The Effect oF 3D Printing and Design on Students' Motivation, Interests, Mathematical and Real-life Skills: An Informal STEM Education

My goal of this thesis was to develop two publication-ready research articles rather than a traditional thesis. Technology is changing the way students learn in amazing ways. Researchers found that student-centered, technology-integrated learning environments help to produce students who are better able to think critically, solve problems, collaborate with others, and engage deeply in the learning process. In addition, the emergence of technology-rich classrooms helps diverse learners understand conceptual ideas and apply those ideas and skills to real-life. When teachers know how to effectively use the unique features of technologies, they can address the varying cognitive strengths and needs of different students. Because understanding the impact of technology and finding the best ways to integrate technology into the classroom is critical, an investigation was conducted to determine whether the use of 3D printers and design software in a summer camp setting had a positive effect on student’s motivation, interests, mathematical and real-life skills. There were statistically significant increase in students’ motivation, interests, real-life skills, and some of the mathematical skills. In addition, positive effect sizes indicated practical importance of the study. Despite the complexities of the program and high cognitive load for students, 3D printing and design class allowed students gain motivation, interests, real-life skills, and some mathematical skills. Although there has been growing interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for students in the United States, previous research shows that there is a growing concern that the United States will not have sufficient numbers of skilled workers in STEM field. To determine if informal STEM educational setting can improve students’ interest for learning STEM, the second article employed a quasi-experiment design to explore the effectiveness of a summer camp program on student’s affect towards STEM. Although there were no statistically significant increases in any of the disciplines, students had more positive attitude toward science, engineering, and mathematics after the summer camp. If the intervention was longer where students had lower cognitive load, more practical importance is expected

The End or Beginning? Either Way, the Credits Are Not Rolling Yet!

(First paragraph) Thank you to all our reviewers, editorial board members, authors, and those who chose the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education (JUME) as their outlet of choice this past year. JUME has had many recent successes, and we in the editorial team plan to release the salient performance data for the journal. For JUME to advance its mission, we believe that accountability and transparency are essential. To this end, our readers will from now on receive an annual progress report about JUME in our first issue of each year

STRIKING WHILE IRON IS HOT: REFORM-BASED INSTRUCTION AND PROBLEM SOLVING

The primary purpose of the research conducted in this dissertation was to explore how reform-based instructional methods influence learner actions, beliefs, and learning related to problem solving. The first study in this dissertation investigated the effect of hands-on learning and multiple representations on students’ problem-solving skills using a mixed-methods approach. Additionally, they looked deeper into what strategies enacted by students demonstrated a change in their problem-solving skills. The second study investigated the effect of engaging in STEM project-based learning (PBL) activities on students’ mathematical problem-solving beliefs (PSB) and their perceptions towards SEM subjects and STEM careers. The third study analyzed preservice teachers’ belief toward student-centered practices and reform-based instructional methods. Results from the first study demonstrated that using hands-on and multiple representation activities may effectively enable students to have a better conceptual understanding of mathematics and become better problem solvers. Second study’s findings showed that students increased their mathematical PSB and perceptions towards science, engineering, mathematics, and STEM careers after participating in STEM PBL lessons. Additionally, the linear regression analysis revealed that students’ mathematical PSB predicted their STEM career perceptions positively and statistically significantly. These results supported providing students with STEM PBL activities to increase their PSB and perceptions towards SEM subjects and STEM careers. Educators should utilize the results to provide opportunities for students to experience STEM PBL activities. The third study’s findings revealed that preservice teachers were able to develop positive beliefs towards practices and reform-based type instruction. It also showed the potential to initiate social change by introducing and reinforcing current teacher preparation programs to implement reform-based instruction in problem-solving courses to affect student mathematics success. Overall, the results of this dissertation indicate that students participating in reform-based learning affects students’ problem-solving skills and beliefs in a positive way. The findings of this dissertation are important because increasing students’ problem-solving skills and beliefs are needed to address the concern about U.S. not having enough skilled STEM workers and staying competitive in the global job market

Effects of Dioscoreae Rhizoma (SanYak) on Peripheral Neuropathy and its Safety

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the evidence available in the literature for the safety and efficacy of Dioscoreae Rhizoma (DR) for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy. Methods: Literature searches were performed in MEDLINE and three Korean medical databases up to April 2013. All studies evaluating the effects on peripheral neuropathy or the safety of DR monopreparations were considered. Results: Three studies - DR extract per os (po) on diabetic neuropathy in mice, DR extract injection on the peripheral sciatic nerve after crush injury in rats and DR extract injection to patients with peripheral facial paralysis proved that DR treatments were effective for the treatment of nerve injuries. Conclusions: In conclusion, we found the DR has a strong positive potential for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy, but studies addressing direct factors related to the nerve still remain insufficient

Sustainable Antibacterial and Antiviral High-Performance Copper-Coated Filter Produced via Ion Beam Treatment

With the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), disease prevention has become incredibly important. Consequently, mask and air-purifier use has increased. The filter is the core component of these items. However, most filter materials lack antimicrobial properties. Copper is a sustainable antimicrobial material. When copper is deposited onto the filter’s surface, the microorganisms that come into contact with it can be effectively inactivated. In this study, we used an oxygen ion beam with a controlled process temperature to treat filter surfaces with copper. This enabled a strong adhesion of at least 4 N/cm between the copper and the filter fibers without damaging them. Upon exposing the filter to bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 4352, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853) for one hour, a >99.99% removal rate was attained; when the filter was exposed to SARS-CoV-2 virus for one hour, it inactivated more than 99%. These beneficial properties minimize the risk of secondary infections, which are significantly more likely to occur when a conventional filter is replaced or removed

The Neomycin Resistance Cassette in the Targeted Allele of Shank3B Knock-Out Mice Has Potential Off-Target Effects to Produce an Unusual Shank3 Isoform

Variants of the SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains 3 (SHANK3), which encodes postsynaptic scaffolds, are associated with brain disorders. The targeted alleles in a few Shank3 knock-out (KO) lines contain a neomycin resistance (Neo) cassette, which may perturb the normal expression of neighboring genes; however, this has not been investigated in detail. We previously reported an unexpected increase in the mRNA expression of Shank3 exons 1-12 in the brains of Shank3B KO mice generated by replacing Shank3 exons 13-16 with the Neo cassette. In this study, we confirmed that the increased Shank3 mRNA in Shank3B KO brains produced an unusual similar to 60 kDa Shank3 isoform (Shank3-N), which did not properly localize to the synaptic compartment. Functionally, Shank3-N overexpression altered the dendritic spine morphology in cultured neurons. Importantly, Shank3-N expression in Shank3B KO mice was not a compensatory response to a reduction of full-length Shank3 because expression was still detected in the brain after normalizing the level of full-length Shank3. Moreover, in another Shank3 KO line (Shank3 gKO) with a similar Shank3 exonal deletion as that in Shank3B KO mice but without a Neo cassette, the mRNA expression levels of Shank3 exons 1-12 were lower than those of wild-type mice and Shank3-N was not detected in the brain. In addition, the expression levels of genes neighboring Shank3 on chromosome 15 were altered in the striatum of Shank3B KO but not Shank3 gKO mice. These results suggest that the Neo cassette has potential off-target effects in Shank3B KO mice.11Nsciescopu