Toolboxes and handing students a hammer: The effects of cueing and instruction on getting students to think critically

Developing critical thinking skills is a common goal of an undergraduate physics curriculum. How do students make sense of evidence and what do they do with it? In this study, we evaluated students' critical thinking behaviors through their written notebooks in an introductory physics laboratory course. We compared student behaviors in the Structured Quantitative Inquiry Labs (SQILabs) curriculum to a control group and evaluated the fragility of these behaviors through procedural cueing. We found that the SQILabs were generally effective at improving the quality of students' reasoning about data and making decisions from data. These improvements in reasoning and sensemaking were thwarted, however, by a procedural cue. We describe these changes in behavior through the lens of epistemological frames and task orientation, invoked by the instructional moves

Heavy landings of mobulids reported at Cochin Fisheries Harbour, Kerala

Heavy landings of mobulids was seen for four days during 19 - 22 August and again during 31 August - 3 September 2013 at Cochin Fisheries Harbour. During the first phase, around 600 mobulids (16 tonnes) were landed by gillnetters which operated off the coast of Vizhinjam, Kovalam and Colachel. The vessels operated for a period of 5-7 days in the fishing ground 08014’N; 76033’E at a depth of 15 -30 m. The gear used was “ozhukkuvalai” with a square mesh size of 80 - 150 mm. On an average, 15 – 30 numbers of mobulids were landed per boat

Direct observation of narrow electronic energy band formation in 2D molecular self-assembly

Surface-supported molecular overlayers have demonstrated versatility as platforms for fundamental research and a broad range of applications, from atomic-scale quantum phenomena to potential for electronic, optoelectronic and catalytic technologies. Here, we report a structural and electronic characterisation of self-assembled magnesium phthalocyanine (MgPc) mono and bilayers on the Ag(100) surface, via low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), density functional theory (DFT) and tight-binding (TB) modeling. These crystalline close-packed molecular overlayers consist of a square lattice with a basis composed of a single, flat-adsorbed MgPc molecule. Remarkably, ARPES measurements at room temperature on the monolayer reveal a momentum-resolved, two-dimensional (2D) electronic energy band, 1.27 eV below the Fermi level, with a width of ∼20 meV. This 2D band results from in-plane hybridization of highest occupied molecular orbitals of adjacent, weakly interacting MgPc's, consistent with our TB model and with DFT-derived nearest-neighbor hopping energies. This work opens the door to quantitative characterisation – as well as control and harnessing – of subtle electronic interactions between molecules in functional organic nanofilms

Southern sun fish Mola ramsayi (Giglioli, 1883) recorded from Kochi, southwest coast of India

Family Molidae with three genera (Ranzania, Masturus and Mola) and four species are known as the world’s heaviest fishes with a planktivorous diet. Known for their truncated anatomy, these fishes are characterized by lack of caudal bones, ribs and pelvic fins (Tifler, 1980). A southern ocean sunfish Mola ramsayi with total length 111cm and weighing 50kg was landed at Munambam Fisheries Harbour on 6 September 2013

Nutritional evaluation of commercially important fish species of Lakshadweep archipelago, India.

Estimation of nutrition profile of edible fishes is essential and thus a bio-monitoring study was carried out to find out the nutritional composition of commonly available fishes in Agatti Island water of Lakshadweep Sea. Protein, carbohydrate, lipid, ash, vitamin, amino acid and fatty acid composition in the muscle of ten edible fish species were studied. Proximate analysis revealed that the protein, carbohydrate, lipid and ash contents were high in Thunnus albacares (13.69%), Parupeneus bifasciatus (6.12%), Hyporhamphus dussumieri (6.97%) and T. albacares (1.65%), respectively. Major amino acids were lysine, leucine and methionine, registering 2.84-4.56%, 2.67-4.18% and 2.64-3.91%, respectively. Fatty acid compositions ranged from 31.63% to 38.97% saturated (SFA), 21.99-26.30% monounsaturated (MUFAs), 30.32-35.11% polyunsaturated acids (PUFAs) and 2.86-7.79% branched fatty acids of the total fatty acids. The ω-3 and ω-6 PUFAs were ranged 13.05-21.14% and 6.88-9.82% of the total fatty acids, respectively. Hence, the fishes of Lakshadweep Sea are highly recommended for consumption, since these fishes are highly enriched with nutrition. The results can be used as a baseline data for comparing the various nutritional profiles of fishes in future

Gender gaps and gendered action in a first-year physics laboratory

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] It is established that male students outperform female students on almost all commonly used physics concept inventories. However, there is significant variation in the factors that contribute to the gap, as well as the direction in which they influence it. It is presently unknown if such a gender gap exists on the relatively new Concise Data Processing Assessment (CDPA) and, therefore, whether gendered actions in the teaching lab might influence—or be influenced by—the gender gap. To begin to get an estimates of the gap, its predictors, and its correlates, we have measured performance on the CDPA at the pretest and post-test level. We have also made observations of how students in mixed-gender partnerships divide their time in the lab. We find a gender gap on the CDPA that persists from pre- to post-test and that is as big as, if not bigger than, similar reported gaps. We also observe compelling differences in how students divide their time in the lab. In mixed-gender pairs, male students tend to monopolize the computer, female and male students tend to share the equipment equally, and female students tend to spend more time on other activities that are not the equipment or computer, such as writing or speaking to peers. We also find no correlation between computer use, when students are presumably working with their data, and performance on the CDPA post-test. In parallel to our analysis, we scrutinize some of the more commonly used approaches to similar data. We argue in favor of more explicitly checking the assumptions associated with the statistical methods that are used and improved reporting and contextualization of effect sizes. Ultimately, we claim no evidence that female students are less capable of learning than their male peers, and we suggest caution when using gain measures to draw conclusions about differences in science classroom performance across gender

Fatty acid composition of ten fish species from Lakshadweep Sea.

<p>Fatty acid composition of ten fish species from Lakshadweep Sea.</p

Proximate composition of ten fish species from Lakshadweep Sea.

<p>Proximate composition of ten fish species from Lakshadweep Sea.</p

Vitamins (mg/100 gm) of ten fish species from Lakshadweep Sea.

<p>Vitamins (mg/100 gm) of ten fish species from Lakshadweep Sea.</p