Crib Work - An Evaluation Of A Problem-Based Learning Experiment: Preliminary Results

Problem-based learning has been proven to be successful in both medical colleges and physics classes, but not uniformly across all disciplines.  A college course in probability and statistics was used as a setting to test the effectiveness of problem-based learning when applied to homework.  This paper compares the performances of the students from two classes and attempts to draw inferences as to the overall benefits and effectiveness of changing the process by which the students earned their homework grade

Todays Program Is Brought To You By The Letters Debit And Credit And By The Number Income

As each generation comes of age they receive a label. Currently, we are teaching the new millennials. Their learning style and time management preferences may respond better to a constant task and feedback cycle similar to the popular Public Television Series, Sesame Street. This paper examines the effects of requiring student to take an assessment as part of the grade in principles of financial accounting. In particular, this paper attempts to identify the effects on both performance and satisfaction

The Effectiveness Of Daily Assessments: A Preliminary Study In Principles Of Financial Accounting

Today colleges and universities are working with students who are younger than the Internet.  They were born at the end of the last century, and are referred to as millennials or the Net Generation.  Their learning style and time management preferences may respond better to continuous tasks and constant feedback.  This paper examines the statistical effects of requiring students to take an assessment as part of their grade in “Principles of Financial Accounting”; specifically, this paper attempts to identify the effects on both student performance and student satisfaction during the semester and at the end of their college career.  The increase in students’ performances is translated into cost savings for the institution

The Results Of A Longitudinal Study Of The Effects Of Network Delays On Learning

The use of interactive web-based teachingmaterials has become an indelible feature of the educational landscape over thelast decade especially for technical subjects such as engineering andmathematics. While web-based simulations present great opportunity to providestudents with the feedback needed for the acquisition of new concepts, it hasbeen demonstrated that even small network delays can adversely affect thepedagogical efficacy of these simulations. In the present work a longitudinalstudy is performed to examine the effects of network delay on learning asstudent’s progress from freshmen to senior year.  Findings indicate that by the time studentshave progressed to their senior year, they have taken on a more conservativelearning style and that their learning style is less sensitive to networkdelays than it was when they were freshmen. The study suggests that the accumulation of experience is an importantfactor in mitigating the effects of network delay on learning

The Difference In The Effects Of Longitudinal Effects Of Network Latency On STEM And Non-STEM Students

As enrollment in online courses increases faster than the overall enrollments in higher education, the differences in learning styles and academic disciplines need to be identified.  Further, the focus on the demand for students pursuing degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has gained prominence in the past decade.  An experiment was conducted to study the interaction of objective learning and subjective learning, objective learning and enjoyment, and subjective learning and enjoyment on the longitudinal effects of network latency on students who were classified as STEM majors or non-STEM majors (humanities and social sciences).  The findings indicate that students from different majors responded differently by the time students have progressed to their senior year in reference to their learning styles and sensitivity to network delays than it was when they were freshmen.  The study suggests that the accumulation of experience and choice of major are important factors in mitigating the effects of network delay on learning

An Investigation Of The Effect Of Network Latency On Pedagogic Efficacy: A Comparison Of Disciplines

E-learning has become a mainstream educational opportunity, as noted in U.S. News & World Report.  Further, differences among college students have been documented in various disciplines.  An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of network latency on pedagogical efficacy based on the students who were classified as in either humanities programs or engineering and science programs.  The findings indicate that tolerances to screen update latencies are discipline-dependent and that students in engineering and science have a lower tolerance for screen update latency than students in the humanities

A Multicenter Study Of Students Sensitivity To Screen-Update Delay

In a climate of shrinking educational budgets, online learning courses offer many advantages; however there are several possible problems associated with electronic learning. There may be problems associated with learning style preferences, student apathy, instructional support, accessibility, and problems with technology. This paper examines a technological problem associated with the effects of screen-update-delay and student enjoyment, student self-reported comprehension, and student objective comprehension. In particular, this paper attempts to identify the point at which longer screen updates will be detrimental to the students enjoyment and/or have a significant negative impact on the students self-reported comprehension and retention of material

Spatial Heterogeneity in Soil Microbes Alters Outcomes of Plant Competition

Plant species vary greatly in their responsiveness to nutritional soil mutualists, such as mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia, and this responsiveness is associated with a trade-off in allocation to root structures for resource uptake. As a result, the outcome of plant competition can change with the density of mutualists, with microbe-responsive plant species having high competitive ability when mutualists are abundant and non-responsive plants having high competitive ability with low densities of mutualists. When responsive plant species also allow mutualists to grow to greater densities, changes in mutualist density can generate a positive feedback, reinforcing an initial advantage to either plant type. We study a model of mutualist-mediated competition to understand outcomes of plant-plant interactions within a patchy environment. We find that a microbe-responsive plant can exclude a non-responsive plant from some initial conditions, but it must do so across the landscape including in the microbe-free areas where it is a poorer competitor. Otherwise, the non-responsive plant will persist in both mutualist-free and mutualist-rich regions. We apply our general findings to two different biological scenarios: invasion of a non-responsive plant into an established microbe-responsive native population, and successional replacement of non-responders by microbe-responsive species. We find that resistance to invasion is greatest when seed dispersal by the native plant is modest and dispersal by the invader is greater. Nonetheless, a native plant that relies on microbial mutualists for competitive dominance may be particularly vulnerable to invasion because any disturbance that temporarily reduces its density or that of the mutualist creates a window for a non-responsive invader to establish dominance. We further find that the positive feedbacks from associations with beneficial soil microbes create resistance to successional turnover. Our theoretical results constitute an important first step toward developing a general understanding of the interplay between mutualism and competition in patchy landscapes, and generate qualitative predictions that may be tested in future empirical studies

Beyond the black box: Promoting mathematical collaborations for elucidating interactions in soil ecology

© 2019 The Authors. Understanding soil systems is critical because they form the structural and nutritional foundation for plants and thus every terrestrial habitat and agricultural system. In this paper, we encourage increased use of mathematical models to drive forward understanding of interactions in soil ecological systems. We discuss several distinctive features of soil ecosystems and empirical studies of them. We explore some perceptions that have previously deterred more extensive use of models in soil ecology and some advances that have already been made using models to elucidate soil ecological interactions. We provide examples where mathematical models have been used to test the plausibility of hypothesized mechanisms, to explore systems where experimental manipulations are currently impossible, or to determine the most important variables to measure in experimental and natural systems. To aid in the development of theory in this field, we present a table describing major soil ecology topics, the theory previously used, and providing key terms for theoretical approaches that could potentially address them. We then provide examples from the table that may either contribute to important incremental developments in soil science or potentially revolutionize our understanding of plant-soil systems. We challenge scientists and mathematicians to push theoretical explorations in soil systems further and highlight three major areas for the development of mathematical models in soil ecology: Theory spanning scales and ecological hierarchies, processes, and evolution

Beyond the black box: promoting mathematical collaborations for elucidating interactions in soil ecology

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Understanding soil systems is critical because they form the structural and nutritional foundation for plants and thus every terrestrial habitat and agricultural system. In this paper, we encourage increased use of mathematical models to drive forward understanding of interactions in soil ecological systems. We discuss several distinctive features of soil ecosystems and empirical studies of them. We explore some perceptions that have previously deterred more extensive use of models in soil ecology and some advances that have already been made using models to elucidate soil ecological interactions. We provide examples where mathematical models have been used to test the plausibility of hypothesized mechanisms, to explore systems where experimental manipulations are currently impossible, or to determine the most important variables to measure in experimental and natural systems. To aid in the development of theory in this field, we present a table describing major soil ecology topics, the theory previously used, and providing key terms for theoretical approaches that could potentially address them. We then provide examples from the table that may either contribute to important incremental developments in soil science or potentially revolutionize our understanding of plant–soil systems. We challenge scientists and mathematicians to push theoretical explorations in soil systems further and highlight three major areas for the development of mathematical models in soil ecology: theory spanning scales and ecological hierarchies, processes, and evolution