Bridging the gap between school and out-of-school science: A Making pedagogical approach

Making provides a beneficial learning environment that requires skills and knowledge from the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to design and construct a product or an artefact. In this paper the maker approach reflects on the pedagogical potential of learning through the design and deployment of an automated system that monitors and records environmental parameters in lakes and rivers. IoT technologies are used to connect schools with natural ecosystems, providing the opportunity to students to be actively involved in designing and developing technology artefacts to experiment with, and further, in the formulation of research questions, and in the processing and interpretation of research results and measurements. The study contributes to the research literature on bridging the gap between the school and out-of-school science

IoT sensors in sea water environment: Ahoy! Experiences from a short summer trial

IoT sensors for measuring various sea water parameters, are explored here, aiming towards an educational context, in order to lead to a deeper understanding of the use of aquatic environments as natural resources, and towards the adoption of environmentally friendly behaviors. Sea-water sensing via IoT has not been extensively explored, due to practical difficulties in deployment, and the same applies to devising appropriate scenaria for understanding aquatic parameters in STEM education. A short hands-on IoT sensing trial, that has been conducted in various location of the Aegean sea, is reported in this paper. This research set out to gain insight into real data sets on which to base observations for devising realistic educational scenaria pertaining aquatic parameters. The results of this experiment are meant to guide research further, by shedding light into the IoT sensing issues that are involved in an educational scientific context. The goal is conducting broader research in the area of IoT water sensing towards its further utilization in STEM education

Experiences from Using Gamification and IoT-based Educational Tools in High Schools towards Energy Savings

Raising awareness among young people, and especially students, on the relevance of behavior change for achieving energy savings is increasingly being considered as a key enabler towards long-term and cost-effective energy efficiency policies. However, the way to successfully apply educational interventions focused on such targets inside schools is still an open question. In this paper, we present our approach for enabling IoT-based energy savings and sustainability awareness lectures and promoting data-driven energy-saving behaviors focused on a high school audience. We present our experiences toward the successful application of sets of educational tools and software over a real-world Internet of Things (IoT) deployment. We discuss the use of gamification and competition as a very effective end-user engagement mechanism for school audiences. We also present the design of an IoT-based hands-on lab activity, integrated within a high school computer science curricula utilizing IoT devices and data produced inside the school building, along with the Node-RED platform. We describe the tools used, the organization of the educational activities and related goals. We report on the experience carried out in both directions in a high school in Italy and conclude by discussing the results in terms of achieved energy savings within an observation period.Comment: to be presented at 2019 European Conference on Ambient Intelligenc

Evaluating a design-based learning approach using IoT technologies for STEM education

This paper presents an evaluation methodology suitable for a design- based learning approach with the Internet of Things technologies for teaching STEM courses. It also aims to evaluate the learning outcomes that such teaching interventions bring to students. The particular ed- ucational approach to be evaluated is an ongoing research topic, focus- ing on IoT sensor data used in school education, for understanding and raising awareness for aquatic ecosystems. This study aims to assess the impact of incorporating this proposal for IoT based teaching interven- tions in the subjects of Physics, Informatics and Electronics into the regular curriculum of Greek secondary education, as well as to add to the field literature

Observation and analysis of environmental factors of surface waters: An internet of things educational approach

Aquatic environment plays an extremely important role in the existence of life on Earth. However, aquatic ecosystems are directly at risk from increasing pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss, which makes it more than necessary to keep them constantly and thoroughly monitored. In this paper, the implementation of a STEM educational practice using the Internet of Things (IoT) systems, together with properly Design-Based Learning (DBL) activities, is presented to inquiry aquatic environments. In particular, it describes the design and implementation of an automated system that exploits data from installed sensors in lakes and rivers to monitor and record environmental parameters. Through the effort to raise school's community awareness for water quality protection as a result of STEM educational activities, in which knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics is applied, students gain: a) knowledge and understanding of basic physical and chemical parameters of aquatic ecosystems, and b) the ability to correlate, interpret and evaluate changes in the physical and chemical parameters of water

Clarithromycin is an effective immunomodulator when administered late in experimental pyelonephritis by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Background: To apply clarithromycin as an immunomodulatory treatment in experimental urosepsis by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: Acute pyelonephritis was induced in 40 rabbits after inoculation of the test isolate in the renal pelvis. Therapy was administered upon signs of sepsis in four groups: A, controls; B, intravenous clarithromycin; C, amikacin; and D, both agents. Survival and vital signs were recorded; blood was sampled for culture and estimation of pro-inflammatory mediators; monocytes were isolated for determination of apoptotic rate and ex vivo TNF alpha secretion. Quantitative cultures and biopsies of organs were performed after death. Results: Increased rectal temperature and oxygen saturation were found in groups B and D compared to A and C. Mean survival of groups A, B, C and D was 2.65, 7.15, 4.25 and 8.70 days respectively. No differences were noted between groups concerning bacterial load in blood and tissues and serum endotoxins. Serum MDA and total caspase-3 activity of monocytes of group D decreased following treatment compared to other groups. Negative correlation was detected between cytoplasmic caspase-3 and ex vivo secretion of TNF alpha of blood monocytes of group A; similar correlation was not found for any other group. Pathology scores of liver and lung of group B were lower than group A. Conclusion: Clarithromycin administered late in experimental urosepsis by multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa prolonged survival and ameliorated clinical findings. Its effect is probably attributed to immunomodulatory intervention on blood monocytes