C2STEM: a System for Synergistic Learning of Physics and Computational Thinking

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Synergistic learning combining computational thinking (CT) and STEM has proven to be an effective method for advancing learning and understanding in a...     

How is the body’s systemic nature manifested amongst high school biology students?

This study follows two groups of students (67 in all) through the 3 years of their high school biology education and examines the development of their systems thinking - specifically their models of the human body as a system. Both groups were composed of biology majors, but the students in one group also participated in a PBLbased extension program called “Medical Systems”. Data was gathered by means of concept maps, which the students completed at four strategic stages of the learning process: beginning of 10th grade, end of 10th grade, end of 11th grade and end of 12th grade. At the end of the 3 year learning process, the students’ showed more complex system models. They included a wider range of concepts in their maps, spanning hierarchy levels ranging from the molecular and cellular to the system level. We also found an increase in references to dynamic interactions, but this did not encourage the students to use cellular level processes when explaining phenomena that occur at the systems level. The impact of the PBL teaching method was strongly evident in the complexity of the Medical Systems program students’ concept maps, which heavily emphasized “hierarchy” and “diseases” as system characteristics.     

Medical students’ help-seeking recommendations for a person with Alzheimer’s disease: relationships with knowledge and stigmatic beliefs

ABSTRACT

Primary care physicians play a central role in the process of providing a timely diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent reviews reported that their lack of knowledge and stigmatic beliefs about the disease are important barriers to providing an adequate diagnosis and even affect physicians’ referral recommendations for help-seeking (HS). This topic however, has not been examined among medical students. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine Israeli medical students’ HS recommendations for a person with AD, and their associations with knowledge about the disease and stigmatic beliefs, including agism and AD stigma. A convenience sample of 142 six-year medical students completed a structured questionnaire (60% female; mean age = 25.8). Overall, regarding nonprofessional sources, the vast majority of the participants stated they would recommend seeking help from close family members and friends. Regarding medical sources, almost all the participants recommended seeking help from family physicians and neurologists. Results showed that AD stigma mediated the relationship between knowledge about AD and HS recommendations. Our results stress the importance of investing efforts during the training and socialization phases of future clinicians in order to improve the timely diagnosis of AD, placing special attention on AD stigma.     

Effect of integrating IoT courses at the freshman level on learning attitude and behaviour in the classroom

Education and Information Technologies - As a technology the effect of the Internet of Things (IoT) is so strong that it has changed the way of living. The transition is also apparent in the field...     

Wavelet transforms: Application to data analysis - I

In this article, we elaborate upon the key ideas underlying the construction of various wavelet basis sets. The roles of translation and scaling, which enable the wavelets to localize variations at desired levels of resolution, are clearly brought out. After explaining the implementation of one dimensional wavelet transform, we illustrate their usefulness through the analysis of a data set.     

Service Strategies for Higher Educational Institutions Based on Student Segmentation

Over the last decade, higher education institutions in the U.S. have faced increased competition and expenditures coupled with declines in financial support. Furthermore, they often have been forced to cater to the needs of an increasingly diverse group of students and must design service strategies based on the unique needs of each group. This paper advocates the use of target marketing principles to effectively and efficiently allocate resources among the various groups. Student registration data from a large, urban, public university, which is routinely available at little cost, is used to identify five student segments. These segments include traditional students, non-traditional students, a sizable international student segment, a graduating segment, and a group of transferees. The unique needs of each segment are identified and appropriate service strategies are formulated for each segment. The diversity of the segments establish the utility of using target marketing principles for designing service strategies and the viability of using registration database for such a purpose.     

Low cost demonstration experiment Lorentz force: Change in path of charged particles in magnetic field

The path of charged particles is affected when they enter a magnetic field. This change of path largely depends on the angle between the applied magnetic field and the direction of motion of the charged particle (and its velocity) entering the magnetic field. This is demonstrated by means of a simple, low-cost experiment. A high voltage is used to ionize the air between a spark gap. The flow of charged particles between the spark gap is altered by applying a magnetic field from a rare earth permanent magnet having surface magnetic field induction of 0.12 T.     

Estimation of the levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in cardiac blood samples by a simple and indigenous enzyme linked immunosorbent assay

Levels of Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) were estimated in twenty four blood samples collected from the right and the left ventricles of the patients undergoing cardiac catheterization by an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) developed to the sensitivity of 5 pp/well and within 10% of interassay coeficient of variance. Simultaneously, levels of ANP in plasma samples from the systemic venous blood of seventy five normal subjects were also estimated which ranged between 25–60 pg/ml.     

Rooted in the Past: Use of “East Indians” in Library of Congress Subject Headings

This article argues that the use of the Library of Congress subject heading “East Indians” in reference to individuals from India represents not only a problematic vestige of colonialism, but also a failure of the principle of literary warrant. It provides an overview of the term's historical roots and then examines whether the term is still widely used in published resources. Although assigning a subject heading is not easy and can involve a choice between contested realities of diverse peoples, the author contends that a rejection of outdated terminology is central to providing any culturally sensitive tool for resource organization.