Bernhard Beck-Winchatz

Finding Out What They Really Think: Assessing Non-Science Majors’ Views of the Nature of Science

As institutions of higher learning are increasingly held accountable for student outcomes, faculty are faced with the challenge to clearly articulate and assess what students should learn in their courses. We report on the assessment of a liberal studies learning outcome related to the nature of science, which involved 178 students from 41 academic non-science majors at DePaul University in Chicago. Students were shown a video recording of an interview with a research scientist and asked to respond to prompts about falsifiable predictions, uncertainty, and the functions of hypotheses, observations, and reasoning. We found that students held a wide range of views and misconceptions about the nature of science. Responses were, on average, at a “developing” level (a score of 2 on a scale from 1–4). We discuss several possible changes to curriculum and pedagogy to address these misconceptions based on a review of the science education research literature.

Cataclysmic Variables and Other Compact Binaries in the Globular Cluster NGC 362: Candidates from Chandra and HST

Highly sensitive and precise X-ray imaging from Chandra, combined with the superb spatial resolution of HST optical images, dramatically enhances our empirical understanding of compact binaries such as cataclysmic variables and low mass X-ray binaries, their progeny, and other stellar X-ray source populations deep into the cores of globular clusters. Our Chandra X-ray images of the globular cluster NGC 362 reveal 100 X-ray sources, the bulk of which are likely cluster members. Using HST color-magnitude and color-color diagrams, we quantitatively consider the optical content of the NGC 362 Chandra X-ray error circles, especially to assess and identify the compact binary population in this condensed-core globular cluster. Despite residual significant crowding in both X-rays and optical, we identify an excess population of Hα-emitting objects that is statistically associated with the Chandra X-ray sources. The X-ray and optical characteristics suggest that these are mainly cataclysmic variables, but we also identify a candidate quiescent low mass X-ray binary. A potentially interesting and largely unanticipated use of observations such as these may be to help constrain the macroscopic dynamic state of globular clusters.