Science Education

This poster presents two activities associated with  My Community, Our Earth via the AAG at Riverview High School in Sarasota, Florida. One activity project is entitled "ENSO and Society I: Physical Aspects" under the series "Climate Knowledge for Sustainable Education and Development." Another activity project is entitled "ENSO and Society II: Disasters and Disease." The goal was to engage high school students on the importance of ocean-atmosphere interactions and their geographic influence on ecosystems and society. Another goal was to foster an international exchange between students in the U.S. and Latin America on the subject of environment, geography and sustainable development.

This study investigated the level of concept attainment of selected energy concepts for possible inclusion in the Nigerian (Bendel State) Primary Science Project (BPSP). Using an experimental design suggested by Solomon (1949), subjects were taught energy concepts at three levels—descriptive, comparative and quantitative. Results showed that levels of concept comprehension were hierarchical with a signficant decrease in achievement from descriptive to comparative and quantitative concepts. The results of this study suggest the need to describe levels of concept for particular grades in the elementary school curriculum and to match curriculum with thinking strategies of children.

Many educational researchers across the United States have found that inquiry-based learning (IBL) supports the development of deep, meaningful content knowledge. However, integrating IBL into classroom practice has been challenging, in part because of contrasting conceptualizations and practices across educational fields. In this article, we (a) describe differing conceptions of IBL, (b) summarize our own studies of IBL in three fields of education, (c) compare and contrast the processes and purposes of IBL in our studies and fields, and (d) suggest numerous opportunities for cross disciplinary collaborations on IBL curriculum, teaching, and research that could bolster its inclusion in K-12 education. We ground our exploration in knowledge-generating conceptualizations and practices in these fields.

Scientific and technological know-how, not the amount of natural resources, determines the development of a country. Bangladesh, with insignificant natural resources and a huge population on a small piece of land, can be developed through scientific and technological means. Whereas it was once the most sought-after subject at secondary and postsecondary levels, science is losing its appeal in an alarming shift of choice. Problems in science education and possible solutions for Bangladesh, which has limited resources for encouraging science education, are presented.

Water is at the core of many issues in environmental change from local to global scales, and learning about the water cycle offers students an opportunity to explore core scientific concepts and their local environment. In climate research, there are significant uncertainties in the role water plays in the climate system. Water also acts as a central theme that provides opportunities for experiential science education at all levels. The “Water Spotters” program underway at University of Colorado exploits the synergy between the need for enrichment of science education and the need for water sample collection to provide primary data for climate research. The program takes advantage of the prominent agricultural landscape of the region in eastern Colorado, which is a poignant example of how society influences the climate through irrigation, evaporation/transpiration and run-off and whose productivity is influenced by the climate system. Ten schools in the St. Vrain Valley School District MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement) program are participating in the program. CU personnel have installed automated weather stations at each school, as well as precipitation collectors. Elementary and middle school lessons have been developed in coordination with science teachers that emphasize both Colorado State Scientific Standards and inquiry-based learning about the water cycle and weather. In the spring of 2014, students began collecting precipitation samples that are being analyzed at CU and used as a core component of our research goals. Water Spotters highlights the value of student citizen science in obtaining needed research quality data while also meeting national needs to improve science education.

"About the SDO Project Suite:
The SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) Project Suite is a NASA-funded project done in conjunction with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) project as part of the SDO mission. The goal of the SDO Project Suite is to promote education and public outreach of the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s cutting-edge research and groundbreaking data. Imagine a classroom of “student-scientists” that master standards-based STEM content through an interdisciplinary curriculum. Picture motivated, student-directed teams actively engaging in an authentic exploration of our nearest star, the Sun that are
• Using actual SDO imagery and data to predict a space weather forecast
• Creating solar activity movies from near real-time SDO solar images
• Producing a digital public service announcement to educate the local community about the impacts of solar activity on Earth’s life and society.
• Designing and presenting an interactive solar exhibit to an audience that demonstrates and educates people about solar science concepts.

Not only do students master content standards but they also develop 21st century skills related to digital literacy, media literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration with peers-just what scientists experience everyday in the “real world” to research these scientific questions:
• What are some natural effects of the Sun-Earth relationship?
• What are the causes and effects of solar activity?
• Why is understanding and predicting solar activity important?
• How is the Sun and solar activity researched by scientists?
• How are Earth and its societies impacted by space weather?
• Can space weather be accurately forecasted?

The SDO Project Suite is designed as a comprehensive curriculum that integrates new and adapts existing solar science lessons into a series of coherent lessons and projects with real-life application. The series of four Solar Modules in the SDO Project Suite lead students through an interactive exploration of solar science:

• Module 1: Provides an understanding of the structure of the Sun.
• Module 2: Investigates how and why the Sun is studied via the electromagnetic spectrum and magnetism.
• Module 3: Explores the significance of solar activity on Earth’s habitability and the affects of space weather on Earth.
• Module 4: Student collaboration to design, produce, and curate a 3-D Solar Exhibit summative assessment:

Middle school grades (6-8) are the target audience for the SDO Project Suite. In 2014, students from Estes Park Middle School’s Galaxy Gazers Astronomy Club are testing curriculum resources including a magnetometer, spectroscope, and pinhole camera. Additional education outreach activities are planned for 2014.

The Science of SDO:
SDO is the first mission to be launched for NASA’s Living With a Star (LWS) Program, a program designed to improve our understanding of the physics behind the activity displayed by the Sun’s atmosphere, which drives space weather that impacts life and society on Earth. Solar activity and variability are key concerns of our modern, increasingly technological society. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections can disable satellites, cause power grid failure, and disrupt communication and navigation systems. And because the Sun is so powerful, even small changes in its output could have effects on Earth’s climate.
The SDO satellite, launched in February 2010, contains a suite of three key instruments – the University of Colorado’s LASP EVE instrument, Stanford University’s Helioseimic Magnetic Imager (HMI), and Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA). EVE measures changes in the Sun’s output of extreme ultraviolet radiation, which has a direct and strong effect on Earth’s upper atmosphere that can impact radio communications and GPS navigation. HMI maps solar magnetic fields and can look inside the sun to determine how the Sun’s magnetic field is generated, which drives space weather. AIA’s four telescopes take full-disc images of the Sun’s surface and atmosphere in different wavelength every 10 seconds."

"A theory of everything , or, grand unified theory (which Einstein had been working on without success, with Superstring Theory now being a good candidate), is one which unites all the forces of nature, viz., gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force. Important as this theory might be, it is
lacking in one important fundamental aspect, viz., the role of consciousness, which could in fact be considered the most fundamental aspect of physics. This paper explains that a theory of consciousness is more important than a theory of everything or grand unified theory and should be the theory of everything instead, or, at least, a part of the theory of everything."

Newton accidentally discovered gravity after observing an apple falling from a tree. What exactly is gravity? This article suggests a solution for the mystery of gravity. Any theory about gravity would have to be confirmed by physical experiments of course.

"African scholarly research is relatively invisible globally because even though research production on the continent is growing in absolute terms, it is falling in comparative terms. In addition, traditional metrics of visibility, such as the Impact Factor, fail to make legible all African scholarly production. Many African universities also do not take a strategic approach to scholarly communication to broaden the reach of their scholars’ work.

To address this challenge, the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme (SCAP) was established to help raise the visibility of African scholarship by mapping current research and communication practices in Southern African universities and by recommending and piloting technical and administrative innovations based on open access dissemination principles. To do this, SCAP conducted extensive research in four faculties at the Universities of Botswana, Cape Town, Mauritius and Namibia.

SCAP found that scholars:
• carry heavy teaching and administrative loads which hinder their research productivity
• remain unconvinced by open access dissemination
• find it easier to collaborate with scholars in the global North than in the rest of Africa
• rarely communicate their research with government
• engage in small, locally-based research projects that are either unfunded or funded by their universities
• produce outputs that are often interpretive, derivative or applied due, in part, to institutional rewards structures and funding challenges
• do not utilize social media technologies to disseminate their work or seek new collaborative opportunities.

All of these factors impact Africa’s research in/visibility at a time when scholarly communication is going through dramatic technical, legal, social and ethical changes.

“Seeking Impact and Visibility” shares the results of SCAP’s research and advocacy efforts. It not only analyses these four universities’ scholarly communication ecosystems, but illuminates the opportunities available for raising the visibility of their scholarship. It concludes with a series of recommendations that would enhance the communicative and developmental potential of African research.

This study will be of interest for scholars of African higher education, academically linked civil society organizations, educationally affiliated government personnel and university researchers and managers."