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Instruction based on active learning is being promoted in higher education by the creation of new collaborative teaching and learning spaces, but capacity does not yet exist for all courses to be held in these new spaces. In this study, we examined how students choose between sections of the same course, with the same materials and techniques used by the same instructor, delivered in a collaborative teaching and learning space compared with a lecture-theater space. We also measured how the factors used in enrollment decision-making, and the subsequent learning experiences in the chosen environment, are associated with student attitudes related to learning chemistry. We collected student survey data from undergraduate students enrolled in Organic Chemistry II using items from the Colorado Learning Attitudes toward Science Survey for Chemistry and questions about the enrollment process. Students also responded to in-class prompts at the end of the semester about several different factors that could have influenced their decision to enroll in their section of the course. We combined these student responses with other data to create structural equation models for how the design of the teaching and learning space is associated with decision-making factors or attitudes about learning chemistry. Our models showed correlations among space enrollment, aspects of student identity, decision-making factors, and attitudes toward learning chemistry. These results suggest that students are self-sorting between the various learning spaces, which demonstrates a need for further research into the drivers of these sorting patterns over time.

In this study, we used a research tool for measuring students' conceptual understanding in optics, the Geometrical Optics Conceptual Understanding Test-2 (GOCUT-2), to evaluate the impact of supplementing classroom instruction with laboratory experiments, PhET simulations, or YouTube videos. This study involved students from public, urban secondary schools in Rwanda. Preliminary findings from the study indicate that these instructional resources did impact student conceptual understanding, and this impact is not uniform across all topics covered in geometric optics. A MANOVA demonstrated that learning outcomes were best for students who combined traditional physics labs with digital tools. This analysis also indicates that schools, where physics laboratories were most used, were more likely to exhibit greater conceptual understanding. We observed similar increases when PhET simulations and YouTube video resources were used together. In each case, students still showed some gaps related to drawing and interpreting images formed by lenses. We recommend that teachers supplement the geometric optics curriculum with open educational resources (OERs), including PhET simulations and YouTube videos.

Synthesis and diffusion of a pigment molecule can be simulated using deterministic equations in computer software. These lesson materials describe how tiger stripes emerge from manipulations in this code, and how students can engage in mathematical inquiry by exploring these reaction-diffusion equations.

Light has the most interesting phenomena among physics concepts. We designed the light phenomena conceptual assessment (LPCA) to help teachers measure their students' conceptual understanding of light phenomena. We expected to measure increases in student understanding of light phenomena after learning about the wave and particle nature of light in Rwandan secondary schools. We analyzed the results of 244 physics students using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data revealed a low understanding of light phenomena, and this low understanding is connected to instructional tools and strategies used by teachers. Students confused reflection and refraction of light. They also struggled with understanding total internal reflection and light scattering. Therefore, teachers should teach optics by allowing students to observe related phenomena in order to more effectively promote student conceptual understanding of light phenomena.

Institutions of higher education are seeking to support more active learning among faculty, and that support includes the creation of active learning spaces to support more student-centered course activities. However, incremental development of these learning spaces leads to a sorting of students between active and passive learning environments. This study collected repeat-measure data from undergraduate students enrolled in a two-semester course sequence to evaluate factors affecting student enrollment decisions and student attitudes toward learning. We integrated this combination of research tools using a QuantCrit analytic framework, which revealed student attitudes and decision-making processes that were generally stable over the study period for individuals, but very different when examining student enrollment groups over time. Limited access to active learning classrooms forced students to self-sort based on either their social networks or their attitudes toward learning. That, in turn, may create a marginalizing force that pushes out some students—most often women—from undergraduate programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To analyze patient perception and impact of the pandemic on well-being and psoriasis management of German patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis or psoriasis arthritis under systemic therapies. Methods: The CoronaBest registry captures events of SARS-CoV-2 infections and analyzes the impact of the pandemic on patients with psoriasis or psoriasis arthritis. In June 2020, and independently in February 2022, patients with psoriasis or psoriasis arthritis received a standardized questionnaire for current treatment, protective measures, well-being, and individual risks for COVID-19, among others. Results: Included were 4,194 patients in 2020 (mean age of 47.7 years and 41.8% women) and 4,818 patients in 2022 (mean age of 56.4 and 42.9% women). Treatment discontinuations were observed in 2.7% and 1.7% of patients in 2020 and 2022, respectively. In the vast majority of the cases (> 92%), no additional measures were taken concerning the management of psoriasis treatments in either 2020 or 2022. Those patients with changes reported most frequently: telephone calls instead of face-to-face visits (80.2%, in 2020 vs 40.5% in 2022) or more frequent controls (27.1%, 2020 vs 22.0%, 2022). A majority (66.7%, 2020, and 70.6%, 2022) did not perceive the virus as a considerable threat. The proportion of patients feeling well informed about COVID-19 by physicians increased from 42.6% in 2020 to 51.8% in 2022. About 81.1% of patients in 2020 and 67.5% in 2022 stated that their overall personal condition was not affected due to the pandemic. Physicians attributed no special risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in most of the patients. Conclusion: A high rate of systemic treatment persistence and awareness of risks and protective measures indicate that health care for psoriasis largely followed current national and international recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital marketing is inevitably becoming popular in the marketing realm. Leveraging digital marketing strategies has been instrumental in fostering communication and engagement between brands and customers. However, a limited number of research explores the influence of these emerging trends on the purchase intentions of customers in the fast food chain industry. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine the influence of digital marketing strategies on customers' purchase intention and to identify the most effective digital marketing strategy for crafting compelling content and disseminating marketing messages to achieve the intended marketing goal. This study employed a correlational quantitative research approach with a convenient selection of participants, utilizing a modified survey questionnaire as the principal means of data collection. The sample consisted of One Hundred Ninety-eight (198) actual customers of selected fast-food restaurants in España Boulevard, Manila. The data retrieved from the survey questionnaire was analyzed and interpreted using a Five-point Likert scale designed for measuring interval data. The findings of this research revealed that utilizing social media marketing, webinar platforms, mobile applications, and e-commerce significantly influences customer's purchase intention. Furthermore, it came to light that there is a highly statistically significant relationship between digital marketing strategies, namely, social media marketing (r=0.864, p=0.027), brand exposure through webinar platforms (r=0.802, p=0.055), mobile applications and e-commerce (r=0.854, p=0.031) on customer's purchase intention of selected fast-food restaurants, and a positive strong correlation between affiliate marketing (r=0.759, p=0.080) and the latter. In addition, the results revealed that there is a positive moderate correlation between content marketing (r=0.548, p=0.260), and email marketing (r=0.575, p=0.232) on customer's purchase intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment communicates value and belief structures to users. Research on gendered messaging in designed classroom spaces has shown its impact on students; thus, we sought to determine how classroom designs can have different gendered perceptions between those who use the space and those working in the design industry. In two studies, we collected survey data from undergraduates (n = 97), and then employees at design firms (n = 88) reacting to masculine versus feminine design patterns in classroom renders. The two groups exhibited strong, opposite correlations between their perceptions of femininity and sense of belonging, plus differences within the femininity scale itself. These findings show the importance of closer examinations of masculinity and femininity as gender constructs, and the need to further study how perceptions of designers differ from the perceptions of users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]