CMCE 2456 Assignment

Task

As a geotechnical engineer your involvement will begin during the subsurface investigation and continue through the design of foundations.  As your final project you will work in groups of 3; groups will be chosen by the Professor.

As a group decide on a proposed construction project and pick an arbitrary site in one of the 5 boroughs.  Research the site using websites such as google maps and oasis to determine the site area and any nearby subways or waterways.  Develop a subsurface investigation for the site.

Each group member will be responsible for testing a different soil sample.  Develop an imaginary soil profile consisting of your members soil samples.   Design an adequate foundation for your proposed construction. 

Learning Outcome

  • Work with teams of diverse composition;
  • Demonstrate an ability to recognize and interpret multiple forms of evidence;
  • Attain competency in the gathering and critical analysis of information by researching primary and secondary sources.
  • Make observations, understand the fundamental elements of experiment design, generate and analyze data using appropriate quantitative tools.

General Education Competencies

  • Show curiosity and the desire to learn;
  • Acquire tools for lifelong learning;
  • Communicate in diverse settings using written, oral, and visual means;
  • Derive meaning from experience, as well as gather information from observation;
  • Employ scientific reasoning and logical thinking;
  • Gather, interpret, evaluate, and apply information from a variety of sources;
  • Demonstrate intellectual honesty and personal responsibility;
  • Transform information into knowledge, and knowledge into judgment and action;

Format

Each group must submit the following:

  • Final report
    • Site History
    • Proposed Construction
    • Relevant Maps
    • Laboratory Test Data
    • Summary of Subsurface Conditions
    • Recommendation for Foundations
  • Powerpoint Presentation – 5 min
    • Summarize Final Report

Grading Criteria

Project is 20% of Final Grade

  • Report – 16 pts
    • Site History (3pts)
    • Proposed Construction(2pts)
    • Relevant Maps(2pts)
    • Laboratory Test Data(3pts)
    • Summary of Subsurface Conditions(3pts)
    • Recommendation for Foundations(3pts)
  • Powerpoint Presentation – 4 pts
    • Time (1pt)
    • Quality of Slides (1pt)
    • Subject knowledge (1pt)
    • Group Participation (1pt)

Microbiology Fall 2012 Class Collaborative Project

Microbiology

BIO302L

4 hours lab/week – Two days per week

Course Description

The course, Fundamentals of Microbiology, has a lecture and laboratory component. The lecture focuses on the structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, interaction between the microbe and the host, and human diseases. Laboratory sessions focus on pure culture techniques, methods of staining and the microscopic, colonial and biochemical identification of saprophytic organisms.

Overall Class Learning Outcomes

(1)  Use analytical and critical thinking skills to approach a research project.

(2) Develop basic microbiology laboratory techniques.

(3) Differentiate the various types of test used in identifying and classifying pathogenic microorganisms.

(4) Use the scientific method to gather,  analyze, interpret and present field base research project

Fall 2012 Class Project

Project Title:     Bacterial Contaminants in Brooklyn Waterfront

Project description

Students will use laboratory skills and knowledge to collect, analyze and interpret data.  They will use Brooklyn waterfront (location to be decided) to collect water samples. Samples will be analyzed using microbial techniques learnt in lab during the semester. This is a semester long class project. The class will be divided into randomly selected groups. Each group will be responsible for collecting samples from one location along the Brooklyn waterfront area. The class will first discuss and decide which of the 5 – 6 groups will sample designated area. Each group will subsequently collect samples, two each, and during the course of the semester run various test in concurrent with lab activities. The following tests will be done by each group;

  1. Inoculating in broth
  2. Gram staining
  3. Negative stain
  4. Streak plate for isolating pure culture
  5. Inoculate on selective and differential media (MacConkey, PEA, blood agar, mannitol salt agar)
  6. Inoculate starch agar, lipid and or DNA agar and gelatin deeps,
  7. Urease, catalase, oxidase and nitrate reduction.
  8. IMViC, SIM, Enterotube II or API system.
  9. Oxygen requirement of growing microbes using oxidative/fermentative tubes or thioglycollate media.
  10. Prepare antibiogram to test for antibiotic sensitivity.

Towards the conclusion of the semester, students will write a lab report and give a short presentation of their analysis.

Project Learning Outcomes

–  Work in groups to accomplish a task

– Use microbial techniques learnt through the semester to analyze samples collected from the Brooklyn Waterfront.

– Gather, interpret, evaluate, and apply information collected from variety of sources.

– Write a lab report on a semester-long activity.

General Education Learning Goals

Pursue disciplined, inquiry-based learning in Microbiology

Use the arts, sciences and humanities as a forum for the study of the physical world.

Employ scientific reasoning and logical thinking

Gather, interpret, evaluate and apply information discerningly from a variety of sources.

Communicate in diverse settings and groups using written, oral and visual means

Assessment

Students will be assessed on the following;

  • Draft of final lab report – group activity- use GenEd writing rubric or other rubric
  • Final lab report – group activity – use GenEd writing rubric or other rubric
  • Final presentation – group activity – use GenEd writing rubric or other rubric
  • Group members will assess each other in terms of cooperativeness, reliability, general team skills, and effort.

Schedule of Activities.

Week 1

  • Students will be placed into groups
  • Collect samples from selected locations.
  • Inoculate into broth

Week 2

Perform Gram staining

Week 3

  • Perform negative staining
  • Perform acid-fast staining

Week 4 – 5

  • Prepare and isolate pure culture
  • Inoculate differential and selective media

Week 6

  • Analyze for extracellular activities using DNA, starch and gelatin media
  • Analyze for carbohydrate fermentation using phenol red broths and TSI media

Week 7

  • Perform IMViC test, and inoculate on SIM media
  • Inoculate Eenterotube II systems
  • Perform urease, catalase, oxidase and nitrate reduction test

 

Week 8 – 10

  • Perform an antibiogram
  • Begin the writing process

 

Week 11

  • Outline of group’s lab report due

Week 12

  • Rough draft due

Week 14

  • Final paper due

Week 15

  • Oral presentation

High Impact Practices – Investigations at the African Burial Ground

INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the laws, documents and customs relating to African burials in early New York City.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE
Working collaboratively, teams of students will investigate various sub- topics and report (in writing and orally) on:
TEAM ONE: The earliest Last Will and Testament of an African in New York City and The Last Will and Testaments of  slave owners in New York City.
TEAM TWO: The laws regarding slave burials in New York City as well as other laws relating to slavery in eighteenth century New York City.
TEAM THREE: Eighteenth century burial practices in New York City including varieties of grave-goods and burial rituals.
TEAM FOUR: The recent history of the Burial Ground and the New York State laws on the desecration of graves.

RATIONALE
The justification for this topic is to illustrate the unchanging nature of wills in the common law system as well as to reinforce students’ ability to analyze will clauses, In addition, this unit will expose students to the history (past and recent) of the African Burial Ground and the laws relating to burials in the eighteenth century and today.

LESSON CONTENT

1. A comparison of historical and modern New York wills.
2. The laws relating to slave burials in New York City
3, A comparison of eighteenth century burial practices (and grave-goods) compared to modern practices
4. The recent history of the African Burial Ground and the laws concerning the desecration of graves

INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
a. Focusing event: A field trip to the African Burial Ground (290 Broadway)

b. Teaching procedures: Lecture from a National Park Ranger, an hour visit to the Visitor’s Center where students can begin researching their assigned portion followed  two weeks later by a group wiki and a group oral report (each group presents their research for no longer than 10 minutes – each student speaks for no more than two minutes) and individual memo on Blackboard.

c. Student Participation : Students will receive a personal grade for posting a memo synthesizing their research on Blackboard, Teams will also receive a group grade for their wiki postings and oral report.

GENERAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES ADDRESSED:
1.Communication Skills: the ability to read, write and speak effectively.
2, Critical Thinking: the ability to analyze complex issues and to evaluate information.
3. Research and Computer Skills: the ability to acquire, evaluate and synthesize information using appropriate technology in an ethical and legal manner
4. Humanistic and Social Inquiry: an understanding of and respect for cultural diversity, the human experience and the interconnectedness of global and local concerns.

EVALUATION PROCEDURES
1.Will analysis exercise
2. Individual memo – rubric
3. Team wiki posting – rubric
4. Oral presentation – rubric

Title V Living Lab: High Impact Practice Project

Molecules, Molecules, Molecules:  EVERYDAY LIFE

Second Year Fellow:  Diana Samaroo
Project proposal for Organic Chemistry II

High-impact practice to be used:  collaborative assignment/project and student research

Goals:  The collaborative assignment/project with second-year students will entail research, time management, learning to access campus resources and making real world connections.

Organic Chemistry II is a second semester course that centers on the mechanisms of reactions involving hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, acids and amines, specifically in relation to amino acids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Second-year students will be divided into groups of three or four and decide (build consensus) on an organic molecule of interest to them to research (some requirements listed below).  Each group will select a different organic molecule.  Since this is designed for a second semester course, students will already be familiar with chemistry terminology.

Students will have one session in the library (during weeks 2 or 3 of the semester), learning to use and access library resources such as scientific journal articles, ChemDraw, etc.  Students will analyze which resources are best suited to use for their collaborative assignment. Towards the end of the semester, groups will present using PowerPoint a 10-15 min talk, which should include the following:  why the particular molecule was of interest to them, synthetic methods used for the design of their molecule and at least two relevant applications to the real world.  In addition to the presentation, a written report will be submitted.

This assignment will enable students to make relevant connections to molecules they may encounter every day.  A rubric will be used by their peers and the professor to assess the presentation (both individual and as a group).  In addition, the OpenLab will serve as a forum to post their presentations.

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The general education (GenEd) competencies addressed in this assignment include:  information literacy, research, team work, presentation, written and communication skills

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An example of molecules in everyday life
Research Topic:  CHOCOLATE and CAFFEINE

A typical student presentation may include the following:

  • The chemical structure of Caffeine (identify functional groups and unique structural characteristics)
  • The history of caffeine
  • The chemical synthesis of caffeine and comparison to naturally occurring caffeine
  • A data table showing the caffeine content in milk chocolate, dark chocolate or across different brands of chocolate.
  • Student may make comparisons of caffeine content in tea or coffee to that in chocolate
  • Caffeine is a known stimulant — students may draw on the chemical relationship to the biological response
  • In their research, students may be surprised to discover that drugs encountered everyday such as Midol or Excedrin contain caffeine (~30mg/tablet)

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As a further assignment, student could design an experiment in extracting caffeine from tea and coffee

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(Thanks to Melanie and Urmi for reading this assignment and their comments last week March 2)

 

High Impact Assignment for Web Analytics

Learning Objectives for Web Analytics:

  • Implement strategies to drive traffic to a web site via link building, social media, viral content, paid advertising.
  • Write appropriately for users to find their web site through search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo!, Ask).
  • Layout and design web pages to drive traffic through a web site to lead to an appropriate conversion
  • Get search engines to index pages and send traffic to a website.
  • Analyze where the traffic is coming from, who their users are, and the successes and failures to gain traffic and convert visitors.

The Project:
I will be splitting the class into groups for an in-depth research project. Each group will examine a particular website and come up with a strategy to improve its SEO/SEM strategy.

The Big Idea behind the project:
Derive and articulate a strategy for implementing SEO/SEM for a particular website.

  1. Each group will choose a site they think needs SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) help.
  2. They will discuss amongst themselves (both in class and out) what strategies they will propose. I will emphasize that they need to take certain roles in order to capture the work being done.
  3. The groups will then interview people who fall within the target demographic of their site to see if their proposed changes will make a difference
  4. They will produce a written report (which will be shared with the class via Open Lab) as well as an oral presentation to be given in class. The oral presentation will be 7-10 minutes in length, giving each team member some time to present a part of the findings.
The learning objectives:
  • Review and learn current SEO and SEM techniques
  • Learn how to apply these techniques in an appropriate manner to real-life cases
  • Learn how to gather evidence through research and interviews
  • Learn how to work within a group
  • Present findings and conclusions to a client in a professional and well-reasoned manner
The assessment:
  • I will use a rubric to grade the individual student on the project’s learning objectives.
  • I will also give the group a cumulative grade on the written report and oral presentation.

 

My New and Improved High Impact Assignment for Physical Assessment

New and Improved High Impact Assignment

 

This project combines 3 class assignments into one.

Before, each student had to do an interview and take a health history from and adult and then from a child. And write it up in addition to the paper above. ( 15 points each)

 

The Physical Assessment Course is a Lab class and enrollment is limited to  14 students. Each group will have 3- 4 students.

 

Each student will be assigned a group.

Each group will be assigned a “family” to assess and write cultural and health promotion paper about.

These groups have large sub groups we will focus on one group.

 

Asian –    Chinese Americans

Hispanic – Mexican Americans 

Black Americans – Africans who ancestry comes from US  not Islands

Orthodox Jewish –    Hassid  Group

 

1. Each group will have to interview family members and obtain a health history. You will “make a visit”  to the home by visiting the group Discussion site on  Bb

Data for each family member will be listed.

If any information is missing or you would like additional information you will have to  e-mail the family. (in reality, the Professor) and ask the questions you need. Allow time for this when planning.   15 points

 

 

2. After obtaining the relevant Health History each group will do a Physical Assessment of their family in Lab. Dates and times TBA

Physical Data and body systems to be assessed will be given day of Assessment.  (10 points)

Rubrics for Physical Assessment Exam  (in Syllabus) will be used.

 

3. In the meantime you should be RESEARCHING your culture using Purnell’s wheel as a guide.. A 7-10 page APA style research paper will be due (see above for )Guidelines for Culture Paper. You will write a Health Promotion Plan for your family using a problem your group uncovered during the assessment. This problem should reflect a problem listed in Healthy People 2020.  ( 25 points)

 

 

 

RUBRIC for the Culture/Health Promotion Paper That I will add to above information

 

Please use minimum  6 of the 10 sub parts of Purnell’s Cultural Assessment in you paper explaining your culture and how there sub parts affect the topic you are choosing to work on in the health promotion piece.

 Subparts of culture:

Communication, nutrition, sexuality, family role, physical or mental illness, pain, spirituality, childbearing/ childrearing, death &dying.  (6 points)

 

Evaluation Criteria. Provide complete information about the following:

 

            (1) Family Assessment. This step requires the analysis and organization of            information about the family. .  Be sure to factor in cultural considerations that are specific to that client/family such as ethnicity and religion. It will be necessary to factor in any      information about the client’s level of development as well. It may be necessary    for the nurse to motivate the client in order for learning to take place. Be sure to      assess client’s ability to learn, domains of learning, and effective communication    (5) points).

            (2) Planning. This step requires formulation of client/family goals. Take the client’s point             of view into consideration, as input will have an effect on outcomes. Nursing diagnoses are necessary to have behavioral goals. Goals must be realistic, able         to be achieved by the client, and measurable/observable.  Identify how the health promotion plan will be carried out. Implement the plan according the client’s            learning style and cultural belief system (5 points).

(3) Determine Method of Implementation of the health promotion plan The method of implementation of the nursing client-teaching plan should be specific to the family’s assessed needs and cultural considerations as well as desired outcomes that were identified.  (5 points).

) Correct APA Style, including cover page, citations/references, reference page, abstract                 (2 point).

Written clarity, as well as appropriate grammar, punctuation and sentence structure (2 point).

 

 

4. A.  Group assessment – Please assess how your group functioned?

Below are a list of Task Roles people play in a group – in a small group some may

have more than one role

  • Initiator-contributor: Generates new ideas.
  • Information-seeker: Asks for information about the task.
  • Opinion-seeker: Asks for the input from the group about its values.
  • Information-giver: Offers facts or generalization to the group.
  • Opinion-giver: States his or her beliefs about a group issue.
  • Elaborator: Explains ideas within the group, offers examples to clarify ideas.
  • Orienter: Shifts the direction of the group’s discussion.
  • Evaluator-critic: Measures group’s actions against some objective standard.
  • Energizer: Stimulates the group to a higher level of activity.
  • Recorder: Keeps a record of group actions.

 

B. . Another group evaluation a social roles. Who in the group played one or more of these roles?

  • Encourager: Praises the ideas of others.
  • Harmonizer: Mediates differences between group members.
  • Compromiser: Moves group to another position that is favored by all group members.
  • Gatekeeper/expediter: Keeps communication channels open.
  • Standard Setter: Suggests standards or criteria for the group to achieve.
  • Group observer: Keeps records of group activities and uses this information to offer feedback to the group.
  • Follower: Goes along with the group and accepts the group’s ideas.

^

C. What was your role in the group?

Do you think your group was effective?

What could have been done differently?

 

These roles place the group member above the group and are destructive to the group.

Did anyone  in the group engage in this type of behavior?

  • Aggressor: Attacks other group members, deflates the status of others, and other aggressive behavior.
  • Blocker: Resists movement by the group.
  • Recognition seeker: Calls attention to himself or herself.
  • Self-confessor: Seeks to disclose non-group related feelings or opinions.
  • Dominator: Asserts control over the group by manipulating the other group members.
  • Help seeker: Tries to gain the sympathy of the group.
  • Special interest pleader: Uses stereotypes to assert his or her own prejudices.

Group Assessment and self – assessment                   5 points.

 

•This was the OLD Assignment

Percent of Theory Grade: 20%.

 

Paper Title: Cultural Assessment& Health Promotion Plan for ________( chosen culture ) •

Purpose: Students will write a paper that explores the practices, beliefs, and customs of a culture, NOT YOUR OWN   which will serve to strengthen cultural competency in interviewing, history taking and planning to promote health in diverse clinical settings in the USA.  Students will write a health promotion plan that may (acknowledge/ close the gap in disparities in health care in the USA.)

The health problem will come from leading health problems of the culture you are assessing. In keeping with the leading health indicators of Healthy People 2020.•

 

see power point Bb for outline and indicators and link to Healthy People 2020

 

http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx

Healthy People 2020-Understanding and Improving Health

 

Background Information-Source (http://web.health.gov/healthypeople)

 

Healthy People 2020 Goals

The goals of Healthy People 2020 are designed to achieve two goals:

 

  • Increase years of life (life expectancy) and quality of life.

 

a)     Life expectancy can be achieved by helping individuals gain knowledge, motivation and opportunities they need to make informed decisions about their health.

b)    Quality of life reflects a general sense of happiness and satisfaction

with our lives and environment.  General quality of life encompasses

all aspects of life, including health, recreation, culture, rights, values ,

beliefs, aspirations, and the conditions that support a life containing

these elements.

 

  • Eliminate health disparities among segments of the population, including differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation.

 

Premise: “The health of the individual is closely linked to community health-the health of the community and environment in which individuals live, work, and play.  Likewise, community health is profoundly affected by the collective beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of every one who lives in the community.”

 

LEADING HEALTH OBJECTIVES

 

  1. Physical Activity
  2. Nutrition and Weight Status
  3. Tobacco Use
  4. Substance Abuse
  5. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  6. Mental Health and Mental Disorders
  7. Injury and Violence Prevention
  8. Environmental Health
  9. Immunization and Infectious Diseases
  10. Access to Health Services

\

 

 

 

Required Format:                                                                                                                        

•APA Style must be used for :

7 to 10 page paper (max. do not go over) Including Abstract.

•Fontt  10 -point/Style-Times New Roman

•A running head-the name of the culture and leading health indicator reported

•References : newer than 3 years &  not older than 5 (unless it is classic or seminal paper.)

•3-5 references -research articles must be used.< Evidence based practice>

 

APA style must be used.  Follow link on Bb to Library for exemplar of APA paper.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

 

Remember

 

Choose ONE  disease/illness affecting the culture.

Write a section on the role of RN    in helping with disease management/ teaching/ etc.,
(in that culture,) taking into account that cultures specific needs R/T communication/ nutrition etc.

 

 

In the original assignment there is was no grading rubric on how the 20 points are “broken down” Please note in Nursing we are NOT a Democracy- the course coordinator makes the assignments and exams- only in theory do other faculty  teaching the class have a say .

So in the “new and improved version” not only do I want to include High impact practices for student engagement and learning but I want to create  clearer ASSESSMENT so I am trying on a rubric but I think I need some help at making it clear and concise.

 

Thanks to anyone who will take this on and read and comment on it!

 

 

 

 

Food for Thought

So far the Open Lab Project is interesting with some aspects being very subjective. It appears to me, that there is much beating around the bush rather than stating directly what people want. It is my personal perception that issues of concern are Middle States, Path Ways and General Education and the need to establish a useful general education process; with assessment that can be understood horizontally across disciplines in the learning process. I work best when people say directly what they want, rather than go in an indirect way. What I am more interested in is developing my courses to meet the expectations of the college community. The foundation of education in my opinion is basically understood when we reflect on the foundation of knowledge going back to the early philosophers.

Also, with group involvement; I have learned more about subjectivity more than anything else so far. I am not too much interested in working in groups, neither am I much interested in putting my picture all over websites. I am greatly however, concerned about my responsibilities to the college community as a whole, and as such must get better at such groups taking place in the Open Lab Project. I am very concerned about the improvement of my students to transfer knowledge. I am concerned with the means to which I can produce what is needed for them to do so. My direct plans for my students is the use of flow-charts for every fabrication phase in my courses. I will have students placed in groups and have each group establish a flow-chart of each fabrication process, and explain the theoretical concepts behind them. These flow-chart projects will be arranged in such a way that they will be able to explain in detail the theory and related fabrication processes they will be required to develop. I will not have one group leader; as I teach my students that they are all leaders. This is also demonstrated in the classroom environment, with the acceptance of new ideas from my students. If a student disagrees with something I am doing in a fabrication process, I allow them to use what ever technique they feel is best. Then we review and discuss that technique. If they goof; I explain the concepts of trouble shooting.  If they are successful, I compliment them. Either way, it is used as classroom discussion and included into the learning process as a valuable lesson for us all.

When I was in Group 2, I felt that with all of the different disciplines in the group there was something to learn from everyone. Some were in construction technology, architectural engineering, and restorative dentistry. To me this combination of disciplines in a group project creates the understanding, which leads great support for the General Education Project; It starts with a FOUNDATION. Every phase of each discipline starts with the evaluation of a foundation. For Restorative Dentistry the foundations are the patients maxillary and mandibular arches. The strength of the foundation is most significant to start with, with the same being true in the general education process. To understand the vertical factors, which extend from the foundation and how they apply to the horizontal is very significant if one understand without subjectivity.

Last, I find that Open Lab site is not as user friendly as I hoped for.

A Model Mathematics Course: Eco-Math Link through Linear Algebra

Biodiversity and the Hudson River

Flowing from the Lake Tear of the Clouds, North the Hudson River journeys 315 miles and drops 4,322 feet in elevation before emptying itself into New York Harbor. The Hudson River is home to diverse populations of fish, birds, and mammals that cohabit and compete among themselves for resources. Recently the American shad, Atlantic sturgeon, river herring (blue back herring and alewife), American eel, and largemouth bass are in decline. Intense economic harvesting pressure and overexploitation cause coastal and marine species to decline. Therefore, harvesting and fishing should be managed properly and carefully to avoid decline of current population. Food web analysis provides important information regarding the nature of competition among various organisms.

Cluster analysisin graph theory is a popular method to seek partition of a given data set into several clusters so that the data points within the same cluster are more similar than those belonged in the separate clusters. In this project we will use cluster analysis using the concepts of linear algebra to study the competition among various species in a given food web, in particular, competition among various Hudson River species. Students will find a partition of the competition graphs based on the Hudson River food web such that the strength of competition (for shared preys) between two clusters (two groups of predators) is as low as possible; however, the strength of competition within the same clusters is as high as possible.

Big Ideas behind this project

Study and analyze Hudson River Food Web and its competition graph to interpret the strength of species competition. Upon completion of this project, students should be able to answer the following questions:

  • Which predator species are more connected than others?
  • What happens if a specific species (particularly, a prey) dies out? Particularly, how does the removal of a particular species affect its predators and also the overall competition among all predator species?

I believe through this project students will gain some insights to the mechanisms of interactions and competition among various species. Students will be able to propose further measures for early intervention if any species dies out, share their knowledge, and create public awareness of the need to promote a healthy and balanced ecosystem in their own community.

My goals as the course instructor are:

  • To assist students develop a deep understanding of core mathematical concepts and help them appreciate the usefulness of mathematics to analyze and explain their community and environment.
  • To create challenging environment for high achiever students.
  • To provide training in conducting research in an interdisciplinary field combining mathematics and ecology based on biodiversity of the Hudson River Estuary; a topic that is carefully chosen to hold students’ interests.
  • To motivate students in higher studies in an interdisciplinary field.
  • To help students retain knowledge for long term.

Students Learning Outcomes

  • To solve systems of linear equations using matrices.
  • To identify and use vector properties (spaces, subspaces, bases, inner product).
  • To identify properties of matrices (inevitability, eigenvalues, eigenvectors).
  • To use computer technology to solve practical problems.
  • To learn how to collect data.
  • To learn how to apply core mathematical concepts (particularly eigenvalues and eigenvectors) in solving real-world problems.
  • To understand interdisciplinary approach and the significance of it in real-world applications.
  • To write technical reports and disseminate the key findings.
  • To understand how to present research findings.
  • To learn how to work as a team.

How this will be done?

  • Teach core concepts from Linear Algebra; emphasize usefulness of eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
  • Require students to prove few theorems, lemmas and propositions regarding eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
  • Require students to review literature.
  • Introduce basic graph theory concepts and its applications to food web and species competitions.
  • Require students to visit website and show them how data is collected.
  • Require students to go to a Hudson River Fund seminar.
  • Require students to verify few theorems using the Hudson River data.
  • Introduce spectral clustering method.
  • Require students to analyze the Hudson River competition graph using spectral clustering technique.
  • Require students to interpret the results and make conclusions based on their findings.
  • Require students to write a technical report or present their findings.
  • Require students to produce fliers to be distributed later in high schools or local clubs in their own neighborhood.

Assessment

I will assess the course and the project outcome as follows:

  • Individual student’s grading will be done based on a rubric. The rubric will be created based on learning objectives.
  • Report and final presentation will be graded.

    FoodWeb and the Competition Graph

  • Long term follow up will be carried out with interested students.
  • A pre-test and post-test survey will be administered.