Neural alignment predicts learning outcomes in students taking an introduction to computer science course.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Meshulam M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7997890 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Learning the tools and conventions of expert communication in the sciences provides multiple benefits to bioscience students, yet often these skills are not formally taught. To address this need, we designed a writing-intensive microbiology course on emerging infectious diseases to provide upper-division students with science-specific writing skills along with disciplinary course content. The course followed the guidelines of our university's Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC) program. Students wrote a press release, a case study, a controversy/position paper, and a grant prospectus, and revised drafts after feedback. To assess the course, in 2015 and 2016 we administered pre-post surveys and collected writing samples for analysis. Students reported on their experience, training, skills, and knowledge before taking the course. They then rated the extent to which the assignments, lectures, in-class activities, and writing activities contributed to their attainment of the learning outcomes of the course. Students entering the class were inexperienced in tools of science writing and the specific genres covered by the class. Their confidence levels rose in both skills and knowledge. Feedback from instructors was cited as most helpful in the majority of the areas where students reported the most gains. The survey provided evidence that discipline-specific knowledge had been acquired through writing activities. Teaching science writing by allowing the students to write "fiction" (e.g., a case report about a fictional patient) was effective in maintaining a high level of interest, both in learning the conventions of the genre and in seeking out detailed information about emerging infectious diseases. Both the course structure and the specific assignments would be useful at other institutions to teach science writing.
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Project description:Statistical variability of electroencephalography (EEG) between subjects and between sessions is a common problem faced in the field of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). Such variability prevents the usage of pre-trained machine learning models and requires the use of a calibration for every new session. This paper presents a new transfer learning (TL) method that deals with this variability. This method aims to reduce calibration time and even improve accuracy of BCI systems by aligning EEG data from one subject to the other in the tangent space of the positive definite matrices Riemannian manifold. We tested the method on 18 BCI databases comprising a total of 349 subjects pertaining to three BCI paradigms, namely, event related potentials (ERP), motor imagery (MI), and steady state visually evoked potentials (SSVEP). We employ a support vector classifier for feature classification. The results demonstrate a significant improvement of classification accuracy, as compared to a classical training-test pipeline, in the case of the ERP paradigm, whereas for both the MI and SSVEP paradigm no deterioration of performance is observed. A global 2.7% accuracy improvement is obtained compared to a previously published Riemannian method, Riemannian Procrustes Analysis (RPA). Interestingly, tangent space alignment has an intrinsic ability to deal with transfer learning for sets of data that have different number of channels, naturally applying to inter-dataset transfer learning.
| S-EPMC9755175 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Learning objectives communicate the knowledge and skills that instructors intend for students to acquire in a course. Student performance can be enhanced when learning objectives align with instruction and assessment. We understand how instructors should use learning objectives, but we know less about how students should use them. We investigated students' use and perceptions of learning objectives in an undergraduate science course at a public research university. In this exploratory study, students (n = 185) completed two open-ended assignments regarding learning objectives and we analyzed the content of their answers. We found that students used learning objectives in ways that reflected the recommendations of past and present instructors, suggesting that students are receptive to instruction on how to use learning objectives. Students generally found learning objectives to be useful because the objectives helped them to narrow their focus and organize their studying, suggesting that students may need additional help from instructors in order to self-direct their learning. Students who chose not to use learning objectives often found other resources, such as case studies covered in class, to be more helpful for their learning. Some of these students recognized that the concepts included in case studies and learning objectives overlapped, pointing to a benefit of alignment between instructional activities and learning objectives. These qualitative results provide the data necessary for designing a quantitative instrument to test the extent to which students' use of learning objectives affects their performance.
| S-EPMC6022773 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The benefits of introducing active learning in college science courses are well established, yet more needs to be understood about student buy-in to active learning and how that process of buy-in might relate to student outcomes. We test the exposure-persuasion-identification-commitment (EPIC) process model of buy-in, here applied to student (n = 245) engagement in an undergraduate science course featuring active learning. Student buy-in to active learning was positively associated with engagement in self-regulated learning and students' course performance. The positive associations among buy-in, self-regulated learning, and course performance suggest buy-in as a potentially important factor leading to student engagement and other student outcomes. These findings are particularly salient in course contexts featuring active learning, which encourage active student participation in the learning process.
| S-EPMC5132373 | biostudies-other
Project description:IntroductionComputer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology is an innovative digital system capable of scanning prepared teeth that are intended to receive crowns, bridges, and inlays and then effectively designing and fabricating restorations. Many dental schools are currently implementing this innovative CAD/CAM technology as part of their curricula and at University of Florida College of Dentistry we created a hands-on elective.MethodsThe 5-week course requires 2- to 3-hours of time per week for the lectures and labs. The sessions cover an introduction to digital dentistry, technology and systems evaluation, an exercise for scanning, designing, milling, and finishing a single unit ceramic restoration, and a final exam. The students also gave presentations about systems and materials used. The classroom exercises included small-group learning and class debate sessions.ResultsIn 2015, two 5-week sessions included a total of 16 participants (8 each). The overall course satisfaction from the combined two rounds was 4.7 out of 5. Comments for the course have been generally positive, indicating that the course was a successful introduction to CAD/CAM technology. Students' comments showed that they were very impressed by the new technology and interested in implementing it in their practices.DiscussionThis exercise in the comparison between CAD/CAM and conventional technology resulted in a deeper understanding of digital dentistry systems and ensured that students were prepared in their clinical reasoning to apply their education in real-world decision making after graduation. By integrating this new technology in a core curriculum, preclinical, prosthodontic sophomore course and as a junior elective course, students were provided with the hands-on experience needed to utilize CAD/CAM effectively in patient care.
| S-EPMC6440409 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A one-credit hour, elective, professional development course was created at North Carolina State University to introduce pre-veterinary track students to the admissions process and the breadth of the veterinary profession. The course was designed to facilitate career exploration while building self-efficacy through vicarious learning, interacting with speakers in various veterinary subfields, and addressing misperceptions about veterinary admissions. To evaluate the student learning objectives and improve upon the current practices of the course, data from two pretest and posttest course surveys for 235 course participants between Spring 2014 and 2017 were analyzed. The results of the study showed that students experienced significant gains in self-appraisal (Cohen's d ranged 1.88 to 2.53), gathering occupational information (Cohen's d ranged 1.59 to 2.53), goal selection (Cohen's d ranged 2.14 to 2.53), and planning and problem-solving (Cohen's d ranged 1.88 to 2.77) as well as experienced a decrease in five misperceptions about veterinary admissions. This novel course is presented as a prospective course for other universities.
| S-EPMC8495951 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The growth of social media and websites for transmission of health-related information has increased in recent years, and development of online communication skills should be included in exercise science education. Incorporation of blogging into the higher education classroom may serve this professional development purpose, while also increasing student engagement and enhancing learning outcomes.PurposeThe purposes of this study were to evaluate exercise and nutrition science students' perceptions of blogging on perceived learning, sense of community, and technical knowledge at the beginning and end of the semester, and to compare the perceptions of undergraduate (UG) and graduate (GRAD) students.MethodsUG (pre, n = 78; post, n = 50) and GRAD (pre, n = 20; post, n = 17) students were enrolled in semester long seminar courses that required blogging. Perceptions of blogging were assessed using an anonymous Likert-scale survey at the beginning and end of the semester. T-tests were used to determine differences in perception on the survey subscales pre to post and between UG and GRAD students.ResultsAgreement that blogging could enhance learning or promote a sense of community was lower at the end of the semester compared with the beginning, but remained relatively high. Agreement with items related to technical knowledge increased from presemester to postsemester. The change in perception in the whole sample was driven by the UG students, as GRAD students' perceptions of blogging, although initially less positive than UG, were mainly unchanged from the start of the semester to the end.ConclusionsBlogging as a required course component is viewed favorably by exercise and nutrition science students. Future research evaluating course characteristics and structure of blogging requirements that may enhance student' perceptions are warranted.
| S-EPMC8057722 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There are increasing calls for the use of research-based teaching strategies to improve engagement and learning in engineering. In this innovation paper, we detail the application of research-based teaching strategies in a computer programming focused biomedical engineering module. This four-week, one-credit undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) programming-based image processing module consisted of a blend of lectures, active learning exercises, guided labs, and a final project. Students completed surveys and generated concept maps at three time points in the module (pre, mid, and post) to document the impact of integrating research-based teaching strategies. Students demonstrated a significant (p < 0.05) increase in conceptual knowledge, confidence with material, and belief in the usefulness of material from the beginning to end of the module. Students also had high (> 4 out of 5) perceptions of gains in knowledge and attitudes toward instructor support. Overall, the novel design utilized multiple research-based pedagogies and increased students’ conceptual knowledge, self-efficacy, and perceived usefulness of material. The proposed design is an example of how multiple research-based instructional strategies can be integrated into an undergraduate biomedical engineering course. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43683-021-00057-w.
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Project description:Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and inquiry-based curricula both expose students to the scientific process. CUREs additionally engage students in novel and scientifically relevant research, with the intention of providing an "authentic" research experience. However, we have little understanding of which course design elements impact students' beliefs that they are experiencing "authentic" research. We designed a study to explore introductory biology students' perceptions of research authenticity in CURE and inquiry classes. Using the Laboratory Course Assessment Survey, we found that students in CURE sections perceived higher levels of authentic research elements than students in inquiry-based sections. To identify specific factors that impact perceptions of research authenticity, we administered weekly reflection questions to CURE students. Coding of reflection responses revealed that experiences of failure, iteration, using scientific practices, and the relevant discoveries in their projects enhanced students' perceived authenticity of their research experiences. Although failure and iteration can occur in both CUREs and inquiry-based curricula, our findings indicate these experiences-in conjunction with the Relevant Discovery element of a CURE-may be particularly powerful in enhancing student perceptions of research authenticity in a CURE.
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Project description:Increased complexity in health care delivery is now a problem of national proportions. Traditional medical education fails to sufficiently prepare students for the realities of practicing medicine in the 21st century. To address this critical problem, health systems science (HSS), which focuses on the broader system of care, has emerged as the "third pillar" of undergraduate medical education complementing the basic and clinical sciences. The authors identified a need to increase the amount and quality of HSS education in a way that would engage students and provide a platform to learn how patients interact with the health care system. UNITED (Understanding Needs in the Emergency Department) was thus designed and implemented to introduce preclinical medical students to HSS through patient interactions in the emergency department (ED). EDs serve as America's health care "safety net" and there is no lack of opportunity to learn how the current system of care does and does not work for patients. Qualitative analysis of students' written reflections revealed the following themes of the UNITED experience: 1) medical students question their understanding of the health care system after listening to patients' stories, 2) focused patient interviews about the health care system provides a unique perspective of the patient experience not found elsewhere in the preclinical curriculum, and 3) discussing the realities of being a patient in the U.S. health care system is an emotional experience for students. Based on these data, the authors concluded that asking preclinical students to interview patients about their experience in the health care system leads to emotional activation and a subsequent stated desire to improve care delivery.
| S-EPMC8052993 | biostudies-literature