Surface Dimming by the 2013 Rim Fire Simulated by a Sectional Aerosol Model

The Rim Fire of 2013, the third largest area burned by fire recorded in California history, is simulated by a climate model coupled with a size-resolved aerosol model. Modeled aerosol mass, number and particle size distribution are within variability of data obtained from multiple airborne in-situ measurements. Simulations suggest Rim Fire smoke may block 4-6 of sunlight energy reaching the surface, with a dimming efficiency around 120-150 W m(exp -2) per unit aerosol optical depth in the mid-visible at 13:00-15:00 local time. Underestimation of simulated smoke single scattering albedo at mid-visible by 0.04 suggests the model overestimates either the particle size or the absorption due to black carbon. This study shows that exceptional events like the 2013 Rim Fire can be simulated by a climate model with one-degree resolution with overall good skill, though that resolution is still not sufficient to resolve the smoke peak near the source region

Influence of Engineering Instructors\u27 Teaching and Learning Beliefs on Pedagogies in Engineering Science Courses

This study explored how academics\u27 beliefs about teaching and learning influenced their teaching in engineering science courses typically taught in the second or third year of 4-year engineering undergraduate degrees. Data were collected via a national survey of 166 U. S. statics instructors and interviews at two different institutions with 17 instructors of engineering science courses such as thermodynamics, circuits and statics. The study identified a number of common beliefs about how to best support student learning of these topics; each is discussed in relation to the literature about student development and learning. Specific recommendations are given for educational developers to encourage use of research-based instructional strategies in these courses

Estimates of Use of Research-Based Instructional Strategies in Core Electrical or Computer Engineering Courses

Many research-based instruction strategies (RBISs) have been developed; their superior efficacy with respect to student learning has been demonstrated in many studies. Collecting and interpreting evidence about: 1) the extent to which electrical and computer engineering (ECE) faculty members are using RBISs in core, required engineering science courses, and 2) concerns that they express about using them, are important aspects of understanding how engineering education is evolving. The authors surveyed ECE faculty members, asking about their awareness and use of selected RBISs. The survey also asked what concerns ECE faculty members had about using RBISs. Respondent data showed that awareness of RBISs was very high, but estimates of use of RBISs, based on survey data, varied from 10% to 70%, depending on characteristics of the strategy. The most significant concern was the amount of class time that using an RBIS might take; efforts to increase use of RBISs must address this

Designing for sustained adoption: A model of developing educational innovations for successful propagation

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] The physics education research community has produced a wealth of knowledge about effective teaching and learning of college level physics. Based on this knowledge, many research-proven instructional strategies and teaching materials have been developed and are currently available to instructors. Unfortunately, these intensive research and development activities have failed to influence the teaching practices of many physics instructors. This paper describes interim results of a larger study to develop a model of designing materials for successful propagation. The larger study includes three phases, the first two of which are reported here. The goal of the first phase was to characterize typical propagation practices of education developers, using data from a survey of 1284 National Science Foundation (NSF) principal investigators and focus group data from eight disciplinary groups of NSF program directors. The goal of the second phase was to develop an understanding of successful practice by studying three instructional strategies that have been well propagated. The result of the first two phases is a tentative model of designing for successful propagation, which will be further validated in the third phase through purposeful sampling of additional well-propagated instructional strategies along with typical education development projects. We found that interaction with potential adopters was one of the key missing ingredients in typical education development activities. Education developers often develop a polished product before getting feedback, rely on mass-market communication channels for dissemination, and do not plan for supporting adopters during implementation. The tentative model resulting from this study identifies three key propagation activities: interactive development, interactive dissemination, and support of adopters. Interactive development uses significant feedback from potential adopters to develop a strong product suitable for use in many settings. Interactive dissemination uses personal interactions to reach and motivate potential users. Support of adopters is missing from typical propagation practice and is important to reduce the burden of implementation and increases the likelihood of successful adoption

Inquiry guided learning in a chemical engineering core curriculum: General instructional approach and specific application to the fluid mechanics case

This paper presents results from a preliminary study of the effectiveness of using inquiry-guided learning instructional strategies both in chemical engineering classrooms and laboratories. For readers unfamiliar with the instructional strategy, the paper describes the general approach and then reports on results of its application for the fluid mechanics course taken by undergraduate students in the Chemical Engineering Department at Qatar University. Inquiry-guided activities were developed after a series of interviews with recent chemical engineering graduates and employers to gather data on difficulties of chemical engineering graduates during the transition period from the university to industry. Some common daily problems were gathered, discussed, listed and used to formulate in an inquiry guided activity structure. Students were asked to participate in a role-play approach in which client-contractor relationship and rules of engagements were simulated. Both laboratory projects and in-class inquiry guided approach were conducted. Student performance and ability to approach conceptual problems and design-related issues were monitored and graded. Assessments were done after initial coverage of fundamentals of fluid mechanics (8 weeks into the course). Activities promoted in-class engagement and student performance was observed to enhance student performance and engagement to subject when compared to years at which the inquiry teaching methods were not used. This observation is observed to be valid for both with respect to conceptual approaches as well as design-related issues in the early stages of chemical engineering education.Scopu