Innovations in science education: infusing social emotional principles into early STEM learning

We report on the development of an after-school and summer-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculum infused with the arts and social emotional learning content (STEAM SEL). Its design was motivated by theory and research that suggest that STEM education is well-suited for teaching empathy and other emotion-related skills. In this paper, we describe the activities associated with the development and design of the program and the curriculum. We provide expert-ratings of the STEAM and social emotional elements of the program and present instructor and participant feedback about the program’s content and its delivery. Our results revealed that infusing the arts and social emotional learning content into science education created a holistic STEM-related curriculum that holds potential for enhancing young children’s interest in and appreciation for science and its applications. The data also suggested that the program was well-developed and, generally well-executed. However, experts rated the STEAM elements of the program more positively than the SEL elements, especially with regard to sequencing of lessons and integration among the lessons and hands-on activities, indicating that program revisions are warranted.     

Case study research: training interdisciplinary engineers with context-dependent knowledge

It is now widely acknowledged that water management discipline is transforming, from being a public health and flood prevention challenge of the nineteenth century to a multi-dimensional challenge of water security for the twenty-first century. In order to train water engineers to be capable of working with this holistic multi-dimensional approach, a new paradigm in engineering education is required. Adjustments already made to undergraduate coursework are not enough; this new paradigm requires modifications to the PhD in engineering, with greater emphasis on interdisciplinary case study research. Such a change can deliver PhD graduates with both sufficient social and technical knowledge, who can then go on to become the hybrid lecturers crucially needed for training future water engineers.     

Enrico Fermi — The complete physicist

Enrico Fermi was a versatile physicist contributing in equal measure to theory and experiments. He is credited to be the ‘Father of the Atomic Age’ following his successful demonstration of sustained chain reaction in Chicago Pile-1. In this article, I have discussed his major experimental contributions that clearly demonstrate his simplicity of conception, meticulous attention to detail and directness of approach to the problem at hand.     

Holocaust Perversions: The Stalags Pulp Fiction and the Eichmann Trial

The Stalags, an Israeli pulp fiction series whose advent coincided with the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, portrayed sadomasochistic scenarios between SS female guards and Allied soldiers in POW camps. Written in Hebrew by native Israelis, these cheap pocketbooks were enormously popular with Israeli teenagers, many of whom were children of Holocaust survivors. We posit the Stalags (a) as a fictional counterpart of the trial, complementing the legal procedure with feats of the imagination, and (b) as a text upon which the Israeli young generation negotiated issues of power and identity.     

Movie Stars and the Volatility of Movie Revenues

Research has found conflicting results regarding the profitability of movies that have big-name stars. Why then, are stars selected to act in movies? Using the concepts of risk, volatility, and brand loyalty, this research proposes that although stars may not guarantee profits, their presence results in lower weekly revenue volatility. Using a database comprising 41 stars and their presence in 467 movies from over a 26-year period, this study finds broad support for this hypothesis.     

Beyond Epistemological Deficits: Dynamic explanations of engineering students’ difficulties with mathematical sense-making

Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students’ difficulties with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as epistemology. Students’ beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder the activation and integration of productive knowledge they have. Such explanations, however, risk falling into a ‘deficit trap’—substituting a concepts/skills deficit with an epistemological one. Our interview-based case study of a freshman engineering major, ‘Jim,’ explains his difficulty solving a physics problem (on hydrostatic pressure) in terms of his epistemology, but avoids a deficit trap by modeling the dynamics of his epistemological stabilities and shifts in terms of fine-grained cognitive elements that include the seeds of epistemological expertise. Specifically, during a problem-solving episode in the interview, Jim reaches and sticks with an incorrect answer that violates common sense. We show that Jim has all the mathematical skills and physics knowledge he would need to resolve the contradiction. We argue that his difficulty doing so stems in part from his epistemological views that (i) physics equations are much more trustworthy than everyday reasoning, and (ii) physics equations do not express meaning that tractably connects to common sense. For these reasons, he does not view reconciling between common sense and formalism as either necessary or plausible to accomplish. But Jim’s in-the-moment shift to a more sophisticated epistemological stance highlights the seeds of epistemological expertise that were present all along: he does see common sense as connected to formalism (though not always tractably so), and in some circumstances, this connection is both salient and valued.     

An exploration of primary school teachers' understanding of art and the place of art in the primary school curriculum

Some research within developmental psychology shows a slow period of development in children's expressive drawings during the primary school years. Developmental researchers suggest that ‘educational factors’ could contribute to this dip in development but have not explored these factors. This study explores links between educational policy – in terms of the English National Curriculum – and the development of expression in child art. A Foucauldian style analysis of interviews is presented which investigates how ten primary school teachers working in two Staffordshire schools approach art. A specific concern is to explore how different understandings of art and teaching practices are shaped and managed by the curriculum. This allows links between the demands of the curriculum and the observed dip in expressive drawing development to be investigated.     

Being Black, Male, and Gifted in Miami: Prevalence and Predictors of Placement in Elementary School Gifted Education Programs

Although it is well established that Black male students are underrepresented in gifted educational programs in the United States, due to a scarcity of longitudinal prospective research, little is known about the protective factors at the child, family, and school level that increase the probability of Black male students being identified as gifted during early elementary school. Using data from the Miami School Readiness Project, we followed 6,926 low-income Black males from preschool through 5th grade to describe trajectories for the 453 Black males (6.5 %) who were identified as gifted, and examined child, family, and preschool variables associated with gifted classification. Boys were most commonly identified as gifted in first and second grade, and 15 % of the identified boys did not appear to be receiving gifted courses. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that being classified as gifted in early elementary school was more likely for Black males who (a) attended public school pre-K programs at age four, (b) had higher cognitive, language, fine motor, behavioral, and emergent literacy school readiness skills before entering kindergarten, (c) spoke a language other than English at home, (d) were older upon entering kindergarten, (e) received higher grades in school, and (f) scored higher on standardized tests of math and reading. Predictors of gifted identification in the kindergarten year were different and weaker compared to identification in later years. Implications for early identification and intervention for talented Black males are discussed.     

Biochemical markers of liver and kidney function are influenced by thyroid function-a case-controlled follow up study in Indian hypothyroid subjects

Thyroid hormones regulate the renal hemodynamics and basal metabolic rate of most cells. This hospital-based case-control study was done to evaluate the changes in biochemical markers of liver and kidney function in hypothyroid subjects before and after treatment. The study included 176 subjects randomly selected from Thyroid clinics. Serum T₃, T₄, TSH, Liver and Kidney Function tests were analysed using standard kits. Forty-six hypothyroid patients were re-evaluated 6 weeks after thyroxine substitution therapy. Hypothyroid subjects (n=80) showed significantly raised serum creatinine and uric acid levels as compared to euthyroid subjects (n=96). After 6 weeks of thyroxine replacement, serum creatinine and uric acid decreased significantly and were comparable to euthyroid group. A positive correlation of ALT, AST, uric acid, protein and albumin with TSH levels (p<0.05) and negative correlation of serum T₄ levels with ALT, AST, proteins (p<0.05) was observed in the hypothyroid group. Hypothyroidism results in reversible impairment of hepatorenal function.     

Dyslipidemia in pregnancy may contribute to increased risk of neural tube defects -a pilot study in north Indian population

Neural tube defects are congenital structural abnormalities of the brain and vertebral column resulting from improper or non-timely closure of the neural tube. Prevalence of neural tube defects is reported to be higher among women with diabetes mellitus and obesity. This study was designed to investigate the relation between the presence of dyslipidemia in antenatal patients and the risk of fetal neural tube defects. The present study was an observational, cross-sectional study involving 129 pregnant women in 16 to 18 weeks gestation period. Of these, 80 women had normal pregnancies and 49 were clinically high-risk cases for neural tube defects. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for blood sugar and lipid profile by enzymatic assay and alpha-fetoprotein levels using Enzyme Immunoassay. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) values were converted to Multiples of Median (MoM) appropriate for the gestational age. Based on AFP values, women were labeled as screen negative (AFP <2 MoM, n= 102) and screen positive (AFP > 2 MoM, n =27). Screen positive women were further evaluated by ultrasound and 21 women were found to carry a neural tube defects positive pregnancy. Statistical analysis was done on SPSS software. Body weight of the women showed a significant positive correlation with serum triglycerides, plasma sugar and AFP MoM values. A significant difference was observed in serum cholesterol levels (p= 0.038), triglycerides (p=0.001) and plasma sugar levels (p=0.002) between normal women and those with neural tube defects positive pregnancy. The Odds ratio for neural tube defects risk in dyslipidemic cases was 24.23 (CI 4.73 − 148.60) with a relative risk of 12.12. Dyslipidemia especially hypertriglyceridemia was found to be significantly associated with fetal neural tube defects.