Active-Learning Methods to Improve Student Performance and Scientific Interest in a Large Introductory Course

Teaching methods that are often recommended to improve the learning environment in college science courses include cooperative learning, adding inquiry-based activities to traditional lectures, and engaging students in projects or investigations. Two questions often surround these efforts: 1) can these methods be used in large classes; and 2) how do we know that they are increasing student learning? This study, from the University of Massachusetts, describes how education researchers have transformed the environment of a large-enrollment oceanography course (600 students) by modifying lectures to include cooperative learning via interactive in-class exercises and directed discussion. Assessments were redesigned as "two-stage" exams with a significant collaborative component. Results of student surveys, course evaluations, and exam performance demonstrate that learning of the subject under these conditions has improved. Student achievement shows measurable and statistically significant increases in information recall, analytical skills, and quantitative reasoning. There is evidence from both student surveys and student interview comments that for the majority of students, the course increased their interest in science -- a difficult effect to achieve with this population. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional

Cultivating the under-mined:Cross-case analysis as knowledge mobilization

Abstract: Despite a plethora of case studies in the social sciences, it is the authors ' opinion that case studies remain relatively under-mined sources of expertise. Cross-case analysis is a research method that can mobilize knowledge from individual case studies. The authors propose that mobilization of case knowledge occurs when researchers accumulate case knowledge, compare and contrast cases, and in doing so, produce new knowledge. In this article, the authors present theories of how people can learn from sets of cases. Second, existing techniques for cross-case analysis are discussed. Third, considerations that enable researchers to engage in cross-case analysis are suggested. Finally, the authors introduce a novel online database: the Foresee (4C) database. The purpose of the database is to mobilize case knowledge by helping researchers perform cross-case analysis and by creating an online research community that facilitates dialogue and the mobilization of case knowledge. The design of the 4C database is informed by theories of how people learn from case studies and cross-case analysis techniques. We present evidence from case study research that use of the 4C database helps to mobilize previously dormant case study knowledge to foster greater expertise. Key words: case study, cross-case analysis, computer-assisted analysis, knowledge mobilization, researcher, databas

A Study on Need Achievement of High and Low Achievers

The study was undertaken to study the Need achievement of High and Low achievers of 9th grade students. The sample for the study was (300 high achievers and 300 hundred low achievers) selected randomly from two educational zones (Budgam and Soibugh) of district Budgam (J&K). For the measurement of Need achievement Mukherjee’s Incomplete Sentence Blank Urdu adaptation (Khan, 1992) was used. The results of the study highlight that the High achievers have high need achievement, possess ‘hope of success’, have ‘high ego-ideal’, possess ‘perseverance’, have ‘realistic attitude’ are in favour of ‘internal control of fate’, while as low achievers have low need achievement, have fear of failure, possess low ego-ideal, are not perseverant, have unrealistic attitude and possess a feeling of external control of fate. The study has also revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between need achievement and Academic achievement of high and low achiever groups. Keywords: Need Achievement, High Achievers, Low Achievers

Efficacy of Melatonin and Pentoxifylline combination therapy in treatment of endotoxin induced hepatic dysfunction in white albino mice

Introduction: Despite major expansion and elaboration in treatment protocols of septic patients, mortality rate is still very high due to multiple organ damage including hepatotoxicity. We in study evaluated the role of two strong anti-inflammatory agents, melatonin and pentoxifylline, as a combined treatment in lipopolysaccharide induced hepatic dysfunction in white albino mice. Material and Methods: Endotoxemia was reproduced in white albino mice through intraperitoneal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of serotype E.Coli. Therapeutic potential of the both melatonin and pentoxifylline alone and as combined therapy was adjudged by administering agents 2 hours after LPS delivering. The extent of liver damage was evaluated via serum alanine aminotransferases (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation along with histopathological examination of liver tissue. Results: Lipopolysaccharide administration (Group 2) resulted in marked hepatotoxicity as evident by statistically raised serum ALT ((p≤0.01) and AST (p≤0.01) at the end of experimentation. Also liver cross section examination showed marked distortion of liver parenchyma. Melatonin (Group 3) was prosperous in aversion of LPS invoked hepatotoxicity as proved by lessening of augmented ALT (p≤0.01) and AST (p≤0.01) along with restoration of pathological changes on liver sections (p≤0.05). Pentoxifylline generated similar results and serum ALT, AST and histological alteration abated considerably (p≤ 0.05).Combination therapy in animals of Group 5 also tapered LPS evoked hepatic dysfunction statistically considerably. Conclusion: Melatonin and pentoxifylline alone and as combination therapy as effective in countering LPS induced hepatotoxicity. However the combination therapy did not yield synergistic effects. Keywords: Lipopolysaccharides, Endotoxin, Hepatotoxicity, Melatonin, Pentoxifylline

Automated Claim Detection for Fact-checking: A Case Study using Norwegian Pre-trained Language Models

We investigate to what extent pre-trained language models can be used for automated claim detection for fact-checking in a low resource setting. We explore this idea by fine-tuning four Norwegian pre-trained language models to perform the binary classification task of determining if a claim should be discarded or upheld to be further processed by human fact-checkers. We conduct a set of experiments to compare the performance of the language models, and provide a simple baseline model using SVM with tf-idf features. Since we are focusing on claim detection, the recall score for the upheld class is to be emphasized over other performance measures. Our experiments indicate that the language models are superior to the baseline system in terms of F1, while the baseline model results in the highest precision. However, the two Norwegian models, NorBERT2 and NB-BERT_large, give respectively superior F1 and recall values. We argue that large language models could be successfully employed to solve the automated claim detection problem. The choice of the model depends on the desired end-goal. Moreover, our error analysis shows that language models are generally less sensitive to the changes in claim length and source than the SVM model.publishedVersio

Kinetics and Regulation Studies of the Production of β-Galactosidase from Kluyveromyces marxianus Grown on Different Substrates

Lactose-intolerance is manifested in 50 % of the world’s population. This can be remediated by removing lactose from the diet or converting it into glucose and galactose with β-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23). In this work, batch production of this enzyme in the presence of lactose, galactose, cellobiose, xylose, arabinose, sucrose and glucose was investigated using Kluyveromyces marxianus in shake flask culture studies. Substrate type and temperature were the independent variables that directly regulated the specific growth and β-galactosidase production rates. Lactose (2 %) supported the maximum specific product yield (YP/X), followed by galactose, sucrose, cellobiose, xylose, arabinose and glucose. Its synthesis was regulated by an induction and a growth-dependent repression mechanism. The optimum temperature for the production was found to be 35–37 °C. The highest volumetric productivity of enzyme (80.0 IU/L/h) occurred on lactose-corn steep liquor medium. This was significantly higher than the calculated values reported in the literature. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the cells provided a defence mechanism against thermal inactivation. The enzyme was stable at 60 °C and pH=5.0–7.0, and it may find application in commercial lactose hydrolysis

Agreement between Serology and Histology for detection of Helicobacter pylori infection

Objective: To determine the percentage agreement between serology and histology for detection of Helicobacter (H.) pylori infection. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, The Aga Khan University and Hospital, Karachi, from January to December 2009. Methodology: Fifty subjects were selected by non-probability purposive sampling from laboratory data who had serological testing of H. pylori IgG antibody, prior to histological evaluation of endoscopic gastric or/and duodenal biopsies. Serological Quantification of H. pylori IgG was carried out with HpG screen ELISA kit (Genesis Diagnostics, UK), using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for detection of IgG antibodies against H. pylori. Manufacturer\u27s recommended cutoff value was used and results were considered positive when greater than 7 U/ml. For histological diagnosis, an expert histopathologist characterized the presence of spiral bacteria in the mucosal layer or the surface of epithelial cells on microscopic examination, as a positive test. Results: An agreement of 0.72 was found by Kappa statistics between serology and histopathology results and a good diagnostic accuracy (86%) of serological testing was observed for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Conclusion: A substantial agreement was found between serology and histopathology results to detect the H. pylori infection. Laboratory-based serologic testing using ELISA technology to detect IgG antibodies is inexpensive, noninvasive and convenient method to detect the H. pylori infection in primary care setting