Learning Objectives Research Articles

Adapting to the AI Era: ChatGPT in the Classroom

The emergence of ChatGPT, a conversational AI developed by OpenAI, has raised profound questions about its impact on the traditional university experience. This article addresses the pervasive discourse surrounding ChatGPT by investigating the actual capabilities of AI writing at the undergraduate level. To study the strengths and limitations of AI in the classroom, we conducted a survey experiment involving faculty assessment of essays generated by ChatGPT. Contrary to concerns of diminishing academic rigor and standards, our findings suggest that ChatGPT’s effectiveness is influenced by user knowledge, indicating potential for symbiotic integration into pedagogical approaches. Rather than spell the end of the college essay, we suggest that ChatGPT offers opportunities to open discussions about information literacy and verification of information. For universities, our study suggests revising university AI-usage policies and incorporating AI into teaching and learning objectives.

Discussing the Protagonist Role of Students in Game-Based Learning

In the ongoing process of the digital transformation of society, corresponding competencies are required from children more than ever. The concept of computational empowerment (CE) promotes confident and reflective engagement with digital technology, which often falls short in formal education. This work outlines how both entertainment and serious games can be used to support the cause of CE and what opportunities they offer for more empowering learning in school settings. The use of digital games appears to be a promising way to connect with the lifeworld of young people and thus offering a low-threshold and differentiated starting point. In this context, the focus should be placed on a stronger establishment of the protagonist role to empower students to engage with digital technologies in depth. In the Serious Game Changers project, students created their own educational modules on specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using digital games and creating new artifacts as learning objects through remixing game elements. In this project, students should be empowered to become active participants by designing with the help of commercial and serious games. Thus giving them their own voice in future (formal) educational settings and promoting future skills in order to make them self-confident 'protagonists' of their surroundings.

Towards accelerating discovery via physics-driven and interactive multi-fidelity Bayesian Optimization

Abstract Both computational and experimental material discovery bring forth the challenge of exploring multidimensional and often non-differentiable parameter spaces, such as phase diagrams of Hamiltonians with multiple interactions, composition spaces of combinatorial libraries, processing spaces, and molecular embedding spaces. Often these systems are expensive or time-consuming to evaluate a single instance, and hence classical approaches based on exhaustive grid or random search are too data intensive. This resulted in strong interest towards active learning methods such as Bayesian optimization (BO) where the adaptive exploration occurs based on human learning (discovery) objective. However, classical BO is based on a predefined optimization target, and policies balancing exploration and exploitation are purely data driven. In practical settings, the domain expert can pose prior knowledge on the system in form of partially known physics laws and often varies exploration policies during the experiment. Here, we propose an interactive workflow building on multi-fidelity BO (MFBO), starting with classical (data-driven) MFBO, then expand to a proposed structured (physics-driven) sMFBO, and finally extending it to allow human in the loop interactive iMFBO workflows for adaptive and domain expert aligned exploration. These approaches are demonstrated over highly non-smooth multi-fidelity simulation data generated from an Ising model, considering spin-spin interaction as parameter space, lattice sizes as fidelity spaces, and the objective as maximizing heat capacity. Detailed analysis and comparison show the impact of physics knowledge injection and real time human decisions for improved exploration with increased alignment to ground truth.

Development, dissemination and survey evaluation of layered education for healthcare professionals to support implementation of firearm injury and mortality prevention strategies in emergency care settings, New York, USA

BackgroundThere is consensus on the need and ability to address firearm injury risk in healthcare settings; however, the lack of education for healthcare professionals hinders the implementation of evidence-based firearm...

Bones at Home

Remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a range of pedagogical challenges for anthropology laboratory courses. In biological anthropology courses such as Human Osteology, hands-on experience is essential to achieving learning outcomes, including basic bone and feature (i.e., landmark) identification, identification from fragmentary remains, and age and sex estimation. To address the need for training that includes object-based, tactile (haptic) learning in fields such as biological anthropology and archaeology, all Human Osteology students at Mount Royal University and the University of Manitoba took home plastic model skeletons. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how well remotely educated undergraduates (REUs) met human osteology learning objectives when supported by plastic model skeletons at home. We present the results of a survey designed to test core osteological skills obtained by REUs in comparison with undergraduates educated with in-person laboratory components (IPUs) and experts in the field (zero to four and five or more years of experience). REU scores did not differ significantly from those of IPU or Junior Experts with less than five years of experience. Students performed well in bone identification but were limited in their ability to apply common sex and age estimation methods and to identify incomplete elements. Our findings reinforce the importance of haptic learning and years of experience in human osteological learning. They support the use of take-home models as valuable resources in both remote and in-person undergraduate teaching. This work is a step toward more inclusive universal instructional design that can be applied across various anthropology laboratory courses.

Reading Proficiency Among Grade 7 Learners

Analyzing reading competency in children in Grade 7 provides insightful information on learning objectives, cognitive growth, and the efficacy of literacy training. This information has consequences for teaching practices, educational systems, and individual students. This study assessed the reading proficiency of 146 Grade 7 students using a standardized test. The data were statistically analyzed using the mean, Mann-Whitney U-test, and analysis of variance. Results showed that the overall reading proficiency of the students was at a frustration level. When grouped by three different variables, the students’ reading proficiency stayed at the frustration level across all categories. Furthermore, no significant differences were found in reading proficiency when comparing students based on their profile variables. In this context, this paper ascertained the reading proficiency of Grade 7 learners in a public secondary school in a medium-sized division in Central Philippines for the Academic Year 2022–2023. Data needed for this descriptive study was collected from 146 respondents using a standardized instrument from the Oral Verification Test with one reading passage and a 7-item question. The ensuing analysis showed that the reading proficiency of Grade 7 Learners was at the frustration level, a level that signals a need for intervention, support, and reflection on instructional practices. This result calls for a customized reading plan to bring relevance and answer to the needs of the learners who still have difficulty in their reading proficiency level. Keywords: Language education, reading proficiency, word recognition, reading comprehension, Negros Oriental, Philippines

Orthrus: Towards Evolutionary and Functional RNA Foundation Models.

In the face of rapidly accumulating genomic data, our understanding of the RNA regulatory code remains incomplete. Pre-trained genomic foundation models offer an avenue to adapt learned RNA representations to biological prediction tasks. However, existing genomic foundation models are trained using strategies borrowed from textual or visual domains, such as masked language modelling or next token prediction, that do not leverage biological domain knowledge. Here, we introduce Orthrus, a Mamba-based RNA foundation model pre-trained using a novel self-supervised contrastive learning objective with biological augmentations. Orthrus is trained by maximizing embedding similarity between curated pairs of RNA transcripts, where pairs are formed from splice isoforms of 10 model organisms and transcripts from orthologous genes in 400+ mammalian species from the Zoonomia Project. This training objective results in a latent representation that clusters RNA sequences with functional and evolutionary similarities. We find that the generalized mature RNA isoform representations learned by Orthrus significantly outperform existing genomic foundation models on five mRNA property prediction tasks, and requires only a fraction of fine-tuning data to do so.

Implementasi Media Pembelajaran Berbasis Teknologi terhadap Motivasi Belajar

The learning process involves interaction between teachers and students to achieve effective and efficient educational goals. Learning media plays an important role in improving students' understanding and attracting their interest and attention to the material being taught. In today's digital era, the development of information and communication technology has made it possible to use various types of learning media, such as videos, animations, and interactive applications, which makes the learning process more interesting and enjoyable. This study aims to analyze internal and external factors that affect the effectiveness of the use of technology-based learning media on student learning motivation. The method used in this study is qualitative with a descriptive approach, involving students of the Indonesian Language and Literature Education study program. The results of the study show that the use of interactive learning media, especially videos, is very effective in improving students' understanding of concepts and stimulating their active involvement in the learning process. The availability of media that suits the needs of students and learning goals is essential to create a fun and productive learning atmosphere. The selection of the right learning media, based on student needs and learning objectives, can significantly improve the quality of education. The use of technology in education, especially technology-based media, provides opportunities to create a better learning experience, encourage student motivation, and achieve more optimal learning outcomes.

Toward multimodal learning analytics in simulation-based collaborative learning: A design ethnography of maritime training

AbstractCollaborative learning in high-fidelity simulators is an important part of how master mariner students are preparing for their future career at sea by becoming part of a ship’s bridge team. This study aims to inform the design of multimodal learning analytics to be used for providing automated feedback to master mariner students engaged in collaborative learning activities in high-fidelity navigation simulators. Through a design ethnographic approach, we analyze video records of everyday training practices at a simulator center in Scandinavia, exploring (a) how feedback is delivered to students during collaborative activities in full-mission simulators and (b) which sensors are needed and why they are needed for capturing the multimodal nature of professional performance, communication, and collaboration in simulation-based collaborative learning. Our detailed analysis of two episodes from the data corpus shows how the delivery of feedback during simulations consists of recurring, multidimensional, and multimodal feedback cycles, comprising instructors’ close monitoring of student’s actions to continuously assess the fit between the learning objectives and the ongoing task. Through these embedded assessments, feedback that draws on the rich semiotic resources of the simulated environment, while considering aspects of realism and authenticity, is provided. Considering the multidimensional and multimodal nature of feedback in professional learning contexts, we identify technologies and sensors needed for capturing professional performance in simulated environments.

Effective Hard Negative Mining for Contrastive Learning-based Code Search

Background. Code search aims to find the most relevant code snippet in a large codebase based on a given natural language query. An accurate code search engine can increase code reuse and improve programming efficiency. The focus of code search is how to represent the semantic similarity of code and query. With the development of code pre-trained models, the pattern of using numeric feature vectors (embeddings) to represent code semantics and using vector distance to represent semantic similarity has replaced traditional string matching methods. The quality of semantic representations is critical to the effectiveness of downstream tasks such as code search. Currently, the state-of-the-art (SOTA) learning method uses the contrastive learning paradigm. The objective of contrastive learning is to maximize the similarity between matching code and query (positive samples) and minimize the similarity between mismatched pairs (negative samples). To increase the reusing of negative samples, prior contrastive learning approaches use a large queue (memory bank) to store embeddings. Problem. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in using negative examples for code search: ① Due to the random selection of negative samples, semantic representations learned by existing models cannot distinguish similar codes well. ② Since semantic vectors in the memory bank are reused from previous inference results and then directly used for loss function calculation without gradient descent, the model cannot effectively learn the negative sample semantic information. Method. To solve the above problems, we propose a contrastive learning code search model with hard negative mining called CoCoHaNeRe: ❶ To enable the model to distinguish similar codes, we introduce hard negative examples into contrastive training, which are negative examples in the codebase that are most similar to positive examples. As a result, hard negative examples are most likely to make the model make mistakes. ❷ To improve the learning efficiency of negative samples during training, we add all hard negative examples to the model's gradient descent process. Result. To verify the effectiveness of CoCoHaNeRe, we conducted experiments on large code search datasets with six programming languages, as well as similar retrieval tasks code clone detection and code question answering. Experimental results show that our model achieves SOTA performance. In the code search task, the average MRR score of CoCoHaNeRe exceeds CodeBERT, GraphCodeBERT, and UniXcoder by 11.25%, 8.13%, and 7.38%, respectively. It has also made great progress in code clone detection and code question answering. In addition, our method performs well in different programming languages and code pre-training models. Furthermore, qualitative analysis shows that our model effectively distinguishes high-order semantic differences between similar codes.

The “flipped visit”: an innovative method to improve medical student self-efficacy through a structured approach in clinic

BackgroundSpecialty clinics can be challenging for students on the internal medicine clerkship. They often lack the specialized knowledge necessary to fully engage in the clinic and may be pushed into an observational role, rather than being afforded meaningful opportunities. These peripheral roles undermine self-efficacy, and, therefore, education and interest. We sought to improve self-efficacy of students attending non-malignant hematology clinic, as well as to enhance interest in hematology and internal medicine.MethodsWe developed a flipped visit model analogous to the flipped classroom. Students each received pre-readings accompanied and pre-assigned cases with delineated reasons for referral and learning objectives. This model allowed students to prepare the hematology content for visits prior to arrival and then focus their time in clinic on executing visits. Participating students completed pre- and post-clinic surveys. These surveys covered core concepts in self-efficacy and interest in hematology and internal medicine on a five-point Likert scale.ResultsOf 103 students attending hematology clinic, 38 students (37%) opted to participate. Two of the 38 did not complete the post-clinic survey. Students had a statistically significant increase in four of six measures of self-efficacy: evaluation of research relevant to patient care and practicing cost-effective care (p = 0.008 and 0.001, respectively); and creation of a differential diagnosis and treatment plan specific to hematology (both p < 0.001). While pre-clinic student responses expressed interest in more exposure to hematology or a possible career in hematology or internal medicine, this was not changed post-clinic. When comparing their experience to other clinics, 75% and 71% students rated hematology clinic slightly or much better than other medicine clinics and non-medicine clinics, respectively. The flipped visit improved self-efficacy both specific to hematology and more generally. While students rated the experience more highly than other clinics, there was no impact on career interest in hematology or internal medicine.ConclusionA flipped visit approach to incorporating medical students into hematology clinic that included pre-assigned cases and readings improved self-efficacy and was preferred by students. They may be adopted easily in other ambulatory education settings.

Strategies for LinkedIn-Based Guest Speaker Recruitment and Establishment of Engaging and Comfortable Classroom Discussions: A Case Study from an Operations Management Course

This article describes workable strategies for instructors to introduce highly interactive question and answer (Q&amp;A) sessions with accomplished guest speakers from industry. Two innovative strategies serve as the key factors behind the series’ success: (1) using LinkedIn to partner with guest speakers, especially university alumni, who possess expertise in specific operations management disciplines, and (2) implementing a novel structured Q&amp;A approach that enables alignment with learning objectives while maximizing quality student engagement. Our approach accesses the resumes of tens of thousands of college alumni listed on LinkedIn and utilizes free cloud-based services such as Google Forms and Google Sheets for question submission (by students), review (by instructors), and selection (by the guests). These successfully implemented strategies (1) match qualified speakers to relevant course content, (2) boost student engagement by ensuring the participation of all students, (3) promote content alignment by first filtering out irrelevant student questions, and (4) increase speaker preparation and comfort level.

A Framework for the Communication Capabilities of scientists

ABSTRACT The ability to communicate science effectively is a key attribute for science graduates, and considerable work has been done to establish the techniques and skills associated with effective communication. What is less clear however, is the learning progression students traverse as they develop proficiency in science communication. In this study we evaluated aspects of university-level student science communication capabilities pre- and post- explicit teaching of core science communication capabilities. We used this data to identify the characteristics of early science communication learners and synthesise a robust learning progression Framework for Communication Capabilities (FCC). The FCC was created to support educators in identifying the characteristics of their learners to facilitate the constructive alignment of learning objectives, curriculum, and assessment rubrics for learners of science communication through early phases of their development.

Historical Left Atrial Myxoma Causing an Obstructive Shock

Learning Objectives: - Explore the clinical presentation and diagnosis of cardiac myxoma. -Find out the potential complications of cardiac myxoma, such as embolic events and heart failure. -Understanding the role of echocardiography in the diagnosis and management of cardiac myxoma. Background: Cardiac myxoma, an uncommon tumor forming in the heart, tends to occur in the left atrium and is generally non-cancerous in nature. The composition, size, and position of the tumor can lead to a range of varied signs and symptoms. These symptoms can range from barely noticeable to severe and may include heart ailments, pulmonary hypertension, and even strokes. The usual course of treatment involves surgical removal of the tumor to resolve the issue. Case Presentation: This manuscript presents a case report of a 33-year-old male patient who presented with sudden dyspnea and was diagnosed with an extraordinarily large left atrial myxoma causing cardiogenic shock. Despite plans for surgery, the patient's condition rapidly deteriorated and he eventually died due to persistent intracardiac obstruction. The article discusses the rarity of primary tumors in the heart, with myxoma being the most prevalent, and the non-specific symptoms that can manifest in a variety of ways, including cardiac, embolic, and systemic symptoms. The importance of echocardiography in diagnosing cardiac tumors and the potential complications of atrial myxomas, including mitral valve obstruction, congestive heart failure, and sudden death, are also discussed. Conclusion: The presence of a giant left atrial myxoma, although benign, can cause severe symptoms and even be life-threatening. Diagnosis is made through echocardiography, and surgical removal of the tumor is the recommended treatment, which should be performed promptly upon diagnosis.

Science communication across cultures: design and delivery of a graduate science communication program in South Africa

ABSTRACT Over two years, a graduate diploma program in science communication was designed and delivered by a university in the Republic of South Africa with assistance from a university in Australia. Building on the Australian program, the design incorporated cross-cultural and Indigenous Knowledge elements in keeping with the ethos of the South African university and broader inclusive movements within science communication. The overall design corresponded to many essential learning objectives later identified by Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari (2022, How should we organize science communication trainings to achieve competencies? International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 12(4), 289–308. https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2022.2136985), but there were also many modifications that had to be made over the course of the design and delivery to accommodate cultural considerations. In this paper, we consider how closely the design matched the threshold concepts and the learning objectives suggested by Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari, and what modifications might be made to them to include cultural considerations.

Correlation between Students’ Critical Thinking Ability and Self-Confidence on Junior High School

One way to improve students' affective and cognitive aspects is through a mathematics learning approach method at school. Achievement of learning objectives (CPL) is demonstrated by the extent to which students have achieved learning objective competencies through a series of criteria or indicators that can be seen from student achievement or learning outcomes. The method in this research uses a non-experimental correlational quantitative research method carried out on class VII students at one of the MTS in Soreang, Kab. Bandung. The aim of this research is to get an idea of how self-confidence influences critical thinking skills or the relationship between critical thinking skills and self-confidence. The results of this research show that the correlation between students' critical thinking skills and self-confidence has a "strong" influence on each other. The conclusion of this research is that Ho is rejected so that Hα is accepted: There is an influence between self-confidence and critical thinking on student achievement or learning outcomes, this means that students' self-confidence and critical thinking greatly influence learning outcomes with the regression model obtained Y = 32.788 + 0.399X1 + 0.391X2 Positive correlation occurs when the two variables are related to the same status (the linear regression coefficient has a positive sign). If one variable increases, the other variable also increases, and vice versa if it decreases.

Kritiska aspekter för lärande i ekologi – en studie av biologiundervisning inom lärarutbildningen

Based on variation theory, we analyze how a teacher educator in biology enacts the objects of learning (a) how the need for energy and matter is met in different organisms and (b) flows of energy and cycles of matter in ecosystems. The teacher's enactment is then compared with the students' lived objects of learning, as expressed in their written interactions in relation to the teacher's reflection questions. The study concludes that the enacted and lived objects of learning do not always correspond and critical aspects for knowledge development in ecology for the current group of teacher students are identified. Based on the analysis, the study suggests some areas that require special focus in teacher education in ecology. Carbohydrate as a carrier of energy between trophic levels, as well as the conversion of carbohydrate to water and carbon dioxide during cellular respiration, are examples of areas that the study highlights.

Best Practice STEM-Based Differentiated Mathematics Learning for Improving Learning Outcomes and Self-efficacy of High School Students

Learning outcomes and self-efficacy are important learning factors. Mathematics learning outcomes can reflect the extent to which students have developed as learners, while self-efficacy reflects students' self-confidence in their own abilities in solving mathematical problems. This study was based on a qualitative approach, best practice. This best practice uses the STAR flow (“Situasi, Tantangan, Aksi, Refleksi”). The situation at SMAN 1 Mande, especially class XI, shows low learning outcomes and lack of self-efficacy. The challenge faced is planning and implementing differentiated learning to improve learning outcomes and student self-efficacy. Through a STEM-based differentiated learning approach, researchers designed and implemented contextual learning on the theme of global warming with integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The results of this best practice indicate an increase in learning outcomes and student self-efficacy. STEM-based differentiated learning can also improve understanding of mathematical concepts at the high school level. Researcher recommend that educators embrace differentiated learning strategies by customizing their approaches to accommodate the diverse needs such as students' level of readiness, interests, and student’s learning profile. The significance of comprehending student characteristics, such as learning styles and thinking abilities is paramount, especially in the implementation of student-centered learning. Additionally, educators are advised to prioritize aligning learning objectives with the curriculum, ensuring relevance and engagement. This various approach aims to create a dynamic learning environment to resonates with students individualized level. Develop interventions to address students' lack of confidence in solving mathematical problems can improve self efficacy.

Development of android-based self-assessment application for basic pencak silat techniques

In Physical Education learning (PE), the absence of effective self-assessment to measure basic pencak silat techniques can hinder student learning and skill development. This research aimed to develop an Android-based self-assessment application for basic pencak silat techniques in PE classes. The study follows the Research and Development (R&amp;D) method, incorporating the ADDIE model: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. Through expert validation and field trials at State High School 1 Bengkalis, the application's feasibility and effectiveness were assessed. Results showed a high level of feasibility and effectiveness, with significant improvement in students' understanding and skills in basic pencak silat techniques. The application offers benefits such as ease of use for teachers, increased student interest, and clear learning objectives. However, challenges include dependence on internet connectivity and device limitations. Despite limitations, this study contributes to innovative and efficient learning aids, enhancing skill assessment in PE. The implications extend to curriculum integration and improved assessment methods for teachers, empowering students to monitor their progress and enhance their skills independently. Future research could explore broader applications in sports learning and address specific needs in pencak silat education.

Protocol to develop a specialised curriculum in primary care cancer research in an Irish medical school

Background The increasing necessity for specialised training in primary care cancer research stems from GPs' pivotal role in cancer detection and holistic care coupled with the unique primary care context. This has led to the development of the PRiCAN Scholars Network, an initiative to enhance the research capabilities of Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) students in RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland. This protocol outlines a proposal for the systematic development, implementation, and evaluation of a curriculum aimed at improving the primary care cancer research skills of this cohort. Methods The curriculum development process will be guided by Kern’s six-step approach. Initial stages involve comprehensive needs assessments via surveys and focus groups to identify educational needs. Subsequently, targeted learning objectives and aligned educational strategies will be defined to maximise learning opportunities and impact. The curriculum’s impact will be evaluated in a pilot phase with selected students and faculty, utilising both qualitative and quantitative feedback to drive continuous improvements. Conclusion This protocol describes a detailed method for establishing a primary care cancer research curriculum within the PRiCAN Scholars Network. Designed with a focus on sustainability and adaptability, the curriculum will be structured to develop and support a generation of medical professionals' literate in primary care research, contributing to the advancement of medical education and cancer research.