Pedagogical Reasoning and Action to Affect Conceptual Change in Student Understanding of Electric Field

When I started the Graduate program in Math, Science and Technology Education, it was clear to me that I was responsible for knowing the basic content in Physics. I was a Physics major at Penn, graduating with honors, however that was 30 years ago. Since that time I had occasions to apply some of the Physics and Math that I had learned, however, it was very apparent to me that my knowledge base was not very accessible and that many new discoveries had been made. Therefore, I took it upon myself to slowly read a College level text, Physics by Cutnell and Johnson (2001). I was particularly impressed with the organization of the book. Each chapter showed the key physical concepts to be learned and how these related to prior concepts. All chapters stressed conceptual understanding, had model problems and realistic problem applications. That approach led to my making a connection with concept mapping. I tried to integrate some of the concept models from individual chapters into one comprehensive one for kinematics and dynamics (first quarter of the course). I was successful in developing an integrated concept map for static and current electricity. This subsequently led me to think about how a student\u27s conception of a topic in Physics might be influenced by teaching. It would be interesting to study this. Subsequently, I discussed this idea with Dr. Lucia Guarino who said that there was a whole field of research called Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) . The name was so cumbersome that I could not even remember it, Jet alone look it up. When I saw her several months later she told me again and this time I wrote it down. I then searched the Internet and found a good article, which in tum, led me to the seminal article by Dr. Lee Shulman published in 1986. After reading that article and several others I could understand the definition o fPCK and identified a model that is applicable to my research interest. I was particularly excited by Schulman\u27s belief that case studies are important for the contribution of knowledge to the field and that teachers should conduct these

Does perception of automation undermine pro-environmental behaviour? Findings from three everyday settings

The global deployment of technology to aid mitigation of climate change has great potential but the realisation of much of this potential depends on behavioural response. A culturally pervasive reliance on and belief in technology raises the risk that dependence on technology will hamper human actions of mitigation. Theory suggests that ‘green’ behaviour may be undermined by automated technology but empirical investigation has been lacking. We examined the effect of the prospect of automation on three everyday behaviours with environmental impact. Based on evidence from observational and experimental studies, we demonstrated that the prospect of automation can undermine even simple actions for sustainability. Further, we examined the process by which automated technology influences behaviour and suggest that automation may impair personal responsibility for action

Hsp21potentiates antifungal drug tolerance in Candida albicans

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Randomized Controlled Trials: How Can We Know “What Works”?

“Evidence-based” methods, which most prominently include randomized controlled trials, have gained increasing purchase as the “gold standard” for assessing the effect of public policies. But the enthusiasm for evidence-based research overlooks questions about the reliability and applicability of experimental findings to diverse real-world settings. Perhaps surprisingly, a qualitative study of British educators suggests that they are aware of these limitations and therefore take evidence-based findings with a much larger grain of salt than do policy makers. Their experience suggests that the real world is more heterogeneous than the world imagined by evidence-based policy enthusiasts

The Role of Long Distance Dispersal Versus Local Retention in Replenishing Marine Populations

Early models and evidence from genetics suggested that long distance dispersal of larvae is likely a common event leading to considerable population connectivity among distant populations. However, recent evidence strongly suggests that local retention is more the rule, and that long distance transport is likely insufficient to sustain marine populations over demographic timescales. We build on earlier model results to examine the probability of larval dispersal to downstream islands within different regions of the Caribbean at varying distances from source populations. Through repeated runs of an ocean circulation model (MICOM), coupled with a random flight model estimating larval sub-grid turbulent motion, we estimate the likelihood of particular circulation events transporting large numbers of larvae to within 9km radii of downstream populations, as well as account for total accumulations of larvae over each year. Further, we incorporate realistic larval behavior and mortality estimates and production variability into our models. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that marine populations must rely on mechanisms enhancing self-recruitment rather than depend on distant ‘source’ populations

MODELLING THE ELECTRON WITH COSSERAT ELASTICITY

Interactions between a finite number of bodies and the surrounding fluid, in a channel for instance, are investigated theoretically. In the planar model here the bodies or modelled grains are thin solid bodies free to move in a nearly parallel formation within a quasi-inviscid fluid. The investigation involves numerical and analytical studies and comparisons. The three main features that appear are a linear instability about a state of uniform motion, a clashing of the bodies (or of a body with a side wall) within a finite scaled time when nonlinear interaction takes effect, and a continuum-limit description of the body–fluid interaction holding for the case of many bodies

Observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed charmed baryon decay Λ_c^+→pφ

We report the observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed decays Λ_c^+→pK^-K^+ and Λ_c^+→pφ using data collected with the CLEO II detector at CESR. The latter mode, observed for the first time with significant statistics, is of interest as a test of color suppression in charm decays. We have determined the branching ratios for these modes relative to Λ_c^+→pK^-π^+ and compared our results with theory