Development of a Water-Quality Lab that Enhances Learning & Connects Students to the Land

2012 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 471-478
Author(s):  
Jodi Enos-Berlage
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Field Trips ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Student Learning Objectives ◽  
Local Water ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Life Challenge ◽  
Multiple Field

A 3-week laboratory module was developed for an undergraduate microbiology course that would connect student learning to a real-life challenge, specifically a local water-quality project. The laboratory series included multiple field trips, sampling of soil and water, and subsequent analysis for bacteria and nitrate. Laboratory results confirmed the usefulness of comparing real environmental samples, and student survey and performance data supported the original hypothesis of this study in terms of student learning objectives.

How Digital Media like TED Talks Are Revolutionizing Teaching and Student Learning

2014 ◽  
pp. 282-298
Author(s):  
Gladys Palma de Schrynemakers
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Student Learning Objectives ◽  
Multi Media ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Ted Talks

Launched in 1984, Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) Talks was successfully developed and implemented as a practical way to bring recognized experts together to discuss the latest developments and improve communication and collaboration across these fields. From its embryonic beginning, TED Talks has today expanded exponentially and is now a multi-media vehicle for delivering pioneering work to a global audience. For faculty wishing to bring user-friendly, cutting-edge research and ideas to the classroom, it can be an exciting teaching tool because students can draw from the real life experiences of outstanding professionals who are trailblazers in their fields. This chapter presents assignments that were created using TED Talks and provides a template that can be used to create unique assignments that are compatible with the needs and goals of the course. The template is designed to help faculty craft a learning experience that is embedded in an encouraging environment for innovative approaches and student involvement—where specific student learning objectives exist, along with approaches to assess student learning.

Animal Recognition and Eye Movements

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby J. Lloyd-Jones ◽  
Juergen Gehrke ◽  
Jason Lauder
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Object Orientation ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Object Decision ◽  
Individual Features ◽  
And Performance

We assessed the importance of outline contour and individual features in mediating the recognition of animals by examining response times and eye movements in an animal-object decision task (i.e., deciding whether or not an object was an animal that may be encountered in real life). There were shorter latencies for animals as compared with nonanimals and performance was similar for shaded line drawings and silhouettes, suggesting that important information for recognition lies in the outline contour. The most salient information in the outline contour was around the head, followed by the lower torso and leg regions. We also observed effects of object orientation and argue that the usefulness of the head and lower torso/leg regions is consistent with a role for the object axis in recognition.

Living with water: at the cross-roads of change

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 393-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost de Jong ◽  
Peter T. J. C. van Rooy ◽  
S. Harry Hosper
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Integrated Water Management ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
The People ◽  
Global Perception ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Water Quality Deterioration ◽  
The Way

Until the last two decades, the global perception of how to control our various water bodies was remarkably similar – water management was organised on a sectoral basis, as it always had been. It was only in the 1970s that the people actually responsible for implementing water management began to become aware of the serious implications of such an approach: water quality deterioration, desiccation and an alarming loss of the flora and fauna that characterised their local water environment. It was a growing awareness that led to the formation of the concept of integrated water management, a concept almost universally accepted today as the way forward. However, despite the fact that few dispute the validity of the concept, a number of obstacles remain before this theoretical agreement can be transformed into practical action. Three main bottlenecks stand in the way of implementation: institutional, communicational and socio-political. Whilst solutions to these are available, the key question still to be answered is whether society is really prepared to accept the consequent changes in the way we live that will result from putting the theory of integrated water management into practice. It was this issue that dominated the “Living with water” conference held in Amsterdam in September 1994. The following is a summary of the discussions held there and the various papers that were submitted.

scholarly journals The RiBaTox web tool: selecting methods to assess and manage the diverse problem of chemical pollution in surface waters

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kees J. M. Kramer ◽  
Frank Sleeuwaert ◽  
Guy Engelen ◽  
Christin Müller ◽  
Werner Brack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
End Users ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Web Tool ◽  
Novel Approaches ◽  
Local Water

Abstract Chemical pollution of water bodies is a complex problem around the globe. When described by the extremes of the range of problem definitions, water bodies can be chemically polluted by a single compound that is emitted from a point source or an incidental spill, or by chronic diffuse emissions from local and upstream land uses. The resulting mixture exposures can vary in space and time, e.g. due to the use of pesticides in the crop growing season. The environmental management objectives are commonly to protect and restore surface waters against human influences. Currently, chemical pollution is globally judged for a selected set of compounds, by judging each of these individually in comparison with protective environmental quality standards. Research has provided a novel assessment paradigm (solution-focused risk assessment) and novel data, measurement methods and models to improve on current practices. Their adoption and application require establishing novel linkages between the diverse problem definitions and the novel approaches. That would assist water quality professionals to select the most effective option or options to protect and restore water quality. The present paper introduces the RiBaTox (River Basin Specific Toxicants assessment and management) web tool. It consists of short descriptions of the novel approaches (made available as Additional file 1) and a decision tree for end-users to select those. The overview of novel approaches collated in RiBaTox is relevant for end-users ranging from local water quality experts up till strategic policy developers. Although RiBaTox was developed in the context of European water quality problems, the methods provided by RiBaTox are relevant for users from (inter)national to local scales. This paper is part of a series of Policy Briefs from the EU-FP7 project SOLUTIONS (http://www.solutions-project.eu), which provide backgrounds on chemical pollution of surface waters and policy practices and proposed improvements.

scholarly journals Making a Tough Choice: Teacher Target-Setting and Student Achievement in a Teacher Performance System Using Student Learning Objectives

AERA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233285842097977
Author(s):  
Allison Atteberry ◽  
Sarah E. LaCour
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Teacher Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Target Setting ◽  
Student Learning Objectives ◽  
Performance System ◽  
Better Than

The use of student learning objectives (SLOs) as part of teacher performance systems has gained traction quickly in the United States, yet little is known about how teachers select specific students’ learning goals. When teachers are evaluated—and sometimes compensated—based on whether their students meet the very objectives the teachers set at the start of the year, there may be an incentive to set low targets. SLO systems rely on teachers’ willingness and ability to set appropriately ambitious SLOs. We describe teachers’ SLO target-setting behavior in one school-district. We document the accuracy/ambitiousness of targets and find that teachers regularly set targets that students did not meet. We also find that, within the same year, a student’s spring test scores tend to be higher on the assessments for which they received higher targets. This raises the intriguing possibility that receiving higher targets might cause students to perform better than they otherwise would have.

Motivational clusters and performance in a real-life setting

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Gillet ◽  
Robert J. Vallerand ◽  
Elisabeth Rosnet
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Real Life Setting ◽  
And Performance

scholarly journals The Role of Steps and Game Elements in Gamified Fitness Tracker Apps: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Aatish Neupane ◽  
Derek Hansen ◽  
Jerry Alan Fails ◽  
Anud Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Design Space ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Network Clustering ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Fitness Tracker ◽  
Game Elements ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Contingent Rewards

This article reviews 103 gamified fitness tracker apps (Android and iOS) that incorporate step count data into gameplay. Games are labeled with a set of 13 game elements as well as meta-data from the app stores (e.g., avg rating, number of reviews). Network clustering and visualizations are used to identify the relationship between game elements that occur in the same games. A taxonomy of how steps are used as rewards is provided, along with example games. An existing taxonomy of how games use currency is also mapped to step-based games. We show that many games use the triad of Social Influence, Competition, and Challenges, with Social Influence being the most common game element. We also identify holes in the design space, such as games that include a Plot element (e.g., Collaboration and Plot only co-occur in one game). Games that use Real-Life Incentives (e.g., allow you to translate steps into dollars or discounts) were surprisingly common, but relatively simple in their gameplay. We differentiate between task-contingent rewards (including completion-contingent and engagement-contingent) and performance-contingent rewards, illustrating the differences with fitness apps. We also demonstrate the value of treating steps as currency by mapping an existing currency-based taxonomy onto step-based games and providing illustrations of nine different categories.

Librarians, step out of the classroom!: how improved faculty-led IL instruction improves student learning

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meagan Lacy ◽  
Alexandra Hamlett
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Actual Application ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Impact

PurposeIn most higher education institutions, information literacy (IL) instruction is usually considered the purview of librarians, not disciplinary faculty. However, a small but growing body of research indicates that students learn the research process best when these skills are taught in the context of a course or a discipline. For this reason, teaching faculty should share ownership of IL instruction — but how? In this case study, community college librarians explain how they successfully trained faculty to integrate IL into their English Composition courses and teach IL independently.Design/methodology/approachUsing a multimethods approach, the investigators draw on faculty interviews, student surveys, and content analysis of student essays to evaluate the impact of faculty-led IL instruction on student learning after one semester.FindingsFaculty reported that their instruction of IL was improved, and students work better as a result of their collaboration with the librarians. Compared to previous semesters, faculty perceived gains in terms of students’ ability to synthesize and cite evidence in their writing. Student survey results indicate perceived gains in their IL skills, but an assessment of their written work reveals a discrepancy between this perception and the actual application of these skills.Research limitations/implicationsBecause there is no control group, no conclusions can be drawn as to whether faculty-led IL instruction is as effective as librarian-led IL instruction or whether students’ academic performance improves due to faculty teaching IL. However, the purpose of this study is primarily descriptive. It addresses how other libraries may create a culture of shared ownership of IL instruction on their campuses.Practical implicationsThis study offers an alternative model to library instruction and suggests ways instruction librarians can prioritize their outreach and instructional efforts to maximize impact on student learning.Originality/valueWhile much has been written about how librarians can improve IL instruction, few studies mention the role of faculty. This case study starts the conversation.

Design, Installation, and Performance of Percolation Lysimeters for Water Quality Sampling

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. L. Klocke ◽  
R. W. Todd ◽  
G. W. Hergert ◽  
D. G. Watts ◽  
A. M. Parkhurst
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
And Performance
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