Transcending the Conventional Science Curriculum: Supporting Students in the Negotiation of Meaning and Finding Their Place in Science

Thesis advisor: Katherine L. McNeillScience education in schools is often inadvertently designed so that it is frequently inconsistent with students' lived experiences (Aikenhead, 1996, 2001; Brickhouse and Potter, 2001). Science is therefore seen by students as an endeavor for someone else, contributing to a lack of access to the knowledge necessary to address scientific and environmental issues (Calabrese Barton, 2002; Fraser-Abder, Atwater, and Lee, 2006). This research promotes an exploration of meanings, allowing students to find their place in science and the roles that science fills for them. I assert that the consideration of humanistic approaches to science education provides the base necessary to transcend the uncritical acceptance of the assumptions of the conventional science curriculum. Through a review of the literature, I provide a survey of three humanistic pathways in science education: liberal, renewal, and cultural-progressive. I developed activities in cooperation with a high school biology teacher based on these approaches: drawing pictures of science-in-action, a specialized gallery walk, a role play, and the storyboarding of a science-oriented public service announcement. Utilizing qualitative research methods and drawing on the concept of figured worlds (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain, 1998; Urrieta, 2007), this project was conducted in a high school biology classroom with a diverse range of students. Research methods included classroom observations over a period of eight weeks, ethnographic interviews, artifact collection and analysis, pile sorts, rank ordering, and oral and written reflections by the teacher and her students. Analysis of this data suggests that the meanings of science for students and their teacher were diverse and emergent through the interactions of personal histories and developing identities, activities, and reflection. This research further illustrates how integrating the plurality of the humanistic approaches to science education provides ways for students and teachers to engage in meaningful, rich, and cognitively challenging experiences. Such experiences allow for the exploration of meaning and possible identities in and with science.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Curriculum and Instruction

Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) : science plan

The Arctic is undergoing rapid transformations that have brought the Arctic Ocean to the top of international political agendas. Predicting future conditions of the Arctic Ocean system requires scientific knowledge of its present status as well as a process-based understanding of the mechanisms of change. The Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) initiative is an integrative, international, interdisciplinary pan-Arctic program to study changes and feedbacks among the physical and biogeochemical components of the Arctic Ocean and their ultimate impacts on biological productivity. The goal of ART is to develop priorities for Arctic marine science over the next decade. Three overarching questions form the basis of the ART science plan: (1) How were past transitions in sea ice connected to energy flows, elemental cycling, biological diversity and productivity, and how do these compare to present and projected shifts? (2) How will biogeochemical cycling respond to transitions in terrestrial, gateway and shelf-to-basin fluxes? (3) How do Arctic Ocean organisms and ecosystems respond to environmental transitions including temperature, stratification, ice conditions, and pH? The integrated approach developed to answer the ART key scientific questions comprises: (a) process studies and observations to reveal mechanisms, (b) the establishment of links to existing monitoring programs, (c) the evaluation of geological records to extend time-series, and (d) the improvement of our modeling capabilities of climate-induced transitions. In order to develop an implementation plan for the ART initiative, an international and interdisciplinary workshop is currently planned to take place in Winnipeg, Canada in October 2010

Maximum Likelihood Estimation for Single Particle, Passive Microrheology Data with Drift

Volume limitations and low yield thresholds of biological fluids have led to widespread use of passive microparticle rheology. The mean-squared-displacement (MSD) statistics of bead position time series (bead paths) are either applied directly to determine the creep compliance [Xu et al (1998)] or transformed to determine dynamic storage and loss moduli [Mason & Weitz (1995)]. A prevalent hurdle arises when there is a non-diffusive experimental drift in the data. Commensurate with the magnitude of drift relative to diffusive mobility, quantified by a P\'eclet number, the MSD statistics are distorted, and thus the path data must be "corrected" for drift. The standard approach is to estimate and subtract the drift from particle paths, and then calculate MSD statistics. We present an alternative, parametric approach using maximum likelihood estimation that simultaneously fits drift and diffusive model parameters from the path data; the MSD statistics (and consequently the compliance and dynamic moduli) then follow directly from the best-fit model. We illustrate and compare both methods on simulated path data over a range of P\'eclet numbers, where exact answers are known. We choose fractional Brownian motion as the numerical model because it affords tunable, sub-diffusive MSD statistics consistent with typical 30 second long, experimental observations of microbeads in several biological fluids. Finally, we apply and compare both methods on data from human bronchial epithelial cell culture mucus.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure

Occupation du premier âge du Fer sur le site de La Condamine VII à Vauvert (Gard)

Une fouille préventive menée à Vauvert en 2012 au quartier de La Condamine a révélé la présence de plusieurs fosses de la fin du premier âge du Fer, dont la plus vaste, correspondant apparemment à une extraction de matériau, a été réutilisée comme dépotoir et a livré un riche mobilier. L'étude du comblement et du contexte suggère que le remplissage est issu de l'incendie d'une ou plusieurs maisons proches, construites en terre et probablement couvertes de bruyère. Le mobilier comprend notamment plusieurs coupes attiques et de nombreux vases gris monochromes témoignant d'un large accès des habitants au commerce méditerranéen et régional, visiblement favorisé par la proximité du comptoir lagunaire du Cailar. Remarquable est aussi la qualité des objets en bronze, fibules et épingles, dont certains sont originaux. On ignore cependant si les habitations en cause étaient isolées au sein d'un domaine rural, ou si un véritable village existait à proximité.A preventive excavation conducted in 2012 in the district of La Condamine in Vauvert revealed the presence of several pits from the late Early Iron Age. The largest apparently corresponds to a pit serving for extraction of material and was reused as a dumping ground revealing now a lot of artifacts. The study of the filling and the context suggests that the filling stems from one or more nearby burned houses, which were built of earth and probably covered with heather. The furniture includes several Attic cups and many grey monochrome vases, indicating the population’s participation to the Mediterranean and regional trade. The latter fact is apparently favored by the proximity to the settlement of the Cailar.Also remarkable is the quality of bronze objects, fibulae and pins, some of which are original. It is not known if the settlements in question were isolated in a rural area, or if there was a real village nearby

What Do We (Not) Know About Research Software Engineering?

As recognition of the vital importance of software for contemporary research is increasing, Research Software Engineering (RSE) is emerging as a discipline in its own right. We present an inventory of relevant research questions about RSE as a basis for future research and initiatives to advance the field, highlighting selected literature and initiatives. This work is the outcome of a RSE community workshop held as part of the 2020 International Series of Online Research Software Events (SORSE) which identified and prioritized key questions across three overlapping themes: people, policy and infrastructure. Almost half of the questions focus on the people theme, which addresses issues related to career paths, recognition and motivation; recruitment and retention; skills; and diversity, equity and inclusion. However, the people and policy themes have the same number of prioritized questions. We recommend that different types of stakeholders, such as RSE employers and policy makers, take responsibility for supporting or encouraging answering of these questions by organizations that have an interest. Initiatives such as the International Council of RSE Associations should also be engaged in this work

A new classification of Cyperaceae (Poales) supported by phylogenomic data

Cyperaceae (sedges) are the third largest monocot family and are of considerable economic and ecological importance. Sedges represent an ideal model family to study evolutionary biology because of their species richness, global distribution, large discrepancies in lineage diversity, broad range of ecological preferences, and adaptations including multiple origins of C4 photosynthesis and holocentric chromosomes. Goetghebeur’s seminal work on Cyperaceae published in 1998 provided the most recent complete classification at tribal and generic level, based on a morphological study of Cyperaceae inflorescence, spikelet, flower and embryo characters plus anatomical and other information. Since then, several family‐level molecular phylogenetic studies using Sanger sequence data have been published. Here, more than 20 years after the last comprehensive classification of the family, we present the first family‐wide phylogenomic study of Cyperaceae based on targeted sequencing using the Angiosperms353 probe kit sampling 311 accessions. Additionally, 62 accessions available from GenBank were mined for overlapping reads and included in the phylogenomic analyses. Informed by this backbone phylogeny, a new classification for the family at the tribal, subtribal and generic levels is proposed. The majority of previously recognized suprageneric groups are supported, and for the first time we establish support for tribe Cryptangieae as a clade including the genus Koyamaea. We provide a taxonomic treatment including identification keys and diagnoses for the 2 subfamilies, 24 tribes and 10 subtribes and basic information on the 95 genera. The classification includes five new subtribes in tribe Schoeneae: Anthelepidinae, Caustiinae, Gymnoschoeninae, Lepidospermatinae and Oreobolinae. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

How many human proteoforms are there?

Despite decades of accumulated knowledge about proteins and their post-translational modifications (PTMs), numerous questions remain regarding their molecular composition and biological function. One of the most fundamental queries is the extent to which the combinations of DNA-, RNA- and PTM-level variations explode the complexity of the human proteome. Here, we outline what we know from current databases and measurement strategies including mass spectrometry-based proteomics. In doing so, we examine prevailing notions about the number of modifications displayed on human proteins and how they combine to generate the protein diversity underlying health and disease. We frame central issues regarding determination of protein-level variation and PTMs, including some paradoxes present in the field today. We use this framework to assess existing data and to ask the question, "How many distinct primary structures of proteins (proteoforms) are created from the 20,300 human genes?" We also explore prospects for improving measurements to better regularize protein-level biology and efficiently associate PTMs to function and phenotype

NeuroBench: Advancing Neuromorphic Computing through Collaborative, Fair and Representative Benchmarking

The field of neuromorphic computing holds great promise in terms of advancing computing efficiency and capabilities by following brain-inspired principles. However, the rich diversity of techniques employed in neuromorphic research has resulted in a lack of clear standards for benchmarking, hindering effective evaluation of the advantages and strengths of neuromorphic methods compared to traditional deep-learning-based methods. This paper presents a collaborative effort, bringing together members from academia and the industry, to define benchmarks for neuromorphic computing: NeuroBench. The goals of NeuroBench are to be a collaborative, fair, and representative benchmark suite developed by the community, for the community. In this paper, we discuss the challenges associated with benchmarking neuromorphic solutions, and outline the key features of NeuroBench. We believe that NeuroBench will be a significant step towards defining standards that can unify the goals of neuromorphic computing and drive its technological progress. Please visit neurobench.ai for the latest updates on the benchmark tasks and metrics

NeuroBench:Advancing Neuromorphic Computing through Collaborative, Fair and Representative Benchmarking

The field of neuromorphic computing holds great promise in terms of advancing computing efficiency and capabilities by following brain-inspired principles. However, the rich diversity of techniques employed in neuromorphic research has resulted in a lack of clear standards for benchmarking, hindering effective evaluation of the advantages and strengths of neuromorphic methods compared to traditional deep-learning-based methods. This paper presents a collaborative effort, bringing together members from academia and the industry, to define benchmarks for neuromorphic computing: NeuroBench. The goals of NeuroBench are to be a collaborative, fair, and representative benchmark suite developed by the community, for the community. In this paper, we discuss the challenges associated with benchmarking neuromorphic solutions, and outline the key features of NeuroBench. We believe that NeuroBench will be a significant step towards defining standards that can unify the goals of neuromorphic computing and drive its technological progress. Please visit neurobench.ai for the latest updates on the benchmark tasks and metrics