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General chemistry is often the first course taken by students interested in careers in STEM and health fields, and therefore, is considered an essential course for the success and retention of students in these fields. Prior studies have shown study habits and skills to be related to student performance in college-level courses, including STEM courses. Previous chemistry studies have focused on deep "versus" surface approaches to studying, how affective variables (e.g., self-efficacy) affect study habits, and how students study week to week. Literature has also shown that students' management of their general study time can impact their performance, with distraction while studying becoming an increasing challenge for students. This study examined first-semester general-chemistry students' study behaviors (both their explicit learning strategies and study-time management practices) focusing on their exam preparation and that relationship to exam performance when controlling for prior knowledge and class attendance. Key findings include: (1) students, on average, employed two active strategies for exam preparation, dedicated half of their study time to active strategies, and were distracted 26% of the time. (2) While active strategies positively influenced exam performance and passive strategies had a negative impact, not all active strategies were equally effective. (3) The percentage of study time spent on active strategies correlated positively with performance, whereas higher distraction levels during exam preparation negatively affected outcomes. Understanding student exam-study behaviors and their effects on exam performance can help instructors support students more effectively by teaching them study strategies effective for their courses.

In this exploratory mixed-methods analysis of students' perceptions of inclusion in introductory STEM courses for STEM majors, we asked students to rate inclusion in their class and to provide an open-text explanation of their rating. Analyzing 1930 qualitative responses resulted in a codebook containing academic, identity, and nonspecific categories. The majority of responses (>80%) cited academic factors such as interactions between students and instructors or course elements and policies. Most academic responses aligned with evidence-based teaching practices fostering inclusion, describing a range of strategies and policies instructors can implement to increase students' perceptions of inclusion. A small number of student responses indicated that their perception of the required knowledge background for the course impacted course inclusivity. Few differences in frequency distributions were found between subgroups examined (gender, race and ethnicity, self-reported inclusion score, and discipline). Additionally, tracking a subset of students (135) across three courses revealed that most (80%) cited different factors influencing their perception of inclusion in each course. This suggests students' perceptions of inclusive practices are complex, and most students recognize multiple factors that influence their inclusion. Overall, our findings suggest instructors can significantly influence students' perceptions of inclusion by using multiple inclusive teaching strategies and course policies.

This exploratory study uses a mixed-method approach to examine students' perceptions of inclusion in a large first-semester General Chemistry course that occurred during COVID-19. In a survey given at the end of the semester, we asked students to rate their course inclusion and to provide an open-text explanation of their score. Qualitative analysis of these responses led to the development of primary categories comprising Academic, Identity, Nonspecific, Lack of Understanding, and Remote Learning. Overall, Academic, Remote Learning, and Nonspecific were the top reasons students gave for their level of inclusion. The Remote-Learning category contained phrases about remote-learning, zoom, or COVID-19 and then contained a second idea describing the reason for the student's level of inclusion, leading to Remote-Learning subcategories. These subcategories were similar to the other primary categories and Academic subcategories. A majority of the responses (55%) cited academic factors such as interactions among peers, interactions between students and instructors, or course structure. Overall, our exploratory findings suggest that instructors have much influence over factors influencing student perception of inclusion in their General Chemistry 1 classrooms.

Advancing diversity in STEM requires competent and confident faculty and staff who can lead local professional development in inclusive teaching to improve classroom instruction and support all learners. This article examines how a facilitator training model designed to promote inclusive facilitation impacted the self-reported confidence and practices of inclusive learning community facilitators. This mixed methods study reports on survey data from project-trained facilitators (n = 71) collected over four course runs. Facilitators reported significant increases in confidence, with the largest effect sizes in areas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and identity. Qualitative findings indicate the training model effectively aligned facilitators with our approach to inclusive facilitation. Findings demonstrate that professional development in inclusive teaching, and by extension in other equity and diversity topics, can be successfully done at a national scale by centering identity, power, and positionality while upholding "do no harm." This article provides a strategy for how DEI-focused faculty development efforts can select, train, and support facilitators on a national scale while maintaining high fidelity to project values and goals.

In this exploratory study, we examined students' perceptions of inclusion in a calculus-based, introductory physics 1 course for science and engineering majors. This course, offered at a large R1 institution in the United States, was conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Via a survey given at the end of the semester, students rated their course inclusion and provided open-text explanations for their ratings. On average, students rated the course as moderately inclusive. Using inductive qualitative content analysis, six categories emerged: academic, identity, lack of understanding, nonspecific, other, and remote learning. The top three categories were academic (41%), nonspecific (33%), and remote learning (18%). The remote learning category included phrases containing remote learning, Zoom, or COVID-19, along with a second idea explaining the student's level of inclusion, leading to remote learning subcategories. These subcategories were similar to the other primary categories and the academic subcategories. Many students cited academic reasons for their inclusivity scores, including course structure, teaching practices, instructor-student interaction, student-student interaction, and overall course environment. Importantly, many of these factors are within the instructor's influence. Chi-square tests indicated that students perceiving high inclusion emphasized academic factors, while those feeling low inclusion focused on the remote learning aspect of the course. Overall, our findings suggest that instructors can significantly influence students' perceptions of inclusion through various teaching strategies, interactions between instructors and peers, and a welcoming environment. These insights contribute to the ongoing discussion about creating inclusive classrooms by incorporating student perspectives.

The authors developed a free online course that centers learning about identity, power, positionality, and privilege to support inclusive teaching for STEM faculty and future faculty. Instructors across all institution types, including community college and 2-year, regional and comprehensive, and public and private research universities, utilized and valued a free asynchronous online course with an optional local learning community facilitated by project-trained facilitation teams. Participants were highly engaged in the online course content, rated the content positively, and demonstrated increases in awareness, confidence, and intent to apply inclusive teaching strategies. Outcomes demonstrate that the key features of the course (My Inclusivity Framework, Learning Community and Affinity Group discussions, and Embodied Case Studies) were viewed as unique teaching development opportunities that created valuable learning for our participants.

Students struggle to regulate their learning during independent study sessions. In this study, we ask whether an online behavioral intervention helped introductory students decrease distraction while studying. The intervention consisted of exam 1 reflection, exam 2 planning, and exam 2 reflection exercises. During planning, students formed a goal, mentally contrasted (MC) a positive outcome of their goal to their present reality, identified an obstacle, and formed an implementation intention (II) to overcome that obstacle. During reflection, students self-reported their distraction while studying. Distraction was the most frequently reported study obstacle, and decreasing distraction was the second most frequently reported study goal. While students who aimed to decrease distraction as a goal did not follow through, students who planned for distraction obstacles did follow through on decreasing distraction levels. Only about half of students generated an II that aligned with their study goal, which may provide one reason for the opposing follow-through of distraction framed as a goal versus as an obstacle. Lastly, we examined the specificity of students' II's and found no relationship with follow-through. Overall, MC with II holds promise as a self-regulatory technique to help introductory biology students change their behaviors while studying.

Students' social belonging in general chemistry has recently been shown to predict course performance, and their course-level social belonging has been shown to differ across demographics, such as gender. This course-level social belonging consists of two components: (1) sense-of-belonging, referring to a student's feeling of social connectedness to peers, instructors, and course environment; and (2) belonging uncertainty, referring to a student's perception of the stability of one's belonging or perceived ability relative to their peers in the class. In this study, we examined the belonging uncertainty as a novel factor that influences students' persistence from General Chemistry 1 (GC1) to General Chemistry 2 (GC2). This study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic; hence, GC1 and GC2 were delivered remotely (containing synchronous and asynchronous components). Our results show evidence for (1) GC1 performance alone did not entirely explain students' persistence to GC2 for students whose majors required GC2 (i.e., some students receiving an A and approximately half of the students with a C/C+ in GC1 did not continue to GC2), and late-semester GC1 belonging uncertainty predicts persistence for some women; (2) women reported having a higher belonging uncertainty than men at the beginning of GC2, despite there being no differences in final GC1 course grade across gender; and (3) for all students, the final GC1 course grade did not predict early semester GC2 belonging, even though the structures of the two courses were very similar. These findings add to the literature highlighting the importance of implementing inclusive practices throughout GC1 and GC2.

Studies concerning peer-led team learning (PLTL) have shown cognitive and affective benefits to both students and peer leaders, and PLTL has been shown to be effective in diverse environments. However, some studies suggest that not all students may fully engage in group work. Given this need for leaders in STEM and chemistry specifically to create inclusive environments, we conducted a mixed-methods study to explore the impact of leading PLTL sessions on peer leaders' perceptions of inclusive practices and skills and students' perceptions of the leader's inclusion skills. Via surveys, responses were collected from new and experienced (returning) chemistry peer leaders (N = 39) across two time points (fall of 2020 and spring of 2021). Leaders reported moderate to high levels of confidence in most of the 18 inclusion-oriented items. Leader responses from a free-response question on inclusion-skill development (N = 28) were coded into three categories: Collaboration, Environment, and Group-awareness. Data from peer leaders were compared with responses from a PLTL participant feedback survey (N = 206), which corroborated the skills leaders reported cultivating in practice; i.e., (1) students reported observing leaders' practicing collaboration and environment inclusivity skills and (2) students agreed to strongly agree that leaders created a safe, comfortable environment and encouraged participation from all group members. Overall, our PLTL program cultivates leaders who strive to create inclusive groups, and students largely support this notion; this study adds to the literature on small-group inclusion and peer-leader training.

A little studied aspect of supporting students in large introductory STEM courses is examining from whom students seek information and advice when they are struggling in or need advice about issues related to large introductory courses. The current study explores student support-seeking behavior related to academic issues or concerns in their General Chemistry and Introductory Physics courses using a simple ego-network analysis survey approach. Students (n = 1,581) were asked to list specific individuals they went to for three different categories of support: advice, help, and emotional support; the role of these individuals (peer, faculty, student mentor, etc.); and frequency of contact with those individuals. Results indicate that nearly all students consulted others for support or information related to their courses and a majority of students (67-75%) sought input from others for all three categories: advice, help, and emotional support. Peers at the same institution were the most common role category sought for any reason (by 70-75% of students). Approximately half of students surveyed listed at least one faculty member and approximately half listed at least one academic advisor as a source of support. Other potential sources of support (e.g., peer leaders, student mentors, family) were sought by fewer students. Students also reported interacting most frequently with their peers, followed by faculty, and then advisors. Implications for STEM instructors are discussed, including suggestions for classroom practices that might promote students' use of sources with the best knowledge of effective strategies for solving course-related problems, such as faculty and upper-level students in formal course-support roles.

Toxoplasma gondii is a successful coccidian parasite able to infect all warm-blooded animals and humans, causing one of the most common zoonoses worldwide. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is one of the feline potential hosts of T. gondii in Switzerland, but little is known about its epidemiological role as a definitive or intermediate host. Serum samples from 183 Eurasian lynx collected from 2002 to 2021 were tested for antibodies to T. gondii by ELISA, IFAT and in case of inconclusive results, immunoblot. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 150 of 183 (82%) Eurasian lynx. Older age, good health status and a low-altitude habitat were found to be significant predictors for seropositivity. T. gondii oocysts were detected in 3 of 176 (1.7%) faecal samples, indicating the Eurasian lynx as a definitive host. In addition, T. gondii DNA was detected in skeletal muscle (7/88), heart muscle (2/26) and/or brain tissue (2/36) from 10 different lynx by real-time PCR. In one animal, a T. gondii-like tissue cyst was observed in heart muscle and confirmed as T. gondii by immunohistochemistry (1/20) and real-time PCR. With an adapted nested-PCR-multilocus-sequence typing (MLST) and in silico restriction-fragment-length-polymorphism analysis (RFLP) approach two different T. gondii genotypes were detected: a lineage II variant (ToxoDB #3) in three animals (two oocyst samples and one heart muscle sample) and a novel genotype exhibiting both type II and III alleles in a further animal (skeletal muscle). The present results indicate that T. gondii infection is widespread in the Swiss lynx population. The Eurasian lynx may contribute to environmental contamination with oocysts and is able to harbour the parasite in different tissues. Genotyping revealed the presence of both a common T. gondii lineage in Europe and a previously unknown genotype and thus shedding more light on the complex molecular epidemiology of T. gondii.

Toxoplasma gondii causes one of the most frequent parasitic infections in vertebrates on earth. The present study aimed to assess the occurrence of T. gondii infection in cat-hunted wild small mammals, and to determine the circulating T. gondii genotypes in cat prey. There is evidence suggesting that T. gondii may manipulate rodents' behaviour enhancing transmission to their definitive feline host by facilitating predation. Given that most studies focusing on rodent behavior have been performed under laboratory conditions, we tested this hypothesis in the natural environment. We analysed 157 cat-hunted wild small mammals of six different species from Switzerland. Brain and skeletal muscle samples from each animal were tested for T. gondii DNA by PCR, and positive samples were genotyped using a multilocus sequence typing approach, including 10 genetic markers. Additionally, to evaluate exposure to cat faeces, the presence of Taenia taeniaeformis metacestodes was investigated at necropsy. The prevalence of T. gondii in cat-hunted Arvicola amphibius s.l. was 11.1% (7/63), 14.6% (7/48) in Apodemus spp., 13.6% (3/22) in Myodes glareolus, 6.7% (1/15) in Crocidura russula, and 0% in Microtus arvalis (0/8) and Sorex sp. (0/1). All completely genotyped T. gondii parasites, exhibited the ToxoDB #3 genotype, a Type II variant. We additionally analysed 48 trap-captured A. amphibius s.l., which all tested negative for T. gondii infection, contrasting with the higher prevalence in cat-hunted A. amphibius s.l. (0% vs. 11.1%; p = 0.0176). Furthermore, T. taeniaeformis was detected in both groups, indicating widespread contamination with cat faeces in the sampled areas. These results provide evidence that T. gondii infected rodents are at higher risk to be predated by cats and therewith support the behaviour manipulation hypothesis.

IntroductionNeospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii are closely related obligate intracellular protozoan parasites. They are considered to be the major causes of infectious abortions and congenital abnormalities in livestock worldwide resulting in huge economic losses. Currently, there are no reports on the prevalence of neosporosis or toxoplasmosis in cattle in Beheira, Egypt's most important region for cattle industry.MethodsThe current study investigated the presence of anti-N. caninum and anti-T. gondii antibodies in apparent healthy cattle from eight localities representing the whole area of Beheira. A total of 358 plasma samples were randomly collected from 6 dairy and 10 beef farms and analyzed by commercially available ELISAs. Production type (dairy versus beef), sex (female vs male), age (< 3 years, 3–5, and > 5 years old), breed (mixed vs Holstein vs Colombian Zebu), and location (various locations) were assessed as risk factors for N. caninum and T. gondii infections.Results and discussionOf the samples, 88 (24.6%) and 19 (5.3%) were positive for anti-N. caninum and anti-T. gondii antibodies, respectively, and mixed infection was detected in 7. Of the 16 herds, 6 dairy and 7 beef herds were positive for antibodies to N. caninum. Antibodies to T. gondii were detected in 4, and 5 of dairy and beef herds, respectively. Production type (dairy) and, therewith, sex (female), age (aged over 5 years), and location were considered as risk factors for N. caninum infection. No factors statistically associated with T. gondii infection were identified. Overall, this study provided the first serological detection of N. caninum and T. gondii infections in cattle from Beheira, demonstrating the endemicity of both parasites in the main cattle rearing region of Egypt. This study also confirmed earlier reports of N. caninum being more present in dairy cattle than in beef cattle. Routine monitoring of N. caninum and T. gondii infections and the implementation of control strategies are urgently needed.

IntroductionToxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are closely related intracellular protozoan parasites of medical and veterinary concern by causing abortions and systemic illness. Limited or ambiguous data on the prevalence of T. gondii and N. caninum in camels triggered us to conduct this study.MethodsCamels (n = 460) recently imported from Sudan and destined mainly for human consumption, were tested for specific antibodies against these protozoans using commercially available ELISAs. From the two only quarantine stations for camels from Sudan, 368 camels were sampled between November 2015 and March 2016 in Shalateen, Red Sea governorate, and 92 samples were collected between September 2018 and March 2021 from Abu Simbel, Aswan governorate.Results & DiscussionOverall, seropositive rates in camels were 25.7%, 3.9% and 0.8% for T. gondii, N. caninum and mixed infection, respectively. However, marked differences were found between the two study sites and/or the two sampling periods: For T. gondii, a higher rate of infection was recorded in the Red Sea samples (31.5%, 116/368; odds ratio 20.7, 5.0-85.6; P

IntroductionNeospora caninum is an important cause of abortion in cattle worldwide. Infection in cattle occurs horizontally by ingestion of oocysts shed by canids or vertically, from an infected dam to the fetus, and may result in abortion, stillbirth, or birth of seropositive offspring. The control of bovine neosporosis is difficult and costly. The objectives of this study were to estimate the current nationwide seroprevalence of N. caninum infections in Swiss cattle and to assess risk factors for infection with this parasite.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study with cattle farms randomly selected and stratified according to population size, resulting in a sample of 780 female cattle. The cattle originated from 161 farms distributed over all Switzerland. The serum samples were tested for antibodies against N. caninum using a commercial ELISA and if inconclusive, retested using an in-house immunoblot technique. To collect farm parameters relevant to N. caninum transmission and prevention, farm owners were mailed a questionnaire which addressed topics putatively related to N. caninum infection such as husbandry, history of abortion, and presence of dogs on farm. Univariate analysis by generalized linear mixed model (with animal seropositivity as outcome variable) and logistic regression modeling (with farm seropositivity as outcome variable) was conducted on farm parameters investigated in the questionnaire.ResultsBy ELISA and immunoblot, 4.2% (33/780) of cattle sera yielded positive results. At the farm level, 16.2% (26/161) of the sampled farms had at least one seropositive animal. The return rate of the valid questionnaires was 54.0%. At the animal level, odds for farm seropositivity were 3.8 times higher when rodents had been recorded by the farmer as a problem on the farm. At the farm-level, two protective factors were identified: rearing of replacement heifers and feeding of concentrated feed.ConclusionWe recorded a low seroprevalence of N. caninum in a random sample of Swiss cattle representative for the years 2017–2018. Based on a questionnaire survey, we could identify risk and protective factors for infection with N. caninum, however their biological relevance needs to be confirmed in further studies.

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum infections are important causes of abortion in ruminants. Besides, meat from T. gondii infected animals represent a major infection source for humans. The occurrence of these protozoan parasites in Switzerland was investigated both, in a nationwide cross-sectional serological survey, and by molecular methods in aborted sheep and goat foetuses. A total of 653 sheep from 143 farms and 748 goats from 164 farms were tested by commercial ELISAs and inconclusive results were defined by immunoblot. Besides, a risk factor analysis for seropositivity was performed. The observed seroprevalences for T. gondii in sheep and goats were 66.3% and 50.5% at the animal level, and 90.9% and 81.1% at the farm level, respectively. For N. caninum, the detected seroprevalences in sheep and goats were 0.8% and 0.9% at the animal level, and 2.8% and 1.8% at the farm level, respectively. Older small ruminants, and sheep (vs. goats) had a higher risk of being seropositive to T. gondii. Alpine grazing in summer was identified as a protective factor for seropositivity to T. gondii in both animal species. Toxoplasma gondii and N. caninum DNA were detected in 6.1% and 2.4% (n = 82), and in 6.8% and 1.4% (n = 73) of the tested ovine and caprine foetuses, respectively. These results suggest the involvement of these parasites in abortions and reveal a high prevalence of T. gondii and lower prevalence of N. caninum infections in small ruminants in Switzerland. They also suggest that consumption of undercooked meat from T. gondii infected sheep and goats may represent a risk for public health.

Students’ social belonging in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses has repeatedly been shown to be an important influence on students’ outcomes in these courses. Previous studies have further identified students’ sense of belonging and belonging uncertainty as related but unique components of their broader social belonging that can independently affect outcomes. High belonging uncertainty (doubts about the quality of one’s social connections or academic ability in a course) may particularly disadvantage historically marginalized groups in physics, such as women or students of color who face negative stereotypes based on their identity. Additionally, high-stakes exams, such as traditional final exams in introductory physics classes, can disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized groups. In this study, we investigated the effect of social belonging on students’ performance across two Introductory Physics 1 sections with two variations of final assessment: one section that took a traditional final exam and one section that completed a nontraditional final course project. Both assessment types were high stakes and constituted a similar, substantial proportion of students’ final course grade. We found that both students’ sense of belonging and belonging uncertainty impacted their final assessment score, regardless if they took the traditional final exam or completed the nontraditional final project. The findings of this study illustrate how students’ social belonging can impact performance even on nontraditional assessments if such assessment is of similar high stakes to a traditional exam.

Abstract Background Zoonotic taeniid cestodes are amongst the most important food-borne parasites affecting human health worldwide. Contamination of fresh produce with the eggs of Echinococcus granulosus (s.l.), Echinococcus multilocularis, and some Taenia species pose a potential food safety risk. However, very few studies have attempted to investigate the potential contamination of fresh produce with taeniid eggs and the available methods are not standardized for this purpose. Established protocols do exist for testing leafy greens and berries for contamination with protozoan parasites and are used in national surveillance programmes. This methodology could be suitable for the detection of taeniids. The objective of this project was to develop and standardize a sensitive and reliable method to detect contamination of leafy greens and berries with eggs of zoonotic taeniids and to differentiate between E. multilocularis, E. granulosus (s.l.) and Taenia spp. Methods We compared the efficacy of different wash solutions to remove Taenia spp. eggs from spiked produce, assessed two DNA extraction kits for their performance on Taenia spp. eggs, and adapted a published conventional multiplex PCR into a real-time PCR with fluorescence melting curve analysis (MCA) that was optimized for use on produce washes. Analytical specificity of this protocol was assessed using non-spiked produce washes as well as a variety of other potentially contaminating parasites. Results The protocol as established in this study had an analytical sensitivity of detecting five eggs per spiked sample for both romaine lettuce and strawberries. Unequivocal identification of E. multilocularis, E. granulosus (s.l.) and Taenia spp. was possible through MCA. Amplicon sequencing allowed identification of Taenia to the species level. The real-time PCR also amplified DNA from Dicrocoelium sp., but with a clearly discernable melting curve profile. Conclusion The new protocol for screening produce for taeniid contamination was highly sensitive. Melting curve analysis and the possibility of amplicon sequencing made this assay very specific. Once further validated, this method could be employed for surveillance of produce for contamination with taeniid parasites to assess potential risks for consumers.

Abstract Background Although mustelids occur worldwide and include a wide range of species, little is known about the diseases affecting them. Mustelids have regularly been submitted for post mortem investigation in the framework of the program for general wildlife health surveillance in Switzerland, which has been in place for nearly 60 years. We performed a retrospective analysis of the necropsy reports on mustelids submitted to the diagnostic service of the University of Bern. The aims of this study were to present an overview of the causes of mortality and morbidity observed in these carnivores, to assess differences among species, to assess changes in disease detection over the study period, and to describe the pathology of selected diseases. Results Five hundred and sixty-six reports from 1958 to 2015 were analyzed. Most animals were stone martens (Martes foina, 46%) and badgers (Meles meles, 44%); the remaining species were polecats (Mustela putorius, 4.7%), pine martens (Martes martes, 2%), stoats (Mustela erminea, 1.4%), weasels (Mustela nivalis, 0.8%) and otters (Lutra lutra, 0.3%). Infectious diseases (n = 262) were frequent and were mostly bacterial or viral; non-infectious conditions (n = 169) were less common and were mostly traumatic or due to metabolic disorders. The most frequent diagnoses included distemper (75% were badgers), amyloidosis (96% were martens), bacterial respiratory infections (all mustelids), biting lice (badgers only) and pulmonary and gastro-intestinal helminths (all species). Less frequent diseases included histoplasmosis (badgers only), aspergillosis, toxoplasmosis, hepatozoonosis, and sarcoptic mange. Lesions due to infection with distemper virus were primarily appreciated in the respiratory tract and central nervous system; they presented species-specific characteristics such as necrosis in the ependyma in badgers and absence of syncytia in stone martens. Amyloidosis in martens was multisystemic in most cases and included both AA and AL amyloidosis; the main macroscopic change was severe splenomegaly. Conclusion Infectious diseases were the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality of mustelids, with marked species-specific differences. Lung and skin were the most commonly affected organs. Contagious diseases such as canine distemper, sarcoptic mange and rabies in mustelids showed a similar temporal pattern as in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), suggesting pathogen spillovers from foxes to mustelids.

Gender inequities continue to persist within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, even at the undergraduate level. This has led researchers to further examine potential factors that contribute to retention and persistence of undergraduates in STEM fields. In this study using classroom observations, we examined gender equity in individual verbal participation in large introductory physics courses, and compared our results to observations in introductory courses in other STEM disciplines. We found that in introductory physics courses, men had disproportionately higher rates of individual verbal participation than women. Observation-level analysis confirmed that three-quarters (76.2%) of the physics observations had descriptively higher than expected participation by men and almost a quarter of observations (23.8%) were statistically significant for a gender imbalance in individual verbal participation. We then sought to determine if any pedagogical strategies or student behaviors correlated with a more equitable classroom to better understand what drives gender inequity in participation, and found three classroom behaviors—an increasing amount of instructor questions, group responses from students, and student questions—correspond with a more gender equitable classroom. Student-level survey data, which mirrors the observation data, also show that self-reported levels of individual participation have small, significant correlations with both course-level belonging and inclusivity. The introductory physics results were mostly replicated in the other STEM disciplines, despite their differences in course structure. The patterns of individual participation were still disproportionately higher for men, with two-thirds of observations displaying a bias towards more men participating. Student-level survey data continued to mirror the observation data, and small, significant correlations between student self-reported participation and course-level belonging and inclusion were found. However, only the number of student questions correlated with a more equitable classroom in other STEM courses. This study extends the conversation on the relationship between active learning and equity in the classroom, demonstrating a need to move beyond mere inclusion of active pedagogies towards proactive facilitation of equitable and comfortable verbal participation by all students. Practical strategies for encouraging inclusive classroom dialogue, such as transparency, growth-mindset messaging, and multiple modes of engagement, are discussed.

This FAWPAR Special Issue is dedicated to zoonotic Echinococcus species. It is a compilation of invited papers that spans important aspects from molecular markers of emergence, diagnostics in both definitive and intermediate hosts, treatment of human alveolar echinococcosis, to control strategies in definitive hosts. Keywords: Echinococcus granulosus s.l., E. multilocularis, Emergence, Diagnosis, Therapy, Control

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) can serve as a summative assessment of students’ conceptual knowledge at the end of introductory physics, but previous work has suggested that the knowledge measured by this instrument is not a unitary construct. In this article, we consider the idea that FCI performance may reflect a number of student attributes including relational knowledge structures of physics concepts, expertlike attitudes, and problem-solving skills. Using a large calculus-based introductory physics course, we show that knowledge of conceptual relationships (i.e., knowledge structures), attitudinal measures, and problem-solving ability are all measures that uniquely contribute to a postinstruction FCI score. While these associations do not reveal the nature of their relation to the FCI (it could be that good students perform well on all these measures), they do provide evidence that improving any one of these aspects may improve a student’s overall FCI score.

The existence of a right to strike under international law has been challenged by the International Organization of Employers since the late 1980s. The employer group claims that no such right exists under international law and has been moving to undermine recognition of the right at the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This article examines the right to strike in international human rights law. It considers specifically the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and finds that the right to strike exists in both of these treaties. Further, the article demonstrates that while the ILO employers group may challenge the existence of the right to strike, its government members have overwhelmingly ratified international human rights treaties contradicting the employer group's position that there is no such right.

On September 25, 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the blueprint for a global partnership for peace, development, and human rights for the period 2016 to 2030. The 2030 agenda follows on the heels of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted in 2001, which set the international development agenda for the period 2001 to 2015. This article uses a human rights lens to demonstrate that the MDGs and the SDGs have not addressed full employment and decent work in a manner that is consistent with the Decent Work Agenda of the International Labour Organization and international human rights legal obligations of the UN member countries. It concludes that the new 2030 development agenda sadly aligns with market-based economic growth strategies rather than the realization of the human rights to full employment and decent work for all.