19 research outputs found
Integrating Authentic Scientific Research in a Conservation Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience
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Contribution of Calcium Oxalate to Soil-Exchangeable Calcium
Acid deposition and repeated biomass harvest have decreased
soil calcium (Ca) availability in many temperate forests worldwide, yet
existing methods for assessing available soil Ca do not fully characterize
soil Ca forms. To account for discrepancies in ecosystem Ca budgets, it
has been hypothesized that the highly insoluble biomineral Ca oxalate
might represent an additional soil Ca pool that is not detected in standard
measures of soil-exchangeable Ca. We asked whether several standard
method extractants for soil-exchangeable Ca could also access Ca held in
Ca oxalate crystals using spike recovery tests in both pure solutions and
soil extractions. In solutions of the extractants ammonium chloride, ammonium
acetate, and barium chloride, we observed 2% to 104% dissolution
of Ca oxalate crystals, with dissolution increasing with both solution molarity
and ionic potential of cation extractant. In spike recovery tests using
a low-Ca soil, we estimate that 1 M ammonium acetate extraction dissolved
sufficient Ca oxalate to contribute an additional 52% to standard measurements
of soil-exchangeable Ca. However, in a high-Ca soil, the amount
of Ca oxalate spike that would dissolve in 1 M ammonium acetate extraction
was difficult to detect against the large pool of exchangeable
Ca. We conclude that Ca oxalate can contribute substantially to standard
estimates of soil-exchangeable Ca in acid forest soils with low soil-exchangeable
Ca. Consequently, measures of exchangeable Ca are unlikely
to fully resolve discrepancies in ecosystem Ca mass balance unless the
contribution of Ca oxalate to exchangeable Ca is also assessed.Keywords: Exchangeable Ca, Soil calcium extraction, Soil analysis, Calcium oxalat
Using art and story to explore how primary school students in rural Tanzania understand planetary health: a qualitative analysis
Background The global planetary health community increasingly recognises the need to prepare students to investigate and address connections between environmental change and human health. As we strive to support education on planetary health themes for students of all ages, understanding students’ concepts of linkages between the health of people and animals, and their shared environments might advance educational approaches. Children living in villages bordering Ruaha National Park in Iringa Region, Tanzania, have direct experience of these connections as they share a water-stressed but biodiverse environment with domestic animals and wildlife. Livelihoods in these villages depend predominantly on crop and livestock production, including extensive pastoralist livestock keeping. Through qualitative research, we aim to explore and describe Tanzanian primary school students’ understanding of connections between human health and the environment
Transference of Citizen Science Program Impacts: A Theory Grounded in Public Participation in Scientific Research
Citizen science is known for increasing the geographic, spatial, and temporal scale from which scientists can gather data. It is championed for its potential to provide experiential learning opportunities to the public. Documentation of educational outcomes and benefits for citizen scientists continues to grow. This study proposes an added benefit of these collaborations: the transference of program impacts to individuals outside of the program. The experiences of fifteen citizen scientists in entomology citizen science programs were analyzed using a constructivist grounded theory methodology. We propose the substantive-level theory of transference to describe the social process by which the educational and attitudinal impacts intended by program leaders for the program participants are filtered by citizen scientists and transferred to others. This process involves individual and external phases, each with associated actions. Transference occurred in participants who had maintained a long-term interest in nature, joined a citizen science program, shared science knowledge and experiences, acquired an expert role to others, and influenced change in others. Transference has implications for how citizen scientists are perceived by professional communities, understanding of the broader impacts and contributions of citizen science to wicked problems, program evaluation, and the design of these programs as informal science education opportunities
Undergraduate Students Scientifically-Informed Decision-Making about Socio-Hydrological Issues
Using art and story to explore how primary school students in rural Tanzania understand planetary health: a qualitative analysis
Background The global planetary health community increasingly recognises the need to prepare students to investigate and address connections between environmental change and human health. As we strive to support education on planetary health themes for students of all ages, understanding students’ concepts of linkages between the health of people and animals, and their shared environments might advance educational approaches. Children living in villages bordering Ruaha National Park in Iringa Region, Tanzania, have direct experience of these connections as they share a water-stressed but biodiverse environment with domestic animals and wildlife. Livelihoods in these villages depend predominantly on crop and livestock production, including extensive pastoralist livestock keeping. Through qualitative research, we aim to explore and describe Tanzanian primary school students’ understanding of connections between human health and the environment
Using art and story to explore how primary school students in rural Tanzania understand planetary health: a qualitative analysis
Background The global planetary health community increasingly recognises the need to prepare students to investigate and address connections between environmental change and human health. As we strive to support education on planetary health themes for students of all ages, understanding students’ concepts of linkages between the health of people and animals, and their shared environments might advance educational approaches. Children living in villages bordering Ruaha National Park in Iringa Region, Tanzania, have direct experience of these connections as they share a water-stressed but biodiverse environment with domestic animals and wildlife. Livelihoods in these villages depend predominantly on crop and livestock production, including extensive pastoralist livestock keeping. Through qualitative research, we aim to explore and describe Tanzanian primary school students’ understanding of connections between human health and the environment
Measurement of Socio-Scientific Reasoning (SSR) and Exploration of SSR as a Progression of Competencies
Socio-scientific reasoning (SSR) is key to helping students take informed positions around socio-scientific issues (SSI). SSR comprises four competencies: recognising complexity of SSI’s, multiple perspectives around SSI’s, the need for ongoing inquiry around SSI’s, and skepticism around different parties’ claims made about SSI’s. The Quantitative Assessment of SSR (QuASSR) provides a promising measurement framework, but there are still important questions around the ability of this instrument to measure transfer across different scenarios and change in SSR over an intervention. Further, prior work suggests that the four competencies may constitute a progression. We explored the ability of the QuASSR to measure transfer of SSR across three different SSI’s using 2-faceted and multi-faceted Rasch models. We used path analysis to test the hypothesis that competencies associated with SSR formed a progression. We found transfer or neartransfer of SSR across the three scenarios, and that the competencies comprise a unidimensional hierarchy. Perspective-taking is a necessary bridge between students’ understanding of complexity and the higher-level competencies of inquiry and skepticism. Inquiry and skepticism were found to be conditionally independent upon accounting for perspective-taking, supporting the idea that seeing multiple perspectives around SSI’s is central to development of the other SSR competencies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved
Measurement of Socio-Scientific Reasoning (SSR) and Exploration of SSR as a Progression of Competencies
Socio-scientific reasoning (SSR) is key to helping students take informed positions around socio-scientific issues (SSI). SSR comprises four competencies: recognising complexity of SSI’s, multiple perspectives around SSI’s, the need for ongoing inquiry around SSI’s, and skepticism around different parties’ claims made about SSI’s. The Quantitative Assessment of SSR (QuASSR) provides a promising measurement framework, but there are still important questions around the ability of this instrument to measure transfer across different scenarios and change in SSR over an intervention. Further, prior work suggests that the four competencies may constitute a progression. We explored the ability of the QuASSR to measure transfer of SSR across three different SSI’s using 2-faceted and multi-faceted Rasch models. We used path analysis to test the hypothesis that competencies associated with SSR formed a progression. We found transfer or neartransfer of SSR across the three scenarios, and that the competencies comprise a unidimensional hierarchy. Perspective-taking is a necessary bridge between students’ understanding of complexity and the higher-level competencies of inquiry and skepticism. Inquiry and skepticism were found to be conditionally independent upon accounting for perspective-taking, supporting the idea that seeing multiple perspectives around SSI’s is central to development of the other SSR competencies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved