Teacher and student enactments of a transdisciplinary art-science-computing unit

Instructional Science - Transdisciplinary learning environments have potential to bring together the arts, sciences, and computing within schools. We investigate the student and teacher enactment...     

Development of an industrial engineering project

This paper presents a teaching strategy of the scheduling and developmental phase of an Industrial Engineering computer project. It is based on a real project which has been carried out by our department in collaboration with a local company. The classroom setting provides an environment where students can experience firsthand all phases of the development of an electronic product: design, development and implementation of a prototype board to the final commercial product.     

Young people’s perceptions of advice about sexual risk taking

Sexual and reproductive health indicators for young people in the USA have improved in recent decades, but teenage pregnancies remain high, and large differences between Whites and non-Whites persist in teenage births, abortions, and the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections. Prior research shows that young people are receptive to communication about sex from parents and friends, but peers have been found to be more influential on sexual risk taking. In this study of 617 young people aged 13–20 years in high-risk neighbourhoods for teenage pregnancy in New Jersey, we asked whether sexually inexperienced young people differed from sexually experienced young people in their level of receptivity to the recommendations from their parents, friends, and others about whether to have sex before marriage and whether to use a condom if sexually active. The results showed that the sexually inexperienced were more receptive to messages from figures of authority in their life than those sexually experienced. We also found that stronger message intensity from parents, friends, and others to delay sex until marriage and to use a condom if sexually active was associated with lower sexual intentions in the next six months and the use of a condom if sexually active in the last three months.     

From diagrams to self-regulated learning: student teachers’ reflections on the construction of their PLE

This paper presents a study on the reflections on their PLEs by student teachers in an ICT subject of the fourth degree course in Teacher Education (Early Childhood Teacher Training) at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). There were four student teacher groups (n = 117) participating in this project, from the three Balearic Islands’ campuses (Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza). The main research issues focused on in this study are: the topics highlighted from the reflections on the students’ PLEs and the reflection level achieved. To explore these issues, a content analysis technique has been used to interpret their final assignment of the students’ eportfolios, in which they had to carry out their reflections on their PLEs. For that purpose, two instruments have been designed: a system of categories and a rubric of assessment. Results show that the topics on which students reflect most are the conception of the PLE, its explicitness and its purpose. Although some improvement in students’ reflective skills was observed, conclusions lead us to the necessity of working further on the depth of reflections in order to adequately support self-regulated learning.     

Cognitive load and learning effects of having students organize pictures and words in multimedia environments: The role of student interactivity and feedback

The cognitive load and learning effects of dual-code and interactivity—two multimedia methods intended to promote meaningful learning—were examined. In Experiment 1, college students learned about the causal chain of events leading to the process of lightning formation with a set of words and corresponding pictures (Group WP), pictures (Group P), or words (Group W). Some students were presented with the organized causal chain of events to study, whereas others were given a self-organization task. Consistent with a cognitive theory of multimedia learning, Condition WP was the highest in instructional efficiency for retention and transfer. However, contrary to our predictions, having students organize the multimedia materials was detrimental to transfer. Two follow-up experiments tested the hypotheses that the negative effects of interactivity were due to students' lack of time control (Experiment 2) and the form of feedback (Experiment 3). The findings showed that interactivity was effective when students were asked to evaluate their answers before receiving corrective feedback from the system. This research was supported by the CAREER 0238385 grant from the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Casey Frechette and Paul Gibson created the multimedia materials used in these studies.     

An Approach to Improving Science Knowledge About Energy Balance and Nutrition Among Elementary- and Middle-School Students

Unhealthy diets, lack of fitness, and obesity are serious problems in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control, Surgeon General, and Department of Health and Human Services are calling for action to address these problems. Scientists and educators at Baylor College of Medicine and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute teamed to produce an instructional unit, “Food and Fitness,” and evaluated it with students in grades 3–7 in Houston, Texas. A field-test group (447 students) completed all unit activities under the guidance of their teachers. This group and a comparison group (343 students) completed pre and postassessments measuring knowledge of concepts covered in the unit. Outcomes indicate that the unit significantly increased students'' knowledge and awareness of science concepts related to energy in living systems, metabolism, nutrients, and diet. Pre-assessment results suggest that most students understand concepts related to calories in food, exercise and energy use, and matching food intake to energy use. Students'' prior knowledge was found to be much lower on topics related to healthy portion sizes, foods that supply the most energy, essential nutrients, what “diet” actually means, and the relationship between body size and basal metabolic rate.     

Defending Constructivism in Science Education

After an impressive development throughout the last two decades, supported by a greatamount of research and innovation, science education seemed to be becoming a newscientific domain. This transformation of Science Education into a specific field of researchand knowledge is usually associated with the establishment of what has been called anemergent consensus about constructivist positions. However, some voices have begunto question these constructivist positions and therefore the idea of an advancementtowards a coherent body of knowledge in the field of science education. The goalof this work is to analyse some of the current criticisms of the so-called constructivistorientations and to study their implications for the development of science education asa coherent body of knowledge.     

Students’ Understanding of the Special Theory of Relativity and Design for a Guided Visit to a Science Museum

The present paper describes the design of teaching materials that are used as learning tools in school visits to a science museum. An exhibition on ‘A century of the Special Theory of Relativity’, in the Kutxaespacio Science Museum, in San Sebastian, Spain, was used to design a visit for first‐year engineering students at the university and assess the learning that was achieved. The first part of the paper presents the teaching sequence that was designed to build a bridge between formal teaching and the exhibition visit. The second part analyses the potential of the exhibition and the aforementioned teaching sequence to influence the students’ knowledge of three aspects of the Special Theory of Relativity. The results obtained show that the design of the visit, with both pre‐visit and follow‐up activities, was effective as a means of increasing students’ understanding and stimulating their ability to argue scientifically.     

Biofouling of crypts of historical and architectural interest at La Plata Cemetery (Argentina)

Cemeteries are part of the cultural heritage of urban communities, containing funerary crypts and monuments of historical and architectural interest. Efforts aimed at the conservation of these structures must target not only the abiotic stresses that cause their destruction, such as light and humidity, but also biofouling by biotic agents. The purpose of this study was to assess the development of biofouling of several historically and architecturally valuable crypts at La Plata Cemetery (Argentina). Samples obtained from the biofilms, lichens, and fungal colonies that had developed on the marble surfaces and cement mortar of these crypts were analyzed by conventional microbiological techniques and by scanning electron microscopy. The lichens were identified as Caloplaca austrocitrina, Lecanora albescens, Xanthoparmelia farinosa and Xanthoria candelaria, the fungi as Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Candida sp. and Rhodotorula sp., and the bacteria as Bacillus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. The mechanisms by which these microorganisms cause the aesthetic and biochemical deterioration of the crypts are discussed.     

Validity of academic work indicators in the projected European Higher Education Area

The competencies achieved, the quantity and distribution of the time employed, and the activities carried out by the student are fundamental elements of the future European Higher Education Area. The present study explores, in a specific course, the current level of some indicators of such elements and their validity. The results highlight the irrelevance of the temporal aspects with respect to final performance, and the relevance of the academic work activities to performance over the length of the course. Each indicator is discussed, and it is intended to further those which result to be relevant for the success of the student in the future, and to limit those temporal elements to a mere function of organization of the universities.