Más allá del conocimiento: los desafíos epistemológicos y sociales de la enseñanza mediante el cambio conceptual

The focus of this paper is on the generic assessment practices teachers need to adopt in order to support the shift in perspective about classroom management. This research show that actions, practices, products and discourse patterns of the classroom can provide the necessary assessment information in the epistemic, cognitive, and social domains teachers need to facilitate science learning

Building, Refining & Defining STEM Learning Outcomes: K-16 Implications

The July 2012 release of the National Research Council Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas heralds ‘a new vision of science in education.’ The Framework sets out a comprehensive agenda for the reform of science and engineering education coordinated around 3 Dimensions: Science & Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. While the Framework’s central mission is to impact K-12 education through implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, there are important but less understood implications for higher education, informal science education and publics’ understandings of science communication efforts. In this talk, I will provide an overview of these sweeping developments as well as examine these implications in terms of 1) teacher professional development and 2) designing undergraduate STEM courses

Building, Refining & Defining STEM Learning Outcomes: K-16 Implications

The July 2012 release of the National Research Council Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas heralds ‘a new vision of science in education.’ The Framework sets out a comprehensive agenda for the reform of science and engineering education coordinated around 3 Dimensions: Science & Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. While the Framework’s central mission is to impact K-12 education through implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, there are important but less understood implications for higher education, informal science education and publics’ understandings of science communication efforts. In this talk, I will provide an overview of these sweeping developments as well as examine these implications in terms of 1) teacher professional development and 2) designing undergraduate STEM courses

The subarcsecond mid-infrared view of local active galactic nuclei: II. The mid-infrared--X-ray correlation

We present an updated mid-infrared (MIR) versus X-ray correlation for the local active galactic nuclei (AGN) population based on the high angular resolution 12 and 18um continuum fluxes from the AGN subarcsecond MIR atlas and 2-10 keV and 14-195 keV data collected from the literature. We isolate a sample of 152 objects with reliable AGN nature and multi-epoch X-ray data and minimal MIR contribution from star formation. Although the sample is not homogeneous or complete, we show that our results are unlikely to be affected by biases. The MIR--X-ray correlation is nearly linear and within a factor of two independent of the AGN type and the wavebands used. The observed scatter is <0.4 dex. A possible flattening of the correlation slope at the highest luminosities probed (~ 10^45 erg/s) is indicated but not significant. Unobscured objects have, on average, an MIR--X-ray ratio that is only <= 0.15 dex higher than that of obscured objects. Objects with intermediate X-ray column densities (22 < log N_H < 23) actually show the highest MIR--X-ray ratio on average. Radio-loud objects show a higher mean MIR--X-ray ratio at low luminosities, while the ratio is lower than average at high luminosities. This may be explained by synchrotron emission from the jet contributing to the MIR at low-luminosities and additional X-ray emission at high luminosities. True Seyfert 2 candidates and double AGN do not show any deviation from the general behaviour. Finally, we show that the MIR--X-ray correlation can be used to verify the AGN nature of uncertain objects. Specifically, we give equations that allow to determine the intrinsic 2-10 keV luminosities and column densities for objects with complex X-ray properties to within 0.34 dex. These techniques are applied to the uncertain objects of the remaining AGN MIR atlas, demonstrating the usefulness of the MIR--X-ray correlation as an empirical tool.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 40 pages, 25 figure

Formation of Super-massive Black Holes

We show that the rapid formation of super-massive black holes in quasars can indeed be understood in terms of major galaxy mergers followed by disk accretion. The necessary short disk evolution time can be achieved provided the disk viscosity is sufficiently large, which, for instance, is the case for hydrodynamic turbulence, unlimited by shock dissipation. We present numerical calculations for a representative case. This general picture can account for (a) the presence of highly luminous quasars at redshifts z > 6; (b) for the peak in quasar activity at z ~ 2; and (c) for a subsequent rapid disappearance of quasars at later epochs.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the Xth Marcel Grossman Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, 200