Student Perceptions Of Reasons For Lecture And Active Learning

With perceived student resistance to active learning in the classroom, instructors are hesitant to implement such methods into their classroom structure despite how effective they may be. This research seeks to understand student perceptions related to the transition to higher prevalence of active learning techniques. We aimed to find answers to how students perceive the ideal classroom to be structured, what reasons they perceive for lecture and active learning components, and possible explanations to concerns of groupwork during class time. We analyzed 64 interviews with undergraduate biology students at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, developed coding rubrics from commonly found themes in their answers, and looked into how prevalent each code was among the students. Students preferred that 75% of class time be spent on lecture, which they most commonly perceived as valuable to cover content efficiently, and 25% be spent on active learning, which they most frequently saw as valuable for their own feedback or feedback for their professor. Implications of this study can help instructors to structure their class time and implement active learning methods effectively

Student Perceptions Of Reasons For Lecture And Active Learning

With perceived student resistance to active learning in the classroom, instructors are hesitant to implement such methods into their classroom structure despite how effective they may be. This research seeks to understand student perceptions related to the transition to higher prevalence of active learning techniques. We aimed to find answers to how students perceive the ideal classroom to be structured, what reasons they perceive for lecture and active learning components, and possible explanations to concerns of groupwork during class time. We analyzed 64 interviews with undergraduate biology students at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, developed coding rubrics from commonly found themes in their answers, and looked into how prevalent each code was among the students. Students preferred that 75% of class time be spent on lecture, which they most commonly perceived as valuable to cover content efficiently, and 25% be spent on active learning, which they most frequently saw as valuable for their own feedback or feedback for their professor. Implications of this study can help instructors to structure their class time and implement active learning methods effectively

The role of pregnenolone sulfate in modulating neuronal excitability

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe central nervous system operates through a tightly balanced relationship of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission. Neurosteroids, synthesized de novo from cholesterol in the human brain as well as converted from precursors circulating in the blood, are proven modulators of this synaptic activity. Pregnenolone sulfate, one of the most abundant endogenous neurosteroids, is a negative modulator of the GABA receptor and positive modulator of NMDA and AMPA receptors, increasing the frequency of excitatory transmission in the brain. Here, we show that low concentrations (50pM) of pregnenolone sulfate increase receptor trafficking in cultured rat hippocampal and cortical cells. Immunocytochemistry data shows that a ten-minute treatment with 50pM PS increases NR2B subunit protein. Preliminary surface biotinylation results highlight a potential increase in NR1 subunit protein. Since NMDA receptors play a pivotal role in learning and memory and have been implicated in neuropsychiatric disorder, an endogenous positive modulator of NMDA receptors is likely to play a major pharmaceutical role in neurodegenerative and memory disorders

Non-Commutative Complete Mellin Representation for Feynman Amplitudes

We extend the complete Mellin (CM) representation of Feynman amplitudes to the non-commutative quantum field theories. This representation is a versatile tool. It provides a quick proof of meromorphy of Feynman amplitudes in parameters such as the dimension of space-time. In particular it paves the road for the dimensional renormalization of these theories. This complete Mellin representation also allows the study of asymptotic behavior under rescaling of arbitrary subsets of external invariants of any Feynman amplitude.Comment: 14 pages, no figur

Comparison of pre- and post-levothyroxine high-sensitivity c-reactive protein and fetuin-a levels in subclinical hypothyroidism

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this trial was to determine the levels of inflammatory markers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A pre- and post-levothyroxine treatment in cases of subclinical hypothyroidism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 32 patients with a diagnosis of subclinical hypothyroidism and a control group of 30 healthy individuals were tested for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A, followed by the administration of 50 µg of levothyroxine in the patient group for 3 months. During the post-treatment stage, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A levels in the patient group were re-assessed and compared with pre-treatment values. RESULTS: Pre-treatment levels of both high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fetuin-A were observed to be higher in the patient group than in the control group. The decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels during the post-treatment stage was not statistically significant. However, the decrease observed in post-treatment fetuin-A levels was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The decrease in fetuin-A levels in subclinical hypothyroidism cases indicates that levothyroxine treatment exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects. Although the decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels was statistically non-significant, it is predicted to reach significance with sustained treatment

The superconducting phase transition and gauge dependence

The gauge dependence of the renormalization group functions of the Ginzburg-Landau model is investigated. The analysis is done by means of the Ward-Takahashi identities. After defining the local superconducting order parameter, it is shown that its exponent $\beta$ is in fact gauge independent. This happens because in $d=3$ the Landau gauge is the only gauge having a physical meaning, a property not shared by the four-dimensional model where any gauge choice is possible. The analysis is done in both the context of the $\epsilon$-expansion and in the fixed dimension approach. It is pointed out the differences that arise in both of these approaches concerning the gauge dependence.Comment: RevTex, 3 pages, no figures; accepted for publication in PRB; this paper is a short version of cond-mat/990527