An Architecture for Scaling NVO Services to TeraGrid

The term "cyberinfrastructure" has been adopted by the US National Science Foundation to mean "advanced computing engines, data archives and digital libraries, observation and sensor systems, and other research and education instrumentation [linked] into a common framework". One of the largest awards in this program is the TeraGrid, a linkage of large supercomputer centers based on the Globus software. Another cyberinfrastructure program is the National Virtual Observatory, a linkage of astronomical data publishers into a service-oriented framework. There are different philosophies behind the TeraGrid and the NVO architecture. This note explains a proposed service-oriented architecture for TeraGrid nodes that is an attempt to bridge these ways of working, and a prototype instantiation at Caltech

Science education on the U.S./Mexico border: Field-based studies for future teachers in bilingual/binational schools

The University of Texas at El Paso’s field-based program of studies for future teachers provides opportunities for powerful learning through a dialectical union of reflection and action. Methods courses in academic disciplines are linked with seminars and coursework on community partnerships, dual language education and culturally responsive education. This article illustrates the processes of planning, implementation and evaluation of this approach, highlighting the impacts of forging connections among schools, communities and university personnel to improve education on the U.S./Mexico border and in communities with culturally/linguistically diverse student populations. Parents, students and future teachers interact in bilingual workshops that center on pupil achievement and conceptually correct science education. Preliminary outcomes indicate that two-way dual language (TWDL) bilingual programs (i.e., validating native language literacy along with English language acquisition) with a strong parental engagement component provide a strong framework for teaching/learning that can help improve educational outcomes for ELL/immigrant children and deepen future teachers’ skills and knowledge. Focusing on academic enrichment for all students, these field-based experiences enable future teachers to learn strategies that integrate students’ and families’ linguistic and cultural experiences as a resource for learning. The co-authors highlight qualitative data findings from the Science in Our Homes – Ciencia en Nuestras Casas field-based project in a multilingual, multicultural K-8 school on the U.S./Mexico border, providing insights for educators in diverse communities whose efforts focus on closing the achievement gap for English language learners and/or immigrant students

Open Government Data

Linked Open data – a platform for modern science, engineering, education and business. In the more recent talk, Sir Nigel Shadbolt speaks about "The Value of Openess - The Open Data Institute and Publically Funded Open Data" during the Natural History Museum of London Informatics Horizons event

Who wants to be able to do reference properly and be unemployed? STEM student writing and employer needs

The issue of graduate writing is one that has attracted much focus and debate in higher education, particularly around maintaining ‘academic standards’ at a time of expansion in this sector. The need to develop academic skills, including writing, for higher education study has increasingly been linked to the skills that graduates need to gain employment (Davies et al., 2006). This raises the question of whether the type and purpose of writing within university programmes is different to, and possibly in tension with, writing required for employment after university. This is a point raised by recent research (Day, 2011) which shows that students studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects are more confident with oral rather than writing skills. The material discussed in this article is part of a two-year mixed method study looking at literacies, including writing, which undergraduate students develop at university, and the relationship of these literacies to employability. This article focuses on six first-year STEM students studying Forensic Science and Computing Science within the larger study. The qualitative data, gathered through repeat interviews, is discussed in relation to a small sample of employers and alumni working in science-based industries describing writing for transition into work and for on-going employment. The project therefore provides a useful Appleby et al. Who wants to be able to do references properly and be unemployed? student insight into writing, comparing this with employer expectations and the experience of alumni who have made the transition into work. What emerges from our study is the need to see writing at university as part of a wider communicative repertoire supported by a social and cultural approach to situated writing. This approach is more than simply skills based and is one that encourages and develops social as well as academic learning. We argue that such an approach, added to by technical skills support, enables greater engagement and success with learning in addition to enhancing employability

Evidence on the Impact of Adult Upper Secondary Education in Sweden

This study is the first to explore the earnings effects of credits attained in adult education at upper secondary level (AE) in Sweden. It is also investigated whether individuals with and without AE prior to enrolment in higher studies differ in their achievements at university and/or in their subsequent earnings. The analyses are based on register data of the cohort born in 1970 of which more than one third at some point has been registered in AE. In the preferred specification, credits equal to one year of AE are found to increase annual wage earnings by 4.1 per cent for males and 3.6 per cent for females. The results are mainly driven by course credits with an element of specific knowledge such as health related subjects and computer science, while more general subjects such as Mathematics, Swedish or English are linked with zero returns. Concerning higher education, the results indicate a lower payoff for AE individuals if higher studies are limited to less than two years. There is also evidence of a lower probability of completing four years of higher studies, in particular among females.Adult education; wage earnings

Influence of Science Experiences on Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Beliefs

teachers’ science teaching beliefs and explain how these beliefs influence the way these teachers interpret their science teaching and learning experiences. Supported by the theoretical underpinnings of teacher beliefs and drawings as a tool to investigate teacher beliefs, this research utilized qualitative (written science autobiographies and reflections) and quantitative (Draw-a-Science-Teacher-Test-Checklist as a pre and post measure) data collection techniques. A total of 55 preservice elementary teachers participated from two public universities located in the United States and Canada. Quantitative analysis revealed positive shifts in science teaching beliefs of preservice elementary teachers largely in two ways: A small shift representing small positive difference or a large shift representing large positive difference between the pre- to post-course DASTT-C scores. Qualitative data analysis for the two sub-groups of participants (small shift and large shift) provided evidence that preservice teachers’ beliefs were linked to their personal histories and were influenced by their prior science experiences. Preservice teachers’ beliefs and their self-images changed as they participated in the field teaching experiences in elementary classrooms and engaged with elementary learners, during the science methods course. Implications for preservice teacher education programs, science teacher education, and research are included

Trends in Digital Cultural Heritage Management and Applications

We present some recent trends in the field of digital cultural heritage management and applications including digital cultural data curation, interoperability, open linked data publishing, crowd sourcing, visualization, platforms for digital cultural heritage, and applications. We present some examples from research and development projects of MUSIC/TUC in those areas.The Fourth International Conference on Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage—DiPP2014 is supported by the Ministry of Education and Science and is under the patronage of UNESCO

Instructional quality of lower grades natural science classes: the case of primary schools linked to Kemise College of Teacher Education

The main aim of this study was exploring the quality of natural science education classroom instruction in lower grade primary schools linked to KCTE. The study also sought to assess the extent to which classroom instructions is helping in filling the gap of students` science learning. The study employed mixed method within the descriptive survey research design. Of 14 primary schools linked to KCTE, eight of them were selected by using convenient sampling. Grade three, four and six sections were selected using probability sampling using lottery method. Grade three, four and six science teachers in the selected schools and eight schools` principals were selected using availability sampling. Questionnaire, interview and observations including recording were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The finding of the study showed that the science classroom instructions have gaps in providing professional knowledge, practices and in exploiting methods of integrating science subjects. Based on the findings it is recommend that natural science teachers need capacity building training on pedagogical and subject matter issue, closer support and supervision. It is also recommended that Natural Science Department of KCTE should offer workshops on practical science teaching-learning and on selected topics of science content for the primary schools science teachers and school science department heads. Principals and cluster supervisors should work together to support the teachers and to make close supervision of the classroom instructions. Science teachers in schools need to engage themselves in professional dialogue

Making Science Accessible to Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

The publication of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) have created a need for new alternate content standards and alternate assessments in science that are linked to the new general education science standards. This article describes how a consortium of four states used Evidence-Centered Design (Mislevy, Steinberg, & Almond, 2003) and Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2012) to develop alternate science content standards and assessments. A set of 43 alternate science content standards was created and an alternate assessment at each of three grade spans. Evidence that supports appropriateness of the alternate standards for students with SCD and fidelity of representation of the Framework is presented. One cycle of testlet/item development was conducted. Results of a pilot test (251 items; 1,606 students) are presented. Evidence for validity and accessibility of the alternate assessment is presented. Major findings include that the assessment items met accessibility, bias and sensitivity, and content requirements, and that students were able to understand and respond to assessment items. Data from a pilot assessment provided evidence of the accessibility of the standards and assessments. The implications of this work for teaching science to students with SCD and preliminary efforts to develop supports for teachers are discussed

Responsible research and innovation: an opportunity to reframing science (and technological) education?

Trabajo presentado en: ESERA 2017: 12th Conference of the European Science Education Research Association, 21-25 de agosto de 2017, DublinThe term Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is gaining currency across Europe and worldwide aiming a better alignment between responsiveness and governance of scientific knowledge production, innovation and citizen participation facing current grand challenges we are living. This broad and complex purpose has been simplified with a normative framework involving six dimensions labeled as public engagement in research and innovation, science literacy and scientific education, gender equality, open access to scientific knowledge, research results and data, governance and ethics. This paper analyses the rationale and ways by which RRI is being introduced in science education field, including 13 projects developed in both formal and informal education. We apply a heuristic approach building on an extensive literature review focusing on Relevance and Responsible Science Education (RSE) and the recent framework proposed by Stilgoe et al. (2013), which comprises the principles of anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion and responsiveness. Our findings show a limited advance in both the understanding and benefits in the implementation of RRI and the existence of fragmented initiatives where the concept remains underdeveloped. The uncritical implementation of RRI and the emphasis in ‘responsibility’ linked to research contrasts with the scarce knowledge of what innovation and ‘responsible innovation’ mean and could contribute to increase imbalances rather than overcoming current barriers in science education. They also reveal the opportunity to open up the debate on a number of aspects ignored or barely considered to date and provide some suggestions for new research avenues in the science education field. In particular, we propose to broaden the inter-disciplinary studies towards comprehensive scopes on the Nature of Science, Technology and Innovation (NoSTI)