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The decay of organic material—litter decomposition—is a critical process for life on Earth and an essential part of the global carbon cycle. Yet, this basic process remains unknown to many citizens. The Tea Bag Index (TBI) measures decomposition in a standardized, measurable, achievable, climate-relevant, and time-relevant way by burying commercial tea bags in soil for three months and calculating proxies to characterize the decomposition process (expressed as decomposition rate (k) and stabilization factor (S)). We measured TBI at 8 cm soil depth with the help of school and farm citizen scientists in 2015 in Sweden and in 2016 in Austria. Questionnaires to the participating schools and farms enabled us to capture lessons learned from this participatory data collection. In total >5500 citizen scientists participated in the mass experiments, and approximately 50% of the tea bags sent out yielded successful results that fell well within previously reported ranges. The average decomposition rates (k) ranged from 0.008 to 0.012 g d−1 in Sweden and from 0.012 to 0.015 g d−1 in Austria. Stabilization factors (S) were up to four times higher in Sweden than Austria. Taking part in a global experiment was a great incentive for participants, and in future experiments the citizen scientists and TBI would benefit from having enhanced communication between the researchers and participants about the results gained.

Concept Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) is a unique, classroom-tested model of reading instruction that breaks new ground by explicitly showing how content knowledge, reading strategies, and motivational support all merge in successful reading instruction. A theoretical perspective (engagement in reading) frames the book and provides a backdrop for its linkage between hands-on science activities and reading comprehension. Currently funded by the Interagency Educational Research Initiative (IERI), this model has been extensively class tested and is receiving national attention that includes being featured on a PBS special on the teaching of reading.Key features of this outstanding new volume include:*Theoretical Focus--CORI's teaching framework revolves around the engagement perspective of reading: how engaged reading develops and the classroom contexts and motivational supports that promote it.*Content-Area Focus--Although science is the content area around which CORI has been developed, its basic framework is applicable to other content areas.*Focus on Strategy Instruction--CORI revolves around a specific set of reading strategies that the National Reading Panel (2000) found to be effective. In some current CORI classrooms collaborating teachers implement all aspects of CORI and in other classrooms teachers implement just the strategy instruction component. *Illustrative Vignettes and Cases--Throughout the book vignettes and mini-case studies convey a situated view of instructional practices for reading comprehension and engagement. A detailed case study of one teacher and of the reading progress of her students is featured in one chapter. This book is appropriate for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in education and psychology, for practicing teachers, and for researchers in reading comprehension and motivation.

Social impact assessment has gained increasing attention in recent years, emphasizing the added value and social changes brought by project activities alongside the sustainability of social actions. This study evaluates the economic and social impact of a robotics research project culminating in the development of Hannes, an advanced prosthetic hand resulting from collaboration between the Italian Institute of Technology and the Italian National Insurance Institute. Hannes is used in robotic assistance to treat individuals with upper limb differences. Data were collected through a clinical study involving myoelectric prostheses users who underwent functional and psychosocial assessments before and after using Hannes. The Social Return On Investment (SROI) methodology is employed to evaluate the impacts of the robotic device by analyzing qualitative, quantitative, and financial data to estimate the value created by research activities. Preliminary results suggest that for every euro invested, approximately 9 euros of social value are generated. This revelation highlights the substantial positive impact of Hannes and underscores the potential for further advancements in the field of robotics to improve the lives of individuals with limb loss. By providing a comprehensive analysis, this research contributes to understanding the broader social benefits of innovative healthcare technologies that mitigate social inequalities.

A growing global trend emphasizes the integration of science education into early childhood curricula. This has led to the development and implementation of policies aimed at promoting the teaching of scientific inquiry skills. The attitudes and beliefs of early childhood educators significantly influence the successful adoption of these pedagogical innovations. The present study focused on fostering interest in science among underprivileged children belonging to government early childhood education centres in Telangana state, India. The research initiated with the development of seven science experiments, designing science kits for conducting these experiments, and training the teachers on how to conduct the experiments. The study involved a total of 60 children from both urban and rural areas of Telangana State, India. When teachers conducted the science experiments with children aged 4 to 6 years, videos were carefully recorded. Video analysis was done through the Behavioural Observation Research Interactive Software (BORIS). For each experiment, ethogram was set with different behaviour codes, selected children as focal subjects, and extracted the data from the software. The results revealed that children showed high levels of engagement in learning science experiments. They acquired basic science concepts and improved their vocabulary. Children not only gained hands-on experience but also nurtured intellectual curiosity and a scientific temper. This research also emphasized the significance of introducing science during the early years of childhood.

BackgroundInformal learning environments increase students’ interest in STEM (e.g., Mohr‐Schroeder et al. School Sci Math 114: 291–301, 2014) and increase the chances a student will pursue a STEM career (Kitchen et al. Sci Educ 102: 529–547, 2018). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an informal STEM summer learning experience on student participants, to gain in-depth perspectives about how they felt this experience prepared them for their in-school mathematics and science classes as well as how it influenced their perception of STEM learning. Students’ attitudes and perceptions toward STEM are affected by their motivation, experience, and self-efficacy (Brown et al. J STEM Educ Innov Res 17: 27, 2016). The academic and social experiences students’ have are also important. Traditionally, formal learning is taught in a solitary form (Martin Science Education 88: S71–S82, 2004), while, informal learning is brimming with chances to connect and intermingle with peers (Denson et al. J STEM Educ: Innovations and Research 16: 11, 2015).ResultsWe used a naturalistic inquiry, phenomenological approach to examine students’ perceptions of STEM while participating in a summer informal learning experience. Data came from students at the summer informal STEM learning experiences at three diverse institutions across the USA. Data were collected from reflection forms and interviews which were designed to explore students’ “lived experiences” (Van Manen 1990, p. 9) and how those experiences influenced their STEM learning. As we used a situative lens to examine the research question of how participation in an informal learning environment influences students’ perceptions of STEM learning, three prominent themes emerged from the data. The informal learning environment (a) provided context and purpose to formal learning, (b) provided students opportunity and access, and (c) extended STEM content learning and student engagement.ConclusionsBy using authentic STEM workplaces, the STEM summer learning experience fostered a learning environment that extended and deepened STEM content learning while providing opportunity and access to content, settings, and materials that most middle level students otherwise would not have access to. Students also acknowledged the access they received to hands-on activities in authentic STEM settings and the opportunities they received to interact with STEM professionals were important components of the summer informal learning experience.

Bodily resizing illusions typically use visual and/or tactile inputs to produce a vivid experience of one’s body changing size. Naturalistic auditory input (an input that reflects the natural sounds of a stimulus) has been used to increase illusory experience during the rubber hand illusion, whilst non-naturalistic auditory input can influence estimations of finger length. We aimed to use a non-naturalistic auditory input during a hand-based resizing illusion using augmented reality, to assess whether the addition of an auditory input would increase both subjective illusion strength and measures of performance-based tasks. Forty-four participants completed the following three conditions: no finger stretching, finger stretching without tactile feedback and finger stretching with tactile feedback. Half of the participants had an auditory input throughout all the conditions, whilst the other half did not. After each condition, the participants were given one of the following three performance tasks: stimulated (right) hand dot touch task, non-stimulated (left) hand dot touch task, and a ruler judgement task. Dot tasks involved participants reaching for the location of a virtual dot, whereas the ruler task concerned estimates of the participant’s own finger on a ruler whilst the hand was hidden from view. After all trials, the participants completed a questionnaire capturing subjective illusion strength. The addition of auditory input increased subjective illusion strength for manipulations without tactile feedback but not those with tactile feedback. No facilitatory effects of audio were found for any performance task. We conclude that adding auditory input to illusory finger stretching increased subjective illusory experience in the absence of tactile feedback but did not affect performance-based measures.

Objectives The aim of this paper was to provide evidence for the impact of prenatal sex steroid exposure on prenatal and postnatal body size parameters, and muscle strength in children. Methods The following anthropometric data were studied in a group of 1148 children (536 boys and 612 girls) aged 6–13 years: the 2D:4D digit ratio, birth weight and length, and birth head and chest circumference. Postnatal parameters (6–13 years) included body weight and height, BMI, waist and hip circumference, WHR, as well as grip strength in both hands. All parameters that required it were adjusted for sex and gestational or chronological age. A general linear model, Pearson’s correlation, t-statistics and Cohen’s Δ were used in statistical analysis. Results Among birth size parameters, only birth weight was significantly negatively correlated with the 2D:4D digit ratio in children. Higher (feminized) digit ratios were significantly correlated with postnatal parameters such as body weight, BMI, and waist and hip circumference (positively), as well as hand grip strength–a proxy for muscular strength (negatively). Conclusion Problems with maintaining adequate body size parameters and muscle strength may be programmed in fetal life and predicted on the basis of the 2D:4D digit ratio. Body weight at birth and in early ontogenesis are additive correlates of the 2D:4D ratio. The present findings suggest that the 2D:4D digit ratio is related to postnatal phenotypes such as birth weight, overweight, and obesity as well as muscle strength in 6–13-year-old children of both sexes.

Science subjects at pre-tertiary and tertiary education levels are important for socio-economic and industrial development of any country; however, they are difficult for students to construct their concepts. In Tanzania, insufficient or lack of practical experiments are major challenges for science subjects due to insufficient or lack of laboratories, apparatus, expertise or reagents. Thus, this research assesses the effectiveness of paper-based against virtual laboratory experiences towards improvement of real (hands-on) chemistry practical in Tanzanian secondary schools focusing in Dodoma region. Chemistry virtual laboratory was developed and being deployed at Dodoma Secondary School for students who were never done practical sessions before to avoid biasness towards the study. The students were divided into three groups, namely paper-based and real laboratory as control groups (CG) and virtual laboratory as the experiment group (EG). Each group was further divided into two groups for the rest approaches forming six (6) groups. For EG, students were taught based on instructional approach which was enriched by computer animations in the computer laboratory. Results indicate that students who firstly attended virtual laboratory performed better in real laboratory than those who firstly attended real laboratory. Furthermore, the best progressive learning and performance for real experiments appears when the virtual laboratory preceded paper-based practical experiments. Thus, virtual laboratory is a very useful tool for learning chemistry practical not only to schools without laboratories but also to those with laboratories; and it should be considered by all the pre-tertiary schools in Tanzania and other schools in similar situations.

Science museums have demonstrated over time, and through various academic researches, to be a favorable environment to awaken the desire to learn more about scientific content, bringing visitors closer to artifacts and concepts in a different way than any other media can offer. In this research, we investigate how the public interacts with the exhibition in one of the three interactive rooms at Museo Galileo. This study was divided into two parts: the first is a non-participative observational phase, analyzing the visitors’ participation with the exhibition’s models. In this step, we collected data from 208 people. From these data, it was possible to understand the need to study further two teaching models that did not allow interaction: the models that presented Eudoxus’ System and Ptolemy’s System. The second phase was constituted of interviews involving 22 visitors, analyzing the models’ understanding and proposing an improvement in light of ergonomic interaction design. This study serves as a reflection for those who intend to develop scientific models or contemplate designing exhibitions.

Humans normally experience the conscious self as localized within their bodily borders. This spatial unity may break down in certain neurological conditions such as out-of-body experiences, leading to a striking disturbance of bodily self-consciousness. On the basis of these clinical data, we designed an experiment that uses conflicting visual-somatosensory input in virtual reality to disrupt the spatial unity between the self and the body. We found that during multisensory conflict, participants felt as if a virtual body seen in front of them was their own body and mislocalized themselves toward the virtual body, to a position outside their bodily borders. Our results indicate that spatial unity and bodily self-consciousness can be studied experimentally and are based on multisensory and cognitive processing of bodily information.