Establishing online examination guidelines: Preliminary results from an ACDS Teaching and Learning Project 2022

In recent years, many universities in Australia and worldwide have seen major changes to their teaching and learning delivery. This includes assessment strategies, an example of which are summative final examinations. Historically, closed-book, in-person, paper-based final examinations were commonly used across the sector (Williams & Wong, 2009). However, during the COVID-19 pandemic many universities moved from traditional paper-based examinations to online delivery (Dicks et al., 2020). Online examinations have been delivered in a variety of formats, and with different implementations. Thus, we are at an opportune time to re-evaluate assessment for and of learning to ensure that we make pedagogically informed changes and establish robust procedures moving forward. In this research, funded by an Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS) Teaching and Learning Project grant 2022, we present the preliminary results of a multi-institution exploration of first-year undergraduate examinations in STEM subjects comparing end-of-semester examinations from 2019–2021. To determine the pedagogical changes that occurred, we undertook a multi-step analysis of: i) Question type and format; ii) Order of thinking pattern required to respond to questions (Agarwal, 2019); iii) Classification of question according to Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom et al., 2001); iv) Level of abstraction. Outcomes from our data analysis will inform practitioners and decision-makers on best practices whilst balancing university and student expectations, with delivering authentic assessment experiences. Our research is enabling us to make meaningful recommendations for best practice in Australian STEM subjects for summative examinations, including design that considers both technological as well as pedagogical aspects required to deliver effective assessments. REFERENCES Agarwal, P. (2019). Retrieval Practice & Bloom’s Taxonomy: Do Students Need Fact Knowledge Before Higher Order Learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(2), 189–209. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000282. Bloom, B. S., Airasian, P., Krathwohl, D. R., Cruikshank, K., Mayer, R., Pintrich, P., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Anderson, L. W., Bloom, B. S., Krathwohl, D. R., (Eds.), Longman: New York. Dicks, A. P., Morra, B., & Quinlan, K. B. (2020). Lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis: Adjusting assessment approaches within introductory organic courses. Journal of Chemical Education, 97(9) 3406–3412. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00529. Williams, J. B., & Wong, A. (2009). The efficacy of final examinations: A comparative study of closed-book, invigilated exams and open-book, open-web exams. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(2) 227–236. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2008.00929.x

CHEMISTRY DISCIPLINE MEETING

The tertiary sector has been rocked to its core by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to online teaching. One of the areas most impacted has been how we assess our students and the associated challenges relating to academic integrity, quality, and logistics. The 2021 ACSME Chemistry Discipline Day workshop will focus on these challenges and aims to crowdsource ideas for solutions at both an individual and institutional level. This conversation is an extension of a recent workshop at the RACI Chemistry Education Division Symposium and outcomes from this workshop will inform discussions held by our representatives with the Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS)

RACI Chemistry Education Division Workshop

PURPOSE Each year, the RACI Chemistry Education Division hold a Discipline Day workshop with a shifting agenda in response to current challenges within the Australian chemistry education realm and the feedback received by attendees. We welcome all education-interested individuals – students, professional/casual/academic staff, secondary educators in chemistry or science fields. Your thoughts and perspectives are valuable and we hope that these projects can serve the scientific community at large. WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES In the first session of this workshop (~30 minutes) we will provide a brief summary on a number of key projects discussed at the 2022 ACSME RACI Chemistry Education Division Workshop. These include: The development of a modular-based resource collection for undergraduate and postgraduate training in chemistry education research; A revamp of the Chemistry Discipline Network website for better functionality and access; Building a business case for the introduction of a chemistry education and/or discipline-based education Field of Research (FoR) code for use in ARC grant processes; Actively seeking opportunities to host an international conference in chemistry education or discipline-based education more broadly; Actively seeking sponsorship opportunities to support RACI Chemistry Education Division awards/bursaries at related conferences and/or financial support for small research projects within our community. The second session of this workshop (~1 hour) will focus on Project 1 above (bolded). The aim of this session is to: Provide community feedback on the proposed structure and identified topics of relevance to chemistry education research; Identify existing resources from the community that can be contributed; Discuss any missed opportunities or potential contributions. We would also like to acknowledge the broader RACI Chemistry Education Division committee who volunteer their time without whom these projects would not be achievable

High Affinity Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum Merozoite Antigens Are Associated with Protection from Malaria

Malaria kills almost 1 million people every year, but the mechanisms behind protective immunity against the disease are still largely unknown. In this study, surface plasmon resonance technology was used to evaluate the affinity (measured as k(d)) of naturally acquired antibodies to the Plasmodium falciparum antigens MSP2 and AMA1. Antibodies in serum samples from residents in endemic areas bound with higher affinities to AMA1 than to MSP2, and with higher affinities to the 3D7 allele of MSP2-3D7 than to the FC27 allele. The affinities against AMA1 and MSP2-3D7 increased with age, and were usually within similar range as the affinities for the monoclonal antibodies also examined in this study. The finding of MSP2-3D7 type parasites in the blood was associated with a tendency for higher affinity antibodies to both forms of MSP2 and AMA1, but this was significant only when analyzing antibodies against MSP2-FC27, and individuals infected with both allelic forms of MSP2 at the same time showed the highest affinities. Individuals with the highest antibody affinities for MSP2-3D7 at baseline had a prolonged time to clinical malaria during 40 weeks of follow-up, and among individuals who were parasite positive at baseline higher antibody affinities to all antigens were seen in the individuals that did not experience febrile malaria during follow up. This study contributes important information for understanding how immunity against malaria arises. The findings suggest that antibody affinity plays an important role in protection against disease, and differs between antigens. In light of this information, antibody affinity measurements would be a key assessment in future evaluation of malaria vaccine formulations

Abstracts from the 8th International Conference on cGMP Generators, Effectors and Therapeutic Implications

This work was supported by a restricted research grant of Bayer AG

The effect of human immunodeficiency virus on functional recovery in hospitalized patients with stroke

Background and Objective: Given the known association between inflammatory conditions and stroke, this study was designed to assess whether the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) – which is associated with chronic inflammation – would affect the functional trajectory of patients hospitalized for the treatment of stroke. Methods: This is a retrospective study comparing the functional outcomes of 688,066 stroke patients with a diagnosis of HIV to those without a diagnosis of HIV from 2002 to 2017. Results: HIV+ patients were found to have a much lower age at admission, with a difference of over 10 years when compared to HIV− patients. HIV+ patients were also less likely to discharge to home when compared to HIV− patients (P < 0.0001). Gains in functional independence measure (FIM) scores per day were found to be greater among those who were HIV− compared to those who were HIV+ (P = 0.086). Factors associated with a lower FIM efficiency included older age at admission, male gender, and having a hemorrhagic stroke (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: This study found that, among those hospitalized for the treatment of a stroke, the functional gain per day was inferior among those with HIV than among those without HIV at admission

Factor Analysis of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist With a Chronically Ill Pediatric Population

The psychometric properties and factor structure of a widely used screening measure for behavioral and emotional dysfunction, the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), was extended to a population of chronically ill children. Parents of 404 children ranging from 6 to 17 years of age and diagnosed with either insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or sickle cell disease (SCD) completed the PSC while waiting for a routine medical appointment. The measure\u27s internal consistency was found to be high, Cronbach\u27s alpha = .89, and test-retest reliability across 4 months was observed to be acceptable, r = .77. A principal components analysis with an oblique (promax) rotation yielded a four-factor solution with factors that included items representative of internalizing, externalizing, attention, and chronic illness-related problems, respectively. Cronbach alpha estimates ranged from .78 to .83 for the first three factors but was lower for the chronic illness-related problems factor (Cronbach\u27s alpha = .60). A three-factor solution and reliability estimates were recomputed without the chronic illness items that yielded the same reliability estimates for each of the three factors and for the full scale. The three-factor solution was also found to be similar to a published factor structure obtained with a primary care sample, rc = .90-.91. The findings lend support to extending the PSC\u27s clinical utility to tertiary care pediatric settings. Further research is recommended with a broader range of chronic illness groups to increase generalizability

AutoTransOP: translating omics signatures without orthologue requirements using deep learning

Abstract The development of therapeutics and vaccines for human diseases requires a systematic understanding of human biology. Although animal and in vitro culture models can elucidate some disease mechanisms, they typically fail to adequately recapitulate human biology as evidenced by the predominant likelihood of clinical trial failure. To address this problem, we developed AutoTransOP, a neural network autoencoder framework, to map omics profiles from designated species or cellular contexts into a global latent space, from which germane information for different contexts can be identified without the typically imposed requirement of matched orthologues. This approach was found in general to perform at least as well as current alternative methods in identifying animal/culture-specific molecular features predictive of other contexts—most importantly without requiring homology matching. For an especially challenging test case, we successfully applied our framework to a set of inter-species vaccine serology studies, where 1-to-1 mapping between human and non-human primate features does not exist

Prison Break general gabbery: extra-hyperdiegetic spaces, power, and identity in Prison Break

This article examines the interdependent relationship among the text, its producers, and "extra-hyperdiegetic space" constructed around the romantic relationship between Michael and Sara, the central protagonists of the Prison Break television series. The Prison Break creators have created extensive digital and analogue platforms to create an extended textual experience that constructs a close text-audience relationship. The digital and analogue platforms construct a space that is inhabitable by fans, one in which to express their own desires. This article explores the online material generated by fans (the most prevalent artifact of this extended space is the Prison Break fan fiction) as well as material released outside the story by producers on their blogs and official promo sites related the show and examines the interconnected (however mediated) relationship among these different spaces in relation to the increasingly romanticized and melodramatic relationship between Michael and Sara