Designing an assessment task for scientific report writing using a mastery goal approach to ensure self-evaluation and application of feedback

By identifying the report writing skill deficits of students drawn from a cohort of mixed abilities, an assessment task for scientific report writing was developed. After first submission of a report based on a laboratory exercise, a cohort-specific marking scheme was developed by the academic based on the skill deficiencies of the student group. After the return of ungraded reports together with the marking scheme, self-evaluation and/or peer review was possible. The opportunity to amend the report allowed for direct application of feedback. Using this methodology, improvement of the skills of the entire student population was possible, regardless of the abilities of the student prior to the assessment task. The resubmitted report resulted in elevated marks compared with those that would have been obtained after first submission; rewarding the student for the application of feedback. Positive outcomes arising from this task were that students of varying aptitudes were able to measure their own skill improvement against tangible criteria, and were also able to enjoy a degree of learning success independent of the ranking within the group

Seventeen

Photograph of Boyd Bennetthttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/12210/thumbnail.jp

Simulation of Surface Ozone Pollution in the Central Gulf Coast Region Using WRF/Chem Model: Sensitivity to PBL and Land Surface Physics

The fully coupled WRF/Chem (Weather Research and Forecasting/Chemistry) model is used to simulate air quality in the Mississippi Gulf coastal region at a high resolution (4 km) for a moderately severe summer ozone episode between 18 CST 7 and 18 CST 10 June 2006. The model sensitivity is studied for meteorological and gaseous criteria pollutants (O3, NO2) using three Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) and four land surface model (LSM) schemes and comparison of model results with monitoring station observations. Results indicated that a few combinations of PBL and LSMs could reasonably produce realistic meteorological fields and that the combination of Yonsei University (YSU) PBL and NOAH LSM provides best predictions for winds, temperature, humidity and mixed layer depth in the study region for the period of study. The diurnal range in ozone concentration is better estimated by the YSU PBL in association with either 5-layer or NOAH land surface model. The model seems to underestimate the ozone concentrations in the study domain because of underestimation of temperatures and overestimation of winds. The underestimation of NO2 by model suggests the necessity of examining the emission data in respect of its accurate representation at model resolution. Quantitative analysis for most monitoring stations indicates that the combination of YSU PBL with NOAH LSM provides the best results for various chemical species with minimum BIAS, RMSE, and high correlation values

Simulation of surface ozone pollution in the Central Gulf Coast region during summer synoptic condition using WRF/Chem air quality model

AbstractWRF/Chem, a fully coupled meteorology–chemistry model, was used for the simulation of surface ozone pollution over the Central Gulf Coast region in Southeast United States of America (USA). Two ozone episodes during June 8–11, 2006 and July 18–22, 2006 characterized with hourly mixing ratios of 60–100ppbv, were selected for the study. Suite of sensitivity experiments were conducted with three different planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes and three land surface models (LSM). The results indicate that Yonsei–University (YSU) PBL scheme in combination with NOAH and SOIL LSMs produce better simulations of both the meteorological and chemical species than others. YSU PBL scheme in combination with NOAH LSM had slightly better simulation than with SOIL scheme. Spatial comparison with observations showed that YSUNOAH experiment well simulated the diurnal mean ozone mixing ratio, timing of diurnal cycle as well as range in ozone mixing ratio at most monitoring stations with an overall correlation of 0.726, bias of –1.55ppbv, mean absolute error of 8.11ppbv and root mean square error of 14.5ppbv; and with an underestimation of 7ppbv in the daytime peak ozone and about 8% in the daily average ozone. Model produced 1–hr, and 8–hr average ozone values were well correlated with corresponding observed means. The minor underestimation of daytime ozone is attributed to the slight underestimation of air temperature which tend to slow–down the ozone production and overestimation of wind speeds which transport the produced ozone at a faster rate. Simulated mean horizontal and vertical flow patterns suggest the role of the horizontal transport and the PBL diffusion in the development of high ozone during the episode. Overall, the model is found to perform reasonably well to simulate the ozone and other precursor pollutants with good correlations and low error metrics. Thus the study demonstrates the potential of WRF/Chem model for air quality prediction in coastal environments

Controlled nanostructure and high loading of single-walled carbon nanotubes reinforced polycarbonate composite

Abstract This paper presents an effective technique to fabricate thermoplastic nanocomposites with high loading of well-dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). SWNT membranes were made from a multi-step dispersion and filtration method, and then impregnated with polycarbonate solution to make thermoplastic nanocomposites. High loading of nanotubes was achieved by controlling the viscosity of polycarbonate solution. SEM and AFM characterization results revealed the controlled nanostructure in the resultant nanocomposites. Dynamic mechanical property tests indicated that the storage modulus of the resulting nanocomposites at 20 wt% nanotubes loading was improved by a factor of 3.4 compared with neat polycarbonate material. These results suggest the developed approach is an effective way to fabricate thermoplastic nanocomposites with good dispersion and high SWNT loading

The Grizzly, November 1, 1985

Exploring Faculty/Student Research Opportunities • Dean Muench: An Expert on RA Supervision • Letters: No More Roving Reporter Complaints, Please; J. Board Decision Not Seen as Fair; Campus Social Life Taking a Left Turn • Editorial: Discontent is in the Air • In Search of Success: Vanessa Embarks on her Career • Liberal Arts and Science to be Discussed on Founder\u27s Day • Loss to Penn State Works Against the Bears • Grizzlies Prepare for Make or Break Game vs. Mules • Harriers Race Into Autumn • Philadelphia Sports: Frustrating Times • Soccer Team Ties a Few • Athlete of the Week: Steve Coulter • College Campaign Launched • Tuition: An Ever-Increasing Problem • Exercise to Release Stress • Medical Schools Suffering • Ursinus Aid to Mexico • Alcohol and Advertising • Open Dialog Interaction: Jerry Falwell in Politics; Protecting America • Natural Science Perspectives • New Course Offerings: Argument and Debate; East Asian Literature and Politics • Reimert Task Force Means Law and Order, of Coursehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1150/thumbnail.jp

Overexpression of EVE1, a novel ubiquitin family protein, arrests inflorescence stem development in Arabidopsis

In Arabidopsis, inflorescence stem formation is a critical process in phase transition from the vegetative to the reproductive state. Although inflorescence stem development has been reported to depend on the expression of a variety of genes during floral induction and repression, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in the control of inflorescence stem formation. By activation T-DNA tagging mutagenesis of Arabidopsis, a dominant gain-of-function mutation, eve1-D (eternally vegetative phase1-Dominant), which has lost the ability to form an inflorescence stem, was isolated. The eve1-D mutation exhibited a dome-shaped primary shoot apical meristem (SAM) in the early vegetative stage, similar to that seen in the wild-type SAM. However, the SAM in the eve1-D mutation failed to transition into an inflorescence meristem (IM) and eventually reached senescence without ever leaving the vegetative phase. The eve1-D mutation also displayed pleiotropic phenotypes, including lobed and wavy rosette leaves, short petioles, and an increased number of rosette leaves. Genetic analysis indicated that the genomic location of the EVE1 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana corresponded to a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) F4C21 from chromosome IV at ∼17cM which encoded a novel ubiquitin family protein (At4g03350), consisting of a single exon. The EVE1 protein is composed of 263 amino acids, contains a 52 amino acid ubiquitin domain, and has no glycine residue related to ubiquitin activity at the C-terminus. The eve1-D mutation provides a way to study the regulatory mechanisms that control phase transition from the vegetative to the reproductive state

Consequences of Internet Use in College Students

The purposes of the research project were to explore how much time college students spend on the Internet and the consequences for college students who use the Internet

Air Quality Modeling for the Urban Jackson, Mississippi Region Using a High Resolution WRF/Chem Model

In this study, an attempt was made to simulate the air quality with reference to ozone over the Jackson (Mississippi) region using an online WRF/Chem (Weather Research and Forecasting–Chemistry) model. The WRF/Chem model has the advantages of the integration of the meteorological and chemistry modules with the same computational grid and same physical parameterizations and includes the feedback between the atmospheric chemistry and physical processes. The model was designed to have three nested domains with the inner-most domain covering the study region with a resolution of 1 km. The model was integrated for 48 hours continuously starting from 0000 UTC of 6 June 2006 and the evolution of surface ozone and other precursor pollutants were analyzed. The model simulated atmospheric flow fields and distributions of NO2 and O3 were evaluated for each of the three different time periods. The GIS based spatial distribution maps for ozone, its precursors NO, NO2, CO and HONO and the back trajectories indicate that all the mobile sources in Jackson, Ridgeland and Madison contributing significantly for their formation. The present study demonstrates the applicability of WRF/Chem model to generate quantitative information at high spatial and temporal resolution for the development of decision support systems for air quality regulatory agencies and health administrators