scholarly journals Science, Poetics, and Immersive Field Ecology

2022 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-93
Author(s):  
Karin R. Gastreich ◽  
Amy E. Milakovic
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Field Experience ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Science Majors ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Tall Grass ◽  
Transformative Experiences ◽  
Tall Grass Prairie ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches

Complex global challenges and declining scientific literacy demand novel approaches to engaging students with science and the natural world. While evidence supports integrating creative and scientific modes of inquiry, these approaches are often separated in undergraduate education. We designed Ecology Through the Writer’s Lens (ETWL) to allow students to explore an ecosystem of critical importance, the tall grass prairie, through an interdisciplinary field experience. Co-taught by Biology and English professors and open to students of all majors, ETWL leverages classroom activities to prepare for and process the immersive field experience over the course of one semester. Field-based exercises include natural history observations, hypothesis building, experimental design, analysis of the literature, and creative/reflective writing. Learning was assessed through multiple assignments, including a final creative project that spanned diverse writing genres. Students met and exceeded expectations with respect to course objectives. Non-science majors learned how scientific knowledge is generated; science majors learned how creative approaches can open new pathways for exploration. Many students overcame fear of natural spaces. Several students independently engaged with tall grass prairie in post-course activities. We conclude that interdisciplinary approaches to field-based inquiry can generate transformative experiences, even when the immersive component is short-term and close to home. ETWL provides one model by which different modes of inquiry can be blended to enhance student appreciation of science, literature, and the environment.

scholarly journals Feasibility of STEM-based basic chemistry teaching materials to improve students’ science literature in wetland context

2021 ◽  
Vol 2104 (1) ◽  
pp. 012022
Author(s):  
M Kusasi ◽  
F Fahmi ◽  
R E Sanjaya ◽  
M Riduan ◽  
N Anjani
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Development Research ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Chemistry Teaching ◽  
High Increase ◽  
Is Research ◽  
Chemistry Learning

Abstract Development research has been carried out to produce teaching materials for basic chemistry learning materials based on STEM in a wetland context to improve scientific literacy that is valid, practical, and effective. This type of research is Research and Development (R & R&D) with a 4D development model modified into 3D (define, design, and develop). The trial of the developed teaching materials was carried out in a class in the first Basic Chemistry course consisting of 28 students. Data collection techniques used validation sheets, readability questionnaires, response questionnaires, observation sheets, and scientific literacy tests. Data analysis used descriptive analysis. The results showed that the developed teaching materials had met the following criteria: (1) Valid; judging from the value of the feasibility aspects of content, presentation, language, and media, each of which obtained very valid criteria. (2) Practical; reviewed from the results of the readability of teaching materials in individual and small group tests, the criteria are practical and very practical. Students’ responses to teaching materials have very practical criteria, and observations of the ability of teachers to use teaching materials and manage their respective classes get very good criteria. (3) Effective, seen from the results of the N-gain scientific literacy showing a high increase. With the results of this development, it can be said that the STEM-based teaching materials for basic chemistry learning to improve scientific literacy in the context of wetlands are suitable as teaching materials.

scholarly journals Designing biomimetic robots: iterative development of an integrated technology design curriculum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Bernstein ◽  
Gillian Puttick ◽  
Kristen Wendell ◽  
Fayette Shaw ◽  
Ethan Danahy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Technology Design ◽  
Design Task ◽  
Biomimetic Robots ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
K 12

AbstractIn most middle schools, learning is segregated by discipline. Yet interdisciplinary approaches have been shown to cultivate creative thinking, support problem solving, and develop interest while supporting knowledge gains (NAE & NRC in STEM Integration in K-12 Education: Status, Prospects, and an Agenda for Research. National Academies Press, Washington, 2014). The Designing Biomimetic Robots project emphasizes problem-based learning to integrate engineering, science, and computational thinking (CT). During a 3 to 4-week unit, students study the natural world to learn how animals accomplish different tasks, then design a robot inspired by what they learned. The project engages students in science, engineering, and CT practices. Over the course of a 3-year project, we used a design-based research approach to: (1) identify and describe strategies and challenges that emerge from integrated curriculum design, (2) explicate how a balance of integrated disciplines can provide opportunities for student participation in science, engineering, and CT practices, and (3) explore how a technology design task can support students’ participation in integrated learning. Data from three focal groups (one from each year of the project) suggest that a focused design task, supported by explicit and targeted supports for science, CT, and engineering practices, led to a student technology design process that was driven by disciplinary understanding. This work highlights the importance of drawing out and prioritizing alignments between disciplines (Barber in Educ Des, 2(8), 2015), to enable integrated learning. Additionally, this work demonstrates how a technology design task can support student learning across disciplines, and how engaging in CT practices can further help students draw these connections.

Interdisciplinary Approaches

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Mallinson ◽  
Tyler Kendall
Keyword(s):  
Computational Methods ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Language Identity ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Linguistics

Historiographers often have narrated sociolinguistics as an interdisciplinary field that originated at the intersection of sociology, anthropology, and linguistics. This chapter reviews interdisciplinary literature that speaks to the topics, techniques, and extent to which sociolinguists, other linguists, and other scholars have converged. It focuses on three sites of inquiry: (1) language, computation, and the mind; (2) language, identity, and culture; and (3) language and social stratification. Sociolinguistics can expect to continue to integrate and align with these interests through continuing advancements in technology, mathematical and computational methods, databases of available data, and knowledge of cognition.

scholarly journals Social constructionism and climate science denial

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Ove Hansson
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Actual State ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Strong Programme

Abstract It has been much debated whether epistemic relativism in academia, for instance in the form of social constructivism, the strong programme, deconstructionism, and postmodernism, has paved the way for the recent upsurge in science denial, in particular climate science denial. In order to provide an empirical basis for this discussion, an extensive search of the social science literature was performed. It showed that in the 1990s, climate science was a popular target among academic epistemic relativists. In particular, many STS scholars used it as an allegedly clear example of claims by natural scientists that should be treated as mere social constructions, rather than as reports on the actual state of the natural world. A few connections between social constructivists and corporate science denialism were also uncovered, but the extent of such connections could not be determined. With few exceptions, the stream of criticism of climate science from academic relativists has dwindled since the 1990s. One reason for this seems to be that the contrarian position lost its attraction when it became associated with corporate and right-wing propagandists.

Observing the Dynamics of Wildland Grass Fires: FireFlux—A Field Validation Experiment

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (9) ◽  
pp. 1369-1382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig B. Clements ◽  
Shiyuan Zhong ◽  
Scott Goodrick ◽  
Ju Li ◽  
Brian E. Potter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Turbulent Structures ◽  
Tall Grass ◽  
Tall Grass Prairie ◽  
Validation Experiment ◽  
Turbulence Data

Grass fires, although not as intense as forest fires, present a major threat to life and property during periods of drought in the Great Plains of the United States. Recently, major wildland grass fires in Texas burned nearly 1.6 million acres and destroyed over 730 homes and 1320 other buildings. The fires resulted in the death of 19 people, an estimated loss of 10,000 head of livestock, and more than $628 million in damage, making the 2005/06 fire season the worst on record for the state of Texas. As an aid to fire management, various models have been developed to describe fire behavior. However, these models strongly emphasize fuels and fail to adequately consider the role of convective dynamics within the atmosphere and its interaction with the fire due to the lack of observational data. To fill this gap, an intensive field measurement campaign called FireFlux was conducted during February 2006 near Houston, Texas. The campaign employed a variety of instrument platforms to collect turbulence data at multiple levels within and immediately downwind of a 155 acre tall-grass prairie burn unit. This paper presents some first-time observations of atmospheric turbulent structures/fluxes associated with intense grass fires and provides a basis to further our understanding of the dynamics of grass fires and their interactions with the atmosphere.

The FireFlux II experiment: a model-guided field experiment to improve understanding of fire–atmosphere interactions and fire spread

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig B. Clements ◽  
Adam K. Kochanski ◽  
Daisuke Seto ◽  
Braniff Davis ◽  
Christopher Camacho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fire Spread ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Tall Grass ◽  
Combustion Gases ◽  
Tall Grass Prairie ◽  
Fire Front ◽  
Air Chemistry ◽  
Atmosphere Model ◽  
Behaviour Data

The FireFlux II experiment was conducted in a tall grass prairie located in south-east Texas on 30 January 2013 under a regional burn ban and high fire danger conditions. The goal of the experiment was to better understand micrometeorological aspects of fire spread. The experimental design was guided by the use of a coupled fire–atmosphere model that predicted the fire spread in advance. Preliminary results show that after ignition, a surface pressure perturbation formed and strengthened as the fire front and plume developed, causing an increase in wind velocity at the fire front. The fire-induced winds advected hot combustion gases forward and downwind of the fire front that resulted in acceleration of air through the flame front. Overall, the experiment collected a large set of micrometeorological, air chemistry and fire behaviour data that may provide a comprehensive dataset for evaluating and testing coupled fire–atmosphere model systems.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary Approaches to Astronomy

1990 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Andrew Fraknoi
Keyword(s):  
Science Majors ◽  
College Level ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Music Literature ◽  
The U.S

To understand the motivation for my talk, you must bear in mind what Don Wentzel discussed so eloquently at the beginning of the colloquium. In the U.S., the vast majority of students taking astronomy classes at the college level are not science majors. Many students coming into the astronomy courses are afraid and distrustful of science and often see science as a very alien endeavor, quite separate from their everyday lives and other studies.For such students, it can sometimes be very reassuring and enlightening to show some interesting connections between astronomy and other (nonscience) fields at a few places in the introductory astronomy course. For example, many students are surprised and excited to see the inspiration that astronomy has provided for music, literature, and art and some of the interesting connections between astronomy and psychology, archaeology, and law.

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