Concurrent enrollment in lecture and laboratory enhances student performance and retention

Laboratories have been a cornerstone in teaching and learning across multiple scientific disciplines for more than 100 years. At the collegiate level, science laboratories and their corresponding lectures are often offered as separate courses, and students may not be required to concurrently enroll in both. In this study, we provide evidence that enrolling in an introductory laboratory concurrently with the corresponding lecture course enhances learning gains and retention in comparison to students who enroll in the lecture alone. We examined the impact of concurrent versus nonconcurrent enrollment on 9,438 students' withdrawal rates from and final grades in the general chemistry lecture at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor using multiple linear and binary logistic regression analyses, respectively, at a significance level of 0.05. We found that concurrent enrollment in the lecture and laboratory positively impacts (1) the odds of retention in the lecture by 2.2 times on average and (2) final lecture grades by up to 0.19 grade points on a 4.0 scale for the lowest‐scoring students according to university‐level mathematics and chemistry placement exam scores. These data provide important results for consideration by curriculum advisors and course planners at universities that do not require concurrent enrollment in general chemistry as well as other science courses. In the face of current budget cuts that threaten to shorten or eliminate laboratory experiences altogether at multiple educational levels, this study demonstrates the value of laboratories in promoting science learning and retention. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 659–682, 2012Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91231/1/21016_ftp.pd

Behavioral Responses to Climate Change in Chipmunks of the Sierra Nevada

Anthropogenic climate change is drastically affecting the lives of animals across the planet, leading many of them to shift their ranges to higher latitudes or elevations. As their environments and habitats are modified, how individual organisms respond to novel conditions and situations will have critical implications for shaping population and species level responses to environmental change. Characterizing both individual behavioral responses to novelty and population-level patterns of demography and life history should provide us with important information elucidating the processes through which organisms are responding to climate change.Chipmunks (Genus: Tamias) in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains of California provide an ideal system for exploring these themes. Over the past century, the alpine chipmunk (T. alpinus) has – in apparent response to changing environmental conditions -- experienced a significant upward contraction of its elevational range. In contrast, the partially sympatric lodgepole chipmunk (T. speciosus) has undergone no detectable change in elevational distribution during this period. As part of understanding these differences in response, it is critical to examine potential interspecific differences in behavioral response to novelty and to quantify population-level differences in demography that may contribute to the contrasting patterns of range response documented for these animals. For my first chapter, I examine how individual responses to novelty may inform population-level responses to climate change. Two aspects of behavior that are often used to assess interactions with new environments are exploration and boldness, each of which is expected to influence adaptively important outcomes such as discovery of novel resources. These behavioral attributes may be influenced by degree of ecological specialization, with more specialized species typically thought to display a reduced tendency to interact with novel habitats. To test this prediction, I used open-field assays to compare exploratory behavior and boldness among free-living members of the two focal species of chipmunks. My analyses reveal that while individual T. speciosus tend to be bolder and to display greater overall activity than individual T. alpinus, measures of exploratory behavior do not differ between species. These findings have important implications for understanding reported differences in the elevational responses of these species to changing environmental conditions in the Sierra Nevada. More generally, these analyses underscore the 2 potential importance of individual-level differences in behavior in shaping higher-level patterns of response to environmental change. For my second chapter, I examine how demographic traits vary between my two focal species, as a first step toward determining if such traits can explain population-level patterns of range shifts in response to climate change. Anthropogenic climate change is causing many species to shift their range in response to warming temperatures. However, the demographic mechanisms that drive these changes remain poorly understood. To test the prediction that species with contracting ranges will exhibit demographic vital rates associated with population decline, I analyzed the results of a multi-year mark recapture study of our two focal species. My analyses reveal that sex ratio and reproductive output vary little between species, while body condition varies significantly in both species across localities and capture years, and recapture rate differ significantly, with T. alpinus tending to have lower body condition and a lower likelihood to be captured from one year to the next. However, these analyses also reveal that much of the variation detected can be explained by local, site level effects. These results emphasize that in ecologically similar species, even subtle differences in local demographic response may drive long term population dynamics under environmental change. For my third chapter, I provide the first characterization of the repeatability of individual behavioral responses to novelty in the two focal study species. Repeatability of behavioral responses, often referred to as animal “personality,” is thought to be critical in allowing natural selection to shape these aspects of behavior. Accordingly, quantitative estimates of the repeatability offer important insights into the causes and consequences of individual variation in behavior. Using repeated testing of individual free-living alpine and lodgepole chipmunks, I assess the repeatability of the measures of exploration and boldness examined in Chapter 1 and I examine potential correlations between these behavioral responses to determine if, together, they represent a potential behavioral syndrome. Although sample sizes were limited due to the challenges of working with free-living animals, my analyses suggest that exploration is more repeatable than boldness. I found no significant correlation between these behavioral responses, suggesting that they are not linked as part of a single syndrome. Collectively, these findings raise important questions regarding the nature and implications of repeatability in individual behavioral responses to novelty

<b>Construction and optimisation of a cartridge filter for removing fluoride in drinking water</b>

An attempt has been made to construct a cartridge to be used for the defluoridation of drinking water. The cartridge packed with bone char material could be fixed onto a domestic faucet as a flow through defluoridizer. PVC cartridges of various sizes were made from a ¾ inch pipe. The efficiency of fluoride removal was determined for the following parameters: cartridge length, flow rate of water, compactness of bone char material and particle size with the aim of determining the optimum conditions for a good cartridge. It was found that the optimal conditions for the F^- filter that gave the best results in removing of F^- from water with minimum inconvenience were: particle size, 0.2 mm mean diameter; the flow rate, equal or less than 20 mL/min; cartridge length, 10 cm filled with 20 g of bone char material

Empirical studies of escape behavior find mixed support for the race for life model.

Escape theory has been exceptionally successful in conceptualizing and accurately predicting effects of numerous factors that affect predation risk and explaining variation in flight initiation distance (FID; predator-prey distance when escape begins). Less explored is the relative orientation of an approaching predator, prey, and its eventual refuge. The relationship between an approaching threat and its refuge can be expressed as an angle we call the interpath angle or Φ, which describes the angle between the paths of predator and prey to the preys refuge and thus expresses the degree to which prey must run toward an approaching predator. In general, we might expect that prey would escape at greater distances if they must flee toward a predator to reach its burrow. The race for life model makes formal predictions about how Φ should affect FID. We evaluated the model by studying escape decisions in yellow-bellied marmots Marmota flaviventer, a species which flees to burrows. We found support for some of the models predictions, yet the relationship between Φ and FID was less clear. Marmots may not assess Φ in a continuous fashion; but we found that binning angle into 4 45° bins explained a similar amount of variation as models that analyzed angle continuously. Future studies of Φ, especially those that focus on how different species perceive relative orientation, will likely enhance our understanding of its importance in flight decisions

Cohort Community for Perseverance and Persistence in STEM Scholars Program

A cohort community of STEM Scholars majoring in chemistry, biology, mathematics, and computer science was implemented with a focus on mentoring and integration within the university community as key strategies to promote student retention and progression. The overall program goal is to increase the number of STEM bachelor’s degree, especially among African Americans. Mentoring opportunities occurred during meetings with faculty mentors, bi-weekly meetings and success coaching sessions. A requirement of scholars at the beginning of coaching sessions was the development of a success plan to assist students in four key areas; academic performance, social development, career development, and personal health/wellness. In addition to workshops on various topics the bi-weekly meetings provided opportunities for group discussions, where the more experienced cohort group could share information with others on success strategies, navigating institutional barriers and opportunities for integration into the university community. The program has completed its third year with positive results. Over 80% of scholars have been retained. Scholars have emerged as leaders. Their GPAs and success rates are significantly above those of their peers. Though not mandated, over 70% participated in summer undergraduate research internships. These results show that the STEM scholars are motivated toward successful preparation for STEM careers

Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education in Three Schools: A Teachers' Resource

In 2009 the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) initiated the Inclusive Schools three-year pilot project with the intent to engage teachers, teacher educators, students, parents, staff, and administrators in investigating and developing effective inclusive curriculum and instructional practices that could be implemented in classrooms and school-wide. In addition, the project aimed to identify practices and factors that contribute to improved student engagement and learning and that strengthen community connections. Over a three-year period, three TDSB elementary schools - Carleton Village Public School, Flemington Public School, and Grey Owl Junior Public School - carried out 19 school-based inquiries. School-based inquiries were grounded in a professional learning process that emphasized inquiry, partnership, collaboration, action and reflection, and professional choice and responsibility. Participants had different understandings and experiences, which they brought to their particular investigations. This teachers’ resource contains reports on school-based inquiries into effective inclusive curriculum practices. It is intended for teachers who are considering the integration of inclusive approaches in their day-to-day work in schools. As such, the purpose of this resource is to contribute toward understanding how to support student learning and ongoing teacher education in ways that are responsive to today’s educational context