How much do they really do? Assessing student workload

How much time do we (as educators) expect students to spend studying for a given subject? When designing courses (or units of study), academics often have a clear expectation about what students should do, and how much time students should invest into their studies (Brown-Kramer, 2021). There is some evidence correlating student grades to invested time, and even to the time in the day students study (Young, 1998; Marbouti et al., 2018). However, how realistic are the expectations, how much time do students effectively spend? Are we expecting them to do more (or less) than what they do? If they do less, does this give reason to question the course design and even the validity of achieved grades? Here, we tried to understand, how much time students effectively invested in a course, how this compared to expectations and how is correlated with final grades. In a third-year simulated work experience course, we have had students self-report their study effort for the course for every week of the semester. The course is largely based on a group project, with the final grade being moderated by peer evaluation. We have analyzed the submissions and correlated the self-reported time investments with student final grades. At Flinders University, guidelines state that a course (or unit, or topic, worth 4.5 Units) should have approximately 135 hours of student workload. The self-reported study times from the students came, with a few exceptions, nowhere near this value, yet a significant number of students were awarded high grades for the course. REFERENCES Brown-Kramer, C. R. (2021). Improving Students’ Study Habits and Course Performance With a “Learning How to Learn” Assignment. Teaching of Psychology, 48(1), 48–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320959926 Marbouti, F., Shafaat, A., Ulas, J. & Diefes-Dux, H.A. (2018). Relationship Between Time of Class and Student Grades in an Active Learning Course. Journal of Engineering Education, 107, 468-490. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20221 Young, William P. (1998). A Study to Determine the Correlation Between Extra Study Time After School to Grades Earned by Students. OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers, 292

SCIENCE CONNECT: NON-PLACEMENT WIL

Science degrees develop a range of skills including those that are discipline specific as well as general skills such as problem solving and critical thinking. In a rapidly changing world with an ever-changing workforce, it is these more general scientific skills which will be incredibly valuable to students in their future careers. Despite the importance of these skills, they are often of lesser importance in current science curricula, and science graduates often find it difficult to find work soon after graduation. To address these issues, we developed a scalable Workplace Integrated Learning (WIL) experience for all science students at Flinders University. In our approach, groups of students work on campus in a simulated consultancy company, to provide answers to real-world problems from companies and government organisations. Throughout the semester, the course provides various professional development opportunities, and provides students with the opportunity to interact with external partners from relevant industries. Responses from student questionnaires show that the WIL experience produces significant improvements in students’ perceived preparedness for work. The course design provides a scalable approach to providing genuine WIL experiences in science

Biomedical applications of polyelectrolyte coated spherical gold nanoparticles

© The Author(s) 2019 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Surface modified gold nanoparticles are becoming more and more popular for use in biomaterials due to the possibility for specific targeting and increased biocompatibility. This review provides a summary of the recent literature surrounding polyelectrolyte coatings on spherical gold nanoparticles and their potential biomedical applications. The synthesis and layer-by layer coating approach are briefly discussed together with common characterisation methods. The potential applications and recent developments in drug delivery, gene therapy, photothermal therapy and imaging are summarized as well as the effects on cellular uptake and toxicity. Finally, the future outlook for polyelectrolyte coated gold nanoparticles is explored, focusing on their use in biomedicine

Dynamics of C-phycocyanin in various deuterated trehalose/water environments measured by quasielastic and elastic neutron scattering

The molecular understanding of protein stabilization by the disaccharide trehalose in extreme temperature or hydration conditions is still debated. In the present study, we investigated the role of trehalose on the dynamics of the protein C-phycocyanin (C-PC) by neutron scattering. To single out the motions of C-PC hydrogen (H) atoms in various trehalose/water environments, measurements were performed in deuterated trehalose and heavy water (D2O). We report that trehalose decreases the internal C-PC dynamics, as shown by a reduced diffusion coefficient of protein H atoms. By fitting the Elastic Incoherent Structure Factor—which gives access to the “geometry” of the internal proton motions—with the model of diffusion inside a sphere, we found that the presence of trehalose induces a significantly higher proportion of immobile C-PC hydrogens. We investigated, by elastic neutron scattering, the mean square displacements (MSDs) of deuterated trehalose/D2O-embedded C-PC as a function of temperature in the range of 40–318 K. Between 40 and ∼225 K, harmonic MSDs of C-PC are slightly smaller in samples containing trehalose. Above a transition temperature of ∼225 K, we observed anharmonic motions in all trehalose/water-coated C-PC samples. In the hydrated samples, MSDs are not significantly changed by addition of 15% trehalose but are slightly reduced by 30% trehalose. In opposition, no dynamical transition was detected in dry trehalose-embedded C-PC, whose hydrogen motions remain harmonic up to 318 K. These results suggest that a role of trehalose would be to stabilize proteins by inhibiting some fluctuations at the origin of protein unfolding and denaturation

Increasing employability in Science graduates through longitudinal course design

Employability for our graduates, especially in science disciplines, is typically lower that of other, more vocational areas such as computing or engineering. One of the reasons is a lack of opportunities for work experience during the program of study, but also a lack of employability skills and preparedness for work. In Science degrees, these aspects are often neglected in curriculum design in favour for more discipline-specific content. We have recently designed a degree-spanning curriculum, that embeds employability skills into every year of all our three-year undergraduate Bachelors degrees in Science. Students are encouraged to think and prepare for future employment from day one onwards and build throughout their degree a competitive employability portfolio. In year 1, students start to think about employability skills, start building a resume and are exposed to some professional skills. In year 2, these skills are further refined, with a focus on communication and professionalism. Finally, in year 3, the skills are applied in either a simulated work environment or a placement in industry. Initial analysis of the design had shown a significant increase in preparedness for work in third-year students

Tethered and Polymer Supported Bilayer Lipid Membranes: Structure and Function

Solid supported bilayer lipid membranes are model systems to mimic natural cell membranes in order to understand structural and functional properties of such systems. The use of a model system allows for the use of a wide variety of analytical tools including atomic force microscopy, impedance spectroscopy, neutron reflectometry, and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Among the large number of different types of model membranes polymer-supported and tethered lipid bilayers have been shown to be versatile and useful systems. Both systems consist of a lipid bilayer, which is de-coupled from an underlying support by a spacer cushion. Both systems will be reviewed, with an emphasis on the effect that the spacer moiety has on the bilayer properties

Influence du tréhalose sur la dynamique de la C-phycocyanine (une étude par diffusion quasiélastique de neutrons)

PARIS-BIUSJ-Thèses (751052125) / SudocPARIS-BIUSJ-Physique recherche (751052113) / SudocSudocFranceF