Metacognitive activity in the physics student laboratory: is increased metacognition necessarily better?

In this study natural-in-action metacognitive activity during the student laboratory in university physics is explored, with an aim towards quantifying the amount of metacognition used by the students. The study investigates whether quantifying natural-in-action metacognition is possible and valuable for examining teaching and learning in these contexts. Video recordings of student groups working during three types of introductory physics laboratories were transcribed and then coded using a coding scheme developed from related research on mathematical problem solving. This scheme identifies a group’s general behaviour and metacognitive activity. The study recognizes that reliably identifying metacognition is challenging, and steps are taken to improve reliability. Results suggest that a greater amount of metacognition does not appear to improve students’ success in the laboratory—what appears to matter is whether the metacognition causes students to change behaviour. This study indicates that it is important to consider the outcome of metacognition, not just the amount.

Hydrodynamics and oxygen transfer in a novel extra-loop fluidized bed bioreactor

In this paper, the characteristics of fluid mixing time in a novel extra-loop fluidized bed were studied. The results showed that the mixing time was shortened with the increase of fluid velocity. All the discrete numbers of the reactor were above 0.2. The serial number n was 2.5 -3.0. It was judged accordingly that the reactor fluid state was continous stirred tank reactor （CSTR） mainly. When the inspiratory capacity increased the mixing time of the reactor was shortened. Thus the air input was beneficial for the fluid mixing. During the three phases mixing process, the mixing time of the reactor could be decreased by the n increase of carrier and air loading together, but the change was not significant. The parameters affecting the reactor fluid state were fluid velocity, inspiratory capacity and carrier. KLa could be increased with the air loading increase, and at the same gas/liquid ratio when the pressure drop was high, KL~ value was increased. The amount of carrier complex influence on KLa. As the carrier loading continued to increase, its value had been dropped but the changes was not significant, and optimization condition was found at above 800 1 000 g carrier loading （pouzzolane） or 600 g PVC. Under gas/liquid ratio of 0.8% -5.2%, KLa was （0.62-1.37）×10^-2· s^-1.     

The nature of naive explanations of natural selection

Unlike some pivotal ideas in the history of science, the basic notion of natural selection is remarkably simple and so one might expect most students to easily grasp the basic principles of the Darwinian theory; yet many students nevertheless have difficulty understanding Darwinian evolution. We suggest that misconceptions about natural selection arise from mistaken categorization. Our thesis for explaining students’ failure to understand this concept or evolution in general is not that they necessarily fail to understand individual Darwinian principles; rather, they often fail to understand the ontological features of equilibration processes, of which evolution is one instance. They thus attribute the evolutionary process in general, and natural selection in particular, with event‐like properties. For example, naive students appear to focus on the idea of survival of the fittest, but embed this idea within an event ontology that involves actors struggling to overcome obstacles and achieve goals. Results showed that most naive subjects’ evolutionary explanations reflected an event ontology. Furthermore, event ontology attributes were positively correlated with non‐Darwinian explanations; by contrast, equilibration attributes, when present, were positively correlated with key Darwinian principles. These findings suggest that students would greatly benefit from science instruction that emphasized the underlying ontology of modern evolutionary theory.     

Digital Video for Multimedia: Two Approaches (MPEG)

Abstract

This article discusses the application of digital video to multimedia, and looks at the pros and cons of two different approaches. It also considers the standards of equipment for various uses.     

Counseling With HEART: A Relationship Violence Prevention Program for College Students

Relationship violence is a salient concern on college campuses today, and psychoeducational groups may be an appropriate prevention format. This article describes a study measuring the impact of college student participation in the HEART (Help End Abusive Relationships Today) program, a series of group sessions designed to increase knowledge and awareness of relationship violence. Findings indicated significant changes for group participants postintervention. Implications and recommendations for college counselors are discussed.     

Early Child Language Mediates the Relation Between Home Environment and School Readiness

Home environment quality is a well-known predictor of school readiness (SR), although the underlying processes are little known. This study tested two hypotheses: (a) child language mediates the association between home characteristics (socioeconomic status and exposure to reading) and SR, and (b) genetic factors partly explain the association between language and SR. Data were collected between 6 and 63 months in a large sample of twins. Results showed that home characteristics had direct effects on SR and indirect effects through child language. No genetic correlation was found between language and SR. These results suggest that home characteristics affect SR in part through their effect on early language skills, and show that this process is mainly environmental rather than genetic in nature.     

Reading in French-speaking adults with dyslexia

This study investigated the reading and reading-related skills of 15 French-speaking adults with dyslexia, whose performance was compared with that of chronological-age controls (CA) and reading-level controls (RL). Experiment 1 assessed the efficiency of their phonological reading-related skills (phonemic awareness, phonological short-term memory, and rapid automatic naming (RAN)) and experiment 2 assessed the efficiency of their lexical and sublexical (or phonological) reading procedures (reading aloud of pseudowords and irregular words of different lengths). Experiment 1 revealed that adults with dyslexia exhibited lower phonological reading-related skills than CAs only, and were better than RL controls on the RAN. In experiment 2, as compared with RL controls, only a deficit in the sublexical reading procedure was observed. The results of the second experiment replicated observations from English-language studies but not those of the first experiment. Several hypotheses are discussed to account for these results, including one related to the transparency of orthographic systems.     

An Unforgettable Visit to the FAST Telescope

正For several months I heard of the Five-hundredmeter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST)and dreamed of visiting it.FAST is a myth:the largest radio telescope in the world,a gigantic 500-meterwide dish,built by Chinese astronomers in a remote countryside of Guizhou Province in southern China,performing its first test operations and listening to the faint murmurs of the distant universe.And now,with Alain Cirou sitting next to me,we     

Iron status in Winter Olympic sports

Iron status was surveyed amongst 92 Winter Olympic sport athletes from Nordic and Alpine skiing, figure and speed skating and ice hockey. Haemoglobin and serum ferritin values were obtained by physicians as part of a monitoring programme, since iron deficiency would have an adverse effect on maximal performance. Four (7%) of 56 men were anaemic (Hb < 14.0 gdl^‐1) and three (8%) of 36 women had haemoglobin values less than 12.0 gdl^‐1. Nine men (16%) and 14 women (39%) had prelatent iron deficiency (serum ferritin < 30 ng ml^‐1). Ice hockey had the lowest while Nordic skiing had the highest incidence of sub‐optimal iron status. A total of 50% of Nordic women skiers had prelatent iron deficiency and 7% were anaemic. An equal percentage of women speed skaters were low in serum ferritin as well. Only one of 20 male ice hockey players was low in serum ferritin. These results suggest there would be value in instituting screening procedures for iron status in Winter Olympic Sports.