scholarly journals A Study on Use of Mathematical Programs for Design of Electronic Circuits in Cybernetic-Physical Learning Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 504-509
Author(s):  
Namrata Dewan Soni ◽  
◽  
Jyoti Bhola ◽  
Mona Bhatnagar
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Output Frequency ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Oscillator Circuit ◽  
Mathematical Programs ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Physical Learning Environment ◽  
Undergraduate Science

The laboratory work holds a great importance for an undergraduate student of science. And during COVID -19 pandemic, when the theory classes were moved online, migrating practical classes to online mode turned out to be a challenging task. This article aims to study the use of mathematical programs as an extensive methodological approach to enhance the learning of electronic circuit designing at undergraduate level. The students were given a task of designing a well-known oscillator circuit using a mathematical program written in open source application Scilab. The values of all the components needed to design an oscillator were calculated. The circuit was then designed practically for various frequencies using the theoretically obtained component values. The obtained output frequency of oscillator circuit was within 5% variation to the theoretically obtained one. In this article, the authors captured the experience of 500 undergraduate science students studying at various colleges of University of Delhi, India via a valid online questionnaire circulated through different platforms. The response of the students was gauged and it could be inferred that mathematical programs are working as a decent replacement during these demanding times and can be used as an add-on, once the physical labs start operating back to normalcy.

scholarly journals Establishing a baseline of science communication skills in an undergraduate environmental science course

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashmi Shivni ◽  
Christina Cline ◽  
Morgan Newport ◽  
Shupei Yuan ◽  
Heather E. Bergan-Roller
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Early Step ◽  
Effective Science ◽  
Media Types ◽  
Undergraduate Science ◽  
The Right

Abstract Background Seminal reports, based on recommendations by educators, scientists, and in collaboration with students, have called for undergraduate curricula to engage students in some of the same practices as scientists—one of which is communicating science with a general, non-scientific audience (SciComm). Unfortunately, very little research has focused on helping students develop these skills. An important early step in creating effective and efficient curricula is understanding what baseline skills students have prior to instruction. Here, we used the Essential Elements for Effective Science Communication (EEES) framework to survey the SciComm skills of students in an environmental science course in which they had little SciComm training. Results Our analyses revealed that, despite not being given the framework, students included several of the 13 elements, especially those which were explicitly asked for in the assignment instructions. Students commonly targeted broad audiences composed of interested adults, aimed to increase the knowledge and awareness of their audience, and planned and executed remote projects using print on social media. Additionally, students demonstrated flexibility in their skills by slightly differing their choices depending on the context of the assignment, such as creating more engaging content than they had planned for. Conclusions The students exhibited several key baseline skills, even though they had minimal training on the best practices of SciComm; however, more support is required to help students become better communicators, and more work in different contexts may be beneficial to acquire additional perspectives on SciComm skills among a variety of science students. The few elements that were not well highlighted in the students’ projects may not have been as intuitive to novice communicators. Thus, we provide recommendations for how educators can help their undergraduate science students develop valuable, prescribed SciComm skills. Some of these recommendations include helping students determine the right audience for their communication project, providing opportunities for students to try multiple media types, determining the type of language that is appropriate for the audience, and encouraging students to aim for a mix of communication objectives. With this guidance, educators can better prepare their students to become a more open and communicative generation of scientists and citizens.

scholarly journals Crossing Boundaries: Steps Toward Measuring Undergraduates’ Interdisciplinary Science Understanding

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. ar8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brie Tripp ◽  
Sophia A. Voronoff ◽  
Erin E. Shortlidge
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Interdisciplinary Science ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Assessment Development ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Science Understanding ◽  
Interdisciplinary Framework ◽  
Undergraduate Science

A desired outcome of education reform efforts is for undergraduates to effectively integrate knowledge across disciplines in order to evaluate and address real-world issues. Yet there are few assessments designed to measure if and how students think interdisciplinarily. Here, a sample of science faculty were surveyed to understand how they currently assess students’ interdisciplinary science understanding. Results indicate that individual writing-intensive activities are the most frequently used assessment type (69%). To understand how writing assignments can accurately assess students’ ability to think interdisciplinarily, we used a preexisting rubric, designed to measure social science students’ interdisciplinary understanding, to assess writing assignments from 71 undergraduate science students. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 of those students to explore similarities and differences between assignment scores and verbal understanding of interdisciplinary science. Results suggest that certain constructs of the instrument did not fully capture this competency for our population, but instead, an interdisciplinary framework may be a better model to guide assessment development of interdisciplinary science. These data suggest that a new instrument designed through the lens of this model could more accurately characterize interdisciplinary science understanding for undergraduate students.

Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Twain!: Reengaging Science Students through Visual Aesthetics

Leonardo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-315
Author(s):  
Katherine Goodman ◽  
Jean Hertzberg ◽  
Noah Finkelstein
Keyword(s):  
Student Perception ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Personal Meaning ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Content Mastery ◽  
Visual Aesthetics ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Science ◽  
Improved Methods

Researchers have established improved methods for undergraduate science and engineering education, yet these efforts often overlook the personal meaning students find in their work. Institutions of higher learning should support the creation of personal meaning along with content mastery, aspects that are both included in arts education. The authors argue that STEM educators must work to overcome student perception that content mastery and personal meaning sit at odds. The authors provide an example of a technical course that achieves these goals as well as evidence that it is possible to foster connection while developing content mastery.

scholarly journals The dilemma of English as a medium of instruction policy in science college programs

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1045-1060
Author(s):  
Munassir Alhamami ◽  
Abdullah Almelhi
Keyword(s):  
Native Language ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Intensive English Program ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
College Programs ◽  
Current Program ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Undergraduate Science

Achieving science undergraduate programs learning outcomes relies on the students’ proficiency in the language of instruction, a challenge that many policymakers ignore. This study is to understand the influence of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) policy in four undergraduate science programs, namely, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics, in Saudi Arabia. The data were collected from the following groups of participants: 1461 science alumni records, 769 current undergraduate science students’ surveys, and 111 science university instructors’ surveys. The results of alumni records indicated that grades of the intensive English program in the first year predict the alumni cumulative grade point average (GPA) once they finish their four-year program. The results demonstrated that the higher is the alumni’s English proficiency, the better is their cumulative GPA. The results of the current science students’ questionnaire showed their preferred language of instruction could be predicted by their attitudes and society’s attitudes. Most of these students preferred to learn sciences in their native language (Arabic), which contradicted the policy of the current program. The instructors’ questionnaire results showed that instructors held divergent perspectives on the usage of EMI and students’ native language in the undergraduate science programs. To conclude, educationists and programs policymakers need to locate more attention and interventions toward the language of instruction. It is also recommended that universities provide science students with more English courses. Science students should also have English for science purposes courses to familiarize them with the science terms and prepare them to read science materials.

scholarly journals A Holistic Approach to the Mechanisms of Music Engagement

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ibañez Cantí
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Symbolic Representation ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Jean Baudrillard ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Circuit Of Culture

Meaning is encoded in the production and decoded by the audience during the consumption, which is why it is a process of constant feedback. Each person experiences meaningful connotations in relation to their favourite music, hence music occupies a particular position in each one’s life and within the cultural life of particular individuals and groups.   Music meaning and emotion has been studied by David Carr (2004), who wonders if emotion is intrinsic in music, or if it is a symbolic representation – or rather if emotions are projected from the listener onto the music. Like Akio Morita (the co-founder of Sony, and the person behind Sony Walkman), Jean Baudrillard argues that meaning does not reside in an object but in how that object is used (Du Gay et al. 1997, 90). Is there a relation between what music means to an individual and his/her preference for a particular genre?   The methodological approach is mainly qualitative. I have analysed 215 responses to an online questionnaire, and followed this with an analysis of 8 semi-structured in-depth interviews. I seek to comprehend the space that music occupies in the net of relationships that constitute culture, and to discover the mechanisms of taste configuration in relation to music-meaning within a holistic approach, encompassing the circuit of culture as a theoretical framework.  

scholarly journals Perception and awareness of COVID-19 among health science students and staff of Kuwait University: An online cross-sectional study

F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 566
Author(s):  
Walid Alali ◽  
Wadha AlFouzan ◽  
Dhuha Alajmi ◽  
Haya Al-Tawalah ◽  
Khalid Kheirallah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Stigma ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Transmission Risk ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Kuwait University ◽  
Health Science Students

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is unprecedented. Health science students are the future frontliners to fight pandemics. Awareness and perception toward COVID-19 among health science students and staff at Kuwait University was assessed. Methods: Between June and July 2020, an online questionnaire was distributed to all students and staff at HCS.  The questionnaire was divided into six sections: socio-demography, risk and awareness, preparedness and prevention, source of information, policies, and social stigma.  Results: A total of 592 students and 162 staff completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of self-reported chronic condition among students and staff was 14.0% and 19.1%, respectively. Moreover, self-reported COVID-19 prevalence among students and staff was 2.7% and 1.2%, respectively. Interestingly, 54% of students and 38.3% of staff reported that they knew someone within their immediate social environment who have been/are infected with SARS-CoV-2. Among students, 92.4% wore face mask in indoor places (outside of their home) ‘often/all the time’ compared to wearing it outdoors (69.3%); whereas, for staff, it was more common to wear it outdoor than in indoor places (75.9% vs. 81.5%). Willingness to take COVID-19 vaccine was indicated by 50% of students ‘strongly agreed’ and an additional 25.8% agreed to taking it. Interest vaccine uptake was lower among staff (28.4% and 34.6% strongly agreed or agreed, respectively). Participants strongly agreed or agreed (72.5% and 19.6% of students as well as 68.5% and 22.2% of staff) that wearing face mask in public should be obligatory. More than 18% of students and staff indicated that they would avoid contact with COVID-19 infected people. Conclusions: Responses of students and staff were mostly similar and showed that they follow precautionary measures to control spread of COVID-19, understand the viral transmission risk, and willing to raise awareness to reduce social stigma.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Video Scenarios to Learn Human Pathophysiology Among Undergraduate Science Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 597-604
Author(s):  
Hui Chen ◽  
Tamara Power ◽  
Carolyn Hayes ◽  
Jorge Reyna ◽  
David van Reyk
Keyword(s):  
Science Students ◽  
Undergraduate Science

scholarly journals Science and Values in Undergraduate Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Koster ◽  
Henk W. de Regt
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Science And Values ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
Undergraduate Science ◽  
Academic Professionals ◽  
Value Free Ideal ◽  
Specific Learning

AbstractWhile a conception of science as value free has been dominant since Max Weber defended it in the nineteenth century, recent years have witnessed an emerging consensus that science is not – and cannot be – completely free of values. Which values may legitimately influence science, and in which ways, is currently a topic of heated debate in philosophy of science. These discussions have immediate relevance for science teaching: if the value-free ideal of science is misguided, science students should abandon it too and learn to reflect on the relation between science and values – only then can they become responsible academics and citizens. Since science students will plausibly become scientists, scientific practitioners, or academic professionals, and their values will influence their future professional activities, it is essential that they are aware of these values and are able to critically reflect upon their role. In this paper, we investigate ways in which reflection on science and values can be incorporated in undergraduate science education. In particular, we discuss how recent philosophical insights about science and values can be used in courses for students in the life sciences, and we present a specific learning model – the so-called the Dilemma-Oriented Learning Model (DOLM) – that allows students to articulate their own values and to reflect upon them.

Promoting Safety and Managing Risks in Arctic Marine Transportation: A Best Practices Approach and the Polar Code

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Parsons ◽  
Maria Progoulaki
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Marine Transportation ◽  
Polar Code ◽  
Arctic Shipping ◽  
Significant Area

Currently there are no mandatory, internationally accepted rules written specifically to govern ship operations in Arctic waters. The Arctic is recognized by the IMO Guidelines for Ships Operating in Polar Waters as a significant area for international shipping that requires special attention to crew training and operational procedures. A legally binding Polar Code which should identify and unify the commonalities of what it takes, and what is currently enforced by flag states, to safely operate in all Arctic nation waters, is viewed by many as a sensible way forward. This paper presents a synopsis of the results of a funded research project that aimed to identify best practices currently in place by Arctic ship operators. It also aimed to identify possible new ways in which shipping operations in the Arctic could maximize benefits and reduce risks to all stakeholders. A review of the scientific literature clearly highlighted the chasms of knowledge regarding the impacts of marine related activity in Arctic waters. With respect to a methodological approach, a website search was conducted to look for shipping companies informing that they were involved in Arctic operations. The website search of Arctic shipping companies helped with the creation of a questionnaire aimed at identifying “best practices” currently in place with Arctic shipping operators. The questionnaire was administered electronically. Subsequently, a number of companies, identified from the website search and representing a pan-Arctic sample of operators, were contacted by email to inquire if they were interested in taking part in the online questionnaire.

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