Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Laboratory Skills (laboratory + skill)
Selected AbstractsGazing at the Hand: A Foucaultian View of the Teaching of Manipulative Skills to Introductory Chemistry Students in the United States and the Potential for Transforming Laboratory InstructionCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2005STEPHEN DEMEO ABSTRACT Many studies of chemistry have described the rise of the academic chemical laboratory and laboratory skills in the United States as a result of famous men, important discoveries, and international influences. What is lacking is a perspective of the manifestations of the balances of power and knowledge between teacher and student. A Foucaultian analysis of the teaching of manipulative skills to the introductory student in high school and college in the United States during the later half of the 19th and into the 20th century has provided such a perspective. The analysis focuses on the body, specifically students' hands, and how this body has been redescribed in terms of time, space, activity, and their combinations. It is argued in the first part of this article that the teaching of manipulative skills in the chemistry laboratory can be characterized by effects of differential forms of power and knowledge, such as those provided by Foucault's ideas of hierarchical observation, normalization, and the examination. Moreover, it is evident that disciplinary techniques primarily focused on the physical hands of the student have been recast to include a new cognitive-physiological space in which the teaching of manipulative skills currently takes place. In the second part of this article, the author describes his own professional development as a laboratory instructor through a series of reflective statements that are critiqued from a Foucaultian perspective. The personal narratives are presented in order to pro- vide science educators with an alternative way for their students to think about the relationship between one's manipulative skills and the quality of their data. The pedagogical approach is related to the maturation process of the chemist and contextualized in the current paradigm of laboratory practice, inquiry-based science education. [source] Incidents of bee poisoning with pesticides in the United Kingdom, 1994,2003PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (FORMERLY: PESTICIDE SCIENCE), Issue 11 2007Elizabeth A Barnett Abstract For over 20 years, the UK Agriculture Departments have monitored the direct effects of pesticides on beneficial insects, mainly honeybees (Apis mellifera, L.) and bumblebees (Bombus terrestris, L.), as part of the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS). The Central Science Laboratory (CSL) has contributed to WIIS by providing the required laboratory skills for the determination of bee diseases and the expert analytical experience necessary to determine low-level pesticide residues and interpret these results. The results from WIIS form part of the pesticide regulatory process coordinated by the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) and are published each year. This paper has reviewed the data from WIIS over the 10 year period from 1994 to 2003. The overall trend is that suspected poisoning incidents, reported by beekeepers and the general public, have declined from 56 incidents per year to 23 incidents per year. The number of these incidents that have been attributed to pesticide poisoning has also declined, from 25 incidents to five incidents per year. The possible reasons for these changes and the circumstances involved in the bee poisoning incidents are discussed. However, the source of the pesticide in bee poisoning incidents is often uncertain and the likely cause of these incidents and any trends over time are also discussed. © Crown copyright 2007. Reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Short-term impact of a robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy ,mini-residency' experience on postgraduate urologists' practice patterns,THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ROBOTICS AND COMPUTER ASSISTED SURGERY, Issue 1 2006Elspeth M. McDougall Introduction To assist practising urologists acquire and incorporate robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) into their practice, a 5 day mini-residency (M-R) programme with a mentor, preceptor and potential proctor experience was established at the University of California, Irvine, Yamanouchi Center for Urological Education. The follow-up results from the initial 21 RALP M-R participants are presented. Methods Between September 2003 and September 2004, 21 urologists from six states and four countries underwent a RALP M-R. Each participant underwent 1:2 teacher:attendee instruction over a 5 day period, which included inanimate model skills training, animal/cadaver laboratory skills training and operating room observation experience. Participants were also offered a proctoring experience at their hospital if they so desired. A questionnaire survey was mailed 1,14 months (mean 7.2 months) following completion of the mini-residency and these results were tabulated and reviewed. Results A 100% response rate was achieved from the mailed questionnaires. The mean M-R participant age was 43 years (range 33,55 years). One-third of the M-R participants were practising in an academic environment. Most of the participants (55%) had no fellowship training. Of those with fellowship training (45%), three (15%) were in laparoscopy and three (15%) were in oncology; 25% of the participants were in large (>6 physicians), 25% in small (2,6 physicians) and 15% in solo practices; 70% of the participants were located in an urban setting. The majority of the participants (80%) had laparoscopic experience during residency training and had performed 20,60 laparoscopic cases prior to attending the M-R programme. Within 7.2 months after M-R (range 1,14 months), 95% of the participants were practising robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy and 25% of the RALP M-R participants had also performed robotic-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty. Of the M-R participants, 38% availed themselves of the preceptor/proctor component of the programme; among these, 100% reported that they were performing RALP vs. only 92% of the MR participants who did not have a proctor experience. The 5 day length of the M-R was considered to be of satisfactory duration by 90% of the participants, while 1 participant considered it too brief and 1 considered it too long. All but one of the participants rated the M-R as a very or extremely valuable experience. All the M-R participants indicated that they would recommend this training programme to a colleague. Conclusions A 5 day intensive RALP M-R course seems to encourage postgraduate urologists, already familiar with laparoscopy, to successfully Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Participation in research programBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 5 2007A Novel Course in Undergraduate Education of Life Science Abstract A novel course, "Participation in Research Program (PRP)" in life sciences is open for 1st to 3rd year undergraduates. PRP introduces the principles of a variety of biological methods and techniques and also offers an opportunity to explore some specific knowledge in more detail prior to thesis research. In addition, the PRP introduces some methodologies that have been proven to be successful at each institution to participants. Through disciplines crossing, students were trained theoretically and practically about modern techniques, facilitating the efficient commutation of general laboratory skills and modern laboratory skills, and the possession of higher research ability. Therefore, during some basic training (e.g., usage and maintenance of equipments, designing and completing experiments, analyzing data and reporting results, etc.), a series of capabilities are strengthened, such as basic experimental skills, searching appropriate methods, explaining unknown biological phenomena, and the capacity of solving problems. To determine the efficiency of these strategies, we carefully examined students' performance and demonstrated the progress in students' basic abilities of scientific research in their training. [source] | ||||||||||