CREATE a Revolution in Undergraduates' Understanding of Science: Teach through Close Analysis of Scientific Literature

The teaching of science to undergraduates aligns poorly with the practice of science, leading many students to conclude that research is boring and researchers themselves are antisocial geniuses. Creativity, a key driver of scientific progress, is underemphasized or ignored altogether in many classrooms, as teaching focuses on the complex integrated concepts and voluminous amounts of information typical of STEM curricula. Faculty, largely untrained in science education per se, teach largely as they were taught, through lectures based in textbooks. This situation could change, and students' understanding of research practice could be fostered relatively easily, if faculty began teaching classes focused on the journal articles they read in their professional lives. In this essay, I outline a novel scaffolded approach to guiding students in a) deciphering the complexities of scientific literature and b) the process of gaining new understanding of who scientists are, what they do, how they do it, and why.

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Medicinal plants and natural products can play a significant role in mitigation of mercury toxicity

Interdisciplinary Toxicology ◽

10.2478/intox-2018-0024 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 247-254 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sanjib Bhattacharya

Keyword(s):

Natural Products ◽

Medicinal Plants ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Scientific Journal ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Literature Survey ◽

Mercury Toxicity ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Effective Agent ◽

Clinical Investigations

Abstract Mercury is a heavy metal of considerable toxicity. Scientific literature reveals various plants and plant derived natural products, i.e., phytochemicals, which can alleviate experimentally induced mercury toxicity in animals. The present review attempts to collate those experimental studies on medicinal plants and phytochemicals with ameliorative effects on mercury toxicity. A literature survey was carried out by using Google, Scholar Google, Scopus and Pub-Med. Only the scientific journal articles found in the internet for the last two decades (1998–2018) were considered. Minerals and semi-synthetic or synthetic analogs of natural products were excluded. The literature survey revealed that in pre-clinical studies 27 medicinal plants and 27 natural products exhibited significant mitigation from mercury toxicity in experimental animals. Clinical investigations were not found in the literature. Admissible research in this area could lead to development of a potentially effective agent from the plant kingdom for clinical management of mercury toxicity in humans.

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Videoblogs as an Alternative of Mass Media for Russian Youth: Testing the Hypothesis

Bulletin of Science and Practice ◽

10.33619/2414-2948/61/42 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (12) ◽

pp. 367-375

Author(s):

D. Rudenkin

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Mass Media ◽

Empirical Data ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Sociological Research ◽

Research Practice ◽

Traditional Media ◽

Empirical Verification ◽

Source Of Information

The paper is devoted to the description of the results of a sociological research, which was conducted for the empirical verification of the hypothesis about the transformation of videoblogs into an alternative of mass media for representatives of Russian youth. An analysis of recent scientific literature in the area sociology of youth leads author to the conclusion that discussions about the transformation of video blogs into an actual analogue of traditional mass media for representatives of Russian youth have become quite common in current research practice. But at the same time the degree of substantiation of this idea remains not entirely clear: the inclination of young people to treat videoblogs as a substitute for traditional media is often described only speculatively and does not correlate with specific empirical data. Trying to take a step in overcoming this problem, the author uses the data of his own research, carried out in early 2020 on the basis of the Ural Federal University. The key conclusion of the author’s analysis is that it is somewhat premature to talk about videoblogs as a ready-made alternative to traditional media for young people. Although such services are popular among young people, they are perceived primarily as entertainment tools and only few see them as an important source of information.

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Access to scientific literature by the conservation community

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.9404 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. e9404

Author(s):

Daisy Larios ◽

Thomas M. Brooks ◽

Nicholas B.W. Macfarlane ◽

Sugoto Roy

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New Zealand ◽

Western Europe ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

The United States ◽

Hard Copy ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Binary Logistic Regression Model ◽

Do So

Access to the scientific literature is perceived to be a challenge to the biodiversity conservation community, but actual level of literature access relative to needs has never been assessed globally. We examined this question by surveying the constituency of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a proxy for the conservation community, generating 2,285 responses. Of these respondents, ∼97% need to use the scientific literature in order to support their IUCN-related conservation work, with ∼50% needing to do so at least once per week. The crux of the survey revolved around the question, “How easy is it for you currently to obtain the scientific literature you need to carry out your IUCN-related work?” and revealed that roughly half (49%) of the respondents find it not easy or not at all easy to access scientific literature. We fitted a binary logistic regression model to explore factors predicting ease of literature access. Whether the respondent had institutional literature access (55% do) is the strongest predictor, with region (Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and sex (male) also significant predictors. Approximately 60% of respondents from Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have institutional access compared to ∼50% in Asia and Latin America, and ∼40% in Eastern Europe and in Africa. Nevertheless, accessing free online material is a popular means of accessing literature for both those with and without institutional access. The four journals most frequently mentioned when asked which journal access would deliver the greatest improvements to the respondent’s IUCN-related work were Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, Nature, and Science. The majority prefer to read journal articles on screen but books in hard copy. Overall, it is apparent that access to the literature is a challenge facing roughly half of the conservation community worldwide.

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Implementation of E-book based on 3D Pageflip Professional to Improve Conceptual Understanding of Science for Elementary School Students

Dinamika Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Dasar ◽

10.30595/dinamika.v13i2.11580 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 97

Author(s):

ARIF FUDIN ◽

RISTIANA DYAH PURWANDARI

Keyword(s):

Elementary School ◽

Elementary School Students ◽

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Literature Study ◽

Teaching Materials ◽

School Students ◽

Research Results ◽

Understanding Of Science

This study aims to determine the benefits of using e-book teaching materials as an alternative to improve conceptual understanding of science for Elementary School students. Students who have an understanding will be able to explain again the lessons they have learned based on their understanding so that learning will be meaningful. The method in this research is the literature study method. The type of this data is secondary data. The method in this research is literature study method. The data obtained were collected, analyzed, and concluded to get conclusions about the literature study. Based on the research results, literature studies from several research results and journal articles show that the benefit of e-book can improve conceptual understanding of science for Elementary School students.

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Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEI): Merging the Study Systematic Review, Analysis Content and Bibliometrics

Macro Management & Public Policies ◽

10.30564/mmpp.v3i3.3670 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Érika Pena Bedin ◽

Luiz Carlos de Faria

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Review Analysis ◽

Strong Focus ◽

Content Analyses ◽

Sustainability In Higher Education ◽

Combination Of Methods

This study aims to explore how the topic of sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) has been addressed in the scientific literature. It presents a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1975 and 2019. After that, bibliometric and content analyses were performed in order to identify the behavior and evolution of the literature and identify the frequency with which they appear in the text, making it possible to raise replicable and valid inferences to the data. The results of this study indicate that the theme is emerging since the year 2010 and with a strong focus on qualitative studies, focused on critical theory. The results indicate that although studies involve the tripod environment, economy, and society, there is still a gap in studies that deal with specific issues to solve practical problems and that analyze the impacts from a more holistic perspective. The combination of methods made it possible to identify and interpret the articles in the selected sample, but based on results reported by other authors, with little room for quality control and integrity.

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Geography and the Anthropocene: Critical approaches needed

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/0309133319829395 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 451-461 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Daniel Knitter ◽

Katja Augustin ◽

Ehsan Biniyaz ◽

Wolfgang Hamer ◽

Michael Kuhwald ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bibliometric Analysis ◽

Vital Role ◽

Research Practice ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Critical Approach ◽

Research Practices ◽

Earth Systems ◽

The Earth ◽

Critical Approaches ◽

Research Questions

“The Anthropocene” currently serves as a framework to acknowledge global human influences on the earth systems. Different prominent authors call for geographers and especially physical geographers to intensify their involvement in the discussions on the theme. A bibliometric analysis shows that geographers are already one of the leading contributors to the keyword Anthropocene in journal articles. While we generally support the standpoint of increased engagement with the topic, we want to emphasize that we need to do more than only attaching the “Anthropocene” label to our daily research practice. A critical engagement with and reflection of the research questions and contexts is needed to play a vital role as discussant in the debate. We should take advantage of the diverse themes, topics and viewpoints of our subject by actively following a more critical approach to our research practices in order to find those geographic ties that join us and our discipline and that enable us to contribute more substantially to the Anthropocene debate.

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What is narrative journalism? A systematic review and an empirical agenda

Journalism ◽

10.1177/1464884919862056 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 146488491986205 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kobie van Krieken ◽

José Sanders

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Scientific Field ◽

Systematic Research ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Journalism Studies ◽

Current State ◽

Definition Of ◽

Core Characteristics ◽

Empirical Turn

This article reviews scientific research on narrative journalism, aiming to (1) demystify the nature of narrative journalism by specifying its core characteristics, resulting in a sustainable definition of the genre; (2) characterize the current state of the scientific field; and (3) identify gaps in our knowledge about narrative journalism. A systematic search of the scientific literature between 1998 and 2017 resulted in a set of 103 journal articles about narrative journalism. Their analysis reveals that the scientific field is dominated by essayistic and qualitative studies on printed forms of narrative journalism, with a focus on the history and style of narrative journalism, whereas systematic research on the function and impact of the genre is scarce. A framework is presented that synthesizes the hitherto isolated strands of research on narrative journalism and offers anchors for an empirical turn in narrative journalism studies.

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Is the German Academic Profession on Metrification Autopilot? A Study of 25 Years of Publication Outputs

10.31235/osf.io/mcs3g ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Schneijderberg ◽

Lars Müller ◽

Nicolai Götze

Keyword(s):

Academic Culture ◽

Academic Profession ◽

Organizational Level ◽

Substantial Part ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Individual Level ◽

Key Driver ◽

Voluntary Commitment ◽

The Individual ◽

And Control

Given their constitutionally guaranteed academic freedom, German academics are not forced by law to metrify their research outputs, but they do still practice metrification – one could say on autopilot. The metrification autopilot mode captures the voluntary commitment of a substantial part of the German academic profession to socio-calculative valuation, evaluation and valorization practices in the governance and control of higher education institutions (HEI), of disciplines and at the individual level. The effects of the metrification autopilot, in terms of auto-metrification in individual academics’ publication behavior, are studied empirically using three surveys (1992, 2007 and 2018). On the individual level, the metrification autopilot is observed as a trend among all full professors. Among non-full professors, the most metrified publication outputs are produced by academics who have been in their positions for more than 13 years. Accordingly, socialization into metrified status/reputation-seeking and status/reputation-keeping academic culture seems to take about 12 years. On the organizational level, we observe the metrification autopilot trend on the basis of the correlation between journal articles and HEIs’ policy of strong metrified performance recognition. On the discipline level, the metrification autopilot trend is observable in the way that humanities and social sciences scholars adapt to the peer-reviewed journal publication paradigm of the natural sciences, which is a key driver for transforming science and HEIs into a “socio-calculative environment” (Vormbusch 2012) of valuation, evaluation and valorization.

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The Random Design Argument

Communications of the Blyth Institute ◽

10.33014/issn.2640-5652.1.2.hunter.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 23-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Cornelius Hunter

Keyword(s):

Null Hypothesis ◽

Design Theory ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Design Argument ◽

Random Design ◽

History Of ◽

History Of Use ◽

Practice Of Science ◽

Scientific Hypotheses

The "random design argument" is a popular but questionable mode of justification that can be found in the scientific literature. The first part of this argument is that, if God had designed X, the features of X would approximate randomness. The second part of this argument is that a random design can therefore be used as a null hypothesis against which any non-design theory can be weighed. The first part of the argument is problematic because it incorporates theology into the practice of science. The second part of the argument is problematic because the null hypothesis is supposed to be the logical complement of the hypothesis. Despite its logical failings, the random design argument has a long history of use for justifying various scientific hypotheses. This paper documents several areas where the random design argument has been used (both currently and historically) as well as details the logical problems with the argument.

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Belonging to a Community of Research Practice

Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal ◽

10.14483/http://dx.doi.org/10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2015.2.a00 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 175

Author(s):

Amparo Clavijo-Olarte

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Education Institution ◽

Professional Life ◽

Research Practice ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Higher Education Institution ◽

Academic Production ◽

Professional Field

Belonging to a community of research practice as applied linguists or as academics in any field is part of our professional life. Being an academic implies, inter alia, creativity in advancing knowledge in the disciplines, which reflects in writing journal articles, presenting papers in conferences, doing research, teaching, tutoring students and publishing. Globally, every higher education institution requires that academics publish in prominent journals to make their work and their institution visible and influence their professional field. However, the questions that arise concerning academic production are how do communities of research support academic production?, How do higher education institutions help novice researchers develop academic writing competences?, What is the place of writing within research? How do institutions foster quality publication?

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