Light, Brain, and Action: An Introductory, Interdisciplinary Course on Optogenetics for Undergraduate Students

2013 ◽  
Vol 043 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjoon Kouh ◽  
River Merz
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Interdisciplinary Course

scholarly journals Sociohydrologic Systems Thinking: An Analysis of Undergraduate Students’ Operationalization and Modeling of Coupled Human-Water Systems

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Lally ◽  
Cory Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Environmental Literacy ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Written Responses ◽  
System Components ◽  
Student Models ◽  
Written Explanations ◽  
Interdisciplinary Course

One of the keys to science and environmental literacy is systems thinking. Learning how to think about the interactions between systems, the far-reaching effects of a system, and the dynamic nature of systems are all critical outcomes of science learning. However, students need support to develop systems thinking skills in undergraduate geoscience classrooms. While systems thinking-focused instruction has the potential to benefit student learning, gaps exist in our understanding of students’ use of systems thinking to operationalize and model SHS, as well as their metacognitive evaluation of systems thinking. To address this need, we have designed, implemented, refined, and studied an introductory-level, interdisciplinary course focused on coupled human-water, or sociohydrologic, systems. Data for this study comes from three consecutive iterations of the course and involves student models and explanations for a socio-hydrologic issue (n = 163). To analyze this data, we counted themed features of the drawn models and applied an operationalization rubric to the written responses. Analyses of the written explanations reveal statistically-significant differences between underlying categories of systems thinking (F(5, 768) = 401.6, p < 0.05). Students were best able to operationalize their systems thinking about problem identification (M = 2.22, SD = 0.73) as compared to unintended consequences (M = 1.43, SD = 1.11). Student-generated systems thinking models revealed statistically significant differences between system components, patterns, and mechanisms, F(2, 132) = 3.06, p < 0.05. Students focused most strongly on system components (M = 13.54, SD = 7.15) as compared to related processes or mechanisms. Qualitative data demonstrated three types of model limitation including scope/scale, temporal, and specific components/mechanisms/patterns excluded. These findings have implications for supporting systems thinking in undergraduate geoscience classrooms, as well as insight into links between these two skills.

scholarly journals Longitudinal Impact of an Interdisciplinary Course on Aging for First-Year Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 444-444
Author(s):  
Matthew Picchiello ◽  
Nancy Morrow-Howell ◽  
Susan Stark ◽  
Brian Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
First Year ◽  
Longitudinal Impact ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Academic Trajectories ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Interdisciplinary Course

Abstract Undergraduate courses on aging have the potential to counteract negative stereotypes about older adults and to shift students’ academic plans as they learn about aging-related opportunities. For six years we have taught an interdisciplinary course on aging for first-year undergraduate students. We present longitudinal data on students’ attitudes and academic trajectories after taking the course. Students who took the course (n = 314) and comparable students who were not in the course (n = 353) were surveyed prior to and at the end of their first semester and at the end of each subsequent academic year. At each time point students rated the degree to which aging issues are relevant to their personal and professional lives. Students also reported aging-related curricular and extracurricular activities they pursued. Multivariate repeated-measures analyses revealed a significant interaction such that personal and professional relevance of aging issues were lower and remained stable for students not in the class, and were higher and increased for students in the class, F(2,226) = 13.18, F(2,226) = 14.94, p’s &lt; .01. However, for course students, relevance returned to baseline levels by the end of their first year and remained constant in subsequent years. Results from chi-square analyses revealed that students in the class reported more engagement in aging-related courses, χ2(1) = 8.3, research projects, χ2(1) = 90.1, and extracurriculars, χ2(2) = 20.6, p’s &lt; .01. Results suggest that exposing students to information about aging early has the potential to alter academic trajectories, highlighting the importance of early education.

scholarly journals Challenging spaces: Liminal positions and knowledge relations in dynamic research partnerships

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patric Wallin ◽  
Liselott Aarsand
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Partnerships ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Interdisciplinary Course

This article draws upon concepts of liminality and Third Space to explore what happens when undergraduate students become research partners and illustrates how various positions emerge, change, and fluctuate within the educational space of an interdisciplinary course. Based on perspective dialogues with student groups who have worked on research projects concerned with learning environments in higher education, we discuss which experiences from various academic spaces the students make relevant and useas resources in their group work. Furthermore, we highlight how the act of challenging traditional knowledge hierarchies and well-established roles also involves a revision of students’ relations to each other.

scholarly journals Initiating a Translational Bio-Mathematics Research Seminar for Undergraduate Students

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Turian ◽  
Lidia Filus
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Cancer Risk Assessment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Software Skills ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Experimental Process ◽  
Applied Math ◽  
Mathematics Research ◽  
Interdisciplinary Course

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the benefits and the drawbacks of an experimental process on how to develop and teach an interdisciplinary applied math course. The analysis comes from our experience gained during the development and teaching of a temporary seminar called: Mathematical Modeling for Cancer Risk Assessment, implemented at our University. The need for the initiation of such an interdisciplinary course came from an increasing national effort started by Mathematical Association of America’s “Curriculum Foundations Project: Voices of the Partner Disciplines”. Their study found that research in biology and health-related fields has become more quantitatively oriented than in the past, therefore mathematical curricula should incorporate interdisciplinary modulation. Our seminar instruction included: writing and mathematical software skills, content lecture, project development and presentation. Results showed that students best interact with each other if work is performed during class time; mainly if a large project with possible variations is developed in class, so students or groups of students follow using the same pace. Implementing such interdisciplinary course that provided students with appropriate tools and methodologies, contributed to student retention, and increased students’ enthusiasm towards future research programs, carriers, and graduate schools.

Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel: Development and Testing of an Automated Reading Strategy Detection Algorithm for Postsecondary Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1257-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Kucheria ◽  
McKay Moore Sohlberg ◽  
Jason Prideaux ◽  
Stephen Fickas
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Expository Text ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Human Observer ◽  
Behavioral Strategies ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
Wide Range

PurposeAn important predictor of postsecondary academic success is an individual's reading comprehension skills. Postsecondary readers apply a wide range of behavioral strategies to process text for learning purposes. Currently, no tools exist to detect a reader's use of strategies. The primary aim of this study was to develop Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel, an automated tool designed to detect reading strategy use and explore its accuracy in detecting strategies when students read digital, expository text.MethodAn iterative design was used to develop the computer algorithm for detecting 9 reading strategies. Twelve undergraduate students read 2 expository texts that were equated for length and complexity. A human observer documented the strategies employed by each reader, whereas the computer used digital sequences to detect the same strategies. Data were then coded and analyzed to determine agreement between the 2 sources of strategy detection (i.e., the computer and the observer).ResultsAgreement between the computer- and human-coded strategies was 75% or higher for 6 out of the 9 strategies. Only 3 out of the 9 strategies–previewing content, evaluating amount of remaining text, and periodic review and/or iterative summarizing–had less than 60% agreement.ConclusionRead, Understand, Learn, & Excel provides proof of concept that a reader's approach to engaging with academic text can be objectively and automatically captured. Clinical implications and suggestions to improve the sensitivity of the code are discussed.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8204786

Does a Graduate Course in Fluency Disorders Make a Difference?

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn R. Klein ◽  
Barbara J. Amster
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Fluency Disorders ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Communicative Disorders

Abstract A study by Yaruss and Quesal (2002), based on responses from 134 of 239 ASHA accredited graduate programs, indicated that approximately 25% of graduate programs in the United States allow students to earn their degree without having coursework in fluency disorders and 66% of programs allow students to graduate without clinical experience treating people who stutter (PWS). It is not surprising that many clinicians report discomfort in treating PWS. This cross-sectional study compares differences in beliefs about the cause of stuttering between freshman undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course in communicative disorders and graduate students enrolled and in the final weeks of a graduate course in fluency disorders.

The Impact of TimeSlips on Undergraduate Students in Service Learning With Older Adults

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Sabine Heuer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Attitude Scale ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Attitudes Toward Older Adults ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Attitude Shift ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Journal Entries

Purpose Future speech-language pathologists are often unprepared in their academic training to serve the communicative and cognitive needs of older adults with dementia. While negative attitudes toward older adults are prevalent among undergraduate students, service learning has been shown to positively affect students' attitudes toward older adults. TimeSlips is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to improve health care students' attitudes toward older adults. The purpose of this study is to explore the change in attitudes in speech-language pathology students toward older adults using TimeSlips in service learning. Method Fifty-one students participated in TimeSlips service learning with older adults and completed the Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) before and after service learning. In addition, students completed a reflection journal. The DAS data were analyzed using nonparametric statistics, and journal entries were analyzed using a qualitative analysis approach. Results The service learners exhibited a significant increase in positive attitude as indexed on the DAS. The reflective journal entries supported the positive change in attitudes. Conclusions A noticeable attitude shift was indexed in reflective journals and on the DAS. TimeSlips is an evidence-based, patient-centered approach well suited to address challenges in the preparation of Communication Sciences and Disorders students to work with the growing population of older adults.

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