A creative collaboration between the science of ecosystem restoration and art for sustainable stormwater management on an urban college campus

This article presents an interdisciplinary, on‐campus, student project, titled “The Rain Project” that I designed as an urban ecosystem restoration model as well as a collaborative pedagogical approach between ecological science and art at George Mason University (GMU), Virginia, U.S.A. A group of students from several disciplines (e.g. environmental science, art, civil engineering, biology, communication, and film/media) participated in designing and constructing a floating wetland for a campus stormwater pond as part of sustainable stormwater management. The Rain Project has numerous implications for college education, scholarship, and service while presenting a novel way of building a sense of community among undergraduate students for ecological awareness and literacy. The work of Jackie Brookner, a renowned eco‐artist who worked extensively on stormwater, and its relevance to the project is discussed. I strongly suggest the need for linking art and the science of ecosystem restoration to best obtain improvements in much‐needed communication for the success of community participatory restoration projects. I also believe that this kind of interdisciplinary, campus project can facilitate the changes we need to train higher education students to be able to both think differently and communicate effectively. The Rain Project introduced students to new learning strategies that connected “systems thinking” with art, ecological science, and restoration practices.     

Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE): first findings

In this study, I examined the hypothesis that undergraduate research enhances the educational experience of science undergraduates, attracts and retains talented students to careers in science, and acts as a pathway for minority students into science careers. Undergraduates from 41 institutions participated in an online survey on the benefits of undergraduate research experiences. Participants indicated gains on 20 potential benefits and reported on career plans. Over 83% of 1,135 participants began or continued to plan for postgraduate education in the sciences. A group of 51 students who discontinued their plans for postgraduate science education reported significantly lower gains than continuing students. Women and men reported similar levels of benefits and similar patterns of career plans. Ethnic groups did not significantly differ in reported levels of benefits or plans to continue with postgraduate education.     

国外国家公园教育利用研究进展与启示

教育是国家公园的主要功能之一, 教育利用是国家公园的公益性和国家主导性要求。我国国家公园体制建设起步较晚, 国家公园教育利用的实践经验和理论探讨相对不足。本文基于Web of Science核心合集数据库相关文献, 系统回顾了国外国家公园教育利用的研究进展, 并对国内未来研究进行展望。21世纪以来, 国外的国家公园教育利用研究进展加快, 相关文献多发表在环境科学和地球科学类期刊, 研究内容主要包括教育资源评估以及教育目的、教育管理、教育成效及其影响因素。国家公园教育资源丰富, 教育价值评估和教育利用适宜性评价是对其合理利用及保护管理的前提。教育目的主要包括争取保护支持、缓解社区冲突、提供文化及教育服务和防范旅游伤害, 多样化的教育媒介使用及针对性的教育设计、良好的教育合作共同促进教育成效的最佳实现。教育成效围绕教育目标分类的认知/意识、情感/态度、行为等维度评估教育受众在教育前后的表现差异, 主要受个体特征与教育管理两方面因素影响。国外国家公园教育利用研究已初步形成研究内容体系, 并呈现研究区域集中、学科理论交叉、研究方法趋于定性与定量综合运用、研究内容丰富且涉及领域广等特点。本文提出未来中国应重点加强国家公园教育资源评价、教育内容体系、教育媒介应用、教育合作与管理、教育成效及其影响因素分析等研究议题。     

Unconventional allies: interdisciplinary approaches to science policy and funding

Scientific research is an often misunderstood, undervalued and yet essential activity. Many nonscientists think that research is quick and easy, and that science is a compilation of established facts rather than rigorous conclusions based on available evidence. In addition, many nonscientists, and perhaps many scientists as well, forget that our social and financial investment is small relative to the massive and expensive problems that we all want scientific research to solve. Using biomedical research in the United States as an example, I will argue that countering this underinvestment in science will require broadening perspectives in the scientific community as well as coupling expanded individual advocacy and education efforts to an interdisciplinary advocacy approach. This approach is in many ways analogous to the unique solutions that emerge when scientists working in different disciplines leave their intellectual silos and work together.     

Anthropological Knowledge and Scientific Fact

In 1967 Ward Goodenough described two performance-based measures that many of us use to judge the quality of anthropological knowledge. Do we understand events in another community as its members understand them? Can we act there in ways that people will accept as conforming to their expectations? Judged by these standards, the famous hoax that the physicist Alan Sokal published in 1996 in the non-refereed journal Social Text would pass as good anthropology (however shameless). I look at a different—yet similar—scientific controversy, one that began in 1998 at the editorial offices of the British science weekly Nature. This controversy, which I call "The Little Lizard Controversy," and in which I have played a role, may show us how scientists sometimes misunderstand one another and why anthropological knowledge about the practice of science may be crucial in nurturing interdisciplinary research "collaboratories" in the twenty-first century, [science, interdisciplinary, controversies, miscommunication, symbols]     

The Category of Age in the Psychology and Pedagogy of Development

Vygotsky's words, uttered about sixty years ago, may serve as a very special epigraph to the analysis that follows; they have not lost their meaning even today: "The problem of age is not only central to the whole of child psychology: it is the key to all questions of practice as well" [4. P. 260].

The key importance of the concept of age as a category in educational psychology has become obvious now, in light of the urgent need for a reorganization of education, a need to give it a developmental character. This category is just as important for a practice-oriented pedagogy, which can no longer be satisfied with simple study of individual phenomena in educational psychology; it must necessarily become a composite and, even more, a projective science, since it involves contriving complex, synthetic objects that bring together concrete studies, blueprints for educational systems, the programs and technology of continuous education throughout a person's entire life, and expert systems for evaluating and means for monitoring the effectiveness of such continuous education.     

Cannibalism,Kuru, and Mad Cows: Prion Disease As a “Choose-Your-Own-Experiment” Case Study to Simulate Scientific Inquiry in Large Lectures

Despite significant efforts to reform undergraduate science education, students often perform worse on assessments of perceptions of science after introductory courses, demonstrating a need for new educational interventions to reverse this trend. To address this need, we created An Inexplicable Disease, an engaging, active-learning case study that is unusual because it aims to simulate scientific inquiry by allowing students to iteratively investigate the Kuru epidemic of 1957 in a choose-your-own-experiment format in large lectures. The case emphasizes the importance of specialization and communication in science and is broadly applicable to courses of any size and sub-discipline of the life sciences.     

The Political Coherence of Educational Incoherence: The Consequences of Educational Specialization in a Southern Moroccan Community

This article is based on an ethnographic study I conducted in southern Morocco during 2004. I explore the historical, ideological, and cultural background behind educational specialization among Moroccan university students. I describe how French colonial educational policies and postindependence Moroccan national schooling ideologies have created a national system of double standards that: (1) privileges French-educated urban middle- and upper-class students, (2) emphasizes the Arabization of the national education system, and (3) discriminates against Arabized, largely rural students, which have exacerbated regional educational and socioeconomic inequalities. I finally contend that educational specialization in noncompetitive degrees such as Arabic language and literature, Islamic studies, geography, and general law is the result of an ideological matrix I have termed political coherence of educational incoherence. Political coherence of educational incoherence naturalizes the reliance of certain disfranchised regional groups on a traditional preschool Islamic education that is largely based on memorization and inefficient pedagogy and is unsuitable for the modern educational requirements.  [Islamic education, school ethnography, Arabization, school failure, minority education]     

A multifactorial analysis of acceptance of evolution

Background

Despite decades of education reform efforts, the percent of the general US population accepting biological evolution as the explanation for the diversity of life has remained relatively unchanged over the past 35 years. Previous work has shown the importance of both educational and non-educational (sociodemographic and psychological) factors on acceptance of evolution, but has often looked at such factors in isolation. Our study is among the first attempts to model quantitatively how the unique influences of evolutionary content knowledge, religiosity, epistemological sophistication, and an understanding of the nature of science collectively predict an individual’s acceptance or rejection of evolution.

Results

Our study population had a high acceptance of evolution, with an average score of 77.17 (95% C.I. ± 1.483) on the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) instrument. Our combined general linear model showed that, of the variables in our model, an understanding of the nature of science explained the greatest amount of variation in acceptance of evolution. This was followed in amount of variance explained by a measure of religiosity, openness to experience, religious denomination, number of biology courses previously taken, and knowledge of evolutionary biology terms.

Conclusions

Understanding of the nature of science was the single most important factor associated with acceptance of evolution in our study and explained at least four times more variation than measures of evolutionary knowledge. This suggests that educational efforts to impact evolutionary acceptance should focus on increasing an understanding of the nature of science (which may be expected to have additional benefits towards generalized science denial). Additionally, our measure of epistemological sophistication had a unique, significant impact on acceptance of evolution. Both epistemological sophistication and an understanding of the nature of science are factors that might change throughout a liberal arts education, independent of the effect of direct evolutionary instruction.

     

Onderwijs in het Nationaal Programma Ouderenzorg

The Netherlands Organisation of Health Research and Development started in 2008 the Dutch National Care for the Elderly Programme (in Dutch abbreviated as NPO) with the aim to improve the quality of life for the frail older people through better quality of care (health, social, community) which is tailored to the needs and wants of older people. The delivery of good care is related with competent professional behaviour which is inextricably linked to the education of professionals. This article presents an overview of 32 educational programmes developed within the NPO. Within the NPO different educational programmes were developed on relevant themes to improve elderly care. However, the programmes focused mainly on professionals in health care, especially those working in primary care. For nurses and nursing assistants and more or less for physicians also different educational programmes were developed. Educational programmes for paramedics or professionals working in social care, housing or in the municipalities were scarce. This is also the case for specific themes in elderly care like loneliness or (domestic) violence. Moreover, none of the experiments focused on older people or informal care givers. Although 22 of the 32 projects developed educational programmes for different groups, multi – or interdisciplinary education is rare in these programmes. Based on the overview we advise the development of more educational programmes on: target groups which were less or not addressed in the NPO, like professionals in social care and paramedics; multi- or interdisciplinary collaboration; and themes, like loneliness in older people and elder abuse.     

Undergraduate cancer education in Spain: The debate,the opportunities and the initiatives of the University Forum of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR)

Most medical schools in Spain (80%) offer undergraduate training in oncology. This education is highly variable in terms of content (theory and practical training), number of credits, and the medical specialty and departmental affiliation of the professors. Much of this variability is due to university traditions in the configuration of credits and programmes, and also to the structure of the hospital-based practical training. Undergraduate medical students deserve a more coherent and modern approach to education with a strong emphasis on clinical practice. Oncology is an interdisciplinary science that requires the input of professors from multiple specialties to provide the primary body of knowledge and skills needed to obtain both a theoretical and clinical understanding of cancer. Clinical skills should be a key focus due to their importance in the current model of integrated medical management and care.Clinical radiation oncology is a traditional and comprehensive hospital-based platform for undergraduate education in oncology. In Spain, a significant number (n = 80) of radiation oncology specialists have a contractual relationship to teach university courses. Most Spanish universities (80%) have a radiation oncologist on staff, some of whom are department chairs and many others are full professors who have been hired and promoted under competitive conditions of evaluation as established by the National Agency for Quality Evaluation.The Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) has identified new opportunities to improve undergraduate education in oncology. In this article, we discuss proposals related to theoretical (20 items) and practical clinical training (9 items). We also describe the SEOR University Forum, which is an initiative to develop a strategic plan to implement and organize cancer education at the undergraduate level in an interdisciplinary teaching spirit and with a strong contribution from radiation oncologists.     

Training the next generation of protein scientists

Carl Brändén made significant contributions in areas of protein X‐ray crystallography and science education. As the 2011 recipient of the Protein Society award honoring Carl's contributions, I had the opportunity to reflect on the undergraduate educational activities that have been practiced in my own laboratory over the past 24 years at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, an institution that emphasizes both research and undergraduate education. A system has been developed that attempts to minimize the tension that can exist between conflicting graduate research and undergraduate mentoring goals. The outcomes, as measured not only by subsequent activities of the participating undergraduates, but also by the activities of the graduate students and postdocs that worked with the undergraduates, indicate a general overall benefit for all participants, particularly for women and underrepresented minorities who are traditionally poorly retained in the sciences. Greater participation of undergraduates in research activities of active scientists who often focus primarily on graduate and postdoctoral training could have a positive impact on the leaky undergraduate science pipeline.     

Advance and prospect of bionanomaterials

Over the past few years, bionanomaterial science has emerged as a new exciting field in which theoretical and experimental studies of structure and function of bionanomaterials have become a focus, and the importance of DNA, RNA, and peptides as bionanomaterials to the fundamental development in biology and nanomaterials has begun to be recognized. In particular, biochemistry, biophysics, biomechanics, thermodynamics, and electronic properties of DNA, RNA, and peptides, as well as intelligent composite biological materials, have become a new interdisciplinary frontier in life science and material science. There is an increasing need for a more systematic study of the basic issues involved in bionanomaterials and a more active participation of researchers in the application domain of such novel materials. Great advances have been and are being made in nanobiochip materials, nanoscale biomimetic materials, nanomotors, nanocomposite materials, interface biomaterials, and nanobiosensor and nano drug delivery systems, with enormous prospect in industrial, defense, and clinical medicine applications. Here we review some of the main advances in this field over the past few years, explore the application prospects, and discuss the concepts, issues, approaches, and challenges, with the aim of stimulating a broader interest in developing bionanomaterials technology.     

Size-dependent properties of matter: Is the size of a pill important?

This interdisciplinary scientific inquiry lesson specifically utilizes the 5E learning cycle to engage high school students in an investigation on size-dependent properties of matter. In particular, this inquiry lesson focuses on a biologically relevant phenomenon, namely accessibility to a pharmaceutical drug with respect to the size of the pill. In this context, students design and conduct a controlled experiment to test how the accessibility to an encapsulated drug is affected by the change in the size of the pill. Thus, through this investigation, students not only learn about the relationship between the size of a material in terms of surface area-to-volume ratio and the rate of diffusion of molecules, but also extend this knowledge to the importance of size in the context of nanoscale. Additionally, students practice the science process skills involved in undertaking a scientific inquiry.     

Traditional engineering in the biological century: the biotraditional engineer.

The increasing importance of life science in all engineering is prompting departments in the traditional engineering disciplines to offer life science as part of their curricula. Students who take advantage of this opportunity--"biotraditional engineers"--will be well positioned for careers in their discipline and in related areas of bioengineering. The founder engineering societies, such as the Bioengineering Division of ASME, are responding to this trend by broadening their scope and working increasingly across interdisciplinary borders.     

Using immersive healthcare simulation for physiology education: initial experience in high school, college, and graduate school curricula

In the natural world, learning emerges from the joy of play, experimentation, and inquiry as part of everyday life. However, this kind of informal learning is often difficult to integrate within structured educational curricula. This report describes an educational program that embeds naturalistic learning into formal high school, college, and graduate school science class work. Our experience is based on work with hundreds of high school, college, and graduate students enrolled in traditional science classes in which mannequin simulators were used to teach physiological principles. Specific case scenarios were integrated into the curriculum as problem-solving exercises chosen to accentuate the basic science objectives of the course. This report also highlights the historic and theoretical basis for the use of mannequin simulators as an important physiology education tool and outlines how the authors' experience in healthcare education has been effectively translated to nonclinical student populations. Particular areas of focus include critical-thinking and problem-solving behaviors and student reflections on the impact of the teaching approach.     

Observations on a Medical Teacher Training Program

An increasing interest in educational science as applied to medical education is apparent in the past decade. Recently, a six-week teacher training program was held at the Center for the Study of Medical Education at the University of Illinois. Fifteen medical faculty members, including five Canadians, participated. During this period there was an opportunity to engage in discussions and independent study of several aspects of medical education, using the personnel from the Center''s four major divisions as resource people. Training in educational science is important for all teachers, and a centre to provide this type of instruction should be available in Canada.     

Bringing Conservation Medicine into the Veterinary Curriculum: The Tufts Example

The Center for Conservation Medicine at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine (TuftsCCM), has helped to define the concept of conservation medicine as a new science that examines the interaction between human, animal, and environmental health. One the Center’s main objectives in pursuing this new science has been to incorporate conservation medicine and ecosystem health principles into the veterinary curriculum. Environmental influences on disease dynamics in animals has always had a place in veterinary medicine, but often has not been adequately explored. Many opportunities exist within a traditional veterinary curriculum to strengthen this perspective, and to bring depth and new meaning to the understanding of disease and the role of animals in ecosystem health. The Tufts program is designed to reach both the general veterinary student and the student interested in a career in conservation medicine through core teaching, elective opportunities, research opportunities, and extracurricular seminars and workshops. The core curriculum exposes every veterinary student to an ecosystem health perspective of veterinary medicine that helps them realize the impact that this approach can have on their professional lives, regardless of their chosen specialty. Committed conservation medicine students benefit from specialty courses, a wide range of experiential and field research opportunities and active mentoring. Future challenges call for development of more graduate opportunities, continued interdisciplinary collaboration with other educational institutions, and continued curricular integration of this new paradigm of health and disease into veterinary medical education.     

Development of an Undergraduate Bioinformatics Degree Program at a Liberal Arts College

The highly interdisciplinary field of bioinformatics has emerged as a powerful modern science. There has been a great demand for undergraduate- and graduate-level trained bioinformaticists in the industry as well in the academia. In order to address the needs for trained bioinformaticists, its curriculum must be offered at the undergraduate level, especially at four-year colleges, where a majority of the United States gets its education. There are many challenges in developing an undergraduate-level bioinformatics program that needs to be carefully designed as a well-integrated and cohesive interdisciplinary curriculum that prepares the students for a wide variety of career options. This article describes the challenges of establishing a highly interdisciplinary undergraduate major, the development of an undergraduate bioinformatics degree program at Ramapo College of New Jersey, and lessons learned in the last 10 years during its management.