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Students believed physics was one of the most challenging sciences in education, and their interest in learning physics was lacking. Therefore, this study aims to enhance students' understanding and creativity in the STEAM learning system on electricity by creating a project (Paper Circuit) using the students' creativity at the junior high school level - quantitative research with a pre-experimental design used for this study. The population is 8th grade and 9th grade (50 students adapted to the curriculum used in the school) in one of the Junior Secondary Schools located in Bandung and Cimahi, Indonesia. The data is obtained from the pretest-posttest results, which show that the average pre-test score was 57.04 and the post-test score was 76.64. The nonparametric test was tested using the Wilcoxon test to measure student understanding. The results from e Wilcoxon are 0.000, which shows sig. <0.05, which means there is a significant difference between pre-test and post-test. Students' creativity is obtained from the Creativity Product Analysis Matrix (CPAM), and the result for Project 1 is 73.71%, categorized as enough, and Project 2 is 83.13%, categorized as good. Based on the result, Paper Circuit STEAM project-based learning can enhance student understanding and creativity. STEAM project-based learning can be used as an alternative teaching strategy in junior secondary school.

Although chemistry-focused socio-scientific issues support the 'relevance' model of chemistry education, the related literature has lacked any systematic review handling them together. For this reason, this research aimed to thematically synthesize the research papers on chemistry-focused socio scientific issues (SSI) from 2008 to 2020 and inferentially evaluate them in terms of the relevance model of chemistry education. After searching international and national well-known databases through relevant keyword patterns (e.g., Pattern 1: socio-scientific issues and chemistry education), 65 research papers were apparent for the systematic review. Then, the authors generated primary and secondary codes for the research papers and then inferentially marked their 'relevance' components. The systematic review indicated variation of research areas (e.g., relevance model of chemistry education) and dominant research foci for different themes (e.g., competencies and related variables for the theme 'aims'; pollution, energy, industry and fabrication-based problems for the theme 'SSI'; organic compounds for the theme 'chemistry concepts'). Further, it revealed that the research papers on chemistry-focused SSI had some shortcomings at handling all components of the relevance model in a balanced way. The current research suggests professionally training teachers about how to integrate chemistry-focused SSI and the relevance model into school chemistry.

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This article demonstrates how data from a biology paper, which analyzes the relationship between mass and metabolic rate for two species of marine bryozoan, can be used to teach a variety of regression topics to both introductory and advanced students. A thorough analysis requires intelligent data wrangling, variable transformations, and accounting for correlation between observations. The bryozoan data can be used as a valuable class example throughout the semester, or as a dataset for extended homework assignments and class projects. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

The present work, part of a broader master's research, aims to carry out a review of research involving the teaching and learning of the concept of energy in annals of the National Meeting of Teaching Chemistry (ENEQ), using elements of scientometrics, analysis tool for scientific production based on numerical and statistical indicators. To trace the scientometric profile and identify a panorama of the production, we consulted the annals of the last five editions of the event, finding a total of 77 works, of which 25 constituted the universe of the research after refinement of the descriptors and were analyzed from the general indicators, content, authorship and reference. The results show the non-existence of a standard regarding the number of works per edition, similarity between the words used in titles and keywords, excessive number of authors in some works and predominance of articles in periodicals and books in the references.

Carbon emissions from the Yangtze River Economic Belt are an important element of China's carbon emission endeavor, and a study of its emission reduction pathway can provide a reference for the country's overall management of carbon emission reduction. From the perspective of energy consumption, this paper uses the carbon emission factor method to estimate the carbon emissions of the transportation industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt during 2006–2020, based on the extended STIRPAT model, considering the influence of seven factors, i.e., population size, urbanization rate, GDP per capita, transportation added value, energy structure, energy intensity, and transportation intensity, on carbon emissions. Based on these factors, a scenario analysis, combined with a forecasting model, is used to predict the peak carbon performance of the transportation industry under different development scenarios. The results show that the overall carbon emissions of transportation in the YEB from 2006 to 2020 show a fluctuating upward trend, and the downstream carbon emissions are significantly higher than those in other regions. The main factors influencing carbon emissions from transportation in different upstream, midstream, and downstream regions vary, with both population and economic factors contributing to carbon emissions, while technical factors affect them differently. There are significant differences in the peak carbon performance of transportation under different development scenarios, and the government should take effective measures to work towards achieving the goals of the low-carbon or enhanced low-carbon scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on student ideas about circuits largely focuses on misunderstandings and difficulties, with seminal papers framing student thinking as stable, difficult to change, and connected to incorrect ontological categorizations of current as a thing rather than a process. In this paper, we analyzed 417 student responses to a conceptual question about electric circuits using a lens consistent with resources theory. We found that though indicators of substance-based reasoning about current are common in student responses, this reasoning is not predictive of other difficulties reported in the literature, such as "current is consumed" or "the battery is a constant source of current." We also found that students use substance-based reasoning in resourceful ways, suggesting that substance-based reasoning may in fact be a productive starting place for instruction on circuits.

The aim of the present study was to assess the energy-, environmental-, and climate change literacy among primary and middle school students in selected cities of Ethiopia. This survey study was conducted in primary and middle schools found in six cities and involved a total of 1589 students. The finding indicate that the participants of the study had a very good awareness about principles underlying generation and use of energy but performed much poorly in items related to awareness about impacts of climate change. The paper also concluded that students' views about issues related to generation and use of energy cannot be considered as favorable. On the other hand, the results on practices related to energy use and environmental protection reveal that participants reported pro-energy and environmental practice. Interestingly, the practice of participants doesn't seem to align with the generally unfavorable attitude towards energy generation and climate change. Therefore, it is advised that primary and middle schools offer a thorough education on energy and environmental education because these levels of instruction have a special role to play in raising awareness of and developing skills and attitudes related to environmental and climate change education.

Internet of Things (IoT) architectures generally focus on providing consistent performance and reliable communications. The convergence of IoT, edge, fog, and cloud aims to improve the quality of service of applications, which does not typically emphasize energy efficiency. Considering energy in IoT architectures would reduce the energy impact from billions of IoT devices. The research presented in this paper proposes an optimization framework that considers energy consumption of nodes when selecting a node for processing an IoT request in edge-fog-cloud layered architecture. The IoT use cases considered in this paper include smart grid, autonomous vehicles, and eHealth. The proposed framework is evaluated using CPLEX simulations. The results provide insights into mechanisms that can be used to select nodes energy-efficiently whilst meeting the application requirements and other network constraints in multi-layered IoT architectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data presented here are manually encoded characteristics of research papers in the area of Energy-Economy Nexus (empirical investigation of Granger causality between energy consumption and economic growth) that describe the methods, samples, and other details related to the individual estimations done in the examined empirical papers. Data cover papers indexed by Scopus, published in economic journals, written in English, after year 2000. In addition, papers were manually filtered to only those that deal with Energy-Economy Nexus investigation and have at least 10 citations at (at the time of query – November 2015). This data are to be used to conduct meta-analysis – associated dataset was used in Hajko [1]. Early version of the dataset was used for multinomial logit estimation in Master thesis by Kociánová [2].

University student activism is generally characterized by protests and demonstrations by students who are reacting to social, political, and economic challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionized university student activism, and closed the geographical space for protests and demonstrations. The pandemic locked students out of the university campus, thus, rendering the traditional strategies of mass protests and demonstrations impossible. The COVID-19-induced lockdowns made it difficult, if not impossible, to mobilise for on-campus demonstrations and protests. It seems the pandemic is the last nail in the coffin of on-campus student protests. This theoretical paper uses a collective behaviour framework to explain the evolution of student activism in Zimbabwe, from the traditional on-campus politics to virtual activism. It discusses the challenges associated with cybernetic activism. The paper argues that, despite challenges, Zimbabwean university student activists need to migrate to a new world of digital technology and online activism. In the migration to online activism, students activists face a plethora of challenges. On top of the already existing obstacles, activists face new operational challenges related to trying to mobilise a constituency that has relocated to cyberspace. Student activists utilize the existing digital infrastructure to advance their politics, in spite of a hostile state security system and harsh economic environment, and other operational challenges.

Paper waste sludge (PWS) is a waste produced in large quantities by the pulp and paper industry, and is usually disposed by landfilling. This study investigates the pyrolytic conversion of PWS as an alternative to its valorisation. Low and high ash PWSs (8.5 and 46.7 wt%) were subjected to fast pyrolysis conversion to maximise the bio-oil yield by optimising the reactor temperature and pellet size. Maximum bio-oil yields of 44.5 ± 1.7 daf, wt% at 400 °C, and 59.9 ± 4.1 daf, wt% at 340 °C, for an intermediate pellet size of 4.84 ± 0.15 mm, were attained from the conversion of the low and high PWS, respectively. The low optimal reactor temperatures, as well as the high bio-oil yields, make valorisation via fast pyrolysis conversion promising. A significant reduction in the O/C molar ratio of up to 35%, from the high ash PWS to its bio-oil product, led to a 65% increase of the higher heating value. A thermogravimetric study was implemented to investigate the pyrolytic mechanisms behind the increase in bio-oil yield with intermediate pellets sizes. It revealed that the observed increase in non-condensable gas yield, which corresponded to a decrease in the bio-oil yield, was due to the promotion of exothermic reactions for high heating rates using smaller pellet sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding sustainable solutions to the increasing waste generation in Ghana has received a lot of attention in recent years. Through several waste-to-energy processes, the energy potential of municipal solid waste has recently witnessed significant technological advancements. The Renewable Energy Master Plan has projected the production of about 122 MWp from waste-to-energy installations by 2030 in Ghana. To help policymakers and engineers achieve national goals, this paper reviews the waste generation in Ghana estimated from 2010 to 2030 and the status of various bioenergy technologies in Ghana. This paper further estimates the energy recovery potential of municipal solid waste in Ghana under incineration, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery technologies. The review establishes that, by 2030, municipal solid waste generation will increase by 123% of the 2023 quantities and may produce 1484.25 MW of installed electricity capacity and 13,002.03 GWh per year, which would amount to nearly 59% of Ghana's 2030 renewable energy target. Additionally, it was determined that anaerobic digestion, incineration, and landfill gas recovery technologies, when properly developed, will add 105.33 MW, 301.4 MW, and 377.31 MW of installed electrical capacity, respectively, to Ghana's energy mix in 2028. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging global environmental pollution issues have caused a reduction in coal utilization, leading to an increased research focus on biomass use as an alternative. However, due to the low heat values of biomass, studies in this field are still in progress. Biomass primarily comprises cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. To determine the composition of these three components, the measurement methods recommended by TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry) and NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) are typically employed involving equipment such as HPLC. However, these methods are time consuming. In this study, we proposed a model for predicting cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents based on elemental and industrial analyses. A dataset comprising 174 samples was used to develop this model. This was validated using 25 additional samples. The R2P values for cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin were 0.6104–0.6362, 0.4803–0.5112, and 0.7247–0.7914, respectively; however, the R2CV values obtained from the validation results were 0.7387–0.7837, 0.3280–0.4004, and 0.7427–0.7757, respectively. The optimal models selected for cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose were C1, L2, and 100-(C1-L2) or H2, respectively. Our predictions for woody and herbaceous biomass, including torrefied samples, should be applied with caution to other biomass types due to the potential accuracy limitations. To enhance the prediction accuracy, future research should broaden the range of biomass types considered and gather more data specifically related to woody and herbaceous biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw pulp in China, which is the world's largest producer of this material, suffers from water and energy shortages during its entire life cycle. However, limited systematic studies have focused on these issues, and decision makers need be provided with improvement methods for the environmental performance. Thus, an impact-oriented energy and carbon coupled water footprint analysis was conducted in this study based on ISO standards. Results showed that the impact of energy consumption and carbon emissions exceeded that of water footprint. Carcinogens, non-carcinogens, and freshwater ecotoxicity also played effective roles in improving the environmental performance. Optimizing key indirect processes, including chemicals production, steam preparation, electricity generation, wood pulping, and fertilizer recovery, dominated the reduction in environmental burdens. Direct freshwater consumption and wastewater disposal played additional effective roles in controlling water footprint. The water network was thus optimized by a water pinch analysis to decrease the freshwater consumption and pollutant emissions by maximum values of 91.5% and 99.7% after optimization, respectively. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide, methane, chromium, arsenic, mercury, titanium, copper, strontium, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, BOD 5 , and COD were the main pollutants. Overall, the environmental impact can be further reduced by diminishing coal power ratio in national energy structure, adopting recovered steam, and considering multistage regeneration water network to cope with different water use demands. • LCA-based energy and carbon coupled water footprint of straw pulp paper was applied. • Optimizing water network by water pinch method gained marked environmental benefit. • Electricity, steam, and chemicals exerted high impact among all inputs considered. • CO 2 , CH 4 , heavy metals, coal, and water were key contributors to footprint impact. • Improving national energy structure and adopting recovered steam were recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An energy audit is a primary step toward improving energy efficiency at the facility level and ensuring a clean production. The pulp and paper sector is one of the most energy-intensive industries in Morocco. This article aimed at identifying energy conservation opportunities at a Small and Medium-sized paper industry. The audit results together with their financial viability are presented regarding the analysis of energy consumption and electrical quality issues. The paper introduces an action plan for a more efficient energy use of some specific applications such as furnaces and compressed-air installations as well. The recommended energy efficiency measures have the potential of saving about 347.85 MWh of electrical energy and 101.78 MWh of thermal energy corresponding to reductions of 11.48% and 2.22%, respectively. The total investments related to the application of the action plan is approximately 290.53 kMAD and the global payback period does not exceed one year. It was also shown that a total quantity of 283.39 t of CO 2 emissions can be saved annually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term energy supply constitutes a pressing global issue. As a renewable energy resource, bioenergy can play a significant role in energy sustainability. The present study aimed to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of bioenergy amongst 412 Greek preservice primary teachers utilising a specific tool, the IBPAMS. Results confirmed the factorial validity and reliability of the Greek version of the IBPAMS. It also demonstrated that the energy and bioenergy-related knowledge of preservice teachers is moderate and poor respectively, while critical perceptions are held over the sustainability of forest-based bioenergy production. Overall preservice teacher attitudes toward bioenergy are positive. Statistical analyses showed that gender influenced the responses of the motivational and critical aspects of the IBPAMS-GR. The paper's findings have important implications for teacher preparation programs.

Industrial-scale models require considerable setup time; hence, once built, they are used in myriad ways to consider closely related cases. In practice, the code for these models frequently evolves without appropriate notational choices, largely as a result of the lengthy development time of, and the number of individuals contributing to, their formulation. This leads to inefficiencies and obfuscates model structures that might be leveraged to expedite solutions. In this paper, we advocate for an emerging literature on model formulation "best practices" and present the reformulation of a widely used industrial-scale linear program. The efficient mathematical expression of this linear program, used to plan capacity expansion in the energy sector, allows for greater transparency of model structures and enhanced ability to identify computational performance improvements, as well as a lucid interpretation of its solutions. This type of formulation is employed in several mathematical programming courses at our university as an example of the advantages of best practices; the model more broadly is used widely to inform policy in the U.S. energy sector.

This study embarked on an in-depth content analysis of the information literacy environment in the South African education sector. The review of literature encompasses a comprehensive critical analysis of available appropriate and contemporary literature, which further expounds the research problem. This research adopted the qualitative method of data collection; hence, policy documents, conference proceedings and journal articles about the subject matter were analytically evaluated to identify whether there is a research gap that may have remained unanswered in previous studies. The study emphasises various ICT tools and techniques that will promote e-learning in South African educational sector; this was done in recognition of its essential role. South Africa struggles with challenges associated with the digital divide, a result of the inability of many to access ICT tools capable of enhancing their performance, particularly in a racially divided country such as South Africa, where a separate educational development policy was pursued during the apartheid era, in favour of the white minority. The trends in information literacy and essential issues regarding information literacy skills in South Africa are highlighted. The challenges associated with information literacy in South Africa are presented, and different opportunities in information literacy are also discussed. The paper concludes with the gaps and options in information literacy in South Africa. Finally, this paper offers a comprehensive review of the information literacy development in the South African education sector, which constitutes an essential perspective in the understanding of the global information literacy development.

India is developing fast in the lines of some of the greatest cities of the world. Graph from the last 20-25 years show that India has majorly borne a paradigm shift in development icons as such Its cities have surpassed even double to its initial infrastructure during this period. Most of these infrastructural icons have a lot to do with the IT industry boom in the country as such most of these cities (e.g. Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc.) are further burdened with employable youth, who require transit accommodation in the same city as well. There are some other cities too who used to enjoy the tourist or the pilgrims’ inflow by virtue of some kind of religious, natural or heritage resource attached to it. But, as evident in History, India and the Indians are known to be cultural driven, Pilgrimage friendly people. As such, these Blessings to such cities are continuously turning out to be the sufferings in the light of the number of pilgrims/tourists (floating population) these cities bear on daily basis. Most of these cities lack the sustainable infrastructure to uphold these burdens and to meet the energy demands for the well-being of people and city. These infrastructural additions must contemplate the Energy demands of the built form, people and their activities. One of such vulnerable town due to Paradigm shift in its development priorities is KATRA town, which is continuously getting burdened with more and more buildings, people & loss of Rural Greens as such contemplation of energy requirements is the need of the hour. Katra town is world famous for the rich religious history attached to it as it forms the base town (Camp) of Trikuta Hills upon which (12 kms away from base town) the Holy Shrine of Goddess Maa Vaishno Devi is located. Every year millions of Pilgrims from around the globe visit the shrine & the Katra Town. The Katra town is the major contributor of J&K (Jammu & Kashmir State) economy & India at Large. Pertinently, its being projected as one of the smart cities of India in next few years in the lines of leading smart cities of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have expressed concern about the state of STEM education. To improve this situation, new pedagogies, such as blended learning, have been proposed and tested. The last decade has seen an increase in the use of blended learning to support learning; however, the effect of blended learning on learning remains unclear and often mixed. The two studies in this paper draw on data from pre-university science students in the following courses: (1) Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) and (2) Waves, Optics & Modern Physics (Waves). In study 1, the treatment group (blended learning coupled with two-stage quizzes & peer formative feedback) performed significantly higher than the control group (lecture format with online homework & instant feedback) in the standardized final exam. In contrast, in study 2, there was a non-significant main effect of groups, indicating that the treatment group (blended learning with online homework & instant feedback) and the control group (lecture format with online homework & instant feedback) performed similarly in the standardized final exam. The finding of study 1 suggests that the effect of an instructional pedagogical framework embedded in a blended learning context improves performance in STEM education. Whereas the finding of study 2 suggests that a blended learning context without incorporating any instructional framework or support for cognition other than the lecture is comparable to a traditional face-to-face course.

Mental health professionals can help patients understand exceptional and paranormal experiences, integrate them into day-to-day life, and cope with confusion and anxiety that sometimes accompany them. However, a broader clinical perspective and specialized training in clinical parapsychology is needed. In the first part of the paper I argue that psychiatry as currently practiced is limited because it embraces a strictly materialist paradigm, emphasizes treatment over prevention, and relies principally on pharmaceuticals that are often ineffective and/or unsafe. A paradigm shift in psychiatry is taking place that will soon lead to novel concepts of energy and innovations in therapeutic approaches. In the second part of the paper I review the ongoing debate over consciousness, implications of novel understandings of energy for psychiatry, and research findings in physics, neuroscience and parapsychology that are contributing to a postmaterialist paradigm in psychiatry. I comment on an important problem in the philosophy of science called Hempel's dilemma and argue that future scientific theories of consciousness will probably encounter similar conceptual limits to those faced by current theories. Following Beauregard, Trent and Schwartz (2018) I argue that different categories of theories may be needed to adequately explain the variety of human experiences and I propose an integral paradigm that acknowledges the validity of both conventional scientific explanations and postmaterialist theories of consciousness. Finally, I discuss implications of postmaterialism for research, education and training in psychiatry.