The potential benefits of divergent thinking and metacognitive skills in STEAM learning: A discussion paper

In the wake of an almost decade long economic downturn and increasing competition from developing economies, a new agenda in the Australian Government for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and research has emerged as a national priority. However, to art and design educators, the pervasiveness and apparent exclusivity of STEM can be viewed as another instance of art and design education being relegated to the margins of curriculum (Greene, 1995). In the spirit of interdisciplinarity, there have been some recent calls to expand STEM education to include the arts and design, transforming STEM into STEAM in education (Maeda, 2013). As with STEM, STEAM education emphasises the connections between previously disparate disciplines, meaning that education has been conceptualised in different ways, such as focusing on the creative design thinking process that is fundamental to engineering and art (Bequette & Bequette, 2012). In this article, we discuss divergent creative design thinking process and metacognitive skills, how, and why they may enhance learning in STEM and STEAM.

Pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol production using eucalyptus biomass pre-treated by dilute acid and steam explosion

The widespread deployment of commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol currently hinges on developing and evaluating scalable processes whilst broadening feedstock options. This study investigates whole Eucalyptus grandis trees as a potential feedstock and demonstrates dilute acid pre-treatment (with steam explosion) followed by pre-saccharification simultaneous saccharification fermentation process (PSSF) as a suitable, scalable strategy for the production of bioethanol. Biomass was pre-treated in dilute H2SO4 at laboratory scale (0.1 kg) and pilot scale (10 kg) to evaluate the effect of combined severity factor (CSF) on pre-treatment effectiveness. Subsequently, pilot-scale pre-treated residues (15 wt.%) were converted to ethanol in a PSSF process at 2 L and 300 L scales. Good polynomial correlations (n = 2) of CSF with hemicellulose removal and glucan digestibility with a minimum R2 of 0.91 were recorded. The laboratory-scale 72 h glucan digestibility and glucose yield was 68.0% and 51.3%, respectively, from biomass pre-treated at 190 °C /15 min/ 4.8 wt.% H2SO4. Pilot-scale pre-treatment (180 °C/ 15 min/2.4 wt.% H2SO4 followed by steam explosion) delivered higher glucan digestibility (71.8%) and glucose yield (63.6%). However, the ethanol yields using PSSF were calculated at 82.5 and 113 kg/ton of dry biomass for the pilot and the laboratory scales, respectively. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Slow rotation of a sphere in a non-Newtonian fluid with or without suction or injection

The flow generated by the rotation of a sphere in an infinitely extending fluid has recently been studied by Goldshtik. The corresponding problem for non-Newtonian Reiner-Rivlin fluids has been studied by Datta. Bhatnagar and Rajeswari have studied the secondary flow between two concentric spheres rotating about an axis in the non-Newtonian fluids. This last investigation was further generalised by Rajeswari to include the effects of small radial suction or injection. In Part A of the present investigation, we have studied the secondary flow generated by the slow rotation of a single sphere in non-Newtonian fluid obeying the Rivlin-Ericksen constitutive equation. In Part B, the effects of small suction or injection have been studied which is applied in an arbitrary direction at the surface of the sphere. In the absence of suction or injection, the secondary flow for small values of the visco-elastic parameter is similar to that of Newtonian fluids with inclusion of inertia terms in the Oseen approximation. If this parameter exceeds Kc = 18R/219, whereR is the Reynolds number, the breaking of the flow field takes place into two domains, in one of which the stream lines form closed loops. For still higher values of this parameter, the complete reversal of the sense of the flow takes place. When suction or injection is included, the breaking of the flow persists under certain condition investigated in this paper. When this condition is broken, the breaking of the flow is obliterated.

Steady laminar flow with suction or injection and heat transfer through porous pipe

Following the method due to Bhatnagar (P. L.) [Jour. Ind. Inst. Sic., 1968, 1, 50, 1], we have discussed in this paper the problem of suction and injection and that of heat transfer for a viscous, incompressible fluid through a porous pipe of uniform circular cross-section, the wall of the pipe being maintained at constant temperature. The method utilises some important properties of differential equations and some transformations that enable the solution of the two-point boundary value and eigenvalue problems without using trial and error method. In fact, each integration provides us with a solution for a suction parameter and a Reynolds number without imposing the conditions of smallness on them. Investigations on non-Newtonian fluids and on other bounding geometries will be published elsewhere.

Transfer of saline tolerance from one strain of rice to another by injection of DNA

Direct injection of genomic DNA from salt tolerant cv. Pokkali into developing floral tillers on IR20 produced transgenic seeds similar to Pokkali in husk colour and which germinated well in 0.2 M NaCl and had a 4-6-fold higher proline content.

Natural Convection on a Horizontal Cone in a Porous Medium with Non-Uniform Wall Temperature/Concentration or Heat/Mass Flux and Suction/Injection

The steady natural convection flow on a horizontal cone embedded in a saturated porous medium with non-uniform wall temperature/concentration or heat/mass flux and suction/injection has been investigated. Non-similar solutions have been obtained. The nonlinear couple differential equations under boundary layer approximations governing the flow have been numerically solved. The Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are found to depend on the buoyancy forces, suction/injection rates, variation of wall temperature/concentration or heat/mass flux, Lewis number and the non-Darcy parameter.

Studies on follicular growth in the immature rat and hamster: Effect of a single injection of gonadotropin or estrogen on the rate of3H-thymidine incorporation into ovarian DNAin vitro

Initiation of follicular growth by specific hormonal stimuli in ovaries of immature rats and hamsters was studied by determining the rate of incorporation of3H-thymidine into ovarian DNAin vitro. Incorporation was considered as an index of DNA synthesis and cell multiplication. A single injection of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin could thus maximally stimulate by 18 hr3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA of the ovary of immature hamsters. Neutralization of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin by an antiserum to ovine follicle stimulating hormone only during the initial 8–10 hr and not later could inhibit the increase in3H-thymidine incorporationin vitro observed at 18 hr, suggesting that the continued presence of gonadotropin stimulus was not necessary for this response. The other indices of follicular growth monitored such as ovarian weight, serum estradiol and uterine weight showed discernible increase at periods only after the above initial event. A single injection of estrogen (diethyl stilbesterol or estradiol-l7β) could similarly cause 18 hr later, a stimulation in the rate of incorporation of3H-thymidine into DNAin vitro in ovaries of immature rats. The presence of endogenous gonadotropins, however, was obligatory for observing this response to estrogen. Evidence in support of the above was two-fold: (i) administration of antiserum to follicle stimulating hormone or luteinizing hormone along with estrogen completely inhibited the increase in3H-thymidine incorporation into ovarian DNAin vitro; (ii) a radioimmunological measurement revealed following estrogen treatment, the presence of a higher concentration of endogenous follicle stimulating hormone in the ovary. Finally, administration of varying doses of ovine follicle stimulating hormone along with a constant dose of estrogen to immature rats produced a dose-dependent increment in the incorporation of3H-thymidine into ovarian DNAin vitro. These observations suggested the potentiality of this system for developing a sensitive bioassay for follicle stimulating hormone.

Analysis of performance of a hot gas injection thrust vector control system

The complex three-dimensional flowfield produced by secondary injection of hot gases in a rocket nozzle for thrust vector control is analyzed by solving unsteady three-dimensional Euler equations with appropriate boundary conditions. Various system performance parameters like secondary jet amplification factor and axial thrust augmentation are deduced by integrating the nozzle wall pressure distributions obtained as part of the flowfield solution and compared with measurements taken in actual static tests. The agreement is good within the practical range of secondary injectant flow rates for thrust vector control applications.

Non-uniform slot injection (suction) or wall enthalpy into a steady nonsimilar compressible laminar boundary layer

Steady two-dimensional and axisymmetric compressible nonsimilar laminar boundary-layer flows with non-uniform slot injection (or suction) and non-uniform wall enthalpy have been studied from the starting point of the streamwise co-ordinate to the exact point of separation. The effect of different free stream Mach number has also been considered. The finite discontinuities arising at the leading and trailing edges of the slot for the uniform slot injection (suction) or wall enthalpy are removed by choosing appropriate non-uniform slot injection (suction) or wall enthalpy. The difficulties arising at the starting point of the streamwise co-ordinate, at the edges of the slot and at the point of separation are overcome by applying the method of quasilinear implicit finite difference scheme with an appropriate selection of finer step size along the streamwise direction. It is observed that the non-uniform slot injection moves the point of separation downstream but the non-uniform slot suction has the reverse effect. The increase of Mach number shifts the point of separation upstream due to the adverse pressure gradient. The increase of total enthalpy at the wall causes the separation to occur earlier while cooling delays it. The non-uniform total enthalpy at the wall (i.e., the cooling or heating of the wall in a slot) along the streamwise co-ordinate has very little effect on the skin friction and thus on the point of separation.

Injection cooling of blunt bodies flying at high Mach numbers

A study of transpiration cooling of blunt bodies such as a hemicylinder is made by solving Navier-Stokes equations. An upwind, implicit time-marching code is developed for this purpose. The study is conducted for both perfect-gas and real-gas (chemical equilibrium) flows. Investigations are carried out for a special wall condition that is referred to as no heat flow into the wall condition. The effects of air injection on wall temperature are analyzed. Analyses are carried out for Mach numbers ranging between 6-10 and Reynolds numbers ranging between 10(6)-10(7). Studies are made for spatially constant as well as spatially varying mass injection rate distributions, White cold air injection reduces the wall temperature substantially, transpiration cooling is relatively less effective when the gas is in chemical equilibrium.

Properties of lime stabilised steam-cured blocks for masonry

The paper addresses certain issues pertaining to the technology of lime-stabilised steam-cured blocks used for masonry construction. Properties of lime-stabilised steam-cured blocks using expansive soils and tank bed soils have been examined. Influence of parameters like steam curing period, lime content and fly ash content on wet strength of blocks is studied. Steam curing of lime stabilised blocks at 80degreesC for about 20 hours at atmospheric pressure leads to considerably higher strengths when compared with curing under wet cloth at ambient temperatures. Clay-fly ash fractions of the mix control the optimum lime content yielding maximum strength. Long-term strength behaviour of steam-cured blocks has been monitored. The results indicate a favourable lime-clay ratio for stable long-term strength. A small-scale steam cured block production system has been designed and implemented to construct a load bearing masonry structure, thus demonstrating the potential of steam-cured block as a material for masonry construction.

Carrier density-dependent transport in poly(3-methylthiophene): from injection-limited to space-charge-limited current

Current-voltage (I-V) and impedance measurements were carried out in doped poly(3-methylthiophene) devices by varying the carrier density. As the carrier concentration reduces the I-V characteristics indicate that the conduction mechanism is limited by metal-polymer interface, as also observed in impedance data. The temperature dependence of I-V in moderately doped samples shows a trap-controlled space-charge-limited conduction (SCLC); whereas in lightly doped devices injection-limited conduction is observed at lower bias and SCLC at higher voltages. The carrier density-dependent quasi-Fermi level adjustment and trap-limited transport could explain this variation in conduction mechanism. Capacitance measurements at lower frequencies and higher bias voltages show a sign change in values due to the significant variations in the relaxation behaviour for lightly and moderately doped samples. The electrical hysteresis increases as carrier density is reduced due to the time scales involved in the de-trapping of carriers.