5,690 research outputs found
Correlating Student Beliefs With Student Learning Using The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey
A number of instruments have been designed to probe the variety of attitudes, beliefs, expectations, and epistemological frames taught in our introductory physics courses. Using a newly developed instrument -- the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS)[1] -- we examine the relationship between students' beliefs about physics and other educational outcomes, such as conceptual learning and student retention. We report results from surveys of over 750 students in a variety of courses, including several courses modified to promote favorable beliefs about physics. We find positive correlations between particular student beliefs and conceptual learning gains, and between student retention and favorable beliefs in select categories. We also note the influence of teaching practices on student beliefs
Development of quantum perspectives in modern physics
Introductory undergraduate courses in classical physics stress a perspective
that can be characterized as realist; from this perspective, all physical
properties of a classical system can be simultaneously specified and thus
determined at all future times. Such a perspective can be problematic for
introductory quantum physics students, who must develop new perspectives in
order to properly interpret what it means to have knowledge of quantum systems.
We document this evolution in student thinking in part through pre- and
post-instruction evaluations using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about
Science Survey. We further characterize variations in student epistemic and
ontological commitments by examining responses to two essay questions, coupled
with responses to supplemental quantum attitude statements. We find that, after
instruction in modern physics, many students are still exhibiting a realist
perspective in contexts where a quantum-mechanical perspective is needed. We
further find that this effect can be significantly influenced by instruction,
where we observe variations for courses with differing learning goals. We also
note that students generally do not employ either a realist or a quantum
perspective in a consistent manner.Comment: 18 pages, plus references; 3 figures; 9 tables. PACS: 01.40.Fk,
03.65._
ICP polishing of silicon for high quality optical resonators on a chip
Miniature concave hollows, made by wet etching silicon through a circular
mask, can be used as mirror substrates for building optical micro-cavities on a
chip. In this paper we investigate how ICP polishing improves both shape and
roughness of the mirror substrates. We characterise the evolution of the
surfaces during the ICP polishing using white-light optical profilometry and
atomic force microscopy. A surface roughness of 1 nm is reached, which reduces
to 0.5 nm after coating with a high reflectivity dielectric. With such smooth
mirrors, the optical cavity finesse is now limited by the shape of the
underlying mirror
Temperate Pasture and Sheep Performance Under Radiata Pine and In Open Pasture
Forage production from years 4 to 6 of an agroforestry system at 400-600 trees per ha and pasture alone were compared for a temperate sub-humid environment. Forage production was best for lucerne pasture followed by phalaris/clover and cocksfoot/clover, and least for ryegrass/clover and the ryegrass only pastures. Total pasture production in the agroforest relative to the open pasture was from 10% more for phalaris to 20% less for lucerne. Sheep carrying capacity over all pastures was 14.6 sheep/ha in the open and 11.8 sheep/ha in the agroforest and varied by ±15% according to the pasture types
Solutions to the Wheeler-Dewitt Equation Inspired by the String Effective Action
The Wheeler-DeWitt equation is derived from the bosonic sector of the
heterotic string effective action assuming a toroidal compactification. The
spatially closed, higher dimensional Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology
is investigated and a suitable change of variables rewrites the equation in a
canonical form. Real- and imaginary-phase exact solutions are found and a
method of successive approximations is employed to find more general power
series solutions. The quantum cosmology of the Bianchi IX universe is also
investigated and a class of exact solutions is found.Comment: 21 pages of plain LaTeX, Fermilab-Pub-93/100-
Enhanced MDM2 Oncoprotein Expression in Soft Tissue Sarcoma: Several Possible Regulatory Mechanisms
Purpose. MDM2 is an oncogene whose protein product may promote tumorigenesis by blocking
wild-type p53 tumor suppressor mediated G 0/G1 cell cycle arrest, thereby inhibiting repair of damaged DNA prior to cell division. While
MDM2 DNA amplification is frequently observed in human sarcoma, the mechanisms linking this amplification to MDM2
oncoprotein over-production as well as its functional significance have not been well characterized in patients with soft
tissue sarcoma
Sustaining Educational Reforms in Introductory Physics
While it is well known which curricular practices can improve student
performance on measures of conceptual understanding, the sustaining of these
practices and the role of faculty members in implementing these practices are
less well understood. We present a study of the hand-off of Tutorials in
Introductory Physics from initial adopters to other instructors at the
University of Colorado, including traditional faculty not involved in physics
education research. The study examines the impact of implementation of
Tutorials on student conceptual learning across eight first-semester, and seven
second-semester courses, for fifteen faculty over twelve semesters, and
includes roughly 4000 students. It is possible to demonstrate consistently
high, and statistically indistinguishable, student learning gains for different
faculty members; however, such results are not the norm, and appear to rely on
a variety of factors. Student performance varies by faculty background -
faculty involved in, or informed by physics education research, consistently
post higher student learning gains than less-informed faculty. Student
performance in these courses also varies by curricula used - all semesters in
which the research-based Tutorials and Learning Assistants are used have higher
student learning gains than those semesters that rely on non-research based
materials and do not employ Learning Assistants.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, and other essential inf
Cyg X-3: Not seen in high-energy gamma rays by COS-B
COS-B had Cyg X-3 within its field of view during 7 observation periods between 1975 and 1982 for in total approximately 300 days. In the skymaps (70 meV E 5000 meV) of the Cyg-X region produced for each of these observations and in the summed map, a broad complex structure is visible in the region 72 deg approximately less than 1 approximately less than 85 deg, approximately less than 5 deg. No resolved source structure is visible at the position of Cyg X-3, but a weak signal from Cyg X-3 could be hidden in the structured gamma-ray background. Therefore, the data has been searched for a 4.8 h timing signature, as well as for a source signal in the sky map in addition to the diffuse background structure as estimated from tracers of atomic and molecular gas
Changes in the ileal, but not fecal, microbiome in response to increased dietary protein level and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli exposure in pigs
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