1998 — 2004 |
Abraham, Neal Albano, Alfonso Grobstein, Paul (co-PI) [⬀] Francl, Michelle (co-PI) [⬀] Cook-Sather, Alison |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Building Bridges: Science Education Reform At Bryn Mawr College
Building Bridges: Science Education Reform at Bryn Mawr College is an institutionwide effort at science teaching reform in a liberal arts setting. It addresses the national need to provide consistently effective models for science and mathematics teaching at a time when students come with increasingly varying pre-college preparation. The program builds upon a wide array of efforts previously undertaken at Bryn Mawr, with the support of various private and federal funding sources, and is informed by national efforts in undergraduate science education reform. Building Bridges seeks: to improve the teaching of math and science through efforts that bring together scientists, humanists and social scientists; to infuse the inquiry-based and cooperative pedagogical methods of the teacher education program into math/science teaching; and to encourage greater interaction among college faculty members, precollege teachers, and students. Specific activities will include: workshops for faculty members teaching in a new cross-disciplinary College Seminar program, required of all undergraduates; a discussion series on science pedagogy for faculty members, graduate students, and precollege teachers; support for the development of courses incorporating new pedagogical approaches, the revision of introductory science courses, and the development of courses bridging math/science and teacher education; and a peer tutoring program for math and science students. The results of Building Bridges will be evaluated both quantitatively, in terms of the extent of faculty participation in the project, and qualitatively, through an existing student course evaluation program and an assessment of the impact on faculty/student attitudes toward and sense of competence in science. The work undertaken through Building Bridges will be institutionalized at the end of the three-year grant period, and its results disseminated through Serendip, a College Web site, and through presentations at national science and science education meetings.
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0.915 |
1998 — 2000 |
Abraham, Neal Beckmann, Peter Albano, Alfonso Mccormack, Elizabeth (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
New Instrumentation For Data Acquisition, Data Analysis, Experimental Control, and Modeling in Introductory Physics Laboratories
Bryn Mawr College has a highly successful strategy for introductory physics laboratory instruction involving a mixture of conceptual, quantitative and project-based experiments for small groups of students in a self-paced instructional format grounded in hands-on studies of macroscopic physical phenomena. Nearly 40% of the graduating students (all women) take one of three year-long courses in physics with associated laboratories or a conceptual physics course which takes advantage of the same laboratory apparatus. This program has successfully produced over the last ten years one of largest cadres of women physics majors in the nation. This project introduces computer-aided data acquisition, display, and analysis as well as experimental control into the introductory laboratories. The new capabilities afforded by such instrumentation strengthen the three-phase laboratory structure used in the program. NSF Form 1295 (10/94)
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0.915 |
1998 — 2000 |
Albano, Alfonso |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Presidential Awards For Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring
Bryn Mawr College Physics Department Alfonso M. Albano HRD-9814949 The Bryn Mawr Physics Department has developed a diverse program of effective mentoring activities ranging from student recruitment, course strategies, research experiences, career counseling, and support networks that can easily be replicated. In 1993-97, the college awarded undergraduate physics degrees to women at a rate ten times the national average. About one-third of their physics graduates pursue doctoral degrees in physics or in related fields. From 30 to 50 female students participate in the program every year. Currently, 5% of Bryn Mawr College's graduating class consists of physics majors, about 100 times the national average.
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0.915 |
2001 — 2004 |
Albano, Alfonso Brodfuehrer, Peter [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
"Itr/Ap(Bio):" Computational Analysis of Leech Swimming
Many of the recent successes in behavioral neuroscience in both invertebrate and vertebrate systems have been attained by identifying individual neurons and assessing the role of each neuron in behavior by physiologically manipulating its activity level. There are, however, aspects of behavior that have not been adequately explained by this approach. In the case of the medicinal leech, the neuronal network controlling the initiation of swimming is well-understood at several levels, but this understanding does not account for the unpredictability with which stimulation of this pathway leads to swimming. Two possible reasons for this inadequacy will be addressed in this proposal: (1) neuronal networks provide static descriptions of the system and do not accurately reflect their dynamics, and (2) even simple behaviors are a function of large populations of neurons distributed throughout the nervous system. Because of the inherent complexity in the firing patterns of large populations of neurons, computational approaches are necessary for deciphering how the nervous system encodes behavior. This project will use linear statistical and spectral techniques and nonlinear techniques, in conjunction with discrete wavelet transforms, to test: (1) whether the 'state' or pattern of ongoing activity in the leech nerve cord prior to stimulation determines the likelihood that swimming will be elicited by a specific input, and (2) whether the neuronal control of swim initiation is a distributed property of the entire ventral nerve cord or is localizable to neuronal activity from specific regions of the leech nervous system. This project will provide research experiences for 10 undergraduate students from a primarily undergraduate women's college.
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0.915 |