Using Critical Integrative Argumentation to Assess Socioscientific Argumentation Across Decision-Making Contexts

Socioscientific issues (SSI) are often used to facilitate students’ engagement in multiple scientific practices such as decision-making and argumentation, both of which are goals of STEM literacy, science literacy, and integrated STEM education. Literature often emphasizes scientific argumentation over socioscientific argumentation, which involves considering social factors in addition to scientific frameworks. Analyzing students’ socioscientific arguments may reveal how students construct such arguments and evaluate pedagogical tools supporting these skills. In this study, we examined students’ socioscientific arguments regarding three SSI on pre- and post-assessments in the context of a course emphasizing SSI-based structured decision-making. We employed critical integrative argumentation (CIA) as a theoretical and analytical framework, which integrates arguments and counterarguments with stronger arguments characterized by identifying and refuting counterarguments. We hypothesized that engaging in structured decision-making, in which students integrate multidisciplinary perspectives and consider tradeoffs of various solutions based upon valued criteria, may facilitate students’ development of integrated socioscientific arguments. Findings suggest that students’ arguments vary among SSI contexts and may relate to students’ identities and perspectives regarding the SSI. We conclude that engaging in structured decision-making regarding personally relevant SSI may foster more integrated argumentation skills, which are critical to engaging in information-laden democratic societies

Exploring STEM Teaching Assistants’ Self-Efficacy and Its Relation to Approaches to Teaching

Undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants (TAs) play large roles in introductory undergraduate education despite having little to no teaching experience or professional development (PD). Self-efficacy and teaching approach have each been studied as independent variables that impact teaching performance and student learning in the absence of practiced skill or developed knowledge. This study explored relationships between TAs’ teaching approaches and teaching self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was measured using the Graduate Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (GTA-TSES), and teaching approach was measured using the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI). The following research questions guided the study: What is the relationship between TAs’ approaches to teaching and their self-efficacy? How do approaches to teaching and self-efficacy interact to impact the model of TA self-efficacy? Both ATI subscales correlated strongly with the GTA-TSES learning environment subscale and weakly with the instructional strategy subscale. High self-efficacy TAs demonstrated more concern with impacting student learning, which may contribute to a more student-centered teaching approach. Results indicate that TAs with more confidence in their teaching ability may have a more student-centered approach than teacher-centered approach to teaching. Implications include enhancing TA PD with peer mentoring, constructive feedback, and reflection and incorporating learning concerns in the model of TA teacher efficacy

Regularity in speech rhythm as a social coalition signal

First published: 01 August 2019Regular rhythm facilitates audiomotor entrainment and synchronization in motor behavior and vocalizations between individuals. As rhythm entrainment between interacting agents is correlated with higher levels of cooperation and prosocial affiliative behavior, humans can potentiallymap regular speech rhythmonto higher cooperation and friendliness between interacting individuals.We tested this hypothesis at two rhythmic levels: pulse (recurrent acoustic events) and meter (hierarchical structuring of pulses based on their relative salience).We asked the listeners to make judgments of the hostile or collaborative attitude of two interacting agents who exhibit either regular or irregular pulse (Experiment 1) or meter (Experiment 2). The results confirmed a link between the perception of social affiliation and rhythmicity: evenly distributed pulses (vowel onsets) and consistent grouping of pulses into recurrent hierarchical patterns are more likely to be perceived as cooperation signals. People are more sensitive to regularity at the level of pulse than at the level of meter, and they are more confident when they associate cooperation with isochrony in pulse. The evolutionary origin of this faculty is possibly the need to transmit and perceive coalition information in social groups of human ancestors. We discuss the implications of these findings for the emergence of speech in humans.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres/Units of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0490) to the BCBL, from European Commission as Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowDLV- 792331 to L.P., fromMinisterio de Ciencia E Innovacion by grant PSI2017-82563-P to A.G.S., and grant RTI2018-098317-B-I00 to M.O

The WD40 Domain Is Required for LRRK2 Neurotoxicity

BACKGROUND:Mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are the most common genetic cause of Parkinson disease (PD). LRRK2 contains an "enzymatic core" composed of GTPase and kinase domains that is flanked by leucine-rich repeat (LRR) and WD40 protein-protein interaction domains. While kinase activity and GTP-binding have both been implicated in LRRK2 neurotoxicity, the potential role of other LRRK2 domains has not been as extensively explored. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We demonstrate that LRRK2 normally exists in a dimeric complex, and that removing the WD40 domain prevents complex formation and autophosphorylation. Moreover, loss of the WD40 domain completely blocks the neurotoxicity of multiple LRRK2 PD mutations. CONCLUSION:These findings suggest that LRRK2 dimerization and autophosphorylation may be required for the neurotoxicity of LRRK2 PD mutations and highlight a potential role for the WD40 domain in the mechanism of LRRK2-mediated cell death

Assessing the Health of Richibucto Estuary with the Latent Health Factor Index

The ability to quantitatively assess the health of an ecosystem is often of great interest to those tasked with monitoring and conserving ecosystems. For decades, research in this area has relied upon multimetric indices of various forms. Although indices may be numbers, many are constructed based on procedures that are highly qualitative in nature, thus limiting the quantitative rigour of the practical interpretations made from these indices. The statistical modelling approach to construct the latent health factor index (LHFI) was recently developed to express ecological data, collected to construct conventional multimetric health indices, in a rigorous quantitative model that integrates qualitative features of ecosystem health and preconceived ecological relationships among such features. This hierarchical modelling approach allows (a) statistical inference of health for observed sites and (b) prediction of health for unobserved sites, all accompanied by formal uncertainty statements. Thus far, the LHFI approach has been demonstrated and validated on freshwater ecosystems. The goal of this paper is to adapt this approach to modelling estuarine ecosystem health, particularly that of the previously unassessed system in Richibucto in New Brunswick, Canada. Field data correspond to biotic health metrics that constitute the AZTI marine biotic index (AMBI) and abiotic predictors preconceived to influence biota. We also briefly discuss related LHFI research involving additional metrics that form the infaunal trophic index (ITI). Our paper is the first to construct a scientifically sensible model to rigorously identify the collective explanatory capacity of salinity, distance downstream, channel depth, and silt-clay content --- all regarded a priori as qualitatively important abiotic drivers --- towards site health in the Richibucto ecosystem.Comment: On 2013-05-01, a revised version of this article was accepted for publication in PLoS One. See Journal reference and DOI belo

Rhythm in the speech of a person with right hemisphere damage: Applying the pairwise variability index

Although several aspects of prosody have been studied in speakers with right hemisphere damage (RHD), rhythm remains largely uninvestigated. This study compares the rhythm of an Australian English speaker with right hemisphere damage (due to a stroke, but with no concomitant dysarthria) to that of a neurologically unimpaired individual. The speakers' rhythm is compared using the pairwise variability index (PVI) which allows for an acoustic characterization of rhythm by comparing the duration of successive vocalic and intervocalic intervals. A sample of speech from a structured interview between a speech and language therapist and each participant was analysed. Previous research has shown that speakers with RHD may have difficulties with intonation production, and therefore it was hypothesized that there may also be rhythmic disturbance. Results show that the neurologically normal control uses a similar rhythm to that reported for British English (there are no previous studies available for Australian English), whilst the speaker with RHD produces speech with a less strongly stress-timed rhythm. This finding was statistically significant for the intervocalic intervals measured (t(8) = 4.7, p < .01), and suggests that some aspects of prosody may be right lateralized for this speaker. The findings are discussed in relation to previous findings of dysprosody in RHD populations, and in relation to syllable-timed speech of people with other neurological conditions

Molecules That Cause or Prevent Parkinson's Disease

An overview of the molecules and associated cell biology underlying neuron death in Parkinson's Diseas