http://www.amser.org/SPT--Home.php AMSER (the Applied Math and Science Education Repository) provides educational resources and services built specifically for use by those in Community and Technical Colleges but free for anyone to use. http://amser.org//SPTUI--CWIS/images/cwis_logo.gif http://amser.org//SPTUI--CWIS/images/cwis_logo.gif 69 21 AMSER Logo en-us ealmasy@scout.wisc.edu ealmasy@scout.wisc.edu Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11626 Created by John Perrine, a professor at Collin County Community College, for the Convergence Technology Center (CTC), this PowerPoint presentation addresses Podcasting. The author strives for the user to "understand the components and demonstrate how to establish a collaboration session and set up Pod and Web casting." The presentation is quite thorough; it focuses on hardware, software and hosting of these Podcasts. To access this resource the site does require a free login. This can be done easily with simply an e-mail address. Additionally, visitors can find the overview for the lesson by clicking here and an assessment to accompany here. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:02 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11364 This Mote Marine Laboratory magazine article details a new study by Sarasota Operations Coastal Oceans Observation Lab (SO COOL) that is using technology to track harmful algal blooms (HABs). Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are equipped with temperature and salinity meters as well as a "Breve-buster," which is an instrument that collects water samples and determines levels of red-tide causing algae by shining a light through the sample and noting the light absorbing characteristics within the sample (indicative of these algae). Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:02 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=10989 This is a YouTube video clip showing a Wii Remote controlling a large table top robotic arm. The video clip talks about how National Instruments has created Virtual Instruments coding(VIs) via LabVIEW that you can download for free and duplicate what they have done in this video demonstration. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:02 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=6036 This neuropathology case study, provided by the University of Pittsburgh Department of Pathology, is an excellent resource for students and instructors in the health science fields. A 71-year-old female experiencing numbness in her hands and feet is the focus of this case. The patient’s history, gross description, and microscopic description of test results are provided to aid readers in understanding the patient’s diagnosis. The official final diagnosis is accompanied by a discussion of the contributing doctor’s findings and a list of references. This is an excellent resource for students in the health sciences to familiarize themselves with using patient history and laboratory results to diagnose patient’s conditions. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:02 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=9873 This web page contains information about taking photographs of star trails, which illustrate the rotation of the Earth. The site provides techniques to take successful star trail photos, including a technique using a series of short exposures and assembling them with computer software. Photographic techniques for including foreground images of ground objects are given. Examples of star trail photos are provided. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:02 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11377 This USGS Canyonlands Research Station web page contains links to the Canyonlands Research Station's complete biological soil crust reference list. These soil crusts are also known as cryptogamic, microbiotic, cryptobiotic, and microphytic crusts and can commonly be found in desert regions. This reference list is available in three formats: HTML, EndNote, and PDF. A link is provided for each format. In addition, the site provides links to other Canyonlands Research Station webpages on biological soil crusts including Crusts 101: an introduction to biological soil crusts, an advanced page with a downloadable 90-page report on soil crusts, the Canyon Country Ecosystems Research Site (CCERS), and other related links. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11386 Stan Eisen of Christian Brothers University, this online presentation compares tardigrades and onychophorans to arthropods. This page serves as an index of the thirteen slides as well as provides a link to the presentation. All of these resources are available in PowerPoint format. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11074 This resource is a curriculum outline created by the Idaho State University Electronics Technology department. This provides outlines of required and elective courses for their programs which could be used for modeling best practices in course development. Links to additional outlines are provided. They focus primarily on different aspects of electronics. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=8620 This is a collection of worksheets and activities, created by Joyce Smart of Logan High School in the town of Logan, Utah, provides a nice examination of assignments used in her AP Statistics course. Some of the probability problems address: notation, estimating, conditional probability, complements and probability trees, multiplication rule and dependency, addition rule, combinations/permutations, and expected means. This is a nice set of problems for either an advanced high school or entry level college course. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=10038 What role should university physics departments play in the education of prospective K–12 science teachers? This is an important question to answer in view of various national agendas to improve the quality of science instruction for K–12 students. Although it would be easy to argue that physics departments have played an important role in offering content courses to prospective teachers, it could also be argued that the pedagogy used in teaching such courses has done little to encourage the type of teaching consistent with research on learning that we would like prospective teachers to adopt. In this article I begin by describing the attributes of an ideal, generic physics course for prospective K–12 teachers. Next I will attempt to justify why the particular attributes of this course were selected based on learning research. I then provide some specific examples of successful attempts to incorporate learning research in the design of university physics courses. A discussion follows of why, at the present time, the vast majority of physics departments are not poised to offer courses containing many of the attributes described, and suggestions are provided for how this situation could be alleviated. I conclude with a discussion of the obstacles and opportunities for reforming the role of physics departments in the education of prospective K–12 teachers. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11628 Academic Earth provides this 47-minute lecture from Harvard. In the class Introduction to Computer Sciences, Instructor David J. Malan discusses the concepts of pointers and arrays of dynamic memory allocation. This is a taped lecture of Malan using computer programs and practical demonstrations in a step-by-step process to show the students how pointers and arrays work. In addition to computer science skills, this lecture and these interconnected skills will help students learn problem-solving behaviors that will benefit them later in life. Notes and Slides that coordinate with the lecture are also provided on the website to assist with the learning and teaching process. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11629 This website created by David A Rusling explains the various components of Interprocess Communications Mechanisms supported by Linux. Signals, pipes, and sockets are the main features of this website with a section dedicated to each. Each section contains descriptions and explanations, sub-headings, diagrams, and/or charts. This is a great overview to Interprocess Communications Mechanisms and teachers and students alike will find this a worthwhile bookmark in their browsers. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11627 Created by John Perrine, a professor at Collin County Community College, for the Convergence Technology Center (CTC), this PowerPoint presentation addresses wireless network technology. The lesson focuses on technology related to PAN, HAN, LAN, CAN, MAN and WAN networks. The author also addresses signaling and its subsequent importance to wireless telecommunications. To access this resource the site does require a free login. This can be done easily with simply an e-mail address. Additionally, visitors can find the overview for the lesson by clicking here and an assessment to accompany it here. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11313 This web page discusses Red Tide and Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning, a milder gastroenteritis with neurologic symptoms compared with Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning. The classic causative organism is the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium breve, which produces neurotoxic toxins known as brevetoxins. This page describes clinical presentation of NSP (including symptoms), diagnosis, management and treatment, molecular mechanism of action, and references. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500 http://www.amser.org//SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=11385 This online news article discusses the ability of tardigrades to withstand harsh conditions. The article covers the history, biology and significance of tardigrades, as well as the different types of cryptobiosis. It includes detailed images of the organisms and links to related web pages. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:01 -0500