Gamification of Physics Education: Enhancing Student Learning With Gamified Online Quizzes

Gamification has been extensively studied in corporate settings and has been proven more effective than traditional training programs. Very few studies of gamification have been done in an academic setting, and no studies could be found that measure the motivational effects when compared to a control group. This work evaluated the potential of the gamification of on-line undergraduate physics content as a mechanism to enhance student learning and improve motivation. The main objective of the study was to determine whether extrinsic motivation indicators commonly used in video games are predictive of academic success. Life Science students taking an introductory physics course were tested using gamified multiple choice quizzes. The quizzes incorporated common gaming elements such as points, streaks, leaderboards and achievements, as well as some gamified graphical enhancements and feedback, and were compared to non-gamified control groups. These elements will be further explained and demonstrated in the talk. The gamified elements were not tied to the physics content and can be easily translated to any educational setting. Gamified quiz scores, motivation, engagement, attitudinal data and final grades were compared using standard statistical techniques. Student motivation was quantified through student participation beyond the requirements of the course. The results showed that gaming techniques were significantly correlated to student motivation and engagement outside of the classroom. However, no significant improvement of course grades was expected due to the design of the study. The attitudinal survey data demonstrated a strong correlation between student’s attitudes to the quizzes and their group placement. These correlations may assist instructors in engaging and motivating students outside the classroom in online and distance delivered undergraduate physics content. The gamified platform will be demonstrated for viewers for a better understanding of the game mechanics

What Have We Learned from Policy Transfer Research? Dolowitz and Marsh Revisited

Over the last decade, policy transfer has emerged as an important concept within public policy analysis, guiding both theoretical and empirical research spanning many venues and issue areas. Using Dolowitz and Marsh's 1996 stocktake as its starting point, this article reviews what has been learned by whom and for what purpose. It finds that the literature has evolved from its rather narrow, state-centred roots to cover many more actors and venues. While policy transfer still represents a niche topic for some researchers, an increasing number have successfully assimilated it into wider debates on topics such as globalisation, Europeanisation and policy innovation. This article assesses the concept's position in the overall ‘tool-kit’ of policy analysis, examines some possible future directions and reflects on their associated risks and opportunities

Nicaragua Block Press

Friends In Action International (FIA), our project partner, is assisting the Rama people of Nicaragua in relocating from an overpopulated island to the mainland. Our team has developed a manual press for the Rama people to produce compressed earth blocks from local materials for construction of their homes. After testing an initial prototype of the press in Nicaragua it was determined that the press needed more durability. After testing two presses with welded chambers manufactured by E&E Metal Fab Inc., further modifications were required such as welding chamber skirts, adding a lid handle, and applying rust prevention coating. Once both presses reached a workable state, the team made blocks using different mixtures to determine the composition for the highest strength. Blocks were tested for water absorption and for strength in compression, and met published standards for compressed earth blocks (CEB). The team also developed a user manual complete with manufacturing instructions, operating procedures, maintenance suggestions, and exploded subassembly views. Lastly, our team has drafted a one-page user guide for quick reference on-site and will deliver everything to FIA at the end of the semester.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2020/1002/thumbnail.jp

A temperate former West Antarctic ice sheet suggested by an extensive zone of bed channels

Several recent studies predict that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will become increasingly unstable under warmer conditions. Insights on such change can be assisted through investigations of the subglacial landscape, which contains imprints of former ice-sheet behavior. Here, we present radio-echo sounding data and satellite imagery revealing a series of ancient large sub-parallel subglacial bed channels preserved in the region between the Möller and Foundation Ice Streams, West Antarctica. We suggest that these newly recognized channels were formed by significant meltwater routed along the icesheet bed. The volume of water required is likely substantial and can most easily be explained by water generated at the ice surface. The Greenland Ice Sheet today exemplifies how significant seasonal surface melt can be transferred to the bed via englacial routing. For West Antarctica, the Pliocene (2.6–5.3 Ma) represents the most recent sustained period when temperatures could have been high enough to generate surface melt comparable to that of present-day Greenland. We propose, therefore, that a temperate ice sheet covered this location during Pliocene warm periods

Forty years studying British politics : the decline of Anglo-America

The still present belief some 40 years ago that British politics was both exceptional and superior has been replaced by more theoretically sophisticated analyses based on a wider and more rigorously deployed range of research techniques, although historical analysis appropriately remains important. The American influence on the study of British politics has declined, but the European Union dimension has not been fully integrated. The study of interest groups has been in some respects a fading paradigm, but important questions related to democratic health have still to be addressed. Public administration has been supplanted by public policy, but economic policy remains under-studied. A key challenge for the future is the study of the management of expectations

Classical Ising model test for quantum circuits

We exploit a recently constructed mapping between quantum circuits and graphs in order to prove that circuits corresponding to certain planar graphs can be efficiently simulated classically. The proof uses an expression for the Ising model partition function in terms of quadratically signed weight enumerators (QWGTs), which are polynomials that arise naturally in an expansion of quantum circuits in terms of rotations involving Pauli matrices. We combine this expression with a known efficient classical algorithm for the Ising partition function of any planar graph in the absence of an external magnetic field, and the Robertson-Seymour theorem from graph theory. We give as an example a set of quantum circuits with a small number of non-nearest neighbor gates which admit an efficient classical simulation.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures. v2: main result strengthened by removing oracular settin

Shotgun metagenomic analysis of microbial communities from the Loxahatchee nature preserve in the Florida Everglades.

BackgroundCurrently, much is unknown about the taxonomic diversity and the mechanisms of methane metabolism in the Florida Everglades ecosystem. The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a section of the Florida Everglades that is almost entirely unstudied in regard to taxonomic profiling. This short report analyzes the metagenome of soil samples from this Refuge to investigate the predominant taxa, as well as the abundance of genes involved in environmentally significant metabolic pathways related to methane production (nitrogen fixation and dissimilatory sulfite reduction).MethodsShotgun metagenomic sequencing using the Illumina platform was performed on 17 soil samples from four different sites within the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, and underwent quality control, assembly, and annotation. The soil from each sample was tested for water content and concentrations of organic carbon and nitrogen.ResultsThe three most common phyla of bacteria for every site were Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Proteobacteria; however, there was variation in relative phylum composition. The most common phylum of Archaea was Euryarchaeota for all sites. Alpha and beta diversity analyses indicated significant congruity in taxonomic diversity in most samples from Sites 1, 3, and 4 and negligible congruity between Site 2 and the other sites. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing revealed the presence of biogeochemical biomarkers of particular interest (e.g., mrcA, nifH, and dsrB) within the samples. The normalized abundances of mcrA, nifH, and dsrB exhibited a positive correlation with nitrogen concentration and water content, and a negative correlation with organic carbon concentration.ConclusionThis Everglades soil metagenomic study allowed examination of wetlands biological processes and showed expected correlations between measured organic constituents and prokaryotic gene frequency. Additionally, the taxonomic profile generated gives a basis for the diversity of prokaryotic microbial life throughout the Everglades

Videotaping Experiments in an Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Course at Pace University

Instructional videos for laboratory experiments performed in an analytical chemistry course were developed to show undergraduate students enrolled in the course how to conduct experiments. Students watched the videos before coming to the laboratory class. The effectiveness of using these videos was evaluated via a postlaboratory survey. The overall response to these videos was positive, with students reporting that the videos helped them to prepare beforehand and to understand the concepts covered in the experiment. The shortened discussion time at the beginning of class resulted in more laboratory time for the students to focus on performing the experiment and for the instructors to supervise, answer questions, make corrections to laboratory techniques, and ensure that the experiment is conducted in a safe manner

Topographic steering of enhanced ice flow at the bottleneck between East and West Antarctica

Hypothesized drawdown of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) through the ‘bottleneck’ zone between East and West Antarctica would have significant impacts for a large proportion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Earth observation satellite orbits and a sparseness of radio-echo sounding (RES) data have restricted investigations of basal boundary controls on ice flow in this region until now. New airborne RES surveys reveal complex topography of high relief beneath the southernmost Weddell/Ross ice divide, with three subglacial troughs connecting interior Antarctica to the Foundation and Patuxent Ice Streams and Siple Coast ice streams. These troughs route enhanced ice flow through the interior of Antarctica but limit potential drawdown of the EAIS through the bottleneck zone. In a thinning or retreating scenario, these topographically-controlled corridors of enhanced flow could however drive ice divide migration, and increase mass discharge from interior West Antarctica to the Southern Ocean

EM and XRM Connectomics Imaging and Experimental Metadata Standards

High resolution volumetric neuroimaging datasets from electron microscopy (EM) and x-ray micro and holographic-nano tomography (XRM/XHN) are being generated at an increasing rate and by a growing number of research teams. These datasets are derived from an increasing number of species, in an increasing number of brain regions, and with an increasing number of techniques. Each of these large-scale datasets, often surpassing petascale levels, is typically accompanied by a unique and varied set of metadata. These datasets can be used to derive connectomes, or neuron-synapse level connectivity diagrams, to investigate the fundamental organization of neural circuitry, neuronal development, and neurodegenerative disease. Standardization is essential to facilitate comparative connectomics analysis and enhance data utilization. Although the neuroinformatics community has successfully established and adopted data standards for many modalities, this effort has not yet encompassed EM and XRM/ XHN connectomics data. This lack of standardization isolates these datasets, hindering their integration and comparison with other research performed in the field. Towards this end, our team formed a working group consisting of community stakeholders to develop Image and Experimental Metadata Standards for EM and XRM/XHN data to ensure the scientific impact and further motivate the generation and sharing of these data. This document addresses version 1.1 of these standards, aiming to support metadata services and future software designs for community collaboration. Standards for derived annotations are described in a companion document. Standards definitions are available on a community github page. We hope these standards will enable comparative analysis, improve interoperability between connectomics software tools, and continue to be refined and improved by the neuroinformatics community.Comment: 15 Pages, 3 figures, 2 table