Creating An Engaging And Ecocritical Project Based Curriculum For High School Environmental Science

The research question that inspired this curriculum project was: How can educators create an engaging and ecocritical project based curriculum for high school environmental science? This curriculum utilizes a project based learning framework, based on A Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning, in order to create an engaging curriculum for students in a high school environmental science class. Additionally, this curriculum incorporates themes of critical ecology. Critical ecology is a way of studying the environment that asks us to consider how our perceptions and attitudes toward the environment can perpetuate the environmental and social injustices we are facing in our world. This curriculum is meant to be implemented in the first semester of a high school Life Science class. It provides students with opportunities to practice authentic project management skills as well as develop knowledge and understanding about how they can make positive contributions to their communities. The hope is that this project can serve as an example of how science educators could utilize a project based learning approach to engage students in learning and help them build critical understanding of their environment

Creation and Validation of a Novel Bayesian Calibration Method with Griddy Gibbs Sampling

Computer models of physical systems are widely used in lieu of, or in tandem with, experimental testing. It is critical to verify the accuracy of computer models through the process of calibration. Typical calibration methods are often computationally expensive and therefore cannot be performed in real time. This thesis presents a novel Bayesian calibration method using a Griddy Gibbs sampling algorithm to improve calibration speeds. This method was verified in two applications: a location-dependent dataset in the heat transfer analysis of an engine piston, and time-dependent tire forces in a drum test. The proposed method was directly compared to a traditional Bayesian calibration method in the engine piston application. It was found that the two methods were close in accuracy with large amounts of calibration data, and the Griddy Gibbs method was significantly less computationally expensive; it could calibrate in less than a minute, while the traditional method took several days

Native and non-native ant impacts on soil microbes

Organisms produce chemical weapons for defense, but target organisms can develop resistance. In their introduced range, non-native species may bring “novel weapons” against which native organisms have not co-evolved resistance. The invasive European fire ant (Myrmica rubra) may have brought antimicrobial secretions to the Northeastern United States that are novel weapons against native fungal and bacterial soil organisms. I hypothesized that M. rubra would better inhibit seed pathogens resulting in greater emergence of native myrmecochorous Viola sororia seeds and, as a side effect, more strongly inhibit arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi than a native seed dispersing ant (Aphaenogaster picea). I also expected M. rubra would have greater suppressive effects on microbial respiration. To test this, I measured taxonomic richness, emergence and biomass of plants that germinated from the seed bank (volunteer plants) and introduced V. sororia seeds. From seeds that failed to germinate I measured percent cover of fungal growth. Finally, I recorded mesocosm CO2 flux as a proxy measurement of microbial respiration. Viola sororia emergence and biomass did not differ significantly in mesocosms inhabited by M. rubra, A. picea, and control treatments, but overall seed handling was low. Volunteer plant taxonomic richness and percent cover were lower in M. rubra mesocosms than A. picea or controls, perhaps because of the comparatively higher activity levels of M. rubra resulted in more bioturbation. Mesocosm microbial respiration (CO2 flux) was lower in both M. rubra and A. picea mesocosms than controls, indicating an \u27ant\u27 effect rather than a non-native ant effect via novel weapons

Future Makespaces and redistributed manufacturing

This paper sets out some of our vision of future makespaces and redistributed manufacture, a pragmatic future vision, that reflects the state of makespaces now, tests ideas and aspirations of education and circular economy, and uses insights from those studies to imagine a future and its implications. The context for this future scoping is the Future Makespaces in Redistributed Manufacture (FMs RdM) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project at the Royal College of Art. Over two years, we will be hosting symposia, funding feasibility studies and undertaking cross cutting research to understand the potential relationship of makespaces to redistributed manufacture and sustainability. ‘Re-Distributed Manufacturing’, is a term which aims to encapsulate the rapidly changing geographies, organizational structures, value chains and distribution networks associated with new advances in materials sciences, engineering, digital and enabling technologies. It is akin to ‘on shoring’, but recognizes that the future of manufacturing will operate on a variety of scales according to specialism and material flows. We consider that redistributed manufacture is a term that should not apply simply to the inevitable future of business as usual. Our framing of redistributed manufacture, taking advantage of ubiquitous computation and distributed infrastructure has the potential to apply to a different future state of production, one which is desirable not inevitable, which responds to the imperatives of our time and builds a production system fit for humans. As Sloan (2015) emphasises in his recent reflection on the sharing economy: We are alive at a time when huge systems—industrial, infrastructural—are being remade, and I think it’s our responsibility as we make choices both commercial and civic…to extrapolate forward, and ask ourselves: Is this a system I want to live inside? Is this a system fit for humans? (Sloan 2015

Supporting Instructors (through a Pandemic) with Informal Meet-ups

In this poster, we will discuss an impactful program to support instructors holistically during (and beyond) the pandemic. Informal meet-ups for instructors help build supportive relationships with their peers, while also helping them adopt impactful instructional strategies to meet their immediate needs.https://encompass.eku.edu/pedagogicon_postergallery/1018/thumbnail.jp

Battle-Scarred: Surgery, Medicine and Military Welfare during the British Civil Wars

The British Civil Wars of the mid-17th Century are often overlooked in history classrooms and television channels, yet they represent one of the most traumatic periods in the history of Britain, killing proportionally far more British than the World Wars of the 20th Century. In an effort to communicate the human cost of the Civil Wars, Dr Andrew Hopper and history PhD students Stewart Beale and Hannah Worthen write about their recent exhibition ‘Battle- Scarred’, which displays medical instruments and aspects of 17th Century welfare systems

Investigating Latino Stereotypes and Identification in One Day at a Time: A Rhetorical Criticism of Latino Representations in Entertainment Media

Since television has had the ability to entertain, it has also had the ability to persuade us about how we ought to perceive the world. To do so, television has long relied on stereotypes, whether they are of gender, race, or class, and research across media and communication disciplines have identified that representations of these marginalized groups reinforce stereotypes&rsquo; existence in and out of television. The purposes of this analysis are to examine stereotypical narratives surrounding Latinos and the Latino experience in America, as well as to understand how these stereotypes are challenged. Using a combination of narrative and ideological rhetorical analysis, this thesis investigates the recently cancelled Netflix reboot of One Day at a Time (ODaaT) in order to see how this program serves as a critique of dominant narratives of minorities. ODaaT recognizes stereotypical representations of these communities in order to comment on them and then challenge them. Through the use of identification and analysis of the politics of representation, I explore how ODaaT uses rhetorical devices to subvert previously abundant representations of Latinos in order to give a more authentic representation. Former representations that rely on stereotypes run the risk of affecting Latino viewers&rsquo; self-esteem while also reinforcing these negative stereotypes for all audiences. But ODaaT seeks to challenge these narratives by politicizing characters and the narratives within which they exist while also identifying with the audience.</p

Food, community and social change: Understanding the impact of taking part in community food actions on participants’ engagement with ideas of social change

This dissertation is premised on the need for transformative social change and investigates a proposed mechanism through which support for such change could develop. Specifically, it looks at the potential for participation in community food activities to impact on the social critiques of participants and inspire in them a belief in the need for transformative change. Politicisation and prefiguration are two proposed ways in which such impact could take place. Within the category of community food activities, sub-categories of ‘emergency food provision’ and ‘alternative food provision’ are investigated. The research design was qualitative, using thematic analysis of data collected through qualitative questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data revealed the presence of keys themes of values, critiques and visions, reflecting on the participants understandings of the world, its problems and how things could and should change. A variety of social critiques were identified within the data, as well as evidence of politicised and prefigurative ideas amongst the participants. There were indications that participation in the community food activities had impacted and developed these perspectives. Comparison of participants in the emergency and alternative food provision categories revealed a stronger indication of the hypothesised perspectives within the alternative food provision participants. The dissertation concludes that a potential link between participation in such activities and beliefs in the need for social change has been indicated by this data. However, the sample size is small and therefore not broadly generalisable to populations beyond the study participants. Research in larger groups of participants and using more in-depth methods would be recommended to establish more clearly the existence of any trends and the strength of any connection between the development of perspectives focused on the need for change and the act of participation in community food activities