Camille R. Reaux, Shelby A. Meche, Jordan M. Grider
et al.
Given the exponential growth of biochemical data and deep effect of computational methods on life sciences, there is a need to rethink undergraduate curricula. A project-oriented learning approach based on the Triangular Spatial Relationship (TSR) algorithm has been developed. The TSR-based method was designed for protein 3D structural comparison, motif discovery and probing molecular interactions. The uniqueness of the method benefits students’ learning of big data and computational methods. Specifically, students learn (i) how to search proteins of interest from the PDB archive, (ii) basic supercomputer skills, (iii) how to prepare datasets, (iv) how to perform protein structure and sequence analyses, (v) how to interpret the results, visualize protein structures and make graphs. Five specific strategies have been developed to achieve students’ highest potentials. (i) This lab exercise is designed as a project-oriented learning approach. (ii) The skills-first and concept-second approach is used. (iii) Students choose the proteins based on their interests. (iv) Students are encouraged to learn from each other to promote student–student interactions. (v) Students are required to write a report and/or present their studies. To assess students’ performance, we have developed an assessment rubric that includes (i) demonstration of supercomputer skills in job script preparation, submission and monitoring, (ii) skills in preparation of datasets, (iii) data analytical skills, (iv) project report, (v) presentation, and (vi) integration of the TSR-based method with other computational methods (e.g., molecular 3D structural visualization and protein sequence analysis). This project has been introduced in undergraduate biochemistry research and teaching labs for 4 years. Most students have learned the basic supercomputer skills as well as structure data analysis skills. Students’ feedback is positive and encouraging. It can be further developed as a module for an integrated computational chemistry lecture course.
The article commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patrice Emery Lumumba, a national hero of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one of the most prominent leaders of the African anti-colonial movement, and the first Prime Minister of an independent country. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, his homeland became an arena for confrontation between the African liberation forces and the West, which was interested in maintaining its position in the mineral-rich country in Central Africa. In modern terms, as African countries strive to assert their sovereignty and security, strengthen their presence in the global economy and politics, it is crucial for them to rely on historical experience, taking into consideration the successes and failures of the period of struggle for independence and decolonization. Using the biographical method, the article undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the development of an individual’s life strategy as a social subject in interaction with society, examining how the environment and socio-cultural circumstances affect a person’s beliefs and behavior, and the subsequent manifestations of a unique and typical character. The research is grounded in a comprehensive examination of P. Lumumba’s speeches, correspondence, and published articles. Additionally, it draws upon annual collections of Belgian and Congolese documents on the situation in the country (1959-1961), published in Brussels. P. Lumumba’s personality was shaped by a specific system of the Belgian colonial administration. P. Lumumba was a highly intelligent individual hailing from a humble peasant background. He was a talented organizer and an excellent orator. Thanks to his natural abilities, hard work and self-education, he became one of the most respected politicians of the DRC on the eve of and in the first year of its independence. P. Lumumba founded a new political party, the Congolese National Movement, which was the only party to deviate from narrow ethnic interests. The main tenets of the program can be summarized as follows: the formation of an independent, unified, integral and indivisible Congo; the organization of the public sector, which controls the mining industry, to pursue an independent course in the economic field and in foreign policy; overcoming tribalism and regionalism; creating a just society without poverty and exploitation. In foreign policy, he focused on neutrality and Pan-Africanism. The article analyzes how, during the Cold War, such a radical policy and uncompromising stance of P. Lumumba turned the West and pro-Western forces inside the Congo against him, which caused a crisis in the country that led to the assassination of the Prime Minister. The different assessments of P. Lumumba’s activities primarily stem from the varying political positions of researchers and politicians, as well as from the contradictory worldview and the lack of formality of the politician’s own program.
International relations, Political science (General)
Increasingly, countries world-over are promoting citizenship in the planned curricula in schools as a medium of sustaining cohesion and unity within the society. This study employed the praxis of Kenneth Kaunda’s African humanist philosophy ideas in enhancing citizenship education in primary school education. Since this is a philosophical inquiry, the study adopted conceptual analysis as the main technique of investigation. Conceptual analysis is a traditional method of clarifying constructs in the form of a philosophical inquiry. Philosophers use this technique to clarify the meanings and boundaries of concepts to enhance understanding. The study found out that Zambian humanism is a critical worldview in championing citizenship education in Kenya since its ideas are consistent with the Basic Education curriculum Framework of 2017 and Chapter Six of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 on Leadership and Integrity.
This article examines paradoxes in music education, focusing on tensions between inclusivity, democratization, and the traditional concept of “excellence.” Drawing on theories from Maxine Greene and recent research on democratic education, I explore strategies to bridge the divide between formal and informal learning, institutional music education, and diverse community practices. Through co-construction of knowledge, real-life connections, and pluralism, I advocate for a reimagined, inclusive approach that respects students’ sociocultural contexts. Ultimately, this article challenges educators to ask, “What if. . .?” as a means to unlock new possibilities and create a more inclusive and contextually relevant approach to music education.
Music education in the United States aims to be for every child, yet many students become less interested in school music as they mature. Although previous research reveals activities that upper-elementary students may prefer, much of this research may not represent 21st-century students, the instruments and activities that have enhanced curricula in recent decades, or more diverse musical offerings from around the globe. To guide decision-making regarding the activities most appropriate for their students, teachers can gather information from students through both formal and informal means (e.g., conducting research). In this third article in our research-to-practice series, we use data from our investigation into upper-elementary students’ activity preferences to create three hypothetical “classes” and provide suggestions for structuring activities that are responsive to our learners. Using a similar process, teachers may discover and tailor experiences to their own students’ interests, increasing motivation and persistence in music.
The purpose of this study is to present the development and operation of liberal arts classes using microlearning content and to analyze class satisfaction to examine the necessity and applicability of microlearning classes in university liberal arts education. Developed by reflecting microlearning characteristics, tClass is a one-credit class designed to be available in a nonlinear manner for five weeks. After this course, a satisfaction survey of all remote classes and tClass students was conducted to find out the level of satisfaction of learners and focus group interviews were additionally conducted with four applicants. As a result of the study, both timeliness and accessibility were high due to the nature of remote classes, and tClass showed a high level of satisfaction among the students, especially when it came to the learning materials and the accessibility of the items. On the other hand, poor concentration, boredom, and a lack of willingness to learn were found to be obstacles for remote classes. Based on the above research results, the suggestions are as follows. 1) In order to better implement the characteristics of microlearning, sufficient prior coordination is needed to determine whether or not we should change the academic system. 2) In order to develop microlearning, it is important to set an appropriate lecture topic and a suitable level of class difficulty. 3) There is a need to design learning activities that can help students take a leading role regarding their own learning and inspection. 4) In order to improve learners' concentration and understanding, video production methods need to be diversified and their level of completion needs to be increased. It is hoped that the results of this study will be used as basic data to develop microlearning classes in universities and to enhance learning effects.
Adriana Bigido Rocha, Solange Wagner Locatelli, Leonardo André Testoni
Este artigo apresenta e discute os resultados de uma pesquisa realizada com um grupo de quatro professores unidocentes, em um curso de extensão oferecido por uma universidade pública brasileira, cujo objetivo foi compreender como os professores unidocentes elaboram suas aulas de Ciências. Para analisar os resultados da pesquisa foi utilizada a análise do conteúdo (Bardin, 2011), articulada a uma abordagem qualitativa. Coletados por meio de uma ferramenta digital (Padlet), os dados foram sistematizados e categorizados pelos pesquisadores. Os resultados evidenciaram quatro categorias que emergiram das escritas desses docentes, permitindo observar que os professores unidocentes elaboram suas aulas (1) por meio da sua ação docente, (2) considerando o planejamento, (3) utilizando recursos para motivar e facilitar o aprendizado e, ainda (4) demonstrando muita dificuldade por não dominar o conhecimento de conteúdo.
Special aspects of education, Applied mathematics. Quantitative methods
Today one of the most strategically important directions of improvement of the activity of educational institutions becomes the implementing of technology of mentoring in the educational system. The need for mentoring is due to the fact that rapid changes in the education system, transformation of organizational processes require that all participants of educational relations flexible and instant reaction. Mentoring allows to connect professional development, resistance to change, the formation of new competencies, as well as mutual social exchange in an integrated approach to each participant of the educational process. Despite discussions of scholars and practitioners concerning mentoring problems, there is no single methodological approach to the organization of mentoring system in an educational institution of higher education as a unit of innovative educational system. The article analyzes the history of development, principles and types of mentoring, reveals the content of mentoring system; presents the results of the author’s research and suggests a mechanism for organizing a mentoring system in an educational institution of higher education. As a tool for the development of the mentoring system at the university, it is proposed to create a community – a club for the development of meta-skills within the educational institution.
This study aimed to analyze the perception, needs, satisfaction, and course selection factors of general education from the students’point of view to derive implications for the reorganization and operation of the liberal arts curriculum. To this end, basic statistical analysis, difference analysis to identify student characteristics, and IPA analysis and Borich analysis to identify needs, were conducted on the response results of 1,454 students at a private university in Busan. The results are as follows: First, regarding the role and meaning of general education, students responded that general education plays a role in enhancing interest among students in subjects other than those of their major, nurturing human beings with character, and promoting a new understanding of their major subjects. The results of this response were significantly different according to gender and class. What is noteworthy is that there was little difference in the students' perceptions of the main purpose of general education, which is universal intelligence education, and the instrumental role of general education, which is a supplement to major education. Second, students' needs for the domain of general education were high in those practical domain fields that are directly related to employment, like career exploration and certification courses, and the associated domains for employment, like foreign languages and IT utilization fields. In the operation of the curriculum, there was a high demand for subject development reflecting the changing of the times and the latest trends, the expansion of student choice through the opening of various subjects, and appropriate class difficulty. Third, overall satisfaction with general education was above average, and there were statistically meaningful differences by gender, grade, and field. In terms of general education operations, it has been shown that expanding the range of student selection through the opening of subjects in various areas, opening subjects reflecting the changing of the times and the latest trends, using appropriate textbooks and learning materials, and the instructors' expertise have a significant impact on student satisfaction. Fourth, it was found that students consider the convenience and learning expectations first when choosing liberal arts subjects. Among the convenience factors, priority is given to classes that require no team projects, and subjects with little or no assignments are preferred. When it comes to learning expectations, subjects of interest and interesting subject names are given priority. There were differences in subject selection tendencies according to gender, grade, and the college itself. Based on the above research results, four implications were derived and presented from the perspective of the organization, operation, and instructional strategies of the liberal arts curriculum.
The purpose of this study is to find out the instructors’ understanding and application levels, difficulties, and support requests for competency-based general education(CBGE) at university. For this, FGI was conducted with 18 instructors participating in general education at J University in the Chungnam province. Then, the interview results were analyzed to see how they differ according to instructors’ teaching years, prior training experience(on competency-based education, CBE), and academic characteristics of subject. As a result, first, instructors’ understanding and application levels of the competencybased education turned out to show the bigger difference by prior training experience on competency-based education than the years of their teaching career. Second, the difficulties faced by instructors in the process of practicing competency-based education have been reported to be various over 3 areas like insructional design and implementation, coordination of students and learning activities in general education, and educational conditions. Especially, instructors without prior training experience in CBE were found out to have more serious difficulties, especially when teaching basic science or theory-based subjects, like determining main competency for his subject. Third, instructors’ support requests for practicing competency-based education were founded to be diverse such as special lectures, workshops, experience-based projects like CBE curriculum development including development of evaluation tool or consulting, and teaching communities for sharing informations and good examples. Especcially, the instructors without prior training experience requested firstly basic program like special lecture which provides basic understanding on CBE. Next, instructors, who already have special lecture or consulting experience, requested more experiential program on CBE. On the other hand, instructors who already have a experience of evaluation tool development project for his own subject in CBGE, requested teaching community or workshop for sharing more sophisticated informations and good examples of CBE. Finally, based on the research results, several ways to improve the instructors’ teaching competency for CBE were suggested.
RESUMEN Garantizar la igualdad para grupos desfavorecidos requiere que los Estados apliquen medidas especiales. Para garantizar la efectividad en la aplicación de estas medidas es importante que la población beneficiaria evalúe en qué medida sus condiciones socioeconómicas y culturales han tenido transformaciones a partir de las políticas implementadas. Con este objetivo, se optó por la metodología cualitativa y se llevaron a cabo entrevistas a beneficiarios y sus familias, quienes se refirieron a aspectos de su vida, contexto familiar, entorno barrial, estudios curriculares y extracurriculares, entre otros. Este texto expone resultados de la cuota de becas de enseñanza media para estudiantes afrouruguayos.
El objetivo de este escrito es mostrar, a partir de los resultados de un cuestionario aplicado durante mayo de 2020, las condiciones en que las alumnas de una unidad de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN) en la Ciudad de México han continuado sus estudios durante la pandemia Covid-19. El concepto de interseccionalidad nos permite mostrar que las desventajas sociales y económicas (precariedad laboral, trabajo no remunerado, dependencia económica) en las que vivían las estudiantes antes de la pandemia se recrudecieron, en particular para aquellas que trabajan en el sector educativo, pues a las tareas que ya realizaban se sumaron el trabajo desde casa y el cuidado de las personas dentro del hogar (triple jornada laboral). Ante esta situación se sugiere desarrollar estrategias enfocadas en las mujeres del sector educativo (en particular en aquellas que aún están en formación), para que la pandemia y el eventual regreso a las aulas, no redunde en sobrecarga de trabajo y empeoramiento de sus condiciones laborales.
В современном мире формируется большое количество данных, скорость и качество их передачи выходят на первый план. Осуществлять эффективную работу с большими объемами информации, уменьшать время на ее обработку позволяют сквозные технологии. Развитию цифровых технологий способствует эффективное использование цифрового инструментария в образовательной среде. Рассматривается применение цифровых инструментов, которые призваны помочь преподавателям развивать универсальные компетенции студентов технических направлений. Студенты отдают предпочтения по формированию компетенций, связанных с командной работой, управлением проектами, самоорганизацией и саморазвитием. Делается вывод о том, что выбор инструментов остается за преподавателем и всегда должен соотноситься с образовательными результатами и компетенциями, формируемыми в рамках учебного процесса. Кроме того, качественный цифровой инструмент расширяет возможности преподавателя в формировании универсальных компетенций у студентов, тем самым повышая их мотивацию через привычную цифровую образовательную среду.
Increased availability of tablets at home and in classrooms provides educators access to a powerful tool for music instruction. Music production lessons on tablets offer alternate approaches to developing music literacies while teaching valuable technology skills. These activities are ideal for general music education because they align with contemporary music practices and are adaptable to a variety of learning environments (in person, remote, and hybrid). This article will present a model for tablet-based music production instruction in the general music classroom that aligns with the National Core Arts Standards and accompanying process components grounded in five essential skills: sequencing, recording, editing, effects processing, and mixing.
Jennifer Smiechowski, Megan Mercia, Kyle Kemp
et al.
Understanding and enhancing the patient experience can lead to improved healthcare outcomes. The purpose of this study was to capture a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the patient experience on an inpatient medical teaching unit in order to identify key deficiencies and unmet needs. We then aim to implement a design-thinking methodology to find innovative ways to solve these deficiencies. Here we present the first two phases of this four-phased study. We retrospectively and prospectively collected quantitative data about patient experience with the Canadian Patient Experiences Survey-Inpatient Care. We then used this data to guide patient interviews. We identified several key deficiencies including call bell response times, noise levels at night, pain control, education about medication side effects, communication between healthcare team members, and how well healthcare team members remain up to date about patient care. In the final two phases of our study, we will select one or more of these deficiencies and collaborate with patients and other stakeholders to rapidly create, employ, and assess the impact of prototypes through an iterative action cycle until effective and sustainable solutions are found.
<strong>Experience Framework</strong>
This article is associated with the Innovation & Technology lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (<a href="https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework">https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework</a>). <ul> <li><a href="https://www.theberylinstitute.org/page/PXSEARCH#resource-list-all/?view_28_page=1&view_28_filters=%5B%7B%22field%22%3A%22field_38%22%2C%22operator%22%3A%22in%22%2C%22value%22%3A%5B%22PXJ%20Article%22%5D%7D%2C%7B%22field%22%3A%22field_20%22%2C%22operator%22%3A%22is%22%2C%22value%22%3A%5B%22%22%5D%7D%2C%7B%22field%22%3A%22field_40%22%2C%22operator%22%3A%22is%22%2C%22value%22%3A%5B%22%22%2C%22Innovation%20%26%20Technology%22%5D%7D%2C%7B%22field%22%3A%22field_41%22%2C%22operator%22%3A%22is%22%2C%22value%22%3A%5B%22%22%5D%7D%5D">Access other PXJ articles</a> related to this lens.</li> <li><a href="https://www.theberylinstitute.org/page/Ecosystem-InnovationTechnology">Access other resources</a> related to this lens</li> </ul>
Abstract Nonreciprocity is important in both optical information processing and topological photonics studies. Conventional principles for realizing nonreciprocity rely on magnetic fields, spatiotemporal modulation, or nonlinearity. Here we propose a generic principle for generating nonreciprocity by taking advantage of energy loss, which is usually regarded as harmful. The loss in a resonance mode induces a phase lag, which is independent of the energy transmission direction. When multichannel lossy resonance modes are combined, the resulting interference gives rise to nonreciprocity, with different coupling strengths for the forward and backward directions, and unidirectional energy transmission. This study opens a new avenue for the design of nonreciprocal devices without stringent requirements.