Using Wii Technology and Experiential Learning to Teach Newtonian Mechanics to Rural Middle School Students

This study looked at the effects of an experiential learning activity using the accelerometer in the Wii Remote to teach basic concepts of Newtonian mechanics, e.g., acceleration, to middle school students in a rural school district. A major prerequisite for students at the mid-level in biosystems engineering programs is that they have a good knowledge of basic science, including physics. Education in these concepts must begin before college, such as at the middle school level. Improvements in science education are vitally necessary to achieve essential learning outcomes for middle school students in the U.S. and to prepare these students for college and STEM careers. The experiential learning activity evaluated in this study used hands-on experiments involving Wii Remotes in conjunction with a classroom lesson to teach basic concepts of Newtonian mechanics: acceleration, gravity, force, velocity, friction, speed, and motion. This activity used readily available equipment and was integrated into the classroom curriculum so that it has been possible to continue the activity every year without further support from the program that sponsored this study. The specific objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of this experiential learning activity with regard to learning outcomes and interest generated in science and engineering. Ninety-two percent (92%) of the students improved their knowledge from pre-test to post-test during the activity. When the students were surveyed about the activity, the kinesthetic/hands-on aspects of the project were the parts they liked most. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the students also indicated that the activity made them more interested in science and engineering. The positive outcomes from the activity combined with the readily available equipment make similar activities an excellent option for biosystems and agricultural engineering departments looking for outreach opportunities at the middle school level. This study showed that experiential learning, in middle school science classes, is significant in increasing students‘ knowledge of acceleration and interest in science and engineering

Organizational perspectives on co-teaching triads participating in a science and engineering professional development program

Co-teaching triads composed of grades 3-5 cooperating/student teacher dyads and an engineering graduate student were formed; triads met once per week to collaboratively plan and implement science and engineering lessons. Sharp distinctions in elementary school classroom teaching experience and knowledge of science and engineering content were present in these triads. The purpose of this dissertation was to better understand how participants’ educational and professional backgrounds interacted in the context of the classroom. Research on co-teaching dyads may inform studies of the performance and relational aspects of co-teaching triads, but may not be fully capable of addressing the potential complexities related to three-person group dynamics and asymmetries in distribution of knowledge and skill. In the first study, literature from the areas of research in co-teaching and small group dynamics was synthesized to create a conceptual framework for understanding the nature of co-teaching triad structure and tasks and internal and external factors that may impact triad performance. The second study investigated the roles played by members of the science and engineering co-teaching triads using a multiple case study approach. Data for this study was collected in participant interviews and during observations of collaborative planning meetings and co-taught lessons. Results of this study indicate that triad members took on roles related to their identity within their triads. Conflicting understandings of the role of teachers and content knowledge in elementary science and engineering education may have led to role conflict in some triads. Further, opportunities for participant professional growth may have been impacted by the unique composition of the triads. The final study investigated the team effectiveness of the co-teaching triads. Team effectiveness is a multi-dimensional construct reflecting the degree of performance quality achieved by a team and team member attitudinal and satisfaction-related perspectives. Specifically, this study operationalized team effectiveness as triads’ composite scores on a science lesson evaluation instrument and aggregated triad member satisfaction ratings related to triad lesson planning and implementation activity. Results indicate that triad team effectiveness was impacted by the extent to which triads engaged in surfacing student prior knowledge, use of evidence, and sense making of targeted ideas

The Impact of Mentoring on Life Science Undergraduate Mentors

Universities are increasingly encouraging their undergraduates to become mentors to others, yet relatively little research has been done to empirically understand the impact of this work on the mentors themselves. Therefore, the overall goals of this work were: (1) To evaluate the types of studies that have been conducted on the impacts of serving as an undergraduate mentor; (2) To examine the methodological rigor of recent studies and make recommendations for improvement; and (3) To asses if serving as an undergraduate mentor impacted the critical thinking of the mentors, using a valid and reliable instrument, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). Upon searching the undergraduate mentoring literature published from 2013 through 2016, remarkably only about 6% (27 out of 454) examined the impact of mentoring on the undergraduate mentors themselves. Of these 27 papers, 7% contained only quantitative data, 22% utilized some degree of mixed methods, and about 71% were purely qualitative, primarily mentor self-reported descriptions of their experience. Therefore, I recommend more mentoring research be conducted that incorporates rigorous methods, including the use of more mixed methods and quantitative data collection, utilizing valid and reliable instruments. Subsequently, I used a quantitative instrument, the CCTST, as a pre/post assessment to examine the impact serving as a mentor had on the critical thinking abilities of mentors who were undergraduate life science majors when compared to similar non-mentor, life science majors. Prior to serving as a mentor, the mentors and non-mentors showed no significant difference in critical thinking ability (p = 0.118). However, after mentoring, mentors demonstrated significantly greater overall critical thinking ability than their non-mentor counterparts (p = 0.001). Additionally, in the subscales of analysis, inference, and numeracy, mentors showed significant improvements over non-mentors (p \u3c 0.001 for each), suggesting that mentoring, at least in this specific program for this population, does affect critical thinking ability. Overall, the limited research of the impacts of mentoring on undergraduate mentors that is available is encouraging. However, mentoring programs vary widely and more empirical evidence is needed to better understand these impacts and to maximize the benefits for both the mentors and the mentees. Advisors: Julie Thomas and Cory Forbe

Outcome evaluation of research for development work conducted in Ghana and Sri Lanka under the Resource, Recovery and Reuse (RRR) subprogram of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).

This is the main report of an external evaluation of the Resource Recovery and Reuse Flagship of the Water Land and Ecosystems (WLE) CGIAR Research Program. WLE commissioned the study. The Evaluators interviewed researchers and partners in two countries, Ghana and Sri Lanka, and in Ghana visited two sites. They also interviewed key international partners and analyzed a wide range of documents, reports and publications. The evaluation was focused on understanding how and in what ways the research and other activities carried out by IWMI and supported by WLE contributed to the outcomes. In essence, the purpose was to understand the specific impact pathways from research to outputs and outcomes

Non-investment, the Lack of English Fluency of Well-educated Professional Chinese Immigrants in Anglophone Canada

The Chinese are the largest ethnic minority in Canada. As a group, they are well-known for not being able to speak fluent English, including those well-educated individuals who immigrated to Canada mainly in the 2000s. There is a rich literature in applied linguistics about immigrants’ second language learning. Nevertheless, studies on second language practice of this particular group of well-educated Chinese immigrants are lacking. This enquiry is aimed at exploring the reasons why well-educated professional Chinese immigrants, who constitute a large portion of the Chinese population in Canada, do not put more effort into improving their English after settling down there, even though a better level of proficiency can bring apparent benefits to their economic and social success in the new host country. Nineteen well-educated professional Chinese immigrants took part in in-depth interviews, the sole method of data collection of this exploratory study which has a conceptual framework capitalizing on such concepts as motivation/demotivation, value, capital, investment, community and identity. The findings reveal that the principal reason for a dearth of efforts is that they do not deem such efforts very necessary and worthwhile. The contribution of this study to knowledge lies in the conceptualization of non-investment, which complements the existing notion of investment by incorporating into it motivational/demotivational factors that the latter dismisses, and which addresses the issue as to what resources an individual depends on when making investment decisions. In addition, this concept is also a contribution to the under-researched area of demotivation. The immigration of well-educated Chinese professionals to Canada is one of the trends in human migration on the global scale which is a part of globalization. Therefore, the comprehension of the rationale behind their second language practice is significant to the applied linguists who work in the realm of globalization

Exploring Professional Teacher Identity Development for STEM Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs)

Graduate students are responsible for much undergraduate instruction (Boyle & Boice, 1998; Luft et al., 2004; Miller, Brickman and Oliver, 2014) and need professional learning that aims to develop their pedagogical knowledge and instructional skills. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the influence of a pedagogy course that focuses on the implementation of evidence based instructional practices, on STEM Graduate Teaching Assistants’ (GTAs) professional science teaching identities. Guided by Thomas Guskey’s (1985) model of teacher change that relates changes in practice to changes in teachers’ attitudes and perceptions, the guiding research question and sub-questions were as follows:Are STEM GTAs\u27 professional teaching identities influenced by participating in a sciencepedagogy course?1. What are STEM GTAs\u27 beliefs about science teaching and learning?2. What factors nurture or inhibit the development of their teaching identities?Data sources included anonymous artifacts from 53 participants, as well as interviews and representations of professional science teacher identity models for a subset of eight volunteers. Analysis revealed that (i) the professional teaching identities of the STEM GTAs were influenced by their participation in the course, (ii) STEM GTAs\u27 beliefs about science teaching and learning include connecting with students, academic identity/content knowledge, and cultural background, and (iii) the factors that STEM GTAs identified as nurturing or inhibiting the development of their teaching identities included pedagogical knowledge, self-efficacy, and mentoring. Conclusions that can be drawn from these findings include the following, which have implications for research and for practice:1. Activities of professional development must recognize the interactions and influences of the multiple identities of the individual (Fritz & Smith, 2008). The exploration of a teaching identity must therefore involve the interplay of the GTA’s cultural identity and academic identity as student researcher and teacher.2. Professional learning experiences explicitly addressing identity are valuable to STEM GTAs. Creating representations of their professional teaching identity can serve as a powerful metacognitive tool to help GTAs reflect on their instructor positionality.3. Educational developers and departments should provide graduate students with mastery experiences and mentorship to help develop their academic self-concept and professional teaching identity

Rising Tide 2015

Research and scholarship highlights from University of New England community members. This issue highlights in particular: student and faculty research and projects within UNE\u27s College of Arts and Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Westbrook College of Health Professions, and projects and research from UNE\u27s Centers for Excellence.https://dune.une.edu/risingtide/1004/thumbnail.jp

Emerging Threats of Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology

Synthetic biology is a field of biotechnology that is rapidly growing in various applications, such as in medicine, environmental sustainability, and energy production. However these technologies also have unforeseen risks and applications to humans and the environment. This open access book presents discussions on risks and mitigation strategies for these technologies including biosecurity, or the potential of synthetic biology technologies and processes to be deliberately misused for nefarious purposes. The book presents strategies to prevent, mitigate, and recover from ‘dual-use concern’ biosecurity challenges that may be raised by individuals, rogue states, or non-state actors. Several key topics are explored including opportunities to develop more coherent and scalable approaches to govern biosecurity from a laboratory perspective up to the international scale and strategies to prevent potential health and environmental hazards posed by deliberate misuse of synthetic biology without stifling innovation. The book brings together the expertise of top scholars in synthetic biology and biotechnology risk assessment, management, and communication to discuss potential biosecurity governing strategies and offer perspectives for collaboration in oversight and future regulatory guidance

Audience-generated traces: audience experience in performance documentation

This thesis explores whether and how audience-generated content produced from and about audiences’ experience and during and as part of a live performance might become part of a theatre and performance work’s archive. It sets out to examine both the challenges as well as the documentational opportunities that this material might afford. The thesis is influenced by Gabriella Giannachi’s articulation of digital technologies as archival interfaces and Sarah Bay-Cheng’s convergence of live performance and documentation. It examines the function of audience-generated content during three case studies and postulates that audiences can be regarded as co-producers of performance documents. To do so, it analyses how Speak Bitterness by Forced Entertainment, Karen by Blast Theory, and Flatland by Extant request that their audiences activate the live performance or augment its experience by using a digital technology, and how by doing so they leave digital traces behind. Building upon this condition the thesis interrogates how the three company casestudies archive these works’ audience-generated traces. In addition, it investigates how digital traces are perceived by institutional theatre and performance collections. Through interviews with the case-study practitioners, the curator of the British Library Sound Archive and the archivists of the National Theatre and Victoria and Albert Museum the thesis reveals a set of technical and organisational challenges involved in this process. Although audience-generated traces are considered valuable marketing and research material they also unsettle established notions and structures of performance documentation and its archive. Rethinking the established notion of the performance document and the form of files through which it conveys knowledge, the thesis returns to Ricoeur’s theory of the trace so as to expand ideas of how performance documentation enables ways of knowing a past performance. It argues that, as direct remnants of the live performance moment originating in the participant, audiencegenerated content offers solutions to ‘presencing’ the audience in documentation and novel ways for revisiting a past performance work from within its unfolding