Active methods in electricity and magnetism courses: Influence of degree, academic level and gender on student performance.

The performance of first-year students in electromagnetism (E&M) courses of different engineering degrees at a Spanish public university was measured using the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA), a standard research-based instrument to assess students' understanding after attending introductory courses in electricity and magnetism. In all cases, Flipped classroom (FC) built on information and communications technology was used. The objective of this paper is to analyse if the gain in the BEMA pre and post-test results is influenced by several factors such as the degree, the students' academic grade, and gender. Moreover, as some studies have shown that the students' retention of the concepts was significantly stronger in active learning than in traditional approaches, a third BEMA test was performed by the students to analyse the long-term retention gain dependence on the same factors. Students from different engineering degree programs were asked to complete two BEMA tests during the course and a third one after a few months. ANOVA tests were used to analyse the existence of significant differences in gain between student degree programs, student academic level and student gender. Results have shown no differences in the BEMA performance by degree program, but significant differences were found by academic level and gender. Retention did not depend on the degree course but on the academic level. Mean gain value by academic level, and gender was obtained and concluded that the best students presented the best gain results and that gain depends on the students' gender: males outperformed females in the BEMA tests, although there were no significant differences in the course grades. It is thus necessary to understand these differences and to implement measures in daily teaching work to improve women's performance.

Data set on the effectiveness of flip teaching on engineering students' performance in the physics lab compared to Traditional Methodology.

This paper shows the data of the Flip Teaching and Traditional Methodology on the laboratory practice in two subjects, Physics and Electricity, of a technical degree. The laboratory and final grades of these subjects were shown in four consecutive years. The characteristics of all four years were quite similar, except that the Traditional teaching Methodology (TM) was used in two, while Flip Teaching methodology (FT) was applied in the other two. For further discussion, please refer to the scientific article entitled "Effectiveness of flip teaching on engineering students' performance in the physics lab" [1]. Additional segmentation data in three levels are presented in this data in brief paper.

Oxidative stress in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: comparative study of revascularization and valve replacement procedures.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the time course of oxidative stress markers in plasma and erythrocyte from patients undergoing open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and to examine whether the type of surgical technique used (valve replacement or coronary revascularization) produces any differences in these makers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB were divided in 2 groups (valve replacement or coronary revascularization). We took 5 blood samples at different times during cardiac surgery and analyzed thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), alpha-tocopherol, coenzyme Q, and retinol in plasma and TBARS (baseline levels and induced by Fe(2+)-ascorbate oxidation), alpha-tocopherol, coenzyme Q and catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase activity in erythrocyte. RESULTS: Plasma alpha-tocopherol content decreased after starting CPB in both groups. In contrast, in erythrocytes there was an increase in the activity or concentration of all of the antioxidants. Erythrocyte TBARS contents, both baseline levels and induced levels, were higher in coronary revascularization group. CONCLUSION: Although both groups suffered an increase in oxidative stress after CPB, this increase was higher in coronary revascularization group and therefore the possibility of post-CPB complications could be more severe in this group. As the groups followed a different pattern of antioxidant response, a different therapeutic approach may be required for each.