Problem-based Learning and Problem Finding Among University Graduate Students

In recent years, problem-based learning (PBL) techniques have been gaining momentum in schools and university curricula around the world. The main advantage of the PBL method is that it promotes creative problem solving, improves cognition and enhances overall thought processes in learners. For most PBL-style programmes, problem solving is at the core, although the notion of problem discovery or problem finding is not seriously considered. In most cases, students are always presented with a structured and welldefined problem, but have no experience of solving an ill-structured problem or ʻwicked’ problem. The present study focuses on problem finding as a critical step towards developing problem solving skills in university graduate students. The study aims at understanding the importance of problem formulation and creativity, and focuses as well on our attempt to teach problem finding as an important tool in the development of creative thinking and problem solving among graduate students. The study is part of a special graduate programme called the Nitobe School at Hokkaido University in Japan, which started in 2015. In an active learning classroom setting, this course is intended to support graduate students in their discovery of illstructured problems, help them to understand their formulation and thereby improve their problem solving skills. We present the results of our teaching method for the first year at the Nitobe School and share our findings through this work

제주/쓰시마 조초성 산호의 수온 기록자로서의 가능성 평가

In an effort to develop high-resolution sea surface temperature (SST) proxies for mid-latitude regions, two massive reef-building coral species, Alveopora and Favia, were collected from Jeju and Tsushima Islands, respectively. Their skeletons were subsequently analyzed for annual growth banding, Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios. Hermatypic corals are thinly distributed in the waters of Jeju Island, where Alveopora japonica was the only dominant coral species. A higher diversity of hermatypic corals were observed in the waters of Tsushima Island, where Favia sp. was the most common coral species and even forming an about 6-m-high reef structure. Both Alveopora and Favia showed annual growth layers consisting of couplets of high- and low-density bands. Sr/Ca ratio of both species and Mg/Ca ratio of Alveopora also showed seasonal variation, likely reflecting SST variation. These results suggest the possibility that Alveopora and Favia species can be used as potential SST proxies. However, this study also highlights the potential growth disturbance of middle latitude corals due to high rainfall during monsoon and low SST during winter. This possibility should be taken into account in the investigation of Sr/Ca(Mg/Ca)-SST relationships

A skeletal Sr/Ca record preserved inDipsastraea(Favia)speciosaand implications for coral Sr/Ca thermometry in mid-latitude regions

[1] A core (900 mm long) of the scleractinian coral Dipsastraea (Favia) speciosa was collected from Iki Island (∼33°48′N), Japan, one of the highest latitude coral reefs known to exist at present, where winter monthly mean sea surface temperature (SST) drops to 13°C. The Sr/Ca profile was constructed using a bulk sampling method for the uppermost 280 mm interval of the core, which grew between 1966 and 2007, to test whether it could act as a suitable proxy for SST in a harsh environmental setting where reef-building coral do not usually survive. The Sr/Ca-SST relationship derived from the annual Sr/Ca and SST extremes predicted the observed monthly averaged summer SST extremes within an error range of ±1.1°C (1 s.d., n = 40). The obtained Sr/Ca-SST calibration was also found to be valid for subtropical Dipsastraea (Favia) corals, proving its broad applicability. However, low-amplitude winter peaks were observed in the slow-growing intervals, which we confirmed (using individual spot analysis along a continuous growth line) result from the mixing of theca grown at different times. Our bulk sampling approach, across multiple growth lines in the skeleton of D. (F.) speciosa, led to the mixing of asynchronous skeletal part. At the study site, D. (F.) speciosa grows continuously, even during the cold season, suggesting that the skeletal Sr/Ca obtained from specimens of D. (F.) speciosa can be used as an SST proxy in the northwest Pacific marginal seas