The use of clickers in Instrumentation and Control Engineering education: a case study

ABSTRACT

This paper presents results from a small-scale study of third-year Instrumentation and Control Engineering (n?=?37) at the University of Plymouth. The aim of the study was to enhance student learning and increase participation via the use of clickers. Clickers allow for student participation anonymously. The lecture content was modified to embed clicker questions at regular intervals to test knowledge, understanding and cognitive skills. Largely, the students preferred interactive lectures to traditional didactic lectures and using clickers increased student engagement and participation. Interestingly, compared to assessment results from the previous year, the increased level of engagement did seem to lead to an overall improvement in grades of approximately 10% in the subject of Control Engineering. However, in Instrumentation, the average fell by approximately 20%. One possible contributory factor of this drop could be the changed exam format for Instrumentation only. This year, the multiple choice section was removed from the Instrumentation examination paper. Furthermore, an analysis of variance showed that in addition to using clickers in the lectures, attendance plays a key role. Results of this small-scale study show that for a more complex subject like Control, student learning, engagement and attainment can increase by the use of clickers.     

Science Letters:Nutritional composition of Pakistani wheat varieties

Pakistani wheat varieties are grown over a wide agro-climatic range and as such are anticipated to exhibit yield and quality differences. It is therefore necessary to investigate the nutritional status of wheat varieties in terms of biochemical and physiochemical characteristics available for food and nutritional purposes in Pakistan. The result shows that wheat grains of different varieties contain a net protein level of 9.15%～10.27%, 2.15%～2.55% total fats, 1.72%～1.85% dietary fibers, 77.65×10-6～84.25×10-6 of potassium and 7.70×10-6～35.90×10-6 of sodium ions concentration, 0.24×10-6～0.84×10-6 of phosphorus, 1.44%～2.10% ash, 31.108～43.602 g of thousand grain mass (TGM) and 8.38%～9.67% moisture contents. This study is significant in providing an opportunity to explore the available wheat varieties and to further improve their nutritional excellence and also essential for setting nutritional regulations for domestic and export purposes.     

Implications of Institutional Repositories on Contributors' Professional and Publishing Practices: A Survey

An institutional repository is a system for dissemination and stewardship of the intellectual life and scholarship of an institution. It has become a new way for the institutions to contribute to the broader world of scholarship (Giesecke, 2011 Giesecke, J. (2011). Institutional repositories: Keys to success. Journal of Library Administration, 51(5–6), 529–542. Retrieved January 3, 2013, from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/255[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). In spite of the global recognition of institutional repositories as an open access scholarly communication channel, institutional repositories are still struggling with the problem of non-participation from contributors in developing countries like India. This study conveys the results of a survey conducted at a minority university of India. The study is an expression of the opinion of 542 faculty members and research scholars pertaining to the possible implications of institutional repositories on their professional and publishing practices. The study is undertaken to: Determine the level of awareness of institutional repository among contributors; identify the reasons for participation and non-participation of contributors; examine the implications of institutional repository on contributors professional and publishing practices; analyze the major obstacles/hindrances in the growth of an institutional repository; and suggest measures for better implementation and development of an institutional repository in future. With the help of the statistical techniques such as chi-square test and weighted mean the study resulted that the majority of the contributors are well aware about the concept of institutional repository, the majority of contributors have not deposited in an institutional repository so far, long term preservation of research materials is the first ranked reason for participation in an institutional repository, copyright and plagiarism concern is the main reason behind contributors’ non-participation in institutional repository, increased accessibility of research output is the major implication of the institutional repository on contributors professional practices, saved cost of publishing in a journal is the biggest implication of institutional repository on contributors publishing practices, and contributors demand more control on ownership, access and security in future for an institutional repository. This article is aimed at the institutions that report low-use and low-deposit repositories. It may be used to convince the contributors about the value of institutional repositories, importance of participating in an institutional repository and possible implications on their professional and publishing practices. The study is also intended at the management of the institutions to take notice of the contributors’ demands for future participation and develop policies accordingly for removing major barriers in the growth of institutional repositories and improving contributions and quality of content in the institutional repositories.     

Endophytes from medicinal plants and their potential for producing indole acetic acid,improving seed germination and mitigating oxidative stress

Medicinal plants have been used by marginal communities to treat various ailments. However, the potential of endophytes within these bio-prospective medicinal plants remains unknown. The present study elucidates the endophytic diversity of medicinal plants (Caralluma acutangula, Rhazya stricta, and Moringa peregrina) and the endophyte role in seed growth and oxidative stress. Various organs of medicinal plants yielded ten endophytes, which were identified as Phoma sp. (6 isolates), Alternaria sp. (2), Bipolaris sp. (1), and Cladosporium sp. (1) based on 18S rDNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The culture filtrates (CFs; 25%, 50%, and 100% concentrations) from these endophytes were tested against the growth of normal and dwarf mutant rice lines. Endophytic CF exhibited dose-dependent growth stimulation and suppression effects. CF (100%) of Phoma sp. significantly increased rice seed germination and growth compared to controls and other endophytes. This growth-promoting effect was due to the presence of indole acetic acid in endophytic CF. The gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed the highest indole acetic acid content ((54.31±0.21) μmol/L) in Bipolaris sp. In addition, the isolate of Bipolaris sp. exhibited significantly higher radical scavenging and anti-lipid peroxidation activity than the other isolates. Bipolaris sp. and Phoma sp. also exhibited significantly higher flavonoid and phenolic contents. The medicinal plants exhibited the presence of bio-prospective endophytic strains, which could be used for the improvement of crop growth and the mitigation of oxidative stresses.     

Student Expectations of Tertiary Institutions: A case study of the Fiji National University (FNU)

Tertiary Education and Management - Education is a human right and Fiji’s tertiary education board recently declared that all tertiary institutions in Fiji must abide by the framework in...     

Serious science games, social selves and complex nature of possible selves

Margaret Beier, Leslie Miller, and Shu Wang??s paper, Science games and the development of possible selves examines the effects of game-playing in a serious scientific game on science possible selves identity creation, utilizing a possible selves identification instrument they created. This paper continues the discussion that Beier and colleagues start in the paper by calling into question both the idea that a predictive model of science career choice can be attained by serious science game-playing and the nature of the instrument created and used by Beier and her colleagues to identify participants?? creation of science possible selves. Recommendations include incorporating the idea of possible selves as being complex, dynamic and intertwined with self-concept in interpreting their findings and casting a wider net to capture the phenomena of their participants?? identities and experiences by potentially making use of possible selves identification methodologies from the career training arena.     

构建数字化学习的维度

信息技术的进步及学习科学的发展为创建设计良好、以学习者为中心、引人入胜、互动、价格公道、高效、接入方便、灵活、分布合理、便捷的数字化学习环境提供了机遇。在数字化学习的每一发展阶段,周密的分析和调查如何运用互联网的潜能是必要的,以使之与教学设计的原理相一致。 一个有意义的网络学习环境是由许多因素构成的,这些因素既相互关联又相互独立。在思考过建立有效的数字化学习环境必须衡量的因素后,我提出了一个基于Web的学习或数字化学习的基本架构。数字化学习架构的想法起源于这样一个问题:为世界范围的学习或提供最好最有意义的开放灵活的分布式学习环境需要什么?这一架构有八个维度:制度的、教育学的、技术的、界面设计、评价、管理、资源支持以及伦理的（见图）。每一维度又有数     

The Better Beginnings, Better Futures project: findings from grade 3 to grade 9

Although comprehensive and ecological approaches to early childhood prevention are commonly advocated, there are few examples of long-term follow-up of such programs. In this monograph, we investigate the medium- and long-term effects of an ecological, community-based prevention project for primary school children and families living in three economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Ontario, Canada. The Better Beginnings, Better Futures (BBBF) project is one of the most ambitious Canadian research projects on the long-term impacts of early childhood prevention programming to date. Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development informed program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Using a quasi-experimental design, the BBBF longitudinal research study involved 601 children and their families who participated in BBBF programs when children were between 4 and 8 years old and 358 children and their families from sociodemographically matched comparison communities. We collected extensive child, parent, family, and community outcome data when children were in Grade 3 (age 8–9), Grade 6 (age 11–12), and Grade 9 (age 14–15). The BBBF mandate was to develop programs that would positively impact all areas of child's development; our findings reflect this ecological approach. We found marked positive effects in social and school functioning domains in Grades 6 and 9 and evidence of fewer emotional and behavioral problems in school across the three grades. Parents from BBBF sites reported greater feelings of social support and more positive ratings of marital satisfaction and general family functioning, especially at the Grade 9 follow-up. Positive neighborhood-level effects were also evident. Economic analyses at Grade 9 showed BBBF participation was associated with government savings of $912 per child. These findings provide evidence that an affordable, ecological, community-based prevention program can promote long-term development of children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods and produce monetary benefits to government as soon as 7 years after program completion.