Review of Sandra Ingram & Anne Parker Gender and Collaboration: Communication Styles in the Engineering Classroom. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2002. 125 pages.

Insights into inter-gender interactions were gained from the analysis of the behaviour of the lone women in each of the two male-dominated groups. In these observations, there was clear evidence that women in male-dominated groups experienced the "culture of engineering" and exhibited behaviour characteristic of their gender roles. In one of the dysfunctional groups, "Carol" was the only responsible and competent team member, but she was also the only woman on the team. Instead of complaining to the professor about her teammates, who did very little work and indulged in sexist humour, she was instead overly accommodating. She was almost apologetic when attempting to get the rest of the team on track, and when it was obvious that they weren't going to do their work, she ended up taking on their share of the workload, in order to avoid any conflicts. The other lone woman in a male-dominated group was "Melissa," who was chronically plagued with self-doubt and very low self-confidence, despite the fact that she was academically stronger than most of her fellow team members. The quality of the research in Gender and Collaboration is high, as it is rigorous. The writing style is clear and concise. The book opens the door to many other exciting research possibilities, and fellow researchers will certainly find it valuable. In addition to the insight on the effects of gender on professional interpersonal interactions, Gender and Collaboration also includes a very good analysis of the general requirements for successful teamwork. Perhaps engineering students can benefit from this book's detailed description of effective collaboration skills, and in addition, the book can alert students to gender issues. The book is also certainly useful for instructors, as it contains specific recommendations on how to encourage effective teamwork, and how to ensure the inclusion of women

Constructivist pedagogy at work in a realist classroom. A case study exploring college students’ attitudes towards science

This paper presents a case study of a physics-oriented liberal studies course on Science, Technology, and Society within the framework of constructivist pedagogy. We outline the challenges of using constructivist pedagogy to teach science, a subject whose philosophy is inherently realist. On the other hand, our case study demonstrates that a realist approach to pedagogy is not always the most effective way to teach science. While we are critical of constructivist philosophy, we also acknowledge that a constructivist approach to pedagogy can be effective in science education, as long as it is tethered to realism. The case study consists of three questions asked of 234 undergraduate students from two consecutive semesters. Their responses reveal the individual and cultural biases and the weak mathematics skills that may inhibit them from engaging in scientific thinking. The case study provides some support for applying constructivist pedagogy toward realist science education, and reveals the cognitive conflicts some students face when their pre-existing beliefs differ from what is being taught in the classroom as a universal reality. Our analysis of their responses explores the cooperating roles of realist philosophy and constructivist pedagogy

Citizen engagement through tangible data representation

We begin with the premise that data literacy is a fundamental facet of citizen education in this information age, and that an engaged citizenry in a democracy not only requires access to data, but also the capacity to manipulate and examine the data from multiple perspectives. The visualization of data elucidates trends and patterns in the phenomena that the data represents, and opens accessibility to understanding complicated human and natural processes represented by data sets. Research indicates that interacting with a visualization amplifies cognition and analysis. A single visualization may show only one facet of the data. To examine the data from multiple perspectives, engaged citizens need to be able to construct their own visualizations from a data set. Many tools for data visualization have responded to this need, allowing non-data experts to manipulate and gain insights into their data, but most of these tools are restricted to the computer screen, keyboard, and mouse. Cognition and analysis may be strengthened even more through embodied interaction with data. We present here the rationale for the design of a tool that allows users to probe a data set, through interactions with graspable (tangible) three-dimensional objects, rather than through a keyboard and mouse interaction. We argue that the use of tangibles facilitates understanding abstract concepts, and facilitates many concrete learning scenarios. Another advantage of using tangibles over screen-based tools is that they foster collaboration, which can promote a productive working and learning environment. We speculate that collaborative data exploration can be a productive educational activity for citizens in their communities and in the classroom, and we suggest our tool as a means to do this

Foraging activity patterns and nest size of Acromyrmex lobicornis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in an urban zone of San Luis

Diversos factores pueden influir sobre la actividad de forrajeo de las hormigas cortadoras de hojas. Sin embargo, los factores climáticos, especialmente la temperatura, puede ser considerada uno de los más importantes en regiones templadas. Se midió la actividad de forrajeo y el tamaño de nido en cuatro colonias Acromyrmex lobicornis Emery en la localidad de Juana Koslay, San Luis. La actividad forrajera se determinó a partir del número de hormigas que ingresa al nido cargadas con fragmentos vegetales por unidad de tiempo a lo largo de un año. Se midió temperatura de aire y suelo en cada oportunidad. Para estimar el tamaño del nido, se midió el área de forrajeo, diámetro del túmulo y número de obreras en cada colonia. Se encontraron asociaciones entre la actividad de forrajeo y las temperaturas del aire y del suelo en todos los meses del año, a excepción de febrero, julio y diciembre. Esta asociación fue positiva en los meses de octubre, mayo, junio, agosto y setiembre, pero negativa en los meses de noviembre, enero, marzo y abril. Las colonias mostraron actividad diurna en invierno y nocturna en verano. La temperatura y el tamaño de nido son factores que influyen sobre la actividad de forrajeo de A. lobicornis.Many factors can affect the foraging activity of leaf-cutting ants. However, climatic factors, especially temperature, could be considered the most important in temperate regions. In this work, we measured foraging activity and nest size in four colonies of Acromyrmex lobicornis Emery located in Juana Koslay, San Luis. Foraging activity was determined by the number of ants carrying plant fragments that entered the nest per unit time during a year. In each opportunity air and soil temperature were measured. To estimate nest size we used foraging area, mound diameter and number of workers in each colony Foraging activity and air and soil temperature correlated in every month of the year except February, July and December. However, the correlation was positive during October, May, June, August and September, and negative in November, January, March and April. The nests showed activity all the year, but diurnal in winter and nocturnal in summer. The temperature and the nest size are factors that influence the foraging activity of A. lobicornis.Fil: Jofre, Laura Elizabeth. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Area de Zoología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Medina, Ana Irene. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Area de Zoología; Argentin

La migración argentina a España : El caso de Mallorca

El trabajo aborda el flujo migratorio de argentinos hacia España, tomando como estudio de caso la isla de Mallorca, a partir de la década de 1960 y agudizado en el período 1990-2002. El marco teórico dentro del cual se desenvuelve la investigación se basa en las redes de relaciones sociales. Se realiza una fugaz mirada histórica para explicar el paso de una Argentina inmigratoria a una emigratoria a partir de 1960. En la década de 1990 se inicia el "éxodo económico" que alcanza su mayor significación entre 1998-2003. En esta etapa hay un notable ingreso de argentinos a Mallorca y este proceso, con características muy particulares y su realidad actual, es el que se propone analizar. Las redes de relaciones sociales contribuyen a explicar las estrategias de asentamiento por similitud que determinan concentraciones de argentinos en ciertos lugares de residencia- en algunos municipios de la isla de Mallorca y en el área urbana de Palma- y el desarrollo de actividades ocupacionales entre otros aspectos. Se prioriza el contenido de las relaciones sociales, ya que ellas estructuran las oportunidades laborales, que están socialmente determinadas, marcadas por lazos de parentesco, de amistad y vecindad. El objetivo fundamental es identificar los espacios sociales de origen de losmigrantes argentinos en Mallorca. También se logra describir el modo de vida, teniendo vital importancia en este aspecto la situación de ?legal? o ?ilegal?. Se tratará la problemática de la migración de niños y su inserción en el sistema educativo de la isla; se aborda el tema del desarraigo, del asociacionismo; las consecuencias en origen y destino de los flujos y finalmente la compleja problemática de los mallorquines que emigraron a la Argentina siendo niños o adolescentes y ahora, con más de cincuenta años regresan a su tierra.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Relaciones entre los migrantes y el lugar : Los argentinos y su lugar en las Islas Baleares

Las migraciones suponen los desplazamientos de población entre lugares. Los movimientos de población han sido estudiados desde sus aspectos sociales, centrando los análisis en los grupos o en una colectividad específica. En esta ponencia se trata de presentar una visión del proceso migratorio desde una perspectiva individual, que nos acerca a la postura microanalítica. Está ligada a los sentimientos y comportamientos del migrante en su nuevo "lugar". El marco teórico seleccionado como el más adecuado tiene relación con conceptos desarrollados por la Geografía Cultural y fundamentalmente por la Geografía de la Percepción y del Comportamiento. El concepto del "lugar" cumple un rol fundamental para comprender problemáticas de adaptación y de integración a los "lugares" elegidos como destino. Si bien se toma como estudio de caso a los migrantes argentinos en las Islas Baleares, los conceptos son aplicables a todos los migrantes en general, por lo cual propone como aporte una visión diferente de este proceso.Departamento de Geografí