Lessons from delivering a STEM workshop using educational robots given language limitations

Educational robots are increasingly being used in schools as learning tools to support the development of skills such as computational thinking because of the growing number of technology-related jobs. Using robots as a tool inside the classroom has been proved to increase motivation, participation and inclination towards STEM subjects at both primary and secondary levels; however, language has usually not been considered as a mitigating factor. This paper reports our experience delivering nine workshops in English, using Thymio robots, to over two hundred students aged 9–12 across a week in the French cities of Nancy and Metz. Our goal was to test whether students would still have fun, learn something new and gain an interest in STEM even when the workshop was conducted in a foreign language. Our results indicate that using language that is easy to understand, although foreign, has a strong direct correlation (p ~ 10-3 ) with having fun and that the latter positively affects learning and increased interest in STEM.</p

Efectos de un programa de actividades lúdico-pedagógicas en la coordinación motora en escolares de 6 a 9 años en la Institución Educativa Mariano Ospina Rodríguez de la ciudad de Cúcuta

Motor coordination recently is an issue of interest in the educational field because it relates to different factors of quality of life and academic performance in schoolchildren, so developing strategies that make it possible to improve this from physical education is a task at different educational levels. For this reason, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of a program of playful-pedagogical activities on motor coordination in schoolchildren from 6 to 9 years of age of the Mariano Ospina Rodríguez Educational Institution of the City of Cúcuta, Colombia. For this purpose, a descriptive study with a quantitative approach and a pre-experimental design was carried out with a non-probabilistic sample consisting of two hundred and fourteen students corresponding to the first to fourth grades of primary basic, these schoolchildren performed the Test 3JS to assess the motor coordination prior to and after the development of playful-pedagogical activities, while the program of playful-pedagogical activities was 52 sessions conducted over 3 months under a weekly session lasting 1 hour with each grade, while the statistical analysis was carried out in the PSPP package (p-value of 0,05). Among the results is that grade 1, 2, and 4 schoolchildren significantly improved motor coordination (p&lt;0,05). In conclusion, a program of playful-pedagogical activities results in significant intervention to improve motor coordination in schoolchildren from 6 to 9 years.La coordinación motora recientemente es un tema de interés en el ámbito educativo dado a que se relaciona con diferentes factores de la calidad de vida y rendimiento académico en los escolares, por ello el desarrollar estrategias que posibiliten mejorar esta desde la educación física es una tarea en los diferentes niveles educativos. Por tal motivo, el objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar los efectos de un programa de actividades lúdico-pedagógicas en la coordinación motora en escolares de 6 a 9 años de la Institución Educativa Mariano Ospina Rodríguez de la Ciudad de Cúcuta, Colombia. Para ello se realizó un estudio descriptivo con enfoque cuantitativo y un diseño pre-experimental con una muestra no probabilística conformada por doscientos catorce estudiantes correspondientes a los grados primero a cuarto de básica primaria, estos escolares realizaron el Test 3JS para valorar la coordinación motora previo y posterior al desarrollo de actividades lúdico-pedagógicas, mientras que el programa de actividades lúdico-pedagógicas consto de 52 sesiones realizadas durante 3 meses bajo una sesión semanal con una duración de 1 hora con cada grado, mientras que el análisis estadístico se realizó en el paquete PSPP (p-valor de 0,05). Entre los resultados se destaca que los escolares del grado 1°, 2° y 4° mejoraron significativamente la coordinación motora (p&lt;0,05). En conclusión, un programa de actividades lúdico-pedagógicas resulta en una intervención significativa para mejorar la coordinación motora en escolares de 6 a 9 años

Total or partial replacement of fishmeal with soybean meal in the diet of the Pacific fat sleeper Dormitator latifrons juveniles

Groups of Dormitator latifrons in triplicate (4.1 ± 2.0 g and 6.2 ± 1.0 cm) were fed experimental diets containing four levels of substitution of fishmeal (FM) by soybean meal (SM) (0, 40, 70, and 100%, respectively). The diets were formulated to be isoproteic (35% crude protein) and isolipidic (8.0% crude lipids). The effect of each treatment on growth was evaluated and its implications on the cost of feeding. After 60 days of feeding, there were no significant differences in the fish's proximate composition (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the diets (P < 0.05) in the evaluated biological indices: total growth increase (TGI), specific growth rate (SGR), thermal growth coefficient (TGC), and survival (%). Feeding costs decreased significantly as the proportion of soybean meal in the diet increased. The results indicated that substituting FM by up to 100% of SM can promote adequate growth in D. latifrons without affecting body composition and survival while also reducing operative costs during the fattening process.Fil: Badillo Zapata, Daniel. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Musin, Gabriela Eliana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Palma Cancino, David J.. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Guerrero Galván, Saúl R.. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Chong Carrillo, Olimpia. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Vega Villasante, Fernando. Universidad de Guadalajara; Méxic

Mutual shaping in swarm robotics: User studies in fire and rescue, storage organization, and bridge inspection

Many real-world applications have been suggested in the swarm robotics literature. However, there is a general lack of understanding of what needs to be done for robot swarms to be useful and trusted by users in reality. This paper aims to investigate user perception of robot swarms in the workplace, and inform design principles for the deployment of future swarms in real-world applications. Three qualitative studies with a total of 37 participants were done across three sectors: fire and rescue, storage organization, and bridge inspection. Each study examined the users’ perceptions using focus groups and interviews. In this paper, we describe our findings regarding: the current processes and tools used in these professions and their main challenges; attitudes toward robot swarms assisting them; and the requirements that would encourage them to use robot swarms. We found that there was a generally positive reaction to robot swarms for information gathering and automation of simple processes. Furthermore, a human in the loop is preferred when it comes to decision making. Recommendations to increase trust and acceptance are related to transparency, accountability, safety, reliability, ease of maintenance, and ease of use. Finally, we found that mutual shaping, a methodology to create a bidirectional relationship between users and technology developers to incorporate societal choices in all stages of research and development, is a valid approach to increase knowledge and acceptance of swarm robotics. This paper contributes to the creation of such a culture of mutual shaping between researchers and users, toward increasing the chances of a successful deployment of robot swarms in the physical realm

Survival of the prawn Macrobrachium tenellum (Smith, 1871) in confinement with the native fish Dormitator latifrons (Richardson, 1844)

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the survival of Macrobrachium tenellum in different confinement conditions with Dormitator latifrons. Design/methodology/approach: Using wild specimens acclimated to captive conditions of both species, three trials of different proportion were performed with treatments consisting in the presence/absence of food and shelters. Prawn/fish proportion for the assays were: 15/15 for T1, 15/3 for T2 and 10/3 for T3. In assays T1 and T2 juvenile prawns and fish were used, while in T3 post-larvae prawns and pre-juvenile fish were used. To test the survival with or without fed, it was schedule a four-day feeding ad libitum period, following by a two-day fed depravation period in all the assays. Results: In assays with juveniles of M. tenellum the survival rate was superior to 80% with or without shelter, when T1 showed 97-100% survival; meanwhile T3 presented a 56.67 % of survival, suggesting it’s necessary to use only juvenile prawns in co-culture systems. The use of shelters and fed deprivation had no significant effects on the survival of prawns. Limitations on study/implications: M. tenellum is an important aquatic resource for the central Mexican Pacific, region in which the D. latifrons is a representative native fish with a developing aquaculture. A polyculture or co-culture system with these species can accelerate the sustainability of both species productions. Findings/conclusions: The results suggest this polyculture system may be feasible, and longer duration culture are recommended.Objective: The aim of this study was to test the survival of Macrobrachium tenellum in different confinement conditions with Dormitator latifrons. Design/methodology/approach: Using wild specimens acclimated to captive conditions of both species, three trials of different proportion were performed with treatments consisting in the presence/absence of food and shelters. Prawn/fish proportion for the assays were: 15/15 for T1, 15/3 for T2 and 10/3 for T3. In assays T1 and T2 juvenile prawns and fish were used, while in T3 post-larvae prawns and pre-juvenile fish were used. To test the survival with or without fed, it was schedule a four-day feeding ad libitum period, following by a two-day fed depravation period in all the assays. Results: In assays with juveniles of M. tenellum the survival rate was superior to 80% with or without shelter, when T1 showed 97-100% survival; meanwhile T3 presented a 56.67 % of survival, suggesting it’s necessary to use only juvenile prawns in co-culture systems. The use of shelters and fed deprivation had no significant effects on the survival of prawns. Limitations on study/implications: M. tenellum is an important aquatic resource for the central Mexican Pacific, region in which the D. latifrons is a representative native fish with a developing aquaculture. A polyculture or co-culture system with these species can accelerate the sustainability of both species productions. Findings/conclusions: The results suggest this polyculture system may be feasible, and longer duration culture are recommended

Morphogenesis in robot swarms

Morphogenesis allows millions of cells to self-organize into intricate structures with a wide variety of functional shapes during embryonic development. This process emerges from local interactions of cells under the control of gene circuits that are identical in every cell, robust to intrinsic noise, and adaptable to changing environments. Constructing human technology with these properties presents an important opportunity in swarm robotic applications ranging from construction to exploration. Morphogenesis in nature may use two different approaches: hierarchical, top-down control or spontaneously self-organizing dynamics such as reaction-diffusion Turing patterns. Here, we provide a demonstration of purely self-organizing behaviors to create emergent morphologies in large swarms of real robots. The robots achieve this collective organization without any self-localization and instead rely entirely on local interactions with neighbors. Results show swarms of 300 robots that self-construct organic and adaptable shapes that are robust to damage. This is a step toward the emergence of functional shape formation in robot swarms following principles of self-organized morphogenetic engineering

Biology and use of the Pacific fat sleeper Dormitator latifrons (Richardson, 1844): state of the art review

The present work is a review of the literature on the native Mexican fish Dormitator latifrons. The aim is to contribute to the integration and systematization of current knowledge to make it easier to identify existing knowledge gaps and breakthroghs Moreover, promote the successful cultivation and protection of this species whose consumption is increasing in Latin America. A review of the articles related to D. latifrons published in international and regional databases was carried out. The articles reviewed focus on taxonomy and systematics, phylogenetic, geographic distribution, ecology, physiology, reproduction, development, pathology, health, and the technologies used to cultivate this fish species. The conclusion is that, even though the cultivation of D. latifrons is of commercial interest in some countries, there are still significant gaps in our knowledge of biology and, consequently, the domestication potential of the species. Filling these gaps will require systematic research efforts on protecting natural populations and improving mass cultivation techniques.Fil: Vega Villasante, Fernando. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Ruiz González, Luis E.. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Chong Carrillo, Olimpia. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Basto Rosales, Mao E. R.. Tecnológico Nacional de Bahía de Banderas; MéxicoFil: Palma Cancino, David J.. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Tintos Gómez, Adrián. Universidad Tecnológica de Manzanillo; MéxicoFil: Montoya Martínez, Cynthia E.. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Kelly Gutiérrez, Liza D.. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Guerrero Galván, Saúl R.. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Ponce Palafox, Jesús T.. Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit; MéxicoFil: Zapata, Ana. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Musin, Gabriela Eliana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Badillo Zapata, Daniel. Universidad de Guadalajara; Méxic

Somatic indices and nutritional composition of the roe of the native fish Dormitator latifrons: no aplica

Objective: To evaluate some reproductive aspects of D. latifrons and the nutritional quality of its eggs. Design/methods/approach: Eighty-two fish were randomly collected (August 2021), and their sex, length, weight, somatic indices, Fulton condition index (K), proximate composition, and amino acid and lipid composition (fatty acids) of the gonads were determined. Results: Of the total specimens collected, 62% were females; length and weight values were higher in males, but their gonadosomatic index (GSI) was lower than in females. Somatic indices did not show differences between different weight ranges. In the roe of D. latifrons, the average proximate composition was 24.3% protein and 8.5% lipids. The most abundant essential amino acids were leucine and lysine. Linoleic acid (C18:2n6) was the fatty acid with the highest concentration. Limitations/implications: It is necessary to complement the analysis of the amino acid and fatty acid profile of the roe in wild organisms to relate the changes caused by balanced feed. Findings/conclusions: This study shows that the D. latifrons roe is a good source of amino acids and PUFA. Keywords: proximate composition, fatty acids, essential amino acidsObjective: To evaluate some reproductive aspects of D. latifrons and the nutritional quality of its eggs. Design/methods/approach: Eighty-two fish were randomly collected (August 2021), and their sex, length, weight, somatic indices, Fulton condition index (K), proximate composition, and amino acid and lipid composition (fatty acids) of the gonads were determined. Results: Of the total specimens collected, 62% were females; length and weight values were higher in males, but their gonadosomatic index (GSI) was lower than in females. Somatic indices did not show differences between different weight ranges. In the roe of D. latifrons, the average proximate composition was 24.3% protein and 8.5% lipids. The most abundant essential amino acids were leucine and lysine. Linoleic acid (C18:2n6) was the fatty acid with the highest concentration. Limitations/implications: It is necessary to complement the analysis of the amino acid and fatty acid profile of the roe in wild organisms to relate the changes caused by balanced feed. Findings/conclusions: This study shows that the D. latifrons roe is a good source of amino acids and PUFA

Yield, sensory and proximate analysis of Dormitator latifrons fillets prepared with different cooking methods

Objective: To evaluate the effect of four cooking methods (steaming, griddling, baking or pan-frying) on the carcass and fillet yield and on the degree of sensory acceptance and proximate composition of fillets from Dormitator latifrons. Design/methods/approach: Whole and gutted fish, and the fillets cut from them, were weighed to determine yield. The fillets were cooked by steaming, griddling, baking or pan-frying according local traditional methods. The organoleptic characteristics (color, odor, general appearance, taste, texture, and juiciness) were evaluated using a 5-point hedonic scale. The proximate analysis was done on raw and cooked fish samples. Results: The average weight of the fish was 446.0 ± 63.4 g, with a carcass yield of 83.0% and a fillet yield of 18.7%. The organoleptic characteristics did not show significant differences, with all treatments obtaining average scores above 4 (like) in the hedonic scale. Regarding the proximate composition, the protein and ash content of the fish fillets increased with most of the cooking methods. The highest lipid content was obtained with the frying method. Limitations/implications: The evaluation of nutritional quality was done at the proximate level only¸ since it was considered that the protein nutritional quality (fillet protein), would not be modified substantially. Findings/conclusions: All four cooking methods were associated with a high level of acceptance and good nutritional quality, although the increase in lipid content of fried fish could have a detrimental effect on consumer health, in the case of a high level of consumption. Keywords: Pacific fat sleeper; nutritional quality; heat treatment.Objective: To evaluate the effect of four cooking methods (steaming, griddling, baking, or pan-frying) on the carcass and fillet yield and on the degree of sensory acceptance and proximate composition of fillets from Dormitator latifrons. Design/methods/approach: Whole and gutted fish, and the fillets cut from them, were weighed to determine yield. The fillets were cooked by steaming, griddling, baking, or pan-frying according to local traditional methods. The organoleptic characteristics (color, odor, general appearance, taste, texture, and juiciness) were evaluated using a 5-point hedonic scale. The proximate analysis was done on raw and cooked fish samples. Results: The average weight of the fish was 446.0 ±63.4 g, with a carcass yield of 83.0% and a fillet yield of 18.7%. The organoleptic characteristics did not show significant differences, with all treatments obtaining average scores above 4 (like) in the hedonic scale. Regarding the proximate composition, the protein and ash content of the fish fillets increased with most of the cooking methods. The highest lipid content was obtained with the frying method. Limitations/implications: The evaluation of nutritional quality was done at the proximate level only¸ since it was considered that the protein nutritional quality (fillet protein), would not be modified substantially. Findings/conclusions: All four cooking methods were associated with a high level of acceptance and good nutritional quality, although the increase in lipid content of fried fish could have a detrimental effect on consumer health, in the case of a high level of consumption