Preparing the “New” Biologist of the Future: Student Research at the Interface of Mathematics and Biology

We describe a unique Research Experience for Undergraduates and Research Experience for Veterinary students summer program at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program focused on interdisciplinary research at the interface of biology and mathematics. Participants were selected to work on projects with a biology mentor and a mathematics mentor in an environment that promoted collaboration outside of the students'' respective disciplines. There were four research projects with teams of four participants and two faculty mentors. The participants consisted of a mixture of 10 undergraduates in biology- and mathematics-related disciplines, four veterinary students, and two high-school teachers. The activities included lectures on both the biological and mathematical backgrounds of the projects, tutorials for software, and sessions on ethics, graduate school, and possible career paths for individuals interested in biology and mathematics. The program was designed to give students the ability to actively participate in the scientific research process by working on a project, writing up their results in a final report, and presenting their work orally. We report on the results of our evaluation surveys of the participants.     

A Research on the Construction of University R＆D Management Team in China

The system of Chinese universities R＆D as a branch of the system of the whole country R＆D, has a great effect on the development and innovation of country＇s science and technique. Consequently, it＇s important to construct an effective management team with high diathesis for University R＆D management. Based on the statistics of the case study, this thesis finds out some problems of management team function, and other problems, therefore gives some proposals on R＆D management team construction.     

Getting at the Mathematics: Sara’s Journal

In this paper, we discuss issues in planning and conducting research into mathematics learning. We emphasize two central themes: (a) the learners mathematics (especially the issues and ideas, in given problem situations, that learners choose to think about and to present) and (b) the kinds of knowledge that learners may be building (including their ideas about what mathematics is, and how people do, learn, use, communicate and understand it). While the first theme is at least partly mathematical, the second interweaves cognition and epistemology. Anchored in student data from an extended classroom teaching experiment in the mathematics of change, we focus on key choices needed to build narratives to help researchers capture, in detail, how students engage with mathematics in extended problem explorations.     

How Chinese Teach Mathematics: Canadian Teachers’ Perspectives

As part of a large reciprocal learning partnership project between Canada and China, this study explored Canadian teachers’ perceptions of mathematics teaching in elementary schools in China. Using reciprocal learning and Activity Theory as the theoretical lens, we collected data, i.e., classroom observations, group discussion, and informal exchanges from teachers in a pair of research sister-schools in Canada and China. Qualitative data analyses revealed four themes in Canadian teachers’ perceptions of the characteristics of Chinese mathematics teaching: an active teacher-student interaction model of questioning-responding, a mathematical knowledge-package summary at the end of each lesson, integration of the history of mathematics into teaching, and the development and implementation of well-structured lessons. Contributions, implications, and limitations of the study in mathematics education and research are discussed.     

School Effectiveness Research: Which Way at the Crossroads?

ABSTRACT

This article, a revised version of the plenary speech presented at the Fourth International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement, provides a state of the art view of research on school effectiveness. In the first part, the notion of effectiveness is related to the idea of quality. The necessity of taking the nature of the student intake into account, when making a judgement about the quality of a school, is also stressed.

After a presentation of research, mainly from the United Kingdom and the United States, different directions for the future are discussed. These directions range from the application of concepts and methodology to other aspects of the education service, to school improvement projects based on the equity dimension of education.

It is concluded that no single direction can be followed but that, as far as possible, all the directions identified should be pursued.     

Research–Practice Partnerships to Support the Development of High Quality Mathematics Instruction for All Students

The gap in achievement in mathematics between at-risk students and their more advantaged counterparts is a persistent problem of the U.S. education system. Although some research-based curricula and pedagogy have demonstrated promise in supporting students from diverse backgrounds to develop conceptual understanding and procedural fluency in mathematics, scaling up instructional change across a district organization is a significant challenge. The Middle School Mathematics and the Institutional Setting of Teaching (MIST) Project is a research–practice partnership seeking to understand how large urban school districts can support the development of rigorous and equitable middle-school mathematics instruction at scale. This article enumerates the goals and design of this multiyear, multidistrict partnership, and describes one illustrative example of how our partnership activities informed and supported one district's efforts to improve mathematics instruction over multiple years. General recommendations for district–researcher partnerships are discussed.     

Teaching Online: Applying Need Theory to the Work–Family Interface

Using Warner and Hausdorf’s (2009) framework, the authors empirically examined work–life balance and work outcomes among collegiate faculty teaching courses online. Quantitative and qualitative results from 138 online instructors demonstrated that basic psychological need satisfaction was related to higher levels of work–family enrichment, job satisfaction, performance, and intention to teach online courses again and lower levels of work–family conflict and stress. Work support was also related to job satisfaction, performance, and stress but was not related to work–family balance. These findings are important as universities are seeking ways to promote involvement with online education.     

The Development and Implementation of a Faculty–Student Collaborative Research Project

Criminal Justice faculty collaborated with undergraduate and graduate students to evaluate federal probation officers’ use of evidence-based skills following the implementation of a new training program designed to improve officer supervision skills and offender outcomes. The project resulted in the coding of over 100 audio recordings of actual officer–offender interactions based upon a developed assessment instrument. Overall, officers demonstrated high levels of adherence to training program skills. This article describes the process used to form a faculty–student collaborative research project and the benefits, challenges, and recommendations for similar projects at other institutions.     

Research on the Measures of Training Students＇ Scientific Research Ability in Experimental Teaching of Cell Biology

培养学生的科研能力是当今高等院校实验教学的主要目标,科研文献的检索和阅读能力、实验设计能力、科学记录实验、发现问题和解决问题的能力、掌握最基本实验的技能、科研论文的撰写等是独立从事科研工作所必备的几项基本能力。在细胞生物学实验教学改革中,我们通过开设创新设计实验,规范细胞生物学的基本操作,开展文献的讨论等教学措施将上述基本科研工作能力的培养贯穿到整个教学环节中。为学生今后独立从事科研工作奠定基础。     

Inside Out: Action Research from the Teacher–Researcher Perspective

Teachers enrolled in the master of natural science program for high school science teachers at a large research university must complete a year-long action research study. This account, by the program’s action research coordinator, describes both process and outcomes of this research experience from the perspectives of the research coordinator and the teacher–researchers, shedding light on the organizational learning that takes place, and the ways in which the research experience affected individual teacher–researchers. Teachers reported that their action research experience changed them in fundamental ways, providing them with a framework for deepening their understanding of student thinking, challenging their folk wisdom about teaching and learning, building confidence in their abilities and renewing their commitment to teaching as a vocation.     

Conceptualizing Research–Practice Partnerships as Joint Work at Boundaries

This article presents a conceptual framework for analyzing how researchers and district leaders perceive and navigate differences they encounter in the context of research–practice partnerships. Our framework contrasts with images of partnership work as facilitating the translation of research into practice. Instead, we argue that partnership activity is best viewed as a form of joint work requiring mutual engagement across multiple boundaries. Drawing on a cultural–historical account of learning across boundaries (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) and evidence from a study of two long-term partnerships, we highlight the value of the concepts of boundary practices in organizing joint work and boundary crossing as a way to understand how differences are recognized and navigated. The framework has implications for how partnerships can surface and make productive use of difference in organizing joint work and for how funders can better support the work of research–practice partnerships.     

Integrated Science Education in Primary Schools in Rome: the Research Project of the ‘University‐School’ Group

In response to global climate change, loss of biodiversity, and the immense human impact on the carrying capacity of the earth systems, attention has been given to sustainable development worldwide. In this paper, we explore the emerging field of sustainability science within the context of the socio‐cultural milieu of Malawi, a sub‐Saharan African country. Through interviews in vernacular languages and observations in the field, our research explores how traditional agriculture practices of African elders may contribute to the sustainability of the environment and culture in Africa. Findings indicate that traditional farmers and food preservationists choose to practice indigenous ways of living with nature to live sustainably in a globalized economy. Further discussion elucidates how merging worldviews and hybridized knowledge and languages can be leveraged to create a third space for dialogue and curriculum development by connecting indigenous ways of living with Eurocentric science.     

Partially Flipped Linear Algebra: A Team–Based Approach

Abstract

In this article we describe a partially flipped Introductory Linear Algebra course developed by three faculty members at two different universities. We give motivation for our partially flipped design and describe our implementation in detail. Two main features of our course design are team-developed preview videos and related in-class activities. We share quantitative data and qualitative lessons learned related to our project.     

Research in the Department of Education at the State University of Utrecht‡

This study concerns students’ ideas about the superposition of electric fields. Two paper‐and‐pencil questionnaires were given to university students to investigate possible obstacles to a correct use of this principle.

The results confirm an expected difficulty about Gauss's theorem, i.e., the idea that only ‘internal’ charges create a field on a given closed surface. Another more surprising finding is that students are reluctant to admit that a field can penetrate into, or go out of, an insulator, particularly because ‘charges cannot move’.

These first findings are discussed in connection with common features of students’ reasoning about mechanics and about multivariable problems. Some directions of future research are proposed.     

What Constitutes Good Mathematics Teaching and How it Develops: Nine High School Teachers’ Perspectives

Scholars of decades past, current researchers, and various reform documents all deal, directly or indirectly, with the question of what constitutes good mathematics teaching. Often good teaching is situated in the context of broader educational goals, such as preparing literate citizenry. Researchers generally define good teaching implicitly with attention to various processes such as reasoning and problem solving. In a series of three interviews, we examined nine experienced and professionally active teachers’ views of good mathematics teaching and how it develops. The interviews were couched in the context of the teachers mentoring student teachers. In general, these teachers thought good teaching requires a sound knowledge of mathematics, promotes mathematical understanding, engages and motivates students, and requires effective management skills. Furthermore, the teachers felt that good teaching is developed from experience, education, personal reading and reflection, and interaction with colleagues. Experience was considered the primary contributor. The article compares and contrasts the teachers’ notions of good teaching with those of various scholars and researchers and positions stated in various reform documents.     

Research on e-learning in the workplace 2000–2012: A bibliometric analysis of the literature

Research on e-learning in the workplace has proliferated over the past decade. Various topics on e-learning in workplace settings have emerged, showing the complex, dynamic and multi-disciplinary nature of the field. In this context, there is a need for an extensive, thematic overview of related studies for a better understanding of this broad domain. Using co-word analysis and text analysis methods, this study presents a bibliometric analysis of 324 articles on workplace e-learning published in academic journals and conference proceedings from 2000 to 2012. The results identify six research themes in the field, which are further categorized into four dimensions: e-learning for continuing education and professional development, e-learning in the healthcare sector (as one of the most prolific e-learning initiatives), use of social media for e-learning, and the integration of knowledge management with e-learning. By incorporating the analysis results with relevant reviews, this study offers a comprehensive picture and a holistic view of the workplace e-learning domain, and suggests directions for further work.     

A Review of Research Concerning the Implementation of Site‐Based Management∗

Seventy‐seven empirical and case studies of the implementation of school‐based management (SBM) reported between 1985 and 1995 are reviewed in order to determine obstacles typically encountered in the early to middle stages of such implementation and promising strategies for dealing with them. Results are reported in terms of obstacles relevant to teachers, principals, parents and the wider community, site councils, schools as a whole, and district administrators. These results are discussed in terms of the potential role for SBM in the creation of “high involvement” schools.