"Trees live on soil and sunshine!" : Coexistence of scientific and alternative conception of tree assimilation

Successful learning is the integration of new knowledge into existing schemes, leading to an integrated and correct scientific conception. By contrast, the co-existence of scientific and alternative conceptions may indicate a fragmented knowledge profile. Every learner is unique and thus carries an individual set of preconceptions before classroom engagement due to prior experiences. Hence, instructors and teachers have to consider the heterogeneous knowledge profiles of their class when teaching. However, determinants of fragmented knowledge profiles are not well understood yet, which may hamper a development of adapted teaching schemes. We used a questionnaire-based approach to assess conceptual knowledge of tree assimilation and wood synthesis surveying 885 students of four educational levels: 6th graders, 10th graders, natural science freshmen and other academic studies freshmen. We analysed the influence of learner's characteristics such as educational level, age and sex on the coexistence of scientific and alternative conceptions. Within all subsamples well-known alternative conceptions regarding tree assimilation and wood synthesis coexisted with correct scientific ones. For example, students describe trees to be living on "soil and sunshine", representing scientific knowledge of photosynthesis mingled with an alternative conception of trees eating like animals. Fragmented knowledge profiles occurred in all subsamples, but our models showed that improved education and age foster knowledge integration. Sex had almost no influence on the existing scientific conceptions and evolution of knowledge integration. Consequently, complex biological issues such as tree assimilation and wood synthesis need specific support e.g. through repeated learning units in class- and seminar-rooms in order to help especially young students to handle and overcome common alternative conceptions and appropriately integrate scientific conceptions into their knowledge profile

Presence of scientific and alternative conceptions divided by questions and educational backgrounds (N = 885, based on GLM, concepts as command variable with educational background, sex and age as random factor, for multiple comparison adjusted significance levels are marked by *<0.05, ** <0.01, *** <0.001 above lines, for exact p-values see S4 Table).

<p>Presence of scientific and alternative conceptions divided by questions and educational backgrounds (N = 885, based on GLM, concepts as command variable with educational background, sex and age as random factor, for multiple comparison adjusted significance levels are marked by *<0.05, ** <0.01, *** <0.001 above lines, for exact p-values see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0147802#pone.0147802.s004" target="_blank">S4 Table</a>).</p

Cluster analysis (based on ward´s method and k-mean procedure) for co-existence of scientific (light grey) and alternative (dark grey) conceptions (N = 885).

<p>Cluster analysis (based on ward´s method and k-mean procedure) for co-existence of scientific (light grey) and alternative (dark grey) conceptions (N = 885).</p

Experiencias de innovación tecnológica en las escuelas europeas del proyecto Open Discovery Space

[ES]El proyecto Open Discovery Space (ODS) fue concebido para introducir prácticas innovadoras de enseñanza y aprendizaje basadas en recursos en escuelas europeas, para promover la creación de comunidades entre escuelas europeas y para impulsar la demanda por parte de los profesores de recursos educativos abiertos. Después de tres años aplicando el modelo de innovación ODS, más de 2.000 escuelas europeas han llevado a cabo diversas experiencias de innovación tecnológica para lograr los objetivos del proyecto. Este artículo describe las experiencias y resultados de ODS en siete países europeos, junto con las actividades internacionales que pretenden ampliar el alcance del proyecto más allá de los límites europeos

Experiences of technology-rich innovation in European schools within the Open Discovery Space project

The Open Discovery Space (ODS) project was conceived to introduce innovative resource-based teaching and learning practices in European schools, to promote the creation of communities between European school members and to boost the demand for open educational resources among teachers. After 3 years of applying the ODS innovation model, more than 2,000 European schools have carried out diverse experiences of technology-rich innovation to achieve the project aims. This paper describes the experiences and results of ODS in 7 different European countries, along with the international activities that aim at expanding the scope of the project beyond the European limits

Gisekia(Gisekiaceae):Phylogenetic relationships, biogeography, and ecophysiology of a poorly known C4lineage in the Caryophyllales

• Premise of the study: Gisekiaceae are a monogeneric family of the core Caryophyllales distributed in arid regions of Africa and Asia. The only widespread species of the genus, Gisekia pharnaceoides, performs C4 photosynthesis based on CO2 compensation point measurements. This study investigates the C4 syndrome and its evolution in Gisekia. The infrageneric relationships, distribution and bioclimatic preferences of Gisekia are also investigated. • Methods: Leaf gas exchange characteristics, activity of Rubisco and major C4 cycle enzymes, and ultrastructural characteristics of mesophyll and bundle sheath cells are studied for Gisekia pharnaceoides. δ13C values and leaf anatomy are analyzed for all species. A dated molecular phylogeny of 39 accessions representing all species of Gisekiaceae and 14 representatives of closely related core Caryophyllales families is generated using four cp markers and ITS. The precise current distribution and bioclimatic niche of Gisekia is assessed on the basis of 520 georeferenced specimen localities. • Key results: All traditionally recognized species of Gisekia are C4 plants with atriplicoid Kranz anatomy. Gisekia pharnaceoides uses the NAD-ME biochemical type. The molecular phylogeny demonstrated two East African clades nested within South African clades, demonstrating migration along the arid areas of eastern Africa during the Late Miocene/Pliocene Epochs. Most traditionally defined species are polyphyletic. • Conclusions: Gisekia represents an isolated C4 lineage within core Caryophyllales dating back to the Miocene Epoch and probably spread along the African arid corridor from a South African center of origin. The seven currently recognized species should be treated as one polymorphic species or species complex, Gisekia pharnaceoides agg

Bridging Systems and People-Centred Approaches in Urban Vulnerability Research: Insights for Resilience from Dawei, Myanmar

Dawei, a coastal secondary city in southeastern Myanmar, is poised to face significant social and environmental change. Dawei’s location at the head of the Dawei River estuary, just 30 kilometres from the Andaman Sea and 350 kilometres to the west of Bangkok, has attracted increasing attention from foreign investors. Namely, to develop a Special Economic Zone, build the largest deep-sea port in the region, and connect Dawei by road to the southern economic corridor of mainland Southeast Asia. Little is known about how these developments will affect Dawei, nor how climate change will interact with such changes to shape urban vulnerability. In this chapter, we examine how Dawei’s urban systems are exposed to various climatic and non-climatic stresses and investigate how this plays out through people’s everyday livelihoods. Our analysis then turns to how people cope and adapt to social and environmental change, illuminating how social capital and the ways that people relate are fundamental to shaping resilience. We situate this analysis within the larger context of Myanmar’s political and economic transition, highlighting both the challenges that this transition poses to vulnerability and the possibility of shaping a resilient future