Flipped Classroom Approach in Teaching Biology: Assessing Students’ Academic Achievement and Attitude Towards Biology

flipped classroom is a specific model of blended learning that involves online delivery of content and instruction while students are at home or outside the school. This model is combined with a face-to-face teacher-guided instruction where students complete projects and tasks inside the classroom. The research investigates the effect of the flipped Classroom Approach on students’ academic achievement and in attitude towards Biology. The study also aims to collect data from teacher observations that can provide an unbiased and multi-perspective assessment of the implementation of the flipped Classroom Approach based on the following criteria: (1) academic involvement; (2) student-peer-teacher involvement; and (3) time allotment. The quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Two randomly assigned groups of students participated: (I) the Traditional Group (TG) and; (II) the flipped Classroom Group (FCG). The students’ academic achievement in Biology was assessed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Also, the students’ interest and confidence levels in biology were measured. The results showed statistically significant difference in favor of the FCG, where students performed better in both lower and higher order thinking skills. Moreover, FCG obtained significantly higher gain scores than TG. In terms of attitude, FCG gained a significantly higher level of interest and confidence in the subject matter after the intervention. Analysis of the results of multi-perspective assessment revealed that teacher-observers generally perceived the flipped Classroom Approach as a novel way of teaching that promotes highly evident collaborative and active student-teacher and student-student interactions. The flipped classroom instruction also provided opportunities for scaffolding and differentiation, which helped the teacher address individual needs of students. Moreover, as the students gained higher levels of interest and confidence in the subject matter, they became more actively engaged in the performance of activities and building of ideas, and more participative and articulate during small group discussions. Keywords: blended learning; flipped classroom; academic achievement; students’ attitude; quasi-experimental

Enhancing Students’ Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes Through Community-based Learning

One of the ultimate goals of education is to provide strategies that will promote knowledge transfer, wherein the students realize the relevance and applications of the subject matter in their lives. In environmental education, the concern is not only the enhancement of the students’ conceptual understanding, but also thedevelopment of awareness and concern for the environment. Community-based learning in environmental education is a pedagogical approach that is based on the premise that students learn to connect environmental concepts with the real world, hence, creating meaningful learning experience. This study aims to design andevaluate community-based approach in learning environmental science for senior high school students. The mixed method approach was used in this study, which was done through quasi-experimental design and qualitative analysis of the students’ written responses to open-ended questions. Two groups of students have participated in this study: (I) the traditional learning group and; (II) the community-based learning group.Results revealed an improved academic performance based on the gain score analysis wherein the community-based learning group had a statistically significant higher achievement than the traditional learning group. Moreover, the development of more positive environmental attitudes was also observed in the community-based learning group. In addition, the role of the community members appeared to be significant in the learning process, based on the students’ responses to the open-ended questions.  In learning real environmental issues, community-based learning is a promising approach in enhancing students’ environmental knowledge, and in developing more positive environmental attitudes. Moreover, this approach provides an opportunity for personal and social growth, and the development of one’s sense of responsibilityand accountability. Keywords: community-based learning; environment attitudes; environmental education; environmental knowledge; mixed method approac

Nicotine Enemas for Active Crohn's Colitis: An Open Pilot Study

Background. Smoking has a detrimental effect in Crohn's disease (CD), but this may be due to factors in smoking other than nicotine. Given that transdermal nicotine benefits ulcerative colitis (UC), and there is a considerable overlap in the treatment of UC and CD, the possible beneficial effect of nicotine has been examined in patients with Crohn's colitis. Aims. To assess the efficacy and safety of nicotine enemas in active Crohn's colitis. Patients. Thirteen patients with active rectosigmoid CD; 3 patients were excluded because they received antibiotics. Methods. Subjects were given 6 mg nicotine enemas, each day for 4 weeks, in an open pilot study. At the beginning and end of the trial, a Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) score was calculated, sigmoidoscopy was performed, and haematological inflammatory markers measured. Results. Mean CDAI decreased from 202 to 153—the score was reduced in 6 patients, unchanged in 3, and increased in one. Frequency of bowel movements decreased in 8 patients and the sigmoidoscopy grade was reduced in 7. Mean C-reactive protein decreased from 22.0 to 12.3 mg/L. There were no withdrawals due to adverse events. Conclusions. In this relatively small study of patients with active Crohn's colitis, 6 mg nicotine enemas appeared to be of clinical benefit in most patients. They were well tolerated and safe

Representation theory and projective geometry

We give an elementary introduction to our papers relating the geometry of rational homogeneous varieties to representation theory. We also describe related work and recent progress.Comment: 37 pages with picture

Asymptotic results for maximum likelihood estimators in joint analysis of repeated measurements and survival time

Maximum likelihood estimation has been extensively used in the joint analysis of repeated measurements and survival time. However, there is a lack of theoretical justification of the asymptotic properties for the maximum likelihood estimators. This paper intends to fill this gap. Specifically, we prove the consistency of the maximum likelihood estimators and derive their asymptotic distributions. The maximum likelihood estimators are shown to be semiparametrically efficient.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053605000000480 in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Crystalline Electric Field Randomness in the Triangular Lattice Spin-Liquid YbMgGaO4_4

We apply moderate-high-energy inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements to investigate Yb$^{3+}$ crystalline electric field (CEF) levels in the triangular spin-liquid candidate YbMgGaO$_4$. Three CEF excitations from the ground-state Kramers doublet are centered at the energies $\hbar \omega$ = 39, 61, and 97\,meV in agreement with the effective \mbox{spin-1/2} $g$-factors and experimental heat capacity, but reveal sizable broadening. We argue that this broadening originates from the site mixing between Mg$^{2+}$ and Ga$^{3+}$ giving rise to a distribution of Yb--O distances and orientations and, thus, of CEF parameters that account for the peculiar energy profile of the CEF excitations. The CEF randomness gives rise to a distribution of the effective spin-1/2 $g$-factors and explains the unprecedented broadening of low-energy magnetic excitations in the fully polarized ferromagnetic phase of YbMgGaO$_4$, although a distribution of magnetic couplings due to the Mg/Ga disorder may be important as well.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev. Let

Series of nilpotent orbits

We organize the nilpotent orbits in the exceptional complex Lie algebras into series using the triality model and show that within each series the dimension of the orbit is a linear function of the natural parameter a=1,2,4,8, respectively for f_4,e_6,e_7,e_8. We also obtain explicit representatives in a uniform manner. We observe similar regularities for the centralizers of nilpotent elements in a series and graded components in the associated grading of the ambient Lie algebra. More strikingly, for a greater than one, the degrees of the unipotent characters of the corresponding Chevalley groups, associated to these series through the Springer correspondance are given by polynomials which have uniform expressions in terms of a.Comment: 20 pages, revised version with more formulas for unipotent character