Dataset Information

"Trees Live on Soil and Sunshine!"--Coexistence of Scientific and Alternative Conception of Tree Assimilation.

ABSTRACT: Successful learning is the integration of new knowledge into existing schemes, leading to an integrated and correct scientific conception. By contrast, the co-existence of scientific and alternative conceptions may indicate a fragmented knowledge profile. Every learner is unique and thus carries an individual set of preconceptions before classroom engagement due to prior experiences. Hence, instructors and teachers have to consider the heterogeneous knowledge profiles of their class when teaching. However, determinants of fragmented knowledge profiles are not well understood yet, which may hamper a development of adapted teaching schemes. We used a questionnaire-based approach to assess conceptual knowledge of tree assimilation and wood synthesis surveying 885 students of four educational levels: 6th graders, 10th graders, natural science freshmen and other academic studies freshmen. We analysed the influence of learner's characteristics such as educational level, age and sex on the coexistence of scientific and alternative conceptions. Within all subsamples well-known alternative conceptions regarding tree assimilation and wood synthesis coexisted with correct scientific ones. For example, students describe trees to be living on "soil and sunshine", representing scientific knowledge of photosynthesis mingled with an alternative conception of trees eating like animals. Fragmented knowledge profiles occurred in all subsamples, but our models showed that improved education and age foster knowledge integration. Sex had almost no influence on the existing scientific conceptions and evolution of knowledge integration. Consequently, complex biological issues such as tree assimilation and wood synthesis need specific support e.g. through repeated learning units in class- and seminar-rooms in order to help especially young students to handle and overcome common alternative conceptions and appropriately integrate scientific conceptions into their knowledge profile.

SUBMITTER: Thorn CJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4725716 | biostudies-other | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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"Trees Live on Soil and Sunshine!"--Coexistence of Scientific and Alternative Conception of Tree Assimilation.

Thorn Christine Johanna CJ Bissinger Kerstin K Thorn Simon S Bogner Franz Xaver FX

PloS one 20160125 1

Successful learning is the integration of new knowledge into existing schemes, leading to an integrated and correct scientific conception. By contrast, the co-existence of scientific and alternative conceptions may indicate a fragmented knowledge profile. Every learner is unique and thus carries an individual set of preconceptions before classroom engagement due to prior experiences. Hence, instructors and teachers have to consider the heterogeneous knowledge profiles of their class when teachin ...[more]

PMID: 26807974

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Project description:This study compares different methods to extract soil moisture information through the assimilation of Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observations. Neural Network (NN) and physically-based SMAP soil moisture retrievals were assimilated into the NASA Catchment model over the contiguous United States for April 2015 to March 2017. By construction, the NN retrievals are consistent with the global climatology of the Catchment model soil moisture. Assimilating the NN retrievals without further bias correction improved the surface and root zone correlations against in situ measurements from 14 SMAP core validation sites (CVS) by 0.12 and 0.16, respectively, over the model-only skill and reduced the surface and root zone ubRMSE by 0.005 m3 m-3 and 0.001 m3 m-3, respectively. The assimilation reduced the average absolute surface bias against the CVS measurements by 0.009 m3 m-3, but increased the root zone bias by 0.014 m3 m-3. Assimilating the NN retrievals after a localized bias correction yielded slightly lower surface correlation and ubRMSE improvements, but generally the skill differences were small. The assimilation of the physically-based SMAP Level-2 passive soil moisture retrievals using a global bias correction yielded similar skill improvements, as did the direct assimilation of locally bias-corrected SMAP brightness temperatures within the SMAP Level-4 soil moisture algorithm. The results show that global bias correction methods may be able to extract more independent information from SMAP observations compared to local bias correction methods, but without accurate quality control and observation error characterization they are also more vulnerable to adverse effects from retrieval errors related to uncertainties in the retrieval inputs and algorithm. Furthermore, the results show that using global bias correction approaches without a simultaneous re-calibration of the land model processes can lead to a skill degradation in other land surface variables.

Dataset Information

"Trees Live on Soil and Sunshine!"--Coexistence of Scientific and Alternative Conception of Tree Assimilation.

Publications

"Trees Live on Soil and Sunshine!"--Coexistence of Scientific and Alternative Conception of Tree Assimilation.

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