Investigative school research projects in biology: Effects on students

Science education is sometimes orientated around students learning science by doing science. Investigative research projects may be intended to reflect some aspects of science more authentically than other teaching and learning approaches, such as confirmatory practical activities and teacher demonstrations. What remains under-researched is what the effects on students are as a result of undertaking such projects. In this study we collected data from students who were participating in investigative research projects. Our research question is ‘How do secondary school students participating in a biology research project see science and themselves in relation to it?’. Twelve 12-18 year-olds who were undertaking biology research projects in England participated in 1:1 interviews in 2021. There was an association between the participants’ motivation for engaging with the investigative research project and their science identities, with many of them articulating that the project provided them with an “authentic” experience of what “real scientists” do. Participants were nearly always positive about taking part in a research project; this was particularly the case for those students who presented their findings at a conference, where presenters received feedback from peers and members of the science community. For some of the participants, engaging in an investigative research project afforded them opportunities not only to develop their scientific inquiry skills but to gain a deeper understanding of the epistemological dimensions of science and its connection with historical, cultural and social values. This greater appreciation and insight into the nature of science increased their science-related career aspirations

Implications of under-confidence and over-confidence in mathematics at secondary school

Confidence is theorised to be motivational and beneficial within education, although it remains unclear how calibration bias (the extent of under-confidence to over-confidence) might arise and what the implications may be. In order to gain new insights, a longitudinal sample of 3203 secondary school students in Germany was considered at Grade 5 and Grade 9. Predictive modelling explored what factors predicted calibration bias, and whether/how calibration bias predicted other outcomes. The results offered many new insights including that, at Grade 9, calibration bias (i.e. higher over-confidence) negatively predicted mathematics grades but positively predicted mathematics self-concept (subject-level confidence), school self-concept (general educational confidence), and self-esteem (an indicator of well-being), accounting for students’ background characteristics and an array of other predictors

Application of a Channel Design Method to High-Solidity Cascades and Tests of an Impulse Cascade with 90 Degrees of Turning

A technique is developed for the application of a channel design method to the design of high-solidity cascades with prescribed velocity distributions as a function of arc length along the blade-element profile. The technique is applied to both incompressible and subsonic compressible, nonviscous, irrotational fluid motion. For compressible flow, the ratio of specific heats is assumed equal to -1.0. An impulse cascade with 90 degree turning was designed for incompressible flow and was tested at the design angle of attack over a range of downstream Mach number from 0.2 to coke flow. To achieve good efficiency, the cascade was designed for prescribed velocities and maximum blade loading according to limitations imposed by considerations of boundary-layer separation

Understanding causality and uncertainty in volcanic observations: an example of forecasting eruptive activity on Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Following a cessation in eruptive activity it is important to understand how a volcano will behave in the future and when it may next erupt. Such an assessment can be based on the volcano's long-term pattern of behaviour and insights into its current state via monitoring observations. We present a Bayesian network that integrates these two strands of evidence to forecast future eruptive scenarios using expert elicitation. The Bayesian approach provides a framework to quantify the magmatic causes in terms of volcanic effects (i.e., eruption and unrest). In October 2013, an expert elicitation was performed to populate a Bayesian network designed to help forecast future eruptive (in-)activity at Soufrière Hills Volcano. The Bayesian network was devised to assess the state of the shallow magmatic system, as a means to forecast the future eruptive activity in the context of the long-term behaviour at similar dome-building volcanoes. The findings highlight coherence amongst experts when interpreting the current behaviour of the volcano, but reveal considerable ambiguity when relating this to longer patterns of volcanism at dome-building volcanoes, as a class. By asking questions in terms of magmatic causes, the Bayesian approach highlights the importance of using short-term unrest indicators from monitoring data as evidence in long-term forecasts at volcanoes. Furthermore, it highlights potential biases in the judgements of volcanologists and identifies sources of uncertainty in terms of magmatic causes rather than scenario-based outcomes

From social contract to 'social contrick' : the depoliticisation of economic policy-making under Harold Wilson, 1974–75

The 1974-79 Labour Governments were elected on the basis of an agreement with the TUC promising a redistribution of income and wealth known as the Social Contract. However, the Government immediately began to marginalise these commitments in favour of preferences for incomes policy and public expenditure cuts, which has led the Social Contract to be described as the 'Social Contrick'. These changes were legitimised through a process of depoliticisation, and using an Open Marxist framework and evidence from the National Archives, the paper will show that the Treasury's exchange rate strategy and the need to secure external finance placed issues of confidence at the centre of political debate, allowing the Government to argue there was no alternative to the introduction of incomes policy and the reduction of public expenditure

Syn-sedimentary to diagenetic Cu ± Co mineralization in Mesoproterozoic pyritic shale driven by magmatic-hydrothermal activity on the edge of the Great Falls tectonic zone – Black Butte, Helena Embayment, Belt-Purcell Basin, USA: Evidence from sulfide Re-Os isotope geochemistry

The ca. 1,500 to 1,325 Ma Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell Basin is an exceptionally preserved archive of Mesoproterozoic Earth and its paleo-environmental conditions. The Belt-Purcell Basin is also host to world-class base metal sediment-hosted mineralization produced in a variety of settings from the rift stage of basin evolution through to the subsequent influence of East Kootenay and Grenvillian orogenies. The mineral potential of this basin has not been fully realized yet. New rhenium-osmium (Re-Os) data presented here for chalcopyrite, pyrite and black shale contribute to refine a robust genetic model for the origin of the Black Butte copper ± cobalt ± silver (Cu ± Co ± Ag) deposit hosted by the ca. >1,475 Ma Newland Formation in the Helena Embayment of the Belt-Purcell Basin in Montana, USA. Chalcopyrite Re-Os data yield an isochron age (1,488 ± 34 Ma, unradiogenic initial 187Os/188 Os composition Osi-chalcopyrite = 0.13 ± 0.11) that overlaps with the geological age of the Newland Formation. Further, the Re-Os data of syn-sedimentary to diagenetic massive pyrite yield evidence of resetting with an isochron age (1,358 ± 42 Ma) coincident with the timing of the East Kootenay Orogeny. The unradiogenic Osi-chalcopyrite at ca. 1,488 Ma (0.13 ± 0.11) argues for derivation of Os from a magmatic source with a 187Os/188 Os isotopic composition inherited from the upper mantle in the Mesoproterozoic (Osmantle 1,475 Ma= 0.12 ± 0.02). The unradiogenic Osi-chalcopyrite also suggests limited contamination from a continental crustal source. This source of Os and our new sulfur isotopic signatures of chalcopyrite [–4.1 to +2.1 ‰ - VCDT] implies a dominantly magmatic source for metals. We integrate our new results and previously published geological and geochemical evidence to conceptualize a genetic model in which Cu and metals were largely contributed by moderate-temperature, reduced magmatic-hydrothermal fluids carrying reduced sulfur species with a magmatic origin and flowing as highly metalliferous fluids within the shale sequence. A subsidiary derivation of metals during thermally forced shale diagenesis is possible. Chalcopyrite mineralization replaced locally massive syn-3 sedimentary to diagenetic pyrite units close to the sediment-water interface, i.e., an ideal locus where magmatic-hydrothermal fluids could cool and the solubility of chalcopyrite would fall. We suggest that Cu mineralization was coeval with the timing of an enhanced thermal gradient in the Helena Embayment triggered until ca. 1,455 Ma by tholeiitic dike swarm that intruded into Archean basement rocks and intersected the NE–SW-trending Great Falls Tectonic Zone

Solid-phase synthesis of duocarmycin analogues and the effect of C-terminal substitution on biological activity

YesThe duocarmycins are potent antitumour agents with potential in the development of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) as well as being clinical candidates in their own right. In this paper, we describe the synthesis of a duocarmycin monomer (DSA) that is suitably protected for utilisation in solid phase synthesis. The synthesis was performed on a large scale and the resulting racemic protected Fmoc-DSA subunit was separated by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) into the single enantiomers. Application to solid phase synthesis methodology gave a series of monomeric and extended duocarmycin analogues with amino acid substituents. The DNA sequence selectivity was similar to previous reports for both the monomeric and extended compounds. The substitution at the C-terminus of the duocarmycin caused a decrease in antiproliferative activity for all of the compounds studied. An extended compound containing an alanine at the C-terminus was converted to the primary amide or to an extended structure containing a terminal tertiary amine but this had no beneficial effects on biological activity.MJS was funded by Novartis and UEA. We thank the EPSRC Mass Spectrometry Service, Swansea. We thank Richard Robinson and Julia Hatto at Novartis for help in the large scale synthesis