Podcast Effectiveness as Scaffolding Support for Students Enrolled in First-Semester General Chemistry Laboratories

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Mary Cynthia Barton

2010-01-01

Podcasts covering essential first-semester general chemistry laboratory techniques and central concepts that aid in experimental design or data processing were prepared and made available for students to access on an as-needed basis on iPhones [arrow right] or iPod touches [arrow right]. Research focused in three areas: the extent of podcast…

Connecting biology and organic chemistry introductory laboratory courses through a collaborative research project.

Science.gov (United States)

Boltax, Ariana L; Armanious, Stephanie; Kosinski-Collins, Melissa S; Pontrello, Jason K

2015-01-01

Modern research often requires collaboration of experts in fields, such as math, chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science to develop unique solutions to common problems. Traditional introductory undergraduate laboratory curricula in the sciences often do not emphasize connections possible between the various disciplines. We designed an interdisciplinary, medically relevant, project intended to help students see connections between chemistry and biology. Second term organic chemistry laboratory students designed and synthesized potential polymer inhibitors or inducers of polyglutamine protein aggregation. The use of novel target compounds added the uncertainty of scientific research to the project. Biology laboratory students then tested the novel potential pharmaceuticals in Huntington's disease model assays, using in vitro polyglutamine peptide aggregation and in vivo lethality studies in Drosophila. Students read articles from the primary literature describing the system from both chemical and biological perspectives. Assessment revealed that students emerged from both courses with a deeper understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of biology and chemistry and a heightened interest in basic research. The design of this collaborative project for introductory biology and organic chemistry labs demonstrated how the local interests and expertise at a university can be drawn from to create an effective way to integrate these introductory courses. Rather than simply presenting a series of experiments to be replicated, we hope that our efforts will inspire other scientists to think about how some aspect of authentic work can be brought into their own courses, and we also welcome additional collaborations to extend the scope of the scientific exploration. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Enhancing Student Performance in First-Semester General Chemistry Using Active Feedback through the World Wide Web

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Chambers, Kent A.; Blake, Bob

2007-01-01

The World Wide Web recently launched a new interactive feedback system for the instructors, so that can better understanding about their students and their problems. The feedback, in combination with tailored lectures is expected to enhance student performance in the first semester of general chemistry.

Teaching a Chemistry MOOC with a Virtual Laboratory: Lessons Learned from an Introductory Physical Chemistry Course

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O'Malley, Patrick J.; Agger, Jonathan R.; Anderson, Michael W.

2015-01-01

An analysis is presented of the experience and lessons learned of running a MOOC in introductory physical chemistry. The course was unique in allowing students to conduct experimental measurements using a virtual laboratory constructed using video and simulations. A breakdown of the student background and motivation for taking the course is…

The Use of Molecular Modeling as "Pseudoexperimental" Data for Teaching VSEPR as a Hands-On General Chemistry Activity

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Martin, Christopher B.; Vandehoef, Crissie; Cook, Allison

2015-01-01

A hands-on activity appropriate for first-semester general chemistry students is presented that combines traditional VSEPR methods of predicting molecular geometries with introductory use of molecular modeling. Students analyze a series of previously calculated output files consisting of several molecules each in various geometries. Each structure…

General chemistry: expanding the learning outcomes and promoting interdisciplinary connections through the use of a semester-long project.

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Wenzel, Thomas J

2006-01-01

The laboratory component of a first-semester general chemistry course for science majors is described. The laboratory involves a semester-long project undertaken in a small-group format. Students are asked to examine whether plants grown in soil contaminated with lead take up more lead than those grown in uncontaminated soil. They are also asked to examine whether the acidity of the rainwater affects the amount of lead taken up by the plants. Groups are then given considerable independence in the design and implementation of the experiment. Once the seeds are planted, which takes about 4 wk into the term, several shorter experiments are integrated in before it is time to harvest and analyze the plants. The use of a project and small working groups allows for the development of a broader range of learning outcomes than occurs in a "traditional" general chemistry laboratory. The nature of these outcomes and some of the student responses to the laboratory experience are described. This particular project also works well at demonstrating the connections among chemistry, biology, geology, and environmental studies.

Crossword Puzzles as Learning Tools in Introductory Soil Science

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Barbarick, K. A.

2010-01-01

Students in introductory courses generally respond favorably to novel approaches to learning. To this end, I developed and used three crossword puzzles in spring and fall 2009 semesters in Introductory Soil Science Laboratory at Colorado State University. The first hypothesis was that crossword puzzles would improve introductory soil science…

A Cost-Effective Two-Part Experiment for Teaching Introductory Organic Chemistry Techniques

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Sadek, Christopher M.; Brown, Brenna A.; Wan, Hayley

2011-01-01

This two-part laboratory experiment is designed to be a cost-effective method for teaching basic organic laboratory techniques (recrystallization, thin-layer chromatography, column chromatography, vacuum filtration, and melting point determination) to large classes of introductory organic chemistry students. Students are exposed to different…

Azeotropic Preparation of a "C"-Phenyl "N"-Aryl Imine: An Introductory Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiment

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Silverberg, Lee J.; Coyle, David J.; Cannon, Kevin C.; Mathers, Robert T.; Richards, Jeffrey A.; Tierney, John

2016-01-01

Imines are important in biological chemistry and as intermediates in organic synthesis. An experiment for introductory undergraduate organic chemistry is presented in which benzaldehyde was condensed with "p"-methoxyaniline in toluene to give 4-methoxy-"N"-(phenylmethylene)benzenamine. Water was removed by azeotropic…

The Structure of the Introductory Economics Course in United States Colleges.

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Sweeney, M. Jane Barr; And Others

1983-01-01

This survey examined class size, teaching methods, and the one-semester/two-semester organization of the introductory economics course. Student satisfaction with respect to their institution was also studied. (Author/RM)

Understanding the gender gap: Social cognitive changes during an introductory stem course.

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Hardin, Erin E; Longhurst, Melanie O

2016-03-01

Despite robust support for the basic theoretical model of social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) and predictions that, for example, increases (or declines) in self-efficacy would lead to subsequent increases (or declines) in interest, there has been surprisingly little longitudinal research that has directly examined the extent to which members of different groups (e.g., women and men) actually do experience changes in critical social-cognitive variables over time early in their curricula in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Knowing the extent to which such changes occur in typical introductory undergraduate courses is important for targeting interventions to increase persistence of underrepresented groups in STEM. We measured social-cognitive-career-theory-relevant variables near the middle and at the end of the 1st semester of a gateway introductory chemistry course and found that women had lower STEM self-efficacy, coping self-efficacy, and STEM interest than did men, even after controlling for actual course performance. Although there were no detrimental changes across the semester for women or men, men experienced a small but significant increase in their perceived support for pursuing a STEM degree, whereas women did not. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Connecting Biology and Organic Chemistry Introductory Laboratory Courses through a Collaborative Research Project

Science.gov (United States)

Boltax, Ariana L.; Armanious, Stephanie; Kosinski-Collins, Melissa S.; Pontrello, Jason K.

2015-01-01

Modern research often requires collaboration of experts in fields, such as math, chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science to develop unique solutions to common problems. Traditional introductory undergraduate laboratory curricula in the sciences often do not emphasize connections possible between the various disciplines. We designed an…

Synthesis and Metalation of a Ligand: An Interdisciplinary Laboratory Experiment for Second-Year Organic and Introductory Inorganic Chemistry Students

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Kasting, Benjamin J.; Bowser, Andrew K.; Anderson-Wile, Amelia M.; Wile, Bradley M.

2015-01-01

An interdisciplinary laboratory experiment involving second-year undergraduate organic chemistry and introductory inorganic chemistry undergraduate students is described. Organic chemistry students prepare a series of amine-bis(phenols) via a Mannich reaction, and characterize their products using melting point; FTIR; and [superscript 1]H,…

Developing and Implementing a Simple, Affordable Hydrogen Fuel Cell Laboratory in Introductory Chemistry

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Klara, Kristina; Hou, Ning; Lawman, Allison; Wu, Liheng; Morrill, Drew; Tente, Alfred; Wang, Li-Qiong

2014-01-01

A simple, affordable hydrogen proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell laboratory was developed through a collaborative effort between faculty and undergraduate students at Brown University. It has been incorporated into the introductory chemistry curriculum and successfully implemented in a class of over 500 students per academic year for over 3…

Cross-Course Collaboration in the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum: Isotopic Labeling with Sodium Borodeuteride in the Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory

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Kjonaas, Richard A.; Fitch, Richard W.; Noll, Robert J.

2017-01-01

A microscale isotopic labeling experiment is described for the introductory organic chemistry laboratory course wherein half of the students use sodium borohydride (NaBH[subscript 4]) and the other half use sodium borodeuteride (NaBD[subscript 4]) to reduce acetophenone to 1-phenylethanol and then compare spectral data. The cost is reasonable, and…

#IHeartChemistryNCSU: Free Choice, Content, and Elements of Science Communication as the Framework for an Introductory Organic Chemistry Project

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Frohock, Bram H.; Winterrowd, Samantha T.; Gallardo-Williams, Maria T.

2018-01-01

Students in a large introductory organic chemistry class were given the freedom to choose an organic compound of interest and were challenged to develop an educational object (physical or digital) designed to be shared with the broader public via social media. Analysis of the project results shows that most students appreciated the open nature of…

Research and Teaching: Reenvisioning the Introductory Science Course as a Cognitive Apprenticeship

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Thompson, Meredith M.; Pastorino, Lucia; Lee, Star; Lipton, Paul

2016-01-01

Introductory science courses play a critical role in the recruitment and retention of undergraduate science majors. In particular, first-year courses are opportunities to engage students in scientific practices and motivate them to consider scientific careers. We developed an introductory course using a semester-long series of established…

Examining the Gender Gap in Introductory Physics

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Kost, Lauren; Pollock, Steven; Finkelstein, Noah

2009-05-01

Our previous research[1] showed that despite the use of interactive engagement techniques in the introductory physics course, the gap in performance between males and females on a mechanics conceptual learning survey persisted from pre- to post-test, at our institution. Such findings were counter to previously published work[2]. Follow-up studies[3] identified correlations between student performance on the conceptual learning survey and students' prior physics and math knowledge and their incoming attitudes and beliefs about physics and learning physics. The results indicate that the gender gap at our institution is predominantly associated with differences in males' and females' previous physics and math knowledge, and attitudes and beliefs. Our current work extends these results in two ways: 1) we look at the gender gap in the second semester of the introductory sequence and find results similar to those in the first semester course and 2) we identify ways in which males and females differentially experience several aspects of the introductory course. [1] Pollock, et al, Phys Rev: ST: PER 3, 010107. [2] Lorenzo, et al, Am J Phys 74, 118. [3] Kost, et al, PERC Proceedings 2008.

Tracking chemistry self-efficacy and achievement in a preparatory chemistry course

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Garcia, Carmen Alicia

Self-efficacy is a person's own perception about performing a task with a certain level of proficiency (Bandura, 1986). An important affective aspect of learning chemistry is chemistry self-efficacy (CSE). Several researchers have found chemistry self-efficacy to be a fair predictor of achievement in chemistry. This study was done in a college preparatory chemistry class for science majors exploring chemistry self-efficacy and its change as it relates to achievement. A subscale of CAEQ, Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire (developed by Dalgety et al, 2003) as well as student interviews were used to determine student chemistry self-efficacy as it changed during the course. The questionnaire was given to the students five times during the semester: in the first class and the class before each the four tests taken through the semester. Twenty-six students, both men and women, of the four major races/ethnicities were interviewed three times during the semester and events that triggered changes in CSE were followed through the interviews. HLM (hierarchical linear modeling) was used to model the results of the CSE surveys. Among the findings, women who started at significantly lower CSE than men accomplished a significant gain by the end of the semester. Blacks' CSE trends through the semester were found to be significantly different from the rest of the ethnicities.

The Isolation of Rubber from Milkweed Leaves. An Introductory Organic Chemistry Lab

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Volaric, Lisa; Hagen, John P.

2002-01-01

We present an introductory organic chemistry lab in which students isolate rubber from the leaves of milkweed plants (Asclepias syriaca). Students isolated rubber with a recovery of 2.4 ± 1.8% and 1.8 ± 0.7% for the microscale and macroscale procedures, respectively. Infrared spectra of their products were compared with the spectrum of synthetic rubber, cis-polyisoprene. Students tested for elasticity of their product by twisting it on a spatula and pulling; all students found some degree of elasticity.

An approach to teaching general chemistry II that highlights the interdisciplinary nature of science.

Science.gov (United States)

Sumter, Takita Felder; Owens, Patrick M

2011-01-01

The need for a revised curriculum within the life sciences has been well-established. One strategy to improve student preparation in the life sciences is to redesign introductory courses like biology, chemistry, and physics so that they better reflect their disciplinary interdependence. We describe a medically relevant, context-based approach to teaching second semester general chemistry that demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of biology and chemistry. Our innovative method provides a model in which disciplinary barriers are diminished early in the undergraduate science curriculum. The course is divided into three principle educational modules: 1) Fundamentals of General Chemistry, 2) Medical Approaches to Inflammation, and 3) Neuroscience as a connector of chemistry, biology, and psychology. We accurately anticipated that this modified approach to teaching general chemistry would enhance student interest in chemistry and bridge the perceived gaps between biology and chemistry. The course serves as a template for context-based, interdisciplinary teaching that lays the foundation needed to train 21st century scientists. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Predictors of science success: The impact of motivation and learning strategies on college chemistry performance

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Obrentz, Shari B.

As the number of college students studying science continues to grow, it is important to identify variables that predict their success. The literature indicates that motivation and learning strategy use facilitate science success. Research findings show these variables can change throughout a semester and differ by performance level, gender and ethnicity. However, significant predictors of performance vary by research study and by group. The current study looks beyond the traditional predictors of grade point averages, SAT scores and completion of advanced placement (AP) chemistry to consider a comprehensive set of variables not previously investigated within the same study. Research questions address the predictive ability of motivation constructs and learning strategies for success in introductory college chemistry, how these variables change throughout a semester, and how they differ by performance level, gender and ethnicity. Participants were 413 introductory college chemistry students at a highly selective university in the southeast. Participants completed the Chemistry Motivation Questionnaire (CMQ) and Learning Strategies section of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) three times during the semester. Self-efficacy, effort regulation, assessment anxiety and previous achievement were significant predictors of chemistry course success. Levels of motivation changed with significant decreases in self-efficacy and increases in personal relevance and assessment anxiety. Learning strategy use changed with significant increases in elaboration, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation skills and peer learning, and significant decreases in time and study management and effort regulation. High course performers reported the highest levels of motivation and learning strategy use. Females reported lower intrinsic motivation, personal relevance, self-efficacy and critical thinking, and higher assessment anxiety, rehearsal and organization

Introductory Molecular Orbital Theory: An Honors General Chemistry Computational Lab as Implemented Using Three-Dimensional Modeling Software

Science.gov (United States)

Ruddick, Kristie R.; Parrill, Abby L.; Petersen, Richard L.

2012-01-01

In this study, a computational molecular orbital theory experiment was implemented in a first-semester honors general chemistry course. Students used the GAMESS (General Atomic and Molecular Electronic Structure System) quantum mechanical software (as implemented in ChemBio3D) to optimize the geometry for various small molecules. Extended Huckel…

An Approach to Teaching General Chemistry II that Highlights the Interdisciplinary Nature of Science*,†

Science.gov (United States)

Sumter, Takita Felder; Owens, Patrick M.

2012-01-01

The need for a revised curriculum within the life sciences has been well-established. One strategy to improve student preparation in the life sciences is to redesign introductory courses like biology, chemistry, and physics so that they better reflect their disciplinary interdependence. We describe a medically relevant, context-based approach to teaching second semester general chemistry that demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of biology and chemistry. Our innovative method provides a model in which disciplinary barriers are diminished early in the undergraduate science curriculum. The course is divided into three principle educational modules: 1) Fundamentals of General Chemistry, 2) Medical Approaches to Inflammation, and 3) Neuroscience as a connector of chemistry, biology, and psychology. We accurately anticipated that this modified approach to teaching general chemistry would enhance student interest in chemistry and bridge the perceived gaps between biology and chemistry. The course serves as a template for context-based, interdisciplinary teaching that lays the foundation needed to train 21st century scientists. PMID:21445902

Hematology for Undergraduates

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Navari, Rudolph M.

1972-01-01

Describes a five-week introductory medical science course designed for both science and nonscience majors through integration of physiology, organic chemistry, anatomy, and biochemistry. Suggests its use as a quarter-semester, a tri-semester, or a regular semester course for students including premed and medical technicians. (CC)

Topic Order in Introductory Physics and its Impact on the STEM Curricular Ladder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teresa L Larkin

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Introductory physics courses are an important rung on the curricular ladder in STEM. These courses help to strengthen students critical thinking and problem solving skills while simultaneously introducing them to many topics they will explore in more detail in later courses in physics and engineering. For these reasons, introductory physics is a required element on the curricular ladder. Most often, introductory physics is offered as a two-semester sequence with basic mechanics being taught in the first semester and electricity and magnetism in the second. In fact, this curricular sequence has not been altered in decades. Is there a reason for this? There are many other enduring questions that arise pertaining to these foundation courses in physics. These questions include: Does taking the introductory course sequence “out of order” have an impact on student learning in physics? What topics should be taught? When should these topics be taught? What topics could be left out? The list of questions is essentially endless. This paper will address some of these questions in part, through a brief discussion on student learning in a second-semester algebra-based physics course. Connections will also be made to the broader curricular ladder in STEM. To this end, an illustration that makes connections to an engineering statics course will be presented. This discussion will conclude by presenting some broader implications for the larger STEM communities.

Synthesis of Ibuprofen in the Introductory Organic Laboratory

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Kjonaas, Richard A.; Williams, Peggy E.; Counce, David A.; Crawley, Lindsey R.

2011-01-01

A method for the synthesis of ibuprofen in introductory organic chemistry laboratory courses is reported. This experiment requires two 3-h lab sessions. All of the reactions and techniques are a standard part of any introductory organic chemistry course. In the first lab session, students reduce p-isobutylacetophenone to an alcohol and then…

Student Perceptions of Learning Data-Creation and Data-Analysis Skills in an Introductory College-Level Chemistry Course

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Glazer, Nirit

2015-01-01

This study examines how students perceive their learning of creating and analyzing data in an introductory inquiry chemistry course at a college level that features oral presentations in student-centered discussions. A student Participant Perception Indicator (PPI) survey was administered in order to obtain data on student perceptions with respect…

Assessment of Factors that Influence the Recruitment of Majors from Introductory Geology Classes

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Hoisch, T. D.; Bowie, J. I.

2009-12-01

In order to guide the formulation of strategies for recruiting undergraduates taking introductory geology courses into the geology program at Northern Arizona University, we surveyed 783 students in introductory geology classes and 23 geology majors in their junior and senior years. Our introductory courses (GLG100, Introduction to Geology; GLG101, Physical Geology; and GLG112, Geologic Disasters) typically enroll ~600 students each semester. The majority of students in these classes are non-majors who take them in order to satisfy a university general education requirement (called “Liberal Studies requirements” at NAU). A large proportion of these students are freshmen (51%) and sophomores (30%), and many have not yet decided on a major or are uncertain about the major they have chosen. Our analysis shows that ~7% of students in the introductory classes are possible candidates for recruitment. Although a small percentage, it represents a large number of individuals, in fact more than could be accommodated were they all to decide to major in geology. Influential factors that weigh in favor of majoring in geology include good employability, good salary potential, and opportunities for working outdoors, field work, observing nature, travel, and environmentally friendly employment. In addition, students view a career as a geologist as potentially the most fulfilling of the different science occupations (biologist, chemist, geologist, environmental scientist, physicist) and among the more environmentally friendly. However, students perceive geology to be the least difficult of the sciences, and geology occupations to be low-paying and low in prestige relative to the other sciences. These negative perceptions could be countered by providing data to introductory students showing the starting salaries of geologists in comparison to other science occupations, and by communicating the rigorous nature of the more advanced classes in the geology degree program. A

Introductory Physics Gender Gaps: Pre- and Post-Studio Transition

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Kohl, Patrick B.; Kuo, H. Vincent

2009-11-01

Prior work has characterized the gender gaps present in college-level introductory physics courses. Such work has also shown that research-based interactive engagement techniques can reduce or eliminate these gender gaps. In this paper, we study the gender gaps (and lack thereof) in the introductory calculus-based electricity and magnetism course at the Colorado School of Mines. We present eight semesters' worth of data, totaling 2577 students, with four semesters preceding a transition to Studio physics, and four following. We examine gender gaps in course grades, DFW (D grade, fail, or withdrawal) rates, and normalized gains on the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM), and consider factors such as student ACT scores and grades in prior math classes. We find little or no gap in male/female course grades and DFW rates, but substantial gaps in CSEM gains that are reduced somewhat by the transition to Studio physics.

Introductory Anatomy and Physiology in an Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum

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Brown, S. J.; White, S.; Power, N.

2017-01-01

Using an educational data mining approach, first-year academic achievement of undergraduate nursing students, which included two compulsory courses in introductory human anatomy and physiology, was compared with achievement in a final semester course that transitioned students into the workplace. We hypothesized that students could be grouped…

The Robotic Decathlon: Project-Based Learning Labs and Curriculum Design for an Introductory Robotics Course

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Cappelleri, D. J.; Vitoroulis, N.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a series of novel project-based learning labs for an introductory robotics course that are developed into a semester-long Robotic Decathlon. The last three events of the Robotic Decathlon are used as three final one-week-long project tasks; these replace a previous course project that was a semester-long robotics competition.…

A Case Study of Prior Knowledge, Learning Approach and Conceptual Change in an Introductory College Chemistry Tutorial Program.

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Braathen, Per Christian; Hewson, Peter W.

This paper presents a case study involving a small group of students enrolled in a tutorial program learning introductory college chemistry. The underlying theoretical framework of this investigation was a constructivist view of learning, but more specifically it was based on Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning. The findings of this…

The Effects of Online Homework on First Year Pre-Service Science Teachers' Learning Achievements of Introductory Organic Chemistry

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Ratniyom, Jadsada; Boonphadung, Suttipong; Unnanantn, Thassanant

2016-01-01

This study examined the effects of the introductory organic chemistry online homework on first year pre-service science teachers' learning achievements. The online homework was created using a web-based Google form in order to enhance the pre-service science teachers' learning achievements. The steps for constructing online homework were…

Introductory quantum chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chandra, A.K.

1974-01-01

This book on quantum chemistry is primarily intended for university students at the senior undergraduate level. It serves as an aid to the basic understanding of the important concepts of quantum mechanics introduced in the field of chemistry. Various chapters of the book are devoted to the following : (i) Waves and quanta, (ii) Operator concept in quantum chemistry, (iii) Wave mechanics of some simple systems, (iv) Perturbation theory, (v) Many-electron atoms and angular momenta (vi) Molecular orbital theory and its application to the electronic structure of diatomic molecules, (vii) Chemical bonding in polyatomic molecules and (viii) Chemical applications of Hellmann-Feynman theorem. At the end of each chapter, a set of problems is given and the answers to these problems are given at the end of the book. (A.K.)

Gender Disparities in Second-Semester College Physics: The Incremental Effects of a "Smog of Bias"

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Kost-Smith, Lauren E.; Pollock, Steven J.; Finkelstein, Noah D.

2010-01-01

Our previous research [Kost et al., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 010101 (2009)] examined gender differences in the first-semester, introductory physics class at the University of Colorado at Boulder. We found that: (1) there were gender differences in several aspects of the course, including conceptual survey performance, (2) these…

Chemical Equilibrium, Unit 2: Le Chatelier's Principle. A Computer-Enriched Module for Introductory Chemistry. Student's Guide and Teacher's Guide.

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Jameson, A. Keith

Presented are the teacher's guide and student materials for one of a series of self-instructional, computer-based learning modules for an introductory, undergraduate chemistry course. The student manual for this unit on Le Chatelier's principle includes objectives, prerequisites, pretest, instructions for executing the computer program, and…

Why do some students struggle while others succeed in chemistry? A study of the influence of undergraduate student beliefs, perceptions, and use of resources on performance in introductory chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Sinapuelas, Michelle Leigh Shaver

This dissertation explores how student beliefs about the nature of science learning, beliefs in their academic ability, perceptions of the classroom environment, perceptions of external support, and use of resources contribute to success in introductory chemistry as measured by midterm and final exam scores. These factors were selected for study because they are susceptible to instructional intervention. A beliefs and perceptions survey and use of resources framework were developed, tested, and utilized to find predictors for student grades. To measure beliefs and perceptions the Chemistry Beliefs and Perceptions Survey was developed and tested. A total of 428 introductory chemistry students responded to the survey measuring their beliefs and perceptions during Fall 2009. Factor analysis of student responses yielded four categories of beliefs and perceptions: nature of science learning, academic ability, classroom environment, and external support. A hierarchical linear model estimated the influence of student beliefs and perceptions on exam scores. There was a positive relationship between exam scores and (a) belief in academic ability and (b) belief that learning science involves understanding dynamic processes. There was a negative relationship between exam scores and perception of external support. Perceptions of the classroom environment were not strongly related to exam scores. These results were replicated with survey responses collected from students taking the course the following Fall (N=597). To characterize student use of resources, a subset of survey participants (N=61) were interviewed at three time-points spanning the Fall 2009 semester. Interview responses were used to create a Use of Resources Framework. This framework described students as memorizers, procedural thinkers, critical thinkers, or researchers. Students characterized as memorizers or procedural thinkers view outside sources of information as the "authority," while critical thinkers and

Using Facebook Data to Turn Introductory Statistics Students into Consultants

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Childers, Adam F.

2017-01-01

Facebook provides businesses and organizations with copious data that describe how users are interacting with their page. This data affords an excellent opportunity to turn introductory statistics students into consultants to analyze the Facebook data using descriptive and inferential statistics. This paper details a semester-long project that…

Class Size and Academic Achievement in Introductory Political Science Courses

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Towner, Terri L.

2016-01-01

Research on the influence of class size on student academic achievement is important for university instructors, administrators, and students. The article examines the influence of class size--a small section versus a large section--in introductory political science courses on student grades in two comparable semesters. It is expected that…

General Procedure for the Easy Calculation of pH in an Introductory Course of General or Analytical Chemistry

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Cepriá, Gemma; Salvatella, Luis

2014-01-01

All pH calculations for simple acid-base systems used in introductory courses on general or analytical chemistry can be carried out by using a general procedure requiring the use of predominance diagrams. In particular, the pH is calculated as the sum of an independent term equaling the average pK[subscript a] values of the acids involved in the…

Determination of the Rotational Barrier for Kinetically Stable Conformational Isomers via NMR and 2D TLC: An Introductory Organic Chemistry Experiment

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Rushton, Gregory T.; Burns, William G.; Lavin, Judi M.; Chong, Yong S.; Pellechia, Perry; Shimizu, Ken D.

2007-01-01

An experiment to determine the rotational barrier about a C[subscript aryl]-N[subscript imide] single bond that is suitable for first-semester organic chemistry students is presented. The investigation begins with the one-step synthesis of a N,N'-diaryl naphthalene diimide, which exists as two room temperature-stable atropisomers (syn and anti).…

The Use and Evaluation of Scaffolding, Student Centered-Learning, Behaviorism, and Constructivism to Teach Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and IR Spectroscopy in a Two-Semester Organic Chemistry Course

Science.gov (United States)

Livengood, Kimberly; Lewallen, Denver W.; Leatherman, Jennifer; Maxwell, Janet L.

2012-01-01

Since 2002, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry have been introduced at the beginning of the first-semester organic chemistry lab course at this university. Starting in 2008, each individual student was given 20 unique homework problems that consisted of multiple-choice [superscript 1]H NMR and IR problems…

Analyzing Conceptual Gains in Introductory Calculus with Interactively-Engaged Teaching Styles

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Thomas, Matthew

2013-01-01

This dissertation examines the relationship between an instructional style called Interactive-Engagement (IE) and gains on a measure of conceptual knowledge called the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI). The data comes from two semesters of introductory calculus courses (Fall 2010 and Spring 2011), consisting of a total of 482 students from the…

Computer-Automated Approach for Scoring Short Essays in an Introductory Statistics Course

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Zimmerman, Whitney Alicia; Kang, Hyun Bin; Kim, Kyung; Gao, Mengzhao; Johnson, Glenn; Clariana, Roy; Zhang, Fan

2018-01-01

Over two semesters short essay prompts were developed for use with the Graphical Interface for Knowledge Structure (GIKS), an automated essay scoring system. Participants were students in an undergraduate-level online introductory statistics course. The GIKS compares students' writing samples with an expert's to produce keyword occurrence and…

Deconstructing Constructivism: Modeling Causal Relationships Among Constructivist Learning Environment Factors and Student Outcomes in Introductory Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Komperda, Regis

The purpose of this dissertation is to test a model of relationships among factors characterizing aspects of a student-centered constructivist learning environment and student outcomes of satisfaction and academic achievement in introductory undergraduate chemistry courses. Constructivism was chosen as the theoretical foundation for this research because of its widespread use in chemical education research and practice. In a constructivist learning environment the role of the teacher shifts from delivering content towards facilitating active student engagement in activities that encourage individual knowledge construction through discussion and application of content. Constructivist approaches to teaching introductory chemistry courses have been adopted by some instructors as a way to improve student outcomes, but little research has been done on the causal relationships among particular aspects of the learning environment and student outcomes. This makes it difficult for classroom teachers to know which aspects of a constructivist teaching approach are critical to adopt and which may be modified to better suit a particular learning environment while still improving student outcomes. To investigate a model of these relationships, a survey designed to measure student perceptions of three factors characterizing a constructivist learning environment in online courses was adapted for use in face-to-face chemistry courses. These three factors, teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence, were measured using a slightly modified version of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) instrument. The student outcomes investigated in this research were satisfaction and academic achievement, as measured by standardized American Chemical Society (ACS) exam scores and course grades. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to statistically model relationships among the three presence factors and student outcome variables for 391 students enrolled in six sections of a

Conceptual Mobility and Entrenchment in Introductory Geoscience Courses: New Questions Regarding Physics' and Chemistry's Role in Learning Earth Science Concepts

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Anderson, Steven W.; Libarkin, Julie C.

2016-01-01

Nationwide pre- and posttesting of introductory courses with the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) shows little gain for many of its questions. Analysis of more than 3,500 tests shows that 22 of the 73 GCI questions had gains of <0.03, and nearly half of these focused on basic physics and chemistry. We also discovered through an assessment of…

Impact of the second semester University Modeling Instruction course on students’ representation choices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daryl McPadden

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Representation use is a critical skill for learning, problem solving, and communicating in science, especially in physics where multiple representations often scaffold the understanding of a phenomenon. University Modeling Instruction, which is an active-learning, research-based introductory physics curriculum centered on students’ use of scientific models, has made representation use a primary learning goal with explicit class time devoted to introducing and coordinating representations as part of the model building process. However, because of the semester break, the second semester course, Modeling Instruction-Electricity and Magnetism (MI-EM, contains a mixture of students who are returning from the Modeling Instruction-mechanics course (to whom we refer to as “returning students” and students who are new to Modeling Instruction with the MI-EM course (to whom we refer to as “new students”. In this study, we analyze the impact of MI-EM on students’ representation choices across the introductory physics content for these different groups of students by examining both what individual representations students choose and their average number of representations on a modified card-sort survey with a variety of mechanics and EM questions. Using Wilcoxon-signed-rank tests, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests, Cliff’s delta effect sizes, and box plots, we compare students’ representation choices from pre- to postsemester, from new and returning students, and from mechanics and EM content. We find that there is a significant difference between returning and new students’ representation choices, which serves as a baseline comparison between Modeling Instruction and traditional lecture-based physics classes. We also find that returning students maintain a high representation use across the MI-EM semester, while new students see significant growth in their representation use regardless of content.

Verbal Final Exam in Introductory Biology Yields Gains in Student Content Knowledge and Longitudinal Performance

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Luckie, Douglas B.; Rivkin, Aaron M.; Aubry, Jacob R.; Marengo, Benjamin J.; Creech, Leah R.; Sweeder, Ryan D.

2013-01-01

We studied gains in student learning over eight semesters in which an introductory biology course curriculum was changed to include optional verbal final exams (VFs). Students could opt to demonstrate their mastery of course material via structured oral exams with the professor. In a quantitative assessment of cell biology content knowledge, students who passed the VF outscored their peers on the medical assessment test (MAT), an exam built with 40 Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) questions (66.4% [n = 160] and 62% [n = 285], respectively; p students performed better on MCAT questions in all topic categories tested; the greatest gain occurred on the topic of cellular respiration. Because the VF focused on a conceptually parallel topic, photosynthesis, there may have been authentic knowledge transfer. In longitudinal tracking studies, passing the VF also correlated with higher performance in a range of upper-level science courses, with greatest significance in physiology, biochemistry, and organic chemistry. Participation had a wide range but not equal representation in academic standing, gender, and ethnicity. Yet students nearly unanimously (92%) valued the option. Our findings suggest oral exams at the introductory level may allow instructors to assess and aid students striving to achieve higher-level learning. PMID:24006399

Chemistry Notes

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School Science Review, 1976

1976-01-01

Described are eight chemistry experiments and demonstrations applicable to introductory chemistry courses. Activities include: measure of lattice enthalpy, Le Chatelier's principle, decarboxylation of soap, use of pocket calculators in pH measurement, and making nylon. (SL)

Piaget and Organic Chemistry: Teaching Introductory Organic Chemistry through Learning Cycles

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Libby, R. Daniel

1995-07-01

This paper describes the first application of the Piaget-based learning cycle technique (Atkin & Karplus, Sci. Teach. 1962, 29, 45-51) to an introductory organic chemistry course. It also presents the step-by-step process used to convert a lecture course into a discussion-based active learning course. The course is taught in a series of learning cycles. A learning cycle is a three phase process that provides opportunities for students to explore new material and work with an instructor to recognize logical patterns in data, and devise and test hypotheses. In this application, the first phase, exploration, involves out-of-class student evaluation of data in attempts to identify significant trends and develop hypotheses that might explain the trends in terms of fundamental scientific principles. In the second phase, concept invention, the students and instructor work together in-class to evaluate student hypotheses and find concepts that work best in explaining the data. The third phase, application, is an out-of-class application of the concept to new situations. The development of learning cycles from lecture notes is presented as an 8 step procedure. The process involves revaluation and restructuring of the course material to maintain a continuity of concept development according to the instructor's logic, dividing topics into individual concepts or techniques, and refocusing the presentation in terms of large numbers of examples that can serve as data for students in their exploration and application activities. A sample learning cycle and suggestions for ways of limited implementation of learning cycles into existing courses are also provided.

Introductory modern algebra a historical approach

CERN Document Server

Stahl, Saul

2013-01-01

Praise for the First Edition ""Stahl offers the solvability of equations from the historical point of view...one of the best books available to support a one-semester introduction to abstract algebra.""-CHOICE Introductory Modern Algebra: A Historical Approach, Second Edition presents the evolution of algebra and provides readers with the opportunity to view modern algebra as a consistent movement from concrete problems to abstract principles. With a few pertinent excerpts from the writings of some of the greatest mathematicians, the Second Edition uniquely facilitates the understanding of pi

Connecting Achievement Motivation to Performance in General Chemistry

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Ferrell, Brent; Phillips, Michael M.; Barbera, Jack

2016-01-01

Student success in chemistry is inherently tied to motivational and other affective processes. We investigated three distinct constructs tied to motivation: self-efficacy, interest, and effort beliefs. These variables were measured twice over the course of a semester in three sections of a first-semester general chemistry course (n = 170). We…

Creating the Chemistry in Cellular Respiration Concept Inventory (CCRCI)

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Forshee, Jay Lance, II

Students at our institution report cellular respiration to be the most difficult concept they encounter in undergraduate biology, but why students find this difficult is unknown. Students may find cellular respiration difficult because there is a large amount of steps, or because there are persistent, long-lasting misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding their knowledge of chemistry, which affect their performance on cellular respiration assessments. Most studies of cellular respiration focus on student macro understanding of the process related to breathing, and matter and energy. To date, no studies identify which chemistry concepts are most relevant to students' development of an understanding of the process of cellular respiration or have developed an assessment to measure student understanding of them. Following the Delphi method, the researchers conducted expert interviews with faculty members from four-year, masters-, and PhD-granting institutions who teach undergraduate general biology, and are experts in their respective fields of biology. From these interviews, researchers identified twelve chemistry concepts important to understanding cellular respiration and using surveys, these twelve concepts were refined into five (electron transfer, energy transfer, thermodynamics (law/conservation), chemical reactions, and gradients). The researchers then interviewed undergraduate introductory biology students at a large Midwestern university to identify their knowledge and misconceptions of the chemistry concepts that the faculty had identified previously as important. The CCRCI was developed using the five important chemistry concepts underlying cellular respiration. The final version of the CCRCI was administered to n=160 introductory biology students during the spring 2017 semester. Reliability of the CCRCI was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha (=.7) and split-half reliability (=.769), and validity of the instrument was assessed through content validity

Exploring Factors Related to Completion of an Online Undergraduate-Level Introductory Statistics Course

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Zimmerman, Whitney Alicia; Johnson, Glenn

2017-01-01

Data were collected from 353 online undergraduate introductory statistics students at the beginning of a semester using the Goals and Outcomes Associated with Learning Statistics (GOALS) instrument and an abbreviated form of the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS). Data included a survey of expected grade, expected time commitment, and the…

Evaluating an Active Learning Approach to Teaching Introductory Statistics: A Classroom Workbook Approach

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Carlson, Kieth A.; Winquist, Jennifer R.

2011-01-01

The study evaluates a semester-long workbook curriculum approach to teaching a college level introductory statistics course. The workbook curriculum required students to read content before and during class and then work in groups to complete problems and answer conceptual questions pertaining to the material they read. Instructors spent class…

Measuring Student Engagement, Knowledge, and Perceptions of Climate Change in an Introductory Environmental Geology Course

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McNeal, Karen S.; Spry, Jacob M.; Mitra, Ritayan; Tipton, Jamie L.

2014-01-01

This research examines a semester-long introductory environmental geology course, which emphasized climate science using an Earth systems approach and employed a multipronged teaching strategy comprising lecture, movie viewing, class dialogues, and journaling. Evidence of student engagement during various pedagogical approaches (e.g., movie…

Student Performance in Introductory Psychology Following Termination of the Programmed Achievement Contingency at Mid-Semester

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Nation, Jack R.; And Others

1977-01-01

Discusses the Programmed Achievement learning system in an introductory psychology course. This system is based on an instructional system of motivation and reward in which a crucial ingredient is the testing procedure. (Author/JR)

Plasma medicine: an introductory review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kong, M.G.; Kroesen, G.M.W.; Morfill, G.; Nosenko, T.; Shimizu, T.; Dijk, van J.; Zimmermann, J.L.

2009-01-01

This introductory review on plasma health care is intended to provide the interested reader with a summary of the current status of this emerging field, its scope, and its broad interdisciplinary approach, ranging from plasma physics, chemistry and technology, to microbiology, biochemistry,

Synthesis of NMP, a Fluoxetine (Prozac) Precursor, in the Introductory Organic Laboratory

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Perrine, Daniel M.; Sabanayagam, Nathan R.; Reynolds, Kristy J.

1998-10-01

A synthesis of the immediate precursor of the widely used antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) is described. The procedure is short, safe, and simple enough to serve as a laboratory exercise for undergraduate students in the second semester of introductory organic chemistry and is one which will be particularly interesting to those planning a career in the health sciences. The compound synthesized is (°)-N,N-dimethyl-3-(p-trifluoromethylphenoxy)-3-phenylpropylamine, or "N-methyl Prozac" (NMP). The synthesis of NMP requires one two-hour period and a second three-hour period. In the first period, a common Mannich base, 3-dimethylaminopropiophenone, is reduced with sodium borohydride to form (°)-3-dimethylamino-1-phenylpropanol. In the second period, potassium t-butoxide is used to couple (°)-3-dimethylamino-1-phenylpropanol with p-chlorotrifluoromethylbenzene to form NMP, which is isolated as its oxalate salt. All processes use equipment and materials that are inexpensive and readily available in most undergraduate laboratories. Detailed physical data are given on NMP, including high-field DEPT 13C NMR.

Creating and Using Interactive, 3D-Printed Models to Improve Student Comprehension of the Bohr Model of the Atom, Bond Polarity, and Hybridization

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Smiar, Karen; Mendez, J. D.

2016-01-01

Molecular model kits have been used in chemistry classrooms for decades but have seen very little recent innovation. Using 3D printing, three sets of physical models were created for a first semester, introductory chemistry course. Students manipulated these interactive models during class activities as a supplement to existing teaching tools for…

Implementing Recommendations for Introductory Biology by Writing a New Textbook

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Barsoum, Mark J.; Sellers, Patrick J.; Campbell, A. Malcolm; Heyer, Laurie J.; Paradise, Christopher J.

2013-01-01

We redesigned the undergraduate introductory biology course by writing a new textbook (Integrating Concepts in Biology [ICB]) that follows first principles of learning. Our approach emphasizes primary data interpretation and the utility of mathematics in biology, while de-emphasizing memorization. This redesign divides biology into five big ideas (information, evolution, cells, emergent properties, homeostasis), addressing each at five levels of organization (molecules, cells, organisms, populations, ecological systems). We compared our course outcomes with two sections that used a traditional textbook and were taught by different instructors. On data interpretation assessments administered periodically during the semester, our students performed better than students in the traditional sections (p = 0.046) and exhibited greater improvement over the course of the semester (p = 0.015). On factual content assessments, our students performed similarly to students in the other sections (p = 0.737). Pre- and postsemester assessment of disciplinary perceptions and self-appraisal indicate that our students acquired a more accurate perception of biology as a discipline and may have developed a more realistic evaluation of their scientific abilities than did the control students (p < 0.05). We conclude that ICB improves critical thinking, metacognition, and disciplinary perceptions without compromising content knowledge in introductory biology. PMID:23463233

Examining issues of underrepresented minority students in introductory physics

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Watkins, Jessica Ellen

In this dissertation we examine several issues related to the retention of under-represented minority students in physics and science. In the first section, we show that in calculus-based introductory physics courses, the gender gap on the FCI is diminished through the use of interactive techniques, but in lower-level introductory courses, the gap persists, similar to reports published at other institutions. We find that under-represented racial minorities perform similar to their peers with comparable academic preparation on conceptual surveys, but their average exam grades and course grades are lower. We also examine student persistence in science majors; finding a significant relationship between pedagogy in an introductory physics course and persistence in science. In the second section, we look at student end-of-semester evaluations and find that female students rate interactive teaching methods a full point lower than their male peers. Looking more deeply at student interview data, we find that female students report more social issues related to the discussions in class and both male and female students cite feeling pressure to obtain the correct answer to clicker questions. Finally, we take a look an often-cited claim for gender differences in STEM participation: cognitive differences explain achievement differences in physics. We examine specifically the role of mental rotations in physics achievement and problem-solving, viewing mental rotations as a tool that students can use on physics problems. We first look at student survey results for lower-level introductory students, finding a low, but significant correlation between performance on a mental rotations test and performance in introductory physics courses. In contrast, we did not find a significant relationship for students in the upper-level introductory course. We also examine student problem-solving interviews to investigate the role of mental rotations on introductory problems.

Strengthening introductory psychology: A new model for teaching the introductory course.

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Gurung, Regan A R; Hackathorn, Jana; Enns, Carolyn; Frantz, Susan; Cacioppo, John T; Loop, Trudy; Freeman, James E

2016-01-01

Introductory psychology (Intro Psych) is one of the most popular and frequently taught courses on college campuses, yet educators in psychology have limited knowledge about what is covered in classes around the nation or the extent to which class content reflects the current scope of the discipline. There is no explicit model to guide course content selection for the intro course, which poses substantial challenges for instructors. This article proposes a new model for teaching the intro course that integrates (a) scientific foundations, (b) 5 major domains or pillars of knowledge (biological, cognitive, developmental, social and personality, and mental and physical health), and (c) cross-cutting themes relevant to all domains (cultural and social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications; American Psychological Association, 2014). We advocate for national assessment of the course, a similar introductory course for majors and nonmajors, the inclusion of experiential or laboratory components, and additional training resources for instructors of the intro course. Given the exponential growth of psychological knowledge and applications during the past decades, we caution against attempting to provide exhaustive coverage of all topic areas of psychology in a one-semester course. We conclude by discussing the challenges that lie ahead for the discipline of psychology as it launches this new model for Intro Psych. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Interactive Computer Visualization in the Introductory Chemistry Curriculum

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Bragin, Victoria M.

1996-08-01

Increasingly, chemistry instructors, especially in two-year colleges, find themselves teaching classes where there is great disparity in the academic preparation of the students and where even those students with good mathematics and basic science backgrounds have poor English language and communication skills. This project explores the use of technological innovations to facilitate learning in introductory chemistry courses by those with a poor academic background, while also challenging those prepared to master the curriculum. An additional objective is to improve the communication skills of all students. Material is presented visually and in as engaging a fashion as possible, students are provided ready access to relevant information about the course content in ways that are adapted to their individual learning styles, and collaborative learning is encouraged, especially among those who work and live at a distance from campus. The chief tactics employed are: Development of software that can be customized to meet the varying needs of individual students, courses, and instructors. Use of simulations that, while not replacing laboratory bench experiments, allow students to practice important laboratory techniques and observe the physical behavior of chemical systems. Use of software that allows students to explore the molecular basis of chemical phenomena. Use of software that allows students to display and analyze data in ways that facilitate drawing general conclusions about the quantitative relationships between observable properties. Use of the computer as a communications device. The ability to customize software is important in adapting to different learning styles and in encouraging students to learn by discovery. For example, TitrationLab was developed so that the material may merely be presented empirically or in ways in which the principles of equilibrium are demonstrated. At the advanced level, automatically generated titration curves are used to

Making Politics "Click": The Costs and Benefits of Using Clickers in an Introductory Political Science Course

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Evans, Heather K.

2012-01-01

In this article, the author addresses both the costs and benefits of implementing clickers into an introductory political science course. Comparing student responses to a mid-semester survey in both a clicker and non-clicker course, the results show that students have higher satisfaction of the course and instructor, higher exam scores, and feel…

What Do Conceptual Holes in Assessment Say about the Topics We Teach in General Chemistry?

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Luxford, Cynthia J.; Holme, Thomas A.

2015-01-01

Introductory chemistry has long been considered a service course by various departments that entrust chemistry departments with teaching their students. As a result, most introductory courses include a majority of students who are not chemistry majors, and many are health and science related majors who are required to take chemistry. To identify…

Providing Students with Interdisciplinary Support to Improve Their Organic Chemistry Posters

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Widanski, Bozena; Thompson, Jo Ann; Foran-Mulcahy, Katie; Abafo, Amy

2016-01-01

A two-semester-long interdisciplinary support effort to improve student posters in organic chemistry lab is described. In the first semester, students' literature search report is supported by a workshop conducted by an Instruction Librarian. During the subsequent semester, a second workshop is presented by the Instruction Librarian, an English…

Evaluating multiple-choice exams in large introductory physics courses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gary Gladding

2006-07-01

Full Text Available The reliability and validity of professionally written multiple-choice exams have been extensively studied for exams such as the SAT, graduate record examination, and the force concept inventory. Much of the success of these multiple-choice exams is attributed to the careful construction of each question, as well as each response. In this study, the reliability and validity of scores from multiple-choice exams written for and administered in the large introductory physics courses at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign were investigated. The reliability of exam scores over the course of a semester results in approximately a 3% uncertainty in students’ total semester exam score. This semester test score uncertainty yields an uncertainty in the students’ assigned letter grade that is less than 1 / 3 of a letter grade. To study the validity of exam scores, a subset of students were ranked independently based on their multiple-choice score, graded explanations, and student interviews. The ranking of these students based on their multiple-choice score was found to be consistent with the ranking assigned by physics instructors based on the students’ written explanations ( r>0.94 at the 95% confidence level and oral interviews (r=0.94−0.09+0.06 .

comparative assessment of university chemistry undergraduate

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Temechegn

The areas of chemistry covered are Introductory, Inorganic, Physical, Organic, and Quantum and ... various specialisations like Pure and Applied Chemistry, Analytical ... even engineering disciplines, a degree in chemistry can be the starting point. .... It is also to show the relevance of the instructional methods relative to the.

Factors related to achievement in sophomore organic chemistry at the University of Arkansas

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Lindsay, Harriet Arlene

The purpose of this study was to identify the significant cognitive and non-cognitive variables that related to achievement in the first semester of organic chemistry at the University of Arkansas. Cognitive variables included second semester general chemistry grade, ACT composite score, ACT English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning subscores, and spatial ability. Non-cognitive variables included anxiety, confidence, effectance motivation, and usefulness. Using a correlation research design, the individual relationships between organic chemistry achievement and each of the cognitive variables and non-cognitive variables were assessed. In addition, the relationships between organic chemistry achievement and combinations of these independent variables were explored. Finally, gender- and instructor-related differences in the relationships between organic chemistry achievement and the independent variables were investigated. The samples consisted of volunteers from the Fall 1999 and Fall 2000 sections of Organic Chemistry I at the University of Arkansas. All students in each section were asked to participate. Data for spatial ability and non-cognitive independent variables were collected using the Purdue Visualization of Rotations test and the modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scales. Data for other independent variables, including ACT scores and second semester general chemistry grades, were obtained from the Office of Institutional Research. The dependent variable, organic chemistry achievement, was measured by each student's accumulated points in the course and consisted of scores on quizzes and exams in the lecture section only. These totals were obtained from the lecture instructor at the end of each semester. Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to measure the relationships between organic chemistry achievement and the independent variables. Prior performance in chemistry as measured by second semester general

Organic Chemistry in Action! What Is the Reaction?

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O'Dwyer, Anne; Childs, Peter

2015-01-01

The "Organic Chemistry in Action!" ("OCIA!") program is a set of teaching resources designed to facilitate the teaching and learning of introductory level organic chemistry. The "OCIA!" program was developed in collaboration with practicing and experienced chemistry teachers, using findings from Chemistry Education…

Integrating Computational Chemistry into a Course in Classical Thermodynamics

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Martini, Sheridan R.; Hartzell, Cynthia J.

2015-01-01

Computational chemistry is commonly addressed in the quantum mechanics course of undergraduate physical chemistry curricula. Since quantum mechanics traditionally follows the thermodynamics course, there is a lack of curricula relating computational chemistry to thermodynamics. A method integrating molecular modeling software into a semester long…

Instructional Model and Thinking Skill in Chemistry Class

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Langkudi, H. H.

2018-02-01

Chemistry course are considered a difficult lesson for students as evidenced by low learning outcomes on daily tests, mid-semester tests as well as final semester tests. This research intended to investigate the effect of instructional model, thinking skill and the interaction of these variables on students’ achievement in chemistry. Experimental method was applying used 2 x 2 factorial design. The results showed that the use of instructional model with thinking skill influences student’s learning outcomes, so that the chemistry teacher is recommended to pay attention to the learning model, and adjusted to the student’s skill thinking on the chemistry material being taught. The conclusion of this research is that discovery model is suitable for students who have formal thinking skill and conventional model is fit for the students that have concrete thinking skill.

Improving student performance in an introductory biology majors course: A social action project in the scholarship of teaching

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Chambers, Sara Lang Ketchum

This social action study followed an introductory biology course for a three-year period to determine whether changes in teaching personnel, instructional techniques and reorientation to student-centered learning would impact student performance. The course was redirected from a traditional lecture-laboratory format to one emphasizing active learning inquiry methods. Student retention, achievement, and failure were observed for three years in addition to one year prior, and one year following, the study. The study examined the two semester introductory biology course required of all biology majors and those intending a career in science, medicine or dentistry. During the first semester of the study, the dropout rate decreased from 46% to 21%. Prior to the study, 39% of the students completing the course received a grade of D or F while only 4% received a grade of B or above. During the first semester of the study 14% of the students received a grade of D or F while 46% received a B, B+ or A grade. Similar results were seen in other semesters of the study. A statistical comparison of student retention and performance was carried out using grade data for classes taught by the original faculty, the action study faculty and the post-study faculty. The differences between the original faculty and the action study faculty were statistically significant. Effect size calculations indicated large differences between the action study faculty and the two other faculty groups in terms of student retention, achievement and failure. The results are attributed to both the personnel change and, more significantly, the change in teaching methods and emphasis on student-active learning. Comparison between the pre- and post-study teams showed less dramatic effect sizes than when the action study data were compared with the data from either other team. Nevertheless, the post-study results showed that although the retention rate dropped during the year after the study, the improvement

Mediating relationship of differential products in understanding integration in introductory physics

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Amos, Nathaniel; Heckler, Andrew F.

2018-01-01

In the context of introductory physics, we study student conceptual understanding of differentials, differential products, and integrals and possible pathways to understanding these quantities. We developed a multiple choice conceptual assessment employing a variety of physical contexts probing physical understanding of these three quantities and administered the instrument to over 1000 students in first and second semester introductory physics courses. Using a regression-based mediation analysis with conceptual understanding of integration as the dependent variable, we found evidence consistent with a simple mediation model: the relationship between differentials scores and integral scores may be mediated by the understanding of differential products. The indirect effect (a quantifiable metric of mediation) was estimated as a b =0.29 , 95% CI [0.25, 0.33] for N =1102 Physics 1 students, and a b =0.27 , 95% CI [0.14, 0.48] for N =65 Physics 2 students. We also find evidence that the physical context of the questions can be an important factor. These results imply that for introductory physics courses, instructional emphasis first on differentials then on differential products in a variety of contexts may in turn promote better integral understanding.

Integrating Chemical Information Instruction into the Chemistry Curriculum on Borrowed Time: A Multiyear Case Study of a Capstone Research Report for Organic Chemistry

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Jacobs, Danielle L.; Dalal, Heather A.; Dawson, Patricia H.

2016-01-01

To develop information literacy skills in chemistry and biochemistry majors at a primarily undergraduate institution, a multiyear collaboration between chemistry faculty and librarians has resulted in the establishment of a semester-long capstone project for Organic Chemistry II. Information literacy skills were instilled via a progressive…

Computer-Tailored Student Support in Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Huberth, Madeline; Chen, Patricia; Tritz, Jared; McKay, Timothy A.

2015-01-01

Large introductory courses are at a disadvantage in providing personalized guidance and advice for students during the semester. We introduce E2Coach (an Expert Electronic Coaching system), which allows instructors to personalize their communication with thousands of students. We describe the E2Coach system, the nature of the personalized support it provides, and the features of the students who did (and did not) opt-in to using it during the first three terms of its use in four introductory physics courses at the University of Michigan. Defining a ‘better-than-expected’ measure of performance, we compare outcomes for students who used E2Coach to those who did not. We found that moderate and high E2Coach usage was associated with improved performance. This performance boost was prominent among high users, who improved by 0.18 letter grades on average when compared to nonusers with similar incoming GPAs. This improvement in performance was comparable across both genders. E2Coach represents one way to use technology to personalize education at scale, contributing to the move towards individualized learning that is becoming more attainable in the 21st century. PMID:26352403

Computer-Tailored Student Support in Introductory Physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Huberth, Madeline; Chen, Patricia; Tritz, Jared; McKay, Timothy A

2015-01-01

Large introductory courses are at a disadvantage in providing personalized guidance and advice for students during the semester. We introduce E2Coach (an Expert Electronic Coaching system), which allows instructors to personalize their communication with thousands of students. We describe the E2Coach system, the nature of the personalized support it provides, and the features of the students who did (and did not) opt-in to using it during the first three terms of its use in four introductory physics courses at the University of Michigan. Defining a 'better-than-expected' measure of performance, we compare outcomes for students who used E2Coach to those who did not. We found that moderate and high E2Coach usage was associated with improved performance. This performance boost was prominent among high users, who improved by 0.18 letter grades on average when compared to nonusers with similar incoming GPAs. This improvement in performance was comparable across both genders. E2Coach represents one way to use technology to personalize education at scale, contributing to the move towards individualized learning that is becoming more attainable in the 21st century.

Green Goggles: Designing and Teaching a General Chemistry Course to Nonmajors Using a Green Chemistry Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Prescott, Sarah

2013-01-01

A novel course using green chemistry as the context to teach general chemistry fundamentals was designed, implemented and is described here. The course design included an active learning approach, with major course graded components including a weekly blog entry, exams, and a semester project that was disseminated by wiki and a public symposium.…

An Introductory Course: The Vector Space Theory of Matter

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Matsen, F. A.

1972-01-01

A course for superior freshmen for both science and liberal arts majors that satisfies the freshman chemistry requirement is discussed. It has been taught for six years and utilizes the new math'' which is based on the elementary concept of a set. A syllabus for the two semesters is included. (DF)

Exploring Diverse Students' Trends in Chemistry Self-Efficacy throughout a Semester of College-Level Preparatory Chemistry

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Villafañe, Sachel M.; Garcia, C. Alicia; Lewis, Jennifer E.

2014-01-01

Chemistry self-efficacy has been defined as a student's beliefs about his or her own capability to perform a given chemistry task. These chemistry self-efficacy beliefs can be influenced by students' experiences in a course, and eventually, these beliefs could affect students' decisions to continue into STEM related-careers. In this study, we…

Life science students' attitudes, interest, and performance in introductory physics for life sciences: An exploratory study

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Crouch, Catherine H.; Wisittanawat, Panchompoo; Cai, Ming; Renninger, K. Ann

2018-06-01

In response to national calls for improved physical sciences education for students pursuing careers in the life sciences and medicine, reformed introductory physics for life sciences (IPLS) courses are being developed. This exploratory study is among the first to assess the effect of an IPLS course on students' attitudes, interest, and performance. The IPLS course studied was the second semester of introductory physics, following a standard first semester course, allowing the outcomes of the same students in a standard course and in an IPLS course to be compared. In the IPLS course, each physics topic was introduced and elaborated in the context of a life science example, and developing students' skills in applying physics to life science situations was an explicitly stated course goal. Items from the Colorado Learning about Science Survey were used to assess change in students' attitudes toward and their interest in physics. Whereas the same students' attitudes declined during the standard first semester course, we found that students' attitudes toward physics hold steady or improve in the IPLS course. In particular, students with low initial interest in physics displayed greater increases in both attitudes and interest during the IPLS course than in the preceding standard course. We also find that in the IPLS course, students' interest in the life science examples is a better predictor of their performance than their pre-IPLS interest in physics. Our work suggests that the life science examples in the IPLS course can support the development of student interest in physics and positively influence their performance.

Life science students’ attitudes, interest, and performance in introductory physics for life sciences: An exploratory study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine H. Crouch

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In response to national calls for improved physical sciences education for students pursuing careers in the life sciences and medicine, reformed introductory physics for life sciences (IPLS courses are being developed. This exploratory study is among the first to assess the effect of an IPLS course on students’ attitudes, interest, and performance. The IPLS course studied was the second semester of introductory physics, following a standard first semester course, allowing the outcomes of the same students in a standard course and in an IPLS course to be compared. In the IPLS course, each physics topic was introduced and elaborated in the context of a life science example, and developing students’ skills in applying physics to life science situations was an explicitly stated course goal. Items from the Colorado Learning about Science Survey were used to assess change in students’ attitudes toward and their interest in physics. Whereas the same students’ attitudes declined during the standard first semester course, we found that students’ attitudes toward physics hold steady or improve in the IPLS course. In particular, students with low initial interest in physics displayed greater increases in both attitudes and interest during the IPLS course than in the preceding standard course. We also find that in the IPLS course, students’ interest in the life science examples is a better predictor of their performance than their pre-IPLS interest in physics. Our work suggests that the life science examples in the IPLS course can support the development of student interest in physics and positively influence their performance.

Development and Assessment of Modules to Integrate Quantitative Skills in Introductory Biology Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Kathleen; Leupen, Sarah; Dowell, Kathy; Kephart, Kerrie; Leips, Jeff

2016-01-01

Redesigning undergraduate biology courses to integrate quantitative reasoning and skill development is critical to prepare students for careers in modern medicine and scientific research. In this paper, we report on the development, implementation, and assessment of stand-alone modules that integrate quantitative reasoning into introductory biology courses. Modules are designed to improve skills in quantitative numeracy, interpreting data sets using visual tools, and making inferences about biological phenomena using mathematical/statistical models. We also examine demographic/background data that predict student improvement in these skills through exposure to these modules. We carried out pre/postassessment tests across four semesters and used student interviews in one semester to examine how students at different levels approached quantitative problems. We found that students improved in all skills in most semesters, although there was variation in the degree of improvement among skills from semester to semester. One demographic variable, transfer status, stood out as a major predictor of the degree to which students improved (transfer students achieved much lower gains every semester, despite the fact that pretest scores in each focus area were similar between transfer and nontransfer students). We propose that increased exposure to quantitative skill development in biology courses is effective at building competency in quantitative reasoning. © 2016 K. Hoffman, S. Leupen, et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Predicting Student Success in a Major's Introductory Biology Course via Logistic Regression Analysis of Scientific Reasoning Ability and Mathematics Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, E. David; Bowling, Bethany V.; Markle, Ross E.

2018-02-01

Studies over the last 30 years have considered various factors related to student success in introductory biology courses. While much of the available literature suggests that the best predictors of success in a college course are prior college grade point average (GPA) and class attendance, faculty often require a valuable predictor of success in those courses wherein the majority of students are in the first semester and have no previous record of college GPA or attendance. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of the ACT Mathematics subject exam and Lawson's Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning in predicting success in a major's introductory biology course. A logistic regression was utilized to determine the effectiveness of a combination of scientific reasoning (SR) scores and ACT math (ACT-M) scores to predict student success. In summary, we found that the model—with both SR and ACT-M as significant predictors—could be an effective predictor of student success and thus could potentially be useful in practical decision making for the course, such as directing students to support services at an early point in the semester.

Impacts of curricular change: Implications from 8 years of data in introductory physics

Science.gov (United States)

Pollock, Steven J.; Finkelstein, Noah

2013-01-01

Introductory calculus-based physics classes at the University of Colorado Boulder were significantly transformed beginning in 2004. They now regularly include: interactive engagement using clickers in large lecture settings, Tutorials in Introductory Physics with use of undergraduate Learning Assistants in recitation sections, and a staffed help-room setting where students work on personalized CAPA homework. We compile and summarize conceptual (FMCE and BEMA) pre- and post-data from over 9,000 unique students after 16 semesters of both Physics 1 and 2. Within a single institution with stable pre-test scores, we reproduce results of Hake's 1998 study that demonstrate the positive impacts of interactive engagement on student performance. We link the degree of faculty's use of interactive engagement techniques and their experience levels on student outcomes, and argue for the role of such systematic data collection in sustained course and institutional transformations.

The effects of students' reasoning abilities on conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ates, S; Cataloglu, E

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are relationships among freshmen/first year students' reasoning abilities, conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics. The sample consisted of 165 freshmen science education prospective teachers (female = 86, male = 79; age range 17-21) who were enrolled in an introductory physics course. Data collection was done during the fall semesters in two successive years. At the beginning of each semester, the force concept inventory (FCI) and the classroom test of scientific reasoning (CTSR) were administered to assess students' initial understanding of basic concepts in mechanics and reasoning levels. After completing the course, the FCI and the mechanics baseline test (MBT) were administered. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in problem-solving skill test mean scores, as measured by the MBT, among concrete, formal and postformal reasoners. There were no significant differences in conceptual understanding levels of pre- and post-test mean scores, as measured by FCI, among the groups. The Benferroni post hoc comparison test revealed which set of reasoning levels showed significant difference for the MBT scores. No statistical difference between formal and postformal reasoners' mean scores was observed, while the mean scores between concrete and formal reasoners and concrete and postformal reasoners were statistically significantly different

Enabling students to learn: Design, implementation and assessment of a supplemental study strategies course for an introductory undergraduate biology course

Science.gov (United States)

Sriram, Jayanthi Sanjeevi

Attrition in the STEM disciplines is a national problem and one of the important reasons for this is student experiences in introductory courses. A myriad of factors influence students' experiences in those courses; inadequate student preparation is one of the most cited reasons. Incoming freshmen often lack the learning strategies required to meaningfully learn and succeed in college courses. Unfortunately, the instructors have limited time and/or have little experience in teaching learning strategies. In this paper, the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Supplemental Course (SC) model that emphasizes learning strategies is presented. SC was offered concurrently with the introductory biology courses for four consecutive semesters (fall 2011 to spring 2013); for 10 weeks in fall 2012 and 7 weeks in the other semesters at Miami University. 10 weeks SC began earlier in the semester than the shorter SC. This study evaluated the effects of the SC on students' (1) performance in the introductory biology course, (2) perceived changes in self-regulation and social support, and (3) experiences in the introductory biology course before, during, and after participation in the SC. A mixed methods approach was used to address these goals. A pre-post survey was administered to obtain students' use of self-regulation strategies and social-support data. Quantitative methods were utilized to analyze content exam grades and changes in self-regulation strategies and social-support. To explore the experiences of the students, semi-structured interviews were conducted, followed by analysis using grounded theory. The findings reveal that participants of the longer duration SC (with an earlier start date) significantly improved in content exam performance, perceived use of self-regulation strategies, and social support compared to the non-participants. Participants of the shorter duration SC (with a later start date) did not significantly improve in content exam performance

Implementing recommendations for introductory biology by writing a new textbook.

Science.gov (United States)

Barsoum, Mark J; Sellers, Patrick J; Campbell, A Malcolm; Heyer, Laurie J; Paradise, Christopher J

2013-01-01

We redesigned the undergraduate introductory biology course by writing a new textbook (Integrating Concepts in Biology [ICB]) that follows first principles of learning. Our approach emphasizes primary data interpretation and the utility of mathematics in biology, while de-emphasizing memorization. This redesign divides biology into five big ideas (information, evolution, cells, emergent properties, homeostasis), addressing each at five levels of organization (molecules, cells, organisms, populations, ecological systems). We compared our course outcomes with two sections that used a traditional textbook and were taught by different instructors. On data interpretation assessments administered periodically during the semester, our students performed better than students in the traditional sections (p = 0.046) and exhibited greater improvement over the course of the semester (p = 0.015). On factual content assessments, our students performed similarly to students in the other sections (p = 0.737). Pre- and postsemester assessment of disciplinary perceptions and self-appraisal indicate that our students acquired a more accurate perception of biology as a discipline and may have developed a more realistic evaluation of their scientific abilities than did the control students (p biology.

Cognitive development in introductory physics: A research-based approach to curriculum reform

Science.gov (United States)

Teodorescu, Raluca Elena

This project describes the research on a classification of physics problems in the context of introductory physics courses. This classification, called the Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems (TIPP), relates physics problems to the cognitive processes required to solve them. TIPP was created for designing and clarifying educational objectives, for developing assessments that can evaluate individual component processes of the problem-solving process, and for guiding curriculum design in introductory physics courses, specifically within the context of a "thinking-skills" curriculum. TIPP relies on the following resources: (1) cognitive research findings adopted by physics education research, (2) expert-novice research discoveries acknowledged by physics education research, (3) an educational psychology taxonomy for educational objectives, and (4) various collections of physics problems created by physics education researchers or developed by textbook authors. TIPP was used in the years 2006--2008 to reform the first semester of the introductory algebra-based physics course (called Phys 11) at The George Washington University. The reform sought to transform our curriculum into a "thinking-skills" curriculum that trades "breadth for depth" by focusing on fewer topics while targeting the students' cognitive development. We employed existing research on the physics problem-solving expert-novice behavior, cognitive science and behavioral science findings, and educational psychology recommendations. Our pedagogy relies on didactic constructs such as the GW-ACCESS problem-solving protocol, learning progressions and concept maps that we have developed and implemented in our introductory physics course. These tools were designed based on TIPP. Their purpose is: (1) to help students build local and global coherent knowledge structures, (2) to develop more context-independent problem-solving abilities, (3) to gain confidence in problem solving, and (4) to establish

Technology and Bloom's Taxonomy: Tools to Facilitate Higher-Level Learning in Chemistry

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Morgan, Matthew

1997-01-01

This research project ties together chemistry data acquisition technology, introductory chemistry laboratory experiments, and Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives into a unified learning model...

Fundamentals of nuclear chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matel, L.; Dulanska, S.

2013-01-01

This text-book is an introductory text in nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry, aimed on university undergraduate students in chemistry and related disciplines (physics, nuclear engineering). It covers the key aspects of modern nuclear chemistry. The text begins with basic theories in contemporary physics. It relates nuclear phenomena to key divisions of chemistry such as atomic structure, spectroscopy, equilibria and kinetics. It also gives an introduction to sources of ionizing radiation, detection of ionizing radiation, nuclear power industry and accident on nuclear installations as well as basic knowledge's of radiobiology. This book is essential reading for those taking a first course in nuclear chemistry and is a useful companion to other volumes in physical and analytical chemistry. It will also be of use to those new to working in nuclear chemistry or radiochemistry.

Introductory speeches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This CD is multimedia presentation of programme safety upgrading of Bohunice V1 NPP. This chapter consist of introductory commentary and 4 introductory speeches (video records): (1) Introductory speech of Vincent Pillar, Board chairman and director general of Slovak electric, Plc. (SE); (2) Introductory speech of Stefan Schmidt, director of SE - Bohunice Nuclear power plants; (3) Introductory speech of Jan Korec, Board chairman and director general of VUJE Trnava, Inc. - Engineering, Design and Research Organisation, Trnava; Introductory speech of Dietrich Kuschel, Senior vice-president of FRAMATOME ANP Project and Engineering

Enhancing Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Students' Misconceptions in Learning Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Naah, Basil Mugaga

2015-01-01

Preservice teachers enrolled in a modified introductory chemistry course used an instructional rubric to improve and evaluate their understanding of students' misconceptions in learning various chemistry concepts. A sample of 79 preservice teachers first explored the state science standards to identify chemistry misconceptions associated with the…

A Colorful Solubility Exercise for Organic Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Shugrue, Christopher R.; Mentzen, Hans H., II; Linton, Brian R.

2015-01-01

A discovery chemistry laboratory has been developed for the introductory organic chemistry student to investigate the concepts of polarity, miscibility, solubility, and density. The simple procedure takes advantage of the solubility of two colored dyes in a series of solvents or solvent mixtures, and the diffusion of colors can be easily…

The role of self-regulated learning in explaining examination performance of college students in first-semester general chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Beckley, Scott

Many college students struggle with first-semester general chemistry. Prior studies have shown that a student's prior knowledge of chemistry, a cognitive factor, does not account for the total variance when measured by examination scores. This study explored the role of self-regulated learning (SRL) to identify the degree of success or failure of students with two outcome variables (i.e., American Chemical Society Comprehensive First-Term General Chemistry Examination (Form 2009) and hour-examination averages). The SRL construct consists of three interrelated components (i.e., cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational). SRL theory focuses on the idea of reciprocal determinism, in which the impact of one component of self-regulation affects the other two components. In the quantitative portion of this mixed methods study, eight measures of SRL were used to determine the `level' of self-regulation for each student. SRL variables were used in regression analysis and provided additional and unique variances. Cluster analysis techniques identified two distinct groups of students (i.e., adaptive and maladaptive). Generally, adaptive learners were associated with higher levels of SRL and success in the course; maladaptive learners had lower levels of SRL and struggled with the course demands. For the qualitative portion of the study, student volunteers (n = 8) were interviewed to gauge their views on the role of instruction in influencing their examination performances. The findings indicated that perceptions of teaching methods, demands of the course, course structure, feedback, and assessments were associated with the students' levels of self-regulation. Interviews revealed four SRL styles. Rote memorizers tended to fragment instruction and then memorize each fragment, while algorithmic memorizers tended to imitate the step-by-step problem-solving strategies of the instructor or the textbook. Globalizers were intrinsically motivated to learn the material but tended to

A New Vision for Chemistry Education Students: Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Teksoz, Gaye; Sahin, Elvan; Ertepinar, Hamide

2010-01-01

The present study aimed to determine level of pre-service chemistry teachers' environmental literacy and their perceptions on environmental education. This study was realized during the fall semester of 2006-2007 academic year with the participation of 60 students enrolled in five-year chemistry teacher education program. The data collected by…

Introductory analysis a deeper view of calculus

CERN Document Server

Bagby, Richard J

2000-01-01

Introductory Analysis addresses the needs of students taking a course in analysis after completing a semester or two of calculus, and offers an alternative to texts that assume that math majors are their only audience. By using a conversational style that does not compromise mathematical precision, the author explains the material in terms that help the reader gain a firmer grasp of calculus concepts.* Written in an engaging, conversational tone and readable style while softening the rigor and theory* Takes a realistic approach to the necessary and accessible level of abstraction for the secondary education students* A thorough concentration of basic topics of calculus* Features a student-friendly introduction to delta-epsilon arguments * Includes a limited use of abstract generalizations for easy use* Covers natural logarithms and exponential functions* Provides the computational techniques often encountered in basic calculus

Integrating Particulate Representations into AP Chemistry and Introductory Chemistry Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Prilliman, Stephen G.

2014-01-01

The College Board's recently revised curriculum for advanced placement (AP) chemistry places a strong emphasis on conceptual understanding, including representations of particle phenomena. This change in emphasis is informed by years of research showing that students could perform algorithmic calculations but not explain those calculations…

Astronomy Matters for Chemistry Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Huebner, Jay S.; Vergenz, Robert A.; Smith, Terry L.

1996-11-01

The purpose of this paper is to encourage more chemistry teachers to become familiar with some of the basic ideas described in typical introductory astronomy courses (1 - 9), including those about the origin of elements and forms of matter. These ideas would enrich chemistry courses and help resolve some basic misconceptions that are expressed in many introductory texts (10 - 16) and journal articles for chemistry teachers (17, 18). These misconceptions are typified by statements such as "we can classify all substances as either elements or compounds," and "nature has provided 92 elements out of which all matter is composed." If students accept these misconceptions, they could be deprived of (i) an appreciation of the history of elements and knowing that the elemental composition of the universe continues to evolve, (ii) knowing that of the first 92 elements in the periodic table, technetium and promethium do not occur naturally on Earth, and (iii) understanding that there are forms of matter other than elements and compounds. This paper briefly explores these ideas.

Impact of General Chemistry on Student Achievement and Progression to Subsequent Chemistry Courses: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Shultz, Ginger V.; Gottfried, Amy C.; Winschel, Grace A.

2015-01-01

General chemistry is a gateway course that impacts the STEM trajectory of tens of thousands of students each year, and its role in the introductory curriculum as well as its pedagogical design are the center of an ongoing debate. To investigate the role of general chemistry in the curriculum, we report the results of a posthoc analysis of 10 years…

Consideration of learning orientations as an application of achievement goals in evaluating life science majors in introductory physics

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Andrew J.; Bertram, Charles A.

2018-06-01

When considering performing an Introductory Physics for Life Sciences course transformation for one's own institution, life science majors' achievement goals are a necessary consideration to ensure the pedagogical transformation will be effective. However, achievement goals are rarely an explicit consideration in physics education research topics such as metacognition. We investigate a sample population of 218 students in a first-semester introductory algebra-based physics course, drawn from 14 laboratory sections within six semesters of course sections, to determine the influence of achievement goals on life science majors' attitudes towards physics. Learning orientations that, respectively, pertain to mastery goals and performance goals, in addition to a learning orientation that does not report a performance goal, were recorded from students in the specific context of learning a problem-solving framework during an in-class exercise. Students' learning orientations, defined within the context of students' self-reported statements in the specific context of a problem-solving-related research-based course implementation, are compared to pre-post results on physics problem-solving items in a well-established attitudinal survey instrument, in order to establish the categories' validity. In addition, mastery-related and performance-related orientations appear to extend to overall pre-post attitudinal shifts, but not to force and motion concepts or to overall course grade, within the scope of an introductory physics course. There also appears to be differentiation regarding overall course performance within health science majors, but not within biology majors, in terms of learning orientations; however, health science majors generally appear to fare less well on all measurements in the study than do biology majors, regardless of learning orientations.

Group Theory with Applications in Chemical Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Patrick

2005-10-01

Group Theory is an indispensable mathematical tool in many branches of chemistry and physics. This book provides a self-contained and rigorous account on the fundamentals and applications of the subject to chemical physics, assuming no prior knowledge of group theory. The first half of the book focuses on elementary topics, such as molecular and crystal symmetry, whilst the latter half is more advanced in nature. Discussions on more complex material such as space groups, projective representations, magnetic crystals and spinor bases, often omitted from introductory texts, are expertly dealt with. With the inclusion of numerous exercises and worked examples, this book will appeal to advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students studying physical sciences and is an ideal text for use on a two-semester course. An introductory and advanced text that comprehensively covers fundamentals and applications of group theory in detail Suitable for a two-semester course with numerous worked examples and problems Includes several topics often omitted from introductory texts, such as rotation group, space groups and spinor bases

Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lisbjerg, Micke

This thesis is divided into seven chapters, which can all be read individually. The first chapter, however, contains a general introduction to the chemistry used in the remaining six chapters, and it is therefore recommended to read chapter one before reading the other chapters. Chapter 1...... is a general introductory chapter for the whole thesis. The history and concepts of dynamic combinatorial chemistry are described, as are some of the new and intriguing results recently obtained. Finally, the properties of a broad range of hexameric macrocycles are described in detail. Chapter 2 gives...

Improving General Chemistry Course Performance through Online Homework-Based Metacognitive Training

Science.gov (United States)

Casselman, Brock L.; Atwood, Charles H.

2017-01-01

In a first-semester general chemistry course, metacognitive training was implemented as part of an online homework system. Students completed weekly quizzes and multiple practice tests to regularly assess their abilities on the chemistry principles. Before taking these assessments, students predicted their score, receiving feedback after…

Development and validation of an achievement test in introductory quantum mechanics: The Quantum Mechanics Visualization Instrument (QMVI)

Science.gov (United States)

Cataloglu, Erdat

The purpose of this study was to construct a valid and reliable multiple-choice achievement test to assess students' understanding of core concepts of introductory quantum mechanics. Development of the Quantum Mechanics Visualization Instrument (QMVI) occurred across four successive semesters in 1999--2001. During this time 213 undergraduate and graduate students attending the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) at University Park and Arizona State University (ASU) participated in this development and validation study. Participating students were enrolled in four distinct groups of courses: Modern Physics, Undergraduate Quantum Mechanics, Graduate Quantum Mechanics, and Chemistry Quantum Mechanics. Expert panels of professors of physics experienced in teaching quantum mechanics courses and graduate students in physics and science education established the core content and assisted in the validating of successive versions of the 24-question QMVI. Instrument development was guided by procedures outlined in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA-APA-NCME, 1999). Data gathered in this study provided information used in the development of successive versions of the QMVI. Data gathered in the final phase of administration of the QMVI also provided evidence that the intended score interpretation of the QMVI achievement test is valid and reliable. A moderate positive correlation coefficient of 0.49 was observed between the students' QMVI scores and their confidence levels. Analyses of variance indicated that students' scores in Graduate Quantum Mechanics and Undergraduate Quantum Mechanics courses were significantly higher than the mean scores of students in Modern Physics and Chemistry Quantum Mechanics courses (p important factor for students in acquiring a successful understanding of quantum mechanics.

Correlates of gender and achievement in introductory algebra based physics

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Rachel Clara

The field of physics is heavily male dominated in America. Thus, half of the population of our country is underrepresented and underserved. The identification of factors that contribute to gender disparity in physics is necessary for educators to address the individual needs of students, and, in particular, the separate and specific needs of female students. In an effort to determine if any correlations could be established or strengthened between sex, gender identity, social network, algebra skill, scientific reasoning ability, and/or student attitude, a study was performed on a group of 82 students in an introductory algebra based physics course. The subjects each filled out a survey at the beginning of the semester of their first semester of algebra based physics. They filled out another survey at the end of that same semester. These surveys included physics content pretests and posttests, as well as questions about the students' habits, attitudes, and social networks. Correlates of posttest score were identified, in order of significance, as pretest score, emphasis on conceptual learning, preference for male friends, number of siblings (negatively correlated), motivation in physics, algebra score, and parents' combined education level. Number of siblings was also found to negatively correlate with, in order of significance, gender identity, preference for male friends, emphasis on conceptual learning, and motivation in physics. Preference for male friends was found to correlate with, in order of significance, emphasis on conceptual learning, gender identity, and algebra score. Also, gender identity was found to correlate with emphasis on conceptual learning, the strongest predictor of posttest score other than pretest score.

Organic Chemistry Educators' Perspectives on Fundamental Concepts and Misconceptions: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Duis, Jennifer M.

2011-01-01

An exploratory study was conducted with 23 organic chemistry educators to discover what general chemistry concepts they typically review, the concepts they believe are fundamental to introductory organic chemistry, the topics students find most difficult in the subject, and the misconceptions they observe in undergraduate organic chemistry…

Medical Mycology and the Chemistry Classroom: Germinating Student Interest in Organic Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Bliss, Joseph M.; Reid, Christopher W.

2013-01-01

Efforts to provide active research context to introductory courses in basic sciences are likely to better engage learners and provide a framework for relevant concepts. A simple teaching and learning experiment was conducted to use concepts in organic chemistry to solve problems in the life sciences. Bryant University is a liberal arts university…

A 21st century perspective as a primer to introductory physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Curtis, Lorenzo J, E-mail: ljc@physics.utoledo.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606 (United States)

2011-09-15

Much effort over many years has been devoted to the reform of the teaching of physics. This has led to many new and imaginative approaches in the content and delivery of material. Great strides have been made in the delivery, and the content has been continually supplemented. However, attempts to modernize the basic structure of the presentation have faced resistance, and the majority of introductory physics textbooks in wide adoption today have a general structure that has changed little in over 60 years. Thus, in comparison to biology, chemistry, geology, etc, physics is unique in that its introductory course is not a survey of the current status of the field. In an attempt to circumvent this problem in a tractable way, we have developed a qualitative front-end course designed to create a 21st century perspective that can be embedded into the beginning of a standard introductory physics sequence.

A 21st century perspective as a primer to introductory physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curtis, Lorenzo J

2011-01-01

Much effort over many years has been devoted to the reform of the teaching of physics. This has led to many new and imaginative approaches in the content and delivery of material. Great strides have been made in the delivery, and the content has been continually supplemented. However, attempts to modernize the basic structure of the presentation have faced resistance, and the majority of introductory physics textbooks in wide adoption today have a general structure that has changed little in over 60 years. Thus, in comparison to biology, chemistry, geology, etc, physics is unique in that its introductory course is not a survey of the current status of the field. In an attempt to circumvent this problem in a tractable way, we have developed a qualitative front-end course designed to create a 21st century perspective that can be embedded into the beginning of a standard introductory physics sequence.

Reform in a General Chemistry Laboratory: How Do Students Experience Change in the Instructional Approach?

Science.gov (United States)

Chopra, I.; O'Connor, J.; Pancho, R.; Chrzanowski, M.; Sandi-Urena, S.

2017-01-01

This qualitative study investigated the experience of a cohort of students exposed consecutively to two substantially different environments in their General Chemistry Laboratory programme. To this end, the first semester in a traditional expository programme was followed by a semester in a cooperative, problem-based, multi-week format. The focus…

"Molecules-in-Medicine": Peer-Evaluated Presentations in a Fast-Paced Organic Chemistry Course for Medical Students

Science.gov (United States)

Kadnikova, Ekaterina N.

2013-01-01

To accentuate the importance of organic chemistry in development of contemporary pharmaceuticals, a three-week unit entitled "Molecules-in-Medicine" was included in the curriculum of a comprehensive one-semester four-credit organic chemistry course. After a lecture on medicinal chemistry concepts and pharmaceutical practices, students…

Optimizing Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences: Placing Physics in Biological Context

Science.gov (United States)

Crouch, Catherine

2014-03-01

Physics is a critical foundation for today's life sciences and medicine. However, the physics content and ways of thinking identified by life scientists as most important for their fields are often not taught, or underemphasized, in traditional introductory physics courses. Furthermore, such courses rarely give students practice using physics to understand living systems in a substantial way. Consequently, students are unlikely to recognize the value of physics to their chosen fields, or to develop facility in applying physics to biological systems. At Swarthmore, as at several other institutions engaged in reforming this course, we have reorganized the introductory course for life science students around touchstone biological examples, in which fundamental physics contributes significantly to understanding biological phenomena or research techniques, in order to make explicit the value of physics to the life sciences. We have also focused on the physics topics and approaches most relevant to biology while seeking to develop rigorous qualitative reasoning and quantitative problem solving skills, using established pedagogical best practices. Each unit is motivated by and culminates with students analyzing one or more touchstone examples. For example, in the second semester we emphasize electric potential and potential difference more than electric field, and start from students' typically superficial understanding of the cell membrane potential and of electrical interactions in biochemistry to help them develop a more sophisticated understanding of electric forces, field, and potential, including in the salt water environment of life. Other second semester touchstones include optics of vision and microscopes, circuit models for neural signaling, and magnetotactic bacteria. When possible, we have adapted existing research-based curricular materials to support these examples. This talk will describe the design and development process for this course, give examples of

Introductory Linear Regression Programs in Undergraduate Chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Gale, Robert J.

1982-01-01

Presented are simple programs in BASIC and FORTRAN to apply the method of least squares. They calculate gradients and intercepts and express errors as standard deviations. An introduction of undergraduate students to such programs in a chemistry class is reviewed, and issues instructors should be aware of are noted. (MP)

Students' network integration as a predictor of persistence in introductory physics courses

Science.gov (United States)

Zwolak, Justyna P.; Dou, Remy; Williams, Eric A.; Brewe, Eric

2017-06-01

Increasing student retention (successfully finishing a particular course) and persistence (continuing through a sequence of courses or the major area of study) is currently a major challenge for universities. While students' academic and social integration into an institution seems to be vital for student retention, research into the effect of interpersonal interactions is rare. We use network analysis as an approach to investigate academic and social experiences of students in the classroom. In particular, centrality measures identify patterns of interaction that contribute to integration into the university. Using these measures, we analyze how position within a social network in a Modeling Instruction (MI) course—an introductory physics course that strongly emphasizes interactive learning—predicts their persistence in taking a subsequent physics course. Students with higher centrality at the end of the first semester of MI are more likely to enroll in a second semester of MI. Moreover, we found that chances of successfully predicting individual student's persistence based on centrality measures are fairly high—up to 75%, making the centrality a good predictor of persistence. These findings suggest that increasing student social integration may help in improving persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

A Comparison of Online and Traditional Chemistry Lecture and Lab

Science.gov (United States)

Faulconer, E. K.; Griffith, J. C.; Wood, B. L.; Acharyya, S.; Roberts, D. L.

2018-01-01

While the equivalence between online and traditional classrooms has been well researched, very little effort has been expended to do such comparisons for college level introductory chemistry. The existing literature has only one study that investigated chemistry lectures at an entire course level as opposed to particular course components such as…

Social network analysis of a project-based introductory physics course

Science.gov (United States)

Oakley, Christopher

2016-03-01

Research suggests that students benefit from peer interaction and active engagement in the classroom. The quality, nature, effect of these interactions is currently being explored by Physics Education Researchers. Spelman College offers an introductory physics sequence that addresses content and research skills by engaging students in open-ended research projects, a form of Project-Based Learning. Students have been surveyed at regular intervals during the second semester of trigonometry-based course to determine the frequency of interactions in and out of class. These interactions can be with current or past students, tutors, and instructors. This line of inquiry focuses on metrics of Social Network analysis, such as centrality of participants as well as segmentation of groups. Further research will refine and highlight deeper questions regarding student performance in this pedagogy and course sequence.

Upper-Level Undergraduate Chemistry Students' Goals for Their Laboratory Coursework

Science.gov (United States)

DeKorver, Brittland K.; Towns, Marcy H.

2016-01-01

Efforts to reform undergraduate chemistry laboratory coursework typically focus on the curricula of introductory-level courses, while upper-level courses are bypassed. This study used video-stimulated recall to interview 17 junior- and senior- level chemistry majors after they carried out an experiment as part of a laboratory course. It is assumed…

The Effects of Clickers and Online Homework on Students' Achievement in General Chemistry

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Gebru, Misganaw T.

2012-01-01

Retention of an introductory general chemistry course material is vital for student success in future chemistry and chemistry-related courses. This study investigated the effects of clickers versus online homework on students' long-term content retention, examined the effectiveness of online homework versus no graded homework on…

Assessing the Relation between Language Comprehension and Performance in General Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Pyburn, Daniel T.; Pazicni, Samuel; Benassi, Victor A.; Tappin, Elizabeth E.

2013-01-01

Few studies have focused specifically on the role that language plays in learning chemistry. We report here an investigation into the ability of language comprehension measures to predict performance in university introductory chemistry courses. This work is informed by theories of language comprehension, which posit that high-skilled…

Creation and Assessment of an Active e-Learning Introductory Geology Course

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Sit, Stefany M.; Brudzinski, Michael R.

2017-12-01

The recent emphasis in higher education on both student engagement and online learning encouraged the authors to develop an active e-learning environment for an introductory geohazards course, which enrolls 70+ undergraduate students per semester. Instructors focused on replicating the achievements and addressing the challenges within an already established face-to-face student-centered class (Brudzinski and Sikorski 2010; Sit 2013). Through the use of a learning management system (LMS) and other available technologies, a wide range of course components were developed including online homework assignments with automatic grading and tailored feedback, video tutorials of software programs like Google Earth and Microsoft Excel, and more realistic scientific investigations using authentic and freely available data downloaded from the internet. The different course components designed to engage students and improve overall student learning and development were evaluated using student surveys and instructor reflection. Each component can be used independently and intertwined into a face-to-face course. Results suggest that significant opportunities are available in an online environment including the potential for improved student performance and new datasets for educational research. Specifically, results from pre and post-semester Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) testing in an active e-learning course show enhanced student learning gains compared to face-to-face lecture-based and student-centered courses.

Teaching assistants’ performance at identifying common introductory student difficulties in mechanics revealed by the Force Concept Inventory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru Maries

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The Force Concept Inventory (FCI has been widely used to assess student understanding of introductory mechanics concepts by a variety of educators and physics education researchers. One reason for this extensive use is that many of the items on the FCI have strong distractor choices which correspond to students’ alternate conceptions in mechanics. Instruction is unlikely to be effective if instructors do not know the common alternate conceptions of introductory physics students and explicitly take into account students’ initial knowledge states in their instructional design. Here, we discuss research involving the FCI to evaluate one aspect of the pedagogical content knowledge of teaching assistants (TAs: knowledge of introductory student alternate conceptions in mechanics as revealed by the FCI. For each item on the FCI, the TAs were asked to identify the most common incorrect answer choice of introductory physics students. This exercise was followed by a class discussion with the TAs related to this task, including the importance of knowing student difficulties in teaching and learning. Then, we used FCI pretest and post-test data from a large population (∼900 of introductory physics students to assess the extent to which TAs were able to identify alternate conceptions of introductory students related to force and motion. In addition, we carried out think-aloud interviews with graduate students who had more than two semesters of teaching experience in recitations to examine how they reason about the task. We find that while the TAs, on average, performed better than random guessing at identifying introductory students’ difficulties with FCI content, they did not identify many common difficulties that introductory physics students have after traditional instruction. We discuss specific alternate conceptions, the extent to which TAs are able to identify them, and results from the think-aloud interviews that provided valuable information

A Comprehensive General Chemistry Demonstration

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Sweeder, Ryan D.; Jeffery, Kathleen A.

2013-01-01

This article describes the use of a comprehensive demonstration suitable for a high school or first-year undergraduate introductory chemistry class. The demonstration involves placing a burning candle in a container adjacent to a beaker containing a basic solution with indicator. After adding a lid, the candle will extinguish and the produced…

Gender Differences in Cognitive and Noncognitive Factors Related to Achievement in Organic Chemistry

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Turner, Ronna C.; Lindsay, Harriet A.

2003-05-01

For many college students in the sciences, organic chemistry poses a difficult challenge. Indeed, success in organic chemistry has proven pivotal in the careers of a vast number of students in a variety of science disciplines. A better understanding of the factors that contribute to achievement in this course should contribute to efforts to increase the number of students in the science disciplines. Further, an awareness of gender differences in factors associated with achievement should aid efforts to bolster the participation of women in chemistry and related disciplines. Using a correlation research design, the individual relationships between organic chemistry achievement and each of several cognitive variables and noncognitive variables were assessed. In addition, the relationships between organic chemistry achievement and combinations of these independent variables were explored. Finally, gender- and instructor-related differences in the relationships between organic chemistry achievement and the independent variables were investigated. Cognitive variables included the second-semester general chemistry grade, the ACT English, math, reading, and science-reasoning scores, and scores from a spatial visualization test. Noncognitive variables included anxiety, confidence, effectance motivation, and usefulness. The second-semester general chemistry grade was found to be the best indicator of performance in organic chemistry, while the effectiveness of other predictors varied between instructors. In addition, gender differences were found in the explanations of organic chemistry achievement variance provided by this study. In general, males exhibited stronger correlations between predictor variables and organic chemistry achievement than females.

What Are They Thinking? Automated Analysis of Student Writing about Acid–Base Chemistry in Introductory Biology

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Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna B.; Moscarella, Rosa A.; Merrill, John; Urban-Lurain, Mark

2012-01-01

Students’ writing can provide better insight into their thinking than can multiple-choice questions. However, resource constraints often prevent faculty from using writing assessments in large undergraduate science courses. We investigated the use of computer software to analyze student writing and to uncover student ideas about chemistry in an introductory biology course. Students were asked to predict acid–base behavior of biological functional groups and to explain their answers. Student explanations were rated by two independent raters. Responses were also analyzed using SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys and a custom library of science-related terms and lexical categories relevant to the assessment item. These analyses revealed conceptual connections made by students, student difficulties explaining these topics, and the heterogeneity of student ideas. We validated the lexical analysis by correlating student interviews with the lexical analysis. We used discriminant analysis to create classification functions that identified seven key lexical categories that predict expert scoring (interrater reliability with experts = 0.899). This study suggests that computerized lexical analysis may be useful for automatically categorizing large numbers of student open-ended responses. Lexical analysis provides instructors unique insights into student thinking and a whole-class perspective that are difficult to obtain from multiple-choice questions or reading individual responses. PMID:22949425

Evaluation of a Flipped, Large-Enrollment Organic Chemistry Course on Student Attitude and Achievement

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Mooring, Suazette R.; Mitchell, Chloe E.; Burrows, Nikita L.

2016-01-01

Organic Chemistry is recognized as a course that presents many difficulties and conceptual challenges for students. To combat the high failure rates and poor student attitudes associated with this challenging course, we implemented a "flipped" model for the first-semester, large-enrollment, Organic Chemistry course. In this flipped…

Using News Media Databases (LexisNexis) To Identify Relevant Topics For Introductory Earth Science Classes

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Cervato, C.; Jach, J. Y.; Ridky, R.

2003-12-01

Introductory Earth science courses are undergoing pedagogical changes in universities across the country and are focusing more than ever on the non-science majors. Increasing enrollment of non-science majors in these introductory Earth science courses demands a new look at what is being taught and how the content can be objectively chosen. Assessing the content and effectiveness of these courses requires a quantitative investigation of introductory Earth science topics and their relevance to current issues and concerns. Relevance of Earth science topics can be linked to improved students' attitude toward science and a deeper understanding of concepts. We have used the Internet based national news search-engine LexisNexis Academic Universe (http://www.lexisnexis.org/) to select the occurrence of Earth science terms over the last 12 months, five and ten years both regionally and nationally. This database of term occurrences is being used to examine how Earth sciences have evolved in the news through the last 10 years and is also compared with textbook contents and course syllabi from randomly selected introductory earth science courses across the nation. These data constitute the quantitative foundation for this study and are being used to evaluate the relevance of introductory earth science course content. The relevance of introductory course content and current real-world issues to student attitudes is a crucial factor when considering changes in course curricula and pedagogy. We have examined students' conception of the nature of science and attitudes towards science and learning science using a Likert-scale assessment instrument in the fall 2002 Geology 100 classes at Iowa State University. A pre-test and post-test were administered to see if the students' attitudes changed during the semester using as reference a control group comprised of geoscience undergraduate and graduate students, and faculty. The results of the attitude survey have been analyzed in terms

Curricular Activities that Promote Metacognitive Skills Impact Lower-Performing Students in an Introductory Biology Course†

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Nathan V.; Chiang, Jacob C.; Brown, Heather M.

2018-01-01

This study explores the impacts of repeated curricular activities designed to promote metacognitive skills development and academic achievement on students in an introductory biology course. Prior to this study, the course curriculum was enhanced with pre-assignments containing comprehension monitoring and self-evaluation questions, exam review assignments with reflective questions related to study habits, and an optional opportunity for students to explore metacognition and deep versus surface learning. We used a mixed-methods study design and collected data over two semesters. Self-evaluation, a component of metacognition, was measured via exam score postdictions, in which students estimated their exam scores after completing their exam. Metacognitive awareness was assessed using the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and a reflective essay designed to gauge students’ perceptions of their metacognitive skills and study habits. In both semesters, more students over-predicted their Exam 1 scores than under-predicted, and statistical tests revealed significantly lower mean exam scores for the over-predictors. By Exam 3, under-predictors still scored significantly higher on the exam, but they outnumbered the over-predictors. Lower-performing students also displayed a significant increase in exam postdiction accuracy by Exam 3. While there was no significant difference in students’ MAI scores from the beginning to the end of the semester, qualitative analysis of reflective essays indicated that students benefitted from the assignments and could articulate clear action plans to improve their learning and performance. Our findings suggest that assignments designed to promote metacognition can have an impact on students over the course of one semester and may provide the greatest benefits to lower-performing students. PMID:29904551

Curricular Activities that Promote Metacognitive Skills Impact Lower-Performing Students in an Introductory Biology Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Nathan V; Chiang, Jacob C; Brown, Heather M; McDonald, Kelly K

2018-01-01

This study explores the impacts of repeated curricular activities designed to promote metacognitive skills development and academic achievement on students in an introductory biology course. Prior to this study, the course curriculum was enhanced with pre-assignments containing comprehension monitoring and self-evaluation questions, exam review assignments with reflective questions related to study habits, and an optional opportunity for students to explore metacognition and deep versus surface learning. We used a mixed-methods study design and collected data over two semesters. Self-evaluation, a component of metacognition, was measured via exam score postdictions, in which students estimated their exam scores after completing their exam. Metacognitive awareness was assessed using the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and a reflective essay designed to gauge students' perceptions of their metacognitive skills and study habits. In both semesters, more students over-predicted their Exam 1 scores than under-predicted, and statistical tests revealed significantly lower mean exam scores for the over-predictors. By Exam 3, under-predictors still scored significantly higher on the exam, but they outnumbered the over-predictors. Lower-performing students also displayed a significant increase in exam postdiction accuracy by Exam 3. While there was no significant difference in students' MAI scores from the beginning to the end of the semester, qualitative analysis of reflective essays indicated that students benefitted from the assignments and could articulate clear action plans to improve their learning and performance. Our findings suggest that assignments designed to promote metacognition can have an impact on students over the course of one semester and may provide the greatest benefits to lower-performing students.

A collaborative learning approach for service-oriented introductory physics

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Michael R.

1997-03-01

I have taught algebra-based introductory physics for six years to liberal arts students. It was primarily a service course for students majoring in Athletic Training, Physical Therapy, Geology, Biology, and Pre-Med. The typical student was characterized by having a minimal math and problem-solving proficiency. There also was a pattern of students being predisposed to memorizing facts and formulas, and attempting to solve problems by finding the correct formula and "plugging in" numbers to get an answer. The students seemed to have a minimal ability in deductive reasoning and problem solving, starting from basic principles. It is no wonder that they entered the introductory physics service course with extreme trepidation, based upon a strongly perceived physics phobia. A standard lecture format was used for the class size of approximately 25-30 students; and an attempt was always made to engage the students through the Socratic approach, by asking leading questions during the course of the lecture. The students were relatively unprepared and couldn't participate in the class, and often responded antagonistically. They indicated they didn't want to be asked to think about an issue, but would rather just be told the facts so they could take specific notes for subsequent memorization. It was clear from the results of the open book exams given during the semester that the majority of students could not approach problem solving using deductive reasoning based on basic principles, but relied on attempting to force-fit the problem into a worked example in the text (often out of context, with illogical results). The absentee rate in the classroom was usually around 30-40%. The academic administration of my liberal arts university has the policy of formal course evaluations by the students at the end of each semester. The evaluation questionnaire appears to be primarily a measurement of the stress level of the student during the course, and the evaluation score I received

Sleep and Final Exam Performance in Introductory Physics

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Coletta, Vincent; Wikholm, Colin; Pascoe, Daniel

2018-03-01

Most physics instructors believe that adequate sleep is important in order for students to perform well on problem solving, and many instructors advise students to get plenty of sleep the night before an exam. After years of giving such advice to students at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), one of us decided to find out how many hours students actually do sleep the night before an exam, and how that would relate to their performance. The effect of inadequate sleep on exam performance was explored in a second-semester introductory physics course. At the end of the final exam, students reported the number of hours they slept the night before. Sleep deprivation corresponded to lower final exam scores. The main purpose of this study is to provide evidence that instructors can provide to their students to convince them that their time is better spent sleeping rather than studying all night before an exam.

Integrative Biological Chemistry Program Includes the Use of Informatics Tools, GIS and SAS Software Applications

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Malcolm J.; Kashmar, Richard J.; Hurst, Kent; Fiedler, Frank; Gross, Catherine E.; Deol, Jasbir K.; Wilson, Alora

2015-01-01

Wesley College is a private, primarily undergraduate minority-serving institution located in the historic district of Dover, Delaware (DE). The College recently revised its baccalaureate biological chemistry program requirements to include a one-semester Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences course and project-based experiential learning…

Evaluation of Learning Processes in an Organic Chemistry Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Maroto, B.; Camusso, C.; Cividini, M.

1997-01-01

Reviews a subjective exercise completed by students at the end of each of six units in an introductory organic chemistry course. Argues that instruction should be shaped by Ausubel's concept of meaningful learning. (DDR)

Measuring and Advancing Experimental Design Ability in an Introductory Course without Altering Existing Lab Curriculum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan A. Shanks

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Introductory biology courses provide an important opportunity to prepare students for future courses, yet existing cookbook labs, although important in their own way, fail to provide many of the advantages of semester-long research experiences. Engaging, authentic research experiences aid biology students in meeting many learning goals. Therefore, overlaying a research experience onto the existing lab structure allows faculty to overcome barriers involving curricular change. Here we propose a working model for this overlay design in an introductory biology course and detail a means to conduct this lab with minimal increases in student and faculty workloads. Furthermore, we conducted exploratory factor analysis of the Experimental Design Ability Test (EDAT and uncovered two latent factors which provide valid means to assess this overlay model’s ability to increase advanced experimental design abilities. In a pre-test/post-test design, we demonstrate significant increases in both basic and advanced experimental design abilities in an experimental and comparison group. We measured significantly higher gains in advanced experimental design understanding in students in the experimental group. We believe this overlay model and EDAT factor analysis contribute a novel means to conduct and assess the effectiveness of authentic research experiences in an introductory course without major changes to the course curriculum and with minimal increases in faculty and student workloads.

satlc applications as examples for systemic chemistry education

African Journals Online (AJOL)

IICBA01

Systemic Approach to Teaching and Learning [SATL] has evolved in the field of .... sciences, engineering sciences, agriculture, and pharmaceutical sciences. .... A study of the efficacy of systemic methods applied to the first semester of the second year organic chemistry course (16 lectures, 32 hours) at Zagazeg University ...

Argumentation in undergraduate chemistry laboratories

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Joi Phelps

To address the need for reform in undergraduate science education a new instructional model called Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) was developed and then implemented in a undergraduate chemistry course at a community college in the southeastern United States (Sampson, Walker, & Grooms, 2009; Walker, Sampson, & Zimmerman, in press). The ADI instructional model is designed to give a more central place to argumentation and the role of argument in the social construction of scientific knowledge. This research investigated the growth in the quality of the student generated arguments and the scientific argumentation that took place over the course of a semester. Students enrolled in two sections of General Chemistry I laboratory at the community college participated in this study. The students worked in collaborative groups of three or four. The students were given a variation of the same performance task three times during the semester in order to measure individual ability to use evidence and justify their choice of evidence with appropriate rationale. Five ADI investigations took place during the semester and the laboratory reports for each were collected from each student and the argument section of each report was scored. All the student groups were video recorded five times during the semester as they generated and evaluated arguments and the quality of the group argumentation was assessed using an instrument called the Assessment of Scientific Argumentation in the Classroom (ASAC) observation protocol. As time was the independent variable in this study a repeated measure ANOVA was used to evaluate the significance of student improvement in each area (argumentation, written argument and performance task) over the course of the semester (Trochim, 1999). In addition, a multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate how well the ASAC scores predicted individual scores on both the performance task and the written arguments (Green & Salkind, 2005). There was

Illustrating Concepts in Physical Organic Chemistry with 3D Printed Orbitals

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Michael J.; Jorgensen, William L.

2015-01-01

Orbital theory provides a powerful tool for rationalizing and understanding many phenomena in chemistry. In most introductory chemistry courses, students are introduced to atomic and molecular orbitals in the form of two-dimensional drawings. In this work, we describe a general method for producing 3D printing files of orbital models that can be…

Ups and downs of using ``kitchen sink'' experiments in an introductory fluid mechanics class

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Kaye, Nigel

2015-11-01

Both positive and negative experiences from two semesters of using take home ``kitchen sink'' experiments in an introductory civil engineering fluid mechanics class are reported. Four different experimental assignments were given each semester to groups of four students. The students were tasked with using common household equipment to measure various properties of fluids or fluid flows. These included the density of cooking oil, the exit velocity from a garden hose, and the mass flux of air from a compressed air can. Students were given minimal guidance on how to do the measurements and each measurement had to be done in at least two different ways. The labs were used to relate their course work to everyday situations and was also used as a platform for discussing experimental uncertainty and error propagation in calculations. In general the students successfully completed each task using at least one method. Finding a second method sometimes proved problematic. The presentation will discuss the logistics of running the program and the positive and negative aspects from the instructor viewpoint. A summary of student feedback on the labs will also be presented. Links to resources for those interested in implementing such a program will be provided.

Lecture Notes in Statistics. 3rd Semester

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The lecture note is prepared to meet the requirements for the 3rd semester course in statistics at the Aarhus School of Business. It focuses on multiple regression models, analysis of variance, and log-linear models.......The lecture note is prepared to meet the requirements for the 3rd semester course in statistics at the Aarhus School of Business. It focuses on multiple regression models, analysis of variance, and log-linear models....

Atoms-First Curriculum: A Comparison of Student Success in General Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Esterling, Kevin M.; Bartels, Ludwig

2013-01-01

We present an evaluation of the impact of an atoms-first curriculum on student success in introductory chemistry classes and find that initially a lower fraction of students obtain passing grades in the first and second quarters of the general chemistry series. This effect is more than reversed for first-quarter students after one year of…

Situated Self-efficacy in Introductory Physics Students

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Henderson, Rachel; DeVore, Seth; Michaluk, Lynnette; Stewart, John

2017-01-01

Within the general university environment, students' perceived self-efficacy has been widely studied and findings suggest it plays a role in student success. The current research adapted a self-efficacy survey, from the ``Self-Efficacy for Learning Performance'' subscale of the Motivated Learning Strategies Questionnaire and administered it to the introductory, calculus-based physics classes (N=1005) over the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters. This assessment measured students' self-efficacy in domains including the physics class, other science and mathematics classes, and their intended future career. The effect of gender was explored with the only significant gender difference (p gender difference was not explained by a student's performance which was measured by test average. However, a mediation analysis showed that students' overall academic self-efficacy, measured by their math and science self-efficacy, acts as a mediator for the effect of test average on self-efficacy towards the physics class domain. This mediation effect was significant for both female (p < . 01) and male students (p < . 001) however, it was more pronounced for male students.

Using Cluster Analysis to Characterize Meaningful Learning in a First-Year University Chemistry Laboratory Course

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Galloway, Kelli R.; Bretz, Stacey Lowery

2015-01-01

The Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) was designed to measure students' cognitive and affective learning in the university chemistry laboratory. The MLLI was administered at the beginning and the end of the first semester to first-year university chemistry students to measure their expectations and experiences for learning in…

An Investigation into the Relationship between Academic Risk Taking and Chemistry Laboratory Anxiety in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Öner Sünkür, Meral

2015-01-01

This study evaluates the relationship between academic risk taking and chemistry laboratory anxiety using a relational scanning model. The research sample consisted of 127 undergraduate students (sophomores, juniors and seniors) in the Chemistry Teaching Department at Dicle University. This research was done in the spring semester of the 2012 to…

The Science Semester: Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry for Prospective Elementary Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Danielle J.; Fifield, Steve; Madsen, John; Qian, Xiaoyu

2013-10-01

We describe the Science Semester, a semester-long course block that integrates three science courses and a science education methods course for elementary teacher education majors, and examine prospective elementary teachers’ developing conceptions about inquiry, science teaching efficacy, and reflections on learning through inquiry. The Science Semester was designed to provide inquiry-oriented and problem-based learning experiences, opportunities to examine socially relevant issues through cross-disciplinary perspectives, and align with content found in elementary curricula and standards. By the end of the semester, prospective elementary teachers moved from naïve to intermediate understandings of inquiry and significantly increased self-efficacy for science teaching as measured on one subscore of the STEBI-B. Reflecting on the semester, prospective teachers understood and appreciated the goals of the course and the PBL format, but struggled with the open-ended and student-directed elements of the course.

Geology in the Movies: Using Hollywood Films as a Teaching Tool in Introductory Geosciences Courses

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Lawrence, K. T.; Malinconico, L. L.

2008-12-01

A common challenge in introductory Geoscience courses is engaging students who often do not have a long- standing interest in science. In recent years Hollywood has produced a number of geoscience-themed films (Dante's Peak, Deep Impact, Day After Tomorrow, Inconvenient Truth), most of which contain kernels of scientific truth as well as gross misrepresentations of scientific reality. In our introductory courses (Geological Disasters: Agents of Chaos and Earth's Climate: Past Present and Future) we have had great success using these films as a way of both engaging students and accomplishing many of our course goals. Even though most of the students in these courses will not become geoscience majors, it is important for them to realize that they can make informed judgments about concepts portrayed in the popular media. We have incorporated short written movie critiques into our suite of introductory course laboratory exercises. Through these movie-critique labs, students have an opportunity to apply their new geoscience expertise to examining the validity of the scientific concepts presented in the film. Along the way, students start to see the relevance of course materials to their everyday lives, think more critically about how science is portrayed by non-scientists, synthesize what they have learned by applying their knowledge to a new problem, and improve their ability to communicate what they have learned. Despite the fact that these movie-critique labs require significantly more out-of-lab effort that our other introductory lab assignments, in our course evaluations many students rate the movie critiques as not only one of the most interesting lab exercises of the semester, but also the lab exercise containing the most educational value.

Peer Instruction in introductory physics: A method to bring about positive changes in students’ attitudes and beliefs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes pre-post matched gains in the epistemological views of science students taking the introductory physics course at Beijing Normal University (BNU in China. In this study we examined the attitudes and beliefs of science majors (n=441 in four classes, one taught using traditional (lecture teaching methods, and the other three taught with Peer Instruction (PI. In two of the PI classes, student peer groups were constantly changing throughout the semester, while in the other PI class student groups remained fixed for the duration of the semester. The results of the pre- and post-test using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey showed that students in traditional lecture settings became significantly more novicelike in their beliefs about physics and learning physics over the course of a semester, a result consistent with what was reported in the literature. However, all three of the classes taught using the PI method improved student attitudes and beliefs about physics and learning physics. In the PI class with fixed peer groups, students exhibited a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs than in the other PI class with changing peer groups. The study also looked at gender differences in student learning attitudes. Gender results revealed that female science majors in the PI classes achieved a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs after instruction than did male students.

Introductory Overviews

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jakeman, A.J.; Hamilton, S.H.; Athanasiadis, I.N.; Pierce, S.A.

2015-01-01

Introductory Overview articles are designed to provide introductory level background to key themes and topics that caters to the eclectic readership of EMS. It is envisaged that these articles will help to break down barriers to shared understanding and dialogue within multidisciplinary teams, and

Gender disparities in second-semester college physics: The incremental effects of a “smog of bias”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren E. Kost-Smith

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Our previous research [Kost et al., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 010101 (2009] examined gender differences in the first-semester, introductory physics class at the University of Colorado at Boulder. We found that: (1 there were gender differences in several aspects of the course, including conceptual survey performance, (2 these differences persisted despite the use of interactive engagement techniques, and (3 the post-test gender differences could largely be attributed to differences in males’ and females’ prior physics and math performance and their incoming attitudes and beliefs. In the current study, we continue to characterize gender differences in our physics courses by examining the second-semester, electricity and magnetism course. We analyze three factors: student retention from Physics 1 to Physics 2, student performance, and students’ attitudes and beliefs about physics, and find gender differences in all three of these areas. Specifically, females are less likely to stay in the physics major than males. Despite males and females performing about equally on the conceptual pretest, we find that females score about 6 percentage points lower than males on the conceptual post-test. In most semesters, females outperform males on homework and participation, and males outperform females on exams, resulting in course grades of males and females that are not significantly different. In terms of students’ attitudes and beliefs, we find that both males and females shift toward less expertlike beliefs over the course of Physics 2. Shifts are statistically equal for all categories except for the Personal Interest category, where females have more negative shifts than males. A large fraction of the conceptual post-test gender gap (up to 60% can be accounted for by differences in males’ and females’ prior physics and math performance and their pre-Physics 2 attitudes and beliefs. Taken together, the results of this study suggest

Solvent-Free Synthesis of 2,20'-Dinitrobiphenyl: An Ullmann Coupling in the Introductory Organic Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Gregor, Richard W.; Goj, Laurel A.

2011-01-01

The formation of carbon-carbon bonds is an essential theme throughout organic chemistry. The use of transition-metal catalysts to form carbon-carbon bonds, once relegated to more advanced texts, is now commonly found in introductory organic textbooks. However, commensurate laboratory experiments for first-year organic students are more limited.…

What We Don't Test: What an Analysis of Unreleased ACS Exam Items Reveals about Content Coverage in General Chemistry Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Jessica J.; Villafan~e, Sachel M.; Raker, Jeffrey R.; Holme, Thomas A.; Murphy, Kristen L.

2017-01-01

General chemistry courses are often the foundation for the study of other science disciplines and upper-level chemistry concepts. Students who take introductory chemistry courses are more often from health and science-related fields than chemistry. As such, the content taught and assessed in general chemistry courses is envisioned as building…

Introducing Chemical Biology Applications to Introductory Organic Chemistry Students Using Series of Weekly Assignments

Science.gov (United States)

Kanin, Maralee R.; Pontrello, Jason K.

2016-01-01

Calls to bring interdisciplinary content and examples into introductory science courses have increased, yet strategies that involve course restructuring often suffer from the need for a significant faculty commitment to motivate change. Minimizing the need for dramatic course reorganization, the structure, reactivity, and chemical biology…

Characterizing, modeling, and addressing gender disparities in introductory college physics

Science.gov (United States)

Kost-Smith, Lauren Elizabeth

2011-12-01

The underrepresentation and underperformance of females in physics has been well documented and has long concerned policy-makers, educators, and the physics community. In this thesis, we focus on gender disparities in the first- and second-semester introductory, calculus-based physics courses at the University of Colorado. Success in these courses is critical for future study and careers in physics (and other sciences). Using data gathered from roughly 10,000 undergraduate students, we identify and model gender differences in the introductory physics courses in three areas: student performance, retention, and psychological factors. We observe gender differences on several measures in the introductory physics courses: females are less likely to take a high school physics course than males and have lower standardized mathematics test scores; males outscore females on both pre- and post-course conceptual physics surveys and in-class exams; and males have more expert-like attitudes and beliefs about physics than females. These background differences of males and females account for 60% to 70% of the gender gap that we observe on a post-course survey of conceptual physics understanding. In analyzing underlying psychological factors of learning, we find that female students report lower self-confidence related to succeeding in the introductory courses (self-efficacy) and are less likely to report seeing themselves as a "physics person". Students' self-efficacy beliefs are significant predictors of their performance, even when measures of physics and mathematics background are controlled, and account for an additional 10% of the gender gap. Informed by results from these studies, we implemented and tested a psychological, self-affirmation intervention aimed at enhancing female students' performance in Physics 1. Self-affirmation reduced the gender gap in performance on both in-class exams and the post-course conceptual physics survey. Further, the benefit of the self

Effectiveness of a Low-Cost, Graduate Student-Led Intervention on Study Habits and Performance in Introductory Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoskins, Tyler D; Gantz, J D; Chaffee, Blake R; Arlinghaus, Kel; Wiebler, James; Hughes, Michael; Fernandes, Joyce J

2017-01-01

Institutions have developed diverse approaches that vary in effectiveness and cost to improve student performance in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. We developed a low-cost, graduate student-led, metacognition-based study skills course taught in conjunction with the introductory biology series at Miami University. Our approach aimed to improve performance for underachieving students by combining an existing framework for the process of learning (the study cycle) with concrete tools (outlines and concept maps) that have been shown to encourage deep understanding. To assess the effectiveness of our efforts, we asked 1) how effective our voluntary recruitment model was at enrolling the target cohort, 2) how the course impacted performance on lecture exams, 3) how the course impacted study habits and techniques, and 4) whether there are particular study habits or techniques that are associated with large improvements on exam scores. Voluntary recruitment attracted only 11-17% of our target cohort. While focal students improved on lecture exams relative to their peers who did not enroll, gains were relatively modest, and not all students improved. Further, although students across both semesters of our study reported improved study habits (based on pre and post surveys) and on outlines and concept maps (based on retrospectively scored assignments), gains were more dramatic in the Fall semester. Multivariate models revealed that, while changes in study habits and in the quality of outlines and concept maps were weakly associated with change in performance on lecture exams, relationships were only significant in the Fall semester and were sometimes counterintuitive. Although benefits of the course were offset somewhat by the inefficiency of voluntary recruitment, we demonstrate the effectiveness our course, which is inexpensive to implement and has advantage of providing pedagogical experience to future educators. © 2017 T. D

Introductory Raman spectroscopy

CERN Document Server

Ferraro, John R

2012-01-01

Praise for Introductory Raman Spectroscopy Highlights basic theory, which is treated in an introductory fashion Presents state-of-the-art instrumentation Discusses new applications of Raman spectroscopy in industry and research.

Motivation of first semester undergraduate students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schlichter, Bjarne; Sigvardsen, Kari; Jonsson, Sofia

in the curriculum. Method - The study is based on interpretative research (Walsham, 2006; Yin, 2003) and the method chosen was a qualitative case study (Myers, 2009). The data for this study was collected through fieldwork and semi-structured interviews. The fieldwork was conducted during the autumn semester 2010...... of first semester undergraduate students. Keywords -Motivation; first year undergraduate students; Management Information Systems; teaching assistants. Paper type - Research paper....... to the processes in a company. 2) Methods for formal modeling of processes, data and occurrences. 3) An introduction to a company's information systems and the relationship of these to business strategies. In addition to the lectures and tutorials, the students have to hand in a prescribed group assignment...

Student related determinants of the first semester academic status ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Student related determinants of the first semester academic status: the case of 2006/7 first year students at some selected faculties of Jimma university. ... This research, therefore, attempted to unfold the magnitude of academic failure and students related factors predicting academic failure in the first semester of 2006/ 07 ...

Synthesis and Characterization of Calixarene Tetraethers: An Exercise in Supramolecular Chemistry for the Undergraduate Organic Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Debbert, Stefan L.; Hoh, Bradley D.; Dulak, David J.

2016-01-01

In this experiment for an introductory undergraduate organic chemistry lab, students tetraalkylate tertbutylcalix[4]arene, a bowl-shaped macrocyclic oligophenol, and examine the supramolecular chemistry of the tetraether product by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Complexation with a sodium ion reduces the conformational…

Exploring the Progression in Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge Representations: The Case of "Behavior of Gases"

Science.gov (United States)

Adadan, Emine; Oner, Diler

2014-01-01

This multiple case study investigated how two preservice chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) representations of behavior of gases progressed in the context of a semester-long chemistry teaching methods course. The change in the participants' PCK components was interpreted with respect to the theoretical PCK learning…

Results of a Textbook Survey Given in Introductory Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Willoughby, Shannon

2007-05-01

Textbooks are required for virtually all college science courses taught around the country, but whether students use them and find them valuable is not clear. In order to get a better idea about what the students thought of the textbook and how they spent their time using it, an anonymous survey was taken by 305 (out of 400) students enrolled in Physics 101 during the Fall semester of 2005. Developed and administered by www.textrev.com, this is a free survey that college faculty may use for physics and chemistry textbooks. This survey revealed two interesting points. First, although 75% of the students found the textbook to be moderately to very challenging, only 38% of students reported spending 2 or more hours per week reading the text. Reading was assigned the majority of class periods, with the intention that they would read the material before it was covered in class. Second, 81% of the students found that the end of chapter problems were moderately to very challenging, but 62% reported spending one hour or less per week working on the assigned questions. Homework was assigned regularly from the textbook for the first half of the class, after which point we experimented with an online homework system. Next semester a new textbook is being adopted for this class, which has no color pictures and is significantly slimmer than the current textbook. This textbook survey will be given again at the end of next semester to look for any changes in textbook usage.

The Nuclear and Radiochemistry in Chemistry Education Curriculum Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertson, J.D.; Missouri University, Columbia, MO; Kleppinger, E.W.

2005-01-01

Given the mismatch between supply of and demand for nuclear scientists, education in nuclear and radiochemistry has become a serious concern. The Nuclear and Radiochemistry in Chemistry Education (NRIChEd) Curriculum Project was undertaken to reintroduce the topics normally covered in a one-semester radiochemistry course into the traditional courses of a four-year chemistry major: general chemistry, organic chemistry, quantitative and instrumental analysis, and physical chemistry. NRIChEd uses a three-pronged approach that incorporates radiochemistry topics when related topics in the basic courses are covered, presents special topics of general interest as a vehicle for teaching nuclear and radiochemistry alongside traditional chemistry, and incorporates the use of non-licensed amounts of radioactive substances in demonstrations and student laboratory experiments. This approach seeks not only to reestablish nuclear science in the chemistry curriculum, but to use it as a tool for elucidating fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry as well. Moreover, because of its relevance in many academic areas, nuclear science enriches the chemistry curriculum by encouraging interdisciplinary thinking and problem solving. (author)

Correlation of preadmission organic chemistry courses and academic performance in biochemistry at a midwest chiropractic doctoral program.

Science.gov (United States)

McRae, Marc P

2010-01-01

Organic chemistry has been shown to correlate with academic success in the preclinical years of medicine, dentistry, and graduate physiology. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between undergraduate organic chemistry grades and first-semester biochemistry grades at a Midwest chiropractic doctoral program. Students enrolled in a first-semester biochemistry course who had completed the prerequisite courses in organic chemistry offered at this same institution were entered into the study. The total grade for each of the three courses was calculated using the midterm and final exam raw scores with a weighting of 50% each. Analysis consisted of obtaining correlation coefficients between the total grades of organic 1 with biochemistry and organic 2 with biochemistry. Using the biochemistry total grade, the students were divided into quartiles and course grades for both organic chemistry 1 and 2 were calculated. For the 109 students in the study, the correlation coefficient between the biochemistry and organic chemistry 1 and biochemistry and organic chemistry 2 courses was r = 0.744 and r = 0.725, respectively. The difference in organic chemistry grades between those in the first and fourth quartiles was 63.2% and 86.9% for organic chemistry 1 (p organic chemistry 2 (p organic chemistry can be used as an indicator of future academic success in a chiropractic biochemistry course. Knowledge of such a relationship could prove useful to identify students who may potentially run into academic difficulty with first-year biochemistry.

Performance in College Chemistry: a Statistical Comparison Using Gender and Jungian Personality Type

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Susan V.; Wheeler, Henry R.; Riley, Wayne D.

This study sorted college introductory chemistry students by gender and Jungian personality type. It recognized differences from the general population distribution and statistically compared the students' grades with their Jungian personality types. Data from 577 female students indicated that ESFP (extroverted, sensory, feeling, perceiving) and ENFP (extroverted, intuitive, feeling, perceiving) profiles performed poorly at statistically significant levels when compared with the distribution of females enrolled in introductory chemistry. The comparable analysis using data from 422 male students indicated that the poorly performing male profiles were ISTP (introverted, sensory, thinking, perceiving) and ESTP (extroverted, sensory, thinking, perceiving). ESTJ (extroverted, sensory, thinking, judging) female students withdrew from the course at a statistically significant level. For both genders, INTJ (introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging) students were the best performers. By examining the documented characteristics of Jungian profiles that correspond with poorly performing students in chemistry, one may more effectively assist the learning process and the retention of these individuals in the fields of natural science, engineering, and technology.

Six Impossible Mechanisms before Breakfast: Arrow Pushing as an Instructional Device in Inorganic Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Steffen; Ghosh, Abhik

2013-01-01

In a recent article by the authors, the suggestion was made that arrow pushing, a widely used tool in organic chemistry, could also be profitably employed in the teaching of introductory inorganic chemistry. A number of relatively simple reactions were used to illustrate this thesis, raising the question whether the same approach might rationalize…

Research and Teaching. From Verification to Guided Inquiry: What Happens When a Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum Changes?

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Pamela; Pentecost, Thomas C.

2013-01-01

How does the degree of inquiry-based laboratory instruction impact student performance and student perseverance in the laboratory portion of a first-semester general chemistry course? The implementation of a new

Misconception of pre-service chemistry teachers about the concept of resonances in organic chemistry course

Science.gov (United States)

Widarti, Hayuni Retno; Retnosari, Rini; Marfu'ah, Siti

2017-08-01

A descriptive quantitative research has been done to identify the level of understanding and misconceptions of the pre-service chemistry teachers related to the concept of resonance in the organic chemistry course. The subjects of the research were 51 students of State University of Malang, majoring Chemistry Education, currently in their fourth semester, 2015-2016 academic year who have taken the course of Organic Chemistry I. The instruments used in this research is a combination of 8 numbers of multiple choice tests with open answer questions and certainty of response index (CRI). The research findings revealed that there are still misconceptions found in the organic chemistry course, especially about the concept of resonance. There were several misconceptions of the pre-service chemistry teachers, such as resonance structures are in equilibrium with each other; resonance structures are two or more Lewis structures with different in arrangement of both atom and electron; resonance structures are only structures containing charged atoms; formal charge and resonance structures are not related; and the stability of resonance structures are only determined by location of charges in atoms found in such structures. There is also a lack of understanding of curved arrows notation to show electron pair movement.

An evaluation of teaching methods in the introductory physics classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, Lauren Michelle Williams

The introductory physics mechanics course at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has a history of relatively high DFW rates. In 2011, the course was redesigned from the traditional lecture format to the inverted classroom format (flipped). This format inverts the classroom by introducing material in a video assigned as homework while the instructor conducts problem solving activities and guides discussions during the regular meetings. This format focuses on student-centered learning and is more interactive and engaging. To evaluate the effectiveness of the new method, final exam data over the past 10 years was mined and the pass rates examined. A normalization condition was developed to evaluate semesters equally. The two teaching methods were compared using a grade distribution across multiple semesters. Students in the inverted class outperformed those in the traditional class: "A"s increased by 22% and "B"s increased by 38%. The final exam pass rate increased by 12% under the inverted classroom approach. The same analysis was used to compare the written and online final exam formats. Surprisingly, no students scored "A"s on the online final. However, the percent of "B"s increased by 136%. Combining documented best practices from a literature review with personal observations of student performance and attitudes from first hand classroom experience as a teaching assistant in both teaching methods, reasons are given to support the continued use of the inverted classroom approach as well as the online final. Finally, specific recommendations are given to improve the course structure where weaknesses have been identified.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Studio Physics in Introductory-Level Courses at Georgia State University

Science.gov (United States)

Upton, Brianna; Evans, John; Morrow, Cherilynn; Thoms, Brian

2009-11-01

Previous studies have shown that many students have misconceptions about basic concepts in physics. Moreover, it has been concluded that one of the challenges lies in the teaching methodology. To address this, Georgia State University has begun teaching studio algebra-based physics. Although many institutions have implemented studio physics, most have done so in calculus-based sequences. The effectiveness of the studio approach in an algebra-based introductory physics course needs further investigation. A 3-semester study assessing the effectiveness of studio physics in an algebra-based physics sequence has been performed. This study compares the results of student pre- and post-tests using the Force Concept Inventory. Using the results from this assessment tool, we will discuss the effectiveness of the studio approach to teaching physics at GSU.

Building Bridges between Science Courses Using Honors Organic Chemistry Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Hickey, Timothy; Pontrello, Jason

2016-01-01

Introductory undergraduate science courses are traditionally offered as distinct units without formalized student interaction between classes. To bridge science courses, the authors used three Honors Organic Chemistry projects paired with other science courses. The honors students delivered presentations to mainstream organic course students and…

Chemistry Graduate Teaching Assistants' Experiences in Academic Laboratories and Development of a Teaching Self-image

Science.gov (United States)

Gatlin, Todd Adam

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) play a prominent role in chemistry laboratory instruction at research based universities. They teach almost all undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses. However, their role in laboratory instruction has often been overlooked in educational research. Interest in chemistry GTAs has been placed on training and their perceived expectations, but less attention has been paid to their experiences or their potential benefits from teaching. This work was designed to investigate GTAs' experiences in and benefits from laboratory instructional environments. This dissertation includes three related studies on GTAs' experiences teaching in general chemistry laboratories. Qualitative methods were used for each study. First, phenomenological analysis was used to explore GTAs' experiences in an expository laboratory program. Post-teaching interviews were the primary data source. GTAs experiences were described in three dimensions: doing, knowing, and transferring. Gains available to GTAs revolved around general teaching skills. However, no gains specifically related to scientific development were found in this laboratory format. Case-study methods were used to explore and illustrate ways GTAs develop a GTA self-image---the way they see themselves as instructors. Two general chemistry laboratory programs that represent two very different instructional frameworks were chosen for the context of this study. The first program used a cooperative project-based approach. The second program used weekly, verification-type activities. End of the semester interviews were collected and served as the primary data source. A follow-up case study of a new cohort of GTAs in the cooperative problem-based laboratory was undertaken to investigate changes in GTAs' self-images over the course of one semester. Pre-semester and post-semester interviews served as the primary data source. Findings suggest that GTAs' construction of their self-image is shaped through the

Quantum mechanics in chemistry

CERN Document Server

Schatz, George C

2002-01-01

Intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, this text explores quantum mechanical techniques from the viewpoint of chemistry and materials science. Dynamics, symmetry, and formalism are emphasized. An initial review of basic concepts from introductory quantum mechanics is followed by chapters examining symmetry, rotations, and angular momentum addition. Chapter 4 introduces the basic formalism of time-dependent quantum mechanics, emphasizing time-dependent perturbation theory and Fermi's golden rule. Chapter 5 sees this formalism applied to the interaction of radiation and matt

Interlocking Toy Building Blocks as Hands-On Learning Modules for Blind and Visually Impaired Chemistry Students

Science.gov (United States)

Melaku, Samuel; Schreck, James O.; Griffin, Kameron; Dabke, Rajeev B.

2016-01-01

Interlocking toy building blocks (e.g., Lego) as chemistry learning modules for blind and visually impaired (BVI) students in high school and undergraduate introductory or general chemistry courses are presented. Building blocks were assembled on a baseplate to depict the relative changes in the periodic properties of elements. Modules depicting…

Appropriating Scientific Vocabulary in Chemistry Laboratories: A Multiple Case Study of Four Community College Students with Diverse Ethno-Linguistic Backgrounds

Science.gov (United States)

Cink, Ruth B.; Song, Youngjin

2016-01-01

This multiple case study investigated how college students with diverse ethno-linguistic backgrounds used chemistry vocabulary as a way to look at their discursive identities and cultural border crossings during first semester general chemistry laboratories. The data were collected in two major forms: video-taped laboratory observations and…

Thai Grade 11 Students' Alternative Conceptions for Acid-Base Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Artdej, Romklao; Ratanaroutai, Thasaneeya; Coll, Richard Kevin; Thongpanchang, Tienthong

2010-01-01

This study involved the development of a two-tier diagnostic instrument to assess Thai high school students' understanding of acid-base chemistry. The acid-base diagnostic test (ABDT) comprising 18 items was administered to 55 Grade 11 students in a science and mathematics programme during the second semester of the 2008 academic year. Analysis of…

The Learner Characteristics, Features of Desktop 3D Virtual Reality Environments, and College Chemistry Instruction: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Merchant, Zahira; Goetz, Ernest T.; Keeney-Kennicutt, Wendy; Kwok, Oi-man; Cifuentes, Lauren; Davis, Trina J.

2012-01-01

We examined a model of the impact of a 3D desktop virtual reality environment on the learner characteristics (i.e. perceptual and psychological variables) that can enhance chemistry-related learning achievements in an introductory college chemistry class. The relationships between the 3D virtual reality features and the chemistry learning test as…

A Computer Algebra Approach to Solving Chemical Equilibria in General Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Kalainoff, Melinda; Lachance, Russ; Riegner, Dawn; Biaglow, Andrew

2012-01-01

In this article, we report on a semester-long study of the incorporation into our general chemistry course, of advanced algebraic and computer algebra techniques for solving chemical equilibrium problems. The method presented here is an alternative to the commonly used concentration table method for describing chemical equilibria in general…

Learning can be all Fun and Games: Constructing and Utilizing a Biology Taboo Wiktionary to Enhance Student Learning in an Introductory Biology Course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey T. Olimpo

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Most introductory courses in the biological sciences are inherently content-dense and rich with jargon—jargon that is often confusing and nonsensical to novice students. These characteristics present an additional paradox to instructors, who strive to achieve a balance between simply promoting passive, rote memorization of facts and engaging students in developing true, concrete understanding of the terminology. To address these concerns, we developed and implemented a Biology Taboo Wiktionary that provided students with an interactive opportunity to review and describe concepts they had encountered during their first semester of introductory biology. However, much like the traditional Taboo game, the rules were such that students could not use obvious terms to detail the main term. It was our belief that if the student could synthesize a thoughtful, scientific explanation of the term under these conditions, he or she demonstrated a true understanding of the conceptual context and meaning of the term.

Correlation of Preadmission Organic Chemistry Courses and Academic Performance in Biochemistry at a Midwest Chiropractic Doctoral Program*

Science.gov (United States)

McRae, Marc P.

2010-01-01

Purpose: Organic chemistry has been shown to correlate with academic success in the preclinical years of medicine, dentistry, and graduate physiology. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between undergraduate organic chemistry grades and first-semester biochemistry grades at a Midwest chiropractic doctoral program. Methods: Students enrolled in a first-semester biochemistry course who had completed the prerequisite courses in organic chemistry offered at this same institution were entered into the study. The total grade for each of the three courses was calculated using the midterm and final exam raw scores with a weighting of 50% each. Analysis consisted of obtaining correlation coefficients between the total grades of organic 1 with biochemistry and organic 2 with biochemistry. Using the biochemistry total grade, the students were divided into quartiles and course grades for both organic chemistry 1 and 2 were calculated. Results: For the 109 students in the study, the correlation coefficient between the biochemistry and organic chemistry 1 and biochemistry and organic chemistry 2 courses was r = 0.744 and r = 0.725, respectively. The difference in organic chemistry grades between those in the first and fourth quartiles was 63.2% and 86.9% for organic chemistry 1 (p organic chemistry 2 (p organic chemistry can be used as an indicator of future academic success in a chiropractic biochemistry course. Knowledge of such a relationship could prove useful to identify students who may potentially run into academic difficulty with first-year biochemistry PMID:20480012

Curriculum renewal: Alignment of introductory pharmacy practice experiences with didactic course content.

Science.gov (United States)

Nuffer, Wesley; Botts, Sheila; Franson, Kari; Gilliam, Eric; Knutsen, Randy; Nuffer, Monika; O'Brien, Elizabeth; Saseen, Joseph; Thompson, Megan; Vande Griend, Joseph; Willis, Robert

2017-11-01

The University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) used the opportunity of curriculum renewal to integrate knowledge and skills learned from didactic courses into the introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) occurring simultaneously. This paper describes and evaluates the meaningful application of course content into IPPEs, and evaluates the success using qualitative feedback. Students entering the renewed curriculum starting in fall 2012 were provided a list of pharmacy skills and activities from didactic course directors that reinforced course content for that semester. The skills and activities were to be completed during the students' IPPE visits in the community or health systems settings, depending on the program year and semester. Students successfully completed course assignments during their IPPE course program. Not all activities could be completed as designed, and many required modification, including simulated experiences. Feedback from faculty and preceptor members of the school's experiential education committee demonstrated that these activities were valuable and improved learning of course material, but were challenging to implement. A renewed curriculum that mapped course assignments for completion in experiential settings was successfully established, after some modifications. The program was modified at regular intervals to improve the ability of preceptors to complete these activities in their individual practice environment. A balance between the school providing guidance on what activities students should perform and allowing unstructured independent learning with the preceptor is needed for an optimal experience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Closing the Gap between Beliefs and Practice: Change of Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers' Orientations during a PCK-Based NOS Course

Science.gov (United States)

Demirdögen, Betül; Uzuntiryaki-Kondakçi, Esen

2016-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to investigate how pre-service chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations change during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching the nature of science (NOS). Moreover, the way that pre-service chemistry teachers translated their change in…

Transitioning from Expository Laboratory Experiments to Course-Based Undergraduate Research in General Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Ted M.; Ricciardo, Rebecca; Weaver, Tyler

2016-01-01

General chemistry courses predominantly use expository experiments that shape student expectations of what a laboratory activity entails. Shifting within a semester to course-based undergraduate research activities that include greater decision-making, collaborative work, and "messy" real-world data necessitates a change in student…

Connecting Symbolic Integrals to Physical Meaning in Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Amos, Nathaniel R.

This dissertation presents a series of studies pertaining to introductory physics students' abilities to derive physical meaning from symbolic integrals (e.g., the integral of vdt) and their components, namely differentials and differential products (e.g., dt and vdt, respectively). Our studies focus on physical meaning in the form of interpretations (e.g., "the total displacement of an object") and units (e.g., "meters"). Our first pair of studies independently attempted to identify introductory-level mechanics students' common conceptual difficulties with and unproductive interpretations of physics integrals and their components, as well as to estimate the frequencies of these difficulties. Our results confirmed some previously-observed incorrect interpretations, such as the notion that differentials are physically meaningless; however, we also uncovered two new conceptualizations of differentials, the "rate" (differentials are "rates" or "derivatives") and "instantaneous value" (differentials are values of physical variables "at an instant") interpretations, which were exhibited by more than half of our participants at least once. Our next study used linear regression analysis to estimate the strengths of the inter-connections between the abilities to derive physical meaning from each of differentials, differential products, and integrals in both first- and second-semester, calculus-based introductory physics. As part of this study, we also developed a highly reliable, multiple choice assessment designed to measure students' abilities to connect symbolic differentials, differential products, and integrals with their physical interpretations and units. Findings from this study were consistent with statistical mediation via differential products. In particular, students' abilities to extract physical meaning from differentials were seen to be strongly related to their abilities to derive physical meaning from differential products, and similarly differential

Undergraduates in a Sustainability Semester: Models of Social Change for Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Hannah K.

2016-01-01

Interdisciplinary sustainability programs are emerging globally, but little is known about the learning in these educational contexts. This qualitative case study examined undergraduates' experience in a Sustainability Semester, using the agency/structure dialectic as a theoretical lens. Before the semester, students' models of change for…

Effectiveness of Workshop Style Teaching in Students' Learning of Introductory Electricity and Magnetism

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Nirav; Cheng, Kelvin

2012-10-01

We have developed an interactive workshop-style course for our introductory calculus-based physics sequence at Trinity University. Lecture is limited to approximately 15 min. at the beginning of class, and the remainder of the 50-min. class is devoted to inquiry-based activities and problem solving. So far, lab is done separately and we have not incorporated the lab component into the workshop model. We use the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA) to compare learning gains between the workshop and traditional lecture-based course for the Spring 2012 semester. Both the workshop and lecture courses shared the same inquiry-based lab component that involved pre-labs, prediction-observation and post-lab activities. Our BEMA results indicate statistically significant improvement in overall learning gains compared to the traditional course. We compare our workshop BEMA scores both to traditional lecture scores here at Trinity and to those from other institutions.

Relationships of Approaches to Studying, Metacognition, and Intellectual Development of General Chemistry Students

Science.gov (United States)

Egenti, Henrietta N.

2012-01-01

This study investigated approaches to studying, intellectual developments, and metacognitive skills of general chemistry students enrolled for the spring 2011 semester at a single campus of a multi-campus community college. The three instruments used were the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST), the Learning Environment…

Identifying At-Risk Students in General Chemistry via Cluster Analysis of Affective Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Julia Y. K.; Bauer, Christopher F.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to identify academically at-risk students in first-semester general chemistry using affective characteristics via cluster analysis. Through the clustering of six preselected affective variables, three distinct affective groups were identified: low (at-risk), medium, and high. Students in the low affective group…

The Effect of Different Metacognitive Skill Levels on Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Motivation

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Senol

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the metacognitive skill levels and motivation of preservice chemistry teachers and to investigate the effect of different metacognitive skill levels on their motivation. The study was conducted during 2014-2015 spring semester. In this research, survey method was used to reveal the effect of different…

Analysis of Copper-Bearing Rocks and Minerals for Their Metal Content Using Visible Spectroscopy: A First Year Chemistry Laboratory Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Bopegedera, A. M. R. P.

2016-01-01

General chemistry and introductory chemistry students were presented with a laboratory exploration for the determination of the mass percent of copper in rock and mineral samples. They worked independently in the laboratory, which involved multiple lab (pipetting, preparing standard solutions by quantitative dilution, recording visible spectra…

Formalizing the First Day in an Organic Chemistry Laboratory Using a Studio-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Collison, Christina G.; Cody, Jeremy; Smith, Darren; Swartzenberg, Jennifer

2015-01-01

A novel studio-based lab module that incorporates student-centered activities was designed and implemented to introduce second-year undergraduate students to the first-semester organic chemistry laboratory. The "First Day" studio module incorporates learning objectives for the course, lab safety, and keeping a professional lab notebook.

Energy Connections and Misconnections across Chemistry and Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohn, Kathryn P; Underwood, Sonia M; Cooper, Melanie M

2018-01-01

Despite the number of university students who take courses in multiple science disciplines, little is known about how they connect concepts between disciplines. Energy is a concept that underlies all scientific phenomena and, as such, provides an appropriate context in which to investigate student connections and misconnections across disciplines. In this study, university students concurrently enrolled in introductory chemistry and biology were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the integration of energy both within and across the disciplines, and how they attempted to accommodate and reconcile different disciplinary approaches to energy, to inform future, interdisciplinary course reform. Findings suggest that, while students believed energy to be important to the scientific world and to the disciplines of biology and chemistry, the extent to which it was seen as central to success in their courses varied. Differences were also apparent in students' descriptions of the molecular-level mechanisms by which energy transfer occurs. These findings reveal a disconnect between how energy is understood and used in introductory science course work and uncovers opportunities to make stronger connections across the disciplines. We recommend that instructors engage in interdisciplinary conversations and consider the perspectives and goals of other disciplines when teaching introductory science courses. © 2018 K. P. Kohn et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2018 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Synthesis of liquid crystals derived from nitroazobenzene: a proposed multistep synthesis applied to organic chemistry laboratory classes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cristiano, Rodrigo; Cabral, Marilia Gabriela B.; Aquino, Rafael B. de; Cristiano, Claudia M.Z.

2014-01-01

We describe a synthetic route consisting of five steps from aniline to obtain liquid crystal compounds derived from nitroazobenzene. Syntheses were performed during the second half of the semester in organic chemistry laboratory classes. Students characterized the liquid crystal phase by the standard melting point techniques, differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy. These experiments allow undergraduate students to explore fundamentally important reactions in Organic Chemistry, as well as modern concepts in Chemistry such as self-assembly and self-organization, nanostructured materials and molecular electronics. (author)

Implementation of picoSpin Benchtop NMR Instruments into Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratories through Spectral Analysis of Fischer Esterification Products

Science.gov (United States)

Yearty, Kasey L.; Sharp, Joseph T.; Meehan, Emma K.; Wallace, Doyle R.; Jackson, Douglas M.; Morrison, Richard W.

2017-01-01

[Superscript 1]H NMR analysis is an important analytical technique presented in introductory organic chemistry courses. NMR instrument access is limited for undergraduate organic chemistry students due to the size of the instrument, price of NMR solvents, and the maintenance level required for instrument upkeep. The University of Georgia Chemistry…

Measuring meaningful learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Galloway, Kelli R.

The undergraduate chemistry laboratory has been an essential component in chemistry education for over a century. The literature includes reports on investigations of singular aspects laboratory learning and attempts to measure the efficacy of reformed laboratory curriculum as well as faculty goals for laboratory learning which found common goals among instructors for students to learn laboratory skills, techniques, experimental design, and to develop critical thinking skills. These findings are important for improving teaching and learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory, but research is needed to connect the faculty goals to student perceptions. This study was designed to explore students' ideas about learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. Novak's Theory of Meaningful Learning was used as a guide for the data collection and analysis choices for this research. Novak's theory states that in order for meaningful learning to occur the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains must be integrated. The psychomotor domain is inherent in the chemistry laboratory, but the extent to which the cognitive and affective domains are integrated is unknown. For meaningful learning to occur in the laboratory, students must actively integrate both the cognitive domain and the affective domains into the "doing" of their laboratory work. The Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) was designed to measure students' cognitive and affective expectations and experiences within the context of conducting experiments in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. Evidence for the validity and reliability of the data generated by the MLLI were collected from multiple quantitative studies: a one semester study at one university, a one semester study at 15 colleges and universities across the United States, and a longitudinal study where the MLLI was administered 6 times during two years of general and organic chemistry laboratory courses. Results from

Analysis of student engagement in an online annotation system in the context of a flipped introductory physics class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly Miller

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We discuss student participation in an online social annotation forum over two semesters of a flipped, introductory physics course at Harvard University. We find that students who engage in high-level discussion online, especially by providing answers to their peers’ questions, make more gains in conceptual understanding than students who do not. This is true regardless of students’ physics background. We find that we can steer online interaction towards more productive and engaging discussion by seeding the discussion and managing the size of the sections. Seeded sections produce higher quality annotations and a greater proportion of generative threads than unseeded sections. Larger sections produce longer threads; however, beyond a certain section size, the quality of the discussion decreases.

Optimizing the continuum of cycle chemistry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mathews, James A. [Electric Power Research Institute, Charlotte, NC (United States). Generation Sector, Steam and Cycle Chemistry

2012-07-15

In 2011 EPRI issued the fourth (4th) major revision to the cycle chemistry guidelines for fossil plants, re-combining the previously segregated ''treatment'' guidelines into a comprehensive document. As with each of the series of previous revisions, the 2011 updated guidelines focus on the optimization of chemistry practices for maintaining the availability, reliability, and economic performance of fossil power plants. A key element in the development and revision of the guidelines is extensive research conducted over the past fifty (50) plus years. Providing an understanding the elements of the power plant cycle and the interrelationships of the best chemistry practices are a basic tenet of the introductory chapters of the guidelines. The target values for each treatment practice and location in the cycle are discussed with specific emphasis on optimization and customization to achieve excellent corrosion protection and elimination of deposition and component damage and failure. The rationale for proper chemistry is presented; for example properly maintaining oxidizing potentials, impact of temperature on pH control, assuring alkaline (sodium) neutralization for controlling boiler corrosion, and other considerations. (orig.)

Typewriting--Less-Than-a-Semester Credit Basis

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Schramm, Dwayne

1974-01-01

Five advantages to be gained in teaching typing in a time structure less rigid than the traditional semester are itemized. The implications for typewriting teachers as a more individualized approach is used are considered. (AG)

Based on a True Story: Using Movies as Source Material for General Chemistry Reports

Science.gov (United States)

Griep, Mark A.; Mikasen, Marjorie L.

2005-10-01

Research for chemical reports and case study analysis of chemical topics are two commonly used learning activities to engage and enrich student understanding of the content in introductory chemistry courses. Even though movies are excellent vehicles for exploring the human dimension of events, they have been used only sparingly as source material in introductory science courses. One reason for this sparing use has been the lack of a list of suitable movies. To fill this void, a list of one dozen highly rated movies is presented. The focus of these movies is either a scientist's chemical research or the societal impact of some chemical compound. The method by which two of these movies were used as source material for a written report in a general chemistry course is described. The student response to the exercise was enthusiastic.

Some participants may be better than others: sustained attention and motivation are higher early in semester.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, Michael E R; Loveless, Kellie M; Thomas, Nicole A; Loetscher, Tobias; Churches, Owen

2015-01-01

Many studies use multiexperiment designs where experiments are carried out at different times of semester. When comparing between experiments, the data may be confounded by between-participants effects related to motivation. Research indicates that course-credit participants who engage in research early in semester have different personality and performance characteristics compared to those tested late in semester. This study examined whether the semester effect is caused by internal (inherent motivation of the participant) or external (looming exams, essays) factors. To do this, sustained attention and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation was measured in groups of course-credit (n = 40) and paid (n = 40) participants early and late in semester. While there was no difference in sustained attention between the groups early in semester, the course-credit group performed significantly worse late in semester. The course-credit group also showed a significant decrease in intrinsic motivation with time whereas the paid participants showed no change. Because changes were not seen for both groups, the semester difference cannot be due to external factors. Instead, the data demonstrate that course-credit participants who engage early have high sustained attention and intrinsic motivation compared to their late counterparts, who leave their participation to the last minute. Researchers who use multiexperimental designs across semester need to control for these effects--perhaps by using paid participants who do not vary across semester.

How Should I Study for the Exam? Self-Regulated Learning Strategies and Achievement in Introductory Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebesta, Amanda J; Bray Speth, Elena

2017-01-01

In college introductory science courses, students are challenged with mastering large amounts of disciplinary content while developing as autonomous and effective learners. Self-regulated learning (SRL) is the process of setting learning goals, monitoring progress toward them, and applying appropriate study strategies. SRL characterizes successful, "expert" learners, and develops with time and practice. In a large, undergraduate introductory biology course, we investigated: 1) what SRL strategies students reported using the most when studying for exams, 2) which strategies were associated with higher achievement and with grade improvement on exams, and 3) what study approaches students proposed to use for future exams. Higher-achieving students, and students whose exam grades improved in the first half of the semester, reported using specific cognitive and metacognitive strategies significantly more frequently than their lower-achieving peers. Lower-achieving students more frequently reported that they did not implement their planned strategies or, if they did, still did not improve their outcomes. These results suggest that many students entering introductory biology have limited knowledge of SRL strategies and/or limited ability to implement them, which can impact their achievement. Course-specific interventions that promote SRL development should be considered as integral pedagogical tools, aimed at fostering development of students' lifelong learning skills. © 2017 A. J. Sebesta and E. Bray Speth. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2017 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Development and Nature of Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Nature of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Demirdögen, Betül; Hanuscin, Deborah L.; Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen; Köseoglu, Fitnat

2016-01-01

The purpose of this case study is to delve into the complexities of the early development of preservice chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations, knowledge of learners, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of assessment during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for…

Evolving Roles For Teaching Assistants In Introductory Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Dunbar, R. W.; Egger, A. E.; Schwartz, J. K.

2008-12-01

As we bring new research-based learning approaches, curricular innovations, and student engagement practices into the introductory science classroom, expectations of teaching assistants (TAs) should have, and have, changed. Similarly, the 21st century teaching assistant has different expectations of us. Maintaining relevance in this context means bringing TAs into an integrated teaching team that supports effective learning for students and provides structured professional development opportunities for TAs. A number of support efforts on our campus, with counterparts at many other universities, seek to optimize the instructional impact of faculty and teaching assistants, thus opening the door to enhanced student engagement (e.g. the quality of effort students put forth, their persistence in science and/or engineering courses, and their perception of scientific relevance in everyday life). Among these efforts, School of Earth Sciences course development TAs work 1:1 in advance of the term with introductory course faculty to design exercises and course materials that meet clearly articulated student learning goals or pedagogical challenges. Throughout the process, TAs are mentored by the faculty as well as science pedagogy experts. Initially funded by a major teaching award, the School is now moving to institutionalize this successful program which has broadened the definition of the TA role. Another area of optimization, reflecting Shulman's concept of pedagogical content knowledge, is our campus mandate that TA development take place within a departmental, as well as general, context. Both Chemistry and Physics expect introductory course TAs to lead interactive, guided-inquiry or tutorial-style sections. Integrating these sections with lecture and positively reinforcing course goals requires TA buy-in and a set of pedagogical facilitation skills cultivated through course-specific training and active mentoring while teaching. To better support the mentoring process

Plasma medicine: an introductory review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kong, M G; Kroesen, G; Van Dijk, J; Morfill, G; Nosenko, T; Shimizu, T; Zimmermann, J L

2009-01-01

This introductory review on plasma health care is intended to provide the interested reader with a summary of the current status of this emerging field, its scope, and its broad interdisciplinary approach, ranging from plasma physics, chemistry and technology, to microbiology, biochemistry, biophysics, medicine and hygiene. Apart from the basic plasma processes and the restrictions and requirements set by international health standards, the review focuses on plasma interaction with prokaryotic cells (bacteria), eukaryotic cells (mammalian cells), cell membranes, DNA etc. In so doing, some of the unfamiliar terminology-an unavoidable by-product of interdisciplinary research-is covered and explained. Plasma health care may provide a fast and efficient new path for effective hospital (and other public buildings) hygiene-helping to prevent and contain diseases that are continuously gaining ground as resistance of pathogens to antibiotics grows. The delivery of medically active 'substances' at the molecular or ionic level is another exciting topic of research through effects on cell walls (permeabilization), cell excitation (paracrine action) and the introduction of reactive species into cell cytoplasm. Electric fields, charging of surfaces, current flows etc can also affect tissue in a controlled way. The field is young and hopes are high. It is fitting to cover the beginnings in New Journal of Physics, since it is the physics (and non-equilibrium chemistry) of room temperature atmospheric pressure plasmas that have made this development of plasma health care possible.

The European Project Semester at ISEP: The Challenge of Educating Global Engineers

Science.gov (United States)

Malheiro, Benedita; Silva, Manuel; Ribeiro, Maria Cristina; Guedes, Pedro; Ferreira, Paulo

2015-01-01

Current engineering education challenges require approaches that promote scientific, technical, design and complementary skills while fostering autonomy, innovation and responsibility. The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme (30 European…

Development of a Research-Oriented Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Course

Science.gov (United States)

Vallarino, L. M.; Polo, D. L.; Esperdy, K.

2001-02-01

We report the development of a research-oriented, senior-level laboratory course in inorganic chemistry, which is a requirement for chemistry majors who plan to receive the ACS-approved Bachelor of Science degree and is a recommended elective for other chemistry majors. The objective of this course is to give all students the advantage of a research experience in which questions stemming from the literature lead to the formulation of hypotheses, and answers are sought through experiment. The one-semester Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory is ideal for this purpose, since for most students it represents the last laboratory experience before graduation and can assume the role of "capstone" course--a course where students are challenged to recall previously learned concepts and skills and put them into practice in the performance of an individual, original research project. The medium chosen for this teaching approach is coordination chemistry, a branch of chemistry that involves the interaction of inorganic and organic compounds and requires the use of various synthetic and analytical methods. This paper presents an outline of the course organization and requirements, examples of activities performed by the students, and a critical evaluation of the first five years' experience.

GANGGUAN CEMAS PADA MAHASISWA SEMESTER I DAN VII PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN DOKTER FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN UNIVERSITAS UDAYANA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dyah Chandratika

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Penting untuk dilakukan penelitian mengenai gangguan cemas pada mahasiswa kedokteran karena tingginya tingkat stres mahasiswa terutama pada tahun pertama perkuliahan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui prevalensi dan perbedaan skor  gangguan  cemas  pada mahasiswa  semester  I dan  VII serta untuk  mengetahui perbedaan skor gangguan cemas antara mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan di Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Udayana. Desain penelitian ini adalah cross sectional analitik. Pengambilan sampel dilakukan secara random sampling. Sampel mengisi identitas, kuesioner L-MMPI, kuesioner Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS. Kemudian dihitung prevalensi gangguan cemas tiap kelompok serta data dianalisis menggunakan uji t-independen. Terdapat 15 orang (25,0% mahasiswa semester I dan 7 orang (11,7% mahasiswa semester VII yang mengalami gangguan cemas. Dari hasil uji t-independen antara skor gangguan cemas mahasiswa semester I dan VII diperoleh nilai p = 0,001 (<0,05. Sedangkan diperoleh p = 0,080 antara mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan pada semester I dan p = 0,744 antara mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan pada semester VII. Prevalensi gangguan cemas pada mahasiswa semester I yaitu 25,0% sedangkan 11,7% pada mahasiswa semester VII. Terdapat perbedaan bermakna antara skor gangguan cemas mahasiswa semester I dan VII. Tidak ditemukan perbedaan bermakna skor gangguan cemas antara laki-laki dan perempuan.   

Arrow Pushing: A Rational, Participatory Approach to Teaching Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Steffen; Ghosh, Abhik

2011-01-01

Inorganic chemistry at core consists of a vast array of molecules and chemical reactions. To master the subject, students must learn to think intelligently about this vast body of facts, a feat seldom accomplished in an introductory course. All too often, young undergraduate students perceive the field as an amorphous and illogical body of…

How gender and reformed introductory physics impacts student success in advanced physics courses and continuation in the physics major

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Idaykis; Potvin, Geoff; Kramer, Laird H.

2016-12-01

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] Active-learning approaches to teaching introductory physics have been found to improve student learning and affective gains on short-term outcomes [S. Freeman et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111, 8410 (2014)]; however, whether or not the benefits of active learning impact women to the same degree as men has been a point of concern [A. Madsen, S. B. McKagan, and E. C. Sayre, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 9, 020121 (2013)]. Further, the long-term impacts of active-learning experiences are also understudied. At Florida International University, a Hispanic-majority institution, we have implemented Modeling Instruction (MI) and the Integrated Science Learning Environment (ISLE) in introductory physics classes for the past decade. In this empirical paper, we report on a longitudinal investigation of student performance and persistence in upper level physics courses after having previously experienced MI or ISLE in their introductory physics courses, and disaggregate students by gender. Using survival analysis methods, we find women who declare physics as a major are more likely than men to graduate with a physics degree. Women are also just as likely as men to pass through the upper division courses, with the highest failure risk for both men and women occurring in the first semester of upper-division course taking. These results reinforce the need to expand considerations of performance outcomes to be longitudinal to measure the effectiveness of the entire physics experience.

How gender and reformed introductory physics impacts student success in advanced physics courses and continuation in the physics major

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Idaykis Rodriguez

2016-08-01

Full Text Available [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] Active-learning approaches to teaching introductory physics have been found to improve student learning and affective gains on short-term outcomes [S. Freeman et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111, 8410 (2014]; however, whether or not the benefits of active learning impact women to the same degree as men has been a point of concern [A. Madsen, S. B. McKagan, and E. C. Sayre, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 9, 020121 (2013]. Further, the long-term impacts of active-learning experiences are also understudied. At Florida International University, a Hispanic-majority institution, we have implemented Modeling Instruction (MI and the Integrated Science Learning Environment (ISLE in introductory physics classes for the past decade. In this empirical paper, we report on a longitudinal investigation of student performance and persistence in upper level physics courses after having previously experienced MI or ISLE in their introductory physics courses, and disaggregate students by gender. Using survival analysis methods, we find women who declare physics as a major are more likely than men to graduate with a physics degree. Women are also just as likely as men to pass through the upper division courses, with the highest failure risk for both men and women occurring in the first semester of upper-division course taking. These results reinforce the need to expand considerations of performance outcomes to be longitudinal to measure the effectiveness of the entire physics experience.

College cafeteria snack food purchases become less healthy with each passing week of the semester.

Science.gov (United States)

Wansink, Brian; Cao, Ying; Saini, Prerna; Shimizu, Mitsuru; Just, David R

2013-07-01

Snacks, stress and parties all contribute to the weight gain – the elusive ‘Freshman 15’ – that some college-goers unfortunately experience. The present study examines how a` la carte snack choice changes on a university campus during each progressing week of the academic calendar. How a` la carte snack choices change on a university campus with each progressing week of the academic calendar was examined. The data were collected from three large cafeterias (or dining halls) on Cornell University’s campus during four semesters (Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007 and Spring 2008), for 18 weeks in each semester. After the a` la carte snack items were divided into healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks, the percentage share for each food category was calculated. Within each semester, the unhealthy snack food choices increased consistently by 0?4% per week (b50?00418, P,0?01). Furthermore, a sharp (8 %) increase occurred in the final two weeks of the semester. In contrast, healthy snack food choices decreased by almost 4% (b520?0408, P,0?01) in the final two weeks during the fall semester. These results demonstrate an increased demand for hedonic, or unhealthy, snack foods as the college semester progresses and in particular at the very end of the semester. To counter this tendency towards unhealthy snacking, cafeterias and stores should make extra effort to promote healthy alternatives during the later weeks of the semester.

Investigations of nitrogen oxide plasmas: Fundamental chemistry and surface reactivity and monitoring student perceptions in a general chemistry recitation

Science.gov (United States)

Blechle, Joshua M.

unparalleled insight into the chemistry of these plasma systems. Part II of this work is focused on understanding the efficacy of a general chemistry recitation program. Such programs can be an valuable tool for improving students' problem solving skills and understanding using methods that are difficult to implement in large lecture settings. Here, general chemistry students at Colorado State University participated in a variety of recitation activities throughout the first semester of a 2-semester general chemistry sequence, including peer-led exercises, games, and scaffolded worksheets. Through weekly surveys, students were asked to evaluate and assess recitation activities for both interest and effectiveness as part of their course homework. Also included in these survey assignments were content questions relevant to the weekly themes, providing a measure of student learning of recitation topics. Student opinions were correlated with content retention, and these data were compared against student responses to a pre-survey administered before the first recitation session. This analysis allows for monitoring students' expectations of recitation courses and how well those expectations are met through the various types of activities employed. Ultimately, this work has found that students have positive feeling with respect to individual assignments, but that perspectives on chemistry and the course in general decrease dramatically from the beginning to the end of the semester. Thus, this work can serve as a significant starting points for future efforts to monitor and record student perceptions in the general chemistry recitation classroom, leading to further investigation into the source of changing attitudes and the role that week-to-week activities have on global course attitudes.

Aqueous chemistry of transactinides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaedel, M.

2001-01-01

The aqueous chemistry of the first three transactinide elements is briefly reviewed with special emphasis given to recent experimental results. Short introductory remarks are discussing the atom-at-a-time situation of transactinide chemistry as a result of low production cross-sections and short half-lives. In general, on-line experimental techniques and, more specifically, the automated rapid chemistry apparatus, ARCA, are presented. Present and future developments of experimental techniques and resulting perspectives are outlined at the end. The central part is mainly focussing on hydrolysis and complex formation aspects of the superheavy group 4, 5, and 6 transition metals with F - and Cl - anions. Experimental results are compared with the behaviour of lighter homologous elements and with relativistic calculations. It will be shown that the chemical behaviour of the first superheavy elements is already strongly influenced by relativistic effects. While it is justified to place rutherfordium, dubnium and seaborgium in the Periodic Table of the Elements into group 4, 5 and 6, respectively, it is no more possible to deduce from this position in detail the chemical properties of these transactinide or superheavy elements. (orig.)

Increasing character value and conservation behavior through integrated ethnoscience chemistry in chemistry learning: A Case Study in The Department of Science Universitas Negeri Semarang.

Science.gov (United States)

Sudarmin; Sumarni, Woro

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study was to obtain a factual picture of the improvement of students' conservation character and conservation behavior through the application integrated ethnoscience chemistry learning. This research was a case study on students majoring in the Department Of Science Mathematics and Natural Science Faculty Universitas Negeri Semarang. The subjects of the study were 30 students attending ethnoscience course in one of the teacher education institutions in the even semester of the academic year of 2016/2017. The subjects were given chemistry learning integrated into ethnoscience for eight weeks. The technique of data collection was done by using attitude scale arranged based on Likert scale. The data were analyzed by using qualitative descriptive. The results showed that the integrated ethnoscience chemistry learning contributed positively to the improvement of the character value and conservation behavior

Active learning and student-centered pedagogy improve student attitudes and performance in introductory biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Armbruster, Peter; Patel, Maya; Johnson, Erika; Weiss, Martha

2009-01-01

We describe the development and implementation of an instructional design that focused on bringing multiple forms of active learning and student-centered pedagogies to a one-semester, undergraduate introductory biology course for both majors and nonmajors. Our course redesign consisted of three major elements: 1) reordering the presentation of the course content in an attempt to teach specific content within the context of broad conceptual themes, 2) incorporating active and problem-based learning into every lecture, and 3) adopting strategies to create a more student-centered learning environment. Assessment of our instructional design consisted of a student survey and comparison of final exam performance across 3 years-1 year before our course redesign was implemented (2006) and during two successive years of implementation (2007 and 2008). The course restructuring led to significant improvement of self-reported student engagement and satisfaction and increased academic performance. We discuss the successes and ongoing challenges of our course restructuring and consider issues relevant to institutional change.

Investigating Student Perceptions of the Chemistry Laboratory and Their Approaches to Learning in the Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Spencer Granett

This dissertation explores student perceptions of the instructional chemistry laboratory and the approaches students take when learning in the laboratory environment. To measure student perceptions of the chemistry laboratory, a survey instrument was developed. 413 students responded to the survey during the Fall 2011 semester. Students' perception of the usefulness of the laboratory in helping them learn chemistry in high school was related to several factors regarding their experiences in high school chemistry. Students' perception of the usefulness of the laboratory in helping them learn chemistry in college was also measured. Reasons students provided for the usefulness of the laboratory were categorized. To characterize approaches to learning in the laboratory, students were interviewed midway through semester (N=18). The interviews were used to create a framework describing learning approaches that students use in the laboratory environment. Students were categorized into three levels: students who view the laboratory as a requirement, students who believe that the laboratory augments their understanding, and students who view the laboratory as an important part of science. These categories describe the types of strategies students used when conducting experiments. To further explore the relationship between students' perception of the laboratory and their approaches to learning, two case studies are described. These case studies involve interviews in the beginning and end of the semester. In the interviews, students reflect on what they have learned in the laboratory and describe their perceptions of the laboratory environment. In order to encourage students to adopt higher-level approaches to learning in the laboratory, a metacognitive intervention was created. The intervention involved supplementary questions that students would answer while completing laboratory experiments. The questions were designed to encourage students to think critically about the

Mathematical Rigor in Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Vandyke, Michael; Bassichis, William

2011-10-01

Calculus-based introductory physics courses intended for future engineers and physicists are often designed and taught in the same fashion as those intended for students of other disciplines. A more mathematically rigorous curriculum should be more appropriate and, ultimately, more beneficial for the student in his or her future coursework. This work investigates the effects of mathematical rigor on student understanding of introductory mechanics. Using a series of diagnostic tools in conjunction with individual student course performance, a statistical analysis will be performed to examine student learning of introductory mechanics and its relation to student understanding of the underlying calculus.

Exercises in statistics for HA & HA(dat.) & BSc(B), 3rd semester

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The booklet contains excercises to be used for the tutorials related to the 3rd semester course in statistics on the bachelors progarmme at the Aarhus School of Business.......The booklet contains excercises to be used for the tutorials related to the 3rd semester course in statistics on the bachelors progarmme at the Aarhus School of Business....

Differences in academic performance and self-regulated learning based on level of student participation in supplemental instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Mack, Ana C.

This study examined differences in academic performance and self-regulated learning based on levels of student participation in Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions in two introductory undergraduate biology and chemistry courses offered at University of Central Florida in the Spring 2006 semester. The sample consisted of 282 students enrolled in the biology class and 451 students enrolled in chemistry. Academic performance was measured using students' final course grades and rates of withdrawal from the courses. The self-regulated learning constructs of motivation, cognition, metacognition, and resource management were measured using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Relationships between students' gender and ethnic background and levels of SI participation were also analyzed in this research. Findings in both biology and chemistry courses revealed a statistically significant decrease in student motivation from beginning to end of semester. In chemistry, frequent SI participants also showed statistically significantly higher levels of motivation at the end of the semester than occasional and non-SI participants. There were no statistically significant gains in cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies from beginning to end of semester. However, statistically significant differences in resource management were observed at the end of the semester among SI attendance groups in both courses. Students in the high SI attendance group were more likely to use learning resources than those who did not participate regularly or did not participate at all. Statistically significant differences in academic performance based on students' SI participation were found in both biology and chemistry courses. Frequent SI participants had significantly higher final percentage grades and were more likely to receive grades of A, B, or C, than those who either did not attend SI regularly of did not participate at all. They were also less

Writing to Learn and Learning to Write across the Disciplines: Peer-to-Peer Writing in Introductory-Level MOOCs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise K. Comer

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate how peer-to-peer interactions through writing impact student learning in introductory-level massive open online courses (MOOCs across disciplines. This article presents the results of a qualitative coding analysis of peer-to-peer interactions in two introductory level MOOCs: English Composition I: Achieving Expertise and Introduction to Chemistry. Results indicate that peer-to-peer interactions in writing through the forums and through peer assessment enhance learner understanding, link to course learning objectives, and generally contribute positively to the learning environment. Moreover, because forum interactions and peer review occur in written form, our research contributes to open distance learning (ODL scholarship by highlighting the importance of writing to learn as a significant pedagogical practice that should be encouraged more in MOOCs across disciplines.

Charting an Alternate Pathway to Reaction Orders and Rate Laws in Introductory Chemistry Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Rushton, Gregory T.; Criswell, Brett A.; McAllister, Nicole D.; Polizzi, Samuel J.; Moore, Lamesha A.; Pierre, Michelle S.

2014-01-01

Reaction kinetics is an axiomatic topic in chemistry that is often addressed as early as the high school course and serves as the foundation for more sophisticated conversations in college-level organic, physical, and biological chemistry courses. Despite the fundamental nature of reaction kinetics, students can struggle with transforming their…

Many Labs 3 : Evaluating participant pool quality across the academic semester via replication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ebersole, Charles R.; Atherton, Olivia E.; Belanger, Aimee L.; Skulborstad, Hayley M.; Allen, Jill M.; Banks, Jonathan B.; Baranski, Erica; Bernstein, Michael J.; Bonfiglio, Diane B. V.; Boucher, Leanne; Brown, Elizabeth R.; Budiman, Nancy I.; Cairo, Athena H.; Capaldi, Colin A.; Chartier, Christopher R.; Chung, J.M.H.; Cicero, David C.; Coleman, Jennifer A.; Conway, John G.; Davis, William E.; Devos, Thierry; Fletcher, Melody M.; German, Komi; Grahe, Jon E.; Hermann, Anthony D.; Hicks, Joshua A.; Honeycutt, Nathan; Humphrey, Brandon; Janus, Matthew; Johnson, David J.; Joy-Gaba, Jennifer A.; Juzeler, Hannah; Keres, Ashley; Kinney, Diana; Kirshenbaum, Jacqeline; Klein, Richard A.; Lucas, Richard E.; Lustgraaf, Christopher J. N.; Martin, Daniel; Menon, Madhavi; Metzger, Mitchell; Moloney, Jaclyn M.; Morse, Patrick J.; Prislin, Radmila; Razza, Timothy; Re, Daniel E.; Rule, Nicholas O.; Sacco, Tdonald F.; Sauerberger, Kyle; Shrider, Emily; Shultz, Megan; Siemsen, Courtney; Sobocko, Karin; Sternglanz, R. Weylin; Summerville, Amy; Tskhay, Konstantin O.; van Allen, Zack; Vaughn, Leigh Ann; Walker, Ryan J.; Weinberg, Ashley; Wilson, John Paul; Wirth, James H.; Wortman, Jessica; Nosek, Brian A.

2016-01-01

The university participant pool is a key resource for behavioral research, and data quality is believed to vary over the course of the academic semester. This crowdsourced project examined time of semester variation in 10 known effects, 10 individual differences, and 3 data quality indicators over

Students' Attitudes, Self-Efficacy and Experiences in a Modified Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning Undergraduate Chemistry Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Vishnumolakala, Venkat Rao; Southam, Daniel C.; Treagust, David F.; Mocerino, Mauro; Qureshi, Sheila

2017-01-01

This one-semester, mixed methods study underpinning social cognition and theory of planned behaviour investigated the attitudes, self-efficacy, and experiences of 559 first year undergraduate chemistry students from two cohorts in modified process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) classes. Versions of attitude toward the study of chemistry…

Laser experiments for chemistry and physics

CERN Document Server

Compton, Robert N

2016-01-01

Lasers are employed throughout science and technology, in fundamental research, the remote sensing of atmospheric gases or pollutants, communications, medical diagnostics and therapies, and the manufacturing of microelectronic devices. Understanding the principles of their operation, which underlie all of these areas, is essential for a modern scientific education. This text introduces the characteristics and operation of lasers through laboratory experiments designed for the undergraduate curricula in chemistry and physics. Introductory chapters describe the properties of light, the history of laser invention, the atomic, molecular, and optical principles behind how lasers work, and the kinds of lasers available today. Other chapters include the basic theory of spectroscopy and computational chemistry used to interpret laser experiments. Experiments range from simple in-class demonstrations to more elaborate configurations for advanced students. Each chapter has historical and theoretical background, as well...

Effects of `Environmental Chemistry' Elective Course Via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry Model on Some Variables

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-06-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of `environmental chemistry' elective course via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model on senior science student teachers' (SSSTs) conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) levels. Within one group pre-test-post-test design, the study was conducted with 117 SSSTs (68 females and 49 males—aged 21-23 years) enrolled in an `environmental chemistry' elective course in the spring semester of 2011-2012 academic-years. Instruments for data collection comprised of Environmental Chemistry Conceptual Understanding Questionnaire, TPACK survey, and Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire. Significant increases in the SSSTs' conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and TPACK levels are attributed to the SSSTs learning how to use the innovative technologies in the contexts of the `environmental chemistry' elective course and teaching practicum. The study implies that the TESI model may serve a useful purpose in experimental science courses that use the innovative technologies. However, to generalize feasibility of the TESI model, it should be evaluated with SSSTs in diverse learning contexts.

Introductory statistics for engineering experimentation

CERN Document Server

Nelson, Peter R; Coffin, Marie

2003-01-01

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) introduced a criterion starting with their 1992-1993 site visits that "Students must demonstrate a knowledge of the application of statistics to engineering problems." Since most engineering curricula are filled with requirements in their own discipline, they generally do not have time for a traditional two semesters of probability and statistics. Attempts to condense that material into a single semester often results in so much time being spent on probability that the statistics useful for designing and analyzing engineering/scientific experiments is never covered. In developing a one-semester course whose purpose was to introduce engineering/scientific students to the most useful statistical methods, this book was created to satisfy those needs. - Provides the statistical design and analysis of engineering experiments & problems - Presents a student-friendly approach through providing statistical models for advanced learning techniques - Cove...

LOGICAL REASONING ABILITY AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN GENERAL CHEMISTRY.

Science.gov (United States)

Bird, Lillian

2010-03-01

Logical reasoning skills of students enrolled in General Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras were measured using the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) test. The results were used to determine the students' cognitive level (concrete, transitional, formal) as well as their level of performance by logical reasoning mode (mass/volume conservation, proportional reasoning, correlational reasoning, experimental variable control, probabilistic reasoning and combinatorial reasoning). This information was used to identify particular deficiencies and gender effects, and to determine which logical reasoning modes were the best predictors of student performance in the general chemistry course. Statistical tests to analyze the relation between (a) operational level and final grade in both semesters of the course; (b) GALT test results and performance in the ACS General Chemistry Examination; and (c) operational level and student approach (algorithmic or conceptual) towards a test question that may be answered correctly using either strategy, were also performed.

An Integrated Visualization and Basic Molecular Modeling Laboratory for First-Year Undergraduate Medicinal Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Joseph M.

2014-01-01

A 3D model visualization and basic molecular modeling laboratory suitable for first-year undergraduates studying introductory medicinal chemistry is presented. The 2 h practical is embedded within a series of lectures on drug design, target-drug interactions, enzymes, receptors, nucleic acids, and basic pharmacokinetics. Serving as a teaching aid…

Internet computer coaches for introductory physics problem solving

Science.gov (United States)

Xu Ryan, Qing

The ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts is becoming increasingly important in our rapidly changing technological society. Problem-solving is a complex process that is important for everyday life and crucial for learning physics. Although there is a great deal of effort to improve student problem solving skills throughout the educational system, national studies have shown that the majority of students emerge from such courses having made little progress toward developing good problem-solving skills. The Physics Education Research Group at the University of Minnesota has been developing Internet computer coaches to help students become more expert-like problem solvers. During the Fall 2011 and Spring 2013 semesters, the coaches were introduced into large sections (200+ students) of the calculus based introductory mechanics course at the University of Minnesota. This dissertation, will address the research background of the project, including the pedagogical design of the coaches and the assessment of problem solving. The methodological framework of conducting experiments will be explained. The data collected from the large-scale experimental studies will be discussed from the following aspects: the usage and usability of these coaches; the usefulness perceived by students; and the usefulness measured by final exam and problem solving rubric. It will also address the implications drawn from this study, including using this data to direct future coach design and difficulties in conducting authentic assessment of problem-solving.

A Teaching Method on Basic Chemistry for Freshman (II) : Teaching Method with Pre-test and Post-test

OpenAIRE

立木, 次郎; 武井, 庚二

2004-01-01

This report deals with review of a teaching method on basic chemistry for freshman in this first semester. We tried to review this teaching method with pre-test and post-test by means of the official and private questionnaires. Several hints and thoughts on teaching skills are obtained from this analysis.

Combining Chemical Information Literacy, Communication Skills, Career Preparation, Ethics, and Peer Review in a Team-Taught Chemistry Course

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Mary Lou Baker; Seybold, Paul G.

2016-01-01

The widely acknowledged need to include chemical information competencies and communication skills in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum can be accommodated in a variety of ways. We describe a team-taught, semester-length course at Wright State University which combines chemical information literacy, written and oral communication skills,…

A Genetically Optimized Predictive System for Success in General Chemistry Using a Diagnostic Algebra Test

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Cameron I.; Pearson, Paul T.

2012-01-01

In higher education, many high-enrollment introductory courses have evolved into "gatekeeper" courses due to their high failure rates. These courses prevent many students from attaining their educational goals and often become graduation roadblocks. At the authors' home institution, general chemistry has become a gatekeeper course in which…

Introductory remarks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kiefer, Friedemann; Schulte-Merker, Stefan

2014-01-01

This introductory section briefly highlights the subsequent chapters in the context of recent findings and open questions in lymphatic vessel biology. It aims to provide a quick overview and orientation in the contents of this monograph collection.

Implementation of Gas Chromatography and Microscale Distillation into the General Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum as Vehicles for Examining Intermolecular Forces

Science.gov (United States)

Csizmar, Clifford M.; Force, Dee Ann; Warner, Don L.

2011-01-01

As part of an NSF-funded Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) project that seeks, in part, to increase student exposure to scientific instrumentation, a gas chromatography experiment has been integrated into the second-semester general chemistry laboratory curriculum. The experiment uses affordable, commercially available equipment…

Biotechnology by Design: An Introductory Level, Project-Based, Synthetic Biology Laboratory Program for Undergraduate Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Dale L; Alvarez, Consuelo J

2015-12-01

Synthetic biology offers an ideal opportunity to promote undergraduate laboratory courses with research-style projects, immersing students in an inquiry-based program that enhances the experience of the scientific process. We designed a semester-long, project-based laboratory curriculum using synthetic biology principles to develop a novel sensory device. Students develop subject matter knowledge of molecular genetics and practical skills relevant to molecular biology, recombinant DNA techniques, and information literacy. During the spring semesters of 2014 and 2015, the Synthetic Biology Laboratory Project was delivered to sophomore genetics courses. Using a cloning strategy based on standardized BioBrick genetic "parts," students construct a "reporter plasmid" expressing a reporter gene (GFP) controlled by a hybrid promoter regulated by the lac-repressor protein (lacI). In combination with a "sensor plasmid," the production of the reporter phenotype is inhibited in the presence of a target environmental agent, arabinose. When arabinose is absent, constitutive GFP expression makes cells glow green. But the presence of arabinose activates a second promoter (pBAD) to produce a lac-repressor protein that will inhibit GFP production. Student learning was assessed relative to five learning objectives, using a student survey administered at the beginning (pre-survey) and end (post-survey) of the course, and an additional 15 open-ended questions from five graded Progress Report assignments collected throughout the course. Students demonstrated significant learning gains (p Biology Laboratory Project enhanced their understanding of molecular genetics. The laboratory project is highly adaptable for both introductory and advanced courses.

From Random Walks to Brownian Motion, from Diffusion to Entropy: Statistical Principles in Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Mark

2014-03-01

will present a number of these exercises, with particular focus on the hands-on experiments done by the students, and will give examples of the tangible material that our students work with throughout the two-semester sequence of their course on introductory physics with a bio focus. Supported by NSF DUE.

A Comprehensive Probability Project for the Upper Division One-Semester Probability Course Using Yahtzee

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jason; Lawman, Joshua; Murphy, Rachael; Nelson, Marissa

2011-01-01

This article describes a probability project used in an upper division, one-semester probability course with third-semester calculus and linear algebra prerequisites. The student learning outcome focused on developing the skills necessary for approaching project-sized math/stat application problems. These skills include appropriately defining…

A MOOC for Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Schatz, Michael

2014-03-01

We describe an effort to develop and to implement a college-level introductory physics (mechanics) MOOC that offers bona fide laboratory experiences. We also discuss efforts to use MOOC curricular materials to ``flip'' the classroom in a large lecture introductory physics course offered on-campus at Georgia Tech. Preliminary results of assessments and surveys from both MOOC and on-campus students will be presented.

News clippings for introductory astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Bobrowsky, Matthew

1999-09-01

Most students entering our introductory astronomy course for nonscience majors arrive not merely lacking scientific facts-they also have misconceptions about the nature of science, and many have a handicapping ``science anxiety'' (in addition to math anxiety). So I have added a ``current science'' requirement to our introductory course. Each student must compile a file of five astronomy news articles taken from readily available sources.

Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Student Performance and Retention: A Parallel Controlled Study in General Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Michael D.; Reid, Scott A.

2016-01-01

Despite much recent interest in the flipped classroom, quantitative studies are slowly emerging, particularly in the sciences. We report a year-long parallel controlled study of the flipped classroom in a second-term general chemistry course. The flipped course was piloted in the off-semester course in Fall 2014, and the availability of the…

Psychology Ethics in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Zucchero, Renee' A.

2011-01-01

Previous research revealed that introductory psychology textbooks included limited information about psychology ethics. This study reviewed 48 current introductory psychology textbooks for research and other APA ethics content. These textbooks included slightly more total ethics content and were more thorough in their review of research ethics…

Modeling Human Serum Albumin Tertiary Structure to Teach Upper-Division Chemistry Students Bioinformatics and Homology Modeling Basics

Science.gov (United States)

Petrovic, Dus?an; Zlatovic´, Mario

2015-01-01

A homology modeling laboratory experiment has been developed for an introductory molecular modeling course for upper-division undergraduate chemistry students. With this experiment, students gain practical experience in homology model preparation and assessment as well as in protein visualization using the educational version of PyMOL…

Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fomcenco, Alex

Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law.......Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law....

Depression, stress and anxiety in medical students: A cross-sectional comparison between students from different semesters.

Science.gov (United States)

Moutinho, Ivana Lúcia Damásio; Maddalena, Natalia de Castro Pecci; Roland, Ronald Kleinsorge; Lucchetti, Alessandra Lamas Granero; Tibiriçá, Sandra Helena Cerrato; Ezequiel, Oscarina da Silva; Lucchetti, Giancarlo

2017-01-01

To compare the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress in medical students from all semesters of a Brazilian medical school and assess their respective associated factors. A cross-sectional study of students from the twelve semesters of a Brazilian medical school was carried out. Students filled out a questionnaire including sociodemographics, religiosity (DUREL - Duke Religion Index), and mental health (DASS-21 - Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale). The students were compared for mental health variables (Chi-squared/ANOVA). Linear regression models were employed to assess factors associated with DASS-21 scores. 761 (75.4%) students answered the questionnaire; 34.6% reported depressive symptomatology, 37.2% showed anxiety symptoms, and 47.1% stress symptoms. Significant differences were found for: anxiety - ANOVA: [F = 2.536, p=0.004] between first and tenth (p=0.048) and first and eleventh (p=0.025) semesters; depression - ANOVA: [F = 2.410, p=0.006] between first and second semesters (p=0.045); and stress - ANOVA: [F = 2.968, p=0.001] between seventh and twelfth (p=0.044), tenth and twelfth (p=0.011), and eleventh and twelfth (p=0.001) semesters. The following factors were associated with (a) stress: female gender, anxiety, and depression; (b) depression: female gender, intrinsic religiosity, anxiety, and stress; and (c) anxiety: course semester, depression, and stress. Our findings revealed high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in medical students, with marked differences among course semesters. Gender and religiosity appeared to influence the mental health of the medical students.

Can Earth Materials BE Adequately Covered in a - or Two-Semester Course?

Science.gov (United States)

Hefferan, K. P.; O'Brien, J.

2007-12-01

Traditional geology programs offer courses in mineralogy, optical mineralogy, igneous petrology, metamorphic petrology, sedimentology and economic geology. At many universities this suite of mineralogy/petrology courses has been supplanted by a one-semester or two-semester Earth Materials course. This interactive poster poses five questions to faculty and students related to the means by which Earth Materials can be delivered: 1) Available online syllabi demonstrate a wide variation in the topics addressed in Earth Materials courses; is there a standard core of key topics that must be covered and in what level of detail? 2) Can a one-semester or two- semester Earth Materials course adequately cover these topics? 3) Excellent textbooks exist in both mineralogy and in petrology; what textbooks, if any, adequately encompass Earth Materials? 4) How has the online environment changed the way in which we use textbooks in the classroom? 5) Given the evolution of geology programs, higher education and the global economy in the past twenty years, what additional changes can be anticipated with respect to delivery and demand of Earth Materials topics? Answers-- or at least related discussions-- to these questions are encouraged via verbal dialogue among participants and/or by comments written on the poster. Our goal is to solicit faculty, student and industry feedback to create a textbook, curricula and online materials that support an Earth Materials course.

Minimal Impact of Organic Chemistry Prerequisite on Student Performance in Introductory Biochemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Robin; Cotner, Sehoya; Winkel, Amy

2009-01-01

Curriculum design assumes that successful completion of prerequisite courses will have a positive impact on student performance in courses that require the prerequisite. We recently had the opportunity to test this assumption concerning the relationship between completion of the organic chemistry prerequisite and performance in introductory…

Nontraditional teaching techniques and critical thinking in an introductory postsecondary environmental science course

Science.gov (United States)

Buerdsell, Sherri Lynn

2009-12-01

As an institution of higher education and as a Hispanic-serving institution, New Mexico State University has a responsibility to its students to provide the skills and experiences necessary for each and every student to become a responsible, reflective citizen, capable of making informed decisions. Postsecondary science has traditionally been taught through lectures. Traditional lecture classes simply do not meet the needs of diverse groups of students in the modern multicultural student body like New Mexico State University's. However, the implementation of nontraditional pedagogy without evaluation of the results is useless as a step to reform; it is necessary to evaluate the results of in situ nontraditional pedagogy to determine its worth. The purpose of this research is to analyze the development and change in students' critical thinking skills, and critical thinking dispositions in single semester in an introductory Environmental Science course. This study utilized a mixed methods approach. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory were administered in the beginning and at the end of the semester. The pretest was used to provide a baseline for each participant against which the posttest score was compared. In addition, student interviews, field notes, and a survey provided qualitative data, which generated themes regarding the development of student critical thinking in this course. The results indicated there were no significant differences in the critical thinking test scores. However, qualitative analysis indicated that students experienced significant changes in critical thinking. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis pertaining to the amount of influence on student learning. These themes are active thinking and learning, dialogue, and professor's influence. Due to the conflict between the quantitative and the qualitative results, it is suggested that the critical thinking tests

A semester-long project-oriented biochemistry laboratory based on Helicobacter pylori urease.

Science.gov (United States)

Farnham, Kate R; Dube, Danielle H

2015-01-01

Here we present the development of a 13 week project-oriented biochemistry laboratory designed to introduce students to foundational biochemical techniques and then enable students to perform original research projects once they have mastered these techniques. In particular, we describe a semester-long laboratory that focuses on a biomedically relevant enzyme--Helicobacter pylori (Hp) urease--the activity of which is absolutely required for the gastric pathogen Hp to colonize the human stomach. Over the course of the semester, students undertake a biochemical purification of Hp urease, assess the success of their purification, and investigate the activity of their purified enzyme. In the final weeks of the semester, students design and implement their own experiments to study Hp urease. This laboratory provides students with an understanding of the importance of biochemistry in human health while empowering them to engage in an active area of research. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The Memorability of Introductory Psychology Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Landrum, R. Eric; Gurung, Regan A. R.

2013-01-01

Almost 2 million students enroll in introductory psychology each year in the United States, making it the second most popular undergraduate course in the nation. Introductory psychology not only serves as a prerequisite for other courses in the discipline but for some students this course provides their only exposure to psychological science.…

Bonding, structure and solid-state chemistry

CERN Document Server

Ladd, Mark

2016-01-01

This book is aimed at undergraduate students in both chemistry and those degree subjects in which chemistry forms a significant part. It does not reflect any particular academic year, and so finds a place during the normal span of degree studies in the physical sciences. An A-level standard in science and mathematics is presumed; additional mathematical treatments are discussed in Appendices. An introductory first chapter leads into the main subject matter, which is treated through four chapters in terms of the principle bonding forces of cohesion in the solid state; a further chapter discusses nanosize materials. Important applications of the study topics are interspersed at appropriate points within the text. Each chapter is provided with a set of problems of varying degrees of difficulty, so as to assist the reader in gaining a facility with the subject matter and its applications. The problems are supplemented by detailed tutorial solutions, some of which present additional relevant material that indicate...

Mechanisms before Reactions: A Mechanistic Approach to the Organic Chemistry Curriculum Based on Patterns of Electron Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Alison B.; Ogilvie, William W.

2015-01-01

A significant redesign of the introductory organic chemistry curriculum at the authors' institution is described. There are two aspects that differ greatly from a typical functional group approach. First, organic reaction mechanisms and the electron-pushing formalism are taught before students have learned a single reaction. The conservation of…

Attitude Counts: Self-Concept and Success in General Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Scott E.; Shaw, Janet L.; Heitz, Judith O.; Webster, Gail H.

2009-06-01

General chemistry is a required first step for students who wish to pursue a career in science or health professions. The course often has low rates of student success and as a result serves as a gateway limiting access to science fields. This study seeks to better understand factors that are related to student success in general chemistry by focusing on the affective domain, in this case students' self-concept, or self-evaluation of ability as it pertains to a specific field of study. First, a profile of students' self-concept in the general chemistry setting is created. Next, the relationship between self-concept and success in the course is investigated, including examining the role of self-concept after taking into account a cognitive measure (SAT scores). This study is unique in that evidence is found for the impact of self-concept after taking into account a cognitive measure. Finally, the effect of a semester-long, inquiry-oriented learning environment on students' self-concept is described. Suggested interventions to improve student self-concept are also discussed.

Acid-Base Learning Outcomes for Students in an Introductory Organic Chemistry Course

Science.gov (United States)

Stoyanovich, Carlee; Gandhi, Aneri; Flynn, Alison B.

2015-01-01

An outcome-based approach to teaching and learning focuses on what the student demonstrably knows and can do after instruction, rather than on what the instructor teaches. This outcome-focused approach can then guide the alignment of teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment. In organic chemistry, mastery of organic acid-base…

An Introduction to Boiler Water Chemistry for the Marine Engineer: A Text of Audio-Tutorial Instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlenker, Richard M.; And Others

Presented is a manuscript for an introductory boiler water chemistry course for marine engineer education. The course is modular, self-paced, audio-tutorial, contract graded and combined lecture-laboratory instructed. Lectures are presented to students individually via audio-tapes and 35 mm slides. The course consists of a total of 17 modules -…

Academic literacy diagnostic assessment in the first semester of first year at university

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorinda Palmer

2014-03-01

Full Text Available One vital aspect of the first semester of the first year at university is how academic literacy expectations are made explicit though teaching and assessment practices at the disciplinary level. This paper describes how an academic literacy diagnostic process, and the MASUS tool, was used to ascertain the academic literacy profile of a cohort of undergraduate nursing students [N=569] at the beginning and end of their first semester. Key findings of this quantitative descriptive case study were that only just over half of commencing students possessed appropriate academic literacy skills in all four aspects of the diagnostic and nearly 20% scored in the lowest band—suggesting difficulty with multiple aspects of academic literacy. By the end of semester, 77% of the students who had scored in the lowest band of the MASUS at the beginning of the semester had improved their scores to the middle or highest band, and 73% of them eventually attained a pass or higher grade for the course. The findings of this study suggest that large-scale academic literacy diagnostic assessment, when embedded and contextualized within a course of study, is an effective means of providing the early feedback and targeted support that many commencing university students need.

On flipping first-semester calculus: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Petrillo, Joseph

2016-05-01

High failure rates in calculus have plagued students, teachers, and administrators for decades, while science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programmes continue to suffer from low enrollments and high attrition. In an effort to affect this reality, some educators are 'flipping' (or inverting) their classrooms. By flipping, we mean administering course content outside of the classroom and replacing the traditional in-class lectures with discussion, practice, group work, and other elements of active learning. This paper presents the major results from a three-year study of a flipped, first-semester calculus course at a small, comprehensive, American university with a well-known engineering programme. The data we have collected help quantify the positive and substantial effects of our flipped calculus course on failure rates, scores on the common final exam, student opinion of calculus, teacher impact on measurable outcomes, and success in second-semester calculus. While flipping may not be suitable for every teacher, every student, and in every situation, this report provides some evidence that it may be a viable option for those seeking an alternative to the traditional lecture model.

Química geral experimental: uma nova abordagem didática Experimental general chemistry: a new teaching approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geraldo Eduardo da Luz Júnior

2004-02-01

Full Text Available This essay describes a new didactic approach, in according with the national curriculum guidelines for chemistry undergraduate courses in Brazil, employed during the one-semester course "Experimental General Chemistry" for chemistry undergraduate students at the Federal University of Piauí. The new approach has positively helped student's training by improving their reading skills and their understanding of scientific reports, by developing the use of electronic tools to search and to recover the required knowledge for their learning activities, and by improving their skills of understanding published texts and dealing with digital sources. At the same time the students are strongly stimulated to enter the research program for undergraduate students available at the University.

Creation and Assessment of an Active E-Learning Introductory Geoscience Course

Science.gov (United States)

Sit, S. M.; Brudzinski, M. R.

2014-12-01

The recent emphasis in higher education on both student engagement and online learning has encouraged us to work on the development of an active e-learning environment for our ~90 student undergraduate introductory geohazards course. To begin designing our course, we established a set of student learning outcomes (SLOs) focused on key scientific investigation skills, like analyzing data, evaluating hypotheses, and conveying information to peers. We designed these outcomes to provide students with powerful reasoning and critical thinking skills. Along with this new framework and increased student expectations, we found it beneficial to additionally establish student development outcomes (SDOs). Specifically, SDOs were constructed to address self-evaluation, student responsibility for learning, and valuing group work. Based on these new SLOs and SDOs, we developed a set of course components that engaged students in content, authentic scientific investigations, and group discussions, all within an online environment. The course includes common online learning features like video lectures and comprehension quizzes, but also uses 50% of class periods for student investigation assignments that are conducted using Google Earth and Microsoft Excel. For those assignments, students commonly utilize a short video tutorial demonstrating a new software skill and then apply that knowledge towards investigating topics such as predicting population growth in India or identifying types of volcanoes observed in Hawaii. Results from multiple semesters of teaching both a hybrid and completely online course show significant gains in the geoscience concept inventory over traditional and redesigned face-to-face courses. Additionally, student survey and evaluation data show that our online course improves on SLOs and SDOs when compared to a traditional lecture based course and achieve similar results to a redesigned face-to-face course focused on engagement. In particular, at the end of

The Design and Transformation of Biofundamentals: A Nonsurvey Introductory Evolutionary and Molecular Biology Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Klymkowsky, Michael W; Rentsch, Jeremy D; Begovic, Emina; Cooper, Melanie M

2016-01-01

Many introductory biology courses amount to superficial surveys of disconnected topics. Often, foundational observations and the concepts derived from them and students' ability to use these ideas appropriately are overlooked, leading to unrealistic expectations and unrecognized learning obstacles. The result can be a focus on memorization at the expense of the development of a meaningful framework within which to consider biological phenomena. About a decade ago, we began a reconsideration of what an introductory course should present to students and the skills they need to master. The original Web-based course's design presaged many of the recommendations of the Vision and Change report; in particular, a focus on social evolutionary mechanisms, stochastic (evolutionary and molecular) processes, and core ideas (cellular continuity, evolutionary homology, molecular interactions, coupled chemical reactions, and molecular machines). Inspired by insights from the Chemistry, Life, the Universe & Everything general chemistry project, we transformed the original Web version into a (freely available) book with a more unified narrative flow and a set of formative assessments delivered through the beSocratic system. We outline how student responses to course materials are guiding future course modifications, in particular a more concerted effort at helping students to construct logical, empirically based arguments, explanations, and models. © 2016 M. W. Klymkowsky et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Domestic science: making chemistry your cup of tea.

Science.gov (United States)

Keene, Melanie

2008-03-01

In the early Victorian home, there were plenty of scientific lessons to be uncovered. With the appropriate interrogation, everyday objects could transform seemingly mundane activities such as eating breakfast, washing clothes or reading by candle-light into household lectures that gave children a familiar base from which to explore the hidden properties and marvellous histories of common commodities. Responding to an unprecedented hunger for scientific knowledge, a profusion of introductory texts appeared in the mid-nineteenth century that directed lessons into homes across Britain and beyond. In particular, the science of chemistry found its way into this domestic setting, as writers promoted its practice and practitioners as a source of authoritative expertise on everyday life. One of the most compelling illustrations of this encounter between the public and chemistry took place over a simple cup of tea.

Attitudes towards chemistry among engineering students

Science.gov (United States)

Olivo Delgado, Carlos J.

The attitudes towards chemistry of the engineering students enrolled in an introductory course at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico were explored (n = 115). A mixed methodology was used in an exploratory-oriented research approach. The first stage consisted of the administration of a Likert scale attitudinal survey which was validated during the study's design process. The survey allowed collecting information about the participant's attitudes towards their personal opinion, their perspectives about peer's or relatives' opinion, relevant aspects of the discipline, and difficulty-increasing factors in the chemistry course. The scale internal reliability was measured in a pilot study with a convenience simple, obtaining an acceptable coefficient (Cronbach alpha = 0.731). Survey results evidenced a mainly neutral attitude towards the chemistry course, not highly negative or highly positive, in contrast with other studies in this field. On the other hand, the normality hypothesis was tested for the scores obtained by participants in the survey. Although the pilot study sample had an approximately normal distribution, the scores in obtained by the participants in the survey failed the normality test criteria. The second stage of the study was accomplished using a case study. Among the survey participants, some students were invited to in-depth interviews to elucidate the reasons why they have certain attitudes towards chemistry. Study time, instructor, motivation, term of study, and course schedule are the factors that interviewees agreed as contributors to success or failure in the chemistry course. Interview's participants emphasized that study time is determinant to pass the class. This methodological approach, quantitative followed by qualitative, was useful in describing the attitudes towards chemistry among university students of engineering.

Holistic Wellness and Its Impact on First-Semester Grades

Science.gov (United States)

Cereola, Sandy J.; Snyder, Cathleen S.; Cereola, Ronald J.; Horton, Brett W.

2014-01-01

Students enrolled in a first-semester, critical-thinking course assessed their perception of their own wellness using a 52-question survey. Within the survey, holistic wellness was measured along seven dimensions: (a) physical, (b) intellectual, (c) social, (d) occupational, (e) spiritual, (f) emotional, and (g) environmental. Individual…

Graph theory and its applications

CERN Document Server

Gross, Jonathan L

2006-01-01

Gross and Yellen take a comprehensive approach to graph theory that integrates careful exposition of classical developments with emerging methods, models, and practical needs. Their unparalleled treatment provides a text ideal for a two-semester course and a variety of one-semester classes, from an introductory one-semester course to courses slanted toward classical graph theory, operations research, data structures and algorithms, or algebra and topology.

The Influence of Modern Instrumentation on the Analytical and General Chemistry Curriculum at Bates College

Science.gov (United States)

Wenzel, Thomas J.

2001-09-01

The availability of state-of-the-art instruments such as high performance liquid chromatograph, gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer, capillary electrophoresis system, and ion chromatograph obtained through four Instructional Laboratory Improvement and one Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement grants from the National Science Foundation has led to a profound change in the structure of the analytical and general chemistry courses at Bates College. Students in both sets of courses now undertake ambitious, semester-long, small-group projects. The general chemistry course, which fulfills the prerequisite requirement for all upper-level chemistry courses, focuses on the connection between chemistry and the study of the environment. The projects provide students with an opportunity to conduct a real scientific investigation. The projects emphasize problem solving, team work, and communication, while still fostering the development of important laboratory skills. Cooperative learning is also used extensively in the classroom portion of these courses.

Introductory Punjabi.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahri, Ujjal Singh; Walia, Paramjit Singh

This introductory text in Punjabi (also spelled Panjabi) is intended primarily for those whose mother tongue is not Punjabi but are native speakers of other Indian languages. Some familiarity with the Punjabi cultural items is presupposed. The non-Indian may, however, also be able to use this text with profit since the lessons are graded. The…

Evaluation of a Voluntary Tutoring Program in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics for First-Year Undergraduates at Universidad Andres Bello, Chile

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, Verónica A.; Acuña, Fabiola C.; Quiero, Felipe J.; López, Margarita; Zahn, Carmen I.

2015-01-01

This work describes the preliminary results of a tutoring program that provides personalized academic assistance to first-year undergraduates enrolled in introductory chemistry, physics and mathematics courses at Universidad Andres Bello (UNAB), in Concepción, Chile. Intervened courses have historically large enrolments, diverse student population…

Using Isomorphic Problems to Learn Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha

2011-01-01

In this study, we examine introductory physics students' ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred sixty-two students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were given a quiz in the…

A Readability Analysis of Selected Introductory Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallagher, Daniel J.; Thompson, G. Rodney

1981-01-01

To aid secondary school and college level economics teachers as they select textbooks for introductory economics courses, this article recounts how teachers can use the Flesch Reading Ease Test to measure readability. Data are presented on application of the Flesch Reading Ease Test to 15 introductory economics textbooks. (Author/DB)

3rd Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2011

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The report contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. Most of the project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short candidate projects as well as regular 3rd semester...

3rd Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2012

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Johan

The report contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. Most of the project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short candidate projects as well as regular 3rd semester...

Interpreting Assessments of Student Learning in the Introductory Physics Classroom and Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Dowd, Jason Edward

Assessment is the primary means of feedback between students and instructors. However, to effectively use assessment, the ability to interpret collected information is essential. We present insights into three unique, important avenues of assessment in the physics classroom and laboratory. First, we examine students' performance on conceptual surveys. The goal of this research project is to better utilize the information collected by instructors when they administer the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) to students as a pre-test and post-test of their conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics. We find that ambiguities in the use of the normalized gain, g, may influence comparisons among individual classes. Therefore, we propose using stratagrams, graphical summaries of the fraction of students who exhibit "Newtonian thinking," as a clearer, more informative method of both assessing a single class and comparing performance among classes. Next, we examine students' expressions of confusion when they initially encounter new material. The goal of this research project is to better understand what such confusion actually conveys to instructors about students' performance and engagement. We investigate the relationship between students' self-assessment of their confusion over material and their performance, confidence in reasoning, pre-course self-efficacy and several other measurable characteristics of engagement. We find that students' expressions of confusion are negatively related to initial performance, confidence and self-efficacy, but positively related to final performance when all factors are considered together. Finally, we examine students' exhibition of scientific reasoning abilities in the instructional laboratory. The goal of this research project is to explore two inquiry-based curricula, each of which proposes a different degree of scaffolding. Students engage in sequences of these laboratory activities during one semester of an introductory physics

A Unique Master's Program in Combined Nuclear Technology and Nuclear Chemistry at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skarnemark, Gunnar; Allard, Stefan; Ekberg, Christian; Nordlund, Anders

2009-01-01

The need for engineers and scientists who can ensure safe and secure use of nuclear energy is large in Sweden and internationally. Chalmers University of Technology is therefore launching a new 2-year master's program in Nuclear Engineering, with start from the autumn of 2009. The program is open to Swedish and foreign students. The program starts with compulsory courses dealing with the basics of nuclear chemistry and physics, radiation protection, nuclear power and reactors, nuclear fuel supply, nuclear waste management and nuclear safety and security. There are also compulsory courses in nuclear industry applications and sustainable energy futures. The subsequent elective courses can be chosen freely but there is also a possibility to choose informal tracks that concentrate on nuclear chemistry or reactor technology and physics. The nuclear chemistry track comprises courses in e.g. chemistry of lanthanides, actinides and transactinides, solvent extraction, radioecology and radioanalytical chemistry and radiopharmaceuticals. The program is finished with a one semester thesis project. This is probably a unique master program in the sense of its combination of deep courses in both nuclear technology and nuclear chemistry.

Web-Based Alcohol Intervention in First-Year College Students: Efficacy of Full-Program Administration Prior to Second Semester.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbertson, Rebecca J; Norton, Tina R; Beery, Susan H; Lee, Kassandra R

2018-05-12

Commercially available, web-based interventions for the prevention of alcohol use are being adopted for universal use with first-year college students, yet few have received empirical evaluation. This randomized controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of a novel, commercially available, personalized web-based alcohol intervention, Alcohol-Wise (version 4.0, 3 rd Millennium Classrooms), on multiple measures of alcohol consumption, alcohol consequences, alcohol expectancies, academic achievement, and adaptation to college in first-year students. Participants received Alcohol-Wise either prior to first semester or were waitlisted and received the intervention second semester. As longitudinal effectiveness was of interest, follow-up surveys were conducted 10 weeks (n = 76) and 24 weeks (n = 64) following the web-based alcohol intervention. Completion of Alcohol-Wise had effects on academic achievement. Specifically, at the 24 week follow-up, academic achievement was higher in participants who received the intervention first semester of their freshman year as compared to the waitlist control. The incremental rise in heavy episodic drinking during the first semester of college was also reduced in waitlisted participants by Alcohol-Wise administration prior to second semester. Conclusion/Importance: Implications for the timing of web-based alcohol interventions to include administration prior to both first and second semesters of the freshman year are discussed.

Introductory Biology Students’ Conceptual Models and Explanations of the Origin of Variation

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Neil; Momsen, Jennifer; Reinagel, Adam; Le, Paul; Taqieddin, Ranya; Long, Tammy

2014-01-01

Mutation is the key molecular mechanism generating phenotypic variation, which is the basis for evolution. In an introductory biology course, we used a model-based pedagogy that enabled students to integrate their understanding of genetics and evolution within multiple case studies. We used student-generated conceptual models to assess understanding of the origin of variation. By midterm, only a small percentage of students articulated complete and accurate representations of the origin of variation in their models. Targeted feedback was offered through activities requiring students to critically evaluate peers’ models. At semester's end, a substantial proportion of students significantly improved their representation of how variation arises (though one-third still did not include mutation in their models). Students’ written explanations of the origin of variation were mostly consistent with their models, although less effective than models in conveying mechanistic reasoning. This study contributes evidence that articulating the genetic origin of variation is particularly challenging for learners and may require multiple cycles of instruction, assessment, and feedback. To support meaningful learning of the origin of variation, we advocate instruction that explicitly integrates multiple scales of biological organization, assessment that promotes and reveals mechanistic and causal reasoning, and practice with explanatory models with formative feedback. PMID:25185235

Assessment of burnout in veterinary medical students using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educational Survey: a survey during two semesters.

Science.gov (United States)

Chigerwe, Munashe; Boudreaux, Karen A; Ilkiw, Jan E

2014-11-28

Burnout among veterinary students can result from known stressors in the absence of a support system. The objectives of this study were to evaluate use of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator Survey (MBI-ES) to assess burnout in veterinary students and evaluate the factors that predict the MBI-ES scores. The MBI-ES was administered to first (Class of 2016) and second year (Class of 2015) veterinary medical students during the 2012-2013 academic year in the fall and spring semesters. Factor analysis and test reliability for the survey were determined. Mean scores for the subscales determining burnout namely emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and lack of personal accomplishment (PA) were calculated for both classes in the 2 semesters. Multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate other factors that predict the MBI-ES scores. A non-probability sampling method was implemented consisting of a voluntary sample of 170 and 123 students in the fall and spring semesters, respectively. Scores for EE, DP and PA were not different between the 2 classes within the same semester. Mean ± SD scores for EE, DP and PA for the fall semester were 22.9 ± 9.6, 5.0 ± 4.8 and 32.3 ± 6.7, respectively. Mean ± SD scores for EE, DP and PA the spring semester were 27.8 ± 10.7, 6.5 ± 6.1and 31.7 ± 6.8, respectively. The EE score was higher in spring compared to fall while DP and PA scores were not different between the 2 semesters. Living arrangements specifically as to whether or not a student lived with another veterinary medical students was the only variable significantly associated with the MBI-ES scores. Students in this study had moderate levels of burnout based on the MBI-ES scores. The MBI-ES was an acceptable instrument for assessing burnout in veterinary medical students. The EE scores were higher in the spring semester as compared to the fall semester. Thus students in the first and second years of veterinary school under the current curriculum

Teaching Introductory Geoscience: A Cutting Edge Workshop Report

Science.gov (United States)

Manduca, C.; Tewksbury, B.; Egger, A.; MacDonald, H.; Kirk, K.

2008-12-01

Introductory undergraduate courses play a pivotal role in the geosciences. They serve as recruiting grounds for majors and future professionals, provide relevant experiences in geoscience for pre-service teachers, and offer opportunities to influence future policy makers, business people, professionals, and citizens. An introductory course is also typically the only course in geoscience that most of our students will ever take. Because the role of introductory courses is pivotal in geoscience education, a workshop on Teaching Introductory Courses in the 21st Century was held in July 2008 as part of the On the Cutting Edge faculty development program. A website was also developed in conjunction with the workshop. One of the central themes of the workshop was the importance of considering the long-term impact a course should have on students. Ideally, courses can be designed with this impact in mind. Approaches include using the local geology to focus the course and illustrate concepts; designing a course for particular audience (such as Geology for Engineers); creating course features that help students understand and interpret geoscience in the news; and developing capstone projects to teach critical thinking and problem solving skills in a geologic context. Workshop participants also explored strategies for designing engaging activities including exploring with Google Earth, using real-world scenarios, connecting with popular media, or making use of campus features on local field trips. In addition, introductory courses can emphasize broad skills such as teaching the process of science, using quantitative reasoning and developing communication skills. Materials from the workshop as well as descriptions of more than 150 introductory courses and 350 introductory-level activities are available on the website: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/index.html.

In-Class Versus At-Home Quizzes: Which Is Better? A Flipped Learning Study in a Two-Site Synchronously Broadcast Organic Chemistry Course

Science.gov (United States)

Christiansen, Michael A.; Lambert, Alyssia M.; Nadelson, Louis S.; Dupree, Kami M.; Kingsford, Trish A.

2017-01-01

We recently shared our design of a two semester flipped organic chemistry course in which we gave students in-class quizzes to incentivize attendance and watching the lecture videos in advance. With a second iteration, we planned to make the video-watching experience more engaging. We accordingly hypothesized that if students completed short…

Beginning Introductory Physics with Two-Dimensional Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Huggins, Elisha

2009-01-01

During the session on "Introductory College Physics Textbooks" at the 2007 Summer Meeting of the AAPT, there was a brief discussion about whether introductory physics should begin with one-dimensional motion or two-dimensional motion. Here we present the case that by starting with two-dimensional motion, we are able to introduce a considerable…

Teaching Introductory Psychology: Tips from "ToP"

Science.gov (United States)

Griggs, Richard A., Ed.; Jackson, Sherri L., Ed.

2011-01-01

This book follows in the footsteps of the first three volumes in the "Handbook for Teaching Introductory Psychology" series. In the prefaces to these volumes, the various editors all stressed two major points relevant to the development of this series. These comments also apply to this book. First, introductory psychology is one of the most…

Identifying difficult concepts in introductory programming

OpenAIRE

Humar, Klaudija

2014-01-01

In this diploma thesis we try to find the answer to why students experience difficulties in introductory programming. We ask ourselves what causes most problems while trying to understand concepts in introductory programming, generating code and designing algorithms. In the first section we introduce programming language Python as the first programming language being taught to students. We compare it with programming language Pascal and stress the advantages of Python that seem important ...

Effect of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) on Student Achievement, Attitude, and Self-Concept in College General Chemistry in Randomized and Quasi Experimental Designs

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Julia Y. K.; Bauer, Christopher F.

2015-01-01

This study investigated exam achievement and affective characteristics of students in general chemistry in a fully-randomized experimental design, contrasting Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) participation with a control group balanced for time-on-task and study activity. This study population included two independent first-semester courses with…

Introductory photoemission theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arai, Hiroko; Fujikawa, Takashi

2010-01-01

An introductory review is presented on the basis of many-body scattering theory. Some fundamental aspects of photoemission theory are discussed in detail. A few applications are also discussed; photoelectron diffraction, depth distribution function and multi-atom resonant photoemission are also discussed briefly. (author)

Modern introductory physics

CERN Document Server

Holbrow, Charles H; Amato, Joseph C; Galvez, Enrique; Parks, M. Elizabeth

2010-01-01

Modern Introductory Physics, 2nd Edition, by Charles H. Holbrow, James N. Lloyd, Joseph C. Amato, Enrique Galvez, and Beth Parks, is a successful innovative text for teaching introductory college and university physics. It is thematically organized to emphasize the physics that answers the fundamental question: Why do we believe in atoms and their properties?  The book provides a sound introduction to basic physical concepts with particular attention to the nineteenth- and twentieth-century physics underlying our modern ideas of atoms and their structure.  After a review of basic Newtonian mechanics, the book discusses early physical evidence that matter is made of atoms.  With a simple model of the atom Newtonian mechanics can explain the ideal gas laws, temperature, and viscosity.  Basic concepts of electricity and magnetism are introduced along with a more complicated model of the atom to account for the observed electrical properties of atoms. The physics of waves---particularly light and x-rays---an...

GeoWall use in an Introductory Geology laboratory: Impacts in Student Understanding of Field Mapping Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, L. E.; Kelly, M.; Springer, A. E.

2003-12-01

In the Fall semester of 2003, Northern Arizona University will introduce the GeoWall to its introductory geology courses. This presents an opportunity to assess the impact of this new technology on students' understanding of basic topographic concepts and the spatial relationships between geology, topography, and hydrology on a field trip. Introductory Geology fulfills the Lab Science component of the Liberal Studies Program at Northern Arizona University. The class is open to all Northern Arizona University students, and is most commonly taken by non-science majors. In this class students learn to: locate their position using maps, identify common minerals and rocks, recognize the relationship between geology and geomorphology, visualize how rocks exposed at the surface continue into the subsurface, and to draw conclusions about possible geologic hazards in different settings. In this study we will report how a GeoWall 3D visualization technology was used in a field study of a graben south of Flagstaff. The goal of the field exercise is to improve students' ability to synthesize data collected at field stops into a conceptual model of the graben, linking geology, geomorphology and hydrology. We plan to present a quantitative assessment of the GeoWall learning objectives from data collected from a paired test and control group of students. Teaching assistants (TAs) with two or more lab classes have been identified; these TAs will participate in both GeoWall and non-GeoWall lab exercises. The GeoWall use will occur outside of normal lab hours to avoid disrupting the lab schedule during the eighth week of lab. This field preparation exercise includes a 3D visualization of the Lake Mary graben rendered with the ROMA software. The following week, all students attend the graben field trip; immediately following the trip, students will interviewed about their gain in understanding of the geologic features illustrated during the field trip. The results of the post

A semester-long soil mapping project for an undergraduate pedology course

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, David J.

2015-04-01

Most students taking a pedology course will never work as soil mappers. But many will use soil maps at some point in their careers. At Montana State University, students spent 3 "lab" hours a week, complementing two lectures a week, in the field learning how to study soils literally from the ground up. The only prerequisites for enrollment were completion of an introductory soil science class and 3rd year standing at the university. The area to be mapped, just a km from campus, included a steep mountain backslope, and a complex footslope-toeslope area with diverse soils. Students were divided into teams of 3-4, with approximately 40 students altogether split over two sections that overlapped in the field by one hour. In the first lab session, groups completed a very basic description of just one soil profile. In subsequent weeks, they rotated through multiple pits excavated in a small area, and expanded their soil profile descriptions and interpretations. As students developed proficiency, they were assigned more dispersed locations to study, working for the most part independently as I hiked between pits. Throughout this process, every pit was geolocated using a GPS unit, and every profile description was copied and retained in a designated class file. Student groups delineated map units using stereo air photography, then used these delineations to guide the selection of their final locations to describe. At the end of the course, groups used all of the combined and georeferenced profile descriptions to construct a soil map of the study area complete with map unit descriptions. Most students struggled to make sense of the substantial variability within their map units, but through this struggle -- and their semester of field work -- they gained an appreciation for the value and limitations of a soil map that could not be obtained from even the most entertaining lecture. Both the class and particularly the field sessions received consistently high student reviews

Computer-based, Jeopardy™-like game in general chemistry for engineering majors

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, S. S.; Saffre, F.; Kadadha, M.; Gater, D. L.; Isakovic, A. F.

2013-03-01

We report on the design of Jeopardy™-like computer game for enhancement of learning of general chemistry for engineering majors. While we examine several parameters of student achievement and attitude, our primary concern is addressing the motivation of students, which tends to be low in a traditionally run chemistry lectures. The effect of the game-playing is tested by comparing paper-based game quiz, which constitutes a control group, and computer-based game quiz, constituting a treatment group. Computer-based game quizzes are Java™-based applications that students run once a week in the second part of the last lecture of the week. Overall effectiveness of the semester-long program is measured through pretest-postest conceptual testing of general chemistry. The objective of this research is to determine to what extent this ``gamification'' of the course delivery and course evaluation processes may be beneficial to the undergraduates' learning of science in general, and chemistry in particular. We present data addressing gender-specific difference in performance, as well as background (pre-college) level of general science and chemistry preparation. We outline the plan how to extend such approach to general physics courses and to modern science driven electives, and we offer live, in-lectures examples of our computer gaming experience. We acknowledge support from Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi

Mathematization in introductory physics

Science.gov (United States)

Brahmia, Suzanne M.

Mathematization is central to STEM disciplines as a cornerstone of the quantitative reasoning that characterizes these fields. Introductory physics is required for most STEM majors in part so that students develop expert-like mathematization. This dissertation describes coordinated research and curriculum development for strengthening mathematization in introductory physics; it blends scholarship in physics and mathematics education in the form of three papers. The first paper explores mathematization in the context of physics, and makes an original contribution to the measurement of physics students' struggle to mathematize. Instructors naturally assume students have a conceptual mastery of algebra before embarking on a college physics course because these students are enrolled in math courses beyond algebra. This paper provides evidence that refutes the validity of this assumption and categorizes some of the barriers students commonly encounter with quantification and representing ideas symbolically. The second paper develops a model of instruction that can help students progress from their starting points to their instructor's desired endpoints. Instructors recognize that the introductory physics course introduces new ideas at an astonishing rate. More than most physicists realize, however, the way that mathematics is used in the course is foreign to a large portion of class. This paper puts forth an instructional model that can move all students toward better quantitative and physical reasoning, despite the substantial variability of those students' initial states. The third paper describes the design and testing of curricular materials that foster mathematical creativity to prepare students to better understand physics reasoning. Few students enter introductory physics with experience generating equations in response to specific challenges involving unfamiliar quantities and units, yet this generative use of mathematics is typical of the thinking involved in

Do evidence-based active-engagement courses reduce the gender gap in introductory physics?

Science.gov (United States)

Karim, Nafis I.; Maries, Alexandru; Singh, Chandralekha

2018-03-01

Prior research suggests that using evidence-based pedagogies can not only improve learning for all students, it can also reduce the gender gap. We describe the impact of physics education research-based pedagogical techniques in flipped and active-engagement non-flipped courses on the gender gap observed with validated conceptual surveys. We compare male and female students’ performance in courses which make significant use of evidence-based active-engagement (EBAE) strategies with courses that primarily use lecture-based (LB) instruction. All courses had large enrolment and often had more than 100 students. The analysis of data for validated conceptual surveys presented here includes data from two-semester sequences of algebra-based and calculus-based introductory physics courses. The conceptual surveys used to assess student learning in the first and second semester courses were the force concept inventory and the conceptual survey of electricity and magnetism, respectively. In the research discussed here, the performance of male and female students in EBAE courses at a particular level is compared with LB courses in two situations: (I) the same instructor taught two courses, one of which was an EBAE course and the other an LB course, while the homework, recitations and final exams were kept the same; (II) student performance in all of the EBAE courses taught by different instructors was averaged and compared with LB courses of the same type also averaged over different instructors. In all cases, on conceptual surveys we find that students in courses which make significant use of active-engagement strategies, on average, outperformed students in courses of the same type using primarily lecture-based instruction even though there was no statistically significant difference on the pre-test before instruction. However, the gender gap persisted even in courses using EBAE methods. We also discuss correlations between the performance of male and female students on

Active Learning Outside the Classroom: Implementation and Outcomes of Peer-Led Team-Learning Workshops in Introductory Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kudish, Philip; Shores, Robin; McClung, Alex; Smulyan, Lisa; Vallen, Elizabeth A; Siwicki, Kathleen K

2016-01-01

Study group meetings (SGMs) are voluntary-attendance peer-led team-learning workshops that supplement introductory biology lectures at a selective liberal arts college. While supporting all students' engagement with lecture material, specific aims are to improve the success of underrepresented minority (URM) students and those with weaker backgrounds in biology. Peer leaders with experience in biology courses and training in science pedagogy facilitate work on faculty-generated challenge problems. During the eight semesters assessed in this study, URM students and those with less preparation attended SGMs with equal or greater frequency than their counterparts. Most agreed that SGMs enhanced their comprehension of biology and ability to articulate solutions. The historical grade gap between URM and non-URM students narrowed slightly in Biology 2, but not in other biology and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. Nonetheless, URM students taking introductory biology after program implementation have graduated with biology majors or minors at the same rates as non-URM students, and have enrolled in postcollege degree programs at equal or greater rates. These results suggest that improved performance as measured by science grade point average may not be necessary to improve the persistence of students from underrepresented groups as life sciences majors. © 2016 P. Kudish et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Adding Resistances and Capacitances in Introductory Electricity

Science.gov (United States)

Efthimiou, C. J.; Llewellyn, R. A.

2005-09-01

All introductory physics textbooks, with or without calculus, cover the addition of both resistances and capacitances in series and in parallel as discrete summations. However, none includes problems that involve continuous versions of resistors in parallel or capacitors in series. This paper introduces a method for solving the continuous problems that is logical, straightforward, and within the mathematical preparation of students at the introductory level.

Two-Year Community: Tools for Success--A Study of the Resources and Study Habits of General Chemistry I Students at Two Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Bruck, Laura B.; Bruck, Aaron D.

2018-01-01

Recruitment and retention in the sciences is both difficult and crucial, especially in the community college setting. In this study, the resources used by General Chemistry I students at two different public, predominantly two-year colleges in two states were studied via surveys for a semester. Data were analyzed with respect to student attitudes…

Introductory real analysis

CERN Document Server

Kolmogorov, A N; Silverman, Richard A

1975-01-01

Self-contained and comprehensive, this elementary introduction to real and functional analysis is readily accessible to those with background in advanced calculus. It covers basic concepts and introductory principles in set theory, metric spaces, topological and linear spaces, linear functionals and linear operators, and much more. 350 problems. 1970 edition.

A pharmacy student's role as a teaching assistant in an undergraduate medicinal chemistry course - Implementation, evaluation, and unexpected opportunities for educational outreach.

Science.gov (United States)

DellaVecchia, Matthew J; Claudio, Alyssa M; Fairclough, Jamie L

2017-11-01

To describe 1) a pharmacy student's teaching assistant (TA) role in an undergraduate medicinal chemistry course, 2) an active learning module co-developed by the TA and instructor, and 3) the unexpected opportunities for pharmacy educational outreach that resulted from this collaboration. Medicinal Chemistry (CHM3413) is an undergraduate course offered each fall at Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA). As a TA for CHM3413, a pharmacy student from the Gregory School of Pharmacy (GSOP) at PBA co-developed and implemented an active learning module emphasizing foundational medicinal chemistry concepts as they pertain to performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Surveys assessed undergraduate students' perceived knowledge of medicinal chemistry concepts, PEDs, and TA involvement. Students' (total n = 60, three fall semesters) perceived confidence in knowledge of medicinal chemistry concepts and PEDs increased significantly (p medicinal chemistry course. An advanced pharmacy practice experience elective in sports pharmacy (based on Ambrose's model) begins Fall 2017. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rendezvous with the World: Missouri Southern State University's Themed Semesters

Science.gov (United States)

Stebbins, Chad

2011-01-01

Although most universities emphasize study abroad as the primary vehicle to internationalize the campus, in reality only a small percentage of students actually participate in this endeavor. The internationally themed semesters at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) reach virtually every student, and provide a global perspective and cultural…

Development of depression and deterioration in quality of life in German dental medical students in preclinical semesters.

Science.gov (United States)

Burger, P H M; Neumann, C; Ropohl, A; Paulsen, F; Scholz, M

2016-11-01

Early intervention to counter mental disorders during the course of studies in dentistry is indicated in view of the pronounced prevalence of burnout in this student collective. To assess the proportion of students in whom these risk states can be quantified in measurable parameters for concrete mental disorders, we conducted surveys among students of dental medicine during the first 2.5 years of their studies. We surveyed a total of 163 students of dental medicine in their first 5 semesters of study. Standardized, validated psychological questionnaires on depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory; BDI-II) and mental and physical quality of life (Short Form Survey; SF-12) were used in the survey, with per-semester participant quotas of around 90%. Regarding depression, the students were within the range of the normal populace at the beginning of the 1st semester. Symptoms of depression then became more pronounced with every succeeding semester. In the fifth semester, the average levels determined were equivalent to a depression with a clinical treatment indication. Hardly any change was registered for physical wellbeing in the quality of life questionnaire. The mental sum scores, however, reflected dramatic downturns in quality of life. Highly significant correlations between the parameters described here - depressivity and mental quality of life - were observed in all semesters. The participating students begin their course of studies at the level of the average populace for the symptoms surveyed, then develop, on average, a clinically manifest depression after 2.5 years. The personal experience of a deterioration of mental quality of life appears to be crucial in the phenomena observed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Persistence of physics and engineering students via peer mentoring, active learning, and intentional advising

Science.gov (United States)

McCavit, K.; Zellner, N. E. B.

2016-11-01

Albion College, a private, undergraduate-only, liberal arts college in Michigan, USA, has developed and implemented a low-cost peer-mentoring programme that blends personal and academic support to help students achieve academic success in the introductory courses required for the Physics Major or the Dual-Degree Program in Engineering. This enhanced mentoring programme provides much-needed assistance for undergraduate students to master introductory physics and mathematics coursework, to normalise the struggle of learning hard material, and to accept their identity as physics or engineering students (among other goals). Importantly, this programme has increased retention among entering science, technology, engineering and mathematics students at Albion College as they move through the introductory classes, as shown by a 20% increase in retention from first-semester to third-semester physics courses compared to years when this programme was not in place.

Teaching Electrostatics and Entropy in Introductory Physics

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Reeves, Mark

Entropy changes underlie the physics that dominates biological interactions. Indeed, introductory biology courses often begin with an exploration of the qualities of water that are important to living systems. However, one idea that is not explicitly addressed in most introductory physics or biology courses is important contribution of the entropy in driving fundamental biological processes towards equilibrium. I will present material developed to teach electrostatic screening in solutions and the function of nerve cells where entropic effects act to counterbalance electrostatic attraction. These ideas are taught in an introductory, calculus-based physics course to biomedical engineers using SCALEUP pedagogy. Results of student mastering of complex problems that cross disciplinary boundaries between biology and physics, as well as the challenges that they face in learning this material will be presented.

Assessing expertise in introductory physics using categorization task

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Andrew Mason

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The ability to categorize problems based upon underlying principles, rather than surface features or contexts, is considered one of several proxy predictors of expertise in problem solving. With inspiration from the classic study by Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser, we assess the distribution of expertise among introductory physics students by asking three introductory physics classes, each with more than a hundred students, to categorize mechanics problems based upon similarity of solution. We compare their categorization with those of physics graduate students and faculty members. To evaluate the effect of problem context on students’ ability to categorize, two sets of problems were developed for categorization. Some problems in one set included those available from the prior study by Chi et al. We find a large overlap between calculus-based introductory students and graduate students with regard to their categorizations that were assessed as “good.” Our findings, which contrast with those of Chi et al., suggest that there is a wide distribution of expertise in mechanics among introductory and graduate students. Although the categorization task is conceptual, introductory students in the calculus-based course performed better than those in the algebra-based course. Qualitative trends in categorization of problems are similar between the non-Chi problems and problems available from the Chi study used in our study although the Chi problems used are more difficult on average.

How chemistry students study for an exam: A phenomenographic analysis

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Lowrey, Kirsten Andrea

2002-08-01

The purpose of this research was to understand the different ways that students in a second-semester general chemistry course studied for an exam. I conducted this research using a qualitative methodology based on phenomenography (Marton, Hounsell & Entwistle, 1997). I conducted interviews before and after the first exam in CHM 116. I analyzed these interviews to describe students' studying styles. I analyzed the data from four students and presented this data as case studies. I completed a cross-case analysis that included data from five additional students. My results describe three different studying styles that were found: visual, self-regulated, and quantitative. Each studying style included a description of the characteristics associated with students who use the style, including epistemological beliefs, specific study behaviors, and affective response to learning chemistry. My implications discuss the relationship between this study and learning styles research, as well as other phenomenographic research. Suggestions are made for how to adapt teaching methods to take into account the different studying styles.

Thermal and chemical denaturation of Bacillus circulans xylanase: A biophysical chemistry laboratory module.

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Raabe, Richard; Gentile, Lisa

2008-11-01

A number of institutions have been, or are in the process of, modifying their biochemistry major to include some emphasis on the quantitative physical chemistry of biomolecules. Sometimes this is done as a replacement for part for the entire physical chemistry requirement, while at other institutions this is incorporated as a component into the traditional two-semester biochemistry series. The latter is the model used for biochemistry and molecular biology majors at the University of Richmond, whose second semester of biochemistry is a course entitled Proteins: Structure, Function, and Biophysics. What is described herein is a protein thermodynamics laboratory module, using the protein Bacillus circulans xylanase, which reinforces many lecture concepts, including: (i) the denatured (D) state ensemble of a protein can be different, depending on how it was populated; (ii) intermediate states may be detected by some spectroscopic techniques but not by others; (iii) the use and assumptions of the van't Hoff approach to calculate ΔH(o) , ΔS(o) , and ΔG(o) (T) for thermal protein unfolding transitions; and (iv) the use and assumptions of an approach that allows determination of the Gibb's free energy of a protein unfolding transition based on the linear dependence of ΔG(o) on the concentration of denaturant used. This module also requires students to design their own experimental protocols and spend time in the primary literature, both important parts of an upper division lab. Copyright © 2008 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Experiential and Cooperative Learning: Using a Situation Analysis Project in Principles of Marketing

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Munoz, Caroline; Huser, Ann

2008-01-01

In this article, the authors propose a semester-long experiential-learning project for introductory marketing students. The project requires an analysis of a product category, competition, and consumer base to support a new product proposal. The purpose is to (a) put into practice the concepts and definitions taught in an introductory marketing…

Introduction of Interactive Learning into French University Physics Classrooms

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Rudolph, Alexander L.; Lamine, Brahim; Joyce, Michael; Vignolles, Hélène; Consiglio, David

2014-01-01

We report on a project to introduce interactive learning strategies (ILS) to physics classes at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, one of the leading science universities in France. In Spring 2012, instructors in two large introductory classes, first-year, second-semester mechanics, and second-year introductory electricity and magnetism,…

Evidence for anecdotes: Examining use of stories in introductory biology courses with a mixed-methods approach

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Kreps, Jennifer Susan

2005-11-01

Instructional stories can be an effective way to teach science concepts. However, research has not examined the extent to which stories are being used, and how they are received. More research on the use of story in biology classes may lead to more conscious use of story by instructors, which may lead to a better understanding of biological concepts by students. The purpose of this study was to examine how instructors and students use stories in university introductory biology courses, and the degree to which these stories are perceived to be effective. To examine this phenomenon, a nationwide instructor survey, a university-wide student survey, and multiple case studies were used. Two case studies included observation of lectures, interviews with (36) students, and interviews with instructors (4) over two semesters of an organismal biology course. Instructor survey participants (N = 78) were gathered by posting email invitations, and student survey participants (N = 260) were volunteers from introductory biology courses at a middle-sized university. Several types of stories were observed, including personal experience stories, historical anecdotes, and "you" stories. Students reported increased affective learning when stories were told, and remembered mostly humorous stories. In the instructor survey, no significant differences emerged between genders, type of biology taught, or communicator style and instructional story frequency. However, reports of personal experience story frequency did increase significantly (p ethnicity, although non-science majors reported that their instructors used stories significantly more frequently (p perceived learning loss for non-science majors, but not for science majors. The researcher suggests that stories can be an effective tool to teach biology, particularly if the instructor is aware of her audience and uses stories primarily to help students understand how concepts are related to "real life."

Increasing First-Semester Student Engagement: A Residential Community Retention Study

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Briggs, Ronald

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to increase first year residential student engagement and participation in residence hall programs during the 2011 fall semester at the Downtown Phoenix Campus of Arizona State University. Six upperclassmen (Taylor Place Leaders) residing in a residence hall (Taylor Place) were matched by academic major with 17 first…

An analysis of interest in students learning of physical chemistry experiment using Scientific approach

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Widinda Normalia Arlianty

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed to analyze interest in student learning of physical chemistry experiment on Chemistry Education students, Islamic University of Indonesia. The research was quantitative. The samples of this research were 2nd-semester student academic year 2015. The data learning interest of students were collected by questionnaire and documentation of seven title experimental. Learning interest consisted of three indicators, concluded feeling good, attention and activity in the learning process. The results of this research showed that score mean of feeling good  indicator was  25,9;  score  mean  of attention indicator 17,8, and score mean of  activity indicator 8,41.  Score Mean  students for the questionnaire interest in student learning  was 51,83 and this data was categorized as “good”.

Teaching Introductory Business Statistics Using the DCOVA Framework

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Levine, David M.; Stephan, David F.

2011-01-01

Introductory business statistics students often receive little guidance on how to apply the methods they learn to further business objectives they may one day face. And those students may fail to see the continuity among the topics taught in an introductory course if they learn those methods outside a context that provides a unifying framework.…

Introductory lecture series for first-year radiology residents: implementation, investment and assessment.

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Chapman, Teresa; Chew, Felix S

2013-03-01

A lecture series aimed at providing new radiology residents a rapid course on the fundamental concepts of professionalism, safety, and interpretation of diagnostic imaging was established. Evaluation of the course's educational value was attempted through surveys. Twenty-six live 45-minute lectures presented by 16 or 17 faculty members were organized exclusively for the first class of radiology residents, held over a 2-month period at the beginning of certain weekdays. Online surveys were conducted after the course to gather feedback from residents. Average resident rotation evaluation scores were measured over the first semester for the two classes before and after this new course implementation. The lecture series was successfully organized and implemented. A total of 33 residents sat through the course over three summers. Faculty reported a reasonable number of preparation hours, and 100% of residents indicated they valued the course. Comparison of class average evaluation scores before and after the existence of this 2-month course did not significantly change. This collection of introductory lectures on professionalism, safety, and diagnostic imaging, delivered early in the first year of the radiology residency, requires a reasonable number of invested preparation hours by the faculty but results in a universal increase in resident confidence. However, we were unable to demonstrate an objective improvement in resident performance on clinical rotations. Copyright © 2013 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teaching scientific literacy in an introductory women's studies course: a case study in interdisciplinary collaboration

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Fuselier, Linda; Murphy, Claudia; Bender, Anita; Creel Falcón, Kandace

2015-01-01

Background and purpose:The purpose of this exploratory case study is to describe how scholars negotiated disciplinary divides to develop and communicate to their students an understanding of the basic features of scientific knowledge. Our goals were to examine boundary crossing in interdisciplinary collaboration and to assess the efficacy of adding science content to an introductory Women's Studies course. Sample:We studied a collaboration between faculty in Biology and Women's Studies and evaluated science modules in a Women's Studies course at a regional four-year university in the Midwestern USA. The study included 186 student participants over three semesters and four faculty from Philosophy, Women's Studies and Biology. Design and method:Women's Studies and Biology faculty collaborated to design and implement science content learning modules that included the case of women and science in an introductory Women's Studies course. Qualitative data collected from faculty participants in the form of peer debrief sessions and narrative reflections were used to examine the process of interdisciplinary collaboration. Students exposed to curriculum changes were administered pre- and post-lesson surveys to evaluate their understanding of issues faced by women in science careers, the nature of science, and interest in science studies. Data from collaborators, student journal reflections, and pre-/post-lesson surveys were considered together in an evaluation of how knowledge of science was understood and taught in a Women's Studies course over a longitudinal study of three semesters. Results:We found evidence of discipline-based challenges to interdisciplinarity and disciplinary boundary crossing among collaborators. Three themes emerged from our collaboration: challenges posed by disciplinary differences, creation of a space for interdisciplinary work, and evidence of boundary crossing. Student participants exhibited more prior knowledge of Women's Studies content than

Using a Common Experience to Teach Introductory Managerial Accounting

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King, Gail Hoover; McConnell, Cheryl

2010-01-01

Teaching introductory accounting courses can be both challenging and rewarding. In introductory financial and managerial accounting, students struggle with the unfamiliar terminology and concepts. However, managerial accounting offers distinct challenges in that managerial accounting reports used for decision-making are not publically available,…

Semester-Long Inquiry-Based Molecular Biology Laboratory: Transcriptional Regulation in Yeast

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Oelkers, Peter M.

2017-01-01

A single semester molecular biology laboratory has been developed in which students design and execute a project examining transcriptional regulation in "Saccharomyces cerevisiae." Three weeks of planning are allocated to developing a hypothesis through literature searches and use of bioinformatics. Common experimental plans address a…

Perceived autonomy in the first semester of mathematics studies

OpenAIRE

Liebendörfer, Michael; Hochmuth, Reinhard

2015-01-01

International audience; We focus on the perceived autonomy of mathematics students in their first semester at university. According to self-determination theory by Deci and Ryan (1985), students have to satisfy their need for autonomy in order to develop intrinsic motivation. Using two facets of autonomy, we analyse interview data to explore which situations foster or hinder the students' perceived autonomy. The main factors affecting students' autonomy are briefly discussed.

Developing Professional Skills in a Third-Year Undergraduate Chemistry Course Offered in Western Australia

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Dunn, Jeffrey G.; Kagi, Robert I.; Phillips, David N.

1998-10-01

"This unit gave me a broad industrial view of the chemical world and I am grateful for the professional skills I gained." That is the response of one graduate several years after he had taken the "Chemistry and Technology" unit that we present in the third year of the undergraduate chemistry course at Western Australia's Curtin University of Technology. Students in tertiary education are effectively "cocooned from the real world". There is a growing need for a teaching that links students to situations they will encounter upon gaining employment. The Chemistry and Technology unit has been developed over a 12-year period and is presented in the final semester of the course. It comprises six modules and is taught by lecturers from industry and the staff of the School. The Professional Practice, Consumer Chemistry, and Environmental modules are ones that most teachers could consider in their course. The other three modules are specific to Western Australia's needs, but could be modified or replaced to cater to other employment circumstances. A survey of recent graduates yielded complimentary responses to the appropriateness of such a unit in the course.

Qualitative Research for Tobacco Control : A How-to Introductory ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Qualitative Research for Tobacco Control : A How-to Introductory Manual for Researchers and Development Practitioners. Couverture du livre Qualitative Research for Tobacco Control : A How-to Introductory Manual for. Auteur(s):. Alison Mathie et Anne Carnozzi. Maison(s) d'édition: CRDI. 15 janvier 2005. ISBN :.

Using isomorphic problems to learn introductory physics

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Shih-Yin Lin

2011-08-01

Full Text Available In this study, we examine introductory physics students’ ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred sixty-two students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were given a quiz in the recitation in which they had to first learn from a solved problem provided and take advantage of what they learned from it to solve another problem (which we call the quiz problem which was isomorphic. Previous research suggests that the multiple-concept quiz problem is challenging for introductory students. Students in different recitation classes received different interventions in order to help them discern and exploit the underlying similarities of the isomorphic solved and quiz problems. We also conducted think-aloud interviews with four introductory students in order to understand in depth the difficulties they had and explore strategies to provide better scaffolding. We found that most students were able to learn from the solved problem to some extent with the scaffolding provided and invoke the relevant principles in the quiz problem. However, they were not necessarily able to apply the principles correctly. Research suggests that more scaffolding is needed to help students in applying these principles appropriately. We outline a few possible strategies for future investigation.

Using isomorphic problems to learn introductory physics

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Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha

2011-12-01

In this study, we examine introductory physics students’ ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred sixty-two students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were given a quiz in the recitation in which they had to first learn from a solved problem provided and take advantage of what they learned from it to solve another problem (which we call the quiz problem) which was isomorphic. Previous research suggests that the multiple-concept quiz problem is challenging for introductory students. Students in different recitation classes received different interventions in order to help them discern and exploit the underlying similarities of the isomorphic solved and quiz problems. We also conducted think-aloud interviews with four introductory students in order to understand in depth the difficulties they had and explore strategies to provide better scaffolding. We found that most students were able to learn from the solved problem to some extent with the scaffolding provided and invoke the relevant principles in the quiz problem. However, they were not necessarily able to apply the principles correctly. Research suggests that more scaffolding is needed to help students in applying these principles appropriately. We outline a few possible strategies for future investigation.

Learning style and concept acquisition of community college students in introductory biology

Science.gov (United States)

Bobick, Sandra Burin

This study investigated the influence of learning style on concept acquisition within a sample of community college students in a general biology course. There are two subproblems within the larger problem: (1) the influence of demographic variables (age, gender, number of college credits, prior exposure to scientific information) on learning style, and (2) the correlations between prior scientific knowledge, learning style and student understanding of the concept of the gene. The sample included all students enrolled in an introductory general biology course during two consecutive semesters at an urban community college. Initial data was gathered during the first week of the semester, at which time students filled in a short questionnaire (age, gender, number of college credits, prior exposure to science information either through reading/visual sources or a prior biology course). Subjects were then given the Inventory of Learning Processes-Revised (ILP-R) which measures general preferences in five learning styles; Deep Learning; Elaborative Learning, Agentic Learning, Methodical Learning and Literal Memorization. Subjects were then given the Gene Conceptual Knowledge pretest: a 15 question objective section and an essay section. Subjects were exposed to specific concepts during lecture and laboratory exercises. At the last lab, students were given the Genetics Conceptual Knowledge Posttest. Pretest/posttest gains were correlated with demographic variables and learning styles were analyzed for significant correlations. Learning styles, as the independent variable in a simultaneous multiple regression, were significant predictors of results on the gene assessment tests, including pretest, posttest and gain. Of the learning styles, Deep Learning accounted for the greatest positive predictive value of pretest essay and pretest objective results. Literal Memorization was a significant negative predictor for posttest essay, essay gain and objective gain. Simultaneous

Synthesis of liquid crystals derived from nitroazobenzene: a proposed multistep synthesis applied to organic chemistry laboratory classes; Sintese de cristais liquidos derivados do nitroazobenzeno: uma proposta de sintese multi-etapas aplicada as aulas de quimica organica experimental

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cristiano, Rodrigo; Cabral, Marilia Gabriela B.; Aquino, Rafael B. de; Cristiano, Claudia M.Z., E-mail: rcristiano@quimica.ufpb.br [Universidade Federal da Paraiba (UFPB), Joao Pessoa, PB (Brazil). Departamento de Quimica

2014-07-01

We describe a synthetic route consisting of five steps from aniline to obtain liquid crystal compounds derived from nitroazobenzene. Syntheses were performed during the second half of the semester in organic chemistry laboratory classes. Students characterized the liquid crystal phase by the standard melting point techniques, differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy. These experiments allow undergraduate students to explore fundamentally important reactions in Organic Chemistry, as well as modern concepts in Chemistry such as self-assembly and self-organization, nanostructured materials and molecular electronics. (author)

Integrating Project-Based Service-Learning into an Advanced Environmental Chemistry Course

Science.gov (United States)

Draper, Alison J.

2004-02-01

In an advanced environmental chemistry course, the inclusion of semester-long scientific service projects successfully integrated the research process with course content. Each project involved a unique community-based environmental analysis in which students assessed an aspect of environmental health. The projects were due in small pieces at even intervals, and students worked independently or in pairs. Initially, students wrote a project proposal in which they chose and justified a project. Following a literature review of their topic, they drafted sampling and analysis plans using methods in the literature. Samples were collected and analyzed, and all students assembled scientific posters describing the results of their study. In the last week of the semester, the class traveled to a regional professional meeting to present the posters. In all, students found the experience valuable. They learned to be professional environmental chemists and learned the value of the discipline to community health. Students not only learned about their own project in depth, but they were inspired to learn textbook material, not for an exam, but because it helped them understand their own project. Finally, having a community to answer to at the end of the project motivated students to do careful work.

The Greening of Marketing: An Analysis of Introductory Textbooks

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DeMoss, Michelle; Nicholson, Carolyn Y.

2005-01-01

In this study, the authors examined whether introductory marketing textbooks contain the information that is needed to educate future business leaders about the important role of environmentally sustainable practices. We content-analyzed the 21 current introductory marketing textbooks for coverage of these practices. The results showed limited,…

A Diagnostic Assessment for Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Jia; Wood, William B.; Martin, Jennifer M.; Guild, Nancy A.; Vicens, Quentin; Knight, Jennifer K.

2010-01-01

We have developed and validated a tool for assessing understanding of a selection of fundamental concepts and basic knowledge in undergraduate introductory molecular and cell biology, focusing on areas in which students often have misconceptions. This multiple-choice Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology Assessment (IMCA) instrument is designed…

Introductory Textbooks and Plagiarism in Higher Education: A Case Study from Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Paul

2002-01-01

Textbooks are powerful technologies that are foundational to introductory level courses. In the research site of an introductory economic classroom, the textbook is positioned as having status similar to that of a canonical religious text. This study investigated how student reading and writing can be problematic when introductory level courses…

Sensors an introductory course

CERN Document Server

Kalantar-zadeh, Kourosh

2013-01-01

Sensors: An Introductory Course provides an essential reference on the fundamentals of sensors. The book is designed to help readers in developing skills and the understanding required in order to implement a wide range of sensors that are commonly used in our daily lives. This book covers the basic concepts in the sensors field, including definitions and terminologies. The physical sensing effects are described, and devices which utilize these effects are presented. The most frequently used organic and inorganic sensors are introduced and the techniques for implementing them are discussed. This book: Provides a comprehensive representation of the most common sensors and can be used as a reference in relevant fields Presents learning materials in a concise and easy to understand manner Includes examples of how sensors are incorporated in real life measurements Contains detailed figures and schematics to assist in understanding the sensor performance Sensors: An Introductory Course is ideal for university stu...

Learning styles and types of multiple intelligences in dental students in their first and tenth semester. Monterrey, Mexico, 2015.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Solís-Soto

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Nowadays the incorporation and validation of learning styles and multiple intelligences enable teachers to obtain positive results in academic performance. This new approach has allowed to appreciate personal differences in dental students and strengthen their underdeveloped aspects, improving teaching and learning skills. Objective: To compare learning styles and multiple intelligences in a sample of Mexican dental students in their first and tenth semester. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study using questionnaires on learning styles (Honey-Alonso and Gardner’s multiple intelligences was performed. The study was applied to 123 students in their first semester and 157 in their tenth semester at the School of Dentistry at Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, evaluating differences between age and sex. Results: Logical-Mathematical intelligence (p=0.044 and Kinesthetic-Corporal intelligence (p=0.042 showed significant differences between students of both semesters, with intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences being more prevalent. Within learning styles, the prevalent were Reflexive and Theoretical, showing a significant difference between semesters (p=0.005. Conclusion: The most prevalent learning styles in both groups were Reflexive and Theoretical, with no difference between both sexes. The most prevalent types of multiple intelligences in both sexes and groups were interpersonal and intrapersonal.

Systematic Changes in the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum Progam Award and Course and Curriculum Development Program Awards

Science.gov (United States)

1996-06-01

to both the content and learning methods of the molecular science curriculum. Course and Curriculum Development Program Awards. Studio General Chemistry with Full Merging of the Laboratory and Classroom Experiences. Thomas M. Apple Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute DUE 9555069 114,000 A workshop general chemistry class is being developed that includes experimental work during every meeting. Lab work is merged with classroom discussion. Students working in groups are challenged to link their macroscopic observations to chemical principles. The merger of thirty-minute, concept-based discovery labs with discussion and lateral development material provides a unique perspective of chemistry. In modernizing the general chemistry curriculum, fewer topics are treated and the more esoteric aspects of physical chemistry that are inappropriate for freshmen are eliminated. More time is allocated to materials chemistry, organic and biological chemistry, and environmental science. The course material is organized into modules or case-studies that contain material that is developed with the specific aim of showing the relevance of the material to problems to which the students already have been exposed. Societal relevance is built into every module of the syllabus by incorporating laboratories, discussion and "lateral development" problems for each topic. Dynamic Visualization in Chemistry. James P. Birk Arizona State University DUE 9555098 175,000 This project will produce real images of chemical and physical changes occurring at the microscopic and atomic levels. These images, from different instruments (optical, electron, and scanning probe microscopes), will be captured electronically (video tapes and CD ROMs) and used in conjunction with molecular modeling as instructional aids in introductory chemistry courses. The objective is to introduce students to the relationships between macroscopic changes in materials and the corresponding changes in the arrangements of their atoms

Teaching Introductory Geology by a Paradigm, Process and Product Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Reams, M.

2008-12-01

Students in introductory geology courses can easily become lost in the minutiae of terms and seemingly random ideas and theories. One way to avoid this and provide a holistic picture of each major subject area in a beginning course is to introduce, at the start of each section, the ruling paradigm, the processes, and resultant products. By use of these three Ps: paradigm, processes, and products, students have a reasonably complete picture of the subject area. If they knew nothing more than this simple construct, they would have an excellent perspective of the subject area. This provides a jumping off point for the instructor to develop the details. The three Ps can make course construction much more straightforward and complete. Students benefit since they have a clearer idea of what the subject is about and its importance. Retention may be improved and carryover to advanced courses may be aided. For faculty, the use of these three P's makes organizing a course more straightforward. Additionally, the instructor benefits include: 1. The main points are clearly stated, thus avoiding the problem of not covering the essential concepts. 2. The course topics hold together, pedagogically. There is significant opportunity for continuity of thought. 3. An outline is developed that is easily analyzed for holes or omissions. 4. A course emerges with a balance of topics, permitting appropriate time to be devoted to significant subject matter. 5. If a course is shared between faculty or passes from one faculty to another by semester or quarter, there is greater assurance that topics and concepts everyone agrees on can be adequately covered. 6. There is less guesswork involved in planning a course. New faculty have an approach that will make sense and allow them to feel less awash and more focused. In summary, taking time to construct a course utilizing the important paradigms, processes, and products can provide significant benefits to the instructor and the student. Material

Examining the development of knowledge for teaching a novel introductory physics curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Seung, Eulsun

The purpose of this study was to investigate how graduate physics teaching assistants (TAs) develop professional knowledge for teaching a new undergraduate introductory physics curriculum, Matter and Interactions (M&I ). M&I has recently been adopted as a novel introductory physics course that focuses on the application of a small number of fundamental physical principles on the atomic and molecular nature of matter. In this study, I examined the process of five TAs' development of knowledge for implementing the M&I course---from the time they engaged in an M&I content and methods workshop through their first semester as TAs for the course. Through a qualitative, multiple case study research design, data was collected from multiple sources: non-participant observations, digitally recorded video, semi-structured interviews, TAs' written reflections, and field notes. The data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The TAs' knowledge for teaching M&I was identified in three domains: pedagogical content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and subject matter knowledge. First, the three components of TAs' pedagogical content knowledge were identified: knowledge of the goals of M&I, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of students' learning. Second, pedagogical knowledge that the TAs demonstrated during the study fell predominantly into the category of classroom management and organization. The knowledge of classroom management and organization was categorized into two components: time management skills and group composition. Last, the TAs' subject matter knowledge that they developed through their M&I teaching experience was described in terms of the conceptual structure of the M&I curriculum, the new approach of the M&I curriculum, and specific topic knowledge. The TAs' knowledge for teaching developed from propositional knowledge to personal practical knowledge, and the process of knowledge development consisted of three phases: accepting

[Practical chemistry education provided by team-based learning (TBL) and peer evaluation].

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuhara, Tomohisa; Konishi, Motomi; Nishida, Takahiro; Kushihata, Taro; Sone, Tomomichi; Kurio, Wasako; Yamamoto, Yumi; Nishikawa, Tomoe; Yanada, Kazuo; Nakamura, Mitsutaka

2014-01-01

Learning chemistry is cumulative: basic knowledge and chemical calculation skills are required to gain understanding of higher content. However, we often suffer from students' lack of learning skills to acquire these concepts. One of the reasons is the lack of adequate training in the knowledge and skills of chemistry, and one of the reasons for this lack is the lack of adequate evaluation of training procedures and content. Team-based learning (TBL) is a strong method for providing training in the knowledge and skills of chemistry and reaffirms the knowledge and skills of students of various levels. In our faculty, TBL exercises are provided for first-year students concurrently with lectures in physical chemistry and analytical chemistry. In this study, we researched the adoption of a peer evaluation process for this participatory learning model. Questionnaires taken after TBL exercises in the previous year showed a positive response to TBL. Further, a questionnaire taken after TBL exercises in the spring semester of the current year also yielded a positive response not only to TBL but also to peer evaluation. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between the improvement of students' grades in chemistry classes and the feeling the percentage (20%) of peer evaluation in overall evaluation low (logistic regression analysis, p=0.022). On the basis of the findings, we argue that TBL provides a generic, practical learning environment including an effective focus on learning strategy and evaluation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and studies on the educational effects of TBL and peer evaluation.

From F = ma to flying squirrels: curricular change in an introductory physics course.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Shea, Brian; Terry, Laura; Benenson, Walter

2013-06-01

We present outcomes from curricular changes made to an introductory calculus-based physics course whose audience is primarily life sciences majors, the majority of whom plan to pursue postbaccalaureate studies in medical and scientific fields. During the 2011-2012 academic year, we implemented a Physics of the Life Sciences curriculum centered on a draft textbook that takes a novel approach to teaching physics to life sciences majors. In addition, substantial revisions were made to the homework and hands-on components of the course to emphasize the relationship between physics and the life sciences and to help the students learn to apply physical intuition to life sciences-oriented problems. Student learning and attitudinal outcomes were assessed both quantitatively, using standard physics education research instruments, and qualitatively, using student surveys and a series of postsemester interviews. Students experienced high conceptual learning gains, comparable to other active learning-based physics courses. Qualitatively, a substantial fraction of interviewed students reported an increased interest in physics relative to the beginning of the semester. Furthermore, more than half of students self-reported that they could now relate physics topics to their majors and future careers, with interviewed subjects demonstrating a high level of ability to come up with examples of how physics affects living organisms and how it helped them to better understand content presented in courses in their major.

Framework and implementation for improving physics essential skills via computer-based practice: Vector math

Science.gov (United States)

Mikula, Brendon D.; Heckler, Andrew F.

2017-06-01

We propose a framework for improving accuracy, fluency, and retention of basic skills essential for solving problems relevant to STEM introductory courses, and implement the framework for the case of basic vector math skills over several semesters in an introductory physics course. Using an iterative development process, the framework begins with a careful identification of target skills and the study of specific student difficulties with these skills. It then employs computer-based instruction, immediate feedback, mastery grading, and well-researched principles from cognitive psychology such as interleaved training sequences and distributed practice. We implemented this with more than 1500 students over 2 semesters. Students completed the mastery practice for an average of about 13 min /week , for a total of about 2-3 h for the whole semester. Results reveal large (>1 SD ) pretest to post-test gains in accuracy in vector skills, even compared to a control group, and these gains were retained at least 2 months after practice. We also find evidence of improved fluency, student satisfaction, and that awarding regular course credit results in higher participation and higher learning gains than awarding extra credit. In all, we find that simple computer-based mastery practice is an effective and efficient way to improve a set of basic and essential skills for introductory physics.

The Impact of Baby Swimming on Introductory and Elementary Swimming Training

OpenAIRE

Břízová, Gabriela

2007-01-01

THESIS ANNOTATION Title: The Impact of Baby Swimming on Introductory and Elementary Swimming Training Aim: To assess the impact of 'baby swimming' on the successfulness in introductory and partly in elementary swimming training, and to find out whether also other circumstances (for example the length of attendance at 'baby swimming') have some influence on introductory swimming training. Methods: We used a questionnaire method for the parents of children who had attended 'baby swimming' and f...

Beyond the Biology: A Systematic Investigation of Noncontent Instructor Talk in an Introductory Biology Course

Science.gov (United States)

Seidel, Shannon B.; Reggi, Amanda L.; Schinske, Jeffrey N.; Burrus, Laura W.; Tanner, Kimberly D.

2015-01-01

Instructors create classroom environments that have the potential to impact learning by affecting student motivation, resistance, and self-efficacy. However, despite the critical importance of the learning environment in increasing conceptual understanding, little research has investigated what instructors say and do to create learning environments in college biology classrooms. We systematically investigated the language used by instructors that does not directly relate to course content and defined the construct of Instructor Talk. Transcripts were generated from a semester-long, cotaught introductory biology course (n = 270 students). Transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify emergent categories of Instructor Talk. The five emergent categories from analysis of more than 600 quotes were, in order of prevalence, 1) Building the Instructor/Student Relationship, 2) Establishing Classroom Culture, 3) Explaining Pedagogical Choices, 4) Sharing Personal Experiences, and 5) Unmasking Science. Instances of Instructor Talk were present in every class session analyzed and ranged from six to 68 quotes per session. The Instructor Talk framework is a novel research variable that could yield insights into instructor effectiveness, origins of student resistance, and methods for overcoming stereotype threat. Additionally, it holds promise in professional development settings to assist instructors in reflecting on the learning environments they create. PMID:26582237

Evaluation of an Integrated Curriculum in Physics, Mathematics, Engineering, and Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Beichner, Robert

1997-04-01

An experimental, student centered, introductory curriculum called IMPEC (for Integrated Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, and Chemistry curriculum) is in its third year of pilot-testing at NCSU. The curriculum is taught by a multidisciplinary team of professors using a combination of traditional lecturing and alternative instructional methods including cooperative learning, activity-based class sessions, and extensive use of computer modeling, simulations, and the world wide web. This talk will discuss the research basis for our design and implementation of the curriculum, the qualitative and quantitative methods we have been using to assess its effectiveness, and the educational outcomes we have noted so far.

''Combustion Always Produces Carbon Dioxide and Water'': A Discussion of University Chemistry Students' Use of Rules in Place of Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Amy D.; Shaffer, Peter S.

2014-01-01

On the basis of responses to written questions administered to more than one thousand introductory chemistry students, we claim that students often rotely apply memorized combustion rules instead of reasoning based on explanatory models for what happens at the molecular level during chemical reactions. In particular, many students argue that…

College Chemistry and Piaget: An Analysis of Gender Difference, Cognitive Abilities, and Achievement Measures Seventeen Years Apart

Science.gov (United States)

Shibley, Ivan A., Jr.; Milakofsky, Louis M.; Bender, David S.; Patterson, Henry O.

2003-05-01

This study revisits an analysis of gender difference in the cognitive abilities of college chemistry students using scores from "Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks" (IPDT), the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), and final grades from an introductory college chemistry course. Comparison of 1998 scores with those from 1981 showed an overall decline on most of the measures and a changing pattern among males and females. Gender differences were found in the IPDT subtests measuring imagery, classification, and proportional reasoning, but not conservation, a pattern that differs from the findings reported 17 years earlier. The generational and gender differences revealed in this study suggest that instructors should be cognizant of, and should periodically assess, the diversity of students' cognitive abilities.

Redesigning a Large Introductory Course to Incorporate the GAISE Guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

Woodard, Roger; McGowan, Herle

2012-01-01

In 2005, the "Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education" (GAISE) college report described several recommendations for teaching introductory statistics. This paper discusses how a large multi-section introductory course was redesigned in order to implement these recommendations. The experience described discusses…

A Citation Analysis of Who's Who in Introductory Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Griggs, Richard A.; Proctor, Derrick L.

2002-01-01

Given the many changes in the introductory psychology textbook market in the past 2 decades and the lack of a recent citation study of introductory texts, we conducted a citation analysis of a stratified random sample of current texts. To provide a more comprehensive picture of current citation emphases, we extended our analysis to the top 60…

Faraday's Principle and Air Travel in the Introductory Labs

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul-Razzaq, Wathiq; Thakur, Saikat Chakraborty

2017-01-01

We all know that we must improve the quality of teaching in science at all levels. Not only physicists but also many students from other areas of study take the introductory physics courses in college. Physics introductory laboratories (labs) can be one of the best tools to help these students understand applications of scientific principles that…

Patterns of Incorrect Responses on the FCI and Course Success

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, James; Mokaya, Fridah; Valente, Diego

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is often used to measure the effectiveness of instructional pedagogy in introductory physics courses both at the algebra- and calculus-based level. Scores on the FCI are correlated with the performance of students in a class, as measured by their final course grade. We have collected data from several semesters of first-semester introductory mechanics courses at a public 4-year university, taught in large-scale classrooms with pedagogy including elements of Just-in-Time Teaching pedagogy along with active learning course components. The data collected includes pre- and post-test FCI scores, midterm exam grades, and final course grades. We examine whether certain patterns of incorrect answers on the FCI post-test are predictive of course grades, indicating whether certain specific student preconceptions are more detrimental than others to the success of students in an introductory mechanics course. Funding from UConn - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).

Toward University Modeling Instruction—Biology: Adapting Curricular Frameworks from Physics to Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Manthey, Seth; Brewe, Eric

2013-01-01

University Modeling Instruction (UMI) is an approach to curriculum and pedagogy that focuses instruction on engaging students in building, validating, and deploying scientific models. Modeling Instruction has been successfully implemented in both high school and university physics courses. Studies within the physics education research (PER) community have identified UMI's positive impacts on learning gains, equity, attitudinal shifts, and self-efficacy. While the success of this pedagogical approach has been recognized within the physics community, the use of models and modeling practices is still being developed for biology. Drawing from the existing research on UMI in physics, we describe the theoretical foundations of UMI and how UMI can be adapted to include an emphasis on models and modeling for undergraduate introductory biology courses. In particular, we discuss our ongoing work to develop a framework for the first semester of a two-semester introductory biology course sequence by identifying the essential basic models for an introductory biology course sequence. PMID:23737628

Toward university modeling instruction--biology: adapting curricular frameworks from physics to biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Manthey, Seth; Brewe, Eric

2013-06-01

University Modeling Instruction (UMI) is an approach to curriculum and pedagogy that focuses instruction on engaging students in building, validating, and deploying scientific models. Modeling Instruction has been successfully implemented in both high school and university physics courses. Studies within the physics education research (PER) community have identified UMI's positive impacts on learning gains, equity, attitudinal shifts, and self-efficacy. While the success of this pedagogical approach has been recognized within the physics community, the use of models and modeling practices is still being developed for biology. Drawing from the existing research on UMI in physics, we describe the theoretical foundations of UMI and how UMI can be adapted to include an emphasis on models and modeling for undergraduate introductory biology courses. In particular, we discuss our ongoing work to develop a framework for the first semester of a two-semester introductory biology course sequence by identifying the essential basic models for an introductory biology course sequence.

Fish: A New Computer Program for Friendly Introductory Statistics Help

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Gordon P.; Raffle, Holly

2005-01-01

All introductory statistics students must master certain basic descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations and correlations. Students must also gain insight into such complex concepts as the central limit theorem and standard error. This article introduces and describes the Friendly Introductory Statistics Help (FISH) computer…

Third Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2017

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The following pages contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. The project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short master projects as well as regular 3rd semester...... as supervisors. Questions regarding details about each proposed project should be directed at the contact persons. The contact details can be found via a person search on the university home page. Furthermore, other ideas for projects may be discussed with a potential supervisor. In this aspect the proposals...

Introductory Biology Textbooks Under-Represent Scientific Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dara B. Duncan

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Attrition of undergraduates from Biology majors is a long-standing problem. Introductory courses that fail to engage students or spark their curiosity by emphasizing the open-ended and creative nature of biological investigation and discovery could contribute to student detachment from the field. Our hypothesis was that introductory biology books devote relatively few figures to illustration of the design and interpretation of experiments or field studies, thereby de-emphasizing the scientific process.To investigate this possibility, we examined figures in six Introductory Biology textbooks published in 2008. On average, multistep scientific investigations were presented in fewer than 5% of the hundreds of figures in each book. Devoting such a small percentage of figures to the processes by which discoveries are made discourages an emphasis on scientific thinking. We suggest that by increasing significantly the illustration of scientific investigations, textbooks could support undergraduates’ early interest in biology, stimulate the development of design and analytical skills, and inspire some students to participate in investigations of their own.

The Development, Field Testing and Evaluation of Three Hierarchies of Behaviorally Stated Objectives for the Chemistry Content of a Course of Instruction in Physical Science for Pre-Service Nursing Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Love, Robert Alden

The purpose of this research was to develop hierarchies of behavioral objectives for the chemistry content of a one-semester course in physical science for preservice associate degree nursing students. Each of three content objectives was expressed by a series of behaviorally stated objectives which included a terminal objective for a unit of…

Service Learning in Introductory Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Orleski, Michael

2013-01-01

Service learning is a method of instruction where the students in a course use the course's content in a service project. The service is included as a portion of the students' course grades. During the fall semester 2010, service learning was incorporated into the Introduction to Astronomy course at Misericordia University. The class had eight…

Deep learning for computational chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Goh, Garrett B; Hodas, Nathan O; Vishnu, Abhinav

2017-06-15

The rise and fall of artificial neural networks is well documented in the scientific literature of both computer science and computational chemistry. Yet almost two decades later, we are now seeing a resurgence of interest in deep learning, a machine learning algorithm based on multilayer neural networks. Within the last few years, we have seen the transformative impact of deep learning in many domains, particularly in speech recognition and computer vision, to the extent that the majority of expert practitioners in those field are now regularly eschewing prior established models in favor of deep learning models. In this review, we provide an introductory overview into the theory of deep neural networks and their unique properties that distinguish them from traditional machine learning algorithms used in cheminformatics. By providing an overview of the variety of emerging applications of deep neural networks, we highlight its ubiquity and broad applicability to a wide range of challenges in the field, including quantitative structure activity relationship, virtual screening, protein structure prediction, quantum chemistry, materials design, and property prediction. In reviewing the performance of deep neural networks, we observed a consistent outperformance against non-neural networks state-of-the-art models across disparate research topics, and deep neural network-based models often exceeded the "glass ceiling" expectations of their respective tasks. Coupled with the maturity of GPU-accelerated computing for training deep neural networks and the exponential growth of chemical data on which to train these networks on, we anticipate that deep learning algorithms will be a valuable tool for computational chemistry. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Coverage of the Stanford Prison Experiment in Introductory Psychology Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Bartels, Jared M.; Milovich, Marilyn M.; Moussier, Sabrina

2016-01-01

The present study examined the coverage of Stanford prison experiment (SPE), including criticisms of the study, in introductory psychology courses through an online survey of introductory psychology instructors (N = 117). Results largely paralleled those of the recently published textbook analyses with ethical issues garnering the most coverage,…

Microcomputers in the Introductory Laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Bare, John K.

1982-01-01

A microcomputer was used successfully to replicate Sternberg's 1966 study of retrieval from short-term memory and Sperling's 1960 study on sensory or iconic memory. Computers with a capacity for measuring reaction time are useful in the laboratory for introductory psychology courses. (SR)

Student Misconceptions in Introductory Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Kathleen M.; Lipson, Joseph I.

Defining a "misconception" as an error of translation (transformation, correspondence, interpolation, interpretation) between two different kinds of information which causes students to have incorrect expectations, a Taxonomy of Errors has been developed to examine student misconceptions in an introductory biology course for science…

CAS Introductory Course in Italy

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

The CERN Accelerator School’s introductory course is a great success. This year the CERN Accelerator School held its "Introduction to Accelerator Physics" course in Frascati, Italy, from 2-14 November in collaboration with the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and the INFN Frascati National Laboratory. The Introductory level course is particularly important since, for the majority of participants, it is the first opportunity to discover the various aspects of accelerator physics. For this school the programme had been significantly revised in order to take into account the new trends currently being developed in the field, thus putting more emphasis on linacs, synchrotron light sources and free-electron lasers. The school was a resounding success with 115 participants of more than 23 nationalities. Feedback from the students praised the expertise of the lecturers, the high standard of the lectures as well as the excellent organizati...

Pathways over Time: Functional Genomics Research in an Introductory Laboratory Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Todd D; Warner, Douglas M; Ludlow, Larry H; O'Connor, Clare M

2018-01-01

National reports have called for the introduction of research experiences throughout the undergraduate curriculum, but practical implementation at many institutions faces challenges associated with sustainability, cost, and large student populations. We describe a novel course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) that introduces introductory-level students to research in functional genomics in a 3-credit, multisection laboratory class. In the Pathways over Time class project, students study the functional conservation of the methionine biosynthetic pathway between divergent yeast species. Over the five semesters described in this study, students ( N = 793) showed statistically significant and sizable growth in content knowledge ( d = 1.85) and in self-reported research methods skills ( d = 0.65), experimental design, oral and written communication, database use, and collaboration. Statistical analyses indicated that content knowledge growth was larger for underrepresented minority students and that growth in content knowledge, but not research skills, varied by course section. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that CUREs can support the scientific development of large numbers of students with diverse characteristics. The Pathways over Time project is designed to be sustainable and readily adapted to other institutional settings. © 2018 T. D. Reeves et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2018 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

A Semester-Long Project-Oriented Biochemistry Laboratory Based on "Helicobacter pylori" Urease

Science.gov (United States)

Farnham, Kate R.; Dube, Danielle H.

2015-01-01

Here we present the development of a 13 week project-oriented biochemistry laboratory designed to introduce students to foundational biochemical techniques and then enable students to perform original research projects once they have mastered these techniques. In particular, we describe a semester-long laboratory that focuses on a biomedically…

The Development and Nature of Problem-Solving among First-Semester Calculus Students

Science.gov (United States)

Dawkins, Paul Christian; Epperson, James A. Mendoza

2014-01-01

This study investigates interactions between calculus learning and problem-solving in the context of two first-semester undergraduate calculus courses in the USA. We assessed students' problem-solving abilities in a common US calculus course design that included traditional lecture and assessment with problem-solving-oriented labs. We investigate…

Topical Coverage in Introductory Textbooks from the 1980s through the 2000s

Science.gov (United States)

Griggs, Richard A.

2014-01-01

To determine how topical coverage in introductory textbooks may have changed from the 1980s to the present, the author examined topic coverage in full-length and brief introductory textbooks from this time period. Because 98% of the teachers use textbooks for the introductory course and the majority do not assign reading beyond the textbook, the…

Engaging Students In Modeling Instruction for Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Brewe, Eric

2016-05-01

Teaching introductory physics is arguably one of the most important things that a physics department does. It is the primary way that students from other science disciplines engage with physics and it is the introduction to physics for majors. Modeling instruction is an active learning strategy for introductory physics built on the premise that science proceeds through the iterative process of model construction, development, deployment, and revision. We describe the role that participating in authentic modeling has in learning and then explore how students engage in this process in the classroom. In this presentation, we provide a theoretical background on models and modeling and describe how these theoretical elements are enacted in the introductory university physics classroom. We provide both quantitative and video data to link the development of a conceptual model to the design of the learning environment and to student outcomes. This work is supported in part by DUE #1140706.

Who's Who in Introductory Psychology Textbooks: A Citation Analysis Redux

Science.gov (United States)

Griggs, Richard A.; Christopher, Andrew N.

2016-01-01

It is important to assess periodically how introductory textbooks portray our discipline because introductory psychology is the most popular psychology course, almost all teachers use textbooks for it, and textbooks play a major role in defining the course for students. To do so, past studies have used textbook citation analyses. We analyzed…

Concept Maps in Introductory Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Witmer, Jeffrey A.

2016-01-01

Concept maps are tools for organizing thoughts on the main ideas in a course. I present an example of a concept map that was created through the work of students in an introductory class and discuss major topics in statistics and relationships among them.

Students' confidence in the ability to transfer basic math skills in introductory physics and chemistry courses at a community college

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, Reginald

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the confidence levels that community college students have in transferring basic math skills to science classes, as well as any factors that influence their confidence levels. This study was conducted with 196 students at a community college in central Mississippi. The study was conducted during the month of November after all of the students had taken their midterm exams and received midterm grades. The instrument used in this survey was developed and validated by the researcher. The instrument asks the students to rate how confident they were in working out specific math problems and how confident they were in working problems using those specific math skills in physics and chemistry. The instrument also provided an example problem for every confidence item. Results revealed that students' demographics were significant predictors in confidence scores. Students in the 18-22 year old range were less confident in solving math problems than others. Students who had retaken a math course were less confident than those who had not. Chemistry students were less confident in solving math problems than those in physics courses. Chemistry II students were less confident than those in Chemistry I and Principals of Chemistry. Students were least confident in solving problems involving logarithms and the most confident in solving algebra problems. In general, students felt that their math courses did not prepare them for the math problems encountered in science courses. There was no significant difference in confidence between students who had completed their math homework online and those who had completed their homework on paper. The researcher recommends that chemistry educators find ways of incorporating more mathematics in their courses especially logarithms and slope. Furthermore, math educators should incorporate more chemistry related applications to math class. Results of hypotheses testing, conclusions, discussions, and

Developments during the first semester 2001; Les developpements au premier semestre 2001

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

This document gives a panorama of the nuclear energy situation at the end of the first 2001 semester. The energy policy concerning the nuclear industry development, is discussed for many countries: USA, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, China, India, Korea, Taiwan, Africa and south America, Russia and east Europe. (A.L.B.)

Toward Publicly Responsive Sociology Curricula: The Role of Introductory Sociology

Science.gov (United States)

Greenwood, Nancy A.

2013-01-01

Introductory sociology casts a wide net with regard to its audience and plays an important role in capturing the public eye as well as helping students to make more informed choices in their lives and communities. I ask six questions that help us as sociologists to think about how introductory sociology can better serve our discipline, our…

Development and Nature of Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Nature of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Demirdöğen, Betül; Hanuscin, Deborah L.; Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen; Köseoğlu, Fitnat

2016-08-01

The purpose of this case study is to delve into the complexities of the early development of preservice chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations, knowledge of learners, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of assessment during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching nature of science (NOS). Thirty preservice chemistry teachers enrolled in a Research in Science Education course participated in the study. Qualitative data sources included responses to an open-ended instrument, interviews, observations, and artifacts such as lesson plans and reflection papers. Through the in-depth analysis of explicit PCK and constant comparative method of analysis, we identified the influence of the intervention on participants' PCK for NOS. Analysis of data revealed four major themes related to the nature of preservice chemistry teachers' NOS teaching practices and their PCK for NOS: (1) prerequisite knowledge and beliefs are necessary to teach NOS, (2) there is a developmental progression of PCK for NOS from knowledge to application level, (3) teachers need some comfort in their NOS understanding to teach NOS, and (4) the higher integration of PCK components leads to successful NOS teaching practices. Implications for science teacher education and research are discussed.

Motivation, Academic Assessments and First-Semester Success at a Midwestern Technical College

Science.gov (United States)

Dillon, Sarah A.

2017-01-01

This study examined college admission criteria and college readiness in an effort to reduce barriers in college admission. The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) was administered to a convenience sample of 74 participants among 503 students during their first semester at a two-year college. Scale scores were compared to demographic characteristics,…

Introductory statistical inference

CERN Document Server

Mukhopadhyay, Nitis

2014-01-01

This gracefully organized text reveals the rigorous theory of probability and statistical inference in the style of a tutorial, using worked examples, exercises, figures, tables, and computer simulations to develop and illustrate concepts. Drills and boxed summaries emphasize and reinforce important ideas and special techniques.Beginning with a review of the basic concepts and methods in probability theory, moments, and moment generating functions, the author moves to more intricate topics. Introductory Statistical Inference studies multivariate random variables, exponential families of dist

Introductory graph theory

CERN Document Server

Chartrand, Gary

1984-01-01

Graph theory is used today in the physical sciences, social sciences, computer science, and other areas. Introductory Graph Theory presents a nontechnical introduction to this exciting field in a clear, lively, and informative style. Author Gary Chartrand covers the important elementary topics of graph theory and its applications. In addition, he presents a large variety of proofs designed to strengthen mathematical techniques and offers challenging opportunities to have fun with mathematics. Ten major topics - profusely illustrated - include: Mathematical Models, Elementary Concepts of Grap

Principles of Chemistry (by Michael Munowitz)

Science.gov (United States)

Kovac, Reviewed By Jeffrey

2000-05-01

At a time when almost all general chemistry textbooks seem to have become commodities designed by marketing departments to offend no one, it is refreshing to find a book with a unique perspective. Michael Munowitz has written what I can only describe as a delightful chemistry book, full of conceptual insight, that uses a novel and interesting pedagogic strategy. This is a book that has much to recommend it. This is the best-written general chemistry book I have ever read. An editor with whom I have worked recently remarked that he felt his job was to help authors make their writing sing. Well, the writing in Principles of Chemistry sings with the full, rich harmonies and creative inventiveness of the King's Singers or Chanticleer. Here is the first sentence of the introduction: "Central to any understanding of the physical world is one discovery of paramount importance, a truth disarmingly simple yet profound in its implications: matter is not continuous." This is prose to be savored and celebrated. Principles of Chemistry has a distinct perspective on chemistry: the perspective of the physical chemist. The focus is on simplicity, what is common about molecules and reactions; begin with the microscopic and build bridges to the macroscopic. The author's perspective is clear from the organization of the book. After three rather broad introductory chapters, there are four chapters that develop the quantum mechanical theory of atoms and molecules, including a strong treatment of molecular orbital theory. Unlike many books, Principles of Chemistry presents the molecular orbital approach first and introduces valence bond theory later only as an approximation for dealing with more complicated molecules. The usual chapters on descriptive inorganic chemistry are absent (though there is an excellent chapter on organic and biological molecules and reactions as well as one on transition metal complexes). Instead, descriptive chemistry is integrated into the development of

Failure Rates in Introductory Programming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bennedsen, Jens; Caspersen, Michael Edelgaard

2007-01-01

It is a common conception that CS1 is a very difficult course and that failure rates are high. However, until now there has only been anecdotal evidence for this claim. This article reports on a survey among institutions around the world regarding failure rates in introductory programming courses...

Teaching abstraction in introductory courses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koppelman, Herman; van Dijk, Betsy

Abstraction is viewed as a key concept in computer science. It is not only an important concept but also one that is difficult to master. This paper focuses on the problems that novices experience when they first encounter this concept. Three assignments from introductory courses are analyzed, to

Future of the Introductory Psychology Textbook: A Survey of College Publishers.

Science.gov (United States)

Buskit, William; Cush, David T.

1997-01-01

Examines aspects of the introductory psychology textbook market through a publishing house survey. Aspects covered are the current and future number of introductory texts, fewer textbook publishers, custom publishing, changing content, and computer technologies. Discusses the results of the publishers' responses and provides statistical tables of…

SYMBIOSIS: development, implementation, and assessment of a model curriculum across biology and mathematics at the introductory level.

Science.gov (United States)

Depelteau, Audrey M; Joplin, Karl H; Govett, Aimee; Miller, Hugh A; Seier, Edith

2010-01-01

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." Alan Cohen (Used by permission. All rights reserved. For more information on Alan Cohen's books and programs, see (www.alancohen.com.) With the support of the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) administration and a grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the departments of Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, and Curriculum and Instruction have developed a biology-math integrated curriculum. An interdisciplinary faculty team, charged with teaching the 18 curriculum modules, designed this three-semester curriculum, known as SYMBIOSIS. This curriculum was piloted to two student cohorts during the developmental stage. The positive feedback and assessment results of this project have given us the foundation to implement the SYMBIOSIS curriculum as a replacement for the standard biology majors curriculum at the introductory level. This article addresses the history and development of the curriculum, previous assessment results and current assessment protocol, and the future of ETSU's approach to implementing the SYMBIOSIS curriculum.

Socializing the European Semester? Economic governance and social policy coordination in Europe 2020

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeitlin, J.; Vanhercke, B.

2014-01-01

The European Semester of policy coordination, which is the core of EU’s new institutional architecture for economic and social governance, introduced since the beginning of the Euro crisis, has prompted questions about the nature and dynamics of the EU’s emerging socio-economic governance

Green Chemistry Techniques for Gold Nanoparticles Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Cannavino, Sarah A.; King, Christy A.; Ferrara, Davon W.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are often utilized in many technological and research applications ranging from the detection of tumors, molecular and biological sensors, and as nanoantennas to probe physical processes. As these applications move from the research laboratory to industrial settings, there is a need to develop efficient and sustainable synthesis techniques. Recent research has shown that several food products and beverages containing polyphenols, a common antioxidant, can be used as reducing agents in the synthesis of AuNPs in solution. In this study, we explore a variety of products to determine which allow for the most reproducible solution of nanoparticles based on the size and shapes of particles present. We analyzed the AuNPs solutions using extinction spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. We also develop a laboratory activity to introduce introductory chemistry and physics students to AuNP synthesis techniques and analysis.

Cobalt oxides from crystal chemistry to physics

CERN Document Server

Raveau, Bernard

2012-01-01

Unparalleled in the breadth and depth of its coverage of all important aspects, this book systematically treats the electronic and magnetic properties of stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric cobaltites in both ordered and disordered phases. Authored by a pioneer and a rising star in the field, the monograph summarizes, organizes and streamlines the otherwise difficult-to-obtain information on this topic. An introductory chapter sets forth the crystal chemistry of cobalt oxides to lay the groundwork for an understanding of the complex phenomena observed in this materials class. Special emphasis is placed on a comprehensive discussion of cobaltite physical properties in different structural families. Providing a thorough introduction to cobalt oxides from a chemical and physical viewpoint as a basis for understanding their intricacies, this is a must-have for both experienced researchers as well as entrants to the field.

Semantics in Teaching Introductory Physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, H. Thomas

1999-01-01

Contends that the large vocabulary used for precise purposes in physics contains many words that have related but potentially confusing meanings in everyday usage. Analyzes the treatment of Newton's Laws of Motion in several well-known introductory textbooks for evidence of inconsistent language use. Makes teaching suggestions. (Contains 11…

Sources of student engagement in Introductory Physics for Life Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Geller, Benjamin D.; Turpen, Chandra; Crouch, Catherine H.

2018-06-01

We explore the sources of student engagement with curricular content in an Introductory Physics for Life Science (IPLS) course at Swarthmore College. Do IPLS students find some life-science contexts more interesting than others, and, if so, what are the sources of these differences? We draw on three sources of student data to answer this question: (1) quantitative survey data illustrating how interested students were in particular contexts from the curriculum, (2) qualitative survey data in which students describe the source of their interest in these particular contexts, and (3) interview data in which students reflect on the contexts that were and were not of interest to them. We find that examples that make interdisciplinary connections with students' other coursework in biology and chemistry, and examples that make connections to what students perceive to be the "real world," are particularly effective at fostering interest. More generally, students describe being deeply engaged with contexts that foster a sense of coherence or have personal meaning to them. We identify various "engagement pathways" by which different life-science students engage with IPLS content, and suggest that a curriculum needs to be flexible enough to facilitate these different pathways.

Thermodynamics and Chemistry by Howard DeVoe

Science.gov (United States)

Gislason, Eric A.

2001-09-01

Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2001. 439 pp. ISBN 0-02-328741-1. $90.00. Thermodynamics is a deceptively difficult subject that few people master in their first exposure (typically in the junior-level physical chemistry course). Because of this, a clear, well-written textbook is always welcome to help students and teachers master this material. Such a book is Thermodynamics and Chemistry, by Howard DeVoe of the University of Maryland. This book is written as a one-semester textbook for senior undergraduates and graduate students who have had a previous course on the topic. This is a long book (400 pages of text, 25 pages of appendices), and it is unlikely that an instructor can cover everything in one semester. On the other hand this length does allow the author to cover topics such as a "liquid solution in a centrifugal field" that shorter books would omit. All important topics in chemical thermodynamics are covered. After two introductory chapters, the three laws of thermodynamics are taken up in Chapters 3 and 4. Pure substances, including phase transitions, are treated in Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 7, "Mixtures," is a long chapter that covers, among other topics, partial molar quantities, activities, and activity coefficients. Chemical reactions are treated in Chapter 8 and there is a detailed discussion of equilibrium in various multicomponent systems in Chapter 9. The book is completed with a discussion of the phase rule (Chapter 10) and a brief chapter on galvanic cells. There are a number of things I like about this book. First, DeVoe takes great care in defining important thermodynamic words such as the thermodynamic state of a system. Similarly, he makes the distinction between process and path understandable, and this allows him to clearly define a reversible process as well as spontaneous and impossible processes. Section 4.1 then contains the sentence "An irreversible process is a spontaneous process whose reverse is an impossible process." This

Computational Inquiry in Introductory Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Toews, Carl

2017-01-01

Inquiry-based pedagogies have a strong presence in proof-based undergraduate mathematics courses, but can be difficult to implement in courses that are large, procedural, or highly computational. An introductory course in statistics would thus seem an unlikely candidate for an inquiry-based approach, as these courses typically steer well clear of…

MRI Experiments for Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Taghizadeh, Sanaz; Lincoln, James

2018-01-01

The introductory physics classroom has long educated students about the properties of the atom and the nucleus. But absent from these lessons has been an informed discussion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its parent science nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Physics teachers should not miss the opportunity to instruct upon this highly…

Relationship Between the Perception Curriculum Credit Semester System (Sks) with Academic Achievement Motivation in Students of Sman 78 Jakarta

OpenAIRE

Nurhidayah, Fajriati; Widodo, Prasetyo Budi; Desiningrum, Dinie Ratri

2012-01-01

School education has a major role in improving the quality of eduvation ,00aitems through the students academic achievement motivation. Students academic achievement motivation can be seen by the student perception of the curriculum semester credit system is applied in schools. This research was conducted to determine the relationship between perceptions of curriculum semester credit system with academic achievement motivation in students of SMAN 78 Jakarta. The population was 324 students w...

What Are They Thinking? Automated Analysis of Student Writing about Acid-Base Chemistry in Introductory Biology

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Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna B.; Moscarella, Rosa A.; Merrill, John; Urban-Lurain, Mark

2012-01-01

Students' writing can provide better insight into their thinking than can multiple-choice questions. However, resource constraints often prevent faculty from using writing assessments in large undergraduate science courses. We investigated the use of computer software to analyze student writing and to uncover student ideas about chemistry in an…

Impact of One-Semester Outdoor Education Programs on Adolescent Perceptions of Self-Authorship

Science.gov (United States)

McGowan, Amanda L.

2016-01-01

This study investigated one-semester outdoor education program impact on adolescents' perceived self-authorship--the ability to form our identity independently from the expectations of external individuals and the capacity to invent our beliefs, identity, and relationships (Baxter Magolda, 1998; Kegan, 1982)--as measured by the Self-Authorship…

Engaging Students in Authentic Microbiology Research in an Introductory Biology Laboratory Course is Correlated with Gains in Student Understanding of the Nature of Authentic Research and Critical Thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brittany J. Gasper

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Recent recommendations for biology education highlight the role of authentic research experiences early in undergraduate education as a means of increasing the number and quality of biology majors. These experiences will inform students on the nature of science, increase their confidence in doing science, as well as foster critical thinking skills, an area that has been lacking despite it being one of the desired outcomes at undergraduate institutions and with future employers. With these things in mind, we have developed an introductory biology laboratory course where students design and execute an authentic microbiology research project. Students in this course are assimilated into the community of researchers by engaging in scholarly activities such as participating in inquiry, reading scientific literature, and communicating findings in written and oral formats. After three iterations of a semester-long laboratory course, we found that students who took the course showed a significant increase in their understanding of the nature of authentic research and their level of critical thinking skills.

Learning to Argue with Intermediate Macro Theory: A Semester-Long Team Writing Project

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Strasser, Georg; Wolfe, Marketa Halova

2014-01-01

The authors describe their experience with integrating a semester-long economic analysis project into an intermediate macroeconomic theory course. Students work in teams of "economic advisors" to write a series of nested reports that analyze the current state of the economy, and propose and evaluate policies for a decision-maker. The…

Exploring physics students' engagement with online instructional videos in an introductory mechanics course

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shih-Yin; Aiken, John M.; Seaton, Daniel T.; Douglas, Scott S.; Greco, Edwin F.; Thoms, Brian D.; Schatz, Michael F.

2017-12-01

The advent of new educational technologies has stimulated interest in using online videos to deliver content in university courses. We examined student engagement with 78 online videos that we created and were incorporated into a one-semester flipped introductory mechanics course at the Georgia Institute of Technology. We found that students were more engaged with videos that supported laboratory activities than with videos that presented lecture content. In particular, the percentage of students accessing laboratory videos was consistently greater than 80% throughout the semester. On the other hand, the percentage of students accessing lecture videos dropped to less than 40% by the end of the term. Moreover, the fraction of students accessing the entirety of a video decreases when videos become longer in length, and this trend is more prominent for the lecture videos than the laboratory videos. The results suggest that students may access videos based on perceived value: students appear to consider the laboratory videos as essential for successfully completing the laboratories while they appear to consider the lecture videos as something more akin to supplemental material. In this study, we also found that there was little correlation between student engagement with the videos and their incoming background. There was also little correlation found between student engagement with the videos and their performance in the course. An examination of the in-video content suggests that students engaged more with concrete information that is explicitly required for assignment completion (e.g., actions required to complete laboratory work, or formulas or mathematical expressions needed to solve particular problems) and less with content that is considered more conceptual in nature. It was also found that students' in-video accesses usually increased toward the embedded interaction points. However, students did not necessarily access the follow-up discussion of these

29 CFR 1977.1 - Introductory statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... AND HEALTH ACT OF 1970 General § 1977.1 Introductory statement. (a) The Occupational Safety and Health... Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR... general application designed to regulate employment conditions relating to occupational safety and health...

Developing and validating a conceptual survey to assess introductory physics students’ understanding of magnetism

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Singh, Chandralekha

2017-03-01

Development of validated physics surveys on various topics is important for investigating the extent to which students master those concepts after traditional instruction and for assessing innovative curricula and pedagogies that can improve student understanding significantly. Here, we discuss the development and validation of a conceptual multiple-choice survey related to magnetism suitable for introductory physics courses. The survey was developed taking into account common students’ difficulties with magnetism concepts covered in introductory physics courses found in our investigation and the incorrect choices to the multiple-choice questions were designed based upon those common student difficulties. After the development and validation of the survey, it was administered to introductory physics students in various classes in paper-pencil format before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant concepts. We compared the performance of students on the survey in the algebra-based and calculus-based introductory physics courses before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant magnetism concepts. We discuss the common difficulties of introductory physics students with magnetism concepts we found via the survey. We also administered the survey to upper-level undergraduates majoring in physics and PhD students to benchmark the survey and compared their performance with those of traditionally taught introductory physics students for whom the survey is intended. A comparison with the base line data on the validated magnetism survey from traditionally taught introductory physics courses and upper-level undergraduate and PhD students discussed in this paper can help instructors assess the effectiveness of curricula and pedagogies which is especially designed to help students integrate conceptual and quantitative understanding and develop a good grasp of the concepts. In particular, if introductory physics students’ average

Developing and validating a conceptual survey to assess introductory physics students’ understanding of magnetism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Jing; Singh, Chandralekha

2017-01-01

Development of validated physics surveys on various topics is important for investigating the extent to which students master those concepts after traditional instruction and for assessing innovative curricula and pedagogies that can improve student understanding significantly. Here, we discuss the development and validation of a conceptual multiple-choice survey related to magnetism suitable for introductory physics courses. The survey was developed taking into account common students’ difficulties with magnetism concepts covered in introductory physics courses found in our investigation and the incorrect choices to the multiple-choice questions were designed based upon those common student difficulties. After the development and validation of the survey, it was administered to introductory physics students in various classes in paper–pencil format before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant concepts. We compared the performance of students on the survey in the algebra-based and calculus-based introductory physics courses before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant magnetism concepts. We discuss the common difficulties of introductory physics students with magnetism concepts we found via the survey. We also administered the survey to upper-level undergraduates majoring in physics and PhD students to benchmark the survey and compared their performance with those of traditionally taught introductory physics students for whom the survey is intended. A comparison with the base line data on the validated magnetism survey from traditionally taught introductory physics courses and upper-level undergraduate and PhD students discussed in this paper can help instructors assess the effectiveness of curricula and pedagogies which is especially designed to help students integrate conceptual and quantitative understanding and develop a good grasp of the concepts. In particular, if introductory physics students’ average

Does Living near Classmates Help Introductory Economics Students Get Better Grades?

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Jeffrey

2012-01-01

This article examines whether first-year students in introductory economics courses get better grades if they have other students in their on-campus residential unit who either are taking the same course or have taken the course in the past. The study uses nine years of data for the introductory economics course at Reed College. The author finds…

Student Understanding of Time in an Introductory Astronomy Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Traxler, A. L.; Batuski, D. J.; Comins, N. F.; Thompson, J. R.

2005-09-01

The astronomy lab at the University of Maine consists of discrete weekly lessons in which students work in small groups. Individual pretests and post-tests accompany each lesson. The lesson studied here covers the topic of time, including sidereal time, Apparent Solar Time, and time zones. The pretest consists of four multiple-choice questions, which are also administered after instruction as a post-test. In the fall 2004 semester, the pretest was rewritten to focus on some major conceptual components of the lab, while the lesson materials were not modified from previous years. Examination of class performance (n = 96) revealed no significant improvements in score from pre- to post-lesson. In the spring 2005 semester, the lesson was altered to incorporate the Starry Night software for simulating the sky instead of the celestial sphere models previously used. The goal of the change was to give students a more interactive environment for completing the laboratory exercise, which was otherwise altered as little as possible. Data from the spring semester show some gains on the pre/post-test questions covering sidereal time and Daylight Savings Time. Results to date have informed planned modifications to the lesson. A. L. T. was supported during this research by the University of Maine through a Provost Fellowship.

Analysis of physical activity in emmetropic and myopic university students during semester and holiday periods: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Battersby, Katherine; Koy, Linda; Phillips, Nicola; Sim, Joanna; Wilk, Jay; Schmid, Katrina L

2015-11-01

Previous studies (mostly questionnaire-based in children) suggest that outdoor activity is protective against myopia. There are few studies on young adults investigating both the impact of simply being outdoors versus performing physical activity. The aim was to study the relationship between the refractive error of young adults and their physical activity patterns. Twenty-seven university students, aged 18 to 25 years, wore a pedometer (Omron HJ720ITE) for seven days both during the semester and holiday periods. They simultaneously recorded the type of activity performed, its duration, the number of steps taken (from the pedometer) and their location (indoors/outdoors) in a logbook. Mean spherical refractive error was used to divide participants into three groups (emmetropes: +1.00 to -0.50 D, low myopes: -0.62 to -3.00 D, higher myopes: -3.12 D or greater myopia). There were no significant differences between the refractive groups during the semester or holiday periods; the average daily times spent outdoors, the duration of physical activity, the ratio of physical activity performed outdoors to indoors and amount of near work performed were similar. The peak exercise intensity was similar across all groups: approximately 100 steps per minute, a brisk walk. Up to one-third of all physical activity was performed outdoors. There were some significant differences in activities performed during semester and holiday times. For example, low myopes spent significantly less time outside (49 ± 47 versus 74 ± 41 minutes, p = 0.005) and performed less physical activity (6,388 ± 1,747 versus 6,779 ± 2,746 steps per day; p = 0.03) during the holidays compared to during semester. The fact that all groups had similar low exercise intensity but many were not myopic suggests that physical activity levels are not critical. There were differences in the activity patterns of low myopes during semester and holiday periods. This study highlights the need for a larger longitudinal

16 CFR 502.101 - Introductory offers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS, STATEMENT OF GENERAL POLICY OR... FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING ACT Retail Sale Price Representations § 502.101 Introductory offers. (a... retail sale at a price lower than the anticipated ordinary and customary retail sale price. (b) The...

Frequency and Content of Chat Questions by Time of Semester at the University of Central Florida: Implications for Training, Staffing and Marketing

Science.gov (United States)

Goda, Donna; Bishop, Corinne

2008-01-01

The more than 4,000 "chats" received by the University of Central Florida's (UCF) Ask-A-Librarian digital reference service are the subject of this practitioner-based, descriptive case study. Question content from chats received during four semesters between January 2005 and May 2006 are categorized and plotted, by semester, to show the…

ヴァイオリン演奏における「全弓」奏法の大切さ : アンサンブル学習による音楽表現の伸長に向けて<教育科学>

OpenAIRE

伊藤, 誠

2017-01-01

This paper describes the fruits and challenges of violin training in the String Instrument Seminar (first semester) and the Study of Music Education D for Lower Secondary School (second semester) course I taught during the 2016 school year. In the last eight or more years, while keeping a practice record, I have continued to research violin teaching methods for group study aimed at beginners from a variety of standpoints, including approaches to educational materials in the introductory perio...

Bringing Reality T.V. into the Classroom: A Semester-Long Amazing Race

Science.gov (United States)

Weddell, Melissa S.

2011-01-01

In developing a more student centered and engaging approach to teaching an introductory tourism course, the reality television show "The Amazing Race" was incorporated into the curriculum. Students integrate book chapters and class lectures into researching how locations create tourism destinations through a series of ten weekly assignments. The…

An Analysis of Learning Objectives and Content Coverage in Introductory Psychology Syllabi

Science.gov (United States)

Homa, Natalie; Hackathorn, Jana; Brown, Carrie M.; Garczynski, Amy; Solomon, Erin D.; Tennial, Rachel; Sanborn, Ursula A.; Gurung, Regan A. R.

2013-01-01

Introductory psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses and often serves as the gateway to choosing psychology as an academic major. However, little research has examined the typical structure of introductory psychology courses. The current study examined student learning objectives (SLOs) and course content in introductory…

Agricultural In-Service Needs of Introductory Level Career and Technical Education Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Jolene; Warnick, Brian K.; Spielmaker, Debra; Tarpley, Rudy S.; Straquadine, Gary S.

2009-01-01

This study identified and prioritized the agricultural in-service needs of introductory level career and technical education teachers in Utah. The Utah State Board of Education requires that all seventh grade students complete an introductory career and technical education course as their first formal career exploration experience. One component…

Emotion Instruction in Journalism Courses: An Analysis of Introductory News Writing Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Hopper, K. Megan; Huxford, John

2017-01-01

This study explores how introductory news writing textbooks address issues surrounding emotional labor and its consequences, both for journalists and for those they interview. Eighteen of the highest-selling introductory news-writing textbooks were selected for qualitative analysis. Results showed the term and concept of emotional labor--the…

New Approach to Analyzing Physics Problems: A Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Teodorescu, Raluca E.; Bennhold, Cornelius; Feldman, Gerald; Medsker, Larry

2013-01-01

This paper describes research on a classification of physics problems in the context of introductory physics courses. This classification, called the Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems (TIPP), relates physics problems to the cognitive processes required to solve them. TIPP was created in order to design educational objectives, to develop…

Principles of Marketing. A One-Semester Cluster Course for Marketing Education. Curriculum Guide.

Science.gov (United States)

Cockrum, Jim

This curriculum guide was developed to help teachers use the new textbook adopted by Texas in 1991-92 for teaching the 1-semester Principles of Marketing course. The guide is organized in four sections. The first section contains information on using the curriculum guide, including an overview, sample lesson plans and other worksheets, suggestions…

Introductory Comments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jolanta Sujecka

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introductory Comments The fifth yearly volume of the Colloquia Humanistica comprises a thematic section on Nation, Natsiya, Ethnie. The subject it discusses has thus far received little attention as a research problem in the Slavia Orthodoxa, the Slavia Romana, the Balkans but also in Central and Eastern Europe.   Uwagi wstępne Piąty numer rocznika "Colloquia Humanistica" przedstawia dział tematyczny, poświęcony kategoriom narodu, nacji i etni. Temat ten, w takiej perspektywie, którą proponujemy, nie spotkał się dotąd z należytym namysłem badawczym w sferze Slavia Otrhodoxa, Slavia Romana i na Bałkanach, jak też w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej.

Introductory Astronomy Course at the University of Cape Town: Probing Student Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Rajpaul, Vinesh; Allie, Saalih; Blyth, Sarah-Louise

2014-01-01

We report on research carried out to improve teaching and student engagement in the introductory astronomy course at the University of Cape Town. This course is taken by a diverse range of students, including many from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. We describe the development of an instrument, the Introductory Astronomy Questionnaire…

Item Analysis in Introductory Economics Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Tinari, Frank D.

1979-01-01

Computerized analysis of multiple choice test items is explained. Examples of item analysis applications in the introductory economics course are discussed with respect to three objectives: to evaluate learning; to improve test items; and to help improve classroom instruction. Problems, costs and benefits of the procedures are identified. (JMD)

The Nature of Introductory Economics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Koscielniak, James

1975-01-01

A questionnaire was developed to determine the content, mode of instruction, approach, and textbook selection of instructors of introductory economics courses. The survey was distributed in 1974 to 143 economics instructors at two- and four-year colleges in Illinois. Results are presented here, and recommendations are made. (Author/NHM)

Learners Programming Language a Helping System for Introductory Programming Courses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MUHAMMAD SHUMAIL NAVEED

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Programming is the core of computer science and due to this momentousness a special care is taken in designing the curriculum of programming courses. A substantial work has been conducted on the definition of programming courses, yet the introductory programming courses are still facing high attrition, low retention and lack of motivation. This paper introduced a tiny pre-programming language called LPL (Learners Programming Language as a ZPL (Zeroth Programming Language to illuminate novice students about elementary concepts of introductory programming before introducing the first imperative programming course. The overall objective and design philosophy of LPL is based on a hypothesis that the soft introduction of a simple and paradigm specific textual programming can increase the motivation level of novice students and reduce the congenital complexities and hardness of the first programming course and eventually improve the retention rate and may be fruitful in reducing the dropout/failure level. LPL also generates the equivalent high level programs from user source program and eventually very fruitful in understanding the syntax of introductory programming languages. To overcome the inherent complexities of unusual and rigid syntax of introductory programming languages, the LPL provide elementary programming concepts in the form of algorithmic and plain natural language based computational statements. The initial results obtained after the introduction of LPL are very encouraging in motivating novice students and improving the retention rate.

Theme-Based Bidisciplinary Chemistry Laboratory Modules

Science.gov (United States)

Leber, Phyllis A.; Szczerbicki, Sandra K.

1996-12-01

A thematic approach to each of the two introductory chemistry laboratory sequences, general and organic chemistry, not only provides an element of cohesion but also stresses the role that chemistry plays as the "central science" and emphasizes the intimate link between chemistry and other science disciplines. Thus, in general chemistry the rubric "Environmental Chemistry" affords connections to the geosciences, whereas experiments on the topic of "Plant Assays" bridge organic chemistry and biology. By establishing links with other science departments, the theme-based laboratory experiments will satisfy the following multidisciplinary criteria: (i) to demonstrate the general applicability of core methodologies to the sciences, (ii) to help students relate concepts to a broader multidisciplinary context, (iii) to foster an attitude of both independence and cooperation that can transcend the teaching laboratory to the research arena, and (iv) to promote greater cooperation and interaction between the science departments. Fundamentally, this approach has the potential to impact the chemistry curriculum significantly by including student decision-making in the experimental process. Furthermore, the incorporation of GC-MS, a powerful tool for separation and identification as well as a state-of-the-art analytical technique, in the modules will enhance the introductory general and organic chemistry laboratory sequences by making them more instrument-intensive and by providing a reliable and reproducible means of obtaining quantitative analyses. Each multifaceted module has been designed to meet the following criteria: (i) a synthetic protocol including full spectral characterization of products, (ii) quantitative and statistical analyses of data, and (iii) construction of a database of results. The database will provide several concrete functions. It will foster the idea that science is a continuous incremental process building on the results of earlier experimentalists

Introductory biology students' conceptual models and explanations of the origin of variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Speth, Elena Bray; Shaw, Neil; Momsen, Jennifer; Reinagel, Adam; Le, Paul; Taqieddin, Ranya; Long, Tammy

2014-01-01

Mutation is the key molecular mechanism generating phenotypic variation, which is the basis for evolution. In an introductory biology course, we used a model-based pedagogy that enabled students to integrate their understanding of genetics and evolution within multiple case studies. We used student-generated conceptual models to assess understanding of the origin of variation. By midterm, only a small percentage of students articulated complete and accurate representations of the origin of variation in their models. Targeted feedback was offered through activities requiring students to critically evaluate peers' models. At semester's end, a substantial proportion of students significantly improved their representation of how variation arises (though one-third still did not include mutation in their models). Students' written explanations of the origin of variation were mostly consistent with their models, although less effective than models in conveying mechanistic reasoning. This study contributes evidence that articulating the genetic origin of variation is particularly challenging for learners and may require multiple cycles of instruction, assessment, and feedback. To support meaningful learning of the origin of variation, we advocate instruction that explicitly integrates multiple scales of biological organization, assessment that promotes and reveals mechanistic and causal reasoning, and practice with explanatory models with formative feedback. © 2014 E. Bray Speth et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Quantifying the Level of Inquiry in a Reformed Introductory Geology Lab Course

Science.gov (United States)

Moss, Elizabeth; Cervato, Cinzia

2016-01-01

As part of a campus-wide effort to transform introductory science courses to be more engaging and more accurately convey the excitement of discovery in science, the curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab course was redesigned. What had been a series of ''cookbook'' lab activities was transformed into a sequence of activities based on…

An Introductory Calculus-Based Mechanics Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Bradley

2017-01-01

One challenge for the introductory physics teacher is incorporating calculus techniques into the laboratory setting. It can be difficult to strike a balance between presenting an experimental task for which calculus is essential and making the mathematics accessible to learners who may be apprehensive about applying it. One-dimensional kinematics…

Macromod: Computer Simulation For Introductory Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Thomas

1977-01-01

The Macroeconomic model (Macromod) is a computer assisted instruction simulation model designed for introductory economics courses. An evaluation of its utilization at a community college indicates that it yielded a 10 percent to 13 percent greater economic comprehension than lecture classes and that it met with high student approval. (DC)

29 CFR 782.0 - Introductory statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... one place general interpretations of the Administrator which will provide “a practical guide to... CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OF MOTOR CARRIERS § 782.0 Introductory statement. (a) Since the enactment of the Fair... seek to apply it.” (Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134) (b) The interpretations contained in this...

29 CFR 531.25 - Introductory statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... such interpretations of this Act “provide a practical guide to employers and employees as to how the... PAYMENTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938 Interpretations § 531.25 Introductory statement. (a... responsibilities of administration and enforcement (Skidmore v. Swift, 323 U.S. 134). In order that these positions...

Blended Learning Versus Traditional Lecture in Introductory Nursing Pathophysiology Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Blissitt, Andrea Marie

2016-04-01

Currently, many undergraduate nursing courses use blended-learning course formats with success; however, little evidence exists that supports the use of blended formats in introductory pathophysiology courses. The purpose of this study was to compare the scores on pre- and posttests and course satisfaction between traditional and blended course formats in an introductory nursing pathophysiology course. This study used a quantitative, quasi-experimental, nonrandomized control group, pretest-posttest design. Analysis of covariance compared pre- and posttest scores, and a t test for independent samples compared students' reported course satisfaction of the traditional and blended course formats. Results indicated that the differences in posttest scores were not statistically significant between groups. Students in the traditional group reported statistically significantly higher satisfaction ratings than students in the blended group. The results of this study support the need for further research of using blended learning in introductory pathophysiology courses in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs. Further investigation into how satisfaction is affected by course formats is needed. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Characterizing the changes in teaching practice during first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach in a middle school science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Pinney, Brian Robert John

The purpose of this study was to characterize ways in which teaching practice in classroom undergoing first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach changes in whole-class discussion. Being that argument is explicitly called for in the Next Generation Science Standards and is currently a rare practice in teaching, many teachers will have to transform their teaching practice for inclusion of this feature. Most studies on Argument-Based Inquiry (ABI) agree that development of argument does not come easily and is only acquired through practice. Few studies have examined the ways in which teaching practice changes in relation to the big idea or disciplinary core idea (NGSS), the development of dialogue, and/or the development of argument during first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach. To explore these areas, this study posed three primary research questions: (1) How does a teacher in his first semester of Science Writing Heuristic professional development make use of the "big idea"?, (1a) Is the indicated big idea consistent with NGSS core concepts?, (2) How did the dialogue in whole-class discussion change during the first semester of argument-based inquiry professional development?, (3) How did the argument in whole-class discussion change during the first semester of argument-based inquiry professional development? This semester-long study that took place in a middle school in a rural Midwestern city was grounded in interactive constructivism, and utilized a qualitative design to identify the ways in which the teacher utilized big ideas and how dialogue and argumentative dialogue developed over time. The purposefully selected teacher in this study provided a unique situation where he was in his first semester of professional development using the Science Writing Heuristic Approach to argument-based inquiry with 19 students who had two prior years' experience in ABI. Multiple sources of data were collected, including

A real CDIO mechanical engineering project in 4th semester

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauritsen, Aage Birkkjær

In the past 6 years at the mechanical engineering study at the Engineering College of Aarhus we have been practicing project work on 4th Semester in the design of energy technology systems. In my presentation, I will give a description of the project, and the thoughts behind; pedagogic......-6 students, and will partly support the general theory being taught in the courses, but will also provide students with skills in teamwork, project work and system building. The pedagogical considerations behind the development of the project are quite simply that students learn best through active work...

The Development of a Set of Core Communication Competencies for Introductory Communication Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Engleberg, Isa N.; Ward, Susan M.; Disbrow, Lynn M.; Katt, James A.; Myers, Scott A.; O'Keefe, Patricia

2017-01-01

In most academic disciplines, there is "one" introductory course that presents an overview of the discipline and introduces fundamental, discipline-specific principles and competencies. However, in Communication Studies, the discipline recognizes and offers multiple course options that may serve as the introductory course. This project…

What Did You Try Last Semester? How Did It Work?

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, John W.

1999-02-01

As I write this, the end of the semester is less than a week away. This is a good time to reflect on what I tried this time that I had not done before, how well it worked, and how that applies to the process of change and reform in chemical education. Nearly a year ago, a good friend gave me a copy of a brief note by the Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association, Gerald Wheeler (1). Its title was "Why doesn't change stick?" Quoting the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, Wheeler suggested that it might be taking all the running we could do just to maintain the status quo. He asked readers to look systematically at "the failed reform efforts begun in the 1960s" and questioned whether those efforts had actually changed anything. Although the reform efforts Wheeler questioned were aimed at the pre-college level, his point is a good one for college as well as high school teachers to consider, especially at a time when new projects are aiming to reform science education systemically. (See pages 158-160 and page 163 for more information on these projects.) If reform efforts are typically meteoric, burning brightly for but a short time and then disappearing, what might we do to make them less so? I think that the power to make reform less meteoric lies within all of us. It involves incremental, rather than revolutionary, change. My model for reform is one in which each of us continually experiments with manageable changes in courses and pedagogy, evaluating their effectiveness, casting out the less than successful ones, retaining and refining those that help students learn more effectively, and keeping the rest of the community informed about what works and what does not. This model requires continual work and dedication from all of us, but not superhuman effort that is impossible to sustain over the long term. A meteor shower definitely gets our attention, but far more light is shed by the fixed stars, and they'll still be there next week. The

Communication skills program in the first semester: An experience report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafaela Liberali

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Since 2001, Brazilian Guidelines for undergraduate medical education highlighted the need to include communication skills (CS in the curriculum. At the Federal University of Santa Catarina (South Brazil, CS were taught in the third year in theoretical classes as an overview of physician-patient relationships, and in a nonsystematic way in practical classes. In 2013, theory and practice were aligned, mediated by reflection, by adding three classes: CS overview; responding to strong emotions; and giving bad news. Two Portuguese translation of modules from DocCom, a web-based audiovisual learning resource on CS in Healthcare (AACH, DUCOM, 2005- 2015, were used. In 2015, we started to teach CS to the 53 students registered in the first semester of our medical course. We report on the program in the first semester of the course and students’ perceptions of it. The CS program consisted of seven 1.5-hr face-to-face sessions with all students, co-taught by the authors, a PhD student and a medical school professor. The content included CS overview and importance in healthcare; relationship-centered care, building relationships and gathering information; students’ experiences in the medical course; and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI. To encourage continuous reflection and align theory with practice, before or after theoretical brief presentations, additional resources were used: exercises to raise awareness of verbal and nonverbal communication, drawings on medical students’ life experiences, reflections about the poem “After a While” by Veronica Shoffstall and after listening to Bach’s Brandenburg concerto #1; DocCom modules #6 “Build a relationship” and #8 “Gather information” (viewed online to prepare for class followed by face-toface small group discussions (6-7 students in each about CS learned and theirs practice in role-play; peers’ and patients’ interviews; students’ MBTI identification (at distance and group dynamics

Beyond the Tourist Gaze? Cultural Learning on an American "Semester Abroad" Programme in London

Science.gov (United States)

Janes, Dominic

2008-01-01

Is the short-term study abroad experience, particularly when undertaken with a self-contained group of international students such as on a "semester abroad programme" accredited by a US university, little more than glorified tourism? This study investigates some of the ways in which a group of American students developed their…

Inference and the Introductory Statistics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Pfannkuch, Maxine; Regan, Matt; Wild, Chris; Budgett, Stephanie; Forbes, Sharleen; Harraway, John; Parsonage, Ross

2011-01-01

This article sets out some of the rationale and arguments for making major changes to the teaching and learning of statistical inference in introductory courses at our universities by changing from a norm-based, mathematical approach to more conceptually accessible computer-based approaches. The core problem of the inferential argument with its…

"World Religions" in Introductory Sociology Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Michael P.

2017-01-01

A section on "world religions" (WRs) is now routinely included in the religion chapters of introductory sociology textbooks. Looking carefully at these WR sections, however, two things seem puzzling. The first is that the criteria for defining a WR varies considerably from textbook to textbook; the second is that these WRs sections…

Making Introductory Quantum Physics Understandable and Interesting

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 10; Issue 1. Making Introductory Quantum Physics Understandable and Interesting. Ranjana Y Abhang. Classroom Volume 10 Issue 1 January 2005 pp 63-73. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link:

Using Novel Experiences in Introductory Psychology: Insects 101

Science.gov (United States)

Forrest, Krista D.; Hoback, W. Wyatt

2009-01-01

This demonstration provides students with 1 active experience capable of representing cross-cultural psychology, personality and nature-nurture. Early in the semester, students completed Sensation Seeking and television preference questionnaires. We offered students the opportunity to eat insects during a cross-cultural psychology lecture. After…

Shrinked systems. Quantum physics on new paths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audretsch, J.

2005-01-01

This introducing textbook for students of higher semesters of physics, chemistry, and informatics treats a in latest time dynamically expanding field of physics. This book deals among others with the themes quantum information theory, quantum communications, quantum computing, teleportation, hidden parameters, which-way-marking, quantum measuring process, POVM, quantum channels and mediates by this not only a deepened understanding of quantum theory but also basic science, in order to follow the fast development of the field respectively to enter a special field of research. Commented recommendations for further literature as well as exercise problems help the reader to find quickly a founded approach to the theoretical foundations of future key technologies. The book can be made to a base of courses and seminars. Because the required basic knowledge in mathematics and quantum theory is presented in introductory chapters, the book is also suited for the self-study

Analysis of the Impact of Introductory Physics on Engineering Students at Texas A&M University

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Jonathan; Bassichis, William

Introductory physics forms a major part of the foundational knowledge of engineering majors, independent of discipline and institution. While the content of introductory physics courses is consistent from institution to institution, the manner in which it is taught can vary greatly due to professor, textbook, instructional method, and overall course design. This work attempts to examine variations in student success, as measured by overall academic performance in an engineering major, and matriculation rates, based on the type of introductory physics a student took while enrolled in an engineering degree at Texas A&M University. Specific options for introductory physics at Texas A&M University include two calculus based physics courses, one traditional (UP), and one more mathematically rigorous (DP), transfer credit, and high school (AP or dual) credit. In order to examine the impact of introductory physics on a student's degree progression, data mining analyses are performed on a data set of relatively comprehensive academic records for all students enrolled as an engineering major for a minimum of one academic term. Student data has been collected for years of entering freshman beginning in 1990 and ending in 2010. Correlations will be examined between freshman level courses, including introductory physics, and follow on engineering courses, matriculation rates, and time to graduation.

Transversality of Electromagnetic Waves in the Calculus--Based Introductory Physics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Burko, Lior M.

2009-05-01

Introductory calculus--based physics textbooks state that electromagnetic waves are transverse and list many of their properties, but most such textbooks do not bring forth arguments why this is so. Both physical and theoretical arguments are at a level appropriate for students of courses based on such books, and could be readily used by instructors of such courses. Here, we discuss two physical arguments (based on polarization experiments and on lack of monopole electromagnetic radiation), and the full argument for the transversality of (plane) electromagnetic waves based on the integral Maxwell equations. We also show, at a level appropriate for the introductory course, why the electric and magnetic fields in a wave are in phase and the relation of their magnitudes. We have successfully integrated this approach in the calculus--based introductory physics course at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Third Semester and Master’s Thesis Ideas 2016

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The following pages contain a list of project ideas proposed by the scientific staff at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, and a number of companies. The project ideas in this catalogue may form the basis for long and short master projects as well as regular 3rd semester...... overview of the purpose as well as the main activities. Further, a weighting between theoretical analysis, experimental work and computer modelling has been proposed. Usually, this weighting can be changed slightly in accordance with the wishes of the students. The contact persons listed will usually act...... in this catalogue can reveal the expertise and research areas of the different supervisors. Many private engineering companies have a homepage on which they state that they would like to collaborate with students on a master project. Find out more on the individual company home pages....

Enhancing the Teaching of Introductory Economics with a Team-Based, Multi-Section Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Beaudin, Laura; Berdiev, Aziz N.; Kaminaga, Allison Shwachman; Mirmirani, Sam; Tebaldi, Edinaldo

2017-01-01

The authors describe a unique approach to enhancing student learning at the introductory economics level that utilizes a multi-section, team-based competition. The competition is structured to supplement learning throughout the entire introductory course. Student teams are presented with current economic issues, trends, or events, and use economic…

Exploring Urban America: An Introductory Reader.

Science.gov (United States)

Caves, Roger W.

This introductory text presents a collection of articles from urban-studies journals to introduce undergraduate students to the interdisciplinary field of urban studies. The book is divided into 9 parts as follows: Part 1: Cities and Urbanism; part 2: Urban History; part 3: Urban Policy; part 4: Economic Development; part 5: Community Services and…

Mapping and industrial IT project to a 2nd semester design-build project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nyborg, Mads; Høgh, Stig

2010-01-01

CDIO means bringing the engineer's daily life and working practice into the educational system. In our opinion this is best done by selecting an appropriate project from industry. In this paper we describe how we have mapped an industrial IT project to a 2nd semester design-build project in the D......CDIO means bringing the engineer's daily life and working practice into the educational system. In our opinion this is best done by selecting an appropriate project from industry. In this paper we describe how we have mapped an industrial IT project to a 2nd semester design-build project...... in the Diploma IT program at the Technical University of Denmark. The system in question is a weighing system operating in a LAN environment. The system is used in the medical industry for producing tablets. We present the design of a curriculum to support the development of major components of the weighing...... system. A simple teaching model for software engineering is presented which combines technical disciplines with disciplines from section 2-4 in the CDIO syllabus. The implementation of a joint project involving several courses supports the CDIO perspective. Already the traditional IT-diploma education...

Teaching Quantum Mechanics on an Introductory Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, Rainer; Wiesner, Hartmut

2002-01-01

Presents a new research-based course on quantum mechanics in which the conceptual issues of quantum mechanics are taught at an introductory level. Involves students in the discovery of how quantum phenomena deviate from classical everyday experiences. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/YDS)

The effects of Self- efficacy and Motivational Orientations on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effects of Self- efficacy and Motivational Orientations on Academic Achievement of Freshman Science Students. ... Science, Technology and Arts Research Journal ... Data through questionnaire, students' grades in four introductory science courses and College English collected at the end of the semester. Regression ...

Commentary: Prerequisite Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Ann T. S.

2013-01-01

Most biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, and molecular biology classes have extensive prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, often including introductory chemistry, introductory biology, and organic chemistry coursework. But what is the function of these prerequisites? While it seems logical that a basic understanding of biological and…

The Content Analysis, Material Presentation, and Readability of Curriculum 2013 Science Textbook for 1st Semester of Junior High School 7th Grade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Endik Deni Nugroho

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Based on the early observation by researchers of the two Science textbooks 7thGrade about biological material, 1stand 2ndsemester of curriculum 2013, there were errors in the material presentation and legibility. This study aimed to compare and find the contents suitability of the book based on standard of competence and basic competences, readability, materials presentation and supporting material in the science textbook VII grade, 1st and 2nd semester and measured student legibility. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach by using document analysis. The data resources were obtained by using purposive, the data collection was triangulation, data analysis was inductive/qualitative and the results emphasized the meaning. This research results showed that the Integrated Sciences and Sciences textbook 1st and 2nd semester meet the standards of the core competencies and basic competence on the syllabus curriculum 2013 and also meet the books standart. The results of the analysis conducted in misstatement concept and principles and material llustration in the Integrated Science textbook 1st semester were found 5 misstatement concept, for the presentation of the principles and material illustration was found no error. In the book Integrated Sciences there was no delivery errors concept, principle, and material illustration. Science textbook 1st semester found 8 concepts misstatements and 8 illustration material misstatements. In general, Integrated Sciences and Sciences textbooks 1st and 2nd semester are illegibility so not appropriate for students.

Scaling Up: Adapting a Phage-Hunting Course to Increase Participation of First-Year Students in Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Staub, Nancy L; Poxleitner, Marianne; Braley, Amanda; Smith-Flores, Helen; Pribbenow, Christine M; Jaworski, Leslie; Lopatto, David; Anders, Kirk R

2016-01-01

Authentic research experiences are valuable components of effective undergraduate education. Research experiences during the first years of college are especially critical to increase persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) model provides a high-impact research experience to first-year students but is usually available to a limited number of students, and its implementation is costly in faculty time and laboratory space. To offer a research experience to all students taking introductory biology at Gonzaga University (n = 350/yr), we modified the traditional two-semester SEA-PHAGES course by streamlining the first-semester Phage Discovery lab and integrating the second SEA-PHAGES semester into other courses in the biology curriculum. Because most students in the introductory course are not biology majors, the Phage Discovery semester may be their only encounter with research. To discover whether students benefit from the first semester alone, we assessed the effects of the one-semester Phage Discovery course on students' understanding of course content. Specifically, students showed improvement in knowledge of bacteriophages, lab math skills, and understanding experimental design and interpretation. They also reported learning gains and benefits comparable with other course-based research experiences. Responses to open-ended questions suggest that students experienced this course as a true undergraduate research experience. © 2016 N. L. Staub et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Python and Roles of Variables in Introductory Programming: Experiences from Three Educational Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

Nikula, Uolevi; Sajaniemi, Jorma; Tedre, Matti; Wray, Stuart

2007-01-01

Students often find that learning to program is hard. Introductory programming courses have high drop-out rates and students do not learn to program well. This paper presents experiences from three educational institutions where introductory programming courses were improved by adopting Python as the first programming language and roles of…

Behaviorism, latent learning, and cognitive maps: needed revisions in introductory psychology textbooks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Robert

2006-01-01

This paper critically assesses the scholarship in introductory psychology textbooks in relation to the topic of latent learning. A review of the treatment of latent learning in 48 introductory psychology textbooks published between 1948 and 2004, with 21 of these texts published since 1999, reveals that the scholarship on the topic of latent learning demonstrated in introductory textbooks warrants improvement. Errors that persist in textbooks include the assertion that the latent learning experiments demonstrate unequivocally that reinforcement was not necessary for learning to occur, that behavioral theories could not account for the results of the latent learning experiments, that B. F. Skinner was an S-R association behaviorist who argued that reinforcement is necessary for learning to occur, and that because behavioral theories (including that of B. F. Skinner) were unable explain the results of the latent learning experiments the cognitive map invoked by Edward Tolman is the only explanation for latent learning. Finally, the validity of the cognitive map is typically accepted without question. Implications of the presence of these errors for students and the discipline are considered. Lastly, remedies are offered to improve the scholarship found in introductory psychology textbooks.

A one-semester course in modeling of VSLI interconnections

CERN Document Server

Goel, Ashok

2015-01-01

Quantitative understanding of the parasitic capacitances and inductances, and the resultant propagation delays and crosstalk phenomena associated with the metallic interconnections on the very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits has become extremely important for the optimum design of the state-of-the-art integrated circuits. More than 65 percent of the delays on the integrated circuit chip occur in the interconnections and not in the transistors on the chip. Mathematical techniques to model the parasitic capacitances, inductances, propagation delays, crosstalk noise, and electromigration-induced failure associated with the interconnections in the realistic high-density environment on a chip will be discussed. A One-Semester Course in Modeling of VLSI Interconnections also includes an overview of the future interconnection technologies for the nanotechnology circuits.

Integrated Circuits in the Introductory Electronics Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

English, Thomas C.; Lind, David A.

1973-01-01

Discusses the use of an integrated circuit operational amplifier in an introductory electronics laboratory course for undergraduate science majors. The advantages of this approach and the implications for scientific instrumentation are identified. Describes a number of experiments suitable for the undergraduate laboratory. (Author/DF)

Barriers to Teaching Introductory Physical Geography Online

Science.gov (United States)

Ritter, Michael E.

2012-01-01

Learning geography online is becoming an option for more students but not without controversy. Issues of faculty resources, logistics, professional recognition, and pedagogical concerns are cited as barriers to teaching online. Offering introductory physical geography online presents special challenges. As a general education course, an…

Medialogi (Dansk informations brochure om Medialogi-uddannelsen, 1. til 10. semester (B.Sc. & Cand.Scient))

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordahl, Rolf; Andersen, Hans Jørgen

2006-01-01

Informationsbrochure, 28 sider, om Medialogi uddannelsen (Cand. Scient.), der udbydes af Aalborg Universitet i Aalborg, Esbjerg og København. Brochuren beskriver 1. til 10. semester af uddannelsen (B.Sc. og M.Sc.). Informationen er primært rettet mod potentielle ansøgere til Medialogi uddannelsen...

Predicting College Success: Achievement, Demographic, and Psychosocial Predictors of First-Semester College Grade Point Average

Science.gov (United States)

Saltonstall, Margot

2013-01-01

This study seeks to advance and expand research on college student success. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis, the study investigates the contribution of psychosocial variables above and beyond traditional achievement and demographic measures to predicting first-semester college grade point average (GPA). It also investigates if…

The Efficacy of Problem-based Learning in an Analytical Laboratory Course for Pre-service Chemistry Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Heojeong; Woo, Ae Ja; Treagust, David; Chandrasegaran, AL

2014-01-01

The efficacy of problem-based learning (PBL) in an analytical chemistry laboratory course was studied using a programme that was designed and implemented with 20 students in a treatment group over 10 weeks. Data from 26 students in a traditional analytical chemistry laboratory course were used for comparison. Differences in the creative thinking ability of students in both the treatment and control groups were evaluated before and at the end of the implementation of the programme, using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. In addition, changes in students' self-regulated learning skills using the Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS) and their self-evaluation proficiency were evaluated. Analysis of covariance showed that the creative thinking ability of the treatment group had improved statistically significantly after the PBL course (p effect on creative thinking ability. The SRLIS test showed that students in the treatment group used self-regulated learning strategies more frequently than students in the comparison group. According to the results of the self-evaluation, students became more positive and confident in problem-solving and group work as the semester progressed. Overall, PBL was shown to be an effective pedagogical instructional strategy for enhancing chemistry students' creative thinking ability, self-regulated learning skills and self-evaluation.

Just the Facts? Introductory Undergraduate Biology Courses Focus on Low-Level Cognitive Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Momsen, Jennifer L.; Long, Tammy M.; Wyse, Sara A.; Ebert-May, Diane

2010-01-01

Introductory biology courses are widely criticized for overemphasizing details and rote memorization of facts. Data to support such claims, however, are surprisingly scarce. We sought to determine whether this claim was evidence-based. To do so we quantified the cognitive level of learning targeted by faculty in introductory-level biology courses.…

Stimulating Situational Interest and Student Questioning through Three Types of Historical Introductory Texts

Science.gov (United States)

Logtenberg, Albert; van Boxtel, Carla; van Hout-Wolters, Bernadette

2011-01-01

This study investigates questions students ask related to an introductory text about a new topic in the history classroom. The effects of a narrative, problematizing, and expository introductory text on the situational interest of students and the number and type of student-generated questions, are compared. Participants are 174 students in higher…

Special Semester titled Geometric mechanics : variational and stochastic methods : CIB, Lausanne, Switzerland, January-June 2015

CERN Document Server

Cruzeiro, Ana; Holm, Darryl

2017-01-01

Collecting together contributed lectures and mini-courses, this book details the research presented in a special semester titled “Geometric mechanics – variational and stochastic methods” run in the first half of 2015 at the Centre Interfacultaire Bernoulli (CIB) of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. The aim of the semester was to develop a common language needed to handle the wide variety of problems and phenomena occurring in stochastic geometric mechanics. It gathered mathematicians and scientists from several different areas of mathematics (from analysis, probability, numerical analysis and statistics, to algebra, geometry, topology, representation theory, and dynamical systems theory) and also areas of mathematical physics, control theory, robotics, and the life sciences, with the aim of developing the new research area in a concentrated joint effort, both from the theoretical and applied points of view. The lectures were given by leading specialists in different areas of mathematics a...

Known-to-Unknown Approach to Teach about Coulomb's Law

Science.gov (United States)

Thamburaj, P. K.

2007-01-01

Analogies from life experiences help students understand various relationships presented in an introductory chemistry course. Coulomb's law is a complex relationship encountered in introductory general chemistry. A proper understanding of the relationships between the quantities involved in Coulomb's law is necessary in order for students to…

A Semester-Long Joint Simulation of the Development of a Health Communication Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Ann Neville; McCain, Joan

2012-01-01

Although a growing number of universities are mounting concentrations or degrees in health communication, the most common level of training offered in the subject is a single introductory course. Typically, prerequisites for these courses are an introduction to communication course and/or a communication theory course. This makes it challenging to…

Self-Assessment and Reflection in a 1st Semester Course for Software Engineering Students

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Jacob; Majgaard, Gunver; Sørensen, Erik

2013-01-01

How can student self-assessment be used as a tool and become beneficial for both lecturers and students? We used a simple self-assessment tool for pre- and post-testing on a first-semester engineering course. The students graded their knowledge on human-computer interaction based on their ability to understand and explain specific concepts. The…

Comparative analysis of a nontraditional general chemistry textbook and selected traditional textbooks used in Texas community colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Salvato, Steven Walter

The purpose of this study was to analyze questions within the chapters of a nontraditional general chemistry textbook and the four general chemistry textbooks most widely used by Texas community colleges in order to determine if the questions require higher- or lower-order thinking according to Bloom's taxonomy. The study employed quantitative methods. Bloom's taxonomy (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956) was utilized as the main instrument in the study. Additional tools were used to help classify the questions into the proper category of the taxonomy (McBeath, 1992; Metfessel, Michael, & Kirsner, 1969). The top four general chemistry textbooks used in Texas community colleges and Chemistry: A Project of the American Chemical Society (Bell et al., 2005) were analyzed during the fall semester of 2010 in order to categorize the questions within the chapters into one of the six levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Two coders were used to assess reliability. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential methods. The descriptive method involved calculation of the frequencies and percentages of coded questions from the books as belonging to the six categories of the taxonomy. Questions were dichotomized into higher- and lower-order thinking questions. The inferential methods involved chi-square tests of association to determine if there were statistically significant differences among the four traditional college general chemistry textbooks in the proportions of higher- and lower-order questions and if there were statistically significant differences between the nontraditional chemistry textbook and the four traditional general chemistry textbooks. Findings indicated statistically significant differences among the four textbooks frequently used in Texas community colleges in the number of higher- and lower-level questions. Statistically significant differences were also found among the four textbooks and the nontraditional textbook. After the analysis of

Guided-inquiry based laboratory instruction: Investigation of critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and implementing student roles in chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Tanya

Recent initiatives in the laboratory curriculum have encouraged an inquiry-based approach to learning and teaching in the laboratory. It has been argued that laboratory instruction should not just be hands-on, but it should portray the essence of inquiry through the process of experiential learning and reflective engagement in collaboration with peers and in facilitation by the instructor. A student-centered active learning approach may be an effective way to enhance student understanding of concepts in the laboratory. The dissertation research work explores the impact of laboratory instruction and its relevance for college-level chemistry. Each chapter is different from the preceding chapter in terms of the purpose of the study and the research questions asked. However, the overarching idea is to address the importance of guided-inquiry based laboratory instruction in chemistry and its relevance in helping students to make connections with the chemistry content and in imparting skills to students. Such skills include problem solving, collaborative group work and critical thinking. The first research study (Chapter 2) concerns the impact of first year co-requisite general chemistry laboratory instruction on the problem-solving skills of students. The second research study (Chapter 3) examines the impact of implementing student roles also known as Student-Led Instructor Facilitated Guided-Inquiry based Laboratories, SLIFGIL) by modifying the Science Writing Heuristic approach of laboratory instruction. In the third research study (Chapter 4), critical thinking skills of first semester general chemistry laboratory students were compared to advanced (third or fourth year) chemistry laboratory students based on the analysis of their laboratory reports.

Organising and learning experiences of the first semester MA Program ePedagogy / Visual Knowledge Building

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaap Jansen

2006-01-01

This paper will discuss the process of the MA program ePedagogy / Visual Knowledge Building during the first semester of the academic year 2005 – 2006. This MA program is a joint venture between the Universities of Helsinki, Hamburg and INHOLLAND. This publication will discuss and evaluate the

Computer-Mediated Communication with Distant Friends: Relations with Adjustment during Students' First Semester in College

Science.gov (United States)

Ranney, John D.; Troop-Gordon, Wendy

2012-01-01

Because of recent technological innovations, college freshmen can readily communicate with friends who they see infrequently (e.g., friends from home). The current study addressed whether computer-mediated communication with these distant friends can compensate for a lack of high-quality on-campus friendships during students' first semester of…

Cyber Mentoring in an Online Introductory Statistics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Mamunur; Sarkar, Jyotirmoy

2018-01-01

Students in an online statistics course were prone to become increasingly disengaged as the semester progressed. In Spring 2015, we took a proactive measure to retain student engagement by introducing a cyber mentoring session. We describe the framework, operation and effectiveness of cyber mentoring in improving students' learning experience and…

An Introductory Interprofessional Exercise for Healthcare Students

Science.gov (United States)

Rege, Saumitra V.; Misto, Kara; Dollase, Richard; George, Paul

2012-01-01

Objective. To evaluate healthcare students’ perceptions of an introductory interprofessional exercise and their team dynamics. Design. A workshop was developed, combining second-year medical students, fourth-year nursing students, and third-year pharmacy students to work as an interdisciplinary team. The teams alternated between working together on patient cases focusing on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, and on the evaluation of standardized pneumonia patients. Teams were given the patients' health information and no other instructions. A faculty member and the standardized patient evaluated the students using a teamwork global rating scale. Assessment. Student survey results showed a positive response to interprofessional teamwork. The faculty members and standardized patients reported that the students worked as a cohesive unit and demonstrated good team communication. Conclusions. This introductory interprofessional experience had a positive impact on the students’ understanding of collaboration and teamwork. This type of experience will help students foster future collaborations as healthcare providers. PMID:23129853

Minicomputer and computations in chemistry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1978-01-01

The introduction of multiple-precision hardware and longer word lengths has given the minicomputer a much more general potential for chemistry applications. It was the purpose of this workshop to address this potential, particularly as it is related to computations. The workshop brought together persons with minicomputer experience and those who are considering how the minicomputer might enhance their research activities. The workshop sessions were arranged in sequence to address the following questions: (1) Is the general purpose minicomputer an appropriate tool to meet the computational requirements of a chemistry research laboratory. (2) What are the procedures for wisely designing a minicomputer configuration. (3) What special-purpose hardware is available to enhance the speed of a minicomputer. (4) How does one select the appropriate minicomputer and ensure that it can accomplish the tasks for which is was designed. (5) How can one network minicomputers for more efficient and flexible operation. (6) Can one do really large-scale computations on a minicomputer and what modifications are necessary to convert existing programs and algorithms. (7) How can the minicomputer be used to access the maxicomputers at the NRCC. (8) How are computers likely to evolve in the future. (9) What should be the role of the NRCC in relation to minicomputers. This report of the workshop consists mainly of edited transcripts of introductory remarks. These were augmented by relevant bibliographies as an alternative to transcription of the entire workshop. There was no attempt in the workshop to give final answers to the questions that were raised, since the answers are determined in large part by each particular minicomputer environment.

Deep learning for computational chemistry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goh, Garrett B. [Advanced Computing, Mathematics, and Data Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland Washington 99354; Hodas, Nathan O. [Advanced Computing, Mathematics, and Data Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland Washington 99354; Vishnu, Abhinav [Advanced Computing, Mathematics, and Data Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland Washington 99354

2017-03-08

The rise and fall of artificial neural networks is well documented in the scientific literature of both the fields of computer science and computational chemistry. Yet almost two decades later, we are now seeing a resurgence of interest in deep learning, a machine learning algorithm based on “deep” neural networks. Within the last few years, we have seen the transformative impact of deep learning the computer science domain, notably in speech recognition and computer vision, to the extent that the majority of practitioners in those field are now regularly eschewing prior established models in favor of deep learning models. In this review, we provide an introductory overview into the theory of deep neural networks and their unique properties as compared to traditional machine learning algorithms used in cheminformatics. By providing an overview of the variety of emerging applications of deep neural networks, we highlight its ubiquity and broad applicability to a wide range of challenges in the field, including QSAR, virtual screening, protein structure modeling, QM calculations, materials synthesis and property prediction. In reviewing the performance of deep neural networks, we observed a consistent outperformance against non neural networks state-of-the-art models across disparate research topics, and deep neural network based models often exceeded the “glass ceiling” expectations of their respective tasks. Coupled with the maturity of GPU-accelerated computing for training deep neural networks and the exponential growth of chemical data on which to train these networks on, we anticipate that deep learning algorithms will be a useful tool and may grow into a pivotal role for various challenges in the computational chemistry field.

Teaching Health Care in Introductory Economics

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Cutler, David M.

2017-01-01

Health care is one of the economy's biggest industries, so it is natural that the health care industry should play some role in the teaching of introductory economics. There are many ways that health care can appear in such a context: in the teaching of microeconomics, as a macroeconomic issue, to learn about social welfare, and even to learn how…

Personality types and student performance in an introductory physics course

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Harlow, Jason J. B.; Harrison, David M.; Justason, Michael; Meyertholen, Andrew; Wilson, Brian

2017-12-01

We measured the personality type of the students in a large introductory physics course of mostly life science students using the True Colors instrument. We found large correlations of personality type with performance on the precourse Force Concept Inventory (FCI), both term tests, the postcourse FCI, and the final examination. We also saw correlations with the normalized gain on the FCI. The personality profile of the students in this course is very different from the profile of the physics faculty and graduate students, and also very different from the profile of students taking the introductory physics course intended for physics majors and specialists.

Improving Introductory Astronomy Education in American Colleges and Universities: A Review of Recent Progress

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Waller, William H.; Slater, Timothy F.

2011-01-01

Over the past 15 years, professional astronomers, their societies, and associated funding agencies have collaborated to improve astronomy teaching and learning at the introductory undergraduate level. Many nonscience majors and preservice teachers enroll in these introductory astronomy courses, thus meriting the focused attention. In this review…

The Lasting Effects of Introductory Economics Courses.

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Sanders, Philip

1980-01-01

Reports research which tests the Stigler Hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that students who have taken introductory economics courses and those who have not show little difference in test performance five years after completing college. Results of the author's research illustrate that economics students do retain some knowledge of economics…

Beat the Instructor: An Introductory Forecasting Game

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Snider, Brent R.; Eliasson, Janice B.

2013-01-01

This teaching brief describes a 30-minute game where student groups compete in-class in an introductory time-series forecasting exercise. The students are challenged to "beat the instructor" who competes using forecasting techniques that will be subsequently taught. All forecasts are graphed prior to revealing the randomly generated…

Holography and Introductory Science at Hampshire College.

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Wirth, Frederick H.

1991-01-01

An introductory Natural Science course with a focus on the laboratory is described. The main function of the course is getting students prepared for required individual projects in science. A copy of the syllabus, a description of laboratory experiments, and the context of the course are included. (KR)

Impact of the Second Semester University Modeling Instruction Course on Students' Representation Choices

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McPadden, Daryl; Brewe, Eric

2017-01-01

Representation use is a critical skill for learning, problem solving, and communicating in science, especially in physics where multiple representations often scaffold the understanding of a phenomenon. University Modeling Instruction, which is an active-learning, research-based introductory physics curriculum centered on students' use of…

Comparing Student Success and Understanding in Introductory Statistics under Consensus and Simulation-Based Curricula

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Hldreth, Laura A.; Robison-Cox, Jim; Schmidt, Jade

2018-01-01

This study examines the transferability of results from previous studies of simulation-based curriculum in introductory statistics using data from 3,500 students enrolled in an introductory statistics course at Montana State University from fall 2013 through spring 2016. During this time, four different curricula, a traditional curriculum and…

Mathematics Prerequisites for Introductory Geoscience Courses: Using Technology to Help Solve the Problem

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Burn, H. E.; Wenner, J. M.; Baer, E. M.

2011-12-01

The quantitative components of introductory geoscience courses can pose significant barriers to students. Many academic departments respond by stripping courses of their quantitative components or by attaching prerequisite mathematics courses [PMC]. PMCs cause students to incur additional costs and credits and may deter enrollment in introductory courses; yet, stripping quantitative content from geoscience courses masks the data-rich, quantitative nature of geoscience. Furthermore, the diversity of math skills required in geoscience and students' difficulty with transferring mathematical knowledge across domains suggest that PMCs may be ineffective. Instead, this study explores an alternative strategy -- to remediate students' mathematical skills using online modules that provide students with opportunities to build contextual quantitative reasoning skills. The Math You Need, When You Need It [TMYN] is a set of modular online student resources that address mathematical concepts in the context of the geosciences. TMYN modules are online resources that employ a "just-in-time" approach - giving students access to skills and then immediately providing opportunities to apply them. Each module places the mathematical concept in multiple geoscience contexts. Such an approach illustrates the immediate application of a principle and provides repeated exposure to a mathematical skill, enhancing long-term retention. At the same time, placing mathematics directly in several geoscience contexts better promotes transfer of learning by using similar discourse (words, tools, representations) and context that students will encounter when applying mathematics in the future. This study uses quantitative and qualitative data to explore the effectiveness of TMYN modules in remediating students' mathematical skills. Quantitative data derive from ten geoscience courses that used TMYN modules during the fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters; none of the courses had a PMC. In all courses

Generating a Gender Balance: making introductory information systems courses a positive experience

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Rosemary Stockdale

2007-12-01

Full Text Available There is a growing shortfall of graduates entering the IT profession. The situation is exacerbated by the continuing decline in the number of women undertaking IT related degrees. However, there are an increasing number of students taking business degrees that have a small information systems component, although few students choose to major in IS. Using a qualitative reflective approach we identify the perceptions and experiences of female undergraduates taking introductory IS courses in two universities, one in Australia and one in New Zealand. We discuss ways of improving the delivery of introductory IS courses in order to make information systems more interesting to women undergraduates, thus enhancing their learning experiences and encouraging further uptake of IS majors. The paper concludes with some reflections on other influences that impact on the ability of IS departments to deliver appropriate introductory courses.

The Use of Modular Computer-Based Lessons in a Modification of the Classical Introductory Course in Organic Chemistry.

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Stotter, Philip L.; Culp, George H.

An experimental course in organic chemistry utilized computer-assisted instructional (CAI) techniques. The CAI lessons provided tutorial drill and practice and simulated experiments and reactions. The Conversational Language for Instruction and Computing was used, along with a CDC 6400-6600 system; students scheduled and completed the lessons at…

Teaching Discrete Mathematics Entirely from Primary Historical Sources

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Barnett, Janet Heine; Bezhanishvili, Guram; Lodder, Jerry; Pengelley, David

2016-01-01

We describe teaching an introductory discrete mathematics course entirely from student projects based on primary historical sources. We present case studies of four projects that cover the content of a one-semester course, and mention various other courses that we have taught with primary source projects.

The Role of Achievement Goals in the Development of Interest: Reciprocal Relations between Achievement Goals, Interest, and Performance

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Harackiewicz, Judith M.; Durik, Amanda M.; Barron, Kenneth E.; Linnenbrink-Garcia, Lisa; Tauer, John M.

2008-01-01

The dynamics of individual and situational interest and academic performance were examined in the college classroom and 7 semesters later in conjunction with achievement goals. At the beginning of an introductory psychology course, participants reported their initial interest in psychology, achievement goals, and situational interest in course…

Assessing Students' Conceptual Knowledge of Electricity and Magnetism

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McColgan, Michele W.; Finn, Rose A.; Broder, Darren L.; Hassel, George E.

2017-01-01

We present the Electricity and Magnetism Conceptual Assessment (EMCA), a new assessment aligned with second-semester introductory physics courses. Topics covered include electrostatics, electric fields, circuits, magnetism, and induction. We have two motives for writing a new assessment. First, we find other assessments such as the Brief…

Síntese de biodiesel: uma proposta contextualizada de experimento para laboratório de química geral Synthesis of biodiesel: a contextualized experiment proposal for the general chemistry laboratory

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Roberto Rinaldi

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The contextualized understanding of concepts in Chemistry by students from other areas is a challenging task. In this experiment, the synthesis of biodiesel is done by base catalyzed transesterification of refined soy oil with methanol at room temperature and common glassware found in any chemistry laboratory. The proposal permits introducing several concepts, such as that of emulsion, viscosity and catalysis to illustrate an activity based on an actual problem. In this didactic approach, some common problems of biodiesel production, such as soap formation and phase separation, are introduced into the procedure in order to raise questions and motivate the students to participate in the experimental work and stimulate reflections about critical aspects of biodiesel production. This experiment was carried out in the first semester of 2006, in experimental general chemistry taken by physics and agricultural, civil and chemical engineering students of UNICAMP.

The Case for Infusing Quantitative Literacy into Introductory Geoscience Courses

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Jennifer M. Wenner

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We present the case for introductory geoscience courses as model venues for increasing the quantitative literacy (QL of large numbers of the college-educated population. The geosciences provide meaningful context for a number of fundamental mathematical concepts that are revisited several times in a single course. Using some best practices from the mathematics education community surrounding problem solving, calculus reform, pre-college mathematics and five geoscience/math workshops, geoscience and mathematics faculty have identified five pedagogical ideas to increase the QL of the students who populate introductory geoscience courses. These five ideas include techniques such as: place mathematical concepts in context, use multiple representations, use technology appropriately, work in groups, and do multiple-day, in-depth problems that place quantitative skills in multiple contexts. We discuss the pedagogical underpinnings of these five ideas and illustrate some ways that the geosciences represent ideal places to use these techniques. However, the inclusion of QL in introductory courses is often met with resistance at all levels. Faculty who wish to include quantitative content must use creative means to break down barriers of public perception of geoscience as qualitative, administrative worry that enrollments will drop and faculty resistance to change. Novel ways to infuse QL into geoscience classrooms include use of web-based resources, shadow courses, setting clear expectations, and promoting quantitative geoscience to the general public. In order to help faculty increase the QL of geoscience students, a community-built faculty-centered web resource (Teaching Quantitative Skills in the Geosciences houses multiple examples that implement the five best practices of QL throughout the geoscience curriculum. We direct faculty to three portions of the web resource: Teaching Quantitative Literacy, QL activities, and the 2006 workshop website

The Introductory College Business Course: A New Dimension

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Podell, Joel; And Others

1977-01-01

Describes various methodologies used at the Queensboro Community College, New York, to enrich some of the topics traditionally included in the introductory course such as union management relations, social responsibility and business ethics, internal organization structure, and small business management. (TA)

Documenting the conversion from traditional to Studio Physics formats at the Colorado School of Mines: Process and early results

Science.gov (United States)

Kohl, Patrick B.; Kuo, H. Vincent; Ruskell, Todd G.

2008-10-01

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) has taught its first-semester introductory physics course using a hybrid lecture/Studio Physics format for several years. Over the past year we have converted the second semester of our calculus-based introductory physics course (Physics II) to a Studio Physics format, starting from a traditional lecture-based format. In this paper, we document the early stages of this conversion in order to better understand which features succeed and which do not, and in order to develop a model for switching to Studio that keeps the time and resource investment manageable. We describe the recent history of the Physics II course and of Studio at Mines, discuss the PER-based improvements that we are implementing, and characterize our progress via several metrics, including pre/post Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) scores, Colorado Learning About Science Survey scores (CLASS), solicited student comments, failure rates, and exam scores.

Studio Physics at the Colorado School of Mines: A model for iterative development and assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Kohl, Patrick; Kuo, Vincent

2009-05-01

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) has taught its first-semester introductory physics course using a hybrid lecture/Studio Physics format for several years. Based on this previous success, over the past 18 months we have converted the second semester of our traditional calculus-based introductory physics course (Physics II) to a Studio Physics format. In this talk, we describe the recent history of the Physics II course and of Studio at Mines, discuss the PER-based improvements that we are implementing, and characterize our progress via several metrics, including pre/post Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) scores, Colorado Learning About Science Survey scores (CLASS), failure rates, and exam scores. We also report on recent attempts to involve students in the department's Senior Design program with our course. Our ultimate goal is to construct one possible model for a practical and successful transition from a lecture course to a Studio (or Studio-like) course.

TASK BASED APPROACH IN WRITING ARTICLE (A Field Study: The Seventh Semester Students of PBI 2008 D of STKIP Ponorogo in Academic Year 2011/2012

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Tintin Susilowati

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstrak: Menulis adalah salah satu skill dari keterampilan bahasa yang masih menjadi masalah serius  bagi mahasiswa secara umum bahkan bagi mahasiswa semester tujuh jurusan pendidikan bahasa Inggris. Berdasarkan data ditemukan bahwa banyak mahasiswa semester tujuh memiliki keterbatasan pengetahuan tentang struktur paragrap terkait dengan esensi dan proposi dalam penulisan pendahuluan, tubuh dari paragrap untuk mengembangkan ide, serta kesimpulan bahkan mereka juga masih mengalami kesulitan dalam menulis sebuah paragrap. Paragrap seharusnya telah dikuasai oleh mahasiswa semester atas. Sebagai mahasiswa semester tujuh, mereka seharusnya telah mampu untuk menghasilkan tulisan jurnalistik seperti artikel. Penulisan artikel artikel, diterapkan dalam pembelajaran di kelas  menulis. Dalam materi menulis, diuraikan melalui serangkaian kegiatan dari langkah awal sampai produk akhir secara sisematis menggunakan “Task-Based Approach”. Implementasi dari pembelajaran ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Data diambil dari hasil tulisan mahasiswa dan di analisa menggunakan skala rubrik. Dengan Task-Based Approach, mahasiswa diarahkan untuk mampu menulis artikel. Pembelajaran dilakukan berbasis tugas dengan fokus yang berbeda untuk tiap pertemuan namun tujuan akhirnya mahasiswa mampu menulis artikel secara utuh setelah melakukan  tugas-tugas yang diberikan.

AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY IN ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLUB (ECC PROGRAM AT THE 3rd SEMESTER

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M. Fadhly Farhy Abbas

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This research is based on students’ speaking ability who had followed the EnglishConversation Club (ECC program especially for the third semester of English Department. Thepurpose of this study was to analyze the students’ speaking ability at the 3rd semester in the EnglishConversation Club FKIP UNILAK Pekanbaru. The type of the research was mixed method in typeof explanatory design. The number of participant was 53 students. The researcher used twoinstruments, those were test and interview. In analyzing the data, it used in descriptive statistics.The result of the analysis showed that the average score of 3rd semester students’ speaking abilitywas 45.42. It can be concluded that the students’ speaking ability was categorized into failed . Thescore of Standard Deviation was 7.02, Variance was 49.30, and Range was 36 points . It meansthat the students’ speaking ability was homogeneous. According to the Z-Score, it can be seen that49.06% students’ ability was higher than average and 50.94% students ability was below theaverage. In conclusion, the students’ ability in learning speaking English was failed, it had beenaffected by some factors, those were lack of vocabulary, grammar and motivation. It was supportedby the interview, eventhough the students’ perception to English Conversation Club (ECCprogram was positive, but in fact, the students’ frequency to speak English was seldom, they wereless practice speaking English everyday.Keywords : Speaking , English Conversation Club (ECC

Towards a Virtual Teaching Assistant to Answer Questions Asked by Students in Introductory Computer Science

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Heiner, Cecily

2009-01-01

Students in introductory programming classes often articulate their questions and information needs incompletely. Consequently, the automatic classification of student questions to provide automated tutorial responses is a challenging problem. This dissertation analyzes 411 questions from an introductory Java programming course by reducing the…

Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Opinions about the Difficulties in Understanding Introductory Quantum Physics Topics

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Kizilcik, Hasan Sahin; Yavas, Pervin Ünlü

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to identify the opinions of pre-service physics teachers about the difficulties in introductory quantum physics topics. In this study conducted with twenty-five pre-service physics teachers, the case study method was used. The participants were interviewed about introductory quantum physics topics. The interviews were…

Instructional Practices in Introductory Geoscience Courses: Results of a National Faculty Survey

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, R.; Manduca, C. A.; Mogk, D. W.; Tewksbury, B. J.

2004-12-01

The NAGT professional development program "On the Cutting Edge" recently surveyed 7000 geoscience faculty in the United States to develop a snapshot of current instructional practices in undergraduate geoscience courses, faculty strategies for learning new content and new teaching approaches, and faculty involvement in the geoscience education community. Over 2200 faculty responded to the survey which was conducted by the American Institute of Physics. Results for introductory courses (814 responses) indicate that lecture is the most common teaching strategy used in courses of all sizes. Many faculty incorporate some interactive activities in their courses. Most commonly, they use questioning, demonstrations, discussions, and in-class exercises. Less common, but not rare, are small group discussion or think-pair-share and classroom debates or role-playing. Activities involving problem solving, using quantitative skills, working with data and primarily literature, and structured collaboration are incorporated by many faculty in introductory courses, suggesting efforts to teach the process of science. Activities in which students address a problem of national or local interest, analyze their own data, or address problems of their own design are less common but not rare. Field experiences are common but not ubiquitous for students in introductory courses. A wide variety of assessment strategies are used in introductory courses of all sizes, including exams, quizzes, problem sets, papers, oral presentations, and portfolios. While papers are used for assessment more extensively in small classes, a significant number of faculty use papers in large classes (greater than 81 students). A majority of faculty use rubrics in grading. Faculty report that in the past two years, approximately one-third have made changes in the content of their introductory courses while just under half have changed the teaching methods they use. While faculty learn about both new content and

BOOK REVIEW: Introductory Nanoscience: Physical and Chemical Concepts Introductory Nanoscience: Physical and Chemical Concepts

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Bich Ha, Nguyen

2011-12-01

Having grown rapidly during the last two decades, and successfully synthesized the achievements of physics, chemistry, life science as well as information and computational science and technology, nanoscience and nanotechnology have emerged as interdisciplinary fields of modern science and technology with various prospective applications towards environmental protection and the sustainable development of industry, agriculture, public health etc. At the present time, there exist many textbooks, monographs and encyclopedias on nanoscience and nanotechnology. They present to readers the whole process of development from the emergence of new scientific ideas to comprehensive studies of concrete subjects. They are useful for experienced scientists in nanoscience and nanotechnology as well as related scientific disciplines. However, there are very few textbooks on nanoscience and nanotechnology for beginners—senior undergraduate and junior graduate students. Published by Garland Science in August 2011, Introductory Nanoscience: Physical and Chemical Concepts by Masaru Kuno is one of these rare textbooks. The purpose of this book is twofold. In a pedagogical manner the author presents the basic physical and chemical concepts of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Students with a background knowledge in general chemistry and semiclassical quantum physics can easily understand these concepts. On the other hand, by carefully studying the content of this textbook, readers can learn how to derive a large number of formulae and expressions which they will often use in their study as well as in their future research work. A distinguishing feature of the book is the inclusion of a large number of thought problems at the end of each chapter for demonstrating how to calculate the numerical values of almost all physical quantities involved in the theoretical and experimental studies of all subjects of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The author has successfully achieved both of the

The physics of living systems

CERN Document Server

Cleri, Fabrizio

2016-01-01

In this book, physics in its many aspects (thermodynamics, mechanics, electricity, fluid dynamics) is the guiding light on a fascinating journey through biological systems, providing ideas, examples and stimulating reflections for undergraduate physics, chemistry and life-science students, as well as for anyone interested in the frontiers between physics and biology. Rather than introducing a lot of new information, it encourages young students to use their recently acquired knowledge to start seeing the physics behind the biology. As an undergraduate textbook in introductory biophysics, it includes the necessary background and tools, including exercises and appendices, to form a progressive course. In this case, the chapters can be used in the order proposed, possibly split between two semesters. The book is also an absorbing read for researchers in the life sciences who wish to refresh or go deeper into the physics concepts gleaned in their early years of scientific training. Less physics-oriented readers m...