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Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006. / Title from title page screen, viewed on February 4, 2008. Dissertation Committee: Dent M. Rhodes (chair), Barbara Nourie, Kenneth F. Jerich. Includes bibliographical references and abstract. Also available in print.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bettina Heerdt.pdf: 2736768 bytes, checksum: 5cfe8d95ec4f233f1799353c864baac3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-26 / Biology teaching must prioritize the learning tending to research, and in this field we can count with technology, such as the internet and the computer which contribute to this process. The WebQuest can be considered a methodology to organize the teaching process using all the internet resources, which help students in the construction of knowledge in a mediated learning environment. What we look for answering in this research is what the contributions from the WebQuest to learning Biology are. For answering this question the WebQuests were made, from names “The fascinating world of cells” and “Web-classification”, and proposed to the first and second years of high-school in the process of teaching and learning Biology. The goal is to evaluate the process of pedagogical mediation by WebQuests. The methodological approach of this investigation fits into the perspective of the qualitative research, an ethnographic study. While analyzing the obtained data, the analysis of contents was used. The propose about the hypertext organization considering it as a space for building knowledge by Lévy (2006), supported and helped us reaching the objectives aimed. We also considered the historical-cultural learning theory from Vygotsky, in which the cognitive development results from the interaction between man and his social-cultural environment, the mediation is one of the fundamental concepts in this theory. Since it is the learning that promotes the intellectual development and it occurs from an intervention process of an intermediate element between the subject and the object of knowledge, this relation stops being straight and direct and passes to a mediated one. In the present investigation we focused in the process of pedagogical mediation, which has specific characteristics of systematization and intentionality. Once that the mediation helps in the student’s intellectual development it must advance to the development processes, acting in the Proximal Development Zone (ZDP), which corresponds to the intellectual condition of the subject in the moment of learning. The ZDP refers to what the subject does not do on his own but to what he can do with the help of a grown up or an efficient companion. According to Vygotsky, the good teaching acts in the proximal development zone and qualitatively modifies its concepts. In this research the WebQuest was used as a mediator between the subject and the object of knowledge, and it showed to be an efficient tool in this process, since the scientific concepts were remade by the students and, mostly, it improved significantly their comprehension and meanings related to the cells contents and the classification of live beings. / O ensino de Biologia deve priorizar uma aprendizagem voltada à pesquisa e, nesta direção contamos com as tecnologias, como a internet e o computador que contribuem com este processo. A WebQuest pode ser considerada uma metodologia para organizar o processo de ensino utilizando recursos da internet, que auxilia os estudantes na construção do conhecimento em um ambiente de aprendizagem guiado. A questão que procuramos responder nesta pesquisa é: quais são as contribuições da WebQuest para a aprendizagem de Biologia? Para responder a essa questão foram elaboradas as WebQuests, de nomes “O Fascinante mundo das células” e “Web-classificação”, propostas no processo de ensino e aprendizagem de Biologia para estudantes da 1ª série e 2ª série do ensino médio. Busca-se como objetivos avaliar o processo de mediação pedagógica a partir da utilização de WebQuests e investigar a possibilidade de avanços conceituais dos objetos de conhecimento da Biologia, a partir de um processo de ensino mediado por WebQuests. A abordagem metodológica dessa investigação enquadra-se na perspectiva da pesquisa qualitativa, um estudo do tipo etnográfico. Para análise dos dados obtidos utilizamos a análise de conteúdo. Para alcançar os objetivos propostos nos apoiamos na proposta de Lévy (2006) sobre a organização do hipertexto considerado como um espaço para a construção do saber. Também levamos em consideração a teoria de aprendizagem histórico-cultural elaborada por Vygotsky para o qual o desenvolvimento cognitivo resulta de interações entre o homem e seu meio sócio-cultural, a mediação é um dos conceitos fundamentais dessa teoria. Visto que é a aprendizagem que promove o desenvolvimento intelectual e ela ocorre por meio de um processo de intervenção de um elemento intermediário entre sujeito e objeto do conhecimento, essa relação deixa de ser direta e passa a ser mediada. Na presente investigação nos fixamos no processo de mediação pedagógica, que possui características de sistematicidade e intencionalidade. Uma vez que a mediação colabora no desenvolvimento intelectual do estudante ela deve se adiantar aos processos de desenvolvimento, atuando na Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal (ZDP), que corresponde à condição intelectual do sujeito no momento da aprendizagem. A ZDP se refere ao que o sujeito não faz sozinho, mas consegue fazer com a ajuda de um adulto ou companheiro mais eficaz. Para Vygotsky, um bom ensino é aquele que atua na zona de desenvolvimento proximal e modifica qualitativamente conceitos. Nesta pesquisa a WebQuest foi utilizada como uma mediadora entre o sujeito e o objeto de conhecimento, mostrou-se uma ferramenta eficiente neste processo pois os conceitos científicos foram reelaborados pelos estudantes e, a maioria, melhorou significativamente suas compreensões e significações em relação aos conteúdos de células e classificação dos seres vivos.

Antibodies are soluble proteins produced by the adaptive immune system to bind and counteract invading pathogens. The binding properties of a typical human antibody are determined by the structure of its variable domain, composed of two chains – heavy and light and by the conformation of six loops located on the surface of the variable domain, known as Complementarity Determining Regions (CDRs). In the first chapter, we describe our analysis of the conformational space occupied by five out of six antibody CDRs (L1, L2, L3, H1 and H2) and the development of a novel, length-independent method for grouping these CDRs into structural clusters (canonical forms). We show that using our method we can increase coverage and precision of assigning CDR sequences into clusters. In the next chapter, we describe a method for ranking structural decoys of the CDR-H3 loop. We show that by computationally perturbing CDR-H3 decoys we can improve the performance of existing ranking methods. In the same chapter, we discuss the development of a method for high-throughput assignment of heavy-light chain orientation. The power of the method was demonstrated by assigning orientation to billions of potential Fv sequences. The third Chapter describes the analysis of a large dataset of CDR sequences with the aim of identifying sequence patterns responsible for the loops' structure. Using a neural network methodology, we found several groups of CDR sequences which might be indicative of previously-unseen conformations. In the final results Chapter, we describe how we used the structural knowledge developed throughout the rest of the thesis to create a novel pipeline for computational antibody design. We show that the binders developed using our methodology had similar features to available antibody therapeutics and low predicted propensity to cause an immunogenic response. These results demonstrate the potential for using computational methods for designing high affinity therapeutics with human properties.

This thesis explores senior high school student learning in biology in Taiwan. The Confucian-heritage culture and beliefs associated with high stakes examinations influences the learning context in biology. There is a considerable body of international research on teaching and learning in senior high biology. There appears to be limited research on student and teacher views of learning in biology in this context. A social constructivist view of learning underpins this study. Using an interpretive paradigm, this study explores student and teacher perceptions of student learning experiences in senior high school biology. There are three phases in this study. In the first phase, Grade 11 and Grade 12 students and teacher perceptions of the existing teaching and learning situation in biology was explored. In the second phase, an intervention was designed and implemented for Grade 12 students. In the third phase, the intervention was evaluated. The findings of this study indicate that most students take biology to increase their options for entering tertiary education. Noticeably, they were using learning approaches that they most disliked to increase their biology marks. Most of them considered the current biology classes were very effective in coping with the major examination, but the teaching was monotonous and teaching content as seemingly unrelated to real life. The teachers perceived that student learning was passive, which contributed to the teachers feeling of exhaustion. Qualitative and quantitative data indicated that both the students and teachers were dissatisfied with the current teaching and learning situation. A more interactive teaching and learning approach and more student responsibility in investigations were suggested by the respondents. An intervention programme based on a social constructivist view of learning, including interactive teaching and open investigation, was designed and implemented. The intervention (70% lecture classes and 30% experiment classes) problematised the traditional lesson structure (90% lecture classes and 10% experiment classes) of senior biology in Taiwan, seeking a more cohesive and integrated overall structure for learning biology. Evaluation of the intervention programme suggested that through student-teacher and student-student interactions student conceptual and procedural understanding of biology was facilitated and their attitudes towards learning were enhanced. A few of the students could not accept the intervention as it conflicted with their view of learning in an examination culture. The implications of this research are that more teacher-student and peer interactions and open-ended investigations can lead to enhanced learning in biology in Taiwan for most senior high school students. Social constructivist approaches to teaching and learning are viable in a Taiwanese biology classroom context. The study also showed the potential for open investigations in this context.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Mestrado_Educação.pdf: 2803403 bytes, checksum: 30a393b7df2b7f3782e448ce9203e75d (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia. / Temos atualmente no campo científico uma discussão importante no que se refere à exposição de conteúdos de biologia como sendo verdades únicas e com valor de estabilidade, em detrimento da valorização de conhecimentos outros dos estudantes, como os conhecimentos tradicionais, sendo a diversidade cultural pouco considerada na prática pedagógica. As plantas representam patrimônio histórico e natural da humanidade e elas têm relação com a construção dinâmica de culturas tradicionais. Fazem parte, portanto, das relações sociedade-natureza e, obviamente, é importante que a educação escolar esteja envolvida na formação cidadã dos estudantes que preze por uma responsabilidade socioambiental com respeito às florestas. Apesar de a Ilha de Maré ser parte do município de Salvador, a cultura e os costumes de seus moradores são bastante diferenciados do que se observa no continente, apresentando práticas peculiares associadas à aproximação e ao uso das plantas. Fundamentada no multiculturalismo crítico e na fenomenologia, nossa pesquisa esteve comprometida na análise do contexto que envolve as aprendizagens geradas a partir de uma sequência didática sobre reprodução vegetal, construída numa perspectiva sociocultural, por meio de uma parceria com a professora de biologia de uma turma de 2º ano do Ensino Médio de um colégio estadual de Salvador que recebe alunos que moram na Ilha de Maré. A partir de estudos de campo em Ilha de Maré com os moradores e os estudantes sobre questões relacionadas às plantas locais, obtivemos subsídio à construção e posterior desenvolvimento em sala de aula de uma sequência didática, avaliada de modo colaborativo com base no processo e no contexto das aprendizagens e nas vozes dos atores sociais envolvidos. Por se tratar de uma pesquisa situada e contextual, na qual construímos e avaliamos a sequência didática a partir da cultura local, enfatizando o contexto em que ocorrem os fenômenos, ela corresponde a um estudo de caso, de abordagem qualitativa. O desenvolvimento da sequência didática apontou alguns aspectos relevantes: a) o diálogo intercultural possibilitou o desenvolvimento de habilidades crítico-argumentativas e favoreceu a compreensão de conceitos sobre reprodução das angiospermas, sendo a ampliação do conhecimento da ciência escolar alcançada, embora não plenamente; b) as atividades avaliativas favoreceram o processo de aprendizagem; c) a abordagem multicultural crítica que desenvolvemos não foi capaz de favorecer o olhar em todos os alunos sobre as possibilidades de risco ao se usar remédios e também os chás, e d) alguns termos científicos foram relatados como de difícil compreensão, evidenciando os desafios ao cruzamento de fronteiras. Destacamos os elementos da sequência didática que podem ser tomados como referência para práticas pedagógicas inovadoras e significantes: a) a abordagem intercultural crítica; b) as formas de avaliação com as habilidades criativas acionadas; c) o uso de outras linguagens nas aulas e na Material Impresso Contextual; d) a explicitação sobre aspectos históricos da construção da ciência e sua natureza; e) a valorização tanto do contexto sociocultural quanto das falas dos estudantes no processo de diálogo; f) a associação entre a reprodução das plantas e questões ecológicas; g) o ensino a partir de plantas conhecidas pelos estudantes, e h) o cuidado para que o enfoque sociocultural de diálogo não interferisse na discussão sistemática do conhecimento científico. Apesar de a sequência didática desenvolvida ser um modelo inacabado, sugerimos que essa ferramenta seja adaptada a outros contextos, sendo os princípios validados nessa pesquisa - ambiental, cultural e epistemológico - recomendados para o desenho de propostas inovadoras de ensino. / ABSTRACT Currently we have in the field scientific an important discussion about exposition of the biology contents as unique truths and with value of stability, to the detriment of the appreciation of other knowledge of the students, as the traditional knowledge, and the cultural diversity has been poorly considered in the pedagogical practice. The plants represent historical and natural patrimony of humanity and they have relation with the dynamics construction of the traditional cultures. They are part, therefore, of the relations society-nature and, obviously, is important that the scholar education is involved civic education of the students that prizes by social environmental responsibility with respect to forests. Although “Ilha de Maré” is part of the Salvador city, the culture and the habits of its residents are quite differentiated from that observed on the continent, presenting peculiar practices associated with the approximation and use of plants. Grounded in critical multiculturalism and in phenomenology, our research was compromised in the analysis of the context that involved the learning generated from a teaching sequence about plant propagation, constructed on a sociocultural perspective, through a partnership with the biology teacher in a class of 2nd year high school students in a public school in Salvador which receives students who live on the “Ilha de Maré”. From field studies in “Ilha de Maré” with residents and students about issues related to local plants, we obtained subsidy for construction and further development in the classroom of a teaching sequence, evaluated in a collaborative form based on the process and in the context of learning and the voices of the social actors involved. Because it is a situated and contextualized research, in which we constructed and evaluated the teaching sequence from the local culture, emphasizing the context in which the phenomena occur, it corresponds to a case study, of the qualitative approach. The development of didactic sequence pointed out some important aspects: a) the intercultural dialogue enabled the development of argumentative and critical skills and facilitating of the understanding of concepts about reproduction of angiosperms, with the expansion of knowledge of school science achieved, though not fully; b) the evaluative activities enable the learning process; c) the critical multicultural approach that we developed was not able to promote in all students the look about the possibilities of risk when using medicines and also teas, e d) some scientific terms were reported as difficult to understand due to the challenges of crossing borders. Include the elements of the teaching sequence that can be taken as reference for innovative and significant pedagogical practices: a) the critical multicultural approach; b) the forms of evaluation with creative skills requested; c) the use of other languages in the classroom and in the contextualized handout; d) the explicitness about historical aspects of construction of science and its nature; e) the valuation of both the sociocultural context and the speech of students in the dialogue process; f) the association between the reproduction of plants and ecological issues; g) the teaching from plants known to the students, and h) the care for the sociocultural approach of dialogue does not interfere with systematic and thorough discussion of scientific knowledge. Although of the teaching sequence developed to be an unfinished model, we suggest that this tool is adapted to other contexts, being the principles validated in this research - environmental, cultural and epistemological - recommended for the design of innovative teaching proposals.

The inherent complexity of development of a new human being, especially when related to a lack of teaching-learning resources, makes the process of teaching-learning in the area of Human Embryology often difficult and abstract. The possibility of using and/or producing three-dimensional concrete models is recognized as an alternative capable of promoting the understanding of the different stages of human embryogenesis. Trying to evaluate, qualitatively and quantitatively, the educational potential of such macroscopic tools, three-dimensional models were used as intervention in Human Embryology lessons concerning the discipline taught to the second semester of undergraduate Biological Sciences, at Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), RS. To collect data, a knowledge test with illustrated and, in most of cases, closed questions was applied three times, what consisted in a pre-test, a post-theory test and a post-intervention test. The knowledge test and the models used were referring to the first four weeks of human embryogenesis. The pre-test helped in the first moment to survey the prior knowledge of the sample on the topic and, in a second moment, as a reference for comparison with the results of subsequent applications. Qualitative analysis of the tests resulted in categories of responses and quantitative analysis, in frequencies of each category and average score. Such analysis showed that the performance of the sample in the post-intervention test was considerably higher than in previous applications, what means that intervention models contributed significantly to the process of teaching and learning of the sample, what resulted in a better acquisition of knowledge about human embryonic development. The evaluation made by the sample also contributed to this statement. In this sense, it s highlighted the importance of using such pedagogical alternatives in initial and continuing teacher training, so such tools may be effectively used at different levels of science teaching. / A complexidade inerente ao desenvolvimento de um novo ser, principalmente quando aliada à falta de recursos didático-pedagógicos, torna, muitas vezes, o processo de ensino-aprendizagem, na área de Embriologia Humana, árduo e abstrato. A possibilidade de utilizar e/ou produzir modelos concretos tridimensionais é, reconhecidamente, uma alternativa capaz de favorecer o entendimento das diferentes fases da embriogênese humana. Buscando avaliar, qualitativa e quantitativamente, o potencial pedagógico de tais ferramentas macroscópicas, modelos didáticos tridimensionais foram utilizados, de forma interventiva, em aulas de Embriologia Humana referentes à disciplina ministrada ao segundo semestre da graduação em Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), RS. Para a coleta de dados, um teste de conhecimentos com questões ilustradas e, em sua maioria fechadas, foi aplicado em três momentos distintos, constituindo um pré-teste, um teste pós-teoria e um teste pós-intervenção. O teste de conhecimentos e os modelos utilizados foram referentes às quatro primeiras semanas da embriogênese humana. O pré-teste serviu, inicialmente, para o levantamento dos saberes prévios da amostra acerca do tema em questão e, em um segundo momento, de referência para comparação com os resultados das aplicações posteriores. A análise qualitativa dos testes resultou em categorias de respostas, e a análise quantitativa nas frequências de cada categoria e na média geral de acertos. Tais análises demonstraram que o desempenho da amostra no teste pós-intervenção foi consideravelmente maior do que nas aplicações anteriores, o que permite considerar que a intervenção com os modelos contribuiu, de forma significativa, para o processo de ensino e aprendizagem da amostra, resultando, assim, em uma maior apropriação dos conhecimentos referentes ao desenvolvimento embrionário humano. A avaliação da metodologia realizada pela própria amostra também levou a esta constatação. Nesse sentido, destaca-se a importância da utilização de tais alternativas didáticas na formação inicial e continuada de professores da área, para que tais ferramentas venham a ser, efetivamente, utilizadas nos diferentes níveis do Ensino de Ciências.