As generative AI systems are integrated into educational settings, students often encounter AI-generated output while working through learning tasks, either by requesting help or through integrated tools. Trust in AI can influence how students interpret and use that output, including whether they evaluate it critically or exhibit overreliance. We investigate how students' trust relates to their appropriate reliance on an AI assistant during programming problem-solving tasks, and whether this relationship differs by learner characteristics. With 432 undergraduate participants, students' completed Python output-prediction problems while receiving recommendations and explanations from an AI chatbot, including accurate and intentionally misleading suggestions. We operationalize reliance behaviorally as the extent to which students' responses reflected appropriate use of the AI assistant's suggestions, accepting them when they were correct and rejecting them when they were incorrect. Pre- and post-task surveys assessed trust in the assistant, AI literacy, need for cognition, programming self-efficacy, and programming literacy. Results showed a non-linear relationship in which higher trust was associated with lower appropriate reliance, suggesting weaker discrimination between correct and incorrect recommendations. This relationship was significantly moderated by students' AI literacy and need for cognition. These findings highlight the need for future work on instructional and system supports that encourage more reflective evaluation of AI assistance during problem-solving.
Mauricio Echiburu, Camilo Henriquez, Rodrigo Valdés
et al.
This study investigates the impact of educational comics as an active learning strategy in physics workshops for undergraduate students in Chemistry and Pharmacy and Biochemistry during the second semester of 2025. Conceptual understanding was assessed using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), and student motivation and attitudes toward physics were evaluated through a Likert-type survey administered in pre- and post-test formats. The results show an average normalized gain of g = 0.21 on the FCI, corresponding to a low-to-medium range according to physics education research. A higher gain is observed in items directly related to the intervened content (g = 0.23) compared to non-intervened items (g = 0.19), suggesting that instructional design influences domain-specific conceptual development. At the motivational level, improvements are observed in student interest, self-efficacy, and perceived usefulness of physics, along with a reduction in negative emotional responses toward the subject. These findings indicate that educational comics can serve as an effective pedagogical scaffold, promoting positive learning dispositions and supporting targeted conceptual development in non-physics undergraduate contexts.
Alexandra C. Lau, Jessica R. Hoehn, Michael B. Bennett
et al.
In order to reach the full civic and scientific potential of physics, this white paper calls for a culture change in physics to recognize informal physics education (also referred to as public engagement or outreach) as an essential disciplinary practice. That is, engaging in informal physics education (IPE) is part of what it means to ''do physics.'' In June 2024, we hosted a summit with forty-two members of the Joint Network for Informal Physics Education and Research (JNIPER) to discuss concrete steps for fostering this cultural shift in physics. We present key findings from the Summit to motivate this culture change: IPE makes the work of physicists relevant; fosters trust and supports a society where everyone benefits from science and technology advances; serves as a gateway for entering into the physics discipline, and for staying once there; and improves physicists' skills and research. We identify three levers for promoting the culture change: structures supporting IPE; engagement of interested, influential, and/or impacted parties; and integration of research-based IPE practices. Each lever is accompanied by associated recommendations for action directed at individuals, departments and institutions, topical groups such as JNIPER, and funders and (inter)national organizations. Our clarion call is for members and supporters of the IPE community to choose one recommendation per lever to prioritize and to set forth a roadmap for implementation. Together, we can establish IPE as a central physics practice, ultimately leading to a deeper connection between physics and society, strengthening our mutual potential and impact for good.
In this article, we introduce special domains and discuss the geometry of these domains, which includes showing that every pseudoconvex truncated tube domain is a special domain. Next, we prove a theorem for the envelope of special domains in $\C^n ~(n\geq 2)$. Our theorem on special domains is a generalization of a recent result by Jarnicki-Pflug on the envelope of holomorphy of truncated tube domains in $\C^n$. We also establish a result on schlichtness in complex dimension 2, and conclude this article with two higher-dimensional generalizations of the same result by Jarnicki-Pflug mentioned above.
A child's spoken ability continues to change until their adult age. Until 7-8yrs, their speech sound development and language structure evolve rapidly. This dynamic shift in their spoken communication skills and data privacy make it challenging to curate technology-ready speech corpora for children. This study aims to bridge this gap and provide researchers and practitioners with the best practices and considerations for developing such a corpus based on an intended goal. Although primarily focused on educational goals, applications of child speech data have spread across fields including clinical and forensics fields. Motivated by this goal, we describe the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE of data collection inspired by prior collection efforts and our experience/knowledge. We also provide a guide to establish collaboration, trust, and for navigating the human subjects research protocol. This study concludes with guidelines for corpus quality check, triage, and annotation.
The pre-sessional team at a university in the Midlands (U.K.) trialled a new observation approach in which teachers had a choice between three observation types: online seen live (synchronous); online seen recorded (asynchronous); and unseen. This presented the opportunity to consider what impact, if any, the type of observation has on observer and observee perceptions and experiences of lesson observations. Perceptions of the observations were collected via focus groups and interviews and were analyzed using a pragmatic version of grounded theory (Barbour, 2018). Preliminary findings suggest that the type of observation can dial up or down certain qualities of the observation, such as who controls the data and whether observations are seen as high or low risk, creating opportunities to move beyond box ticking and towards using observations for meaningful individualized continuing professional development (CPD). This may be especially important in the pre-sessional context, in which many practitioners work under precarious circumstances, with increasingly limited access to meaningful CPD and diminishing opportunities for experimentation within their practice (le Roux, 2022). This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Llegamos al lugar correcto cuando nos encontramos con alguien que, como ocurre con los maestros, nos descubre quiénes somos y nos ayuda a crecer; no se limita a enseñar lo que en la sociedad ya hay, sino que nos lo pone delante para que lo estudiemos con atención y precisión. Cuando enseña, el maestro se hace signo y voz, y lo que transmite no es simplemente un cuerpo unívoco de información. Su enseñanza es el acto mismo destinado a movilizar el deseo (de saber) en otro, para hacerlo crecer, y llevarlo hacia sí mismo, desplazándolo, conmoviéndolo, abriendo mundos. El maestro transmite, sobre todo, lo que no dice. Su comunicación es indirecta, y a menudo parece que en la transmisión del saber hay una clase de engaño que adopta la forma de la ironía, un juego de ocultamiento y exhibición. Cuando el maestro transmite, convoca, como exigencia imperiosa, la necesidad de traducción de sus lecciones, que son siempre modos de dar a leer. Sin embargo, en la escuela de nuestros días parece impedirse cada vez más a los maestros ser tales –es decir, estudiantes y estudiosos-. Es interesante volver a pensar, en tal sentido, la relación con lo que se estudia, y que luego es transmitido, como el centro que instituye la figura humana del maestro, en general el oficio docente, lo que hace del adulto que eligió tal oficio un cierto ejemplo de humanidad para sus alumnos, tal vez para la ciudad.
Special aspects of education, Theory and practice of education
The success of collaborative instruction in helping students achieve higher grades in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses has led many educators and researchers to assume these methods also address inequities. However, little evidence tests this assumption. Structural inequities in our society have led to the chronic underrepresentation of Black, Hispanic, women, and first-generation students in STEM disciplines. Broadening participation from underrepresented groups in biology, chemistry, and physics would reduce social inequalities while harnessing diversity's economic impact on innovation and workforce expansion. We leveraged data on content knowledge from 18,791 students in 305 introductory courses using collaborative instruction at 45 institutions. We modeled student outcomes across the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, and first-generation college status within and across science disciplines. Using these models, we examine the educational debts society owes college science students prior to instruction and whether instruction mitigates, perpetuates, or exacerbates those debts. The size of these educational debts and the extent to which courses added to or repaid these debts varied across disciplines. Across all three disciplines, society owed Black and Hispanic women and first-generation Black men the largest educational debts. Collaborative instructional strategies were not sufficient to repay society's educational debts.
Lucrezia Guiotto Nai Fovino, Anita Zanella, Luca Di Mascolo
et al.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics classes are mainly taught using visual supports. However, the advancement of technology and the increasing eforts to equip schools with digital instrumentation have opened up the possibility of exploring new teaching avenues, such as sonifcation. We explored the efcacy of sonifcation in education using a novel interactive tool, Edukoi, in the context of astronomy, which is predominantly disseminated through spectacular images, animations, and visuals. Edukoi is a motion-sensing sonifcation tool that converts images to sound in real-time for educational applications. Our study, conducted with nearly 150 middle-school students, included a preliminary questionnaire investigating the perception, engagement, and motivation of students towards science; two sessions dedicated to testing Edukoi and assessing the potentiality of the software for the recognition of the colour and the shape of real and sketchy images; and a fnal second administration of the questionnaire to capture a possible benefcial efect of the use of the tool in the engagement towards science. Results showed the efectiveness of Edukoi in colour recognition and reasonable efcacy in shape identifcation. Although the questionnaire did not reveal an increment in science engagement over the time of the study, oral feedback from the students was positive. Edukoi presents a possible alternative teaching aid, potentially benefting diverse learners, including the visually impaired. Further developments of the software are needed to enhance its efectiveness in conveying more complex features such as composite colours or shapes.
This chapter narrates the journey of developing and integrating computing into the physics curriculum through three consecutive courses, each tailored to the learners' level. It starts with the entry-level "Physics Playground in Python" for high school and freshman students with no programming experience, designed in the spirit of the "Hello World" approach. At the sophomore and junior level, students from all sciences and engineering disciplines learn "Scientific Computing with Python" in an environment based on the "Two Bites at Every Apple" approach. Ultimately, upper undergraduate and entry-level graduate students take "Computational Physics," to develop their skills in solving advanced problems using complex numerical algorithms and computational tools. This journey showcases the increasing complexity and sophistication of computational tools and techniques that can be incorporated into the physical science curriculum, serving as a guide for educators looking to integrate computing into their teaching. It also aims to inspire students by showcasing the impact and potential of computational methods in science education and research.
The dynamic light scattering method was successfully applied to determine the molar mass of nitrocellulose. The methodology of nitrocellulose fractionation in acetonic solutions is described in detail; six polymer fractions with monomodal distribution were obtained. It was shown that the unfractionated colloxylin with polymodal molar mass distribution had mass average molecular mass values of 87.3 ± 14.1, 28.3 ± 7.3, and 0.54 ± 0.17 kDa when investigated by the dynamic light scattering method. The viscometric method only provided integral viscosity average molar mass equal to 56.7 ± 5.8 kDa.
With the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI), its potential implications for higher education have become a focal point of interest. This study delves into the capabilities of AI in Physics Education and offers actionable AI policy recommendations. Using a Large Language Model (LLM), we assessed its ability to answer 1337 Physics exam questions spanning GCSE, A-Level, and Introductory University curricula. We employed various AI prompting techniques: Zero Shot, In Context Learning, and Confirmatory Checking, which merges Chain of Thought reasoning with Reflection. The AI's proficiency varied across academic levels: it scored an average of 83.4% on GCSE, 63.8% on A-Level, and 37.4% on university-level questions, with an overall average of 59.9% using the most effective prompting technique. In a separate test, the LLM's accuracy on 5000 mathematical operations was found to decrease as the number of digits increased. Furthermore, when evaluated as a marking tool, the LLM's concordance with human markers averaged at 50.8%, with notable inaccuracies in marking straightforward questions, like multiple-choice. Given these results, our recommendations underscore caution: while current LLMs can consistently perform well on Physics questions at earlier educational stages, their efficacy diminishes with advanced content and complex calculations. LLM outputs often showcase novel methods not in the syllabus, excessive verbosity, and miscalculations in basic arithmetic. This suggests that at university, there's no substantial threat from LLMs for non-invigilated Physics questions. However, given the LLMs' considerable proficiency in writing Physics essays and coding abilities, non-invigilated examinations of these skills in Physics are highly vulnerable to automated completion by LLMs. This vulnerability also extends to Physics questions pitched at lower academic levels.
Background: Context Based Science Education (CBSE) has a long-standing tradition and is discussed as a highly promising approach in science education. It is supposed that CBSE can foster pupils engagement and learning. However, classroom implementations of CBSE based on solid empirical evidence are surprisingly scarce. Purpose: The present research-based report of practice seeks to bridge this theory practice gap for some specific forms of CBSE. We examine the use of science problems based on newspaper articles and the real-life contexts they provide (newspaper story problems, NSP). Design and Methods: While the research background has been reported elsewhere, the main objective of the present contribution is to provide a detailed account of the practical aspects of the approach. Two concrete, curriculum-relevant classroom teaching experiments based on newspaper story problems are reported, combined with a quasi-experimental study comparing NSPs against conventional textbook problems. The implementation of the teaching learning sequence in classroom practice is described in detail. Additionally, tasks types similar to NSPs, but using other ways of contextualisation (e.g. advertisements) will be discussed as perspective. Results: A considerable improvement in motivation was found, which proved stable at least in the medium term. Learning turned out to also be fostered to a sizeable extent, including the educationally important issue of transfer. Conclusions: The use of NSPs as a form of CBSE can have large positive, robust, and sustainable effects of both motivation and learning. Being flexible and practical to implement, they appear thus highly suited to classroom application. In perspective, a series of similar forms of tasks implementing CBSE is presented, such as by experimental of aesthetic contexts.
Muhammad Zubair Khan, Oleg E. Peil, Apoorva Sharma
et al.
In the rapidly expanding field of two-dimensional materials, magnetic monolayers show great promise for the future applications in nanoelectronics, data storage, and sensing. The research in intrinsically magnetic two-dimensional materials mainly focuses on synthetic iodide and telluride based compounds, which inherently suffer from the lack of ambient stability. So far, naturally occurring layered magnetic materials have been vastly overlooked. These minerals offer a unique opportunity to explore air-stable complex layered systems with high concentration of local moment bearing ions. We demonstrate magnetic ordering in iron-rich two-dimensional phyllosilicates, focusing on mineral species of minnesotaite, annite, and biotite. These are naturally occurring van der Waals magnetic materials which integrate local moment baring ions of iron via magnesium/aluminium substitution in their octahedral sites. Due to self-inherent capping by silicate/aluminate tetrahedral groups, ultra-thin layers are air-stable. Chemical characterization, quantitative elemental analysis, and iron oxidation states were determined via Raman spectroscopy, wavelength disperse X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry measurements were performed to examine the magnetic ordering. These layered materials exhibit paramagnetic or superparamagnetic characteristics at room temperature. At low temperature ferrimagnetic or antiferromagnetic ordering occurs, with the critical ordering temperature of 38.7 K for minnesotaite, 36.1 K for annite, and 4.9 K for biotite. In-field magnetic force microscopy on iron bearing phyllosilicates confirmed the paramagnetic response at room temperature, present down to monolayers.
In this article, we discuss a novel education approach to control theory in undergraduate engineering programs. In particular, we elaborate on the inclusion of an introductory course on process control during the first years of the program, to appear right after the students undergo basic calculus and physics courses. Our novel teaching proposal comprises debating the basic elements of control theory without requiring any background on advanced mathematical frameworks from the part of the students. The methodology addresses, conceptually, the majority of the steps required for the analysis and design of simple control systems. Herein, we thoroughly detail this educational guideline, as well as tools that can be used in the classroom. Furthermore, we propose a cheap test-bench kit and an open-source numerical simulator that can be used to carry out experiments during the proposed course. Most importantly, we also assess on how the Introduction to process control course has affected the undergraduate program on Control and Automation Engineering at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC, Brazil). Specifically, we debate the outcomes of implementing our education approach at UFSC from 2016 to 2023, considering students' rates of success in other control courses and perspectives on how the chair helped them throughout the course of their program. Based on randomised interviews, we indicate that our educational approach has had good teaching-learning results: students tend to be more motivated for other control-related subjects, while exhibiting higher rates of success.
Juan-Pablo Scarano-Pereira, Alessandro Martinino, Francesca Manicone
et al.
Abstract Background Living safely sexuality and without risk to one’s health is an international priority. The youth age group has specific characteristics that make it a particularly vulnerable group for adverse consequences such as unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections. Health professionals are an important group to address this issue; however, to achieve a good result, sufficient knowledge is required to solve all the issues. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge of young university students studying a nursing or a medical degree. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study of young medical and nursing students was conducted. The selection of participants was made by convenience. The Sexuality and Contraceptive Knowledge Instrument scale was used to measure knowledge level. A bivariate analysis was conducted using the Mann–Whitney U test or the Kruskal–Wallis H test, depending on the number of categories of the independent variable. Finally, a multivariate analysis was conducted using a multiple linear regression model, establishing the level of knowledge as the dependent variable and all variables that obtained statistical significance in the bivariate analysis as predictors. Data collection was carried out from October 2020 to March 2021. Results The sample comprised 657 health university students. Participants had a good level of knowledge, with 77.9% answering 50% of the questions correctly. Before training, 34.15% of the participants did not pass 50% of the questions asked. This percentage decreased to 12.87% after receiving sexuality training during their university degrees. The main training gaps were found for the items on hormonal contraceptive methods. The bivariate analysis showed that female participants had significantly higher knowledge scores, as did those who had used a hormonal contraceptive method during the most recent intercourse or were aware of family planning centers. These variables maintained their significant effect at the multivariate level, obtaining two models with good explanatory power for participants of both university degrees. Conclusion The general level of knowledge of the healthcare students was high and sufficient after receiving training during the university degree (87.13% of the participants obtain more than 50% of items correct). The main training gap was found for items on hormonal contraceptive methods, which should be emphasized in future training programs.
Olivia Heller, Zhyldyz Ismailova, Damira Mambetalieva
et al.
Abstract Background Despite knowing that health systems with strong primary care improve overall health outcomes within a population, many countries are facing a global trend of declining interest and shortage of family doctors. This is the case of the Kyrgyz Republic, in which rural areas are struggling to attract and retain family medicine (FM) doctors. This study aims to explore how Kyrgyz medical students perceive FM and the factors that influence their specialty choice. Methods This study used a cross-sectional explanatory sequential design, including quantitative survey and focus group discussions that were carried out at the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy (KSMA) in Bishkek in 2017. Overall, 66% (953 out of 1449) of medical undergraduate students registered in year 1, 4 and 6 completed the survey, and 42 participated in the focus groups. The results were organized around 7 factors influencing perceptions and attitudes towards FM identified through a qualitative systematic review. Results The interest of Kyrgyz students for FM was the lowest of all specialties. Access to high medical technologies, career opportunities, salary, patient interaction and possibility to work abroad were the five most important factors influencing specialty choice. FM was perceived as a difficult profession, yet with poor prestige, insufficient remuneration, limited career possibilities and poor working conditions, especially in rural areas. The academic discourse, which disregards FM specialty had a negative influence on student’s perceptions and prevented students’ ability to identify with the practice of family medicine. However, students’ awareness of their social accountability arose as a positive leverage to increase the choice of FM, provided other problems were solved. Conclusion This study highlighted key factors responsible for the low number of students choosing to become FM in Kyrgyzstan. The first major factor, presumably specific to many low- and lower-middle- income countries was the poor working conditions in remote areas. The second factor, common to many countries, was the distorted image of FM and its specialty transmitted through the medical schools’ institutional culture which does not value FM through positive role models. This study served as a basis to establish a strategy to promote FM within the KSMA and potentially at National level.
The agricultural extension services in the North East region of India are not only hindered by limited resources and scarcity of trained staff at state & regional level but also by the remoteness of the villages. Many villages remain inaccessible particularly during monsoon, due to poor road connectivity. The major technology dissemination approach adopted so far had been the traditional direct interaction and field level practical demonstration at the community level. The facility of toll-free modern smart phone based information and communication technology (ICT) service has been started and is gaining momentum. An attempt has been made to collect the data from 200 farmers of Tseminyu district of Nagaland State based on proportionate random sampling (PPS) technique to know the impact of mobile based extension agro advisory services in the region.
Majority of the farmer respondents had perceived ‘yield increase’ , and ‘information of new agricultural technology’ as the major benefits of using the mobile -based agro- advisory services.
ABSTRACT Engaging undergraduate biology majors may present challenges for educators disseminating science concepts utilizing standard lecture classroom formats. Moreover, animal behavior courses teaching ethology may often require the use of live animals, field excursions, or students having to develop projects which can be both time-consuming or require financial investment, or that may not be well-suited to the flexibility of being taught online. Therefore, developing in-class activities which allow students to use self-discovery when generating their own observational data, work in groups, and practice hands-on science may serve to ameliorate these challenges facing faculty teaching animal behavior course content. To this end, I developed a straightforward, engaging in-class activity which allowed students to scan images available on the smartphone identifier iNaturalist to generate their own ethograms (catalogs of behaviors) for local state species. Students successfully described behaviors across a variety of animal taxa, reptiles, mammals, birds, and insects when generating their own ethograms and data, and they actively discussed how this activity enabled them to further understand both ethograms and their importance to animal behavior and overall how animals behave and allocate time performing a variety of behaviors. This activity can be modified for further use in both introductory and upper-level course work in organismal biology and can incorporate data analysis, graphing, or presentation skill sets for science majors.
This case study research attempts to 1) investigate in detail the provision of advocacy services carried out by counseling guidance teachers to gifted and intelligent students in junior high school, 2) know the collaboration between counseling guidance teachers with homeroom teachers and parents in dealing with obstacles in gifted and intelligent students. Referring to the findings in schools, there are two forms of advocacy services provided by counselors: holding academic conferences and collaborating with homeroom teachers for gifted and intelligent children. Meanwhile, to handle the problems of gifted, intelligent children in terms of learning, social, and career, the counselor collaborates with subject teachers to provide enrichment materials and participate in the Olympics. Then, with parents, arrange social activities for gifted, intelligent children. At the same time, at home, and periodically provide group guidance related to career planning. The results of this study can be used as evaluation material for schools and become an inspiration, especially for policymakers in counseling guidance to facilitate the rights of gifted and intelligent children.