Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Food, Cooking And Nutrition-Engaging A Wide Audience To Explore Inter-Disciplinary Science Topics, Sharmistha Basu-Dutt, Victoria Geisler

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019) (Archived)

Food and cooking have been a central theme in several courses developed recently at the University of West Georgia. In this presentation, the nature of the content and learning outcomes of these courses will be presented. A unique multi-tiered approach will be offered to show how this theme can be effectively used to engage audiences of all ages and capabilities to use the scientific method. Sample activities will show how to engage the young novice elementary student to explore introductory science concepts in a fun environment and challenge the college science major to design an effective experimental design to answer …

Systems Thinking With Biology Models, Joseph Dauer

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

The recent AAAS call to improve undergraduate biology education suggested university instruction should focus on teaching core concepts like matter and energy, evolution, and systems and core competences like quantitative reasoning, modeling and integrating disciplines. My research has focused on how undergraduate biology students organize their knowledge of biological systems and how they reason about the myriad interactions and potential outcomes inherent to these systems. I will report ongoing research into students’ model construction during an introductory biology course and during clinical interviews 2 years after the course. My colleagues and I have found students’ models change dramatically in both …

Student Identity Considerations And Implications Associated With Socioscientific Issues Instruction, Mitchel James Ruzek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to explore how aspects of identity, perceived levels of controversy, and the strength of a student's attachment to their controversial identity relate to conceptual understanding and knowledge acquisition during socioscientific issues (SSI) based instruction in a biology classroom. The knowledge gained from this study will have the capacity to enhance our understanding of the role that attachment to identity plays during SSI negotiation. Additionally, insight was gained into the role played by aspects of identity in conceptual understanding of scientifically controversial topics during SSI based instruction.

This study contributed to the existing knowledge base …

Assessing High School Biology Academic Achievement By Comparing Traditional Versus Virtual Dissection Of Rat Specimens, Arthur L. Jamison Jr.

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

American's lagging student performance on standardized assessments in critical subject areas such as science has in-part led to numerous educational reforms including No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, resulting in an increased focus on student achievement. International and national government officials note the direct correlation between the value of science and driving the economic prosperity of a nation adding increased pressure to improve science scores in the United States. Local districts and schools struggle with how to improve student achievement in order to meet the requirements of state and federal educational reforms.

The purpose of this mixed-methods …

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 26, No. 1, February 2014

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Content: Welcome - Congratulations - Grants - Publications - Meet an Off-Campus Student - Faculty News - Bruner Club News - Blasts from the Past - Condolences (Dr. John (Jack) Campbell) - Retirement Receptions

Arizona Clinical Research Workforce Survey, Cris E. Wells, Julie A. Robbins, Gaye Luna

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

Objective: We characterize the current clinical research workforce in Arizona with the goal of identifying possible educational training gaps for the future workforce. Background: The science community, government entities, educational institutions, and community programs continue to advocate for additional funding and resources to educate the bioscience workforce, of which clinical research is a part. However, there is little evidence that additional training and/or education is needed within the clinical research profession. Method: We utilized an electronic survey tool that was designed to solicit workforce data from clinical research professionals actively working or seeking employment in the field of clinical research …

Lack Of Quantitative Training Among Early-Career Ecologists: A Survey Of The Problem And Potential Solutions, F. Barraquand, T. G. Ezard, P. Søgaard Jørgensen, Naupaka B. Zimmerman, S. Chamberlain, R. Salguero-Gómez, T. J. Curran, T. Poisot

Biology Faculty Publications

Proficiency in mathematics and statistics is essential to modern ecological science, yet few studies have assessed the level of quantitative training received by ecologists. To do so, we conducted an online survey. The 937 respondents were mostly early-career scientists who studied biology as undergraduates. We found a clear self-perceived lack of quantitative training: 75% were not satisfied with their understanding of mathematical models; 75% felt that the level of mathematics was “too low” in their ecology classes; 90% wanted more mathematics classes for ecologists; and 95% more statistics classes. Respondents thought that 30% of classes in ecology-related degrees should be …

Proceedings Of The 126th Annual Meeting Of The Iowa Academy Of Science [Program, 2014], Iowa Academy Of Science

Iowa Academy of Science Documents

Contents:

Program Summary --- 2-3
Acknowledgements --- 4
Contents --- 5
Iowa Junior Academy of Science Competition --- 6
General Session I --- 7
Iowa Junior Academy of Science Award Luncheon --- 8
Iowa Academy of Science Business Meeting --- 8
Necrology --- 8
Special Events --- 9
Iowa Academy of Science 2012-2013 Volunteers --- 10-11
Symposium A --- 12
Symposium B --- 13
Symposium C --- 14
Senior Poster Session Program --- 15-19
Social Hour --- 20
President's Banquet --- 20-21
General Session II --- 22
General Session III --- 23
Excellence in Science Teaching Awards Luncheon --- 24 …

Gene Expression Of Components Of The Insulin/Insulin-Like Signaling Pathway In Response To Heat Stress In The Garter Snake, Thamnophis Elegans, Tonia S. Schwartz, Anne M. Bronikowski

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

The insulin/insulin-like signaling (IIS) pathway is an evolutionary conserved molecular signaling pathway that regulates growth, reproduction, stress resistance, and longevity in response to nutrition and external stress. While the constituents of this pathway and their functions are relatively well understood in laboratory model animals, they have not been explored in many other organisms, with notable exceptions in the fisheries literature. We tested for the gene expression of four key components of this pathway in the garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) liver, and determine how the transcription of these components responds to heat stress. We found that the two insulin-like …

Synchronous Rotation In The Eclipsing Binary 68 Herculis Inferred From Doppler Shifts In Its Spectrum And Light Curve Modeling, Kenneth W. Mclaughlin, Janak Panthi

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Our differential photometry of the eclipsing binary 68 Herculis through V- and R-filters shows periodic minima consistent with a previously established period. As a function of its orbital motion, we report spectra over a limited wavelength range encompassing H-alpha 656.3 nm and helium 667.8 nm lines. Doppler shifts of both stars were resolved in H-alpha, while only the more massive star rendered the helium line with Doppler shifts that agree with the radial velocity we derive for it from the H-alpha profile. Sinusoidal curve-fits to the orbital dependence of the radial velocities imply circular orbits for both components, with amplitudes …

Improved Functional Prediction Of Hypothetical Proteins From Listeria Monocytogenes 08-5578, Michael J. Lagier, Brittany Bowman, Kelsey Brend, Katherine Hobbs, Michael Foggia, Mark Mcdaniel

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne human pathogen responsible for listerosis. The genomes of several L. monocytogenes strains have been recently sequenced. The genome of L. monocytogenes 08-5578, which was in part responsible for a significant listerosis outbreak in 2008, contains an unexpectedly high percentage of protein-encoding genes (1,927 out of 3,161; 60.96%) autonomously annotated as hypothetical proteins. The aim of this study was to test whether a manual annotation strategy could be used to assign more meaningful functional names to the hypothetical proteins of 08-5578. A holistic, manual gene annotation strategy that utilized sequence homology, cellular localization predictions, structure-based evidence, …

The Role Of An Urban Tallgrass Prairie Remnant In Conservation: A Case Study In Central Iowa (Usa), Jimmie D. Thompson, Deborah Q. Lewis, William R. Norris

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Although more than 85% of Iowa (USA) was covered by tallgrass prairie at the time of settlement by Europeans in the early 19th century, less than 0.1% remains. The Richard W. Pohl State Preserve at Ames (IA) High School, surrounded on three sides by structures, roads, and other development, protects 4 ha of tallgrass prairie. The preserve, commonly referred to as Ames High Prairie (AHP), was grazed but never plowed under private ownership until its acquisition by the Ames School District in 1959.

Although considered for development as a parking lot or football field in the 1960s, the residents of …

Cover

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Instructional Scientific Humor In The Secondary Classroom, Francine Wizner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study is an examination of the manner in which educators employ scientific content humor and how that humor is perceived by their students. Content humor is a useful strategy in drawing the attention of students and improving their receptivity toward scientific information. It is also a useful tool in combating the growing distractions of the electronic classroom. Previous studies have found that humor has a positive effect on knowledge, memory, and understanding. However, few studies have been conducted below the undergraduate level and mainly quantitative measures of student recall have been used to measure learning. This study employed multiple …

Kingswood Lake Management Plan, Sarah Martina Tierney

Honors Theses and Capstones

High water quality and natural buffers exist on Kingswood Lake located in Brookfield, New Hampshire. A comprehensive lakes inventory (CSI) was recorded and health of the land, wildlife, and waterways were observed. Educational outreach was taken to inform the local community and to instruct them on proper stewardship of the land. A completed watershed management plan was constructed including key recommendation of limiting nitrogen loading in the area, checking septic systems for leaching, stabilizing shoreline from erosion, and establishing man-made rain gardens to help preserve water quality. The Kingswood watershed management plan acts as a guide for the town of …

A Course-Based Research Experience: How Benefits Change With Increased Investment In Instructional Time, Christopher D. Shaffer, Consuelo J. Alvarez, April E. Bednarski, David Dunbar, Anya L. Goodman, Catherine Reinke, Anne G. Rosenwald, Michael J. Wolyniak, Cheryl Bailey, Daron Barnard, Christopher Bazinet, Dale L. Beach, James E.J. Bedard, Satish Bhalla, John Braverman, Martin Burg, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Hui-Min Chung, Kari Clase, Randall J. Dejong, Justin R. Diangelo, Chunguang Du, Todd T. Eckdahl, Heather Eisler, Julia A. Emerson, Amy Frary, Donald Frohlich, Yuying Gosser, Shubha Govind, Adam Haberman, Amy T. Hark, Charles Hauser, Arlene Hoogewerf, Laura L.M. Hoopes, Carina E. Howell, Diana Johnson, Christopher J. Jones, Lisa Kadlec, Marian Kaehler, S. Catherine Silver Key, Adam Kleinschmit, Nighat P. Kokan, Olga Kopp, Gary Kuleck, Judith Leatherman, Jane Lopilato, Christy Mackinnon, Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado, Gerard Mcneil, Stephanie Mel, Hemlata Mistry, Alexis Nagengast, Paul Overvoorde, Don W. Paetkau, Susan Parrish, Celeste N. Peterson, Mary Preuss, Laura K. Reed, Dennis Revie, Srebrenka Robic, Jennifer Roecklein-Canfield, Michael R. Rubin, Kenneth Saville, Stephanie Schroeder, Karim Sharif, Mary Shaw, Gary Skuse, Christopher D. Smith, Mary A. Smith, Sheryl T. Smith, Eric Spana, Mary Spratt, Aparna Sreenivasan, Joyce Stamm, Paul Szauter, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Matthew Wawersik, James Youngblom, Leming Zhou, Elaine R. Mardis, Jeremy Buhler, Wilson Leung, David Lopatto, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Faculty Publications

There is widespread agreement that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs should provide undergraduates with research experience. Practical issues and limited resources, however, make this a challenge. We have developed a bioinformatics project that provides a course-based research experience for students at a diverse group of schools and offers the opportunity to tailor this experience to local curriculum and institution-specific student needs. We assessed both attitude and knowledge gains, looking for insights into how students respond given this wide range of curricular and institutional variables. While different approaches all appear to result in learning gains, we find that a significant …

Why American Higher Education Needs Parasitologists, John J. Janovy Jr.

John J. Janovy, Jr. Publications

Addresses four topics that characterize the discipline of parasitology and are largely missing from our national conversation in the United States about education, especially at the college and university level. Those topics are the production of transferable skills; our perceptions of the world, especially the natural world; access to reasonably difficult problems in natural settings; and intellectual epidemiology, or the movement of ideas, innovations, and cultural items through populations. These topics have been a part of the author's discussions with fellow parasitologists for at least half a century, beginning with his choice to pursue a graduate degree under the supervision …

Bridging Physics And Biology Teaching Through Modeling, Anne-Marie Hoskinson, Brian A. Couch, Benjamin M. Zwickl, Kathleen A. Hinko, Marcos D. Caballero

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

As the frontiers of biology become increasingly interdisciplinary, the physics education community has engaged in ongoing efforts to make physics classes more relevant to life science majors. These efforts are complicated by the many apparent differences between these fields, including the types of systems that each studies, the behavior of those systems, the kinds of measurements that each makes, and the role of mathematics in each field. Nonetheless, physics and biology are both sciences that rely on observations and measurements to construct models of the natural world. In this article, we propose that efforts to bridge the teaching of these …

In Memoriam: Robert Lloyd Rausch—A Life In Nature And Field Biology, 1921–2012, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

During his distinguished career, Robert Rausch, a man of great integrity and principles, served in his lifetime as a singular ambassador for parasitology in a broad international arena. Robert was a friend to many, was honored to be considered an equal among the nomadic bands of Nunamiut traversing the Brooks Range 60 years ago, and will be long remembered for the strength of his science and his perceptive views of the natural world.

Transfer Of The U.S. National Parasite Collection [Announcement], Eric P. Hoberg, Anna J.. Phillips

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

In 2013, an agreement was articulated between the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Smithsonian Institution to transfer the National Parasite Collection (NPC) in its entirety (fluid specimens, slide specimens, frozen tissues, and reprints) to the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, D.C. Current collections staff, including senior curator Dr. Eric P. Hoberg and support scientists/managers from the ARS, will be transferred with the collection and, with adjunct appointments in the NMNH, will provide continuity and assistance for curation and accessibility during and after the relocation. New curatorial controls will be established under NMNH …

Transfer Of The United States National Parasite Collection [Announcement], Eric P. Hoberg, Anna J. Phillips

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

In 2013, an agreement was articulated between the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Smithsonian Institution to transfer the United States National Parasite Collection in its entirety (fluid specimens, slide specimens, frozen tissues and reprints) to the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, D.C. Current collections staff, including senior curator Dr. Eric P. Hoberg and support scientists/managers from the ARS will be transferred with the collection and with adjunct appointments in the NMNH will provide continuity and assistance for curation and accessibility during and after the relocation. New curatorial controls will be established under …

Nature Of Science Conceptions, Attitudes Towards Evolution And Global Climate Change, And Course Achievement In An Introductory Biology Course, Benjamin Elijah Carter

Theses - ALL

Many researchers have studied student attitudes toward and knowledge of evolutionary science, attitudes towards global climate change (GCC), conceptions about the nature of science (NOS), and course success. However, at the time of this writing, no studies explicitly link these topics.

It is overwhelmingly acknowledged by the scientific community that evolution and global climate change (GCC) are undeniably supported by physical evidence. And yet, both topics remain very politically contentious in the United States. Efforts to mitigate the disconnects between the scientific community and the general public on these issues are imperative to science education. Such undertakings need to examine …

An Argument And Plan For Promoting The Teaching And Learning Of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Kevin M. Bonney

Publications and Research

Neglected tropical diseases constitute a significant public health burden, affecting over one billion people globally, yet this group of diseases is underrepresented in the appropriation of both monetary and intellectual capital for developing improved therapies and public health campaigns. The topic of neglected tropical diseases has been similarly marginalized in the biology classrooms of our nation’s high schools and colleges, despite offering an opportunity to teach and learn about a diverse area of microbiology with far-reaching public health, social, and economic implications. Discussed herein is an argument for increasing the representation of neglected tropical diseases in microbiology education as a …

La Diversidad De Los Análisis De Diversidad La Diversidad De Los Analisis De Diversidad [The Diversity Of Diversity Analyses], Victor D. Carmona-Galindo, Tizziana V. Carmona

Biology Faculty Works

There is a lack of consistency with respect to the use of the terms like species richness, diversity and biodiversity, which extends to the analysis of diversity indices and the merit of using diversity indices in the evaluation (comparison and contrast) of biological communities. The purpose of this article is to provide working definitions for these terms and cite examples from the primary literature that demonstrate the utility of estimating richness, evaluating proportional abundance patterns, as well as comparing indices of diversity and similarity to study patterns of biological organization at different ecological scales. Additionally, we provide a manual in …

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 25, No. 5, November 2013

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Welcome - Publications - Faculty News - Grants - Meet an Off-Campus Student - Student News - This 'n That - Calendar of Events - BUGFEST Success

Enseñanza De Las Ciencias Y Contextos Culturales: Un Testimonio De Vida, William W. Cobern, Adela Molina-Andrade, Gonzalo Peñaloza-J.

Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project

William W. Cobern es PhD en Educación en Ciencias, de la Universidad de Colorado Boulder. En la actualidad es profesor en la Western Michigan University. Su trabajo ha girado en torno a la relación entre cultura tradicional y enseñanza-aprendizaje de las ciencias. Por varios años trabajó en Nigeria y desarrolló propuestas de formación de profesores y de programas educativos dirigidos a grupos nómadas. A partir de su experiencia propuso su concepto de “visión del mundo”, que es tanto un marco teórico como metodológico para entender y abordar el vínculo entre ciencia y cultura. Su trabajo ha motivado investigaciones en diferentes …

Unalienated Recognition At The Core Of Meaningful Exchange Between School And Community. A Response To "Unalienated Recognition As A Feature Of Democratic Schooling", Robin R. Sears

Democracy & Education

I apply the concept of unalienated recognition as a form of democratic exchange, introduced by Rheingold (2012), to a different educational setting. Through a case study of the School for Field Studies international environmental programs, that are, like Rheingold’s study school, field based and community centered, I explore the hypothesis that today’s undergraduate students’ desire to serve and to solve can be usefully harnessed in formal coursework and research to address real problems at their foundation. I link the cases by building on Rheingold’s use of the concept of boundary objects as an organizing principle behind the success in motivating …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V09n2, Fall 2013, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--ICTM-ISTS Math Science Fall Conference

--Next Generation Science Standards Updates

--Academy to Host NGSS Alignment Workshop

--Abstract Submission Deadline

--All Puns Intended: New Facilitators Dive into Project WET

--Iowa Science Foundation

--Recognizing Excellence

--Events and Deadlines

--New Excellence in Science Teaching Award

Transformations In Matter And Energy: Student Learning And Inquiry To Inform Teaching, Jenny Dauer

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Learning progressions are descriptions of increasing levels of sophistication of student reasoning about a topic based on empirical evidence. Our learning progression framework about student explanations of carbon-transforming processes (e.g. photosynthesis, cellular respiration) describes how student’s interconnected and mutually supporting ideas and practices are deeply embedded in discourse at all levels of achievement. My research is in two areas: 1) applying the learning progression framework for student explanations of carbon-transforming processes to describe the most productive pathways for student learning, 2) extending the research to student reasoning during inquiry activities about carbon-transforming processes. One finding is that students who consistently …

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 25, No. 4, September 2013

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Welcome - Grants - Congratulations - Publications - Faculty News - Student News - This 'n That