Student buy-in as a key mechanism for student engagement and performance in an active-learning context is explored. This paper provides the first operational definition of student buy-in to in-class activities, in this case characterizing the complex nature of students’ responses in an active-learning classroom.

Sleipner is a commercial CO2 storage site in the North Sea with good constraints from monitoring data, but also with some significant uncertainties regarding temperature, pressure and gas/brine behavior. At Sleipner, we have used high-quality repeated seismic and gravimetric surveys for monitoring and calibrating the reservoir uncertainties. To model the CO2 behavior we have used two main approaches: a) traditional reservoir simulations, using black oil and compositional fluid descriptions; and b) invasion percolation simulations, using threshold pressure and fluid density descriptions that assume the dominance of capillary and gravity forces. The key findings from the study are: The invasion percolation simulation gave the best initial match to observed data, leading us to reassess the input assumptions for the black oil and compositional simulations. By taking into account gravity segregation and modifying the reservoir simulation input data, we were able to get a much better match for the black oil and compositional simulations. There is still scope for further optimization and history matching, however, this study has reduced the range of domain variables leading to an improved understanding of the flow processes involved in geological storage of CO2 in saline formations. The study has led us to conclude that we can make realistic and predictive CO2 storage models provided that the site-specific conditions are honored, including reservoir and fluid property characterization. The necessary tight constraints on input parameters are achieved by calibration against monitoring data. Our study illustrates both a rather novel approach to modeling CO2 storage and the need for improved input to conventional simulators. Application of our approach to other CO2 storage sites will help in achieving more realistic understanding of CO2 storage, thereby contributing to the maturation of CO2 storage technology worldwide.

Predictors of student commitment and engagement in an undergraduate science course featuring active learning are explored. The study identified student trust in the instructor as an important predictor of student commitment and engagement in an active-learning context.

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Background Evidence-based teaching, such as active learning, is associated with increases in student learning and engagement. Although many faculty are beginning to adopt innovative practices, traditional lecture-based teaching tends to dominate college science education. What are the factors associated with faculty’s decision to incorporate evidence-based teaching? While there are known barriers that limit adoption of evidence-based practices in science classrooms (e.g., lack of time, student resistance), the present work reveals that instructors’ perceptions of supports (e.g., access to teaching resources, encouragement from colleagues) shows a stronger relationship to instructors’ use of evidence-based teaching. Results These results come from a uniquely large dataset of college science faculty and instructors from across the USA ( n = 584), who received training in evidence-based teaching. Multiple linear regression analyses of the relationship among perceived supports, barriers, and reported implementation of evidence-based practices showed that instructors report greater implementation when they perceive more social, personal, and resource supports even when barriers are also indicated as present. Conclusion Faculty’s perceived supports, not perceived barriers, are most strongly related to their reported implementation of evidence-based teaching. These findings suggest relevant stakeholders devote increased attention identifying and building the factors that promote evidence-based teaching in addition to reducing what inhibits it. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40594-019-0166-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Aim To determine if frailty is associated with poor outcome following in-hospital cardiac arrest; to find if there is a “frailty threshold” beyond which cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) becomes futile. Methods Retrospective review of patients aged over 60 years who received CPR between May 2017 and December 2018, in a tertiary referral hospital, which does not provide primary coronary revascularisation. Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and Charlson Comorbidity Index were retrospectively assigned. Results Data for 90 patients were analysed, the median age was 77 (IQR 70-83); 71% were male; 44% were frail (CFS > 4). Frailty was predictive of in-hospital mortality independent of age, comorbidity and cardiac arrest rhythm (OR 2.789 95% CI 1.145–6.795). No frail patients (CFS > 4) survived to hospital discharge, regardless of cardiac arrest rhythm, whilst 13 (26%) of the non-frail (CFS ≤ 4) patients survived to hospital discharge. Of the 13 survivors (Age 72; range 61–86), 12 were alive at 1 year and had a good neurological outcome, the outcome for the remaining patient was unknown. Conclusion Frail patients are unlikely to survive to hospital discharge following in-hospital cardiac arrest, these results may facilitate clinical decision making regarding whether CPR may be considered futile. The Clinical Frailty Scale is a simple bedside assessment that can provide invaluable information when considering treatment escalation plans, as it becomes more widespread, larger scale observations using prospective assessments of frailty may become feasible.

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