Public and student awareness science: recreational science as a catalyst

When discussing the traditional and new missions of higher education (1996 Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century) Jacques Delors stated that "Excessive attraction to social sciences has broken equilibrium of available graduates for workforce, thus causing doubts of graduates and employers on the quality of knowledge provided by higher education". Likewise, when discussing the progress of science and technology, the 1998 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education concluded that "Another challenge concerts the latest advancements of Science, the sine qua non of sustainable development"; and that “with Information Technology, the unavoidable invasion of virtual reality has increased the distance between industrial and developing countries". Recreational Science has a long tradition all over the Educational World; it aims to show the basic aspects of Science, aims to entertain, and aims to induce thinking. Until a few years ago, this field of knowledge consisted of a few books, a few kits and other classical (yet innovative) ways to popularize the knowledge of Nature and the laws governing it. In Spain, the interest for recreational science has increased in the last years. First, new recreational books are being published and found in bookstores. Second the number of Science-related museums and exhibits is increasing. And third, new television shows are produced and new short science-based, superficial sketches are found in variety programs. However, actual programs in Spanish television dealing seriously with Science are scarce. Recreational Science, especially that related to physical phenomena like light or motion, is generally found at Science Museums because special equipment is required. On the contrary, Science related mathematics, quizzes and puzzles use to gather into books, e.g. the extensive collections by Martin Gardner. However, lately Science podcasts have entered the field of science communication. Not only traditional science journals and television channels are providing audio and video podcasts, but new websites deal exclusively with science podcasts, in particular on Recreational Science. In this communication we discuss the above mentioned trends and show our experience in the last two years in participating at Science Fairs and university-sponsored events to attract students to science and technology careers. We show a combination of real examples (e.g., mathemagic), imagination, use of information technology, and use of social networks. We present as well an experience on designing a computational, interactive tool to promote chemistry among high school, prospective students using computers ("Dancing with Bionanomolecules"). Like the concepts related to Web 2.0, it has been already proposed that a new framework for communication of science is emerging, i.e., Science Communication 2.0, where people and institutions develop new innovative ways to explain science topics to diverse publics – and where Recreational Science is likely to play a leading role

Make progress with physics and chemistry. 'Haz progresos con física y química'.

Seleccionado en la convocatoria: Licencias por estudios destinadas a funcionarios docentes no universitarios, Gobierno de Aragón 2009-10

A Negotiation Style Recommender Based on Computational Ecology in Open Negotiation Environments

The system described herein represents the first example of a recommender system in digital ecosystems where agents negotiate services on behalf of small companies. The small companies compete not only with price or quality, but with a wider service-by-service composition by subcontracting with other companies. The final result of these offerings depends on negotiations at the scale of millions of small companies. This scale requires new platforms for supporting digital business ecosystems, as well as related services like open-id, trust management, monitors and recommenders. This is done in the Open Negotiation Environment (ONE), which is an open-source platform that allows agents, on behalf of small companies, to negotiate and use the ecosystem services, and enables the development of new agent technologies. The methods and tools of cyber engineering are necessary to build up Open Negotiation Environments that are stable, a basic condition for predictable business and reliable business environments. Aiming to build stable digital business ecosystems by means of improved collective intelligence, we introduce a model of negotiation style dynamics from the point of view of computational ecology. This model inspires an ecosystem monitor as well as a novel negotiation style recommender. The ecosystem monitor provides hints to the negotiation style recommender to achieve greater stability of an open negotiation environment in a digital business ecosystem. The greater stability provides the small companies with higher predictability, and therefore better business results. The negotiation style recommender is implemented with a simulated annealing algorithm at a constant temperature, and its impact is shown by applying it to a real case of an open negotiation environment populated by Italian companies

Student expectations and perceptions of feedback in Chemistry

These documents show the outcomes of surveys conducted by David Read in the School of Chemistry to find out about our students' expectations and perceptions of feedback, with a view to enhancing our provision and ensuring that student learning is maximised.

A-level chemistry content

This document outlines the material covered by the main UK exam board specifications at A-level in chemistry. This is for the A-level taught up until and including June 2009 (i.e. relevant to undergraduates arriving at university in October 2009).

Review of A-level Chemistry content 2010

This document is a review of the content of the A-level Chemistry specifications from the main UK exam boards (Scottish highers not included - sorry!). These A-level specifications commenced teaching in September 2008. Students entering university in 2010 will have studied the new A-levels, and this document is intended to help academics to identify what students will have covered. The document also contains a summary of discussions which took place between teachers and academics at our annual Post-16 teachers' day in June 2010 regarding the nature of the 2010 intake and their capabilities in chemistry. Please inform us of any errors or typos that you spot and we'll update the document. LAST UPDATE at 13:15 on Aug 27th 2010.

Powerpoint to promote chemistry to A-level students

This presentation has been modified by a B.Sc final year project student to promote chemistry as a degree and a career option for youngsters. The original presentation was produced by the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector or the Royal Society of Chemistry. The project student has polished the slides to make them more appealing to today's A-level students. She has also evaluated the impact of her work. A summary of her report will be added in due course.

Copyright Free Images - Physical Chemistry

These images have been created for use in Physical Chemistry slides to overcome copyright issues when recording lectures. They are free to use without restrictions, although we do not accept responsibility for any errors in the images. Please let us know if you spot any errors, though! Please view the catalogue document for a description of the images. We intend to add to this collection on an ongoing basis. Check back for updates. Current content - 43 images. Last update: August 31st 2011

Introductory Physical Chemistry Lecture 1

These lectures are designed to show new students different lecturing styles they will encounter at Southampton University. This lecture is in the style of 'Chalk and Talk'. The lectures also teach students some of the fundamental parts of physics which are relevant to the Physical Chemistry course. This will be particularly useful for students who have forgotten their GCSE physics! To view the videos, download the zip file and 'extract' the contents by right clicking on the folder. Then double click on the file 'Play video.html'. Note that the video has been compressed heavily so it can be downloaded, which means there is a slight loss in quality. If you have a problem with this, please e-mail David Read (d.read@soton.ac.uk). NOTE: YOU MUST EXTRACT THE ZIP FOLDER BEFORE CLICKING ON 'Play video.html' OTHERWISE IT WON'T WORK.

Introductory Physical Chemistry Lecture 2

These lectures are designed to show new students different lecturing styles they will encounter at Southampton University. This lecture is delivered using a Tablet PC. These lectures also teach students some of the fundamental parts of physics which are relevant to the Physical Chemistry course. This will be particularly useful for students who have forgotten their GCSE physics! To view the videos, download the zip file and 'extract' the contents by right clicking on the folder. Then double click on the file 'Play video.html'. Note that the video has been compressed heavily so it can be downloaded, which means there is a slight loss in quality. If you have a problem with this, please e-mail David Read (d.read@soton.ac.uk). NOTE: YOU MUST DOWNLOAD AND EXTRACT THE ZIP FOLDER BEFORE CLICKING ON 'Play video.html' OTHERWISE IT WON'T WORK.

Introductory Physical Chemistry Lecture 3

These lectures are designed to show new students different lecturing styles they will encounter at Southampton University. This lecture is delivered using PowerPoint. These lectures also teach students some of the fundamental parts of physics which are relevant to the Physical Chemistry course. This will be particularly useful for students who have forgotten their GCSE physics! To view the videos, download the zip file and 'extract' the contents by right clicking on the folder. Then double click on the file 'Play video.html'. Note that the video has been compressed heavily so it can be downloaded, which means there is a slight loss in quality. If you have a problem with this, please e-mail David Read (d.read@soton.ac.uk). NOTE: YOU MUST DOWNLOAD AND EXTRACT THE ZIP FOLDER BEFORE CLICKING ON 'Play video.html' OTHERWISE IT WON'T WORK.

Computational Systems

some resources on agile methods and enterprise architecture frameworks

Using video markschemes to support self-assessment in Chemistry

A video markscheme was created using a combination of Camtasia screen capture (on a Tablet PC) and 'live action' video taken with a camcorder. The resulting video supported students in the self-assessment of an organic chemistry exercise which had been set over the Easter vacation break. Feedback was collected from the students after the exercise and was overwhelmingly positive. The video won the 2010 award for 'Most Effective Use of Video in an Educational Context' from the Assocation for Learning Technology. DOWNLOAD THE ZIP FOLDER AND EXTRACT THE FILES TO ACCESS THEM.