The Effect of Varied Gender Groupings on Argumentation Skills among Middle School Students in Different Cultures

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the effect of varied gender groupings on argumentation skills among middle school students in Taiwan and the United States in a project-based learning environment that incorporated a graph-oriented computer-assisted application (GOCAA). A total of 43 students comprised the treatment condition and were engaged in the collaborative argumentation process in same-gender groupings. Of these 43 students, 20 were located in the U.S. and 23 were located in Taiwan. A total of 40 students comprised the control condition and were engaged in the collaborative argumentation process in mixed-gender groupings. Of these 40 students, 19 were in the U.S. and 21 were in Taiwan. In each country, verbal collaborative argumentation was recorded and the students’ post essays were collected. Among females in Taiwan, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that statistically a significant gender-grouping effect was evident on the total argumentation skills outcome, while MANOVA indicated no significant gender-grouping effect on the combined set of skill outcomes. Among females in the U.S., MANOVA indicated statistically significant gender-grouping effect on the combined set of argumentation skills outcomes Specifically, U.S. female students in mixed-gender groupings (the control condition) significantly outperformed female students in single-gender groupings (the treatment condition) in the counterargument and rebuttal skills. No significant group differences were observed among males. A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine how the graph-oriented computer-assisted application supported students’ development of argumentation skills in different gender groupings in both countries. In each country, all teams in both conditions demonstrated a similar pattern of collaborative argumentation with the exception of three female teams in the U.S. Female teams, male teams, (the treatment condition) and mixed-gender teams (the control condition) demonstrated metacognition regulation skills in different degrees and with different scaffolding

Structure and permeability of the egg capsule of the placental Australian sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon taylori

Shark placentae are derived from modifications to the fetal yolk sac and the maternal uterine mucosa. In almost all placental sharks, embryonic development occurs in an egg capsule that remains intact for the entire pregnancy, separating the fetal tissues from the maternal tissues at the placental interface. Here, we investigate the structure and permeability of the egg capsules that surround developing embryos of the placental Australian sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon taylori) during late pregnancy. The egg capsule is an acellular fibrous structure that is 0.42 ± 0.04 μm thick at the placental interface between the yolk sac and uterine tissues, and 0.67 ± 0.08 μm thick in the paraplacental regions. This is the thinnest egg capsule of any placental shark measured so far, which may increase the diffusion rate of respiratory gases, fetal wastes, water and nutrients between maternal and fetal tissues. Molecules smaller than or equal to ~ 1000 Da can diffuse through the egg capsule, but larger proteins (~ 3000–26,000 Da) cannot. Similar permeability characteristics between the egg capsule of R. taylori and other placental sharks suggest that molecular size is an important determinant of the molecules that can be exchanged between the mother and her embryos during pregnancy

Implementation of an innovative webGIS learning system for grade 7–12 students: Perspectives from teachers' knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content

This study utilized quantitative and qualitative data to acquire information in order to better understand teachers' use of technology in middle school and high school science classrooms. Quantitative data were collected by (a) surveying teachers who attended a 1-day workshop about how to integrate a webGIS web-based learning environment into their curriculum and (b) having the teachers complete a post-survey following their integration of the web-based learning environment. Qualitative data were collected at teacher interviews following the workshop and technology integration. This study led to two primary findings. First, a knowledge assessment was given and the difference between the means of participants' pre- and post-knowledge assessments is significant at the .001 level (t = 10.45, df = 14). The knowledge improvement that occurred may suggest that the participants benefited from the workshop's content and problem-based instructional strategy. Second, an attitudinal assessment survey indicated a positive difference, but not at a significant level (t = .50, df = 14). Follow-up interviews with the science teachers revealed that their increase in content knowledge was not sufficient to overcome the barriers of technology use in the classroom. There were four barriers to technology integration: lack of time (including prep time and the curriculum time schedule), lack of access to proper technology, lack of support from administration, and lack of accountability to integrate technology within the classroom

Cardiovascular Efficacy and Safety of Bococizumab in High-Risk Patients

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