Mathematical literacy in Plant Physiology undergraduates: results of interventions aimed at improving students' performance

The importance of mathematical literacy in any scientific career is widely recognized. However, various studies report lack of numeracy and mathematical literacy in students from various countries. In the present work we present a detailed study of the mathematical literacy of Spanish undergraduate students of Biology enrolled in a Plant Physiology course. We have performed individual analyses of results obtained during the period 2000-2011, for questions in the examinations requiring and not requiring mathematical skills. Additionally, we present the outcome of two interventions introduced with the aim of helping students improve their prospects for success in the course. Our results confirm previous research showing students' deficiencies in mathematical skills. However, the scores obtained for mathematical questions in the examinations are good predictors of the final grades attained in Plant Physiology, as there are strong correlations at the individual level between results for questions requiring and not requiring mathematical skills. The introduction of a laboratory session devoted to strengthening the application of students' previously acquired mathematical knowledge did not change significantly the results obtained for mathematical questions. Since mathematical abilities of students entering university have declined in recent years, this intervention may have helped to maintain students' performance to a level comparable to that of previous years. The outcome of self-assessment online tests indicates that though Mathematics anxiety is lower than during examinations, the poor results obtained for questions requiring mathematical skills are, at least in part, due to a lack of self-efficacy

Analysis of Learning Records to Detect Student Cheating on Online Exams: Case Study during COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, due to the Covid19 pandemic, higher education had to switch from face-to-face to exclusively virtual mode overnight. In this unexpected scenario, supervisors also had to adapt the assessment procedures, including the exams. This caused a significant controversy, as, according to many students, supervisors were more concerned about how to prevent students from cheating, than actually measuring their learning. This paper introduces an experience that implemented several of the students' requests in an online exam and conducts a comprehensive analysis of students’ behavior according to the virtual learning environment records. Different existing software tools are used for the analysis, complemented with a Python application ad-hoc developed. The objective indicators gathered provide evidence that some students cheated and invite focusing on evidence-based assessment

Predição do pH urinário de gatos por meio do excesso de bases com enxofre na dieta

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar se a equação excesso de bases empregando enxofre (EBS), para predição do pH urinário de gatos é eficaz para um alimento completo. Para tal, alimentou-se seis gatos sem raça definida com um alimento extrusado comercial. Por meio do EBS da dieta foi feita a predição do pH urinário. O pH urinário predito pela equação foi de 6,52 e o obtido in vivo foi de 6,25±0,02. Portanto, a equação não foi eficaz para predizer o pH urinário, porém o EBS mostrou-se eficaz para estimar se o pH urinário está na faixa aceitável (6,2 e 6,8)

Experimental Investigations on the MHD Interaction around a Blunt Body in a Hypersonic Unseeded Air Flows

This paper deals with the experimental investigation on the magneto fluid dynamic interaction around a test body immersed into a hypersonic unseeded air flow. The experiments have been carried out in the CIRA owned plasma wind tunnel SCIROCCO. Two test conditions have been utilized for the experiments, with a total pressure of 2.5 and 2.3 bar respectively and a total specific enthalpy of 16 and 12.1 MJ/kg, and the air flow accelerated in the nozzle up to Mach 10. The magnetic induction field is generated by an electromagnet enclosed in the test article, and can reach a 0.8 T maximum value in the interaction region. The work has been conjunctly funded by the European Space Agency and The Italian Space Agency

Experimental investigations on the magneto-hydro-dynamic interaction around a blunt body in a hypersonic unseeded air flow

This paper deals with the experimental investigation on the magneto fluid dynamic interaction around a test body immersed into a hypersonic unseeded air flow. The experiments have been carried out in the CIRA owned plasma wind tunnel SCIROCCO. Two test conditions have been utilized for the experiments, with a total pressure of 2.5 and 2.3 bar respectively and a total specific enthalpy of 16 and 12.1 MJ/kg, and the air flow accelerated in the nozzle up to Mach 10. The magnetic induction field is generated by an electromagnet enclosed in the test article, and can reach a 0.8 T maximum value in the interaction region. The work has been conjunctly funded by the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency