Comparing Virtual and Physical Robotics Environments for Supporting Complex Systems and Computational Thinking

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Both complex systems methods (such as agent-based modeling) and computational methods (such as programming) provide powerful ways for students to...     

Temporal Trends of Malondialdehyde in Stored Human Plasma

Malondialdehyde (MDA) is widely used as oxidative stress biomarker in biomedical research. Plasma is stored in deep freezers generally till analysis. Effect of such storage on MDA values, which may be variable and prolong, was incidentally observed in the ongoing study which is to estimate oxidative stress with oral iron. Plasma from blood samples of pregnant women (20–30 years age) in third trimester of singleton pregnancy (n = 139), consuming oral iron tablets was stored at −20 °C with intention of MDA estimation, as soon as possible. However logistic problems led this storage for prolonged and variable period (1–708 days). When values of MDA estimated using “Ohkawa” 79 method and readings were plotted against time to check the temporal effect, it showed a hyperbolic curve. Standard deviation (SD) was lowest when samples were tested within 3 weeks time. The samples analyzed within 3 weeks had mean ± SD value of 31.59 ± 26.11 μmol/L, while 123.7 ± 93.97 and 366.5 ± 189.8 μmol/L for samples stored for 1–3 and 4 months to 1 year respectively. Mean ± SD were 539.9 ± 196.8 in the samples store for more than a year. Rate of change in values was also lowest (0.0433 μmol/L/day) in the samples tested within first 3 weeks, which rose to 1.2 μmol/L/day during 3 month’s storage. This rate peaked at storage of 120 days (1.87 μmol/L/day) and fell to 0.502 μmol/L/day in the second year of storage. It is concluded that at −20 °C, only 3 weeks of storage time should be considered valid for fairly acceptable stability in MDA values.     

Does recreational computer use affect high school achievement?

Historically, the relationship between student academic achievement and use of computers for fun and video gaming has been described from a multitude of perspectives, from positive, to negative, to neutral. However, recent research has indicated that computer use and video gaming may be positively associated with achievement, yet these studies have focused on small intact and qualitative samples. The purpose of the present study is to examine the association between academic achievement in high school and student use of computers for fun and video gaming using the large nationally representative ELS:2002 sample of students in grade 10 in 2002 and an independent effects two-level hierarchical linear model. Our results indicate that both student use of computers for fun and moderate levels of video gaming were positive and significant on cross-sectional reading and mathematics achievement assessments in high school, controlling for multiple covariates of achievement, but were not related to growth in mathematics from grade 10 to grade 12.     

Invented Science: A Framework for Discussing a Persistent Problem of Practice

A central goal of science education reform is for students to participate in scientific sense making rather than to merely acquire science facts. However, even in classrooms utilizing reform-based pedagogies, students are typically allowed to construct knowledge only insofar as they construct expected knowledge. In this report and reflection, we use activity theory to demonstrate how this pervasive tension between learning correct ideas and constructing one’s own ideas often results in unacknowledged slippage between competing activity systems within reform efforts. We use an analogy to the domain of spelling to introduce invented science—a framework for describing the activity of science learning that reduces this slippage by giving knowledge construction true priority over the canon. We describe the origins and purposes of invented spelling to theorize the nature of learning in invented science. We conclude by articulating the theoretical and practical implications of this analogy for science teaching and learning.     

High School Student Perceptions of the Utility of the Engineering Design Process: Creating Opportunities to Engage in Engineering Practices and Apply Math and Science Content

Research and policy documents increasingly advocate for incorporating engineering design into K-12 classrooms in order to accomplish two goals: (1) provide an opportunity to engage with science content in a motivating real-world context; and (2) introduce students to the field of engineering. The present study uses multiple qualitative data sources (i.e., interviews, artifact analysis) in order to examine the ways in which engaging in engineering design can support students in participating in engineering practices and applying math and science knowledge. This study suggests that students better understand and value those aspects of engineering design that are more qualitative (i.e., interviewing users, generating multiple possible solutions) than the more quantitative aspects of design which create opportunities for students to integrate traditional math and science content into their design work (i.e., modeling or systematically choosing between possible design solutions). Recommendations for curriculum design and implementation are discussed.     

Explaining Variation in How Classroom Communities Adapt the Practice of Scientific Argumentation

Research and practice has placed an increasing emphasis on aligning classroom practices with scientific practices such as scientific argumentation. In this paper, I explore 1 challenge associated with this goal by examining how existing classroom practices influence students' engagement in the practice of scientific argumentation. To do so, I present discourse data from 2 middle school classes engaged in argumentation activities. For each class, I compare existing classroom practices to a discussion designed to facilitate argumentation. My analysis reveals that the existing classroom practices influenced the way in which students responded to the disparate ideas being discussed and that the immediate learning environment influenced the frequency with which students justified their ideas and directly responded to one another. This study suggests that the goal structures that aligned with the existing classroom practices carried over to students' argumentative interactions, influencing how they responded to the disparate ideas. However, the immediate learning environment—including activity structure, software tools, and teaching strategies—seemed to foster student-to-student interactions and justification of ideas.     

Framing for scientific argumentation

In recent years, research on students' scientific argumentation has progressed to a recognition of nascent resources: Students can and do argue when they experience the need and possibility of persuading others who may hold competing views. Our purpose in this article is to contribute to this progress by applying the perspective of framing to the question of when and how a class forms and maintains a sense of their activity as argumentative. In particular, we examine three snippets from a sixth‐grade class with respect to how the students—and the teacher—experience, or frame, what is taking place. We argue that they show dynamics of framing for individuals and for the class as a whole that affect and are affected by students' engagement in argumentation. We close the article with implications of this perspective for research, teaching, and instructional design. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 68–94, 2012