The Impact of Writing Intensive Professional Development on High School Teachersa Science Content Knowledge of Energy in Systems

The Communication in Science Inquiry Project CISIP investigated the impact of writing intensive inquiry based professional development on high school teachers science content knowledge of Energy in Systems In particular we investigated whether different forms of assessment provided different information about the depth of teacher knowledge We developed a two-tier Energy Test linked to both national and state science standards which was administered both before and after science teacher particip-ation in 23 hours of professional development on energy in biological and societal systems Our study found that we were successful in relaying content knowledge to the teachers When we analyzed misconceptions in distracter choices and written responses on the same test however we found we were successful in some areas but not in others The application of knowledge gained about energy in systems through writing scientific explanations was the least successful of al

Using the Communication in Science Inquiry Project professional development model to facilitate learning middle school genetics concepts

This study describes the effect of embedding content in the Communication in Inquiry Science Project professional development model for science and language arts teachers. The model uses four components of successful professional development (content focus, active learning, extended duration, participation by teams of teachers from the same school or grade level) and instructional strategies for inquiry, academic language development, written and oral discourse, and learning principles as components of science activities. Teachers were given a pre/ post-institute genetics assessment. There was a statistically significant increase in scores for the entire sample and a statistically significant difference between science and language arts pre and post scores, with science teachers scoring higher in both cases

Chapter 19: Vulnerability of coastal and estuarine habitats in the Great Barrier Reef to climate change

This chapter attempts to address the vulnerability of the CEM in the Great Barrier Reef region to global climate change. It does not consider individual habitats (eg reefs or seagrasses) but goes beyond the individual species and habitat assessments, to consider impacts on the whole coastal marine community complex, and the ecological processes that support its functioning.This is Chapter 19 of Climate change and the Great Barrier Reef: a vulnerability assessment. The entire book can be found at http://hdl.handle.net/11017/13

Discourse in Inquiry Science Classrooms, DiISC Version 2.0 (User’s manual for an observation research instrument)

This is a user\u27s manual for the externally validated Version 2.0 of the Discourse in Science Inquiry Classrooms (DiISC) instrument. The instrument is best suited for use in conducting research in secondary (grades 6-12) science classrooms that focuses on teachers\u27 instructional practices, but can also be used as a professional development tool for teacher self-reflection and identifying goals for instructional change. The DiISC Version 2.0 is aligned with a model of a scientific classroom discourse community and articulated characteristics of social constructivist lessons in the categories of inquiry, oral and written discourse, and academic language development and essential learning principles

DISCOURSE IN INQUIRY SCIENCE CLASSROOMS (DiISC): REFERENCE MANUAL

One of the greatest challenges facing scholars and funding agencies interested in reform is determining the impact of classroom practice on student achievement. The degree to which this effect can be determined is contingent upon instruments that measure teachers’ ability to enact specific instructional strategies. Frequently, a general instrument will not do because it was not designed to measure the unique focus of a professional development program or a set of variables of interest to researchers. Consequently, specific instruments should be developed to allow researchers to measure fidelity of classroom implementation. Fidelity of implementation is always the first step in determining effectiveness. For without fidelity of implementation, it is impossible to determine whether what the teacher does has an impact on student achievement. This manual reports on the development of just such an instrument, called the Discourse in Inquiry Science Classrooms (DiISC). The instrument was developed to measure teachers’ use of strategies in their classrooms to foster a science classroom discourse community (SCDC) as a way of furthering achievement in science. The DiISC instructional strategies that support the creation of a SCDC address oral and written discourse, and academic language development embedded in inquiry and they also reflect learning principles. We believe that the creation of the DiISC is especially timely for two reasons. First, science educators are beginning to focus on communication in science as a learning tool to increase students’ conceptual understanding and achievement in science. Second, we need an instrument to measure teachers’ ability to support the academic language development in science of the increasing number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in our schools. The DiISC is an instrument for observing teachers, not students. It describes what teachers do and focuses on five sets of instructional strategies that form the scales of the DiISC. These scales are Inquiry, Oral Discourse, Writing, Academic Language Development and Learning Principles. Consequently, the stems of many of the items start with the phrase, The teacher… , as in “The teacher creates an environment that supports inquiry”

Elementary Teachers’ Comprehension of Flooding through Inquiry-based Professional Development and Use of Self-regulation Strategies

This study focuses on elementary teachers’ comprehension of flooding before and after inquiry-based professional development (PD). There was an improvement in teachers’ understanding toward a normative view from pre- to post-test (n = 17, mean gain = 4.3, SD = 3.27). Several misunderstandings and a general lack of knowledge about flooding emerged from the geoscience content two-tier pre-test, some of which persisted throughout the PD seminar while other responses provided evidence of teachers’ improved understanding. The concepts that teachers struggled with were also apparent upon examining teachers’ reflections upon their learning and teaching practices throughout the seminar. Teachers were challenged as they attempted to add new academic language, such as storm surge and discharge, to their prior understandings. Flooding concepts that teachers showed the least improvement on included analyzing a topographic region, reading a map image, and hydrograph interpretation. Teachers’ greatest areas of improved understanding occurred in understanding the probability and role of ground conditions in flooding events. Teachers demonstrated considerable growth in their understanding of some flooding concepts through scaffolded inquiry lessons modeled throughout the PD. Those teachers who had greater prior knowledge and demonstrated more use of self-regulated learning showed the most change toward a normative view of flooding. The explicit modeling and participation in inquiry-based science activities and written responses to self-regulatory learning prompts throughout the seminar supported teachers’ learning

Football in the community schemes: Exploring the effectiveness of an intervention in promoting healthful behaviour change

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a Premier League football club’s Football in the Community (FitC) schemes intervention in promoting positive healthful behaviour change in children. Specifically, exploring the effectiveness of this intervention from the perspectives of the participants involved (i.e. the researcher, teachers, children and coaches). A range of data collection techniques were utilized including the principles of ethnography (i.e. immersion, engagement and observations), alongside conducting focus groups with the children. The results allude to the intervention merely ‘keeping active children active’ via (mostly) fun, football sessions. Results highlight the important contribution the ‘coach’ plays in the effectiveness of the intervention. Results relating to working practice (i.e. coaching practice and coach recruitment) are discussed and highlighted as areas to be addressed. FitC schemes appear to require a process of positive organizational change to increase their effectiveness in strategically attending to the health agenda

(Dis)connected communities and sustainable place-making

Why, despite a recent surge in the UK in “sustainable communities” policy discourse, do so many community-led sustainability initiatives remain fragmented, marginal and disconnected from local government strategies? How can community- and government-led sustainability initiatives be better integrated such that they add significantly to a denser matrix and cluster of sustainable places? These questions, we argue, lie at the heart of current sustainable place-making debates. With particular reference to two spatial scales of analysis and action, the small town of Stroud, England and the city of Cardiff, Wales, we explore the twin processes of disconnection and connection between community sustainability activists and local state actors. We conclude that whilst there will always remain a need for community groups to protect the freedom which comes from acting independently, for community activists and policy-makers alike, there are nevertheless a series of mutual benefits to be had from co-production. However, in setting out these benefits we also emphasise the dual need for local government to play a much more nuanced, integrative and facilitatory role, in addition to, but separate from, its more traditional regulatory role

Infrared based saliva screening test for COVID-19

Abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has resulted in an unprecedented need for diagnostic testing that is critical in controlling the spread of COVID-19. We propose a portable infrared spectrometer with purpose-built transflection accessory for rapid point-of-care detection of COVID-19 markers in saliva. Initially, purified virion particles were characterized with Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron infrared (IR) and AFM-IR. A data set comprising 171 transflection infrared spectra from 29 patients testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR and 28 testing negative, was modeled using Monte Carlo Double Cross Validation with 50 randomized test and model sets. The testing sensitivity was 93 % (27/29) with a specificity of 82 % (23/28) that included positive samples on the limit of detection for RT-qPCR. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept high throughput infrared COVID-19 test that is rapid, inexpensive, portable and utilizes sample self-collection thus minimizing the risk to healthcare workers and ideally suited to mass screening

SMA/PdBI multiple line observations of the nearby Seyfert2 galaxy NGC 1068: Shock related gas kinematics and heating in the central 100pc?

We present high angular resolution (0.5-2.0") observations of the mm continuum and the 12CO(J=3-2), 13CO(J=3-2), 13CO(J=2-1), C18O(J=2-1), HCN(J=3-2), HCO+(J=4-3) and HCO+(J=3-2) line emission in the circumnuclear disk (r=100pc) of the proto-typical Seyfert type-2 galaxy NGC1068, carried out with the Submillimeter Array. We further include in our analysis new 13CO(J=1-0) and improved 12CO(J=2-1) observations of NGC1068 at high angular resolution (1.0-2.0") and sensitivity, conducted with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. Based on the complex dynamics of the molecular gas emission indicating non-circular motions in the central ~100pc, we propose a scenario in which part of the molecular gas in the circumnuclear disk of NGC1068 is radially blown outwards as a result of shocks. This shock scenario is further supported by quite warm (Tkin>=200K) and dense (nH2=10^4cm^-3) gas constrained from the observed molecular line ratios. The HCN abundance in the circumnuclear disk is found to be [HCN]/[12CO]=10^-3.5. This is slightly higher than the abundances derived for galactic and extragalactic starforming/starbursting regions. This results lends further support to X-ray enhanced HCN formation in the circumnuclear disk of NGC1068, as suggested by earlier studies. The HCO+ abundance ([HCO+]/[12CO]=10^-5) appears to be somewhat lower than that of galactic and extragalactic starforming/starbursting regions. When trying to fit the cm to mm continuum emission by different thermal and non-thermal processes, it appears that electron-scattered synchrotron emission yields the best results while thermal free-free emission seems to over-predict the mm continuum emission.Comment: accepted for publication by ApJ; 35pages, 22 figures and 6 tables (at the end of the file); 3 figures have been decreased in quality to match size limi