Scientific Practice Research Articles

Science teachers' perceptions and practice of uncertainty in science learning: The changes experienced after engaging in a practice‐based professional development

AbstractGrappling with uncertainty is an essential element of students' science learning and sense‐making processes, yet literature is limited regarding how teachers can facilitate and use student scientific uncertainty as a pedagogical resource in their classrooms. Furthermore, progress on pedagogical practice depends on both the ability to notice one's perceptions and engage in opportunities to experience and reflect on new instructional approaches. To date, there are few professional development experiences explored in literature that explicitly aim to enhance teachers' awareness and pedagogical practice regarding the use and facilitation of student scientific uncertainty. As such, this qualitative study follows a group of 11 middle school science teachers before and after participating in a week‐long practice‐based professional development (P‐BPD) specifically designed to foster teachers' ability to use student uncertainty as a pedagogical resource. Interviews were conducted and analyzed prior to the P‐BPD, immediately after the P‐BPD, and the year following to measure shifts in perceptions over time. Additionally, classroom practice was observed both before and the year following the P‐BPD. Overall, we found that teachers' awareness of how to use student scientific uncertainty grew both in their expressed perceptions and in their observed classroom enactment. After engaging in the P‐BPD, many teachers expressed an enhanced awareness of the productive potential uncertainty can have, as well as increased understanding of potential sources and responses to student uncertainty. Additionally, in the post‐implementation observations, most of the teachers demonstrated more diverse use of uncertainty navigation strategies, intentionally raising, maintaining, and reducing scientific uncertainty more often. Teachers were observed using student ideas and uncertainties to drive the trajectory of their lessons more consistently. Notably, we report counterexamples for teachers who demonstrated less or no shifts in perceptions or practice. Furthermore, teachers explicitly identified experiences from the P‐BPD that fostered shifts in both their perceptions and practice.

The World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty on genetic resources and traditional knowledge: Implications for plant science

Societal Impact StatementThe recently adopted World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (“WIPO Treaty”) is the latest in a series of international legal frameworks designed to strike an appropriate balance between access to genetic and knowledge resources, and their utilization. This opinion piece argues that although the WIPO Treaty is an important milestone in international lawmaking related to the protection of Indigenous peoples' knowledge and resources, it is unlikely to significantly alter extant scientific practices. Therefore, more work will still need to be done to ensure equity in the development of plant‐based innovations.SummaryConcerns about the sourcing of materials and information used in plant breeding and related scientific fields have been widespread for decades. Generally, these preoccupations are rooted in historical and ongoing inequalities, particularly the fact that the benefits resulting from scientific and commercial exploitation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge are rarely shared with the people and communities from which they originate. Since the early 1990s, multiple international treaties and national laws have been designed to address concerns over the misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, creating a complex web of legal obligations that scientists and research administrators need to navigate. Most recently, in May 2024 the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization adopted a Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (“WIPO Treaty”, 2024). This opinion piece focuses on the new WIPO Treaty and examines its likely impact on plant breeding and other scientific fields that rely on plant genetic resources. Ultimately, the article argues that the WIPO Treaty is unlikely to add significant impediments to the work of scientists beyond the requirements already imposed under the Convention on Biological Diversity (“CBD”) and its Nagoya Protocol. However, the WIPO Treaty likely will result in the introduction of new administrative requirements for patent filing in many jurisdictions, which may create additional burdens for research administrators, such as personnel in university technology transfer offices.

"1-800-Help-Me-With-Open-Science-Stuff": A Qualitative Examination of Open Science Practices in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of communication sciences and disorders (CSD) assistant professors in the United States related to barriers and facilitators to engaging in open science practices and identify opportunities for improving open science training and support in the field. Thirty-five assistant professors (16 from very high research activity [R1] institutions, 19 from institutions with other Carnegie classifications) participated in one 1-hr virtual focus group conducted via Zoom recording technology. The researchers used a conventional content analysis approach to analyze the focus group data and develop categories from the discussions. Five categories were developed from the focus groups: (a) a desire to learn about open science through opportunities for independent learning and learning with peers; (b) perceived benefits of engaging in open science on assistant professors' careers, the broader scientific community, and the quality of research in the field of CSD; (c) personal factors that act as barriers and/or facilitators to engaging in open science practices; (d) systemic factors that act as barriers and/or facilitators to engaging in open science practices; and (e) differences in perceptions of R1 and non-R1 assistant professors. Assistant professors in CSD perceive benefits of open science for their careers, the scientific community, and the field. However, they face many barriers (e.g., time, lack of knowledge and training), which impede their engagement in open science practices. Preliminary recommendations for CSD assistant professors, academic institutions, publishers, and funding agencies are provided to reduce barriers to engagement in open science practices. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.27996839.

Science and Engineering Practices: a Comparative Analysis of Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese Science Curricula

Abstract Southeast Asian countries are embracing updated integrated curricula, such as STEM, which are impacted by socio-scientific, political, and economic reasons related to global educational reform. This study compares science curricula regarding science and engineering practices (SEP s) in Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese science curricula. The SEP s in the curricular learning outcomes were examined using qualitative content analysis. According to the analysis, the learning outcomes of the three Southeast Asian countries were more aligned with science than engineering. Students most often practiced ‘constructing scientific explanations,’ while the least common was ‘asking questions and defining problems’ across countries. Compared to Indonesia and Vietnam, the Thai curriculum typically included ‘developing a model’, a key science and engineering practice. The findings suggest that curriculum design may reconsider integration, curricular coherence, and learning goals for modelling, asking questions, and engineering to increase engagement with diverse activities.

Study on the Indoor Thermal Environment of Traditional Residences in Southern Jiangsu—A Case Study of Xue Fucheng’s Former Residence, Wuxi City

Traditional residences in Southern Jiangsu are residential buildings characterized by local features that embody climate adaptability principles and reflect ecological wisdom and cultural significance rooted in environmental harmony. On the basis of the inheritance of architectural culture and the development of green design, this study aims to explore the scientific and green construction practices of traditional residences, with Xue Fucheng’s Former Residence in Wuxi City as a representative case of southern Jiangsu architecture. By measurement and data analysis, this study investigates the indoor thermal environment of traditional residences, focusing on temperature, humidity, wind speed, and radiant heat. It analyzes the methods and architectural mechanisms employed by traditional residences in Southern Jiangsu to control light, wind, and heat in the living environment. The findings summarize the inheritable experience in green and ecological design of traditional residences in Southern Jiangsu, providing a prudent reference for establishing a green building construction model and technique system with distinct features of Southern Jiangsu.

A Beginner’s Guide to Open and Reproducible Systematic Reviews in Psychology

This paper provides guidance and tools for conducting open and reproducible systematic reviews in psychology. It emphasizes the importance of systematic reviews for evidence-based decision-making and the growing adoption of open science practices. Open science enhances transparency, reproducibility, and minimizes bias in systematic reviews by sharing data, materials, and code. It also fosters collaborations and enables involvement of non-academic stakeholders. The paper is designed for beginners, offering accessible guidance to navigate the many standards and resources that may not obviously align with specific areas of psychology. It covers systematic review conduct standards, pre-registration, registered reports, reporting standards, and open data, materials and code. The paper is concluded with a glimpse of recent innovations like Community Augmented Meta-Analysis and independent reproducibility checks.

Strengthening Developmental Science With Psychometric Evaluations: An Examination of the Spatial Arrangement Method as a Measure of Semantic Structure in Children

ABSTRACTCognitive tasks are seldom evaluated on their ability to provide valid and reliable measurements of the construct they intend to measure. This scarcity of psychometric evaluations makes it challenging to evaluate replications of experimental effects and to relate performance in cognitive tasks to other constructs of interest. In developmental science, these issues are compounded by the often‐imprecise measures derived from tasks completed by child participants. Here, we focus on the spatial arrangement method when used to assess semantic structure in children and evaluate its psychometric properties. Using a new analytic approach to capture individual variability in participants' arrangement in this task, we show that the spatial arrangement method has appropriate construct validity (β = 0.40), internal consistency (r2 = 0.20), and test–retest reliability (r2 = 0.41; ICC = 0.56) when used to evaluate semantic structure in U.S. children (4–9 years of age; N = 200 across 4 datasets). We discuss the implications of these findings for examining semantic structure in children and for strengthening methodological practices in developmental science more broadly.

ТРУДОВІ ПРАВА ЗАСУДЖЕНИХ: СУЧАСНИЙ СТАН, ПРОБЛЕМИ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РОЗВИТКУ

The article examines the current state, problems and prospects for the development of labor rights of convicts. It is noted that in Ukrainian legislation, the work of convicts is recognized as “the right to participate in labor activity”, and the theory and practice of penitentiary science considers the work of convicts as an effective correctional factor, positive labor activity for the development of the convict’s personality, a means of resocialization and management of convicts, etc. The list of international and national NPAs in the field of legal regulation of the labor of convicts has been determined, including departments, and the main principles of convict labor organization (voluntariness, fair pay, social protection, rehabilitation focus and professional training). The existing problems in the field of the realization of the labor rights of convicts are noted, in particular, the low level of wages, limited employment opportunities for convicts, the imperfection of social insurance mechanisms and the lack of a systematic approach to training, the low level of active participation of non-governmental organizations in the processes of control over working conditions and the protection of rights are noted convicts, which significantly complicates the realization of the right to work by convicts, creates obstacles to compliance with safety standards and non-discriminatory access to work.It is emphasized that the key aspects aimed at ensuring the rights of convicts, improving their working conditions, and promoting their resocialization are: raising the level of wages, developing and implementing state vocational training programs for convicts, improving legislation in the field of social protection of convicts, introducing independent control mechanisms on working conditions and safety at workplaces in correctional institutions, expansion of employment opportunities for convicts, development of post-release support programs for adaptation and integration into the labor market. Key words: labor rights, work, work of convicts, convictions, labor relations, employment, labor activity, institution of execution of punishment, correctional colony, corrections, resocialization, State Criminal Enforcement Service of Ukraine.

A collaborative approach to advancing research and training in Public Health Data Science—challenges, opportunities, and lessons learnt

The unprecedented availability of increasingly complex, voluminous, and multi-dimensional data as well as the emergence of data science as an evolving field provide ideal opportunities to address the multi-faceted public health challenges faced by low and middle income countries (LMIC), especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is a severe lack of well-trained data scientists and home-grown educational programs to enable context-specific training. The lack of human capacity and resources for public health data analysis as well as the dire need to use modern technology for better understanding and possible intervention cannot be dealt with currently available educational programs and computing infrastructure, demanding a great deal of collaboration and investments within Africa and with the Global North This paper describes processes undertaken to establish sustainable research training programs and to train a new generation of data scientists with knowledge, mentoring, professional skills, and research immersion. The goal is to position them for rigorous, biomedically grounded and ethically conscious Public Health Data Science practice with a focus on Ethiopia and Kenya. The programs are realized through partnership among Columbia University (CU, USA), Addis Ababa University (AAU, Ethiopia), and the University of Nairobi (UoN, Kenya). In this paper, we describe the collaborative project named “Advancing Public Health Research in Eastern Africa through Data Science Training (APHREA-DST)” delving on its conceptualization, implementation framework and activities undertaken. We adopted both qualitative and quantitative approaches to understand the needs of the stakeholders for such educational and training programs. Through harmonized online surveys and stakeholder engagements via focus group discussions in Ethiopia and Kenya, a curriculum was developed for a masters degree program in Public Health Data Science (PHDS). Moreover, the engagement with local projects in both countries as well as active collaboration with other data science related projects in Africa under DSI-Africa consortium benefited the project to start the M. Sc. program successfully. So far, the launching of the graduate program in both countries and the two-cycle experience sharing program done at Columbia University as well as the numerous MoUs signed between partners for data sharing and internships are the major successes of the project. In this paper, we discuss in detail the challenges faced as well as the existing opportunities and lessons learnt this far in implementing this tripartite collaborative teaching and research project.

Placing Art Practice into the Field of Bioimaging: Testing Play as a Methodological Tool to Explore and Reflect upon Art Practice

Abstract Bioimaging experiments are carried out in discrete labs, and artists are rarely granted access. The author finds that they are an underused resource for artist-researchers. In this article, she demonstrates how an artist-researcher can contribute to artscience initiatives in pharmacological research by working in an advanced imaging and microscopy lab and responding innovatively to current circumstances in bioimaging. She does this by thinking about scientific and artistic interdisciplinary practice in a playful way. Informed by established play theories and practices from the literature, she has reviewed, studied, and adapted. Here she discusses research conducted at the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham, where she evaluated play as an insightful concept to provoke a reaction to scientific methods.

How should scientists act? Assessing public perceptions of scientists and scientific practices and their implications for science communication

Is how science is conducted legitimate? Are scientists trustworthy? Whether the public answers “yes” to these questions is critical for science communicators. We explore how social factors affect public perceptions of the practice of science, and then test how those beliefs relate to views about how scientists engage with the public and policy making. Our results show that political ideology and religiosity affect these views. However, more importantly, respondents' concerns about the integrity of the scientific process are the strongest predictor of views about scientists' behavior, providing a focus area for future communication efforts in support of science-based decision making.

Implementing FAIR data principles in the IPCC seventh assessment cycle: Lessons learned and future prospects

Every five to seven years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) convenes the climate science community to assess the latest knowledge on climate change relevant to policy-makers. This generally takes the form of Assessment Reports (AR) covering the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. With each cycle, these reports have grown in scope, length, number of referenced papers, and underpinning datasets. During the sixth assessment cycle, a large-scale collective effort went into archiving digital products assessed and generated through the IPCC process. The main objectives driving this initiative are making IPCC’s work more transparent, improving the reproducibility and reusability of the assessment outcomes, better utilization of the services of the IPCC Data Distribution Centre (DDC), and, more generally, compliance with best practices in open science. This paper expands on the motivations for the curation and preservation of digital objects in the IPCC. It gives an overview of how FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and open data principles have been implemented in practice and explores some of the successes and setbacks of the AR6 experience. It concludes with recommendations for consolidation and expansion of the approach for AR7. These include a tighter integration of digital curation activities in the IPCC timeline and workflows, better support of IPCC authors and contributors through early training and use of suitable software, improved standardization and harmonization of data and software handling across Working Groups (WGs), and close collaboration with key external data providers and research organizations.

Between Innovation and Standardization: Best Practices and Inclusive Guidelines in Computational Communication Science

Computational communication science is transitioning from an emerging to an established field within communication research, creating a need for proper guidelines and methodological standards. This forum gathers experienced computational communication science scholars to debate the merits and drawbacks of standardization and discuss the tension between innovation, rigor, and inclusion. The assembled perspectives review current standards for data collection, sharing, and documentation, offering best practices for future research. They argue that high standards and inclusive practices can coexist, enhancing creativity and accessibility. By adopting inclusive guidelines, the computational communication science community can welcome diverse scholars, foster innovation, and advance the field collectively.

Social roles of artificial intelligence. Part 2. Artificial intelligence systems in scientific research and medical practice

The relevance. The rate of spread of artificial systems with intelligence is increasing every year. This is evidenced by a large number of scientific publications, patents, research in this area and support for government programs. However, the ambiguity of its use in science and in practice leaves AI the subject of heated discussions both in the humanitarian community and among scientists who use artificial intelligence technologies in their professional activities.The purpose of the article is to analyze the role of artificial systems with intelligence in scientific and professional, and specifically, medical practice.Objectives: to study digital technologies with elements of artificial intelligence used in science and high-tech practices, their potential and risks; to identify a number of social roles that can be assigned to programs with elements of intelligence as assistants to scientists; to show the possibilities and risks of introducing AI into medical practice.Methodology. As the main approach to solving the tasks set, the article uses an interdisciplinary synthesis of philosophical reflections, statistics and the results of the practical application of AI in healthcare, which allows highlighting the anthropological and social problems of the rapid introduction of new technologies into the social sphere.Results. This article examines healthcare as an environment for the rapid introduction of AI into all system processes, from diagnosis to management of medical complexes. The possible roles of AIS as an assistant manager, analyst, consultant and qualified colleague in modern technology-oriented healthcare are shown.Conclusions. When using AI in scientific work and professional practices, it is possible to identify pragmatic, psychological and ethical aspects. Problems were found not only in the disclosure of confidential information about patients, but also in more serious shortcomings related to the effectiveness of the organization of healthcare as a social practice and the loss of important professional competencies of practitioners.

Addiction degree from Georgetown marries science and policy

Under the auspices of Regina LaBelle, an elite academic program conferring a Master of Science in Addiction Policy and Practice has now graduated three classes. LaBelle, who started the program at Georgetown University after leaving the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2017, was responding to the need for a science‐based program. “Georgetown was looking for something to address a public need,” LaBelle told ADAW. “A lot of policy is based on stigma, or on someone's personal experience, and not on science.”

To the issue of regional specialization and stimulation of investment activity in the context of ensuring economic security

Relevance. Ensuring the economic security of the Russian Federation as a strategic goal of state policy to achieve national priorities creates conditions for high rates of economic growth and improving the quality of life of the population. In this aspect, it is necessary and appropriate to search for optimal and effective tools, ways and methods that contribute to the socio-economic development of regions, one of which is economic specialization, which allows to maximize the efficiency of using the available potential and competitive advantages.The purpose of the study is to substantiate the effectiveness of industrial-agricultural specialization of the region in order to ensure economic security by conducting a comparative assessment of the dynamics of development of the CFA regions with different types of economic specialization for 2017-2021.Objectives: to consider theoretical aspects of economic specialization of regions, to analyze the structure of gross regional product of the CFD regions, grouping by type of specialization, to assess the dynamics of growth indices of gross regional product, investment in fixed capital, average per capita cash income of the population for 2017-2021.Methodology. Within the framework of the conducted research the authors use general scientific methods: scientific abstraction, analysis and synthesis, generalization of scientific practice, deduction, induction, economic and statistical analysis, comparison, summary, grouping.Results. The conducted research allowed to form and highlight the following scientific results: to substantiate the effectiveness of industrial-agricultural specialization in order to ensure economic security, to formulate the conditions necessary for the transition to industrial-agricultural specialization, to identify the advantages of this type of specialization over others.Conclusions. Regions with industrial-agricultural specialization are characterized by higher growth rates of gross regional product, investment in fixed capital and average per capita income of the population. Also, the regions with industrial-agricultural specialization retain positive dynamics of development in crisis conditions: it is the regions with this specialization that demonstrated positive dynamics in the growth of gross regional product and investment in fixed capital at the end of 2020.

The stability of the treasury system as a result of treasury risk management

Relevance. The fundamentals of control activities are based on effective risk management. The main burden on the internal control system is aimed at ensuring compliance by the audit subject with regulatory and legislative acts governing the activities of treasury bodies, timely detection and prevention of treasury risks in order to implement the necessary preventive measures aimed at minimizing the likelihood of the occurrence of negative consequences associated with them for the activities of the department.The purpose of the study is to assess the stability of the treasury system as a result of treasury risk management.Objectives: consideration of theoretical and organizational and legal aspects of budget execution, assessment of the treasury system, determination of areas for improving treasury control as a factor in operational efficiency in managing the budget process at the regional level.Methodology. The authors used general scientific methods of research, vertical and horizontal analysis, comparison, summary and grouping, generalization of scientific practice, forecasting.Results. The conducted research allowed to form and highlight the following scientific results: to determine the role of treasury bodies in the system of state financial control at the regional level, to conduct a general analysis of the activities of the Federal Treasury Department in the Kursk Region and to analyze the treasury execution of the budget of the Kursk Region, to identify risks for the treasury system when introducing the digital ruble.Conclusions. Control is the main procedure of the treasury system of budget execution. Cash servicing of budget execution involves the implementation and accounting of cash transactions on income and expenses and sources of financing deficits. The Federal Treasury Department in the Kursk Region plays an important role in the financial system of the region and contributes to sustainable development. The use of a risk-oriented approach by treasury bodies involves the selection of objects of external control of entities of audit activity based on the analysis of the risks of their activities, the application of international audit standards, which is aimed at reducing the audit time, reducing duplicate control functions, forming a unified management paradigm of public management applied in related control and supervisory bodies in the financial and budgetary sphere of Russia.

Rehumanizing Science Education: Exploring Outdoor Learning as an Avenue Toward Holistic Wellbeing

ABSTRACT Mainstream education in the United States has prioritized Eurocentric ways of knowing and being, favoring dominant cultures while rejecting relevant learning and creativity. The emphasis on standardization and competition have hindered students and teachers from honoring their full humanity (i.e. humanization), including their social, historical, and creative selves. Science education, as a microcosm of the larger United States education system, elevates homogeny rather than alternative ways of knowing and being, significantly impacting historically marginalized populations. To prioritize authentic connections over knowledge production while simultaneously disrupting Eurocentricity, this paper posits outdoor learning as an avenue toward rehumanizing the science education field by honoring students and teachers as whole people. Attending to the four dimensions of holistic well-being—cognitive, affective, physical, interpersonal—we suggest that outdoor learning can intentionally broaden perceptions of people and land, acknowledging the inherent dignity within all life. This manuscript synthesizes research from various scholars in science education, outdoor learning, and social justice. We conclude with implications for educators, education participants, and scholars interested in exploring outdoor learning and examining how their science practices either perpetuate dehumanization or foster processes of rehumanization for students and teachers of color.

Quality Assessment of MRI-Radiomics-Based Machine Learning Methods in Classification of Brain Tumors: Systematic Review.

Brain tumors present a complex challenge in clinical oncology, where precise diagnosis and classification are pivotal for effective treatment planning. Radiomics, a burgeoning field in neuro-oncology, involves extracting and analyzing numerous quantitative features from medical images. This approach captures subtle spatial and textural information imperceptible to the human eye. However, implementation in clinical practice is still distant, and concerns have been raised regarding the methodological quality of radiomic studies. A systematic literature search was performed to identify original articles focused on the use of radiomics for brain tumors from 2015 based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The radiomic features train machine learning models for glioma classification, and data are split into training and testing subsets to validate the model accuracy, reliability, and generalizability. The present study systematically reviews the status of radiomic studies concerning brain tumors, also using the radiomics quality score (RQS) to assess the quality of the methodology used in each study. A systematic search of PubMed identified 300 articles, with 18 studies meeting the inclusion criteria for qualitative synthesis. These studies collectively demonstrate the potential of radiomics-based machine learning models in accurately distinguishing between glioma subtypes and grades. Various imaging modalities, including MRI, PET/CT, and advanced techniques like ASL and DTI, were utilized to extract radiomic features for analysis. Machine learning algorithms such as deep learning networks, support vector machines, random forests, and logistic regression were applied to develop predictive models. The present study indicates high accuracies in glioma classification, outperforming traditional imaging methods and inexperienced radiologists in some cases. Further validation and standardization efforts are warranted to facilitate the clinical integration of radiomics into routine practice, ultimately enhancing glioma management and patient outcomes. Open science practices: Machine learning using MRI radiomic features provides a simple, noninvasive, and cost-effective method for glioma classification, enhancing transparency, reproducibility, and collaboration within the scientific community.

Perspektif Akuntansi dalam Ekonomi Islam

In several ways, the sharia accounting system is different from conventional accounting. However, there are axiomatic technical similarities between the two. By using descriptive qualitative methods, this research aims to provide the author with an understanding of accounting theory and practice in Islamic economics. The research results show that the perspective of accounting science in Islamic economic practice focuses on the use of an accounting system that is in accordance with sharia principles, which prioritizes truth, accuracy and fairness. Surah Al-Baqarah verse 282 emphasizes clear and accurate transaction recording, the use of honest writers, financial accountability, zakat, and transparency and fairness in accounting. The results of this research conclude that there are many ways to see the economic implications of Islam today. First, Islamic economics must adapt to technological changes because they have influenced the way people think and act. Second, the history of Islamic economics has changed in the modern era, and third, Islamic economics is now real and relevant with the development of digital technology. Fourth, the concept of Islamic economics is based on the Koran and Sunnah. Compared to Conventional Accounting: Sharia accounting systems differ from conventional accounting in several key aspects. However, there are axiomatic technical similarities between the two.