Missions, and Science

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, P. V.; Foxworth, S.; Miller, R.; Runco, S.; Luckey, M. K.; Maudlin, E.

2018-01-01

The public with hands-on activities that infuse content related to NASA assets, missions, and science and reflect authentic scientific practices promotes understanding and generates excitement about NASA science, research, and exploration. These types of activities expose our next generation of explorers to science they may be inspired to pursue as a future STEM career and expose people of all ages to unique, exciting, and authentic aspects of NASA exploration. The activities discussed here (Blue Marble Matches, Lunar Geologist Practice, Let's Discover New Frontiers, Target Asteroid, and Meteorite Bingo) have been developed by Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Science Engagement Specialists in conjunction with ARES Scientists at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Activities are designed to be usable across a variety of educational environments (formal and informal) and reflect authentic scientific content and practices.

WHY SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF A LECTURER IS THE «LAME HORSE» OF MODERN SCIENCE?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria A. Belyaeva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to represent reflections on the crisis of science and logical thinking (within the framework of Social Science, Humanities and higher education that has its local and global manifestations; the author focused own attention on the manifestations in order to understand its depth and possible ways of overcoming them. Methods. A number of theoretical methods have been used in the article: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparison and classification, methods of extrapolation and modeling, as well as participant observation. Results. Local manifestations of the crisis of science and logical thinking associated with human factor in the national system of higher professional education in the era of virtualization and commercialization are expressed in reducing efforts and productivity of scientific research, due to the existing contradictions between changed requirements that enumerate professional duties of a lecturer and possibilities of combining and productive implementation of traditional and new professional roles. In particular, researches turn to promoters of themselves to solve financial and organizational issues of a scientific research and promotion of ratings. Changes in the sense of scientific activity in respect to educators and their personal attitude to new requirements will eventually face the eternal problem of attitude to knowledge and to the actual problem of change of knowledge subject in non-classical model and post-non-classical model of science. Expression of a researcher’s individuality encounters many obstacles (the author has identified 10 of them and is complicated by new facets of this subjectivity, induced by «logistics turn point» in science. Scientific novelty. The author proves that it is necessary to change nonclassical subject knowledge model (where the corporate subject leaning for the general ways and collective norms of scientific activity dominates for

Quo Vadis ICDP? The Science Plan of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Horsfield, Brian

2014-05-01

The rocks and fluids of our ever-changing planet contain heat, energy, and life as well as archived records of what has gone before. These precious relicts and living systems need to be probed, collected, monitored and analyzed. The science results obtained cover the spectrum of the earth sciences from climate change, natural hazards and earth resources to the origins of life on Earth. The need to drill has never been greater, and this requires improved coordination between the marine, terrestrial and ice-coring communities and the research and private sector communities, effectively addressing the needs of our growing population for energy, sustenance, and quality of life. The ICDP is an infrastructure for scientific drilling that facilitates outstanding science. It is the only international platform for scientific research drilling in terrestrial environments. ICDP brings together scientists and stakeholders from 24 nations to work together at the highest scientific and technical niveaux. More than 30 drilling projects and 55 planning workshops have been supported to date. It is an efficient organisation, run according to the philosophy "lean and mean", with an average annual budget of about 5 million, and further third-party drilling expenditures that more than doubles this yearly investment. Here we report on ICDP's 2013 Science Conference "Imaging the Past to Imagine our Future", held November 11-14, 2013 in Potsdam whose goal was to set the new ICDP Science Plan in motion. New insights into geoprocesses and the identification of hot topics were high on the agenda, and debated in closed sessions, via posters and through oral presentations, and where appropriate dovetailed with socio-economic challenges. The conference was used to strengthen and expand our ties with member countries, and to debate incorporating industry into selected ICDP strategic activities where it makes sense to do so (ICDP remains science-driven). In addition, the conference paved the way

Addressing the dynamics of science in curricular reform for scientific literacy: Towards authentic science education in the case of genomics.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eijck, van M.W.

2010-01-01

Science education reform must anticipate the scientific literacy required by the next generation of citizens. Particularly, this counts for rapidly emerging and evolving scientific disciplines such as genomics. Taking this discipline as a case, such anticipation is becoming increasingly problematic

Computational and theoretical modeling of pH and flow effects on the early-stage non-equilibrium self-assembly of optoelectronic peptides

Science.gov (United States)

Mansbach, Rachael; Ferguson, Andrew

Self-assembling π-conjugated peptides are attractive candidates for the fabrication of bioelectronic materials possessing optoelectronic properties due to electron delocalization over the conjugated peptide groups. We present a computational and theoretical study of an experimentally-realized optoelectronic peptide that displays triggerable assembly in low pH to resolve the microscopic effects of flow and pH on the non-equilibrium morphology and kinetics of assembly. Using a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and hydrodynamic modeling, we quantify the time and length scales at which convective flows employed in directed assembly compete with microscopic diffusion to influence assembly. We also show that there is a critical pH below which aggregation proceeds irreversibly, and quantify the relationship between pH, charge density, and aggregate size. Our work provides new fundamental understanding of pH and flow of non-equilibrium π-conjugated peptide assembly, and lays the groundwork for the rational manipulation of environmental conditions and peptide chemistry to control assembly and the attendant emergent optoelectronic properties. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, under Award # DE-SC0011847, and by the Computational Science and Engineering Fellowship from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

User Facilities of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences: A National Resource for Scientific Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2009-01-01

The BES user facilities provide open access to specialized instrumentation and expertise that enable scientific users from universities, national laboratories, and industry to carry out experiments and develop theories that could not be done at their home institutions. These forefront research facilities require resource commitments well beyond the scope of any non-government institution and open up otherwise inaccessible facets of Nature to scientific inquiry. For approved, peer-reviewed projects, instrument time is available without charge to researchers who intend to publish their results in the open literature. These large-scale user facilities have made significant contributions to various scientific fields, including chemistry, physics, geology, materials science, environmental science, biology, and biomedical science. Over 16,000 scientists and engineers.pdf file (27KB) conduct experiments at BES user facilities annually. Thousands of other researchers collaborate with these users and analyze the data measured at the facilities to publish new scientific findings in peer-reviewed journals.

Developing instruments concerning scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science: a validation study

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Tzung-Jin; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate two survey instruments to evaluate high school students' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science. The initial relationships between the sampled students' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science were also investigated. A final valid sample of 600 volunteer Taiwanese high school students participated in this survey by responding to the Scientific Epistemic Beliefs Instrument (SEBI) and the Goal Orientations in Learning Science Instrument (GOLSI). Through both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the SEBI and GOLSI were proven to be valid and reliable for assessing the participants' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science. The path analysis results indicated that, by and large, the students with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs in various dimensions such as Development of Knowledge, Justification for Knowing, and Purpose of Knowing tended to adopt both Mastery-approach and Mastery-avoidance goals. Some interesting results were also found. For example, the students tended to set a learning goal to outperform others or merely demonstrate competence (Performance-approach) if they had more informed epistemic beliefs in the dimensions of Multiplicity of Knowledge, Uncertainty of Knowledge, and Purpose of Knowing.

Republic Scientific-practical Conference 'The Youth Role in the Development of National Science' Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

Present collection comprises of materials of Republic Scientific-practical Conference 'The Youth Role in the Development of National Science'. Present collection is intended for scientific and technical staff, postgraduates, and students of institutes of higher education.

Discussion of nuclear science and technology information base on serving our company scientific research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhong; Liu Wenbin

2010-01-01

In the eleventh five-year, our company scientific research have a long way to go and preparatory work of commercial reprocessing has startup under digital information society. Fundamental change of existing content, model of nuclear science and technology information occurred to fit for new situation and new environment, and in order to service for our company scientific research. In this paper, we discuss the development of new services that fits for our company science and technology information. (authors)

Discursive geographies in science: space, identity, and scientific discourse among indigenous women in higher education

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Carol B.

2008-09-01

Despite completing undergraduate degrees in the life sciences, few Indigenous women choose to pursue careers in scientific research. To help us understand how American Indian students engage with science, this ethnographic research describes (1) how four Navajo women identified with science, and (2) the narratives they offered when we discussed their experiences with scientific discourse. Using intensive case studies to describe the experiences of these women, my research focused on their final year of undergraduate study in the life sciences at a university in southwestern US. I point to the processes by which the participants align themselves with ideas, practices, groups, or people in science. As each participant recounted her experiences with scientific discourse, they recreated for me a discursive geography of their lives on the reservation, at home, at community colleges (in some cases), and on the university campus. In the construction and analysis of the narratives for this research, mapping this geography was critical to understanding each participant's discursive relationship with science. In these discursive spaces, I observed productive "locations of possibility" in which students and their instructors: valued connected knowing; acknowledged each other's history, culture, and knowledge; began to speak to each other subject-to-subject; and challenged normative views of schooling. I argue that this space, as a location of possibility, has the power to transform the crushing impersonalized schooling that often characterizes "rigorous" scientific programs in a research institution.

Using children's literature to enhance views of nature of science and scientific attitude in fourth graders

Science.gov (United States)

Hampton, Kathryn Walker

This project was an effort to study the effect of integrating children's trade books into the fourth grade science curriculum on the students' views of the nature of science and their scientific attitude. The effect on the students' reading and language achievement, and science content knowledge was also analyzed. This was done by comparing the nature of science views and scientific attitudes, reading and language achievement scores, and the science grades of the treatment group, prior to and immediately following the intervention period, with the control group which did not participate in the integration of children's books. The science teacher's views on the nature of science and her attitude towards teaching science were also evaluated prior to and after the intervention. The selected trade books were evaluated for their coverage of nature of science aspects. Three intact classes of fourth grade students from a local elementary school were involved in the study along with their science and reading teacher. Two of the classes made up the experimental group and the remaining class served as the control group. All students were assessed prior to the intervention phase on their views of the nature of science and scientific attitudes. The experimental group was engaged in reading selected science trade books during their science class and study hall over a semester period. The results of the study showed a significant difference in the groups' initial reading and language achievement, which may have affected the lack of an effect from the intervention. The instrument selected to assess the student's views on the nature of science and scientific attitude (SAI II) was not reliable with this group. There was no significant difference on the students' science content knowledge as measured by their semester grade averages. The results from the teacher's response on the STAS II did indicate slight changes on her views on the nature of science. Sixty-nine of the eighty

The Development of Scientific Literacy through Nature of Science (NoS) within Inquiry Based Learning Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Widowati, A.; Widodo, E.; Anjarsari, P.; Setuju

2017-11-01

Understanding of science instructional leading to the formation of student scientific literacy, seems not yet fully understood well by science teachers. Because of this, certainly needs to be reformed because science literacy is a major goal in science education for science education reform. Efforts of development science literacy can be done by help students develop an information conception of the Nature of Science (NoS) and apply inquiry approach. It is expected that students’ science literacy can develop more optimal by combining NoS within inquiry approach. The purpose of this research is to produce scientific literacy development model of NoS within inquiry-based learning. The preparation of learning tools will be maked through Research and Development (R & D) following the 4-D model (Define, Design, Develop, and Disseminate) and Borg & Gall. This study is a follow-up of preliminary research results about the inquiry profile of junior high school students indicating that most categories are quite good. The design of the model NoS within inquiry approach for developing scientific literacy is using MER Model in development educational reconstruction. This research will still proceed to the next stage that is Develop.

Supporting Reform-Oriented Secondary Science Teaching through the Use of a Framework to Analyze Construction of Scientific Explanations

Science.gov (United States)

Richmond, Gail; Parker, Joyce M.; Kaldaras, Leonora

2016-01-01

The Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS) call for a different approach to learning science. They promote three-dimensional (3D) learning that blends disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts and scientific practices. In this study, we examined explanations constructed by secondary science teacher candidates (TCs) as a scientific practice…

Optoelectronics technologies for Virtual Reality systems

Science.gov (United States)

Piszczek, Marek; Maciejewski, Marcin; Pomianek, Mateusz; Szustakowski, Mieczysław

2017-08-01

Solutions in the field of virtual reality are very strongly associated with optoelectronic technologies. This applies to both process design and operation of VR applications. Technologies such as 360 cameras and 3D scanners significantly improve the design work. What is more, HMD displays with high field of view or optoelectronic Motion Capture systems and 3D cameras guarantee an extraordinary experience in immersive VR applications. This article reviews selected technologies from the perspective of their use in a broadly defined process of creating and implementing solutions for virtual reality. There is also the ability to create, modify and adapt new approaches that show team own work (SteamVR tracker). Most of the introduced examples are effectively used by authors to create different VR applications. The use of optoelectronic technology in virtual reality is presented in terms of design and operation of the system as well as referring to specific applications. Designers and users of VR systems should take a close look on new optoelectronics solutions, as they can significantly contribute to increased work efficiency and offer completely new opportunities for virtual world reception.

An Analysis of the Supports and Constraints for Scientific Discussion in High School Project-Based Science

Science.gov (United States)

Alozie, Nonye M.; Moje, Elizabeth Birr; Krajcik, Joseph S.

2010-01-01

One goal of project-based science is to promote the development of scientific discourse communities in classrooms. Holding rich high school scientific discussions is challenging, especially when the demands of content and norms of high school science pose challenges to their enactment. There is little research on how high school teachers enact…

On nuclear power problem in science education in Japan. Supplementary reader, authorization and scientific literacy for citizen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryu, Jumpei

2012-01-01

Distribution of 'supplementary reader on nuclear power: Challenge! Nuclear power world' issued in 2010 and 'supplementary reader on radiation' issued in October 2011 was shelved in June 2012 by the administrative project review with revised policy of nuclear education for nuclear power promotion reflected. Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Accident brought about great effects and change on fundamental conditions of citizen's life as well as national consciousness of future society in Japan. Reconsideration of scientific education should be needed taking account how to recognize 'scientific literacy' and 'scientific communication'. This article discussed nuclear power problem related with supplementary reader and nuclear power education so as to establish science education framework for 'scientific literacy' for citizen. Preparation of nuclear power education at junior high school according to guideline of new course of study was reviewed and then 'scientific literacy' based on British science higher level student textbook for public understanding of science in society was described for reference, which suggested some problem in science education in Japan although social background was different. (T. Tanaka)

Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Bulletin of Materials Science. R AHMED. Articles written in Bulletin of Materials Science. Volume 40 Issue 6 October 2017 pp 1105-1110. Structural, elastic, optoelectronic and magnetic properties of CdHo 2 S 4 spinel: a first-principle study · I HATRAF O MERABIHA T SEDDIK H BALTACHE R KHENATA R ...

Molecular Science Computing Facility Scientific Challenges: Linking Across Scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Jong, Wibe A.; Windus, Theresa L.

2005-07-01

The purpose of this document is to define the evolving science drivers for performing environmental molecular research at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and to provide guidance associated with the next-generation high-performance computing center that must be developed at EMSL's Molecular Science Computing Facility (MSCF) in order to address this critical research. The MSCF is the pre-eminent computing facility?supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER)?tailored to provide the fastest time-to-solution for current computational challenges in chemistry and biology, as well as providing the means for broad research in the molecular and environmental sciences. The MSCF provides integral resources and expertise to emerging EMSL Scientific Grand Challenges and Collaborative Access Teams that are designed to leverage the multiple integrated research capabilities of EMSL, thereby creating a synergy between computation and experiment to address environmental molecular science challenges critical to DOE and the nation.

Examination of the Teaching Skills for Reading Scientific Materials Needed by Science Teachers by Comparing In-Service and Prospective Science Teachers

OpenAIRE

山根, 嵩史; 中條, 和光

2016-01-01

We examined the teaching skills for reading scientific materials needed by science teachers. We compared the views of teaching skills for reading scientific materials of science teachers both in service and in training. The result of text mining for free description of the teaching skills of both groups showed that, whereas trainee teachers emphasized language ability as a teaching skill (for example, the ability to image the contents of a text), current teachers emphasized teaching the curri...

Explicitly Targeting Pre-Service Teacher Scientific Reasoning Abilities and Understanding of Nature of Science through an Introductory Science Course

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, Kathleen; Schen, Melissa; Bao, Lei

2012-01-01

Development of a scientifically literate citizenry has become a national focus and highlights the need for K-12 students to develop a solid foundation of scientific reasoning abilities and an understanding of nature of science, along with appropriate content knowledge. This implies that teachers must also be competent in these areas; but…

Science and the media alternative routes in scientific communication

CERN Document Server

Bucchi, Massimiano

1998-01-01

In the days of global warming and BSE, science is increasingly a public issue. This book provides a theoretical framework which allows us to understand why and how scientists address the general public. The author develops the argument that turning to the public is not simply a response to inaccurate reporting by journalists or to public curiosity, nor a wish to gain recognition and additional funding. Rather, it is a tactic to which the scientific community are pushed by certain "internal" crisis situations. Bucchi examines three cases of scientists turning to the public: the cold fusion case, the COBE/Big Bang issue and Louis Pasteur's public demonstration of the anthrax vaccine, a historical case of "public science." Finally, Bucchi presents his unique model of communications between science and the public, carried out through the media. This is a thoughtful and wide-ranging treatment of complex contemporary issues, touching upon the history and sociology of science, communication and media studies. Bucchi...

Distinguishing science from pseudoscience in school psychology: science and scientific thinking as safeguards against human error.

Science.gov (United States)

Lilienfeld, Scott O; Ammirati, Rachel; David, Michal

2012-02-01

Like many domains of professional psychology, school psychology continues to struggle with the problem of distinguishing scientific from pseudoscientific and otherwise questionable clinical practices. We review evidence for the scientist-practitioner gap in school psychology and provide a user-friendly primer on science and scientific thinking for school psychologists. Specifically, we (a) outline basic principles of scientific thinking, (b) delineate widespread cognitive errors that can contribute to belief in pseudoscientific practices within school psychology and allied professions, (c) provide a list of 10 key warning signs of pseudoscience, illustrated by contemporary examples from school psychology and allied disciplines, and (d) offer 10 user-friendly prescriptions designed to encourage scientific thinking among school psychology practitioners and researchers. We argue that scientific thinking, although fallible, is ultimately school psychologists' best safeguard against a host of errors in thinking. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Gifted Students' Scientific, Societal, and Moral Questions Concerning Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsi Tirri

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the number and nature of gifted female and male students' scientific, societal, and moral questions concerning science. The participants (=658 of this study were 16–19-year-old international students from 55 countries and two continents, Asia and Europe. They applied to participate in the Millennium Youth Camp held in 2011 in Finland. The students came from scientifically and mathematically oriented schools, and they had shown an interest towards science through competitions, school success, and their own research. The students were asked to formulate questions they would like to get answers to during the camp. The nature and number of the students' questions were analyzed with qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The results showed that the boys asked more scientific questions than the girls, and the girls asked more societal questions than the boys. The students asked less questions about morality than scientific or societal questions. The most common questions about morality were related to pollution and fresh air, environmental problems, and water protection. The results point to the need for teachers to teach socioscientific issues and discuss moral questions related to science.

An introduction to optoelectronic sensors

CERN Document Server

Tajani, Antonella; Cutolo, Antonello

2009-01-01

This invaluable book offers a comprehensive overview of the technologies and applications of optoelectronic sensors. Based on the R&D experience of more than 70 engineers and scientists, highly representative of the Italian academic and industrial community in this area, this book provides a broad and accurate description of the state-of-the-art optoelectronic technologies for sensing. The most innovative approaches, such as the use of photonic crystals, squeezed states of light and microresonators for sensing, are considered. Application areas range from environment to medicine and healthcare

Instrumentation for Scientific Computing in Neural Networks, Information Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Applied Mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-10-01

include Security Classification) Instrumentation for scientific computing in neural networks, information science, artificial intelligence, and...instrumentation grant to purchase equipment for support of research in neural networks, information science, artificail intellignece , and applied mathematics...in Neural Networks, Information Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Applied Mathematics Contract AFOSR 86-0282 Principal Investigator: Stephen

Learning Science Content through Socio-Scientific Issues-Based Instruction: A Multi-Level Assessment Study

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Troy D.; Romine, William L.; Topçu, Mustafa Sami

2016-01-01

Science educators have presented numerous conceptual and theoretical arguments in favor of teaching science through the exploration of socio-scientific issues (SSI). However, the empirical knowledge base regarding the extent to which SSI-based instruction supports student learning of science content is limited both in terms of the number of…

Writing poetry through the eyes of science a teacher's guide to scientific literacy and poetic response

CERN Document Server

Gorrell, Nancy

2012-01-01

Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science: A Teacher's Guide to Scientific Literacy and Poetic Response presents a unique and effective interdisciplinary approach to teaching science poems and science poetry writing in secondary English and science classrooms.

The publication of scientific data by World Data Centers and the National Library of Science and Technology in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J Brase

2006-11-01

Full Text Available In its 2004 report "Data and information", the International Council for Science (ICSU strongly recommended a new strategic framework for scientific data and information. On an initiative from a working group from the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA, the German Research Foundation (DFG has started the project "Publication and Citation of Scientific Primary Data" as part of the program "Information-infrastructure of network -based scientific-cooperation and digital publication" in 2004. Starting with the field of earth science, the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB is now established as a registration agency for scientific primary data as a member of the International DOI Foundation (IDF.

Historical and social contexts for scientific writing and use of passive voice: Toward an undergraduate science literacy course

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Dan Xiong

The passive voice is a major stylistic feature of modern scientific discourse, but such a feature did not dominate scientific writing until the 1890s. It has its roots in the philosophical thoughts of experimental science of Francis Bacon and his followers such as Thomas Sprat and John Locke. In the early seventeenth century. Bacon called for a new science that emphasized collective knowledge of nature. Such a science was a cooperative and public enterprise in which scientists should work as a group to advance knowledge of nature. When science was moving gradually toward a public enterprise from the early seventeenth century, the passive voice gradually replaced the active voice in science writing as a dominant stylistic feature. The passive voice in scientific writing is thus historically and socially conditioned. Scientists take advantage of the linguistic functions of the passive voice to serve their rhetorical and pragmatic purposes such as presenting experiments as they are for others to reproduce and verify the results. It embodies two major conventions of scientific communities: (1) science is a public enterprise and (2) it is also a cooperative venture. Other conventions are related to these two: the collective authority of an scientific community is above the personal authority of any one individual scientist; science is not an infallible force, so any research result needs to be verified by a scientific community before it becomes knowledge; scientists use passive voice to approach their writing to make it appear as if it were objective; and science is a human profession. Therefore, we need to teach science students to use the passive voice, and more importantly, why and when to use it. We should emphasize writing practice to have students' see that they use passives rhetorically to present experimental processes, materials and methods.

A simple encapsulation method for organic optoelectronic devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Qian-Qian; An Qiao-Shi; Zhang Fu-Jun

2014-01-01

The performances of organic optoelectronic devices, such as organic light emitting diodes and polymer solar cells, have rapidly improved in the past decade. The stability of an organic optoelectronic device has become a key problem for further development. In this paper, we report one simple encapsulation method for organic optoelectronic devices with a parafilm, based on ternary polymer solar cells (PSCs). The power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of PSCs with and without encapsulation decrease from 2.93% to 2.17% and from 2.87% to 1.16% after 168-hours of degradation under an ambient environment, respectively. The stability of PSCs could be enhanced by encapsulation with a parafilm. The encapsulation method is a competitive choice for organic optoelectronic devices, owing to its low cost and compatibility with flexible devices. (atomic and molecular physics)

The ‘credibility paradox’ in China’s science communication: Views from scientific practitioners

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Joy Yueyue

2015-01-01

In contrast to increasing debates on China’s rising status as a global scientific power, issues of China’s science communication remain under-explored. Based on 21 in-depth interviews in three cities, this article examines Chinese scientists’ accounts of the entangled web of influence which conditions the process of how scientific knowledge achieves (or fails to achieve) its civic authority. A main finding of this study is a ‘credibility paradox’ as a result of the over-politicisation of science and science communication in China. Respondents report that an absence of visible institutional endorsements renders them more public credibility and better communication outcomes. Thus, instead of exploiting formal channels of science communication, scientists interviewed were more keen to act as ‘informal risk communicators’ in grassroots and private events. Chinese scientists’ perspectives on how to earn public support of their research sheds light on the nature and impact of a ‘civic epistemology’ in an authoritarian state. PMID:26307594

The Impact of Gender on Interest in Science Topics and the Choice of Scientific and Technical Vocations

Science.gov (United States)

Buccheri, Grazia; Abt Gürber, Nadja; Brühwiler, Christian

2011-01-01

Many countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) note a shortage of highly qualified scientific-technical personnel, whereas demand for such employees is growing. Therefore, how to motivate (female) high performers in science or mathematics to pursue scientific careers is of special interest. The sample for this study is taken from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006. It comprises 7,819 high performers either in sciences or mathematics from representative countries of four different education systems which generally performed well or around the OECD average in PISA 2006: Switzerland, Finland, Australia, and Korea. The results give evidence that gender specificity and gender inequity in science education are a cross-national problem. Interests in specific science disciplines only partly support vocational choices in scientific-technical fields. Instead, gender and gender stereotypes play a significant role. Enhancing the utility of a scientific vocational choice is expected to soften the gender impact.

THE EFFECTS OF INQUIRY TRAINING ASSIST MEDIA OF HANDOUT AND ATTITUDE SCIENTIFIC TOWARDS SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS IN PHYSICS STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halimatus Sakdiah

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research has described difference: (1 skill of student science process between inquiry training assist media of handout and direct instruction, (2 skill of student science process between student possess attitude scientific upon and under of mean, and (3 interaction of inquiry training assist media handout and direct instruction with attitude scientific increase skill of student science process. Type of this research is experiment quasi, use student of senior high school Private sector of  Prayatna as population and chosen sample by cluster sampling random. The instrument used essay test base on skill of science process which have valid and reliable. Data be analysed by using ANAVA two ways. Result of research show that any difference of skill of student science process (1 between inquiry training assist media of handout and direct instruction, where inquiry training assist media of handout better then direct instruction, (2 between student possess attitude scientific upon and under of mean, where possess attitude scientific upon of mean better then student possess attitude scientific under of mean and (3 any interaction between inquiry training assist media of handout and direct instruction with attitude scientific increase skill of student science process, where interaction in class direct instruction better then inquiry training assist media of handout.

Trend Analysis of the Brazilian Scientific Production in Computer Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TRUCOLO, C. C.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The growth of scientific information volume and diversity brings new challenges in order to understand the reasons, the process and the real essence that propel this growth. This information can be used as the basis for the development of strategies and public politics to improve the education and innovation services. Trend analysis is one of the steps in this way. In this work, trend analysis of Brazilian scientific production of graduate programs in the computer science area is made to identify the main subjects being studied by these programs in general and individual ways.

Community Science: creating equitable partnerships for the advancement of scientific knowledge for action.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, E. S.; Gehrke, G. E.

2017-12-01

In a historical moment where the legitimacy of science is being questioned, it is essential to make science more accessible to the public. Active participation increases the legitimacy of projects within communities (Sidaway 2009). Creating collaborations in research strengthens not only the work by adding new dimensions, but also the social capital of communities through increased knowledge, connections, and decision making power. In this talk, Lewis will discuss how engagement at different stages of the scientific process is possible, and how researchers can actively develop opportunities that are open and inviting. Genuine co-production in research pushes scientists to work in new ways, and with people from different backgrounds, expertise, and lived experiences. This approach requires a flexible and dynamic balance of learning, sharing, and creating for all parties involved to ensure more meaningful and equitable participation. For example, in community science such as that by Public Lab, the community is at the center of scientific exploration. The research is place-based and is grounded in the desired outcomes of community members. Researchers are able to see themselves as active participants in this work alongside community members. Participating in active listening, developing plans together, and using a shared language built through learning can be helpful tools in all co-production processes. Generating knowledge is powerful. Through genuine collaboration and co-creation, science becomes more relevant. When community members are equitable stakeholders in the scientific process, they are better able to engage and advocate for the changes they want to see in their communities. Through this talk, session attendees will learn about practices that promote equitable participation in science, and hear examples of how the community science process engages people in both the knowledge production, and in the application of science.

Associations among Attitudes, Perceived Difficulty of Learning Science, Gender, Parents' Occupation and Students' Scientific Competencies

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, ShaoHui; Wang, Zuhao; Liu, Xiufeng; Zhu, Lei

2017-01-01

This study investigated the associations among students' attitudes towards science, students' perceived difficulty of learning science, gender, parents' occupations and their scientific competencies. A sample of 1591 (720 males and 871 females) ninth-grade students from 29 junior high schools in Shanghai completed a scientific competency test and…

Science Teaching Attitudes and Scientific Attitudes of Pre-Service Teachers of Gifted Students

Science.gov (United States)

Erdogan, Sezen Camci

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine science teaching attitudes and scientific attitudes of pre-service teachers of gifted students due to gender and grade level and also correlation among these variables. It is a survey study that the group is 82 students attending Gifted Education undergraduate level. Data is gathered by Scientific Attitude…

Curriculum optimization of College of Optical Science and Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaoping; Zheng, Zhenrong; Wang, Kaiwei; Zheng, Xiaodong; Ye, Song; Zhu, Yuhui

2017-08-01

The optimized curriculum of College of Optical Science and Engineering is accomplished at Zhejiang University, based on new trends from both research and industry. The curriculum includes general courses, foundation courses such as mathematics and physics, major core courses, laboratory courses and several module courses. Module courses include optical system designing, optical telecommunication, imaging and vision, electronics and computer science, optoelectronic sensing and metrology, optical mechanics and materials, basics and extension. These curricula reflect the direction of latest researches and relates closely with optoelectronics. Therefore, students may combine flexibly compulsory courses with elective courses, and establish the personalized curriculum of "optoelectronics + X", according to their individual strengths and preferences.

National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC): Advancing the frontiers of computational science and technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hules, J. [ed.

1996-11-01

National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) provides researchers with high-performance computing tools to tackle science`s biggest and most challenging problems. Founded in 1974 by DOE/ER, the Controlled Thermonuclear Research Computer Center was the first unclassified supercomputer center and was the model for those that followed. Over the years the center`s name was changed to the National Magnetic Fusion Energy Computer Center and then to NERSC; it was relocated to LBNL. NERSC, one of the largest unclassified scientific computing resources in the world, is the principal provider of general-purpose computing services to DOE/ER programs: Magnetic Fusion Energy, High Energy and Nuclear Physics, Basic Energy Sciences, Health and Environmental Research, and the Office of Computational and Technology Research. NERSC users are a diverse community located throughout US and in several foreign countries. This brochure describes: the NERSC advantage, its computational resources and services, future technologies, scientific resources, and computational science of scale (interdisciplinary research over a decade or longer; examples: combustion in engines, waste management chemistry, global climate change modeling).

Introduction to organic electronic and optoelectronic materials and devices

CERN Document Server

Sun, Sam-Shajing

2008-01-01

Introduction to Optoelectronic Materials, N. Peyghambarian and M. Fallahi Introduction to Optoelectronic Device Principles, J. Piprek Basic Electronic Structures and Charge Carrier Generation in Organic Optoelectronic Materials, S.-S. Sun Charge Transport in Conducting Polymers, V.N. Prigodin and A.J. Epstein Major Classes of Organic Small Molecules for Electronic and Optoelectronics, X. Meng, W. Zhu, and H. Tian Major Classes of Conjugated Polymers and Synthetic Strategies, Y. Li and J. Hou Low Energy Gap, Conducting, and Transparent Polymers, A. Kumar, Y. Ner, and G.A. Sotzing Conjugated Polymers, Fullerene C60, and Carbon Nanotubes for Optoelectronic Devices, L. Qu, L. Dai, and S.-S. Sun Introduction of Organic Superconducting Materials, H. Mori Molecular Semiconductors for Organic Field-Effect Transistors, A. Facchetti Polymer Field-Effect Transistors, H.G.O. Sandberg Organic Molecular Light-Emitting Materials and Devices, F. So and J. Shi Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes: Devices and Materials, X. Gong and ...

Dual-scale topology optoelectronic processor.

Science.gov (United States)

Marsden, G C; Krishnamoorthy, A V; Esener, S C; Lee, S H

1991-12-15

The dual-scale topology optoelectronic processor (D-STOP) is a parallel optoelectronic architecture for matrix algebraic processing. The architecture can be used for matrix-vector multiplication and two types of vector outer product. The computations are performed electronically, which allows multiplication and summation concepts in linear algebra to be generalized to various nonlinear or symbolic operations. This generalization permits the application of D-STOP to many computational problems. The architecture uses a minimum number of optical transmitters, which thereby reduces fabrication requirements while maintaining area-efficient electronics. The necessary optical interconnections are space invariant, minimizing space-bandwidth requirements.

Taking a Scientific Approach to Science Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Pollock, S.

2011-09-01

It is now well-documented that traditionally taught, large-scale introductory science courses often fail to teach our students the basics. In fact, these same courses have been found to teach students things we don't intend. Building on a tradition of research, the physics and astronomy education research communities have been investigating the effects of educational reforms at the undergraduate level for decades. Both within these scientific communities and in the fields of education, cognitive science, psychology, and other social sciences, we have learned a great deal about student learning and environments that support learning for an increasingly diverse population of students. This presentation will discuss a variety of effective classroom practices, (with an emphasis on peer instruction, "clickers," and small group activities), the surrounding educational structures, and examine assessments which indicate when and why these do (and sometimes do not) work. After a broad survey of education research, we will look at some of the exciting theoretical and experimental developments within this field that are being conducted at the University of Colorado. Throughout, we will consider research and practices that can be of value in both physics and astronomy classes, as well as applications to teaching in a variety of environments.

FABRICATION, MORPHOLOGICAL AND OPTOELECTRONIC ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2014-12-31

Dec 31, 2014 ... porous silicon has better optoelectronic properties than bulk .... Measurement: The morphological properties of PS layer such as nanocrystalline size, the .... excess carrier removal by internal recombination and diffusion.

Scepticism and trust: two counterpoint essentials in science education for complex socio-scientific issues

Science.gov (United States)

Fensham, Peter J.

2014-09-01

In this response to Tom G. K. Bryce and Stephen P. Day's (Cult Stud Sci Educ. doi: 10.1007/s11422-013-9500-0, 2013) original article, I share with them their interest in the teaching of climate change in school science, but I widen it to include other contemporary complex socio-scientific issues that also need to be discussed. I use an alternative view of the relationship between science, technology and society, supported by evidence from both science and society, to suggest science-informed citizens as a more realistic outcome image of school science than the authors' one of mini-scientists. The intellectual independence of students Bryce and Day assume, and intend for school science, is countered with an active intellectual dependence. It is only in relation to emerging and uncertain scientific contexts that students should be taught about scepticism, but they also need to learn when, and why to trust science as an antidote to the expressions of doubting it. Some suggestions for pedagogies that could lead to these new learnings are made. The very recent fifth report of the IPCC answers many of their concerns about climate change.

The transnational circulation of scientific ideas: importing behavioralism in European political science (1950-1970).

Science.gov (United States)

Boncourt, Thibaud

2015-01-01

This article aims to deepen our understanding of the transatlantic circulation of scientific ideas during the Cold War by looking at the importation of behavioralism in European political science. It analyses the social, institutional, and intellectual dynamics that led to the creation, in 1970, of a transnational organization that aimed to promote behavioralism in Europe: the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). Using qualitative material drawn from archives and interviews, the study shows that the creation of the ECPR was the joint product of academic, scientific, and political rivalries. It argues that the founding of the organization served a purpose for several agents (chiefly, academic entrepreneurs and philanthropic foundations) who pursued different strategies in different social fields in the context of the Cold War. More broadly, it suggests that the postwar development of the social sciences and the circulation of scientific ideas are best accounted for by mapping sociological interactions between scientific fields and neighboring social spheres. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Reflective scientific sense-making dialogue in two languages: The science in the dialogue and the dialogue in the science

Science.gov (United States)

Ash, Doris

2004-11-01

In this paper I focus on the transition from everyday to scientific ways of reasoning, and on the intertwined roles of meaning-making dialogue and science content as they contribute to scientific literacy. I refer to views of science, and how scientific understanding is advanced dialogically, by Hurd (Science Education, 1998, 82, 402-416), Brown (The Journal of Learning Sciences, 1992, 2(2), 141-178), Bruner (Acts of Meaning, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990), Roth (In J. Brophy (Ed.), Social Constructivist Teaching: Affordances and Constraints (Advances in Research on Teaching Series, Vol. 9), New York: Elsevier/JAI, 2003), and Wells (Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of Education, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999). I argue that family collaborative dialogues in nonschool settings can be the foundations for scientific ways of thinking. I focus on the particular reflective family dialogues at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, when family members remembered and synthesized essential biological themes, centering on adaptation, from one visit to the next, in both Spanish and English. My approach is informed by sociocultural theory, with emphasis on the negotiations of meaning in the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978), as learners engage in joint productive activity (Tharp & Gallimore, Rousing Minds to Life: Teaching, Learning and Schooling in Social Context, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988). Over the past decades, researchers have discovered that observing social activity, conversation, and meaning-making in informal settings (Crowley & Callanan, 1997; Guberman, 2002; Rogoff, 2001; Vasquez, Pease-Alvarez, & Shannon, Pushing Boundaries: Language and Culture in a Mexicano Community, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994) has much to teach us regarding learning in general. To date there has been little research with Spanish-speaking families in informal learning settings and virtually none that

Scientific Knowledge, Popularisation, and the Use of Metaphors: Modern Genetics in Popular Science Magazines

Science.gov (United States)

Pramling, Niklas; Saljo, Roger

2007-01-01

The article reports an empirical study of how authors in popular science magazines attempt to render scientific knowledge intelligible to wide audiences. In bridging the two domains of "popular" and "scientific" knowledge, respectively, metaphor becomes central. We ask the empirical question of what metaphors are used when communicating about…

Science and scientists turned into news and media stars by scientific journals. A study on the consequences on the present scientific behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Elías

2008-09-01

Full Text Available This article explores whether some scientists have now actually been developing a type of science apt to be published as a piece of news, yet lacking a relevant scientific interest. Possibly, behind this behaviour there may be the present working culture, in which scientists live under the pressure of the dictatorship of the Science Citation Index (SCI of the reference journals. This hypothesis is supported by a study demonstrating that there is a direct relation between publishing scientific results in the press and a subsequent increase in the SCI index. Many cases are here described, selected among the papers published in Nature that – according to experts – have a media interest rather than a scientific one. Furthermore, the case of the Dolly sheep cloning is studied as a paradigm for a situation in which media coverage actually destroyed the research group.

Funding food science and nutrition research: financial conflicts and scientific integrity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, Sylvia; Alexander, Nick; Clydesdale, Fergus; Applebaum, Rhona; Atkinson, Stephanie; Black, Richard; Dwyer, Johanna; Hentges, Eric; Higley, Nancy; Lefevre, Michael; Lupton, Joanne; Miller, Sanford; Tancredi, Doris; Weaver, Connie; Woteki, Catherine; Wedral, Elaine

2009-05-01

There has been significant public debate about the susceptibility of research to biases of various kinds. The dialogue has extended to the peer-reviewed literature, scientific conferences, the mass media, government advisory bodies, and beyond. While biases can come from myriad sources, the overwhelming focus of the discussion, to date, has been on industry-funded science. Given the critical role that industry has played and will continue to play in the research process, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) North America Working Group on Guiding Principles has, in this paper, set out proposed conflict-of-interest guidelines, regarding industry funding, for protecting the integrity and credibility of the scientific record, particularly with respect to health, nutrition, and food-safety science. Eight principles are enumerated, specifying ground rules for industry-sponsored research. The paper, which issues a challenge to the broader scientific community to address all bias issues, is only a first step; the document is intended to be dynamic, prompting ongoing discussion and refinement. The Guiding Principles are as follows. In the conduct of public/private research relationships, all relevant parties shall: 1) conduct or sponsor research that is factual, transparent, and designed objectively; according to accepted principles of scientific inquiry, the research design will generate an appropriately phrased hypothesis and the research will answer the appropriate questions, rather than favor a particular outcome; 2) require control of both study design and research itself to remain with scientific investigators; 3) not offer or accept remuneration geared to the outcome of a research project; 4) prior to the commencement of studies, ensure that there is a written agreement that the investigative team has the freedom and obligation to attempt to publish the findings within some specified time-frame; 5) require, in publications and conference presentations

Funding food science and nutrition research: financial conflicts and scientific integrity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, Sylvia; Alexander, Nick; Clydesdale, Fergus M; Applebaum, Rhona S; Atkinson, Stephanie; Black, Richard M; Dwyer, Johanna T; Hentges, Eric; Higley, Nancy A; Lefevre, Michael; Lupton, Joanne R; Miller, Sanford A; Tancredi, Doris L; Weaver, Connie M; Woteki, Catherine E; Wedral, Elaine

2009-05-01

There has been significant public debate about the susceptibility of research to biases of various kinds. The dialogue has extended to the peer-reviewed literature, scientific conferences, the mass media, government advisory bodies, and beyond. Whereas biases can come from myriad sources, the overwhelming focus of the discussion to date has been on industry-funded science. Given the critical role that industry has played and will continue to play in the research process, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) North America Working Group on Guiding Principles has, in this article, proposed conflict-of-interest guidelines regarding industry funding to protect the integrity and credibility of the scientific record, particularly with respect to health, nutrition, and food-safety science. Eight principles are enumerated, which specify the ground rules for industry-sponsored research. This article, which issues a challenge to the broader scientific community to address all bias issues, is only a first step; the document is intended to be dynamic, prompting ongoing discussion and refinement. In the conduct of public/private research relationships, all relevant parties shall 1) conduct or sponsor research that is factual, transparent, and designed objectively, and, according to accepted principles of scientific inquiry, the research design will generate an appropriately phrased hypothesis and the research will answer the appropriate questions, rather than favor a particular outcome; 2) require control of both study design and research itself to remain with scientific investigators; 3) not offer or accept remuneration geared to the outcome of a research project; 4) ensure, before the commencement of studies, that there is a written agreement that the investigative team has the freedom and obligation to attempt to publish the findings within some specified time frame; 5) require, in publications and conference presentations, full signed disclosure of all financial

Science Teachers' Views and Stereotypes of Religion, Scientists and Scientific Research: A call for scientist-science teacher partnerships to promote inquiry-based learning

Science.gov (United States)

Mansour, Nasser

2015-07-01

Despite a growing consensus regarding the value of inquiry-based learning (IBL) for students' learning and engagement in the science classroom, the implementation of such practices continues to be a challenge. If science teachers are to use IBL to develop students' inquiry practices and encourage them to think and act as scientists, a better understanding of factors that influence their attitudes towards scientific research and scientists' practices is very much needed. Within this context there is a need to re-examine the science teachers' views of scientists and the cultural factors that might have an impact on teachers' views and pedagogical practices. A diverse group of Egyptian science teachers took part in a quantitative-qualitative study using a questionnaire and in-depth interviews to explore their views of scientists and scientific research, and to understand how they negotiated their views of scientists and scientific research in the classroom, and how these views informed their practices of using inquiry in the classroom. The findings highlighted how the teachers' cultural beliefs and views of scientists and scientific research had constructed idiosyncratic pedagogical views and practices. The study suggested implications for further research and argued for teacher professional development based on partnerships with scientists.

Analysis of the Financial Support by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports to Croatian Scientific Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Macan, B.

2008-03-01

Full Text Available The Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (MSES provides financial support for publishing scientific and scientific/professional journals . The journals should satisfy the following conditions: regular publishing, coherence with the “Notes for editing primary scientific publications”, inclusion in at least one international bibliographic database relevant for the specific scientific field, review procedure, existence of a web page with at least basic information about the journal and a table of contents of the latest issue. The MSES also provides financial help for publishing journals dedicated to promoting science, which is awarded by special decision of the Commission for publishing.2In the year 2007, the MSES financially supported 220 Croatian scientific, scientific/professional journals, and journals for the promotion of science from the fields of humanities, natural, technical, biotechnical, social, biomedical and health care sciences with 15 million Croatian kunas in total.5 More than 50 % of the supported journals are from humanities and social sciences, while only 20 of the titles (9 % belong to biotechnical journals (Fig. 1. Distribution of financial support by scientific fields is similar (Fig. 2. The average financial support is HRK 68,181.82 per journal.The highest average amount per journal is given to journals from biomedical and health care sciences (HRK 83,758.42, while the lowest support is given to humanities journals (HRK54,138.20 (Fig. 3.If we divide the amount of MSES financial support in 2007 into 5 classes, each class being HRK 50,000 , it is obvious that the majority of journals (122 titles or 55.45 % was supported with less than HRK 50,000; about a quarter of the journals with an amount between HRK 50,000 and HRK 100,000; and 11 journals with more than HRK 200,000 (Fig. 4.In order to compare the criteria for scientific advancement (papers published in journals covered by Thomson Scientific databases is given

What's Wrong with Talking about the Scientific Revolution? Applying Lessons from History of Science to Applied Fields of Science Studies

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Orthia, Lindy A.

2016-01-01

Since the mid-twentieth century, the 'Scientific Revolution' has arguably occupied centre stage in most Westerners', and many non-Westerners', conceptions of science history. Yet among history of science specialists that position has been profoundly contested. Most radically, historians Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams in 1993 proposed to…

“Scientific independence”, capacity building, and the development of UNESCO’s science and technology agenda for Africa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Casper

2017-01-01

period and the post-independence decades of “national science” in Africa, it analyses UNESCO’s role in science policy, engineering training, and natural resources research. It demonstrates that in the era of national science UNESCO’s activities were couched in the language of independence: developing......This article analyses the shifting rationales for scientific collaboration in the work of the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the science sector in Africa from the late colonial period through to the era of capacity building. Focusing on the late colonial...... capacities in the sciences was regarded as the key to obtaining “scientific independence” to match the recently obtained political independence. This marked a significant change from the 1950s when UNESCO based its operations in Africa on collaborations with the European colonial powers. The article argues...

Perovskite Materials: Solar Cell and Optoelectronic Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Bin [ORNL; Geohegan, David B [ORNL; Xiao, Kai [ORNL

2017-01-01

Hybrid organometallic trihalide perovskites are promising candidates in the applications for next-generation, high-performance, low-cost optoelectronic devices, including photovoltaics, light emitting diodes, and photodetectors. Particularly, the solar cells based on this type of materials have reached 22% lab scale power conversion efficiency in only about seven years, comparable to the other thin film photovoltaic technologies. Hybrid perovskite materials not only exhibit superior optoelectronic properties, but also show many interesting physical properties such as ion migration and defect physics, which may allow the exploration of more device functionalities. In this article, the fundamental understanding of the interrelationships between crystal structure, electronic structure, and material properties is discussed. Various chemical synthesis and processing methods for superior device performance in solar cells and optoelectronic devices are reviewed.

EFFECTS OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY LEARNING MODEL AND LOGICAL THINKING ABILITY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Akhyar Lubis

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze whether the results of science process skills of students. Who are taught by the teaching model scientific inquiry better than conventional learning, to analyze whether the results of science process skills of students? Who can think logically high is better than the students who have the potential to think logically low, analyze whether there is an interaction between scientific inquiry learning model with logical thinking skills to students' science process skills. This research is a quasi-experimental design with the two-group pretest-posttest design. The study population is all students of class X SMA Negeri 4 Padangsidimpuan semester II academic year 2016/2017. The The research instrument consists of two types: science process skills instrument consists of 10 questions in essay form which has been declared valid and reliable, and the instrument ability to think logically in the form of multiple choice is entirely groundless and complements (combination. The resulting data, analyzed by using two path Anava. The results showed that science process skills of students who are taught by the teaching model scientific inquiry better than conventional learning. Science process skills of students who can think logically high are better than the students who can think logically low, and there is an interaction between learning model scientific inquiry and conventional learning with the ability to think logically to improve students' science process skills.

The implementation of integrated science teaching materials based socio-scientific issues to improve students scientific literacy for environmental pollution theme

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Yenni, Rita; Hernani, Widodo, Ari

2017-05-01

The study aims to determine the increasing of students' science literacy skills on content aspects and competency of science by using Integrated Science teaching materials based Socio-scientific Issues (SSI) for environmental pollution theme. The method used in the study is quasi-experiment with nonequivalent pretest and posttest control group design. The students of experimental class used teaching materials based SSI, whereas the students of control class were still using the usual textbooks. The result of this study showed a significant difference between the value of N-gain of experimental class and control class, whichalso occurred in every indicator of content aspects and competency of science. This result indicates that using of Integrated Science teaching materials based SSI can improve content aspect and competency of science and can be used as teaching materials alternative in teaching of Integrated Science.

Meaningful Engagement in Scientific Practices: How Classroom Communities Develop Authentic Epistemologies for Science

Science.gov (United States)

Krist, Christina Rae

Recent reforms in science education, based on decades of learning research, emphasize engaging students in science and engineering practices as the means to develop and refine disciplinary ideas. These reforms advocate an epistemic shift in how school science is done: from students learning about science ideas to students figuring out core science ideas. This shift is challenging to implement: how do we bring the goals and practices of a discipline into classroom communities in meaningful ways that go beyond simply following rote scientific procedures? In this dissertation, I investigate how classroom communities learn to engage meaningfully in scientific practices, characterizing their engagement as a process of epistemic learning. I take a situated perspective that defines learning as shifts in how members engage in communities of practice. I examine students' epistemic learning as a function of their participation in a classroom community of scientific practice along two dimensions: what they do, or the practical epistemic heuristics they use to guide how they build knowledge; and who they are, or how ownership and authorship of ideas is negotiated and affectively marked through interaction. I focus on a cohort of students as they move from 6th to 8 th grade. I analyze three science units, one from each grade level, to look at the epistemic heuristics implicit in student and teacher talk and how the use of those heuristics shifts over time. In addition, I examine one anomalous 8th grade class to look at how students and the teacher position themselves and each other with respect to the ideas in their classroom and how that positioning supports epistemic learning. Taken together, these analyses demonstrate how students' engagement in scientific practices evolves in terms of what they do and who they are in relation to the knowledge and ideas in their classroom over time. I propose a model for epistemic learning that articulates how classroom communities develop

English for Scientific Purposes (EScP): Technology, Trends, and Future Challenges for Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Gi-Zen; Chiu, Wan-Yu; Lin, Chih-Chung; Barrett, Neil E.

2014-12-01

To date, the concept of English for Specific Purposes has brought about a great impact on English language learning across various disciplines, including those in science education. Hence, this review paper aimed to address current English language learning in the science disciplines through the practice of computer-assisted language learning to identify the use of learning technologies in science-based literacy. In the literature review, the researchers found that science-based literacy instruction shares many pedagogical aims with English language teaching in terms of reading, writing, listening and speaking, allowing it to be classified as English for Scientific Purposes (EScP). To answer the research questions, the researchers conducted the survey by extracting related articles and teaching examples from the Web of Science. In the search procedure, the researchers used the keywords science OR scientific AND technolog* OR comput* in ten selected journals of social science citation index. Only articles which are specified as journal articles rather than other document types were included. After compiling the corpora, the researchers compared the trends, methodologies and results of EScP instruction in science education. The implications of this study include the opportunities, advantages and challenges for EScP instruction in science education to further develop better educational approaches, adopt new technologies, as well as offer some directions for researchers to conduct future studies.

Scientific support, soil information and education provided by the Austrian Soil Science Society

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Sigbert; Baumgarten, Andreas; Birli, Barbara; Englisch, Michael; Tulipan, Monika; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie

2015-04-01

The Austrian Soil Science Society (ASSS), founded in 1954, is a non-profit organisation aiming at furthering all branches of soil science in Austria. The ASSS provides information on the current state of soil research in Austria and abroad. It organizes annual conferences for scientists from soil and related sciences to exchange their recent studies and offers a journal for scientific publications. Annually, ASSS awards the Kubiena Research Prize for excellent scientific studies provided by young scientists. In order to conserve and improve soil science in the field, excursions are organized, also in cooperation with other scientific organisations. Due to well-established contacts with soil scientists and soil science societies in many countries, the ASSS is able to provide its members with information about the most recent developments in the field of soil science. This contributes to a broadening of the current scientific knowledge on soils. The ASSS also co-operates in the organisation of excursions and meetings with neighbouring countries. Several members of the ASSS teach soil science at various Austrian universities. More detail on said conferences, excursions, publications and awards will be given in the presentation. Beside its own scientific journal, published once or twice a year, and special editions such as guidebooks for soil classification, the ASSS runs a website providing information on the Society, its activities, meetings, publications, awards and projects. Together with the Environment Agency Austria the ASSS runs a soil platform on the internet. It is accessible for the public and thus informs society about soil issues. This platform offers a calendar with national and international soil events, contacts of soil related organisations and networks, information on national projects and publications. The society has access to products, information material and information on educational courses. Last but not least information on specific soil

Struggles with learning about scientific models in a middle school science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Loper, Suzanna Jane

Two important goals in science education are teaching students about the nature of science and teaching students to do scientific inquiry. Learning about scientific models is central to both of these endeavors, but studies have shown that students have very flawed and limited understandings of the nature and purposes of scientific models (Carey & Smith, 1993; Grosslight, Unger, & Jay, 1991; Lederman, 1992). In this dissertation I investigate the processes of teaching and learning about scientific models in an 8th grade classroom in an urban middle school. In order to do so, I examine recordings of student and teacher talk about models across a period of two months in which students completed two independent inquiry projects, using the Inquiry Island software and curriculum (Eslinger, 2004; Shimoda, White, & Frederiksen, 2002; White, Shimoda, & Frederiksen, 2000). My analysis draws on video records of small-group work and whole-class interactions, as well as on students' written work. I find that in this classroom, students struggled to understand the nature and purpose of scientific models. I analyze episodes in the classroom talk in which models appeared to be a source of trouble or confusion, and describe the ways in which the teacher attempted to respond to these troubles. I find that in many cases students appeared to be able to produce scientific models of the proper form, yet still struggled with displaying an understanding of what a model was, or of the functions of models in scientific research. I propose directions for further research and curriculum development in order to build on these findings. In particular, I argue, we need to design ways to help students engage in scientific modeling as a social and communicative practice, and to find ways to build from their everyday reasoning and argumentation practices. My research also reinforces the importance of looking at classroom talk, not just pre- and post-assessments, in order to understand teaching and

The use of physics practicum to train science process skills and its effect on scientific attitude of vocational high school students

Science.gov (United States)

Wiwin, E.; Kustijono, R.

2018-03-01

The purpose of the study is to describe the use of Physics practicum to train the science process skills and its effect on the scientific attitudes of the vocational high school students. The components of science process skills are: observing, classifying, inferring, predicting, and communicating. The established scientific attitudes are: curiosity, honesty, collaboration, responsibility, and open-mindedness. This is an experimental research with the one-shot case study design. The subjects are 30 Multimedia Program students of SMK Negeri 12 Surabaya. The data collection techniques used are observation and performance tests. The score of science process skills and scientific attitudes are taken from observational and performance instruments. Data analysis used are descriptive statistics and correlation. The results show that: 1) the physics practicum can train the science process skills and scientific attitudes in good category, 2) the relationship between the science process skills and the students' scientific attitude is good category 3) Student responses to the learning process using the practicum in the good category, The results of the research conclude that the physics practicum can train the science process skill and have a significant effect on the scientific attitude of the vocational highschool students.

First-year Pre-service Teachers in Taiwan—Do they enter the teacher program with satisfactory scientific literacy and attitudes toward science?

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Chin, Chi-Chin

2005-10-01

Scientific literacy and attitudes toward science play an important role in human daily lives. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether first-year pre-service teachers in colleges in Taiwan have a satisfactory level of scientific literacy. The domains of scientific literacy selected in this study include: (1) science content; (2) the interaction between science, technology and society (STS); (3) the nature of science; and (4) attitudes toward science. In this study, the instruments used were Chinese translations of the Test of Basic Scientific Literacy (TBSL) and the Test of Science-related Attitudes. Elementary education majors (n = 141) and science education majors (n = 138) from four teachers’ colleges responded to these instruments. The statistical results from the tests revealed that, in general, the basic scientific literacy of first-year pre-service teachers was at a satisfactory level. Of the six scales covered in this study, the pre-service teachers displayed the highest literacy in health science, STS, and life science. Literacy in the areas of the nature of science and earth science was rated lowest. The results also showed that science education majors scored significantly higher in physical science, life science, nature of science, science content, and the TBSL than elementary science majors. Males performed better than females in earth science, life science, science content, and the TBSL. Next, elementary education majors responded with more “don’t know” responses than science education majors. In general, the pre-service teachers were moderately positive in terms of attitudes toward science while science education majors had more positive attitudes toward science. There was no significant difference in attitudes between genders. Previous experience in science indicated more positive attitudes toward science. The results from stepwise regression revealed that STS, the nature of science, and attitudes toward science could explain 50

Think Scientifically: The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory's Elementary Science Literacy Program

Science.gov (United States)

Van Norden, Wendy M.

2013-07-01

The pressure to focus on math and reading at the elementary level has increased in recent years. As a result, science education has taken a back seat in elementary classrooms. The Think Scientifically book series provides a way for science to easily integrate with existing math and reading curriculum. This story-based science literature program integrates a classic storybook format with solar science concepts, to make an educational product that meets state literacy standards. Each story is accompanied by hands-on labs and activities that teachers can easily conduct in their classrooms with minimal training and materials, as well as math and language arts extensions. These books are being distributed through teacher workshops and conferences, and are available free at http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/epo/educators/thinkscientifically.php.

On the gender-science stereotypes held by scientists: explicit accord with gender-ratios, implicit accord with scientific identity.

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Frederick L; Nosek, Brian A

2015-01-01

Women's representation in science has changed substantially, but unevenly, over the past 40 years. In health and biological sciences, for example, women's representation among U.S. scientists is now on par with or greater than men's, while in physical sciences and engineering they remain a clear minority. We investigated whether variation in proportions of women in scientific disciplines is related to differing levels of male-favoring explicit or implicit stereotypes held by students and scientists in each discipline. We hypothesized that science-is-male stereotypes would be weaker in disciplines where women are better represented. This prediction was tested with a sample of 176,935 college-educated participants (70% female), including thousands of engineers, physicians, and scientists. The prediction was supported for the explicit stereotype, but not for the implicit stereotype. Implicit stereotype strength did not correspond with disciplines' gender ratios, but, rather, correlated with two indicators of disciplines' scientific intensity, positively for men and negatively for women. From age 18 on, women who majored or worked in disciplines perceived as more scientific had substantially weaker science-is-male stereotypes than did men in the same disciplines, with gender differences larger than 0.8 standard deviations in the most scientifically-perceived disciplines. Further, particularly for women, differences in the strength of implicit stereotypes across scientific disciplines corresponded with the strength of scientific values held by women in the disciplines. These results are discussed in the context of dual process theory of mental operation and balanced identity theory. The findings point to the need for longitudinal study of the factors' affecting development of adults' and, especially, children's implicit gender stereotypes and scientific identity.

On the gender–science stereotypes held by scientists: explicit accord with gender-ratios, implicit accord with scientific identity

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Frederick L.; Nosek, Brian A.

2015-01-01

Women's representation in science has changed substantially, but unevenly, over the past 40 years. In health and biological sciences, for example, women's representation among U.S. scientists is now on par with or greater than men's, while in physical sciences and engineering they remain a clear minority. We investigated whether variation in proportions of women in scientific disciplines is related to differing levels of male-favoring explicit or implicit stereotypes held by students and scientists in each discipline. We hypothesized that science-is-male stereotypes would be weaker in disciplines where women are better represented. This prediction was tested with a sample of 176,935 college-educated participants (70% female), including thousands of engineers, physicians, and scientists. The prediction was supported for the explicit stereotype, but not for the implicit stereotype. Implicit stereotype strength did not correspond with disciplines' gender ratios, but, rather, correlated with two indicators of disciplines' scientific intensity, positively for men and negatively for women. From age 18 on, women who majored or worked in disciplines perceived as more scientific had substantially weaker science-is-male stereotypes than did men in the same disciplines, with gender differences larger than 0.8 standard deviations in the most scientifically-perceived disciplines. Further, particularly for women, differences in the strength of implicit stereotypes across scientific disciplines corresponded with the strength of scientific values held by women in the disciplines. These results are discussed in the context of dual process theory of mental operation and balanced identity theory. The findings point to the need for longitudinal study of the factors' affecting development of adults' and, especially, children's implicit gender stereotypes and scientific identity. PMID:25964765

On the Gender-Science Stereotypes held by Scientists: Explicit accord with Gender-Ratios, Implicit accord with Scientific Identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederick L Smyth

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Women’s representation in science has changed substantially, but unevenly, over the past 40 years. In health and biological sciences, for example, women’s representation among U.S. scientists is now on par with or greater than men’s, while in physical sciences and engineering they remain a clear minority. We investigated whether variation in proportions of women in scientific disciplines is related to differing levels of male-favoring explicit or implicit stereotypes held by students and scientists in each discipline. We hypothesized that science-is-male stereotypes would be weaker in disciplines where women are better represented. This prediction was tested with a sample of 176,935 college-educated participants (70% female, including thousands of engineers, physicians, and scientists. The prediction was supported for the explicit stereotype, but not for the implicit stereotype. Implicit stereotype strength did not correspond with disciplines’ gender ratios, but, rather, correlated with two indicators of disciplines’ scientific intensity, positively for men and negatively for women. From age 18 on, women who majored or worked in disciplines perceived as more scientific had substantially weaker science-is-male stereotypes than did men in the same disciplines, with gender differences larger than 0.8 standard deviations in the most scientifically-perceived disciplines. Further, particularly for women, differences in the strength of implicit stereotypes across scientific disciplines corresponded with the strength of scientific values held by women in the disciplines. These results are discussed in the context of dual process theory of mental operation and balanced identity theory. The findings point to the need for longitudinal study of the factors’ affecting development of adults’ and, especially, children’s implicit gender stereotypes and scientific identity.

Semantic integration of scientific publications and research data: proposal of model of expanded publication for the area of nuclear sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sales, Luana Farias

2014-01-01

This research takes place under the conditions of an arising scientific paradigm, known as e-Science or 4 th Scientific Paradigm. This new way of doing science is characterized by intensive use of computer networks, distributed digital repositories and by extraordinary generation of research data, which is a consequence of the heavy use of information and simulation technologies and advancing of scientific instrumentation. The information environment that is established as a result of these transformations significantly impacts the patterns of scientific communication, especially regarding to cooperative research, the sharing and reuse of information resources and ways to communicate and to disseminate research results. In order to create a context for their field of study, the thesis contributes to delineate new and renewed concepts for Information Science such as e-Science, curation of research data, complex digital objects, data repository, CRIS (Current Research Information System Model ) and others key infrastructures for the management of research and also of new conceptions of academic and scientific publications. The research is based on two assumptions: first raises the need for a model of scientific publication that would reflect the new standard for generating scientific knowledge characterized by data richness, and being able to integrate these data to publications; the second highlights that this can be performed according to the technological possibilities and standards arising from the Semantic Web. These two assumptions embody the formulation of the hypothesis raised by this thesis: a scientific publication can be enriched and be closer to new ways of generating knowledge, which characterizes contemporary science, if it is configured according to a model that links through semantic relations the research data and datasets to conventional publication. The method adopted was the deductive one, starting from general concepts of Information Science

The Rhetoric of Popular Science Texts. "Scientific American" Magazine as Typical Example

OpenAIRE

Lichański, Jakub Z.

2016-01-01

The aim of the study is to describe the relationship between rhetoric and popular science texts. Scientific American magazine is taken as an example. In conclusion, the author suggests that the rhetoric of popular science texts rests on the presentation of the problem, avoiding controversy in the presentation of research issues, avoiding modal forms, the use of multiple elements of visual rhetoric. This article contains brief historical information about the development of...

Information literacy in science writing: how students find, identify, and use scientific literature

Science.gov (United States)

Klucevsek, Kristin M.; Brungard, Allison B.

2016-11-01

For undergraduate students to achieve science literacy, they must first develop information literacy skils. These skills align with Information Literacy Standards and include determining appropriate databases, distinguishing among resource types, and citing resources ethically. To effectively improve information literacy and science literacy, we must identify how students interact with authentic scientific texts. In this case study, we addressed this aim by embedding a science librarian into a science writing course, where students wrote a literature review on a research topic of their choice. Library instruction was further integrated through the use of an online guide and outside assistance. To evaluate the evolution of information literacy in our students and provide evidence of student practices, we used task-scaffolded writing assessments, a reflection, and surveys. We found that students improved their ability and confidence in finding research articles using discipline-specific databases as well as their ability to distinguish primary from secondary research articles. We also identified ways students improperly used and cited resources in their writing assignments. While our results reveal a better understanding of how students find and approach scientific research articles, additional research is needed to develop effective strategies to improve long-term information literacy in the sciences.

The Communication in Science Inquiry Project (CISIP): A Project to Enhance Scientific Literacy through the Creation of Science Classroom Discourse Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Dale R.; Lewis, Elizabeth B.; Purzer, Senay; Watts, Nievita Bueno; Perkins, Gita; Uysal, Sibel; Wong, Sissy; Beard, Rachelle; Lang, Michael

2009-01-01

This study reports on the context and impact of the Communication in Science Inquiry Project (CISIP) professional development to promote teachers' and students' scientific literacy through the creation of science classroom discourse communities. The theoretical underpinnings of the professional development model are presented and key professional…

Recent trend in graphene for optoelectronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yu-Bin; Liu, John S.; Lin Pang

2013-01-01

This study analyzes the scientific knowledge diffusion paths of graphene for optoelectronics (GFO), where graphene offers wide applications due to its thinness, high conductivity, excellent transparency, chemical stability, robustness, and flexibility. Our investigation is based on the main path analysis which establishes the citation links among the literature data in order to trace the significant sequence of knowledge development in this emerging field. We identify the main development paths of GFO up to the year 2012, along which a series of influential papers in this field are identified. The main path graph shows that knowledge diffusion occurs in key subareas, including reduced graphene oxide, chemical vapor deposition, and exfoliation techniques, which are developed for the preparation and applications of GFO. The applications cover solar cells, laser devices, sensing devices, and LCD. In addition, the main theme of GFO research evolves in sequence from small-graphene-sample preparation, to large-scale film growth, and onto prototype device fabrication. This evolution reflects a strong industrial demand for a new transparent–conductive film technology.

Terahertz optoelectronics in graphene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otsuji, Taiichi

2016-01-01

Graphene has attracted considerable attention due to its extraordinary carrier transport, optoelectronic, and plasmonic properties originated from its gapless and linear energy spectra enabling various functionalities with extremely high quantum efficiencies that could never be obtained in any existing materials. This paper reviews recent advances in graphene optoelectronics particularly focused on the physics and device functionalities in the terahertz (THz) electromagnetic spectral range. Optical response of graphene is characterized by its optical conductivity and nonequilibrium carrier energy relaxation dynamics, enabling amplification of THz radiation when it is optically or electrically pumped. Current-injection THz lasing has been realized very recently. Graphene plasmon polaritons can greatly enhance the THz light and graphene matter interaction, enabling giant enhancement in detector responsivity as well as amplifier/laser gain. Graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures could give more interesting and energy-efficient functionalities. (author)

Insulating materials for optoelectronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agullo-Lopez, F.

1990-01-01

Optoelectronics is an interdisciplinary field. Basic functions of an optoelectronic system include the generator of the optical signal, its transmission and handling and, finally, its detection, storage and display. A large variety of semiconductor and insulating materials are used or are being considered to perform those functions. The authors focus on insulating materials, mostly oxides. For signal generation, tunable solid state lasers, either vibronic or those based oon colour centres are briefly described, and their main operating parameters summarized. Reference is made to some developments on fiber and waveguide lasers. Relevant physical features of the silica fibres used for low-loss, long-band, optical transmission are reviewed, as well as present efforts to further reduce attenuation in the mid-infrared range. Particular attention is paid to photorefractive materials (LiNbO 3 , BGO, BSO, etc.), which are being investigated

Pramana – Journal of Physics | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... and Photonic Technology Laboratory, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China; School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China; School of Science, Nanjing University of Science & Technology, ...

Within the Timeline of Science Ethics: Two Parenting Advice Books and a Scientific Milestone

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Emel AKÖZER

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Plagiarism allegations on similarities between Dr. Benjamin Spock's Baby and Child Care (1946 and Dr. İhsan Doğramacı's Annenin Kitabı (1952; The Mother's Book and the public presentation of the ruling on the 15th of April, 2014 by European Court of Human Rights consummating legal proceedings on these allegations, are not likely to contribute to ensuring a correct understanding of plagiarism as conceived in science ethics in the general public and scientific community. First, the Court has not ruled in support of the veracity of allegations. Second, parallels between the two books – regarding genre, claims to originality, and the nature of similarities – do not justify evaluation in reference to the concept of plagiarism as defined in science ethics. Besides, intellectual property law, on which allegations pretend to be based, cannot be taken to found illegitimacy of plagiarism in terms of science ethics. Science ethics defines plagiarism as misconduct positively with reference to norms of scientific integrity, the fairness principle, and values essential to collaborative work, rather than negatively with reference to violation of intellectual property. In the mid-20th century, in an environment where such principles or values have not yet taken root, the course of the discovery of DNA structure, one of the century's greatest breakthroughs, has enabled ethics violations substantially surpassing issues of intellectual property or plagiarism, and moreover, these violations have apologists even today. Scientific integrity and fairness imply “treating colleagues with integrity and honesty” as equally as “providing proper references and giving due credits to the work of others”. Abusing plagiarism allegations as a means to defame colleagues or permitting such abuse to become commonplace neither suits advocacy of scientific ethics nor complies with the “fairness” principle. A strategy to fight plagiarism must be tested against

The influence of authentic scientific research experiences on teachers' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS) and their NOS teaching practices

Science.gov (United States)

Moriarty, Meghan A.

This study explored the influence of teachers' authentic scientific research experiences (ASREs) on teachers' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS) and teachers' NOS instruction. Twelve high school biology teachers participated in this study. Six of the participants had authentic scientific research experience (ASRE) and six had not participated in authentic scientific research. Data included background surveys, modified Views of the Nature of Science (VNOS) questionnaires, interviews, and teaching observations. Data was coded based on the eight NOS understandings outlined in 2013 in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Evidence from this study indicates participating in authentic scientific research as a member of a scientific community has dual benefits of enabling high school science teachers with informed understandings of the NOS and positioning them to teach with the NOS. However, these benefits do not always result from an ASRE. If the nature of the ASRE is limited, then it may limit teachers' NOS understandings and their NOS teaching practices. The results of this study suggest that participation in ASREs may be one way to improve teachers' NOS understandings and teaching practices if the experiences themselves offer a comprehensive view of the NOS. Because ASREs and other science learning experiences do not always offer such experiences, pre-service teacher education and professional development opportunities may engage science teachers in two ways: (1) becoming part of a scientific community may enable them to teach with NOS and (2) being reflective about what being a scientist means may improve teachers' NOS understandings and better position them to teach about NOS.. Keywords: nature of science, authentic scientific research experiences, Next Generation Science Standards, teaching about NOS, teaching with NOS.

The paradox of scientific expertise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alrøe, Hugo Fjelsted; Noe, Egon

2011-01-01

Modern societies depend on a growing production of scientific knowledge, which is based on the functional differentiation of science into still more specialised scientific disciplines and subdisciplines. This is the basis for the paradox of scientific expertise: The growth of science leads to a f...... cross-disciplinary research and in the collective use of different kinds of scientific expertise, and thereby make society better able to solve complex, real-world problems.......Modern societies depend on a growing production of scientific knowledge, which is based on the functional differentiation of science into still more specialised scientific disciplines and subdisciplines. This is the basis for the paradox of scientific expertise: The growth of science leads...... to a fragmentation of scientific expertise. To resolve this paradox, the present paper investigates three hypotheses: 1) All scientific knowledge is perspectival. 2) The perspectival structure of science leads to specific forms of knowledge asymmetries. 3) Such perspectival knowledge asymmetries must be handled...

Shortcomings of Evaluation Worksheets for Scientific Art Articles in Iran Based on Merton's Science Norms

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Gholamreza Hassani

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The scientific journal assessment worksheets are the most important tool for evaluating the quality of scientific papers. The purpose of this research is an objective and qualitative description of indices used in the worksheets for the evaluation of art scientific research journals in Iran and to acknowledge their shortcomings in comparison with the norms of science from the Robert King Merton's perspective. The research approach in this study is combining survey and content analysis. Statistical samples consisted of nine worksheets developed for the evaluation of specialized art journal articles with a scientific research rank. Moreover, 14 experts in the fields of Scientometrics and art were invited to provide feedback on the extent to which the evaluation criteria used in the evaluation worksheets are in conformity with Merton’s science norms. Data collection was done in two forms including library research, referring to scientific journal databases, and structured interviews. In order to uncover the existing status of the indicators from the researcher-made check list, Excel software and a questionnaire were used as research instruments. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics along with relevant tables and charts. Findings of the research show that out of the total 53 existing indicators, the index of "using sufficient and new valid sources (internal and external" had the highest frequency (77.78%. The findings also indicated that the other 26 indicators had the lowest frequency percentage (11.11%. Moreover, these indices are consistent with the six out of seven of Merton's science norms (less than 18%. The obtained results revealed the unbalanced distribution of components and indicators of evaluation in these worksheets and their non-conformance to the norms of science, necessitating their revision.

Helping Students Move from Coding to Publishing - Teaching Scientific Communication to Science Interns

Science.gov (United States)

Batchelor, R.; Haacker-Santos, R.; Pandya, R. E.

2012-12-01

To help young scientists succeed in our field we should not only model scientific methods and inquiry, but also train them in the art of scientific writing - after all, poorly written proposals, reports or journal articles can be a show stopper for any researcher. Research internships are an effective place to provide such training, because they offer a unique opportunity to integrate writing with the process of conducting original research. This presentation will describe how scientific communication is integrated into the SOARS program. Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) is an undergraduate-to graduate bridge program that broadens participation in the geosciences. SOARS aims to foster the next generation of leaders in the atmospheric and related sciences by helping students develop investigative expertise complemented by leadership and communication skills. Each summer, interns (called protégés) attend a weekly seminar designed to help them learn scientific writing and communication skills. The workshop is organized around the sections of a scientific paper. Workshop topics include reading and citing scientific literature, writing an introduction, preparing a compelling abstract, discussing results, designing effective figures, and writing illuminating conclusions. In addition, protégés develop the skills required to communicate their research to both scientists and non-scientists through the use of posters, presentations and informal 'elevator' speeches. Writing and communication mentors guide protégés in applying the ideas from the workshop to the protégés' required summer scientific paper, poster and presentation, while a strong peer-review component of the program gives the protégés a taste of analyzing, critiquing and collaborating within a scientific forum. This presentation will provide practical tips and lessons learned from over ten years of scientific communications workshops within the SOARS program

Capacity-oriented curriculum system of optoelectronics in the context of large category cultivation

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Luo, Yuan; Hu, Zhangfang; Zhang, Yi

2017-08-01

In order to cultivate the innovative talents with the comprehensive development to meet the talents demand for development of economic society, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications implements cultivation based on broadening basic education and enrolment in large category of general education. Optoelectronic information science and engineering major belongs to the electronic engineering category. The "2 +2" mode is utilized for personnel training, where students are without major in the first and second year and assigned to a major within the major categories in the end of the second year. In the context of the comprehensive cultivation, for the changes in the demand for professionals in the global competitive environment with the currently rapid development, especially the demand for the professional engineering technology personnel suitable to industry and development of local economic society, the concept of CDIO engineering ability cultivation is used for reference. Thus the curriculum system for the three-node structure optoelectronic information science and engineering major is proposed, which attaches great importance to engineering practice and innovation cultivation under the background of the comprehensive cultivation. The conformity between the curriculum system and the personnel training objectives is guaranteed effectively, and the consistency between the teaching philosophy and the teaching behavior is enhanced. Therefore, the idea of major construction is clear with specific characteristics.

Optoelectronic properties of four azobenzene-based iminopyridine ligands for photovoltaic application

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Aziz El alamy

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Because of organic π-conjugated materials’ optoelectronic properties and potential applications in a wide range of electronic and optoelectronic devices, such as organic solar cells, these materials, including both polymers and oligomers, have been widely studied in recent years. This work reposts a theoretical study using the DFT method on four azobenzene-based iminopyridines. The theoretical ground-state geometry, electronic structure and optoelectronic parameters (highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO energy levels, open-circuit voltage (Voc and oscillator strengths (O.S of the studied molecules were obtained using the density functional theory (DFT and time-dependent (TDDFT approaches. The effects of the structure length and substituents on the geometric and optoelectronic properties of these materials are discussed to investigate the relationship between the molecular structure and the optoelectronic properties. The results of this study are consistent with the experimental ones and suggest that these materials as good candidates for use in photovoltaic devices. Keywords: π-conjugated materials, azobenzene, optoelectronic properties, DFT calculations, HOMO-LUMO gap

First a hero of science and now a martyr to science: the James Watson Affair - political correctness crushes free scientific communication.

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Charlton, Bruce G

2008-01-01

In 2007 James D. Watson, perhaps the most famous living scientist, was forced to retire from his position and retreat from public life in the face of international mass media condemnation following remarks concerning genetically-caused racial differences in intelligence. Watson was punished for stating forthright views on topics that elite opinion has determined should be discussed only with elaborate caution, frequent disclaimers, and solemn deference to the currently-prevailing pieties. James Watson has always struck many people as brash; however this blunt, truth-telling quality was intrinsic to his role in one of the greatest scientific discoveries. Much more importantly than 'good manners', Watson has consistently exemplified the cardinal scientific virtue: he speaks what he understands to be the truth without regard for the opinion of others. The most chilling aspect of the Watson Affair was the way in which so many influential members of the scientific research community joined the media condemnation directed against Watson. Perhaps the most egregious betrayal of science was an article by editorialists of the premier UK scientific journal Nature. Instead of defending the freedom of discourse in pursuit of scientific truth, Nature instead blamed Watson for being 'crass' and lacking 'sensitivity' in discussing human genetic differences. But if asked to choose between the 'sensitive' editors of Nature or the 'crass' genius of James D. Watson, all serious scientists must take the side of Watson. Because when a premier researcher such as Watson is hounded from office by a vicious, arbitrary and untruthful mob; all lesser scientists are made vulnerable to analogous treatment at the whim of the media. A zealous and coercive brand of 'political correctness' is now making the biological truth of human genetic differences intolerably difficult to discover and discuss in US and UK. This needs to change. My hope is that truth will prevail over political correctness and

Scientific knowledge and environmental policy. Why science needs values. Environmental essay

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carolan, M.S. [Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins (United States)

2006-12-15

While the term 'science' is evoked with immense frequency in the political arena, it continues to be misunderstood. Perhaps the most repeated example of this - particularly when dealing with environmental policy and regulatory issues - is when science is called upon to provide the unattainable: namely, proof. What is scientific knowledge and, more importantly, what is it capable of providing us? These questions must be answered - by policymakers, politicians, the public, and scientists themselves - if we hope to ever resolve today's environmental controversies in a just and equitable way. This paper begins by critically examining the concepts of uncertainty and proof as they apply to science. Discussion then turns to the issue of values in science. This is to speak of the normative decisions that are made routinely in the environmental sciences (but often without them being recognized as such). To conclude, insights are gleaned from the preceding sections to help us understand how science should be utilized and conducted, particularly as it applies to environmental policy.

Mid-infrared Semiconductor Optoelectronics

CERN Document Server

Krier, Anthony

2006-01-01

The practical realisation of optoelectronic devices operating in the 2–10 µm (mid-infrared) wavelength range offers potential applications in a variety of areas from environmental gas monitoring around oil rigs and landfill sites to the detection of pharmaceuticals, particularly narcotics. In addition, an atmospheric transmission window exists between 3 µm and 5 µm that enables free-space optical communications, thermal imaging applications and the development of infrared measures for "homeland security". Consequently, the mid-infrared is very attractive for the development of sensitive optical sensor instrumentation. Unfortunately, the nature of the likely applications dictates stringent requirements in terms of laser operation, miniaturisation and cost that are difficult to meet. Many of the necessary improvements are linked to a better ability to fabricate and to understand the optoelectronic properties of suitable high-quality epitaxial materials and device structures. Substantial progress in these m...

Monolithic optoelectronic integrated broadband optical receiver with graphene photodetectors

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Cheng Chuantong

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Optical receivers with potentially high operation bandwidth and low cost have received considerable interest due to rapidly growing data traffic and potential Tb/s optical interconnect requirements. Experimental realization of 65 GHz optical signal detection and 262 GHz intrinsic operation speed reveals the significance role of graphene photodetectors (PDs in optical interconnect domains. In this work, a novel complementary metal oxide semiconductor post-backend process has been developed for integrating graphene PDs onto silicon integrated circuit chips. A prototype monolithic optoelectronic integrated optical receiver has been successfully demonstrated for the first time. Moreover, this is a firstly reported broadband optical receiver benefiting from natural broadband light absorption features of graphene material. This work is a perfect exhibition of the concept of monolithic optoelectronic integration and will pave way to monolithically integrated graphene optoelectronic devices with silicon ICs for three-dimensional optoelectronic integrated circuit chips.

Monolithic optoelectronic integrated broadband optical receiver with graphene photodetectors

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Chuantong; Huang, Beiju; Mao, Xurui; Zhang, Zanyun; Zhang, Zan; Geng, Zhaoxin; Xue, Ping; Chen, Hongda

2017-07-01

Optical receivers with potentially high operation bandwidth and low cost have received considerable interest due to rapidly growing data traffic and potential Tb/s optical interconnect requirements. Experimental realization of 65 GHz optical signal detection and 262 GHz intrinsic operation speed reveals the significance role of graphene photodetectors (PDs) in optical interconnect domains. In this work, a novel complementary metal oxide semiconductor post-backend process has been developed for integrating graphene PDs onto silicon integrated circuit chips. A prototype monolithic optoelectronic integrated optical receiver has been successfully demonstrated for the first time. Moreover, this is a firstly reported broadband optical receiver benefiting from natural broadband light absorption features of graphene material. This work is a perfect exhibition of the concept of monolithic optoelectronic integration and will pave way to monolithically integrated graphene optoelectronic devices with silicon ICs for three-dimensional optoelectronic integrated circuit chips.

Popular Science as a Means of Emotional Engagement with the Scientific Community

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Olga A P ILKINGTON

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article explores a debate (and its origins which is taking place around the issue of science popularization. Although the participants are all describing popularization in various ways, the heart is in what makes a good popularization. The notion of this has changed from the 19th century view, which called for a simple and easy - to - understand text, to a more modern view, which suggests a good popularization engages the reader emotionally. This discussion might also be seen in a context of a more profou nd debate of science experts versus general public and what science and scientific knowledge mean to each group. The exploration of this relationship suggests a shift in the role lay public plays in science.

Improving Science Student Teachers' Self-Perceptions of Fluency with Innovative Technologies and Scientific Inquiry Abilities

Science.gov (United States)

Çalik, Muammer; Ebenezer, Jazlin; Özsevgeç, Tuncay; Küçük, Zeynel; Artun, Hüseyin

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of "Environmental Chemistry" elective course via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model on senior science student teachers' (SSSTs) self-perceptions of fluency with innovative technologies (InT) and scientific inquiry abilities. The study was conducted with 117 SSSTs (68…

Advanced educational program in optoelectronics for undergraduates and graduates in electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Vladescu, Marian; Schiopu, Paul

2015-02-01

The optoelectronics education included in electronics curricula at Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology of "Politehnica" University of Bucharest started in early '90s, and evolved constantly since then, trying to address the growing demand of engineers with a complex optoelectronics profile and to meet the increased requirements of microelectronics, optoelectronics, and lately nanotechnologies. Our goal is to provide a high level of theoretical background combined with advanced experimental tools in laboratories, and also with simulation platforms. That's why we propose an advanced educational program in optoelectronics for both grades of our study program, bachelor and master.

SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY FOR THE APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES: CRITICAL ANALYSES ABOUT RESEARCH METHODS, TYPOLOGIES AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MARX, WEBER AND DURKHEIM

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Mauricio Corrêa da Silva

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to discuss the importance of the scientific method to conduct and advertise research in applied social sciences and research typologies, as well as to highlight contributions from Marx, Weber and Durkheim to the scientific methodology. To reach this objective, we conducted a review of the literature on the term research, the scientific method,the research techniques and the scientific methodologies. The results of the investigation revealed that it is fundamental that the academic investigator uses a scientific method to conduct and advertise his/her academic works in applied social sciences in comparison with the biochemical or computer sciences and in the indicated literature. Regarding the contributions to the scientific methodology, we have Marx, dialogued, the dialectical, striking analysis, explicative of social phenomenon, the need to understand the phenomena as historical and concrete totalities; Weber, the distinction between “facts” and “value judgments” to provide objectivity to the social sciences and Durkheim, the need to conceptualize very well its object of study, reject sensible data and imbue with the spirit of discovery and of being surprised with the results.

The history of science as oxymoron: from scientific exceptionalism to episcience.

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Alder, Ken

2013-03-01

This essay argues that historians of science who seek to embody our oxymoronic self-description must confront both contradictory terms that define our common enterprise--that is, both "history" and "science." On the history/methods side, it suggests that we embrace the heterogeneity of our institutional arrangements and repudiate the homogeneous disciplinary model sometimes advocated by Thomas Kuhn and followed by art history. This implies that rather than treating the history of science as an end in itself, we consider it a means to a variety of historical ends. think of ourselves as a tool-making community, and jettison moralistic assertions of scientific exceptionalism. To do so, this essay argues--on the science/subject side--that xe rebrand the subject of our historical inquiry as "episcience," a neologism that stands in relation to "science" as the new field of epigenetics does to the old genetics. Episcience encompasses both the material activities of the relevant sciences and their "surround" (environment, milieu, Umgebung) to reframe knowledge making to include the material processes that put science "in play" and make its findings matter beyond science. The essay concludes that "the history of science" is an oxymoron that makes sense to the extent that its practitioners acknowledge that the history of science is important not just because science is important, but because its history is.

Nursing as a scientific undertaking and the intersection with science in undergraduate studies: implications for nursing management.

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, Patricia A; Angel, Lyndall

2011-04-01

To explore the science-nursing tension and impact for nursing students studying bioscience. Several studies have examined why nursing students struggle to be successful in bioscience subjects. Undeveloped science background and theory-practice gaps are noted as contributing factors. A qualitative study explored the science-nursing tension with 100 Australian Registered Nurses using focus groups and a survey. The survey response rate was 85 from 550. Of survey respondents, 88% viewed nursing as an applied science. An emphasis on procedural skills and task busyness undermines theoretical understanding of care and can be a negative influence upon the student bioscience experience. Practicum mentors confident in scientific knowledge enhance the student experience of bioscience by providing opportunities for integration with practice. Competing philosophies that reinforce the science-nursing tension have an impact upon student endeavours yet the nexus created by practice can be used to activate student curiosity and scientific understanding. Nurse managers need to structure the student practicum to encompass scientific theory applied to practice with equal emphasis on task efficiency. This improves student attitudes to learning bioscience and potentially minimizes the impact of the science-nursing tension on student learning. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Scientific Ethics: A New Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Menapace, Marcello

2018-06-04

Science is an activity of the human intellect and as such has ethical implications that should be reviewed and taken into account. Although science and ethics have conventionally been considered different, it is herewith proposed that they are essentially similar. The proposal set henceforth is to create a new ethics rooted in science: scientific ethics. Science has firm axiological foundations and searches for truth (as a value, axiology) and knowledge (epistemology). Hence, science cannot be value neutral. Looking at standard scientific principles, it is possible to construct a scientific ethic (that is, an ethical framework based on scientific methods and rules), which can be applied to all sciences. These intellectual standards include the search for truth (honesty and its derivatives), human dignity (and by reflection the dignity of all animals) and respect for life. Through these it is thence achievable to draft a foundation of a ethics based purely on science and applicable beyond the confines of science. A few applications of these will be presented. Scientific ethics can have vast applications in other fields even in non scientific ones.

Social inclusion and its approach at Information Science: scientific production analysis in the area of information science periodicals between 2001 and 2010

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Alex Serrano Almeida

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This study has the purpose to check how the social inclusion has been approached at Information Science area, from the scientific production area published at the area national periodicals. Over there, to verify which inclusion forms are recurrently approached at Information Science area; to show the use tendencies of social inclusion concept at the Science Information area scientific articles; to find how it presents the social inclusion concept connected to the information professional and analyze if it there is any association to other themes. It was realized searches in six periodicals at the period between 2001 and 2010. We used how analysis method the Bardin content analysis reference. The analysis corpus was constituted of 30 articles which approached the social inclusion theme. As the results, it was showed that the social inclusion on Information Science area publications, in general, is turned to digital inclusion and to the Information Science area publications uses. Besides, it was still identified connections with the information professionals, which one must serve as mediator between the information and the environment where information and users are inserted.

Socio-epistemic analysis of scientific knowledge production in little science research

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Alberto Pepe

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The processes that drive knowledge production and dissemination in scientific environments are embedded within the social, technical, cultural and epistemic practices of the constituent research communities. This article presents a methodology to unpack specific social and epistemic dimensions of scientific knowledge production using, as a case study,  the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS, a National Science Foundation “little science” research center involved in theoretical and applied work in the field of wireless communication and sensor networks. By analysis of its scholarly record, I construct a social network of coauthorship, linking individuals that have coauthored scholarly artifacts (journal articles and conference papers, and an epistemic network of topic co-occurrence, linking concepts and knowledge constructs in the same scholarly artifacts. This article reports on ongoing work directed at the study of the emergence and evolution of these networks of scientific interaction. I present some preliminary results and introduce a socio-epistemic method for an historical analysis of network co-evolution. I outline a research design to support further investigations of knowledge production in scientific circles.

Integrated optoelectronic materials and circuits for optical interconnects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutcheson, L.D.

1988-01-01

Conventional interconnect and switching technology is rapidly becoming a critical issue in the realization of systems using high speed silicon and GaAs based technologies. In recent years clock speeds and on-chip density for VLSI/VHSIC technology has made packaging these high speed chips extremely difficult. A strong case can be made for using optical interconnects for on-chip/on-wafer, chip-to-chip and board-to-board high speed communications. GaAs integrated optoelectronic circuits (IOC's) are being developed in a number of laboratories for performing Input/Output functions at all levels. In this paper integrated optoelectronic materials, electronics and optoelectronic devices are presented. IOC's are examined from the standpoint of what it takes to fabricate the devices and what performance can be expected

The Relationships among Scientific Epistemic Beliefs, Conceptions of Learning Science, and Motivation of Learning Science: A Study of Taiwan High School Students

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Ho, Hsin-Ning Jessie; Liang, Jyh-Chong

2015-01-01

This study explores the relationships among Taiwanese high school students' scientific epistemic beliefs (SEBs), conceptions of learning science (COLS), and motivation of learning science. The questionnaire responses from 470 high school students in Taiwan were gathered for analysis to explain these relationships. The structural equation modeling…

Using a Scientific Paper Format to Foster Problem-Based, Cohort-Learning in Undergraduate Environmental Science

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, T.; Langley-Turnbaugh, S. J.; Sanford, R.

2006-01-01

The Department of Environmental Science at the University of Southern Maine implemented a problem-based, cohort-learning curriculum for undergraduate environmental science majors. The curriculum was based on a five-course sequence patterned after the outline of a scientific paper. Under faculty guidance, students select local environmental…

ScienceCentral: open access full-text archive of scientific journals based on Journal Article Tag Suite regardless of their languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Huh, Sun

2013-01-01

ScienceCentral, a free or open access, full-text archive of scientific journal literature at the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, was under test in September 2013. Since it is a Journal Article Tag Suite-based full text database, extensible markup language files of all languages can be presented, according to Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit encoding. It is comparable to PubMed Central: however, there are two distinct differences. First, its scope comprises all science fields; second, it accepts all language journals. Launching ScienceCentral is the first step for free access or open access academic scientific journals of all languages to leap to the world, including scientific journals from Croatia.

Scientific and Cultural Knowledge in Intercultural Science Education: Student Perceptions of Common Ground

Science.gov (United States)

Gondwe, Mzamose; Longnecker, Nancy

2015-02-01

There is no consensus in the science education research community on the meanings and representations of western science and indigenous knowledge or the relationships between them. How students interpret these relationships and their perceptions of any connections has rarely been studied. This study reports student perceptions of the meaning and relationship between scientific and cultural knowledge. Personal meaning maps adapted for small groups were conducted in seven culturally diverse schools, school years 7-9 (with students aged 12-15 years) ( n = 190), with six schools in Western Australia and one school in Malawi, Africa. Of the six Australian school groups, two comprised Australian Aboriginal students in an after-school homework programme and the other four schools had a multicultural mix of students. Students in this study identified connections between scientific and cultural knowledge and constructed connections from particular thematic areas—mainly factual content knowledge as opposed to ideas related to values, attitudes, beliefs and identity. Australian Aboriginal students made fewer connections between the two knowledge domains than Malawian students whose previous science teacher had made explicit connections in her science class. Examples from Aboriginal culture were the most dominant illustrations of cultural knowledge in Australian schools, even in school groups with students from other cultures. In light of our findings, we discuss the construction of common ground between scientific knowledge and cultural knowledge and the role of teachers as cultural brokers and travel agents. We conclude with recommendations on creating learning environments that embrace different cultural knowledges and that promote explicit and enquiring discussions of values, attitudes, beliefs and identity associated with both knowledge domains.

Nano crystals for Electronic and Optoelectronic Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, T.; Cloutier, S.G.; Ivanov, I; Knappenberger Jr, K.L.; Robel, I.; Zhang, F

2012-01-01

Electronic and optoelectronic devices, from computers and smart cell phones to solar cells, have become a part of our life. Currently, devices with featured circuits of 45 nm in size can be fabricated for commercial use. However, further development based on traditional semiconductor is hindered by the increasing thermal issues and the manufacturing cost. During the last decade, nano crystals have been widely adopted in various electronic and optoelectronic applications. They provide alternative options in terms of ease of processing, low cost, better flexibility, and superior electronic/optoelectronic properties. By taking advantage of solution-processing, self-assembly, and surface engineering, nano crystals could serve as new building blocks for low-cost manufacturing of flexible and large area devices. Tunable electronic structures combined with small exciton binding energy, high luminescence efficiency, and low thermal conductivity make nano crystals extremely attractive for FET, memory device, solar cell, solid-state lighting/display, photodetector, and lasing applications. Efforts to harness the nano crystal quantum tunability have led to the successful demonstration of many prototype devices, raising the public awareness to the wide range of solutions that nano technology can provide for an efficient energy economy. This special issue aims to provide the readers with the latest achievements of nano crystals in electronic and optoelectronic applications, including the synthesis and engineering of nano crystals towards the applications and the corresponding device fabrication, characterization and computer modeling.

A Study on the Evaluation of Science Projects of Primary School Students Based on Scientific Criteria

Science.gov (United States)

Gungor, Sema Nur; Ozer, Dilek Zeren; Ozkan, Muhlis

2013-01-01

This study re-evaluated 454 science projects that were prepared by primary school students between 2007 and 2011 within the scope of Science Projects Event for Primary School Students. Also, submitted to TUBITAK BIDEB Bursa regional science board by MNE regional work groups in accordance with scientific research methods and techniques, including…

Quantum dot optoelectronic devices: lasers, photodetectors and solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jiang; Chen, Siming; Seeds, Alwyn; Liu, Huiyun

2015-01-01

Nanometre-scale semiconductor devices have been envisioned as next-generation technologies with high integration and functionality. Quantum dots, or the so-called ‘artificial atoms’, exhibit unique properties due to their quantum confinement in all 3D. These unique properties have brought to light the great potential of quantum dots in optoelectronic applications. Numerous efforts worldwide have been devoted to these promising nanomaterials for next-generation optoelectronic devices, such as lasers, photodetectors, amplifiers, and solar cells, with the emphasis on improving performance and functionality. Through the development in optoelectronic devices based on quantum dots over the last two decades, quantum dot devices with exceptional performance surpassing previous devices are evidenced. This review describes recent developments in quantum dot optoelectronic devices over the last few years. The paper will highlight the major progress made in 1.3 μm quantum dot lasers, quantum dot infrared photodetectors, and quantum dot solar cells. (topical review)

Examining the Features of Earth Science Logical Reasoning and Authentic Scientific Inquiry Demonstrated in a High School Earth Science Curriculum: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Do-Yong; Park, Mira

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the inquiry features demonstrated in the inquiry tasks of a high school Earth Science curriculum. One of the most widely used curricula, Holt Earth Science, was chosen for this case study to examine how Earth Science logical reasoning and authentic scientific inquiry were related to one another and how…

Integrated Optoelectronic Networks for Application-Driven Multicore Computing

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-08

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2017-0102 Integrated Optoelectronic Networks for Application- Driven Multicore Computing Sudeep Pasricha COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY...AND SUBTITLE Integrated Optoelectronic Networks for Application-Driven Multicore Computing 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA9550-13-1-0110 5c...and supportive materials with innovative architectural designs that integrate these components according to system-wide application needs. 15

Exceptional Optoelectronic Properties of Hydrogenated Bilayer Silicene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing Huang

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Silicon is arguably the best electronic material, but it is not a good optoelectronic material. By employing first-principles calculations and the cluster-expansion approach, we discover that hydrogenated bilayer silicene (BS shows promising potential as a new kind of optoelectronic material. Most significantly, hydrogenation converts the intrinsic BS, a strongly indirect semiconductor, into a direct-gap semiconductor with a widely tunable band gap. At low hydrogen concentrations, four ground states of single- and double-sided hydrogenated BS are characterized by dipole-allowed direct (or quasidirect band gaps in the desirable range from 1 to 1.5 eV, suitable for solar applications. At high hydrogen concentrations, three well-ordered double-sided hydrogenated BS structures exhibit direct (or quasidirect band gaps in the color range of red, green, and blue, affording white light-emitting diodes. Our findings open opportunities to search for new silicon-based light-absorption and light-emitting materials for earth-abundant, high-efficiency, optoelectronic applications.

The questions of scientific literacy and the challenges for contemporary science teaching: An ecological perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Mijung

This study began with questions about how science education can bring forth humanity and ethics to reflect increasing concerns about controversial issues of science and technology in contemporary society. Discussing and highlighting binary epistemological assumptions in science education, the study suggests embodied science learning with human subjectivity and integrity between knowledge and practice. The study questions (a) students' understandings of the relationships between STSE and their everyday lifeworld and (b) the challenges of cultivating scientific literacy through STSE teaching. In seeking to understand something about the pedagogical enactment of embodied scientific literacy that emphasizes the harmony of children's knowledges and their lifeworlds, this study employs a mindful pedagogy of hermeneutics. The intro- and intra-dialogical modes of hermeneutic understanding investigate the pedagogical relationship of parts (research texts of students, curriculum, and social milieu) and the whole (STSE teaching in contemporary time and place). The research was conducted with 86 Korean 6 graders at a public school in Seoul, Korea in 2003. Mixed methods were utilized for data collection including a survey questionnaire, a drawing activity, interviews, children's reflective writing, and classroom teaching and observation. The research findings suggest the challenges and possibilities of STSE teaching as follows: (a) children's separated knowledge from everyday practice and living, (b) children's conflicting ideas between ecological/ethical aspects and modernist values, (c) possibilities of embodied knowing in children's practice, and (d) teachers' pedagogical dilemmas in STSE teaching based on the researcher's experiences and reflection throughout teaching practice. As further discussion, this study suggests an ecological paradigm for science curriculum and teaching as a potential framework to cultivate participatory scientific literacy for citizenship in

Analysis of optoelectronic strategic planning in Taiwan by artificial intelligence portfolio tool

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Rang-Seng

1992-05-01

Taiwan ROC has achieved significant advances in the optoelectronic industry with some Taiwan products ranked high in the world market and technology. Six segmentations of optoelectronic were planned. Each one was divided into several strategic items, design artificial intelligent portfolio tool (AIPT) to analyze the optoelectronic strategic planning in Taiwan. The portfolio is designed to provoke strategic thinking intelligently. This computer- generated strategy should be selected and modified by the individual. Some strategies for the development of the Taiwan optoelectronic industry also are discussed in this paper.

Rigor, Reliability, and Scientific Relevance: Citizen Science Lessons from COASST (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Parrish, J. K.

2013-12-01

Citizen science promises fine grain, broad extent data collected over decadal time scales, with co-benefits including increased scientific literacy and civic engagement. But does it only deliver non-standardized, unverifiable data collected episodically by individuals with little-to-no training? How do you know which projects to trust? What are the attributes of a scientifically sound citizen science project? The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) is a 15 year old citizen science project currently involving ~800 participants from northern California north to Kotzebue, Alaska and west to the Commander Islands, Russia. After a single 5-hour training delivered in-community by an expert, volunteers have the knowledge and skill sets to accurately survey a coastal site for beached bird carcasses, which they will be able to identify to species correctly ~85% of the time. Data are collected monthly, and some volunteers remain with the program for years, contributing hundreds, even thousands, of survey hours. COASST trainings, data collection materials, and data entry web portal all reinforce 'evidence first, deduction second,' a maxim that allows volunteers to learn, and gives on-staff experts the ability to independently verify all birds found. COASST data go directly into science, as part of studies as diverse as fishery entanglement, historic native uses of seabirds as food sources, and the impacts of sudden shifts in upwelling; as well as into resource management, as part of decisions on fishing regulations, waterfowl hunting limits, and ESA-listed species management. Like professional science, COASST features a specific sampling design linked to questions of interest, verifiable data, statistical analysis, and peer-reviewed publication. In addition, COASST features before-and-after testing of volunteer knowledge, independent verification of all deductive data, and recruitment and retention strategies linked to geographic community norms. As a result

"It's Still Science but Not Like Normal Science": Girls' Responses to the Teaching of Socio-Scientific Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Helen

2014-01-01

Socio-scientific issues, which are often controversial, involve the use of science and are of interest to society, raising ethical and moral dilemmas. Examples of these issues could include genetic technology or air pollution. Following a curriculum reform in England in 2006, socioscientific issues now have a heightened presence in the 14-16…

Reading for tracing evidence: developing scientific knowledge through science text

Science.gov (United States)

Probosari, R. M.; Widyastuti, F.; Sajidan, S.; Suranto, S.; Prayitno, B. A.

2018-05-01

The purposes of this study were to investigate students’ learning progression on reading activity, science concept comprehension and how they imply it in scientific communication in the classroom. Fifty-nine biology education students participated in this study. This classroom research was developed to portray students’ reading activity, factors affecting reading comprehension, and the development of reading motivation. Qualitative analysis was used to describe the whole activities, involve the instruction, process and the product of reading activity. The result concluded that each student has their own way in interpreting the information from scientific text, but generally, they can filter and apply it in their argument as a part of reasoning and evidence. The findings can be used to direct reading activity to the goal of inquiry in order to support the nature of reading as evidence.

Space and Earth Sciences, Computer Systems, and Scientific Data Analysis Support, Volume 1

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Estes, Ronald H. (Editor)

1993-01-01

This Final Progress Report covers the specific technical activities of Hughes STX Corporation for the last contract triannual period of 1 June through 30 Sep. 1993, in support of assigned task activities at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). It also provides a brief summary of work throughout the contract period of performance on each active task. Technical activity is presented in Volume 1, while financial and level-of-effort data is presented in Volume 2. Technical support was provided to all Division and Laboratories of Goddard's Space Sciences and Earth Sciences Directorates. Types of support include: scientific programming, systems programming, computer management, mission planning, scientific investigation, data analysis, data processing, data base creation and maintenance, instrumentation development, and management services. Mission and instruments supported include: ROSAT, Astro-D, BBXRT, XTE, AXAF, GRO, COBE, WIND, UIT, SMM, STIS, HEIDI, DE, URAP, CRRES, Voyagers, ISEE, San Marco, LAGEOS, TOPEX/Poseidon, Pioneer-Venus, Galileo, Cassini, Nimbus-7/TOMS, Meteor-3/TOMS, FIFE, BOREAS, TRMM, AVHRR, and Landsat. Accomplishments include: development of computing programs for mission science and data analysis, supercomputer applications support, computer network support, computational upgrades for data archival and analysis centers, end-to-end management for mission data flow, scientific modeling and results in the fields of space and Earth physics, planning and design of GSFC VO DAAC and VO IMS, fabrication, assembly, and testing of mission instrumentation, and design of mission operations center.

The Relationships among Adult Affective Factors, Engagement in Science, and Scientific Competencies

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Chun-Yen; Li, Yuh-Yuh; Cheng, Ying-Yao

2017-01-01

This study investigated the relationship among adult affective factors, engagement in science, and scientific competencies. Probability proportional to size sampling was used to select 504 participants between the ages of 18 and 70 years. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews. The results of hierarchical regression…

The sociology of scientific work the fundamental relationship between science and society

CERN Document Server

Vinck, Dominique

2010-01-01

More than ever before, science and technology play a significant role in modern society as evidenced by the development of nanotechnologies and the controversies surrounding GMOs and climate change. This book comprehensively explores the flourishing field of science and technology studies and examines its creation, development and interaction with contemporary society. Dominique Vinck examines the various relationships between science and society including the emergence of sciences, the dynamics of innovation and technical democracy. He also investigates the principal social mechanisms of science and technology such as institutions, organizations, exchanges between researchers and the construction of scientific knowledge, expertise and innovation. The book provides a thorough overview of the field and reviews the major theoretical and methodological approaches as well as the current state of research on a range of topics. This original book will strongly appeal to students and researchers in the social scie...

Earth Science Enterprise Scientific Data Purchase Project: Verification and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Jenner, Jeff; Policelli, Fritz; Fletcher, Rosea; Holecamp, Kara; Owen, Carolyn; Nicholson, Lamar; Dartez, Deanna

2000-01-01

This paper presents viewgraphs on the Earth Science Enterprise Scientific Data Purchase Project's verification,and validation process. The topics include: 1) What is Verification and Validation? 2) Why Verification and Validation? 3) Background; 4) ESE Data Purchas Validation Process; 5) Data Validation System and Ingest Queue; 6) Shipment Verification; 7) Tracking and Metrics; 8) Validation of Contract Specifications; 9) Earth Watch Data Validation; 10) Validation of Vertical Accuracy; and 11) Results of Vertical Accuracy Assessment.

Exploration on the reform of the science and engineering experiment teaching based on the combination with teaching and scientific research

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Peng

2017-08-01

The existing problems of the experiment education in colleges and universities are analyzed. Take the science and engineering specialty as example, the idea of the combination with teaching and scientific research is discussed. The key problems are how the scientific research and scientific research achievements are used effectively in the experiment education, how to effectively use scientific research laboratories and scientific researchers. Then, a specialty experiment education system is established which is good for the teaching in accordance of all students' aptitude. The research in this paper can give the construction of the experiment teaching methods and the experiment system reform for the science and engineering specialties in colleges and universities.

Proceedings of the meeting and scientific presentations on basic science research and nuclear technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prayitno; Slamet Santosa; Darsono; Syarip; Agus Taftazani; Samin; Tri Mardji Atmono; Dwi Biyantoro; Herry Poernomo; Prajitno; Tjipto Sujitno; Gede Sutresna W; Djoko Slamet Pujorahardjo; Budi Setiawan; Bambang Siswanto; Endro Kismolo; Jumari

2016-08-01

The Proceedings of the Meeting and Scientific Presentations on Basic Science Research and Nuclear Technology by Center for Accelerator Science and Technology in Yogyakarta with the theme of Universities and research and development institutions synergy in the development of basic science and nuclear technology held on Surakarta 9 August 2016. This seminar is an annual routine activities of Center for Accelerator Science and Technology for exchange research result among University and BATAN researcher for using nuclear technology. The proceeding consist of 3 article from keynotes’ speaker and 37 articles from BATAN participant as well as outside which have been indexed separately. (MPN)

National facility for advanced computational science: A sustainable path to scientific discovery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simon, Horst; Kramer, William; Saphir, William; Shalf, John; Bailey, David; Oliker, Leonid; Banda, Michael; McCurdy, C. William; Hules, John; Canning, Andrew; Day, Marc; Colella, Philip; Serafini, David; Wehner, Michael; Nugent, Peter

2004-04-02

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) proposes to create a National Facility for Advanced Computational Science (NFACS) and to establish a new partnership between the American computer industry and a national consortium of laboratories, universities, and computing facilities. NFACS will provide leadership-class scientific computing capability to scientists and engineers nationwide, independent of their institutional affiliation or source of funding. This partnership will bring into existence a new class of computational capability in the United States that is optimal for science and will create a sustainable path towards petaflops performance.

Progress on Crystal Growth of Two-Dimensional Semiconductors for Optoelectronic Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bingqi Sun

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Two-dimensional (2D semiconductors are thought to belong to the most promising candidates for future nanoelectronic applications, due to their unique advantages and capability in continuing the downscaling of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS devices while retaining decent mobility. Recently, optoelectronic devices based on novel synthetic 2D semiconductors have been reported, exhibiting comparable performance to the traditional solid-state devices. This review briefly describes the development of the growth of 2D crystals for applications in optoelectronics, including photodetectors, light-emitting diodes (LEDs, and solar cells. Such atomically thin materials with promising optoelectronic properties are very attractive for future advanced transparent optoelectronics as well as flexible and wearable/portable electronic devices.

Deformable paper origami optoelectronic devices

KAUST Repository

He, Jr-Hau; Lin, Chun-Ho

2017-01-01

Deformable optoelectronic devices are provided, including photodetectors, photodiodes, and photovoltaic cells. The devices can be made on a variety of paper substrates, and can include a plurality of fold segments in the paper substrate creating a

Science Information Programs: The Argentine Telex Network for Scientific and Technical Information.

Science.gov (United States)

National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.

This document reports on two projects jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Science (NAS) (USA) and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET) (ARGENTINA). The first is the creation of a telex network for scientific libraries and documentation centers in Argentina, designed to improve access to, and delivery…

Exploring How Research Experiences for Teachers Changes Their Understandings of the Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Buxner, Sanlyn R.

2014-01-01

The nature of science is a prevalent theme across United States national science education standards and frameworks as well as other documents that guide formal and informal science education reform. To support teachers in engaging their students in authentic scientific practices and reformed teaching strategies, research experiences for teachers…

A Programme-Wide Training Framework to Facilitate Scientific Communication Skills Development amongst Biological Sciences Masters Students

Science.gov (United States)

Divan, Aysha; Mason, Sam

2016-01-01

In this article we describe the effectiveness of a programme-wide communication skills training framework incorporated within a one-year biological sciences taught Masters course designed to enhance the competency of students in communicating scientific research principally to a scientific audience. In one class we analysed the numerical marks…

Linking scientific disciplines: Hydrology and social sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Seidl, R.; Barthel, R.

2017-07-01

The integration of interdisciplinary scientific and societal knowledge plays an increasing role in sustainability science and more generally, in global change research. In the field of water resources, interdisciplinarity has long been recognized as crucial. Recently, new concepts and ideas about how to approach water resources management more holistically have been discussed. The emergence of concepts such as socio-hydrology indicates the growing relevance of connections between social and hydrological disciplines. In this paper, we determine how well social sciences are integrated with hydrological research by using two approaches. First, we conducted a questionnaire survey with a sample of hydrology researchers and professionals (N = 353) to explore current opinions and developments related to interdisciplinary collaboration between hydrologists and social scientists. Second, we analyzed the disciplinary composition of author teams and the reference lists of articles pertaining to the socio-hydrology concept. We conclude that interdisciplinarity in water resources research is on a promising track but may need to mature further in terms of its aims and methods of integration. We find that current literature pays little attention to the following questions: What kind of interdisciplinarity do different scholars want? What are social scientists' preferred roles and knowledge from a hydrology perspective?

Science and scientists turned into news and media stars by scientific journals. A study on the consequences on the present scientific behaviour (Spanish original version

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Elías

2008-09-01

Full Text Available This article explores whether some scientists have now actually been developing a type of science apt to be published as a piece of news, yet lacking a relevant scientific interest. Possibly, behind this behaviour there may be the present working culture, in which scientists live under the pressure of the dictatorship of the Science Citation Index (SCI of the reference journals. This hypothesis is supported by a study demonstrating that there is a direct relation between publishing scientific results in the press and a subsequent increase in the SCI index. Many cases are here described, selected among the papers published in Nature that – according to experts – have a media interest rather than a scientific one. Furthermore, the case of the Dolly sheep cloning is studied as a paradigm for a situation in which media coverage actually destroyed the research group.

[Ghostwriters and commerce of scientific papers on the internet: science at risk].

Science.gov (United States)

Grieger, Maria Christina Anna

2007-01-01

Frauds in scientific production are not a rare phenomenon, even in the medical field. Among these frauds are some types of authorship misconduct, such as plagiarism and ghostwriting sponsored by pharmaceutical industries. Another type of misconduct, which is particularly detrimental to science, is the e-commerce of scientific works, which has been growing and frequently shown in the press. To analyze the e-commerce of scientific papers and the means by which these services are offered. Eighteen Brazilian web sites that offer elaboration of scientific papers were selected. A request for the elaboration of a final essay for a forged post-graduate course was sent to each of them. The research requested had already been completed, consequently technical, ethical and bibliographical characteristics were already known to the author. Ten enterprises accepted the order and, except for one, they have not objected to the conditions imposed: Field research, approval by an ethics committee on research and use of the Vancouver norms. Six have not replied and two have not accepted the order alleging that they had no co-workers available for the task. E-commerce of scientific papers is a fact which can negatively interfere in the ethical, scientific and professional development of graduate and post-graduate students, as well as in scientific production by adulterating data and information found in literature. A new approach is recommended, especially when evaluating final essays.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Science: A Dialectic of Scientific Fame.

Science.gov (United States)

Feist, Gregory J

2016-11-01

In this article, I argue that scientific fame and impact exists on a continuum from the mundane to the transformative/revolutionary. Ideally, one achieves fame and impact in science by synthesizing two extreme career prototypes: intrinsic and extrinsic research. The former is guided by interest, curiosity, passion, gut, and intuition for important untapped topics. The latter is guided by money, grants, and/or what is being published in top-tier journals. Assessment of fame and impact in science ultimately rests on productivity (publication) and some variation of its impact (citations). In addition to those traditional measures of impact, there are some relatively new metrics (e.g., the h index and altmetrics). If psychology is to achieve consensual cumulative progress and better rates of replication, I propose that upcoming psychologists would do well to understand that success is not equal to fame and that individual career success is not necessarily the same as disciplinary success. Finally, if one is to have a successful and perhaps even famous career in psychological science, a good strategy would be to synthesize intrinsic and extrinsic motives for one's research. © The Author(s) 2016.

Scientific Opportunities to Reduce Risk in Nuclear Process Science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bredt, Paul R.; Felmy, Andrew R.; Gauglitz, Phillip A.; Hobbs, David T.; Krahn, Steve; Machara, N.; Mcilwain, Michael; Moyer, Bruce A.; Poloski, Adam P.; Subramanian, K.; Vienna, John D.; Wilmarth, B.

2008-01-01

Cleaning up the nation's nuclear weapons complex remains as one of the most technologically challenging and financially costly problems facing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Safety, cost, and technological challenges have often delayed progress in retrieval, processing, and final disposition of high-level waste, spent nuclear fuel, and challenging materials. Some of the issues result from the difficulty and complexity of the technological issues; others have programmatic bases, such as contracting strategies that may provide undue focus on near-term, specific clean-up goals or difficulty in developing and maintaining stakeholder confidence in the proposed solutions. We propose that independent basic fundamental science research focused on the full cleanup life-cycle offers an opportunity to help address these challenges by providing (1) scientific insight into the fundamental mechanisms involved in currently selected processing and disposal options, (2) a rational path to the development of alternative technologies should the primary options fail, (3) confidence that models that predict long-term performance of different disposal options are based upon the best available science, (4) fundamental science discovery that enables transformational solutions to revolutionize the current baseline processes.

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 and Scientific Literacy: A Perspective for Science Education Leaders

Science.gov (United States)

Bybee, Rodger W.

2009-01-01

This article describes the idea of scientific literacy as defined in PISA, discusses relevant results of PISA, and clarifies meaningful relationships between PISA data and scientific competencies of U.S. students. Finally, the author includes insights and recommendations for contemporary leadership in science education. (Contains 8 tables and 1…

Enhancing Students' NOS Views and Science Knowledge Using Facebook-Based Scientific News

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hsi-Yu; Wu, Hui-Ling; She, Hsiao-Ching; Lin, Yu-Ren

2014-01-01

This study investigated how the different discussion approaches in Facebook influenced students' scientific knowledge acquisition and the nature of science (NOS) views. Two eighth- and two ninth-grade classes in a Taiwanese junior high school participated in the study. In two of the classes students engaged in synchronous discussion, and in the…

Learning about the Nature of Science Using Newspaper Articles with Scientific Content

Science.gov (United States)

García-Carmona, Antonio; Acevedo Díaz, José Antonio

2016-01-01

This article presents a study aiming at assessing the efficacy of reading newspaper articles with scientific content in order to incorporate nature of science (NOS) aspects in initial primary teacher education. To this aim, a short teaching intervention based on newspaper articles was planned and performed under regular class conditions. First,…

Examining elementary teachers' knowledge and instruction of scientific explanations for fostering children's explanations in science

Science.gov (United States)

Wiebke, Heidi Lynn

This study employed an embedded mixed methods multi-case study design (Creswell, 2014) with six early childhood (grades K-2) teachers to examine a) what changes occurred to their subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching scientific explanations while participating in a professional development program, b) how they planned for and implemented scientific explanation instruction within a teacher developed unit on properties of matter, and c) what affordances their instruction of scientific explanations had on fostering their students' abilities to generate explanations in science. Several quantitative and qualitative measures were collected and analyzed in accordance to this studies conceptual framework, which consisted of ten instructional practices teachers should consider assimilating or accommodating into their knowledge base (i.e., SMK & PCK) for teaching scientific explanations. Results of this study indicate there was little to no positive change in the teachers' substantive and syntactic SMK. However, all six teachers did make significant changes to all five components of their PCK for teaching explanations in science. While planning for scientific explanation instruction, all six teachers' contributed some ideas for how to incorporate seven of the ten instructional practices for scientific explanations within the properties of matter unit they co-developed. When enacting the unit, the six teachers' employed seven to nine of the instructional practices to varying levels of effectiveness, as measured by researcher developed rubrics. Given the six teachers' scientific explanation instruction, many students did show improvement in their ability to formulate a scientific explanation, particularly their ability to provide multiple pieces of evidence. Implications for professional developers, teacher educators, researchers, policy makers, and elementary teachers regarding how to prepare teachers for and support students

Integrated optoelectronic oscillator.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Jian; Hao, Tengfei; Li, Wei; Domenech, David; Baños, Rocio; Muñoz, Pascual; Zhu, Ninghua; Capmany, José; Li, Ming

2018-04-30

With the rapid development of the modern communication systems, radar and wireless services, microwave signal with high-frequency, high-spectral-purity and frequency tunability as well as microwave generator with light weight, compact size, power-efficient and low cost are increasingly demanded. Integrated microwave photonics (IMWP) is regarded as a prospective way to meet these demands by hybridizing the microwave circuits and the photonics circuits on chip. In this article, we propose and experimentally demonstrate an integrated optoelectronic oscillator (IOEO). All of the devices needed in the optoelectronic oscillation loop circuit are monolithically integrated on chip within size of 5×6cm 2 . By tuning the injection current to 44 mA, the output frequency of the proposed IOEO is located at 7.30 GHz with phase noise value of -91 dBc/Hz@1MHz. When the injection current is increased to 65 mA, the output frequency can be changed to 8.87 GHz with phase noise value of -92 dBc/Hz@1MHz. Both of the oscillation frequency can be slightly tuned within 20 MHz around the center oscillation frequency by tuning the injection current. The method about improving the performance of IOEO is carefully discussed at the end of in this article.

Parallel optoelectronic trinary signed-digit division

Science.gov (United States)

Alam, Mohammad S.

1999-03-01

The trinary signed-digit (TSD) number system has been found to be very useful for parallel addition and subtraction of any arbitrary length operands in constant time. Using the TSD addition and multiplication modules as the basic building blocks, we develop an efficient algorithm for performing parallel TSD division in constant time. The proposed division technique uses one TSD subtraction and two TSD multiplication steps. An optoelectronic correlator based architecture is suggested for implementation of the proposed TSD division algorithm, which fully exploits the parallelism and high processing speed of optics. An efficient spatial encoding scheme is used to ensure better utilization of space bandwidth product of the spatial light modulators used in the optoelectronic implementation.

Science Fiction & Scientific Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Czerneda, Julie E.

2006-01-01

The term "science fiction" has become synonymous, in the media at least, for any discovery in science too incredible or unexpected for the nonscientist to imagine. One of the most common classroom uses of science fiction is for students to pick out flaws in science fiction movies or television shows. Unfortunately, this approach can result in…

Using Social Media to Promote Pre-Service Science Teachers' Practices of Socio-Scientific Issue (SSI) - Based Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Pitiporntapin, Sasithep; Lankford, Deanna Marie

2015-01-01

This paper addresses using social media to promote pre-service science teachers' practices of Socio-Scientific Issue (SSI) based teaching in a science classroom setting. We designed our research in two phases. The first phase examined pre-service science teachers' perceptions about using social media to promote their SSI-based teaching. The…

Connecting the Public to Scientific Research Data - Science On a Sphere°

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, M. A.; Russell, E. L.; Science on a Sphere Datasets

2011-12-01

Connecting the Public to Scientific Research Data - Science On a Sphere° Maurice Henderson, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Elizabeth Russell, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, University of Colorado Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Science On a Sphere° is a six foot animated globe developed by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, as a means to display global scientific research data in an intuitive, engaging format in public forums. With over 70 permanent installations of SOS around the world in science museums, visitor's centers and universities, the audience that enjoys SOS yearly is substantial, wide-ranging, and diverse. Through partnerships with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, the SOS Data Catalog (http://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/) has grown to a collection of over 350 datasets from NOAA, NASA, and many others. Using an external projection system, these datasets are displayed onto the sphere creating a seamless global image. In a cross-site evaluation of Science On a Sphere°, 82% of participants said yes, seeing information displayed on a sphere changed their understanding of the information. This unique technology captivates viewers and exposes them to scientific research data in a way that is accessible, presentable, and understandable. The datasets that comprise the SOS Data Catalog are scientific research data that have been formatted for display on SOS. By formatting research data into visualizations that can be used on SOS, NOAA and NASA are able to turn research data into educational materials that are easily accessible for users. In many cases, visualizations do not need to be modified because SOS uses a common map projection. The SOS Data Catalog has become a "one-stop shop" for a broad range of global datasets from across NOAA and NASA, and as a result, the traffic on the site is more than just SOS users. While the target audience for this site is SOS users, many

Guiding Students to Develop an Understanding of Scientific Inquiry: A Science Skills Approach to Instruction and Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Elisa M.

2014-01-01

New approaches for teaching and assessing scientific inquiry and practices are essential for guiding students to make the informed decisions required of an increasingly complex and global society. The Science Skills approach described here guides students to develop an understanding of the experimental skills required to perform a scientific investigation. An individual teacher's investigation of the strategies and tools she designed to promote scientific inquiry in her classroom is outlined. This teacher-driven action research in the high school biology classroom presents a simple study design that allowed for reciprocal testing of two simultaneous treatments, one that aimed to guide students to use vocabulary to identify and describe different scientific practices they were using in their investigations—for example, hypothesizing, data analysis, or use of controls—and another that focused on scientific collaboration. A knowledge integration (KI) rubric was designed to measure how students integrated their ideas about the skills and practices necessary for scientific inquiry. KI scores revealed that student understanding of scientific inquiry increased significantly after receiving instruction and using assessment tools aimed at promoting development of specific inquiry skills. General strategies for doing classroom-based action research in a straightforward and practical way are discussed, as are implications for teaching and evaluating introductory life sciences courses at the undergraduate level. PMID:24591508

Guiding students to develop an understanding of scientific inquiry: a science skills approach to instruction and assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Elisa M

2014-01-01

New approaches for teaching and assessing scientific inquiry and practices are essential for guiding students to make the informed decisions required of an increasingly complex and global society. The Science Skills approach described here guides students to develop an understanding of the experimental skills required to perform a scientific investigation. An individual teacher's investigation of the strategies and tools she designed to promote scientific inquiry in her classroom is outlined. This teacher-driven action research in the high school biology classroom presents a simple study design that allowed for reciprocal testing of two simultaneous treatments, one that aimed to guide students to use vocabulary to identify and describe different scientific practices they were using in their investigations-for example, hypothesizing, data analysis, or use of controls-and another that focused on scientific collaboration. A knowledge integration (KI) rubric was designed to measure how students integrated their ideas about the skills and practices necessary for scientific inquiry. KI scores revealed that student understanding of scientific inquiry increased significantly after receiving instruction and using assessment tools aimed at promoting development of specific inquiry skills. General strategies for doing classroom-based action research in a straightforward and practical way are discussed, as are implications for teaching and evaluating introductory life sciences courses at the undergraduate level.

Scientific Management as part of the curriculum of Pedagogical Sciences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha Margarita López Ruiz

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The Psychology and Pedagogy carer is developed in pedagogical sciences Cuban universities and the plan of the teaching learning process is organized on disciplines, subjects and activities from the working practice are distributed during the five years of the career which guarantee the fulfilment of the objectives in the professional qualification degree. Scientific educational management is included as part of the curriculum of this specialty in Pedagogical Universities. Scientific educational management has a great importance in the existence of state who is worried for the preparation and training of pedagogical specialists to whom ethics becomes a daily practice in their jobs in a society in which the formation and development of Cuban citizens is carried out by social programs encouraged by the government. The growing of this specialist is supported on the existence of a government that is interested on teaching, innovate and develop human beings by means of putting into practice social and cultural activities. The main goal of this article is to exemplify how to organize the contents of scientific educational management and the way of planning the teaching learning process to better future Cuban teacher trainers and managers.

Central Scientific and Research Institute of Nuclear Information as the branch centre of information on nuclear science and engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arkhangel'skij, I.A.; Sokolov, D.D.; Kalinin, V.F.; Nikiforov, V.S.

1982-01-01

The main tasks are considered in the scope of the Central Scientific-Research Institute for Information and Technological and Economic Studies on Nuclear Science and Technology. (TsNIIAtominform). The institute coordinates scientific research and information activity of information agencies of all the USSR organizations engaged in nuclear science and technology, excercises a centralized completion of their libraries, develops and puts into practice the most progressive methods for the information servicing. The institute is a national INIS center of the USSR. Here a system for the automatic information dissemination has been successfully elaborated and employed. Much of the institute activity is given to the estimation and analysis of information and to the determination of tendencies in the nuclear science and technology development. A conclusion is drawn to the effect that TsNIIAtominform, within 15 years of its existence, has formed as a center ensuring functioning of the system of scientific and technical information on nuclear science and technology

Inquiry in early years science teaching and learning: Curriculum design and the scientific story

Science.gov (United States)

McMillan, Barbara Alexander

2001-07-01

Inquiry in school science, as conceived by the authors of the Common Framework of Science Learning Outcomes K--12, is dependent upon four areas of skills. These are the skills of initiating and planning, performing and recording, analysing and interpreting, and communication and teamwork that map onto what Hodson calls the five phases of scientific inquiry in school science: initiation, design and planning, performance, interpretation, and reporting and communicating. This study looked at initiation in a multiage (Grades 1--3) classroom, and the curriculum, design tools, and inquiry acts believed to be necessary precursors of design and planning phases whether the inquiry in which young children engage is archival or laboratory investigation. The curriculum was designed to build upon children's everyday biological knowledge and through a series of carefully organized lessons to help them to begin to build scientifically valid conceptual models in the area of animal life cycles. The lessons began with what is called benchmark-invention after the historical work of Robert Karplus and the contemporary work of Earl Hunt and Jim Minstrell. The introduction of a biological concept was followed by a series of exploration activities in which children were encouraged to apply the concept invented in the benchmark lesson. Enlargement followed. This was the instructional phase in which children were helped to establish scientifically valid relationships between the invented concept and other biological concepts. The pre-instruction and post-instruction interview data suggest that the enacted curriculum and sequence in which the biological knowledge was presented helped the nineteen children in the study to recognize the connections and regularities within the life cycles of the major groupings of animals, and to begin to build scientific biological conceptual models. It is, however, argued that everyday biology, in the form of the person analogy, acts as an obstacle to

Is it possible to give scientific solutions to Grand Challenges? On the idea of grand challenges for life science research.

Science.gov (United States)

Efstathiou, Sophia

2016-04-01

This paper argues that challenges that are grand in scope such as "lifelong health and wellbeing", "climate action", or "food security" cannot be addressed through scientific research only. Indeed scientific research could inhibit addressing such challenges if scientific analysis constrains the multiple possible understandings of these challenges into already available scientific categories and concepts without translating between these and everyday concerns. This argument builds on work in philosophy of science and race to postulate a process through which non-scientific notions become part of science. My aim is to make this process available to scrutiny: what I call founding everyday ideas in science is both culturally and epistemologically conditioned. Founding transforms a common idea into one or more scientifically relevant ones, which can be articulated into descriptively thicker and evaluatively deflated terms and enable operationalisation and measurement. The risk of founding however is that it can invisibilise or exclude from realms of scientific scrutiny interpretations that are deemed irrelevant, uninteresting or nonsensical in the domain in question-but which may remain salient for addressing grand-in-scope challenges. The paper considers concepts of "wellbeing" in development economics versus in gerontology to illustrate this process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Learning of Science Basic Concept by Using Scientifiq Inquiry to Improve Student’s Thinking, Working, and Scientific Attitude Abilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wachidatul Linda Yuhanna

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This research was a classroom action research which was conducted intwo cycles, each cycle consists of planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting. The data used was quantitative data on student observation sheet instruments. The Results of the study which were obtained from the first cycle showed about the students’ thinking skills and scientific works. They were categorized as excellent 18.18%, good 22.73%, enough 52.27%, and sufficiently less 6.82%. As for the scientific attitude with a very active category of 11.36%, 43.18% and less active 45.45%. It has not reached indicators of success, so it was necessary to cycle II. Cycle II demonstrated the excellent category 38.63%, 36.36% good, good enough18.18% and less 6.81%. While the scientific attitude in the cycle II was an active attitude 29.54%, active 54.54%, inactive 15.91%. These results show an increase from the cycle I to cycle II. The conclusion of this study were: 1 learning the basic concepts of science with scientific inquiry in students can be conducible applied.2 Learning the basic concepts of science with scientific inquiry can improve thinking ability and scientific work and students’ scientific attitude. 3 Learning the basic concepts of science with scientific inquiry be able to explore and develop student creativity in designing simple experiments which can be applied in primary schools.

SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF NATURE AND SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF CULTURE: INTE-GRATION TREND, PRACTICAL VALUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fokina Zoya Titovna

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article deals with a topic of interest : studying the expanding and deepening trend of integration of natural, technical, social and humanities fields of scientific knowledge. The point of absolute opposition between the sciences dealing with nature and those dealing with culture is subjected to criticism, the forms of integration of scientific knowledge are identified: mathematization, formalization, computerization of knowledge; philosophization/dialectization and environmentalization of the scientific knowledge. It is noted that such areas of scientific knowledge as synergetics, cybernetics, system theory, information technology, sociosynergetics, historical informatics, cliometrics, informatics for economics, evolutionary economics, human ecology, etc. Many scientific fields appear on the border between the science, technology and mathematics, and social and humanities studies, while the sharp borders between the natural sciences and cultural sciences tend to disappear, although specifics of studying the social reality still exists. Within the context of integration of sciences, comprehensive approach, synergetics, cybernetics, and mathematical model approach are analyzed. The philosophy of technology, and environmental problems, which are caused by the development of technological civilization, are studied. Practical value of integration processes in science is identified. The studied data is addressed to the specialists who are interested in the modern processes of integration of sciences, and modern issues of scientific and technical development of humanity, survival of humanity under the conditions of increasing technological understanding of the nature.

[On Georges Canguilhem's "What does a scientific ideology mean?" and on French-German contributions on science and ideology in the last forty years].

Science.gov (United States)

Debru, Claude

2010-06-01

This paper is based on Canguilhem's text on the concept of scientific ideology, which he introduced in 1969. We describe Canguilhem's attempts at designing a methodological framework for the history of science including the status of kinds of knowledge related to science, like scientific ideologies preceding particular scientific domains (like ideologies about inheritance before Mendel, or Spencer's universal evolutionary laws preceding Darwin). This attempt at picturing the relationships between science and ideology is compared with Jürgen Habermas's book Technology and Science as 'Ideology' in 1968. The philosphical issue of human normativity provides the framework of this discussion.

Heteroclinic dynamics of coupled semiconductor lasers with optoelectronic feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahin, S; Vallini, F; Monifi, F; Rabinovich, M; Fainman, Y

2016-11-15

Generalized Lotka-Volterra (GLV) equations are important equations used in various areas of science to describe competitive dynamics among a population of N interacting nodes in a network topology. In this Letter, we introduce a photonic network consisting of three optoelectronically cross-coupled semiconductor lasers to realize a GLV model. In such a network, the interaction of intensity and carrier inversion rates, as well as phases of laser oscillator nodes, result in various dynamics. We study the influence of asymmetric coupling strength and frequency detuning between semiconductor lasers and show that inhibitory asymmetric coupling is required to achieve consecutive amplitude oscillations of the laser nodes. These studies were motivated primarily by the dynamical models used to model brain cognitive activities and their correspondence with dynamics obtained among coupled laser oscillators.

What can cognitive science tell us about scientific revolutions?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Bird

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions is notable for the readiness with which it drew on the results of cognitive psychology. These naturalistic elements were not well received and Kuhn did not subsequently develop them in his pub- lished work. Nonetheless, in a philosophical climate more receptive to naturalism, we are able to give a more positive evaluation of Kuhn’s proposals. Recently, philosophers such as Nersessian, Nickles, Andersen, Barker, and Chen have used the results of work on case-based reasoning, analogical thinking, dynamic frames, and the like to illuminate and develop various aspects of Kuhn’s thought in Structure. In particular this work aims to give depth to the Kuhnian concepts of a paradigm and incommensurability. I review this work and identify two broad strands of research. One emphasizes work on concepts; the other focusses on cognitive habits. After contrasting these, I argue that the conceptual strand fails to be a complete account of scientific revolutions. We need a broad approach that draws on a variety of resources in psychology and cognitive science.

Physical Sciences Preservice Teachers' Religious and Scientific Views Regarding the Origin of the Universe and Life

Science.gov (United States)

Govender, Nadaraj

2017-01-01

This paper explores final-year physical sciences preservice teachers' religious and scientific views regarding the origin of the universe and life. Data was obtained from 10 preservice teachers from individual in-depth interviews conducted at the end of the Science Method module. Their viewpoints were analyzed using coding, sorting, and…

Impact factor and other indices to assess science, scientists and scientific journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Satyanarayana, K

2010-01-01

This paper traces the evolution of measures and parameters for the evaluation of science and scientific journals from the first attempts during the early part of the last century to the development of the most popular, current and widely used metrics viz., citations, impact factor (IF) etc. The identification of measures of evaluation in science and scientific reporting paralled the post-war increase in funding in the United States of America. Biomedical and medical sciences continue to garner a major share, estimated to be almost two-thirds of total research and development funding of over US$ 350 billion. There has been a concomitant growth in the publications in learned journals. About 1.4 million papers are published every year in an estimated 20,000 journals. In India there are an estimated 100 journals in medical sciences. With a steady increase of about 10% every year, the competition for grants, awards, rewards etc., is fierce. This unrelenting increase in number of scientists and the resultant competition, the limitation of peer review was felt. A search was on for new quantifiable measures for informed decision making for funding, awards, rewards, etc. Now virtually all major decisions all over the world are based on some data linked to publications and/or citations. The concept of citations as tool for 'evaluating' science was first proposed by Eugene Garfield in 1955. The availability of Science Citation Index (SCI), Journal Citation Reports (JCR), Web of Science etc. and the relative ease with which they could be used (and abused) has spawned an entirely new area bibliometrics/scientometrics. As only a limited number of journals could be included in the Thomson Reuters (TR) databases (currently numbering about 10500), analyses based on such a limited dataset (also selected in a non-transparent way by the TR) has been widely and severely criticized by both the developed and developing countries. Yet, studies have shown that citation-based data and

Environmental Science and Engineering Merit Badges: An Exploratory Case Study of a Non-Formal Science Education Program and the U.S. Scientific and Engineering Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Vick, Matthew E.; Garvey, Michael P.

2016-01-01

The Boy Scouts of America's Environmental Science and Engineering merit badges are two of their over 120 merit badges offered as a part of a non-formal educational program to U.S. boys. The Scientific and Engineering Practices of the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards provide a vision of science education that includes integrating eight…

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: Examining the Effectiveness of Authentic Scientific Research on High School Students' Science Skills and Interest.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Tony J; Delaloye, Naomi; Adams, Earle Raymond; Ware, Desirae; Vanek, Diana; Knuth, Randy; Hester, Carolyn Laurie; Marra, Nancy Noel; Holian, Andrij

2016-01-01

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. A quasi-experimental design was used in order to understand: 1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and 2) how the open inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path . Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom.

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: Examining the Effectiveness of Authentic Scientific Research on High School Students’ Science Skills and Interest

Science.gov (United States)

Delaloye, Naomi; Adams, Earle Raymond; Ware, Desirae; Vanek, Diana; Knuth, Randy; Hester, Carolyn Laurie; Marra, Nancy Noel; Holian, Andrij

2016-01-01

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. A quasi-experimental design was used in order to understand: 1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and 2) how the open inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path. Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom. PMID:28286375

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: examining the effectiveness of authentic scientific research on high school students' science skills and interest

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Tony J.; Delaloye, Naomi; Adams, Earle Raymond; Ware, Desirae; Vanek, Diana; Knuth, Randy; Hester, Carolyn Laurie; Marra, Nancy Noel; Holian, Andrij

2016-04-01

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. This research explored: (1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and (2) how the open-inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path. Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom.

Interview with Warren Wiscombe on scientific programing and his contributions to atmospheric science tool making

OpenAIRE

Flatau, Piotr J.

2013-01-01

On March 11, 2013 I talked with Warren Wiscombe about his contributions to scientific computer programming, atmospheric science and radiative transfer. Our conversation is divided into three parts related to light scattering, radiative transfer and his general thoughts about scientific programming. There are some reflections on how radiative transfer parameterizations gradually sneaked in to modern climate and atmospheric Global Circulation Models. Why some software programs such as light sca...

Academic Entrepreneurship and Exchange of Scientific Resources: Material Transfer in Life and Materials Sciences in Japanese Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Shibayama, Sotaro; Walsh, John P.; Baba, Yasunori

2012-01-01

This study uses a sample of Japanese university scientists in life and materials sciences to examine how academic entrepreneurship has affected the norms and behaviors of academic scientists regarding sharing scientific resources. Results indicate that high levels of academic entrepreneurship in a scientific field are associated with less reliance…

Science on Stage: Engaging and teaching scientific content through performance art

Science.gov (United States)

Posner, Esther

2016-04-01

Engaging teaching material through performance art and music can improve the long-term retention of scientific content. Additionally, the development of effective performance skills are a powerful tool to communicate scientific concepts and information to a broader audience that can have many positive benefits in terms of career development and the delivery of professional presentations. While arts integration has been shown to increase student engagement and achievement, relevant artistic materials are still required for use as supplemental activities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) courses. I will present an original performance poem, "Tectonic Petrameter: A Journey Through Earth History," with instructions for its implementation as a play in pre-university and undergraduate geoscience classrooms. "Tectonic Petrameter" uses a dynamic combination of rhythm and rhyme to teach the geological time scale, fundamental concepts in geology and important events in Earth history. I propose that using performance arts, such as "Tectonic Petrameter" and other creative art forms, may be an avenue for breaking down barriers related to teaching students and the broader non-scientific community about Earth's long and complex history.

About the 'scientification' of politics by way of scientific expertise by advisory bodies. Social science expertise and desicion-making in social problem areas in the Federal Republic of Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, P.

1985-01-01

Taking the examples of the Council of Economic Advisors, the Education Council and the Federal Parliament's Commission of Inquiry on Future Nuclear Energy Policy, this paper analyses political situations in the Federal Republic of Germany in which social science expertise entered public debate and decision-making in certain social problem areas in a very pronounced way. By considering the social context in which these advisory bodies were created, an attempt is made to link an analysis of different social actors' interests to a review of existing knowledge and patterns of interpretation in the social sciences. It is shown that by using social science findings some actors achieved advantages in justifying and legitimating their political positions and that subsequently the relations of actors in some arenas of conflict changed-without, however, allowing to relate this causally only to the use of scientific knowledge. If, however, the use of scientific arguments is rapidly generalized, the confrontation of expertise and counter-expertise by opposing actors becomes usual practice. This, in turn, provides for questions concerning their 'scientificity', which the social sciences are asked to take up in reflections of their relation to social practice. (orig./HSCH) [de

Research on the application of optoelectronics to nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirosaki, Hidekazu; Mitsuda, Hiromichi; Kurata, Toshikazu; Soramoto, Seiki; Maekawa, Tatsuyuki.

1995-01-01

Optoelectronics, which is based on technologies such as laser diodes and optical fibers, is approaching the realm of practical application in the fields of optical fiber communications and compact disks etc,. In addition, laser enrichment, a type of uranium enrichment technique used in the nuclear field, can also be regarded as a product of optoelectronics. Application of optoelectronics in a wide range of fields is likely to continue in the future, and research is being conducted on coherent optical communication, optical integrated circuits, optical computers and other subjects in hopes of attaining practical application of these technologies in the future. On the other hand, digital control equipment and other related devices have been installed and data transfer using optical fibers has been implemented on a partial basis at nuclear power plants, and optoelectronics is anticipated to be applied on an even broader scale in the future, thereby creating the potential for improving plant reliability. In this research, we conducted an investigative study of technologies relating to optoelectronics, and proposed a remote monitoring system for manually operated valves that employs optical switches. Moreover, we conducted theoretical verification tests on the proposed system and carried out a feasibility study relating to application to nuclear power plants. As a result, the proposed system was found to be effective, and confirmed to have the potential of realization as a valve switching monitoring system. (author)

Observation and visualization: reflections on the relationship between science, visual arts, and the evolution of the scientific image.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolijn, Eveline

2013-10-01

The connections between biological sciences, art and printed images are of great interest to the author. She reflects on the historical relevance of visual representations for science. She argues that the connection between art and science seems to have diminished during the twentieth century. However, this connection is currently growing stronger again through digital media and new imaging methods. Scientific illustrations have fuelled art, while visual modeling tools have assisted scientific research. As a print media artist, she explores the relationship between art and science in her studio practice and will present this historical connection with examples related to evolution, microbiology and her own work. Art and science share a common source, which leads to scrutiny and enquiry. Science sets out to reveal and explain our reality, whereas art comments and makes connections that don't need to be tested by rigorous protocols. Art and science should each be evaluated on their own merit. Allowing room for both in the quest to understand our world will lead to an enriched experience.

FY01 Supplemental Science and Performance Analysis: Volume 1, Scientific Bases and Analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bodvarsson, G.S.; Dobson, David

2001-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering the possible recommendation of a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for development as a geologic repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. To facilitate public review and comment, in May 2001 the DOE released the Yucca Mountain Science and Engineering Report (S and ER) (DOE 2001 [DIRS 153849]), which presents technical information supporting the consideration of the possible site recommendation. The report summarizes the results of more than 20 years of scientific and engineering studies. A decision to recommend the site has not been made: the DOE has provided the S and ER and its supporting documents as an aid to the public in formulating comments on the possible recommendation. When the S and ER (DOE 2001 [DIRS 153849]) was released, the DOE acknowledged that technical and scientific analyses of the site were ongoing. Therefore, the DOE noted in the Federal Register Notice accompanying the report (66 FR 23013 [DIRS 155009], p. 2) that additional technical information would be released before the dates, locations, and times for public hearings on the possible recommendation were announced. This information includes: (1) the results of additional technical studies of a potential repository at Yucca Mountain, contained in this FY01 Supplemental Science and Performance Analyses: Vol. 1, Scientific Bases and Analyses; and FY01 Supplemental Science and Performance Analyses: Vol. 2, Performance Analyses (McNeish 2001 [DIRS 155023]) (collectively referred to as the SSPA) and (2) a preliminary evaluation of the Yucca Mountain site's preclosure and postclosure performance against the DOE's proposed site suitability guidelines (10 CFR Part 963 [64 FR 67054 [DIRS 124754

FY01 Supplemental Science and Performance Analysis: Volume 1,Scientific Bases and Analyses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bodvarsson, G.S.; Dobson, David

2001-05-30

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering the possible recommendation of a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for development as a geologic repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. To facilitate public review and comment, in May 2001 the DOE released the Yucca Mountain Science and Engineering Report (S&ER) (DOE 2001 [DIRS 153849]), which presents technical information supporting the consideration of the possible site recommendation. The report summarizes the results of more than 20 years of scientific and engineering studies. A decision to recommend the site has not been made: the DOE has provided the S&ER and its supporting documents as an aid to the public in formulating comments on the possible recommendation. When the S&ER (DOE 2001 [DIRS 153849]) was released, the DOE acknowledged that technical and scientific analyses of the site were ongoing. Therefore, the DOE noted in the Federal Register Notice accompanying the report (66 FR 23013 [DIRS 155009], p. 2) that additional technical information would be released before the dates, locations, and times for public hearings on the possible recommendation were announced. This information includes: (1) the results of additional technical studies of a potential repository at Yucca Mountain, contained in this FY01 Supplemental Science and Performance Analyses: Vol. 1, Scientific Bases and Analyses; and FY01 Supplemental Science and Performance Analyses: Vol. 2, Performance Analyses (McNeish 2001 [DIRS 155023]) (collectively referred to as the SSPA) and (2) a preliminary evaluation of the Yucca Mountain site's preclosure and postclosure performance against the DOE's proposed site suitability guidelines (10 CFR Part 963 [64 FR 67054 [DIRS 124754

Scientific reasoning during adolescence: The influence of instruction in science knowledge and reasoning strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Linn, M. C.; Clement, C.; Pulos, S.; Sullivan, P.

The mechanism linking instruction in scientific topics and instruction in logical reasoning strategies is not well understood. This study assesses the role of science topic instruction combined with logical reasoning strategy instruction in teaching adolescent students about blood pressure problems. Logical reasoning instruction for this study emphasizes the controlling-variables strategy. Science topic instruction emphasizes variables affecting blood pressure. Subjects receiving logical reasoning instruction link their knowledge of blood pressure variables to their knowledge of controlling variables more effectively than those receiving science topic instruction alone - their specific responses show how they attempt to integrate their understanding.Received: 15 April 1988

Applying innovative approach “Nature of Science (NoS) within inquiry” for developing scientific literacy in the student worksheet

Science.gov (United States)

Widowati, A.; Anjarsari, P.; Zuhdan, K. P.; Dita, A.

2018-03-01

The challenges of the 21st century require innovative solutions. Education must able to make an understanding of science learning that leads to the formation of scientific literacy learners. This research was conducted to produce the prototype as science worksheet based on Nature of Science (NoS) within inquiry approach and to know the effectiveness its product for developing scientific literacy. This research was the development and research design, by pointing to Four D models and Borg & Gall Model. There were 4 main phases (define, design, develop, disseminate) and additional phases (preliminary field testing, main product revision, main field testing, and operational product revision). Research subjects were students of the junior high school in Yogyakarta. The instruments used included questionnaire sheet product validation and scientific literacy test. For the validation data were analyzed descriptively. The test result was analyzed by an N-gain score. The results showed that the appropriateness of worksheet applying NoS within inquiry-based learning approach is eligible based on the assessment from excellent by experts and teachers, students’ scientific literacy can improve high category of the N-gain score at 0.71 by using student worksheet with Nature of Science (NoS) within inquiry approach.

Diagramming Scientific Papers - A New Idea for Understanding/Teaching/Sharing Science

Science.gov (United States)

Saltus, R. W.; Fedi, M.

2014-12-01

How do we best communicate scientific results? As the number of scientists and scientific papers steadily increases, one of the greatest challenges is effective and efficient sharing of science. The official repository of scientific knowledge is the peer-reviewed journal archive. However, this primary knowledge can be difficult to access and understand by anyone but a relevant specialist. We propose some new ideas for diagramming the content and significance of scientific papers using a simple and intuitive graphical approach. We propose a visual mapping that highlights four fundamental aspects of most scientific papers: Data, Methods/Models, Results/Ideas, and Implications/Importance. Each of these aspects is illustrated within boxed fields which contain one or more labeled elements positioned to reflect novelty (aka originality) and impact relative to the vertical and horizontal axes. The relative position of the boxed fields themselves indicates the relative significance of data, methods, ideas, or implications to the paper. Optional lines between boxed elements indicate the flow and dependence of data/methods/ideas within the paper. As with any graphical depiction, you need to see it to best appreciate it -- this written abstract is only meant as an introduction to the idea.We anticipate that diagramming may prove useful in both communication of scientific ideas among scientists as well as in education and outreach. For example, professors could assign diagramming of papers as a way to help students organize their thoughts about the structure and impact of scientific articles. Students could compare and defend their diagrams as a way to facilitate discussion/debate. Authors could diagram their own work as a way to efficiently summarize the importance and significance of their work. We also imagine that (in the future) automatic diagramming might be used to help summarize or facilitate the discovery of archived work.

Republic of Letters, Academies and Scientific Societies in the 18th Century: Leiden jar and science in teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagner Tadeu Jardim

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the panorama that underpins the construction of the first electric condenser, known as the Leiden Jar, will be presented. Besides, the themes about the construction of science which are relevant to be discussed in Physics classes that concerns the development of this apparatus will be pointed. For this purpose, a historical narrative was constructed from primary and secondary sources, and it was inspired by the historiographical strand called Cultural History of Science. Thus, we seek to emphasize how ways of spreading knowledge in the context of Scientific Academies, Scientific Societies and what has been called Republic of Letters in the eighteenth century, constitute substantial extra-laboratory scientific practices for an understanding of the development of the Leiden Jar. Finally, in accordance with results from researches in the area of Science Teaching, we present some thoughts upon which elements of this narrative could be taken to the classroom.

Broadening the voice of science: Promoting scientific communication in the undergraduate classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Cirino, Lauren A; Emberts, Zachary; Joseph, Paul N; Allen, Pablo E; Lopatto, David; Miller, Christine W

2017-12-01

Effective and accurate communication of scientific findings is essential. Unfortunately, scientists are not always well trained in how to best communicate their results with other scientists nor do all appreciate the importance of speaking with the public. Here, we provide an example of how the development of oral communication skills can be integrated with research experiences at the undergraduate level. We describe our experiences developing, running, and evaluating a course for undergraduates that complemented their existing undergraduate research experiences with instruction on the nature of science and intensive training on the development of science communication skills. Students delivered science talks, research monologues, and poster presentations about the ecological and evolutionary research in which they were involved. We evaluated the effectiveness of our approach using the CURE survey and a focus group. As expected, undergraduates reported strong benefits to communication skills and confidence. We provide guidance for college researchers, instructors, and administrators interested in motivating and equipping the next generation of scientists to be excellent science communicators.

76 FR 47596 - Notice of Scientific Summit; The Science of Compassion-Future Directions in End-of-Life and...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-05

...; The Science of Compassion--Future Directions in End-of-Life and Palliative Care SUMMARY: Notice is... science at the end-of-life. On August 11-12, the summit will feature keynote presentations, three plenary...), Department of Health and Human Services, will convene a scientific summit titled ``The Science of Compassion...

ICMCS-2009: 6. international conference on microelectronics and computer science. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiginyanu, I.M.; Balmus, I.

2009-01-01

This book includes articles which cover a vast range of subjects, such as: micro- and optoelectronics, nano science and nanotechnology, computer science, electronics and communications, new technologies for university education, etc.

Polymers – A New Open Access Scientific Journal on Polymer Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu-Kun Lin

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Polymers is a new interdisciplinary, Open Access scientific journal on polymer science, published by Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI. This journal welcomes manuscript submissions on polymer chemistry, macromolecular chemistry, polymer physics, polymer characterization and all related topics. Both synthetic polymers and natural polymers, including biopolymers, are considered. Manuscripts will be thoroughly peer-reviewed in a timely fashion, and papers will be published, if accepted, within 6 to 8 weeks after submission. [...

EDP Sciences and A&A: partnering to providing services to support the scientific community

Science.gov (United States)

Henri, Agnes

2015-08-01

Scholarly publishing is no longer about simply producing and packaging articles and sending out to subscribers. To be successful, as well as being global and digital, Publishers and their journals need to be fully engaged with their stakeholders (authors, readers, funders, libraries etc), and constantly developing new products and services to support their needs in the ever-changing environment that we work in.Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is a high quality, major international Journal that belongs to the astronomical communities of a consortium of European and South American countries supported by ESO who sponsor the journal. EDP Sciences is a non-profit publisher belonging to several learned societies and is appointed by ESO to publish the journal.Over the last decade, as well as publishing the results of worldwide astronomical and astrophysical research, A&A and EDP Sciences have worked in partnership to develop a wide range of services for the authors and readers of A&A:- A specialist language editing service: to provide a clear and excellent level of English ensuring full understanding of the high-quality science.- A flexible and progressive Open Access Policy including Gold and Green options and strong links with arXiv.- Enriched articles: authors are able to enhance their articles using a wide range of rich media such as 3D models, videos and animations.Multiple publishing formats: allowing readers to browse articles on multiple devices including eReaders and Kindles.- “Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers”: In 2008 EDP Sciences and A&A set up the Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers (SWYA) School with the objective to teach early PhD Students how write correct and efficient scientific papers for different mediums (journals, proceedings, thesis manuscripts, etc.).

Debate on global warming as a socio-scientific issue: science teaching towards political literacy

Science.gov (United States)

dos Santos, Wildson Luiz Pereira

2014-09-01

The focus of this response to the original article by Tom G. H. Bryce and Stephen P. Day (Cult Stud Sci Educ. doi: 10.1007/s11422-012-9407-1, 2013) is the use of empirical data to illustrate and expand the understanding of key points of their argument. Initially, I seek to discuss possible answers to the three questions posed by the authors related to: (1) the concerns to be addressed and the scientific knowledge to be taken into account in the climate change debate, (2) the attention to be paid to perspectives taken by "alarmists" and "deniers," and (3) the approaches to be used to conduct controversial global warming debate. In this discussion, I seek to contribute to the debate proposed by the original paper, illustrating various points commented on by the authors and expanding to other possibilities, which highlight the importance of political issues in the debate. Therefore, I argue that socio-political issues must be taken into account when I aim for a scientific literacy that can enhance students' political education. Likewise, I extend the debate presented in the original article, emphasizing the attention that should be paid to these aspects and approaching science education from a critical perspective. Highlighting only the confirmation bias without considering political implications of the debate can induce a reductionist and empiricist view of science, detached from the political power that acts on scientific activity. In conclusion, I support the idea that for a critical science education, the discussion of political issues should be involved in any controversial debate, a view, which goes beyond the confirmation bias proposed by Bryce and Day for the global warming debate. These issues are indeed vital and science teachers should take them into account when preparing their lessons for the debate on climate change.

Optoelectronic interconnects for 3D wafer stacks

Science.gov (United States)

Ludwig, David; Carson, John C.; Lome, Louis S.

1996-01-01

Wafer and chip stacking are envisioned as means of providing increased processing power within the small confines of a three-dimensional structure. Optoelectronic devices can play an important role in these dense 3-D processing electronic packages in two ways. In pure electronic processing, optoelectronics can provide a method for increasing the number of input/output communication channels within the layers of the 3-D chip stack. Non-free space communication links allow the density of highly parallel input/output ports to increase dramatically over typical edge bus connections. In hybrid processors, where electronics and optics play a role in defining the computational algorithm, free space communication links are typically utilized for, among other reasons, the increased network link complexity which can be achieved. Free space optical interconnections provide bandwidths and interconnection complexity unobtainable in pure electrical interconnections. Stacked 3-D architectures can provide the electronics real estate and structure to deal with the increased bandwidth and global information provided by free space optical communications. This paper will provide definitions and examples of 3-D stacked architectures in optoelectronics processors. The benefits and issues of these technologies will be discussed.

The Scientific Method and Scientific Inquiry: Tensions in Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xiaowei; Coffey, Janet E.; Elby, Andy; Levin, Daniel M.

2010-01-01

Typically, the scientific method in science classrooms takes the form of discrete, ordered steps meant to guide students' inquiry. In this paper, we examine how focusing on the scientific method as discrete steps affects students' inquiry and teachers' perceptions thereof. To do so, we study a ninth-grade environmental science class in which…

The Impact of Gender on Interest in Science Topics and the Choice of Scientific and Technical Vocations

Science.gov (United States)

Buccheri, Grazia; Gurber, Nadja Abt; Bruhwiler, Christian

2011-01-01

Many countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) note a shortage of highly qualified scientific-technical personnel, whereas demand for such employees is growing. Therefore, how to motivate (female) high performers in science or mathematics to pursue scientific careers is of special interest. The sample…

Preschool Pathways to Science (PrePS[TM]): Facilitating Scientific Ways of Thinking, Talking, Doing, and Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Gelman, Rochel; Brenneman, Kimberly; Macdonald, Gay; Roman, Moises

2009-01-01

To ensure they're meeting state early learning guidelines for science, preschool educators need fun, age-appropriate, and research-based ways to teach young children about scientific concepts. The basis for the PBS KIDS show "Sid the Science Kid," this teaching resource helps children ages 3-5 investigate their everyday world and develop the…

Scientific Misconduct and the Myth of Self-Correction in Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Stroebe, Wolfgang; Postmes, Tom; Spears, Russell

2012-11-01

The recent Stapel fraud case came as a shattering blow to the scientific community of psychologists and damaged both their image in the media and their collective self-esteem. The field responded with suggestions of how fraud could be prevented. However, the Stapel fraud is only one among many cases. Before basing recommendations on one case, it would be informative to study other cases to assess how these frauds were discovered. The authors analyze a convenience sample of fraud cases to see whether (social) psychology is more susceptible to fraud than other disciplines. They also evaluate whether the peer review process and replications work well in practice to detect fraud. There is no evidence that psychology is more vulnerable to fraud than the biomedical sciences, and most frauds are detected through information from whistleblowers with inside information. On the basis of this analysis, the authors suggest a number of strategies that might reduce the risk of scientific fraud. © The Author(s) 2012.

Optoelectronic switch matrix as a look-up table for residue arithmetic.

Science.gov (United States)

Macdonald, R I

1987-10-01

The use of optoelectronic matrix switches to perform look-up table functions in residue arithmetic processors is proposed. In this application, switchable detector arrays give the advantage of a greatly reduced requirement for optical sources by comparison with previous optoelectronic residue processors.

Flexible Synthetic Semiconductor Applied in Optoelectronic Organic Sensor

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Andre F. S. Guedes

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The synthesis and application of new nanostructured organic materials, for the development of technology based on organic devices, have taken great interest from the scientific community. The greatest interest in studying organic semiconductor materials has been connected to its already known potential applications, such as: batteries, organic solar cells, flexible organic solar cells, organic light emitting diodes, organic sensors and others. Phototherapy makes use of different radiation sources, and the treatment of hyperbilirubinemia the most common therapeutic intervention occurs in the neonatal period. In this work we developed an organic optoelectronic sensor capable of detecting and determining the radiation dose rate emitted by the radiation source of neonatal phototherapy equipment. The sensors were developed using optically transparent substrate with Nanostructured thin film layers of Poly(9-Vinylcarbazole covered by a layer of Poly(P-Phenylene Vinylene. The samples were characterized by UV-Vis Spectroscopy, Electrical Measurements and SEM. With the results obtained from this study can be developed dosimeters organics to the neonatal phototherapy equipment.

From scientific progress to economic growth the economics and the economy of science

CERN Document Server

Witte, Frank

2017-01-01

he past few centuries have seen an enormous increase in living standards in many parts of the world and these economies have become more complex than ever before. At the same time, progress in science and technology has reached unprecedented heights, taking us far beyond the wildest dreams of a few generations ago. Questions as to how science, technology and the economy interact are pertinent and important ones, whose partial answers require a view "from across the fence" between disciplines. This book provides an introduction to the vast and varied field of the economics of science. It is a unique blend of an economic perspective on the way science works, what makes scientists tick, and a study of the impact of scientific and technological progress on economies and their growth. Whether it is about the speculative market of ideas or science and technology as engines of the economy, there is something here for economists, engineers and scientists alike.

Science Teacher Educators' Engagement with Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Scientific Inquiry in Predominantly Paper-Based Distance Learning Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, William J.

2017-01-01

This article focuses on the dilemmas science educators face when having to introduce Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to science student teachers in a predominantly paper-based distance learning environment. It draws on the premise that science education is bound by the Nature of Science (NOS), and by the Nature of Scientific Inquiry (NOSI).…

Formative science and indicial science: epistemological proposal for information science

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Eliany Alvarenga de Araújo

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Epistemological reflections on the Information Science as scientific field that if structure in the context of modern science, in theoretical and methodological terms and technologies of the information in applied terms. Such configuration made possible the sprouting of this science; however we consider that the same one will not guarantee to this science the full development as field of consistent and modern knowledge. Modern Science, while scientific practical vision and meets depleted and the information technologies are only auto-regulated mechanisms that function according to principles of automatisms. To leave of these considerations we propols the concept of Formative Science (Bachelard, 1996 and the Indiciario Paradigm (1991 with epistemological basis for the Information Science. The concept of formative science if a base on the principles of tree states of the scientific spirit and the psychological condition of the scientific progress and the indiciario paradigm it considers the intuição (empirical and rational as methodological base to make it scientific.

The construction of bilingual teaching of optoelectronic technology

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yang; Zhao, Enming; Yang, Fan; Li, Qingbo; Zhu, Zheng; Li, Cheng; Sun, Peng

2017-08-01

This paper combines the characteristics of optoelectronic technology with that of bilingual teaching. The course pays attention to integrating theory with practice, and cultivating learners' ability. Reform and exploration have been done in the fields of teaching materials, teaching content, teaching methods, etc. The concrete content mainly includes five parts: selecting teaching materials, establishing teaching syllabus, choosing suitable teaching method, making multimedia courseware and improving the test system, which can arouse students' interest in their study and their autonomous learning ability to provide beneficial references for improving the quality of talents of optoelectronic bilingual courses.

Lakatos' Scientific Research Programmes as a Framework for Analysing Informal Argumentation about Socio-Scientific Issues

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Chang, Shu-Nu; Chiu, Mei-Hung

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore how Lakatos' scientific research programmes might serve as a theoretical framework for representing and evaluating informal argumentation about socio-scientific issues. Seventy undergraduate science and non-science majors were asked to make written arguments about four socio-scientific issues. Our analysis…

Affordances and Challenges of Using Argument as a Connective Discourse for Scientific Practices to Teach Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Sezen-Barrie, A.; Wolfson, J.

2015-12-01

An important goal of science education is to support development of citizens to participate in public debate and make informed decisions relevant to their lives and their worlds. The NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) suggest engaging students in science classrooms in argumentation as a practice to help enhance the quality of evidence based decision making. In this multi-case study, we explored the use of written argumentation in eight secondary school science classrooms during a lesson on the relationship between ocean temperature and its CO2 holding capacity. All teachers of these classrooms were trained during a day long NSF funded Climate Literacy Workshop on the basic concepts of climate science, scientific practices and implementation of an activity called "It's a Gassy World". The data of the current study involved students' written arguments, teachers' written reflections on the implementation of the activity as well as field notes from the Climate Literacy Workshop. A qualitative discourse analysis of the data was used to find common themes around affordances and challenges of argument as a connective discourse for scientific practices to teach climate change. The findings show that participating in written argumentation process encouraged students to discuss their experimental design and use data interpretation for their evidences. However, the results also indicated the following challenges: a) teachers themselves need support in connecting their evidence to their claims, b) arguing a socioscientific issue creates a sensitive environment c) conceptual quality of an argument needs to be strengthen through background in courses other than science, and d) graphing skills (or lack of) can interfere with constructing scientifically accurate claims. This study has implications in effectively teaching climate change through argumentation, and thus creating opportunities for practicing authentic climate science research in K-12 classrooms.

Science in the Wild: Technology Needs and Opportunities in Scientific Fieldwork

Science.gov (United States)

Guice, Jon; Hoffower, Heidi; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

Considering that much contemporary natural science involves field expeditions, fieldwork is an under-studied topic. There is also little information technology specifically designed to support scientific fieldwork, aside from portable scientific instruments. This article describes a variety of fieldwork practices in an interdisciplinary research area, proposes a framework linking types of fieldwork to types of needs in information technology, and identifies promising opportunities for technology development. Technologies that are designed to support the integration of field observations and samples with laboratory work are likely to aid nearly all research teams who conduct fieldwork. However, technologies that support highly detailed representations of field sites will likely trigger the deepest changes in work practice. By way of illustration, we present brief case studies of how fieldwork is done today and how it might be conducted with the introduction of new information technologies.

From the Field to the Classroom: Developing Scientifically Literate Citizens Using the Understanding Global Change Framework in Education and Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Toupin, C.; Bean, J. R.; Gavenus, K.; Johnson, H.; Toupin, S.

2017-12-01

With the copious amount of science and pseudoscience reported on by non-experts in the media, it is critical for educators to help students develop into scientifically literate citizens. One of the most direct ways to help students develop deep scientific understanding and the skills to critically question the information they encounter is to bring science into their daily experiences and to contextualize scientific inquiry within the classroom. Our work aims to use a systems-based models approach to engage students in science, in both formal and informal contexts. Using the Understanding Global Change (UGC) and the Understanding Science models developed at the Museum of Paleontology at UC Berkeley, high school students from Arizona were tasked with developing a viable citizen science program for use at the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies in Homer, Alaska. Experts used the UGC model to help students define why they were doing the work, and give context to the importance of citizen science. Empowered with an understanding of the scientific process, excited by the purpose of their work and how it could contribute to the scientific community, students whole-heartedly worked together to develop intertidal monitoring protocols for two locations while staying at Peterson Bay Field Station, Homer. Students, instructors, and scientists used system models to communicate and discuss their understanding of the biological, physical, and chemical processes in Kachemak Bay. This systems-based models approach is also being used in an integrative high school physics, chemistry, and biology curriculum in a truly unprecedented manner. Using the Understanding Global Change framework to organize curriculum scope and sequence, the course addresses how the earth systems work, how interdisciplinary science knowledge is necessary to understand those systems, and how scientists and students can measure changes within those systems.

Science Learning with Information Technologies as a Tool for "Scientific Thinking" in Engineering Education

Science.gov (United States)

Smirnov, Eugeny; Bogun, Vitali

2011-01-01

New methodologies in science (or mathematics) learning process and scientific thinking in the classroom activity of engineer students with ICT (information and communication technology), including graphic calculator are presented: visual modelling with ICT, action research with graphic calculator, insight in classroom and communications and…

GaAs optoelectronic neuron arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Steven; Grot, Annette; Luo, Jiafu; Psaltis, Demetri

1993-01-01

A simple optoelectronic circuit integrated monolithically in GaAs to implement sigmoidal neuron responses is presented. The circuit integrates a light-emitting diode with one or two transistors and one or two photodetectors. The design considerations for building arrays with densities of up to 10,000/sq cm are discussed.

Scientific Story Telling & Social Media The role of social media in effectively communicating science

Science.gov (United States)

Brinkhuis, D.; Peart, L.

2012-12-01

Scientific discourse generally takes place in appropriate journals, using the language and conventions of science. That's fine, as long as the discourse remains in scientific circles. It is only outside those circles that the rules and techniques of engaging social media tools gain importance. A young generation of scientists are eager to share their experiences by using social media, but is this effective? And how can we better integrate all outreach & media channels to engage general audiences? How can Facebook, Twitter, Skype and YouTube be used as synergy tools in scientific story telling? Case: during IODP Expedtion 342 (June-July 2012) onboard the scientific drillship JOIDES Resolution an onboard educator and videographer worked non-stop fort two months on an integrated outreach plan that tried and tested the limits of all social media tools available to interact with an international public while at sea. The results are spectacular!

Scientific communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksander Kobylarek

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The article tackles the problem of models of communication in science. The formal division of communication processes into oral and written does not resolve the problem of attitude. The author defines successful communication as a win-win game, based on the respect and equality of the partners, regardless of their position in the world of science. The core characteristics of the process of scientific communication are indicated , such as openness, fairness, support, and creation. The task of creating the right atmosphere for science communication belongs to moderators, who should not allow privilege and differentiation of position to affect scientific communication processes.

Effects of Scaffolds and Scientific Reasoning Ability on Web-Based Scientific Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hui-Ling; Weng, Hsiao-Lan; She, Hsiao-Ching

2016-01-01

This study examined how background knowledge, scientific reasoning ability, and various scaffolding forms influenced students' science knowledge and scientific inquiry achievements. The students participated in an online scientific inquiry program involving such activities as generating scientific questions and drawing evidence-based conclusions,…

Advances in graphene-based optoelectronics, plasmonics and photonics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, Bich Ha; Nguyen, Van Hieu

2016-01-01

Since the early works on graphene it has been remarked that graphene is a marvelous electronic material. Soon after its discovery, graphene was efficiently utilized in the fabrication of optoelectronic, plasmonic and photonic devices, including graphene-based Schottky junction solar cells. The present work is a review of the progress in the experimental research on graphene-based optoelectronics, plasmonics and photonics, with the emphasis on recent advances. The main graphene-based optoelectronic devices presented in this review are photodetectors and modulators. In the area of graphene-based plasmonics, a review of the plasmonic nanostructures enhancing or tuning graphene-light interaction, as well as of graphene plasmons is presented. In the area of graphene-based photonics, we report progress on fabrication of different types of graphene quantum dots as well as functionalized graphene and graphene oxide, the research on the photoluminescence and fluorescence of graphene nanostructures as well as on the energy exchange between graphene and semiconductor quantum dots. In particular, the promising achievements of research on graphene-based Schottky junction solar cells is presented. (review)

The Scientific Enlightenment System in Russia in the Early Twentieth Century as a Model for Popularizing Science

Science.gov (United States)

Balashova, Yuliya B.

2016-01-01

This research reconstructs the traditions of scientific enlightenment in Russia. The turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was chosen as the most representative period. The modern age saw the establishment of the optimal model for advancing science in the global context and its crucial segment--Russian science. This period was…

Optoelectronic device with nanoparticle embedded hole injection/transport layer

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qingwu [Chelmsford, MA; Li, Wenguang [Andover, MA; Jiang, Hua [Methuen, MA

2012-01-03

An optoelectronic device is disclosed that can function as an emitter of optical radiation, such as a light-emitting diode (LED), or as a photovoltaic (PV) device that can be used to convert optical radiation into electrical current, such as a photovoltaic solar cell. The optoelectronic device comprises an anode, a hole injection/transport layer, an active layer, and a cathode, where the hole injection/transport layer includes transparent conductive nanoparticles in a hole transport material.

Scientifically speaking: Identifying, analyzing, and promoting science talk in small groups

Science.gov (United States)

Holthuis, Nicole Inamine

In this dissertation I define, document, and analyze the nature of students' science talk as they work in cooperative learning groups. Three questions form the basis of this research. First, what is science talk? Second, how much and what kind of science talk did students do? And, third, what conditions help promote or inhibit students' science talk? This study was conducted in a total of six classrooms in three high schools. I videotaped and audiotaped students as they worked in small groups during the course of an ecology unit. I analyzed this videotape data and field notes using both quantitative and qualitative methods. I define science talk as talk that serves to move students along in terms of the science (both content and process) required or suggested by the activity. More specifically, I identified five epistemological characteristics that delineate what counts as scientific knowledge and, subsequently, science talk. From this definition, I developed an analytic framework and science talk observation instrument to document the quantity and level of student and teacher talk during groupwork. Analysis of the data from this instrument indicates that the overall level of students' science talk is considerable and students do significantly more science talk than school talk. I also found that while the overall level and type of science talk does not vary by class or by school, it does vary by activity type. Finally, my analysis suggests that science talk does not vary by gender composition of the group. I explored the classroom conditions that promote or inhibit science talk during groupwork. My findings suggest that, among other things, teachers can promote science talk by delegating authority to students, by emphasizing content and the big idea, by implementing open-ended tasks, and by modeling science talk. In conclusion, the findings described in this dissertation point teachers and researchers toward ways in which they may improve practice in order to

Software support for students engaging in scientific activity and scientific controversy

Science.gov (United States)

Cavalli-Sforza, Violetta; Weiner, Arlene W.; Lesgold, Alan M.

Computer environments could support students in engaging in cognitive activities that are essential to scientific practice and to the understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge, but that are difficult to manage in science classrooms. The authors describe a design for a computer-based environment to assist students in conducting dialectical activities of constructing, comparing, and evaluating arguments for competing scientific theories. Their choice of activities and their design respond to educators' and theorists' criticisms of current science curricula. They give detailed specifications of portions of the environment.

Examination of the relationship between preservice science teachers' scientific reasoning and problem solving skills on basic mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Yuksel, Ibrahim; Ates, Salih

2018-02-01

The purpose of this study is to determine relationship between scientific reasoning and mechanics problem solving skills of students in science education program. Scientific Reasoning Skills Test (SRST) and Basic Mechanics Knowledge Test (BMKT) were applied to 90 second, third and fourth grade students who took Scientific Reasoning Skills course at science teaching program of Gazi Faculty of Education for three successive fall semesters of 2014, 2015 and 2016 academic years. It was found a statistically significant positive (p = 0.038 <0.05) but a low correlation (r = 0.219) between SRST and BMKT. There were no significant relationship among Conservation Laws, Proportional Thinking, Combinational Thinking, Correlational Thinking, Probabilistic Thinking subskills of reasoning and BMKT. There were significant and positive correlation among Hypothetical Thinking and Identifying and Controlling Variables subskills of reasoning and BMKT. The findings of the study were compared with other studies in the field and discussed.

Science gateways for distributed computing infrastructures development framework and exploitation by scientific user communities

CERN Document Server

Kacsuk, Péter

2014-01-01

The book describes the science gateway building technology developed in the SCI-BUS European project and its adoption and customization method, by which user communities, such as biologists, chemists, and astrophysicists, can build customized, domain-specific science gateways. Many aspects of the core technology are explained in detail, including its workflow capability, job submission mechanism to various grids and clouds, and its data transfer mechanisms among several distributed infrastructures. The book will be useful for scientific researchers and IT professionals engaged in the develop

Comparing absolute and normalized indicators in scientific collaboration: a study in Environmental Science in Latin America

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cabrini-Grácio, M.C.; Oliveira, E.F.T.

2016-07-01

This paper aims to conduct a comparative analysis of scientific collaboration proximity trends generated from absolute indicators and indicators of collaboration intensity in the field of Environmental Sciences in Latin America (LA), in order to identify possible existing biases in the absolute indicators of international cooperation, due to the magnitude of scientific production of these countries in mainstream science. More specifically, the objective is to analyze the compared forms of absolute and normalized values of co-authorship among Latin America countries and their main collaborators, in order to observe similarities and differences expressed by two indexes of frequency in relation to scientific collaboration trends in LA countries. In addition, we aim to visualize and analyze scientific collaboration networks with absolute and normalized indexes of co-authorship through SC among Latin America countries and their collaborators, comparing proximity evidenced by two generated collaborative networks - absolute and relative indicators. Data collection comprised a period of 10 years (2006-2015) for the countries from LA: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia as they produced 94% of total production, a percentage considered representative and significant for this study. Then, we verified the co-authorship frequencies among the five countries and their key collaborators and builted the matrix with the indexes of co-authorship normalized through SC. Then, we generated two egocentric networks of scientific collaboration - absolute frequencies and normalized frequencies through SC using Pajek software. From the results, we observed the need for absolute and normalized indicators to describe the scientific collaboration phenomenon in a more thoroughly way, once these indicators provide complementary information. (Author)

Optoelectronic devices product assurance guideline for space application

Science.gov (United States)

Bensoussan, A.; Vanzi, M.

2017-11-01

New opportunities are emerging for the implementation of hardware sub-systems based on OptoElectronic Devices (OED) for space application. Since the end of this decade the main players for space systems namely designers and users including Industries, Agencies, Manufacturers and Laboratories are strongly demanding of adequate strategies to qualify and validate new optoelectronics products and sub-systems [1]. The long term space application mission will require to address either inter-satellite link (free space communication, positioning systems, tracking) or intra-satellite connectivity/flexibility/reconfigurability or high volume of data transfer between equipment installed into payload.

Scientific Caricatures in the Earth Science Classroom: An Alternative Assessment for Meaningful Science Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Clary, Renee M.; Wandersee, James H.

2010-01-01

Archive-based, historical research of materials produced during the Golden Age of Geology (1788-1840) uncovered scientific caricatures (SCs) which may serve as a unique form of knowledge representation for students today. SCs played important roles in the past, stimulating critical inquiry among early geologists and fueling debates that addressed key theoretical issues. When historical SCs were utilized in a large-enrollment college Earth History course, student response was positive. Therefore, we offered SCs as an optional assessment tool. Paired t-tests that compared individual students’ performances with the SC option, as well as without the SC option, showed a significant positive difference favoring scientific caricatures ( α = 0.05). Content analysis of anonymous student survey responses revealed three consistent findings: (a) students enjoyed expressing science content correctly but creatively through SCs, (b) development of SCs required deeper knowledge integration and understanding of the content than conventional test items, and (c) students appreciated having SC item options on their examinations, whether or not they took advantage of them. We think that incorporation of SCs during assessment may effectively expand the variety of methods for probing understanding, thereby increasing the mode validity of current geoscience tests.

Advanced Optoelectronic Components for All-Optical Networks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shapiro, Jeffrey H

2002-01-01

Under APOSR Grant F49620-96-1-0126, 'Advanced Optoelectronic Components for All-Optical Networks', we have worked to develop key technologies and components to substantially improve the performance...

Scientific foundation of regulating ionizing radiation: application of metrics for evaluation of regulatory science information.

Science.gov (United States)

Moghissi, A Alan; Gerraa, Vikrham Kumar; McBride, Dennis K; Swetnam, Michael

2014-11-01

This paper starts by describing the historical evolution of assessment of biologic effects of ionizing radiation leading to the linear non-threshold (LNT) system currently used to regulate exposure to ionizing radiation. The paper describes briefly the concept of Best Available Science (BAS) and Metrics for Evaluation of Scientific Claims (MESC) derived for BAS. It identifies three phases of regulatory science consisting of the initial phase, when the regulators had to develop regulations without having the needed scientific information; the exploratory phase, when relevant tools were developed; and the standard operating phase, when the tools were applied to regulations. Subsequently, an attempt is made to apply the BAS/MESC system to various stages of LNT. This paper then compares the exposure limits imposed by regulatory agencies and also compares them with naturally occurring radiation at several cities. Controversies about LNT are addressed, including judgments of the U.S. National Academies and their French counterpart. The paper concludes that, based on the BAS/MESC system, there is no disagreement between the two academies on the scientific foundation of LNT; instead, the disagreement is based on their judgment or speculation.

Computer simulation, rhetoric, and the scientific imagination how virtual evidence shapes science in the making and in the news

CERN Document Server

Roundtree, Aimee Kendall

2013-01-01

Computer simulations help advance climatology, astrophysics, and other scientific disciplines. They are also at the crux of several high-profile cases of science in the news. How do simulation scientists, with little or no direct observations, make decisions about what to represent? What is the nature of simulated evidence, and how do we evaluate its strength? Aimee Kendall Roundtree suggests answers in Computer Simulation, Rhetoric, and the Scientific Imagination. She interprets simulations in the sciences by uncovering the argumentative strategies that underpin the production and disseminati

Developing android-based science instructional media to improve scientific literacy of junior high school students

Science.gov (United States)

Farida, I. I.; Jumadi; Wilujeng; Senam

2018-04-01

The aims of this study are: to develop android-based science instructional media and to reveal the characteristic, the quality, and the effectiveness of android-based science instructional media with global warming topic to increase junior high school students’ scientific literacy. This study is a development research. The instructional media were reviewed by a media expert, a material expert, science teachers, peer reviewers, and students. The data was collected using media evaluation questionnaires. The results of the study showed that: (1) the android-based science instructional media has characteristics including interesting visualization, easy to use, flexible, and practical, (2) the android-based science instructional media was appropriate for teaching, in terms of material evaluation aspects, media evaluation aspects, and based on student test results, and (3) the android-based science instructional media can effectively used for teaching.

A Science-Technology-Society Paradigm and Cross River State Secondary School Students' Scientific Literacy: Problem Solving and Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

Umoren, Grace

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Science-Technology-Society (STS) curriculum on students' scientific literacy, problem solving and decision making. Four hundred and eighty (480) Senior Secondary two science and non-science students were randomly selected from intact classes in six secondary schools in Calabar Municipality of…

What's science? Where's science? Science journalism in German print media.

Science.gov (United States)

Summ, Annika; Volpers, Anna-Maria

2016-10-01

This article examines the current state of science coverage in German print media. It deals with the following questions: (1) how the main characteristics of science journalism can be described, (2) whether there is a difference between various scientific fields, and (3) how different definitions of science journalism lead to differing findings. Two forms of science coverage were analyzed in a standardized, two-part content analysis of German newspapers (N = 1730 and N = 1640). The results show a significant difference between a narrow and a broad definition of science journalism. In the classic understanding, science journalism is prompted by scientific events and is rather noncritical. Science coverage in a broad sense is defined by a wider range of journalistic styles, driven by non-scientific events, and with a focus on the statements of scientific experts. Furthermore, the study describes the specific role of the humanities and social sciences in German science coverage. © The Author(s) 2015.

Evaluation of Scientific Output of Researchers at Birjand University of Medical Sciences in Web of Science during 2000-2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamideh Ehtesham

2012-12-01

Results: The study population included 81 articles that had been cited 163 times in total. Maximum number of records (57 covered original articles and the topic of most papers (11% was toxicology. Maximum number of scientific papers (22.2 percent were indexed at this database in 2009 and the highest number of citations to all papers (46.6 referred to the year 2011.Most international collaboration of the researchers was with authors from The United States (8.4 percent, and in the national level, it was with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (27%. BUMS Hirsch index was 6. Conclusion: Growth of scientific production and citations is increasing, but it is less than expected.

ICMCS-2007: 5. international conference on microelectronics and computer science. Proceedings. V. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanter, V.; Balmus, I.

2007-01-01

This book includes articles which cover a vast range of subjects, such as: micro- and optoelectronics, nano science and nanotechnology, computer science, electronics and communications, new technologies for university education, etc.

Developing a Collaborative Agenda for Humanities and Social Scientific Research on Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Gail F; Greenhough, Beth J; Hobson-West, Pru; Kirk, Robert G W; Applebee, Ken; Bellingan, Laura C; Berdoy, Manuel; Buller, Henry; Cassaday, Helen J; Davies, Keith; Diefenbacher, Daniela; Druglitrø, Tone; Escobar, Maria Paula; Friese, Carrie; Herrmann, Kathrin; Hinterberger, Amy; Jarrett, Wendy J; Jayne, Kimberley; Johnson, Adam M; Johnson, Elizabeth R; Konold, Timm; Leach, Matthew C; Leonelli, Sabina; Lewis, David I; Lilley, Elliot J; Longridge, Emma R; McLeod, Carmen M; Miele, Mara; Nelson, Nicole C; Ormandy, Elisabeth H; Pallett, Helen; Poort, Lonneke; Pound, Pandora; Ramsden, Edmund; Roe, Emma; Scalway, Helen; Schrader, Astrid; Scotton, Chris J; Scudamore, Cheryl L; Smith, Jane A; Whitfield, Lucy; Wolfensohn, Sarah

2016-01-01

Improving laboratory animal science and welfare requires both new scientific research and insights from research in the humanities and social sciences. Whilst scientific research provides evidence to replace, reduce and refine procedures involving laboratory animals (the '3Rs'), work in the humanities and social sciences can help understand the social, economic and cultural processes that enhance or impede humane ways of knowing and working with laboratory animals. However, communication across these disciplinary perspectives is currently limited, and they design research programmes, generate results, engage users, and seek to influence policy in different ways. To facilitate dialogue and future research at this interface, we convened an interdisciplinary group of 45 life scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars, non-governmental organisations and policy-makers to generate a collaborative research agenda. This drew on methods employed by other agenda-setting exercises in science policy, using a collaborative and deliberative approach for the identification of research priorities. Participants were recruited from across the community, invited to submit research questions and vote on their priorities. They then met at an interactive workshop in the UK, discussed all 136 questions submitted, and collectively defined the 30 most important issues for the group. The output is a collaborative future agenda for research in the humanities and social sciences on laboratory animal science and welfare. The questions indicate a demand for new research in the humanities and social sciences to inform emerging discussions and priorities on the governance and practice of laboratory animal research, including on issues around: international harmonisation, openness and public engagement, 'cultures of care', harm-benefit analysis and the future of the 3Rs. The process outlined below underlines the value of interdisciplinary exchange for improving communication across

Developing a Collaborative Agenda for Humanities and Social Scientific Research on Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Gail F.; Greenhough, Beth J; Hobson-West, Pru; Kirk, Robert G. W.; Applebee, Ken; Bellingan, Laura C.; Berdoy, Manuel; Buller, Henry; Cassaday, Helen J.; Davies, Keith; Diefenbacher, Daniela; Druglitrø, Tone; Escobar, Maria Paula; Friese, Carrie; Herrmann, Kathrin; Hinterberger, Amy; Jarrett, Wendy J.; Jayne, Kimberley; Johnson, Adam M.; Johnson, Elizabeth R.; Konold, Timm; Leach, Matthew C.; Leonelli, Sabina; Lewis, David I.; Lilley, Elliot J.; Longridge, Emma R.; McLeod, Carmen M.; Miele, Mara; Nelson, Nicole C.; Ormandy, Elisabeth H.; Pallett, Helen; Poort, Lonneke; Pound, Pandora; Ramsden, Edmund; Roe, Emma; Scalway, Helen; Schrader, Astrid; Scotton, Chris J.; Scudamore, Cheryl L.; Smith, Jane A.; Whitfield, Lucy; Wolfensohn, Sarah

2016-01-01

Improving laboratory animal science and welfare requires both new scientific research and insights from research in the humanities and social sciences. Whilst scientific research provides evidence to replace, reduce and refine procedures involving laboratory animals (the ‘3Rs’), work in the humanities and social sciences can help understand the social, economic and cultural processes that enhance or impede humane ways of knowing and working with laboratory animals. However, communication across these disciplinary perspectives is currently limited, and they design research programmes, generate results, engage users, and seek to influence policy in different ways. To facilitate dialogue and future research at this interface, we convened an interdisciplinary group of 45 life scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars, non-governmental organisations and policy-makers to generate a collaborative research agenda. This drew on methods employed by other agenda-setting exercises in science policy, using a collaborative and deliberative approach for the identification of research priorities. Participants were recruited from across the community, invited to submit research questions and vote on their priorities. They then met at an interactive workshop in the UK, discussed all 136 questions submitted, and collectively defined the 30 most important issues for the group. The output is a collaborative future agenda for research in the humanities and social sciences on laboratory animal science and welfare. The questions indicate a demand for new research in the humanities and social sciences to inform emerging discussions and priorities on the governance and practice of laboratory animal research, including on issues around: international harmonisation, openness and public engagement, ‘cultures of care’, harm-benefit analysis and the future of the 3Rs. The process outlined below underlines the value of interdisciplinary exchange for improving communication across

Developing a Collaborative Agenda for Humanities and Social Scientific Research on Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gail F Davies

Full Text Available Improving laboratory animal science and welfare requires both new scientific research and insights from research in the humanities and social sciences. Whilst scientific research provides evidence to replace, reduce and refine procedures involving laboratory animals (the '3Rs', work in the humanities and social sciences can help understand the social, economic and cultural processes that enhance or impede humane ways of knowing and working with laboratory animals. However, communication across these disciplinary perspectives is currently limited, and they design research programmes, generate results, engage users, and seek to influence policy in different ways. To facilitate dialogue and future research at this interface, we convened an interdisciplinary group of 45 life scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars, non-governmental organisations and policy-makers to generate a collaborative research agenda. This drew on methods employed by other agenda-setting exercises in science policy, using a collaborative and deliberative approach for the identification of research priorities. Participants were recruited from across the community, invited to submit research questions and vote on their priorities. They then met at an interactive workshop in the UK, discussed all 136 questions submitted, and collectively defined the 30 most important issues for the group. The output is a collaborative future agenda for research in the humanities and social sciences on laboratory animal science and welfare. The questions indicate a demand for new research in the humanities and social sciences to inform emerging discussions and priorities on the governance and practice of laboratory animal research, including on issues around: international harmonisation, openness and public engagement, 'cultures of care', harm-benefit analysis and the future of the 3Rs. The process outlined below underlines the value of interdisciplinary exchange for improving

Development of optical sciences in Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Romaniuk, Ryszard S.

2013-10-01

Research and technical communities for optics, photonics and optoelectronics is grouped in this country in several organizations and institutions. These are: Photonics Society of Poland (PSP), Polish Committee of Optoelectronics of SEP, Photonics Section of KEiT PAN, Laser Club at WAT, and Optics Section of PTF. Each of these communities keeps slightly different specificity. PSP publishes a quarterly journal Photonics Letters of Poland, stimulates international cooperation, and organizes conferences during Industrial Fairs on Innovativeness. PKOpto SEP organizes didactic diploma competitions in optoelectronics. KEiT PAN takes patronage over national conferences in laser technology, optical fiber technology and communications, and photonics applications. SO-PTF has recently taken a decision to organize a cyclic event "Polish Optical Conference". The third edition of this conference PKO'2013 was held in Sandomierz on 30.06-04.07.2013. The conference scientific and technical topics include: quantum and nonlinear optics, photon physics, optic and technology of lasers and other sources of coherent radiation, optoelectronics, optical integrated circuits, optical fibers, medical optics, instrumental optics, optical spectroscopy, optical metrology, new optical materials, applications of optics, teaching in optics. This paper reviews chosen works presented during the III Polish Optical Conference (PKO'2013), representing the research efforts at different national institutions.

Materials for optoelectronic devices, OEICs and photonics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schloetterer, H.; Quillec, M.; Greene, P.D.; Bertolotti, M.

1991-01-01

The aim of the contributors in this volume is to give a current overview on the basic properties of nonlinear optical materials for optoelectronics and integrated optics. They provide a cross-linkage between different materials (III-V, II-VI, Si-Ge, etc.), various sample dimensions (from bulk crystals to quantum dots), and a range of techniques from growth (LPE to MOMBE) and for processing from surface passivation to ion beams. Major growth techniques and materials are discussed, including the sophisticated technologies required to exploit the exciting properties of low dimensional semiconductors. These proceedings will prove an invaluable guide to the current state of optoelectronic materials development, as well as indicating the growth techniques that will be in use around the year 2000

Scientific and Ethical Reflections on Academic Corruption in Universities: On the Science Research Evaluation System in China's Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Xiaochun, Wu; Dan, Jia

2007-01-01

A study of the science research activities in China's institutions of higher learning in recent years indicates that there is a major connection between the current instances of corruption in scientific research at colleges and universities and the evaluations system for scientific research implemented at many of the colleges and universities.…

Joseph Henry's Conception of Scientific Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Theerman, Paul

1997-04-01

Joseph Henry, America's premier physicist and physics teacher in the mid-nineteenth century, had decided views of scientific knowledge. These were expressed in two ways. First of all, scientific knowledge led to moral betterment. Thus the study of science was a morally good thing. This was not only because it led to the contemplation of God's creation, which was a standard reason justifying the study of science dating from the Scientific Revolution and even earlier. More importantly, the study of science itself was a moral discipline, imparting to scientists the habits and virtues of truthfulness, respect for others, care and diligence, and the discernment of meaningful patterns from experience. The moral ideals of science were expressed most strongly in Henry's upholding the international "Republic of Science"; conversely, cheapening science was a sign of moral failure. Second, for Henry and his generation, science provided a path to sure truth, separate from falsehood of both the politics and the quackery that characterized mid-century public life. Henry promoted this in his championing of the Smithsonian Institution a scientific establishment, against the ideas of others who wanted to make it a literary establishment or a training school for teachers. For Henry, the Smithsonian's scientific reputation would be established by relying on careful peer review in its publications, and supporting established scientists to write authoritative popular works. The purpose of both these activities was to raise the profile of science in the United States and further establish science and the scientific method as a guide to public life.

Women scientists' scientific and spiritual ways of knowing

Science.gov (United States)

Buffington, Angela Cunningham

While science education aims for literacy regarding scientific knowledge and the work of scientists, the separation of scientific knowing from other knowing may misrepresent the knowing of scientists. The majority of science educators K-university are women. Many of these women are spiritual and integrate their scientific and spiritual ways of knowing. Understanding spiritual women of science would inform science education and serve to advance the scientific reason and spirituality debate. Using interviews and grounded theory, this study explores scientific and spiritual ways of knowing in six women of science who hold strong spiritual commitments and portray science to non-scientists. From various lived experiences, each woman comes to know through a Passive knowing of exposure and attendance, an Engaged knowing of choice, commitment and action, an Mindful/Inner knowing of prayer and meaning, a Relational knowing with others, and an Integrated lifeworld knowing where scientific knowing, spiritual knowing, and other ways of knowing are integrated. Consequences of separating ways of knowing are discussed, as are connections to current research, implications to science education, and ideas for future research. Understanding women scientists' scientific/ spiritual ways of knowing may aid science educators in linking academic science to the life-worlds of students.

Optoelectronic Devices Advanced Simulation and Analysis

CERN Document Server

Piprek, Joachim

2005-01-01

Optoelectronic devices transform electrical signals into optical signals and vice versa by utilizing the sophisticated interaction of electrons and light within micro- and nano-scale semiconductor structures. Advanced software tools for design and analysis of such devices have been developed in recent years. However, the large variety of materials, devices, physical mechanisms, and modeling approaches often makes it difficult to select appropriate theoretical models or software packages. This book presents a review of devices and advanced simulation approaches written by leading researchers and software developers. It is intended for scientists and device engineers in optoelectronics, who are interested in using advanced software tools. Each chapter includes the theoretical background as well as practical simulation results that help to better understand internal device physics. The software packages used in the book are available to the public, on a commercial or noncommercial basis, so that the interested r...

A Comparative Analysis of PISA Scientific Literacy Framework in Finnish and Thai Science Curricula

Science.gov (United States)

Sothayapetch, Pavinee; Lavonen, Jari; Juuti, Kalle

2013-01-01

A curriculum is a master plan that regulates teaching and learning. This paper compares Finnish and Thai primary school level science curricula to the PISA 2006 Scientific Literacy Framework. Curriculum comparison was made following the procedure of deductive content analysis. In the analysis, there were four main categories adopted from PISA…

METHODOLOGICAL FEATURES OF HISTORICAL TYPES OF ECONOMIC THEORY'S SCIENTIFIC RATIONALITY IN TERMS OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Gaidai

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The article studies the evolution of basic methodological features of economic theory on its different historical stages.The research highlights the fruitful usage of a new analytical approach on the basis of the achievements of modern philosophy of science. Its presents the research of main types of scientific rationality dominating at certain historical stages of science maturity. Such as historical, classical, nonclassical and postnonclassical types of scientific rationality. Structuring and research of basic methodological features of such historical types of economic theory’s scientific rationality as classical economics (end of ХVII century – 70-th of XIX century, nonclassical economics (70-th of ХІХ century – 70-th of ХХ century, postnonclassical economics (70-th of ХХст. – the beginning of ХХI century are undertaken. Methodological analysis accentuated ideological, ontological, epistemological dominants and main differences in basic techniques of the main types of economic theory’s scientific rationality. The research argues the illegality of existing in the economics literature attempts to identification or simplified reduction of more mature types of scientific rationality to the less mature. The article shows the contribution made by the leaders of classical, nonclassical and postnonclassical economics in the development of normative and positive economic methodology. It is emphasized a general tendency to methodological pluralism, pluralism of paradigmal structureand interdisciplinary of scientific economic knowledge throughout its historical development.

Digital optical computers at the optoelectronic computing systems center

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Harry F.

1991-01-01

The Digital Optical Computing Program within the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Opto-electronic Computing Systems has as its specific goal research on optical computing architectures suitable for use at the highest possible speeds. The program can be targeted toward exploiting the time domain because other programs in the Center are pursuing research on parallel optical systems, exploiting optical interconnection and optical devices and materials. Using a general purpose computing architecture as the focus, we are developing design techniques, tools and architecture for operation at the speed of light limit. Experimental work is being done with the somewhat low speed components currently available but with architectures which will scale up in speed as faster devices are developed. The design algorithms and tools developed for a general purpose, stored program computer are being applied to other systems such as optimally controlled optical communication networks.

Mundane science use in a practice theoretical perspective: Different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public communication initiatives build on scientific claims.

Science.gov (United States)

Halkier, Bente

2015-08-13

Public communication initiatives play a part in placing complicated scientific claims in citizen-consumers' everyday contexts. Lay reactions to scientific claims framed in public communication, and attempts to engage citizens, have been important subjects of discussion in the literatures of public understanding and public engagement with science. Many of the public communication initiatives, however, address lay people as consumers rather than citizens. This creates specific challenges for understanding public engagement with science and scientific citizenship. The article compares five different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public issue communication involving science, where the first four types are widely represented in the Public Understanding of Science discussions. The fifth understanding is a practice theoretical perspective. The article suggests how the public understanding of and engagement in science literature can benefit from including a practice theoretical approach to research about mundane science use and public engagement. © The Author(s) 2015.

Molecular biology in marine science: Scientific questions, technological approaches, and practical implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1994-12-31

This report describes molecular techniques that could be invaluable in addressing process-oriented problems in the ocean sciences that have perplexed oceanographers for decades, such as understanding the basis for biogeochemical processes, recruitment processes, upper-ocean dynamics, biological impacts of global warming, and ecological impacts of human activities. The coupling of highly sophisticated methods, such as satellite remote sensing, which permits synoptic monitoring of chemical, physical, and biological parameters over large areas, with the power of modern molecular tools for ``ground truthing`` at small scales could allow scientists to address questions about marine organisms and the ocean in which they live that could not be answered previously. Clearly, the marine sciences are on the threshold of an exciting new frontier of scientific discovery and economic opportunity.

Science and scientists turned into news and media stars by scientific journals. A study on the consequences on the present scientific behaviour (Spanish original version)

OpenAIRE

Carlos Elías

2008-01-01

This article explores whether some scientists have now actually been developing a type of science apt to be published as a piece of news, yet lacking a relevant scientific interest. Possibly, behind this behaviour there may be the present working culture, in which scientists live under the pressure of the dictatorship of the Science Citation Index (SCI) of the reference journals. This hypothesis is supported by a study demonstrating that there is a direct relation between publishing scientifi...

The New Planetary Science Archive (PSA): Exploration and Discovery of Scientific Datasets from ESA's Planetary Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Heather, David; Besse, Sebastien; Vallat, Claire; Barbarisi, Isa; Arviset, Christophe; De Marchi, Guido; Barthelemy, Maud; Coia, Daniela; Costa, Marc; Docasal, Ruben; Fraga, Diego; Grotheer, Emmanuel; Lim, Tanya; MacFarlane, Alan; Martinez, Santa; Rios, Carlos; Vallejo, Fran; Saiz, Jaime

2017-04-01

The Planetary Science Archive (PSA) is the European Space Agency's (ESA) repository of science data from all planetary science and exploration missions. The PSA provides access to scientific datasets through various interfaces at http://psa.esa.int. All datasets are scientifically peer-reviewed by independent scientists, and are compliant with the Planetary Data System (PDS) standards. The PSA is currently implementing a number of significant improvements, mostly driven by the evolution of the PDS standard, and the growing need for better interfaces and advanced applications to support science exploitation. As of the end of 2016, the PSA is hosting data from all of ESA's planetary missions. This includes ESA's first planetary mission Giotto that encountered comet 1P/Halley in 1986 with a flyby at 800km. Science data from Venus Express, Mars Express, Huygens and the SMART-1 mission are also all available at the PSA. The PSA also contains all science data from Rosetta, which explored comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and asteroids Steins and Lutetia. The year 2016 has seen the arrival of the ExoMars 2016 data in the archive. In the upcoming years, at least three new projects are foreseen to be fully archived at the PSA. The BepiColombo mission is scheduled for launch in 2018. Following that, the ExoMars Rover Surface Platform (RSP) in 2020, and then the JUpiter ICy moon Explorer (JUICE). All of these will archive their data in the PSA. In addition, a few ground-based support programmes are also available, especially for the Venus Express and Rosetta missions. The newly designed PSA will enhance the user experience and will significantly reduce the complexity for users to find their data promoting one-click access to the scientific datasets with more customized views when needed. This includes a better integration with Planetary GIS analysis tools and Planetary interoperability services (search and retrieve data, supporting e.g. PDAP, EPN-TAP). It will also be up

New Development of Membrane Base Optoelectronic Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leon Hamui

2017-12-01

Full Text Available It is known that one factor that affects the operation of optoelectronic devices is the effective protection of the semiconductor materials against environmental conditions. The permeation of atmospheric oxygen and water molecules into the device structure induces degradation of the electrodes and the semiconductor. As a result, in this communication we report the fabrication of semiconductor membranes consisting of Magnesium Phthalocyanine-allene (MgPc-allene particles dispersed in Nylon 11 films. These membranes combine polymer properties with organic semiconductors properties and also provide a barrier effect for the atmospheric gas molecules. They were prepared by high vacuum evaporation and followed by thermal relaxation technique. For the characterization of the obtained membranes, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS were used to determine the chemical and microstructural properties. UV-ViS, null ellipsometry, and visible photoluminescence (PL at room temperature were used to characterize the optoelectronic properties. These results were compared with those obtained for the organic semiconductors: MgPc-allene thin films. Additionally, semiconductor membranes devices have been prepared, and a study of the device electronic transport properties was conducted by measuring electrical current density-voltage (J-V characteristics by four point probes with different wavelengths. The resistance properties against different environmental molecules are enhanced, maintaining their semiconductor functionality that makes them candidates for optoelectronic applications.

Progress in the optoelectronic analog signal transfer for high energy particle detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsang, T.; Radeka, V.

1992-05-01

We report the progress in the development of a radiation hard Optoelectronic analog system to transfer particle detector signals with high accuracy. We will present the motivation of this study, the operating principle of the optoelectronic system, the system noise study, the recent R ampersand D efforts on radiation effect, temperature stability, and the realization of an integrated l x l6 optical modulator. The issue of photon source for driving such a large-scale optoelectronic modulators is a major concern. We will address this problem by examining different possible photon sources and comment on other possible alternative for signal transfer

Increased Optoelectronic Quality and Uniformity of Hydrogenated p-InP Thin Films

KAUST Repository

Wang, Hsin-Ping; Sutter-Fella, Carolin M.; Lobaccaro, Peter; Hettick, Mark; Zheng, Maxwell; Lien, Der-Hsien; Miller, D. Westley; Warren, Charles W.; Roe, Ellis T; Lonergan, Mark C; Guthrey, Harvey L.; Haegel, Nancy M.; Ager, Joel W.; Carraro, Carlo; Maboudian, Roya; He, Jr-Hau; Javey, Ali

2016-01-01

The thin-film vapor-liquid-solid (TF-VLS) growth technique presents a promising route for high quality, scalable and cost-effective InP thin films for optoelectronic devices. Towards this goal, careful optimization of material properties and device performance is of utmost interest. Here, we show that exposure of polycrystalline Zn-doped TF-VLS InP to a hydrogen plasma (in the following referred to as hydrogenation) results in improved optoelectronic quality as well as lateral optoelectronic uniformity. A combination of low temperature photoluminescence and transient photocurrent spectroscopy were used to analyze the energy position and relative density of defect states before and after hydrogenation. Notably, hydrogenation reduces the intra-gap defect density by one order of magnitude. As a metric to monitor lateral optoelectronic uniformity of polycrystalline TF-VLS InP, photoluminescence and electron beam induced current mapping reveal homogenization of the grain versus grain boundary upon hydrogenation. At the device level, we measured more than 260 TF-VLS InP solar cells before and after hydrogenation to verify the improved optoelectronic properties. Hydrogenation increased the average open-circuit voltage (VOC) of individual TF-VLS InP solar cells by up to 130 mV, and reduced the variance in VOC for the analyzed devices.

Increased Optoelectronic Quality and Uniformity of Hydrogenated p-InP Thin Films

KAUST Repository

Wang, Hsin-Ping

2016-06-08

The thin-film vapor-liquid-solid (TF-VLS) growth technique presents a promising route for high quality, scalable and cost-effective InP thin films for optoelectronic devices. Towards this goal, careful optimization of material properties and device performance is of utmost interest. Here, we show that exposure of polycrystalline Zn-doped TF-VLS InP to a hydrogen plasma (in the following referred to as hydrogenation) results in improved optoelectronic quality as well as lateral optoelectronic uniformity. A combination of low temperature photoluminescence and transient photocurrent spectroscopy were used to analyze the energy position and relative density of defect states before and after hydrogenation. Notably, hydrogenation reduces the intra-gap defect density by one order of magnitude. As a metric to monitor lateral optoelectronic uniformity of polycrystalline TF-VLS InP, photoluminescence and electron beam induced current mapping reveal homogenization of the grain versus grain boundary upon hydrogenation. At the device level, we measured more than 260 TF-VLS InP solar cells before and after hydrogenation to verify the improved optoelectronic properties. Hydrogenation increased the average open-circuit voltage (VOC) of individual TF-VLS InP solar cells by up to 130 mV, and reduced the variance in VOC for the analyzed devices.

The Role of Emotional Factors in Building Public Scientific Literacy and Engagement with Science

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Huann-shyang; Hong, Zuway-R.; Huang, Tai-Chu

2012-01-01

This study uses the database from an extensive international study on 15-year-old students (N = 8,815) to analyze the relationship between emotional factors and students' scientific literacy and explore the potential link between the emotions of the students and subsequent public engagement with science. The results revealed that students'…

Effects of Outdoor School Ground Lessons on Students' Science Process Skills and Scientific Curiosity

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Kan Lin; Siew, Nyet Moi

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of outdoor school ground lessons on Year Five students' science process skills and scientific curiosity. A quasi-experimental design was employed in this study. The participants in the study were divided into two groups, one subjected to the experimental treatment, defined as…

Effect of Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry on Senior Science Student Teachers' Self-Efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Calik, Muammer

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of technology-embedded scientific inquiry (TESI) on senior science student teachers' (SSSTs) self-efficacy. The sample consisted of 117 SSSTs (68 females and 49 males aged 21-23 years) enrolled in an Environmental Chemistry elective course. Within a quasi-experimental design, the…

Specification of Scientific Tasks in Collaboration between Science, Industry and State, and Impact of Political Factors on Managerial Levers and Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bondarenko Tetiana M.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The issue of collaboration between science, industry and state is of relevance in domestic and international practice. In leading countries of the world and in Ukraine compatible production and scientific complexes are created; collaboration between research institutions and state is established, in particular the theory and practice of collaboration between science, industry and state on the basis of Triple Helix Model is widespread in the world; in scientific papers objects of research of economic processes, subjects of research of the economic theory are considered. However, there are no works where the objects and tasks of economic researches are studied on the basis of macroeconomic environment, and a distinct principle to distinguish research objects relating to different economies and types of production is laid out; scientific and practical problems of economy in the field of collaboration between state, science and industry are clearly defined. According to the purpose of the article (to specify scientific and practical tasks to rationalize scientific research, the experience gained is systematized and a scheme-matrix of scientific and practical problems is proposed. In scientific practice there are works highlighting principles of scientific research work, research tasks in the field of economy, scientific problems of economy but there are no works considering both principles and tasks of collaboration of academic economists with state and industry in order to provide scientists with recommendations on optimization of economic processes to improve the economic efficiency. Taking into account the experience gained, principles of collaboration of academic economists with the state and industry are identified. On the basis of the developed matrix of scientific and practical tasks, the principle of impact of political factors on managerial levers, the level of Gross Domestic Product and Gross Social Product is demonstrated.