The new United Kingdom infrared telescope in Hawaii

The recently completed 3.8 metre United Kingdom Infrared Telescope is the largest in the world designed specifically for use at wavelengths from the near infrared to submillimetres. It embodies important innovations in design and construction—applicable to the building of other large telescopes in the future—that have enabled weight and cost to be substantially reduced without loss of performance. Situated on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, at an altitude of 4200 metres it is providing British astronomers with a much needed facility for observations in the rapidly expanding field of infrared astronomy.     

The Rhythms of a Teacher Research Group

This paper presents an inside look at the rhythms of a year-long teacher research group by highlighting the experiences of four alternatively certified urban middle school teachers of color as they engaged in practitioner research about issues of gender equity, racial identity, and culturally relevant teaching. Using examples from “data dilemma” discussions about research issues and examples from their research, the article illustrates three distinct types of dilemmas that occurred over time and shows how the collective worked to solve research problems and improve the teaching practices of the participants in the group. Suggestions for creating and sustaining teacher research groups that examine issues related to diversity are included.     

Academic science, cultural intransigence, and devious educo-politics

In the context of educational soundness, a case is made for distinguishing between two overlapping concepts: academic science and relevant science. In the context of political reality, a case is made for a science educator to hone strategies that co-opt, circumvent, or marginalize political adversaries before they do the same to you.     

An interdisciplinary and application-oriented approach to teach microfluidics

Microfluidics is a relatively novel interdisciplinary research area with broad applications in chemistry, physics, material science, and biology. Despite the rapid growth of the field, students'' exposure to microfluidic technologies is still limited and often insufficient to appreciate the advantages over other commonly used technologies. To this end, we designed a five-day course, “Microfluidics for microbial ecology,” in which students with very different backgrounds learn the basics of microfluidic technologies and sample a range of applications in microbial ecology. The course was created for Master and Ph.D. students interested in applying microfluidics to their research and, therefore, followed an application-oriented approach. The presentation of critical aspects of fluid flow phenomena at the microscale and an outline of the advantages and constraints of the technology provide students with the background to design and perform microfluidics-based experiments. In order to improve the effectiveness of learning in a class with diverse interests and backgrounds, two active learning exercises were implemented. The first comprised the design of an individualized microfluidics experiment in parallel with the lectures: students were guided to apply each module to their personalized application and discuss it in groups. The second was a group experimental activity, in which students jointly set up, performed, analyzed, and presented a microfluidics-based experiment. Given the multidisciplinary teaching context, the course was able to foster common conceptual ground and promote discussion among students. This application-oriented approach built upon experimental activities and in-class discussion is well suited to promote learning in a technology-related subject such as microfluidics.