Do Our Students Really Know What We Think They Know....and What Can We Do About It?

Despite the fact that academic staff spend many hours designing effective courses and information rich course manuals, it is often the case that some students will simply “miss the point”, that is they miss, or misunderstand, a vital piece of information that would allow them to excel in, and importantly, value and enjoy the course. Complications arise in the fact that which point is missed depends on the student in question. Thus changes made with the intent to improve the course for subsequent cohorts may result in a similar outcome i.e. some students will still miss the point! Despite this potential drawback, changes were made to aspects of the practical classes and related assessments to address the above problem in a 3rd year undergraduate course. Student evaluations were targeted at two specific aims; 1) to verify anecdotal observations that students value and enjoy practical classes, and 2) to identify specific concerns with the assessments, address the identified concerns and evaluate the effectiveness of the changes that were made. Encouragingly, the majority of students did value and enjoy the practical experience. Students concerns regarding the assessments were addressed and re-evaluated, revealing a mixed reaction, which will be discussed in further detail

Are we developing career-readiness skills in science graduates?

BACKGROUND As students transition from university education to employment, they require a range of skills and competencies to ensure future career readiness, including technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, effective communication, social network building, cultural awareness, resilience, and adaptability (Jackson, 2018; Roberts, 2016; Tomlinson, 2017). A number of these attributes are captured within the Threshold Learning Outcomes for Science graduates (Jones et al., 2011). The fluidity of careers also requires a greater emphasis on the development of metacognitive and reflective abilities so that graduates will have the capability, capacity, and confidence to use their personal resources appropriately and flexibly, regardless of environment. However, recent research has suggested that generic skill development is lacking in undergraduate science curricula (Sarkar et al., 2020). The work presented here aimed to understand more about the employability skills viewed as important by academics, students, graduates, and industry whilst also gauging perceived levels of attainment and confidence in those skills. DESIGN AND METHODS The confidence and capability of academics to prepare Science students to be career ready was explored by conducting surveys and community-of-practice style workshops. The perspectives of industry employers, students, and graduates was sought via surveys and focus groups. This information was then used in a co-creation workshop to identify effective ways of providing career pathways and industry connections to students as well as to develop employability skills. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Survey results identified four key employability skills that were deemed important by all groups, but which industry felt were underdeveloped in graduates, and in which students were not confident. These were: working in a team and acknowledging other viewpoints, effective time management, communication to various audiences and making confident decisions. Discussions held in the academic-specific workshop identified key roadblocks to the effective implementation of employability skill development. These were: lack of opportunity/time to integrate skills into existing curricula, engaging students to participate, and assessment of the skills. The co-creation workshop then captured industry and academic insights facilitating the development of potential methodologies to overcome these roadblocks to help in teaching the key skills identified. Outcomes will be used to develop national best-practice guidelines for the integration of employability skill development. This may facilitate changes to the Science curriculum to ensure graduates are career ready. REFERENCES Jackson, D. (2018). Developing graduate career readiness in Australia: Shifting from extra-curricular internships to work-integrated learning. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 19, 23-35. Jones, S., Yates, B., & Kelder, J. (2011). Science Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement. Australian Learning & Teaching Council, Sydney. Roberts, S. (2016). Capital limits: Social class, motivations for term-time job searching and the consequences of joblessness among UK university students. Journal of Youth Studies, 20, 1–18. Sarkar, M., Overton, T., Thompson, C. D., & Rayner, G. (2020). Academics’ perspectives of the teaching and development of generic employability skills in science curricula. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(2), 346–361. Tomlinson, M. (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59, 338-352

Future-proofing career readiness in science graduates: where, when and how?

BACKGROUND To ensure future career readiness, students must develop a range of skills and capacities including technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, effective communication, social and professional network building, interpersonal and cultural awareness, resilience, and adaptability (Jackson, 2018; Roberts, 2016; Tomlinson, 2017) as well as develop a well-grounded self-identity (Jackson, 2017). Given that careers are continuously evolving and perpetually fluid (Starr-Glass, 2019), graduates also need to critically perceive, engage, and reflect on their own identity and self-efficacy (Sarkar et al., 2016). However, recent research has shown that there is a lack of generic skill development in undergraduate science curricula (Sarkar et al., 2020) and academics have expressed concerns about their ability to provide reflective practice opportunities for students. This project, funded by the Australian Council of Deans of Science, aims to enhance the confidence and capability of academics to enhance their students career readiness; promote collaborative curriculum development between industry partners, graduates, and students; and develop national best practice guidelines for the enhancement of science graduate employability skills. THE WORKSHOP You are invited to join us for a collaborative and interactive workshop to explore where, when, and how employability skills could be implemented within the Sciences curriculum. We have used insights from students, graduates, industry employers and academics to propose possible best practice guidelines. This workshop will specifically road-test the co-created guidelines while also providing an opportunity for participants to further explore the following aspects: development of generic skills identified as more difficult to teach (such as metacognitive and reflective abilities, resilience and adaptability) enhancing the knowledge of career pathways and connecting with employers scaffolding and integration of work integrated learning activities into the curriculum (both in the workplace and in the classroom). REFERENCES Jackson, D. (2017). Developing pre-professional identity in undergraduates through work-integrated learning. Higher Education, 74, 833–853. Jackson, D. (2018) Developing graduate career readiness in Australia: Shifting from extra-curricular internships to work-integrated learning. International J Work-Integrated Learning, 19, 23-35. Roberts, S. (2016). Capital limits: Social class, motivations for term-time job searching and the consequences of joblessness among UK university students. Journal of Youth Studies, 20, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2016.1260697 Sarkar, M., Overton, T., Thompson, C. D., & Rayner, G.  (2016) Graduate employability: View of recent science graduates and employers. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 24(3), 31-48. Sarkar, M., Overton, T., Thompson, C. D., & Rayner, G. (2020). Academics’ perspectives of the teaching and development of generic employability skills in science curricula. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(2), 346–361. Starr-Glass D (2019) Doing and being: future graduates, careers and Industry 4.0. On the Horizon, 27, 145–152. Tomlinson M (2017) Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59, 338-352

Structural Basis for a Neutralizing Antibody Response Elicited by a Recombinant Hantaan Virus Gn Immunogen

Hantaviruses are a group of emerging pathogens capable of causing severe disease upon zoonotic transmission to humans. The mature hantavirus surface presents higher-order tetrameric assemblies of two glycoproteins, Gn and Gc, which are responsible for negotiating host cell entry and constitute key therapeutic targets. Here, we demonstrate that recombinantly derived Gn from Hantaan virus (HTNV) elicits a neutralizing antibody response (serum dilution that inhibits 50% infection [ID50], 1:200 to 1:850) in an animal model. Using antigen-specific B cell sorting, we isolated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) exhibiting neutralizing and non-neutralizing activity, termed mAb HTN-Gn1 and mAb nn-ITN-Gn2, respectively. Crystallographic analysis reveals that these mAbs target spatially distinct epitopes at disparate sites of the N-terminal region of the HTNV Gn ectodomain. Epitope mapping onto a model of the higher order (Gn-Gc)(4) spike supports the immune accessibility of the mAb HTN-Gn1 epitope, a hypothesis confirmed by electron cryo-tomography of the antibody with virus-like particles. These data define natively exposed regions of the hantaviral Gn that can be targeted in immunogen design. IMPORTANCE The spillover of pathogenic hantaviruses from rodent reservoirs into the human population poses a continued threat to human health. Here, we show that a recombinant form of the Hantaan virus (HTNV) surface-displayed glycoprotein, Gn, elicits a neutralizing antibody response in rabbits. We isolated a neutralizing (HTN-Gn1) and a non-neutralizing (nn-ITN-Gn2) monoclonal antibody and provide the first molecular-level insights into how the Gn glycoprotein may be targeted by the antibody-mediated immune response. These findings may guide rational vaccine design approaches focused on targeting the hantavirus glycoprotein envelope.Peer reviewe

Internal audit and control of nonappropriated funds.

http://www.archive.org/details/internalauditcon00bottU.S. Navy (U.S.N.) author

Role of sefD and sefR in the biogenesis of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis SEF14 fimbriae / James Alfons Desmond Botten.

Corrigenda attached after the bibliography.Bibliography: leaves 166-206.206 leaves [6] leaves of plates : ill. ; 30 cm.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Molecular Sciences, 200

No evidence of durable trained immunity after two doses of adenovirus-vectored or mRNA COVID-19 vaccines

Research Lette