Statics survey

Research Initiation Grant: Problem/Project-Based Learning in Statics, a Stepping Stone to Engineering Education Research.While projects appear to have much to offer engineering education, rigorous evaluations of the impact of projects on student outcomes are rare. The objective of the project is to study the incorporation of three group design projects into a sophomore level statics course and to measure the effect of the changes on student outcomes including content knowledge and various affective outcomes.National Science Foundation Grant No. 1137023

Project assignments for statics

Research Initiation Grant: Problem/Project-Based Learning in Statics, a Stepping Stone to Engineering Education Research.The project assignments included in this document were used in addition to a traditional lecture based statics course in our research. However, these assignments can be adapted to fit a variety of course styles. We provide additional details of our course here to give an example implementation and context for some of the assignment requirements.While projects appear to have much to offer engineering education, rigorous evaluations of the impact of projects on student outcomes are rare. The objective of the project is to study the incorporation of three group design projects into a sophomore level statics course and to measure the effect of the changes on student outcomes including content knowledge and various affective outcomes.National Science Foundation Grant No. 1137023

Reviewing the relationship between neoliberal societies and nature:implications of the industrialized dominant social paradigm for a sustainable future

How a society relates to nature is shaped by the dominant social paradigm (DSP): a society’scollective view on social, economic, political, and environmental issues. The characteristics of the DSP have important consequences for natural systems and their conservation. Based on a synthesis of academic literature, we provide a new gradient of 12 types of human-nature relationships synthesized from scientific literature, and an analysis of where the DSP of industrialized, and more specifically, neoliberal societies fit on that gradient. We aim to answer how the industrialized DSP relates to nature, i.e., what types of human-nature relationships this DSP incorporates, and what the consequences of these relationships are for nature conservation and a sustainable future. The gradient of human-nature relationships is based on three defining characteristics: (1) a nature-culture divide, (2) core values, and (3) being anthropocentric or ecocentric. We argue that the industrialized DSP includes elements of the anthropocentric relationships of mastery, utilization, detachment, and stewardship. It therefore regards nature and culture as separate, is mainly driven by instrumental values, and drives detachment from and commodification of nature. Consequently, most green initiatives and policies driven by an industrialized and neoliberal DSP are based on economic incentives and economic growth, without recognition of the needs and limits of natural systems. This leads to environmental degradation and social inequality, obstructing the path to a truly sustainable society. To reach a more ecocentric DSP, systemic changes, in addition to individual changes, in the political and economic structures of the industrialized DSP are needed, along with a change in values and approach toward nature, long-term sustainability, and conservation. Key Words: conservation; dominant social paradigm; environmental degradation; human-nature relationships; industrialized society; Sustainabilit

Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy

Increasing surface temperatures, Arctic sea-ice loss, and other evidence of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) are acknowledged by every major scientific organization in the world. However, there is a wide gap between this broad scientific consensus and public opinion. Internet blogs have strongly contributed to this consensus gap by fomenting misunderstandings of AGW causes and consequences. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have become a "poster species" for AGW, making them a target of those denying AGW evidence. Here, focusing on Arctic sea ice and polar bears, we show that blogs that deny or downplay AGW disregard the overwhelming scientific evidence of Arctic sea-ice loss and polar bear vulnerability. By denying the impacts of AGW on polar bears, bloggers aim to cast doubt on other established ecological consequences of AGW, aggravating the consensus gap. To counter misinformation and reduce this gap, scientists should directly engage the public in the media and blogosphere

Review of \u3ci\u3eTeaching Children Science: Hands-on Nature Study in North America, 1890-1930\u3c/i\u3e by Sally Kohlstedt

Many scientists and educators agree that the goal of science education is to prepare students to know, use and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world, as cited in the National Research Council publication, Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 (DuschI et al. 2007). Yet, many science instructors of K-12 and post-secondary students often rely on teacher-telling modes of pedagogy and neglect to engage their students in natural inquiry and scientific study that model the research methods used by scientists. As a result, many young people are not aware of how scientists make discoveries about the natural world. Moreover, some critics argue that our children are so out of touch with the natural world that they prefer to be plugged in to electronic games rather than discovering the outdoors, a phenomenon coined as nature deficit disorder by Louv (2006). In response to the realization that our students need more meaningful science instruction, scientists and educators actively proposed reforms and have been studying the effects of various instructional and assessment strategies. As I read about the nature study movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s, I realized that for the past 100 years, North American educators have been passionate about the same things--trying. To find ways to improve science instruction by making It more relevant and interesting to students. We know that when people are passionate about topics, they are more motivated to learn, and this is exactly the sentiment that educators drew upon at the start of the nature study movement in the United States and Canada

Writing-to-Learn, Writing-to-Communicate, & Scientific Literacy

Writing-to-learn (WTL) is an effective instructional and learning strategy that centers on the process of organizing and articulating ideas, as opposed to writing-to-communicate, which centers on the finished written product. We describe a WTL model that we have developed and tested with various student groups over several years. With effective instructor guidance (through prompts and in-class discussion), students demonstrated greater scientific literacy after participating in writing activities about engaging socio-scientific issues. We believe that WTL activities are underused in secondary and post-secondary biology courses.</jats:p