Finding assessment regimes in an instructional system

In order to be able to solve the problems faced by modern societies both educators and students must be proactive in seeking new methods in education which leads them to productive lives. In our system, the system used by Ariaian Young Innovative Minds Institute which is a student-centered learning environment, our students take responsibility for their own learning and they identify what they need to learn to have a better understanding of the problem by getting the necessary information from books, teachers, their team members, internet and several references. Educators and teachers also consider how to help them become independent learners while applying their knowledge to solve problems. So instead of memorizing formula without conceptual understanding, deep understanding by research projects helps develop their building capacities. Science Motivation by Discussion and Controversy (SMDC) model engages our students in classrooms to extend their abilities. Collaboration, discussion and constructive challenges are considered as a useful instructional strategy for obtaining the necessary intellectual commitment from students to generate a conceptual conflict and to require them to resolve it. Rather than using assessments which rely on pre-test and post-test with the main measure being Hake gain, our model uses interesting tournaments or conferences for students with a large spread of fields, with complexity of tasks and solutions which led to a complex scoring system to give a guide for real assessment. Our main contribution is a method, which results in more and more emphasis of independent study and research by students. For more accurate descriptions of its generalization and applicability, which is more complex and less common but nonetheless an important case, some interesting and rather different types of the selected tasks in our country and international tournaments, PYPT/ IYPT/ PYNT/ IYNT/ ICYS…, are published in our international journal as a full paper, Young Scientist Research Journal (http://journal.ayimi.org ). Since it is impossible to cover everything related to these papers, the focus here lies on some of the abstracts in our recent articles. The objective of this section is to explain some structure of possible scenarios to compare theory and experiments. To achieve this, various regimes have been identified and are discussed in this presentation, which provides an overview by the main academic author and includes examples from four high school students and one student from 3rd semester in medical science. Various numerical models and simulations also Tracker, MATLAB , or 3D are used to capture phenomena and solving problems which are discussed during tournaments such as: Finding frequency of the sound in a drum and the difference between the stretched and normal mode in its membrane; Terminal velocity of a washer with its spinning on a vertical steel rod and its maximum tilt; Physical and geometrical characteristics of a cylindrical dice and the best ratios in its structure; Unsinkable metal disk with a hole which may float on the surface of water in a container when a vertical water jet hits its centre; or a Looping pendulum in steady state and motion phase to find the coefficient of friction as an important parameter in the whole function of the system. REFERENCES Izadi, D. & Bultin, M. M., (2014). Active Learning by Innovation in Teaching (AlIT). Frontiers of Fundamental Physics and Physics Education Research, 529–536. http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-00297-2 Izadi, D., Mora Ley, C. E., & Ramírez Díaz, M. H. (2017). Science motivation by discussion and controversy (SMDC) model. IOP Publishing Ltd, Physics Education, 52(3). https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/aa617d Izadi, D. & Mora Ley, C. E. (2013). Active Learning by Innovation in Teaching (ALIT), Scientific Fight and Reviewing Model. Latin-American Journal of Physics Education, 7(2), 161-166

Mapping disparities in education across low- and middle-income countries

Analyses of the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017 reveal inequalities across countries as well as within populations. Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health(1-3). As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global agenda-setting(4-6). The global health agenda is increasingly focused on evidence of precision public health, which illustrates the subnational distribution of disease and illness(7,8); however, an agenda focused on future equity must integrate comparable evidence on the distribution of social determinants of health(9-11). Here we expand on the available precision SDG evidence by estimating the subnational distribution of educational attainment, including the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling, across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017. Previous analyses have focused on geographical disparities in average attainment across Africa or for specific countries, but-to our knowledge-no analysis has examined the subnational proportions of individuals who completed specific levels of education across all low- and middle-income countries(12-14). By geolocating subnational data for more than 184 million person-years across 528 data sources, we precisely identify inequalities across geography as well as within populations.Peer reviewe

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: Efforts to establish the 2015 baseline and monitor early implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight both great potential for and threats to improving health by 2030. To fully deliver on the SDG aim of “leaving no one behind”, it is increasingly important to examine the health-related SDGs beyond national-level estimates. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017), we measured progress on 41 of 52 health-related SDG indicators and estimated the health-related SDG index for 195 countries and territories for the period 1990–2017, projected indicators to 2030, and analysed global attainment. Methods: We measured progress on 41 health-related SDG indicators from 1990 to 2017, an increase of four indicators since GBD 2016 (new indicators were health worker density, sexual violence by non-intimate partners, population census status, and prevalence of physical and sexual violence [reported separately]). We also improved the measurement of several previously reported indicators. We constructed national-level estimates and, for a subset of health-related SDGs, examined indicator-level differences by sex and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile. We also did subnational assessments of performance for selected countries. To construct the health-related SDG index, we transformed the value for each indicator on a scale of 0–100, with 0 as the 2\ub75th percentile and 100 as the 97\ub75th percentile of 1000 draws calculated from 1990 to 2030, and took the geometric mean of the scaled indicators by target. To generate projections through 2030, we used a forecasting framework that drew estimates from the broader GBD study and used weighted averages of indicator-specific and country-specific annualised rates of change from 1990 to 2017 to inform future estimates. We assessed attainment of indicators with defined targets in two ways: first, using mean values projected for 2030, and then using the probability of attainment in 2030 calculated from 1000 draws. We also did a global attainment analysis of the feasibility of attaining SDG targets on the basis of past trends. Using 2015 global averages of indicators with defined SDG targets, we calculated the global annualised rates of change required from 2015 to 2030 to meet these targets, and then identified in what percentiles the required global annualised rates of change fell in the distribution of country-level rates of change from 1990 to 2015. We took the mean of these global percentile values across indicators and applied the past rate of change at this mean global percentile to all health-related SDG indicators, irrespective of target definition, to estimate the equivalent 2030 global average value and percentage change from 2015 to 2030 for each indicator. Findings: The global median health-related SDG index in 2017 was 59\ub74 (IQR 35\ub74–67\ub73), ranging from a low of 11\ub76 (95% uncertainty interval 9\ub76–14\ub70) to a high of 84\ub79 (83\ub71–86\ub77). SDG index values in countries assessed at the subnational level varied substantially, particularly in China and India, although scores in Japan and the UK were more homogeneous. Indicators also varied by SDI quintile and sex, with males having worse outcomes than females for non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality, alcohol use, and smoking, among others. Most countries were projected to have a higher health-related SDG index in 2030 than in 2017, while country-level probabilities of attainment by 2030 varied widely by indicator. Under-5 mortality, neonatal mortality, maternal mortality ratio, and malaria indicators had the most countries with at least 95% probability of target attainment. Other indicators, including NCD mortality and suicide mortality, had no countries projected to meet corresponding SDG targets on the basis of projected mean values for 2030 but showed some probability of attainment by 2030. For some indicators, including child malnutrition, several infectious diseases, and most violence measures, the annualised rates of change required to meet SDG targets far exceeded the pace of progress achieved by any country in the recent past. We found that applying the mean global annualised rate of change to indicators without defined targets would equate to about 19% and 22% reductions in global smoking and alcohol consumption, respectively; a 47% decline in adolescent birth rates; and a more than 85% increase in health worker density per 1000 population by 2030. Interpretation: The GBD study offers a unique, robust platform for monitoring the health-related SDGs across demographic and geographic dimensions. Our findings underscore the importance of increased collection and analysis of disaggregated data and highlight where more deliberate design or targeting of interventions could accelerate progress in attaining the SDGs. Current projections show that many health-related SDG indicators, NCDs, NCD-related risks, and violence-related indicators will require a concerted shift away from what might have driven past gains—curative interventions in the case of NCDs—towards multisectoral, prevention-oriented policy action and investments to achieve SDG aims. Notably, several targets, if they are to be met by 2030, demand a pace of progress that no country has achieved in the recent past. The future is fundamentally uncertain, and no model can fully predict what breakthroughs or events might alter the course of the SDGs. What is clear is that our actions—or inaction—today will ultimately dictate how close the world, collectively, can get to leaving no one behind by 2030

Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.

BACKGROUND: Efforts to establish the 2015 baseline and monitor early implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight both great potential for and threats to improving health by 2030. To fully deliver on the SDG aim of 'leaving no one behind', it is increasingly important to examine the health-related SDGs beyond national-level estimates. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017), we measured progress on 41 of 52 health-related SDG indicators and estimated the health-related SDG index for 195 countries and territories for the period 1990-2017, projected indicators to 2030, and analysed global attainment. METHODS: We measured progress on 41 health-related SDG indicators from 1990 to 2017, an increase of four indicators since GBD 2016 (new indicators were health worker density, sexual violence by non-intimate partners, population census status, and prevalence of physical and sexual violence [reported separately]). We also improved the measurement of several previously reported indicators. We constructed national-level estimates and, for a subset of health-related SDGs, examined indicator-level differences by sex and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile. We also did subnational assessments of performance for selected countries. To construct the health-related SDG index, we transformed the value for each indicator on a scale of 0-100, with 0 as the 2·5th percentile and 100 as the 97·5th percentile of 1000 draws calculated from 1990 to 2030, and took the geometric mean of the scaled indicators by target. To generate projections through 2030, we used a forecasting framework that drew estimates from the broader GBD study and used weighted averages of indicator-specific and country-specific annualised rates of change from 1990 to 2017 to inform future estimates. We assessed attainment of indicators with defined targets in two ways: first, using mean values projected for 2030, and then using the probability of attainment in 2030 calculated from 1000 draws. We also did a global attainment analysis of the feasibility of attaining SDG targets on the basis of past trends. Using 2015 global averages of indicators with defined SDG targets, we calculated the global annualised rates of change required from 2015 to 2030 to meet these targets, and then identified in what percentiles the required global annualised rates of change fell in the distribution of country-level rates of change from 1990 to 2015. We took the mean of these global percentile values across indicators and applied the past rate of change at this mean global percentile to all health-related SDG indicators, irrespective of target definition, to estimate the equivalent 2030 global average value and percentage change from 2015 to 2030 for each indicator

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: Assessments of age-specifc mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Afairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. Methods: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specifc mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in diferent components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. Findings: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4-19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2-59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5-49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1-70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7-54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3-75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5-51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9-88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3-238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6-42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2-5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. Interpretation: This analysis of age-sex-specifc mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The fndings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which refects signifcant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

Active learning by innovation in teaching (alit), discussion and controversy model in physics education

Esta investigación explora las actitudes de los estudiantes de escuela para Educación en Ciencias para establecer por qué muchos se desacoplan del tema en clase y qué se puede hacer para revertir esta tendencia. Nuestros grupos tradicionales son estudiantes de varias escuelas durante el periodo 2005-2009 en 17 zonas educativas en Teherán, Irán y los grupos experimentales son los equipos que participan en diversas actividades como torneos nacionales e internacionales. Las puntuaciones medias de los estudiantes en el PYPT (Torneo Persa de Jóvenes Físicos) de durante 2010-2012 y el IYPT 2012 se han comparado con nuestro grupo de control para encontrar los parámetros más importantes que motivan más a los estudiantes en el aprendizaje de las ciencias básicas con eficacia. Esta investigación analiza cómo la innovación en la enseñanza y la discusión en clase pueden mejorar la enseñanza de las ciencias. Este modelo se divide en dos partes, en la primera el profesor juega un papel importante al proponer temas que se relacionan con la vida real y en la segunda parte, se confia en la discusión entre varios equipos en clase. Para comparar la educación tradicional con grupos experimentales, se aplica el rango de correlación de Spearman (rho). El estudio incluye 140 estudiantes de IYPT 2012 en Alemania, y 9 equipos (27 estudiantes) en PYPT 2010, 24 equipos (72 estudiantes) en PYPT 2011, 23 equipos (69 estudiantes) en PYPT 2012 y (42 estudiantes) en PYPT 2013. Como se muestra en nuestra investigación el valor absoluto de la diferencia entre los puntajes promedio de chicos y chicas en nuestro grupo experimental se ha reducido a 0.29, pero en el grupo de control de esta diferencia es de 2,66. El número de mujeres fue de aproximadamente 56,09 % en 2010, 43,6 % en 2011 y 60,86 % en 2012 y 50 % en 2013. Aunque la población de niñas es mayor que los niños en el grupo experimental, pero sus puntuaciones medios son menores. La serie de problemas que se han estudiado son los problemas 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 y 11 de 17 problemas de torneos nacionales e internacionales en 2012. Para comparar la relación entre las puntuaciones, se recolectaron la primera y la tercera partes de las orientaciones de puntuación para los equipos que se presentan los problemas y los equipos que discutieron con ellos. Las puntuaciones medias se dividen en 5 rangos que son comunes en todos los grupos experimentales y el grupo tradicional. La frecuencia absoluta y relativa de cada grupo muestran las puntuaciones medias máximas para hombres y mujeres por separado y se calculó la desviación estándar y la varianza para encontrar la desviación de todas las puntuaciones de cada grupo de la puntuación media. Como muestran las puntuaciones medias de las piezas de discusión son más altos que la presentación y es repetible en todos los problemas y la correlación de rango de Spearman muestra que el número de correlación en parte la discusión es más baja que la presentación y se nota que las puntuaciones medias de presentación están más relacionados para aumentar el ranking de puntuaciones medias de discusión. Abstract This research explores school students' attitudes to science education to establish why many disengage with the subject in class and what can be done to reverse this trend. Our traditional groups are students from several schools during 2005-2009 in 17 educational zones in Tehran and the experimental groups are teams who take part in several activities such as national and international tournaments. Students’ average scores in PYPT during 2010-2012 and IYPT 2012 have been compared with our control group to find the most important parameters which motivate students more in learning basic sciences effectively. This research analyzes how innovation in teaching and discussion in class can improve science education. This model is divided in two parts which in the first one teacher plays the important role by proposing topics which are related to the real life and the second part rely on the discussion among several teams in class. To compare the traditional education with experimental groups, correlation rank spearman (rho) is applied. The study involves 140 students at IYPT 2012 in Germany, and 9 teams (27 students) in PYPT 2010, 24 teams (72 students) in PYPT 2011, 23 teams (69 students) in PYPT 2012 and (42 students) in PYPT 2013. As shown in our research the absolute value of difference between boys’ and girls’ average scores in our experimental group has decreased to (0.29) but in control group this difference is (2.66). The number of females was approximately 56.09 % in 2010, 43.6% in 2011 and 60.86% in 2012 and 50% in 2013. Although girls’ population are more than boys’ in experimental group but their average scores are lower.The number of problems which has been studied are problems number 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 10 and 11 from 17 problems of national and international tournaments in 2012. To compare the relation between scores, the first and the third parts of the scoring guidelines for teams who present the problems and teams who discussed with them were collected. The average scores are divided in 5 ranges which are common among all experimental groups and traditional group. Absolute and relative frequency in each group show the maximum average scores for male and female separately and to find the deviation of all the scores in each group from the mean scores, variance and standard deviation were calculated. As shown the average scores of discussion parts are higher than presentation and it is repeatable in all the problems and the spearman rank correlation shows that the number of correlation in discussion part is lower than the presentation and it shows that the presentation average scores are more related to increasing ranking than discussion average scores

Quick and Easy Measurements of the Inherent Optical Property of Water by Laser

To compare properties of different waters we measured the reflectance of the second harmonic of Nd: YAG laser light through different water samples in the laboratory. To generate realistic images of natural waters one must consider in some details the interaction of light with the water body. The diagrams have been utilized to represent effective parameters in the water's reflectivity such as: the angle of incidence or the bottom conditions, height of the laser from water surface, wavelength of the laser light, radiant intensities, depth of water and also the impurities of water. The reflectance of the bottom from a mirror at the bottom of an aquarium with different depths of water will depend on the bottom slope relative to the direction of incidence of the laser light and the coating to prevent damaging the mirror against the laser light so it is necessary to change the mirror after several experiments.El presente trabajo muestra las mediciones hechas en diferentes líquidos para comparar sus propiedades, tomando como referencia la reflectancia de la segunda armónica de un laser Nd. YAG, esto a través de diferentes muestras de líquidos en el laboratorio. Para poder generar imágenes realistas se debe de considerar algunos detalles de interacción de la luz con el cuerpo líquido. Los diagramas fueron utilizados para representar parámetros efectivos de la reflexión del liquido como puede ser el ángulo de incidencia y las condiciones de fondo, la altura del laser respecto a la superficie del liquido, la longitud de onda de la luz laser, la intensidades de radiación la profundidad del líquido y las impurezas que pudieran existir. La reflexión de la profundidad utilizando un espejo a diferentes profundidades depende de la inclinación relativa a la dirección de incidencia del laser y de la protección del espejo para que no se dañe, por lo que es necesario cambiar el espejo después de varios experimentos