A Geometrical Visualisation of $$\frac{ x}{1+ x} < {ln}(1+ x) < { x}-\frac{ x^2}{2(1+ x)}$$ x1+ x<ln(1+ x)< x− x22(1+ x) for x > 0

In this classroom article, we present a geometrical interpretation of a well-known inequality \(\frac{x}{1+x} < {ln}(1+x) < {x}-\frac{x^2}{2(1+x)}\) for x > 0.     

Active on Facebook and Failing at School? Meta-Analytic Findings on the Relationship Between Online Social Networking Activities and Academic Achievement

The popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) among adolescents and young adults has raised concerns that the intensity of using these platforms might be associated with lower academic achievement. The empirical findings on this issue, however, are anything but conclusive. Therefore, we present four random-effects meta-analyses including 59 independent samples (total N = 29,337) on the association between patterns of SNS use and grades. The meta-analyses identified small negative effects of \( \widehat{\rho} \) = ??.07, 95% CI [??.12, ??.02] for general SNS use and \( \widehat{\rho} \) = ??.10, 95% CI [??.16, ??.05] for SNS use related to multitasking. General SNS use was unrelated to the time spent studying for school (\( \widehat{\rho} \) = ??.03, 95% CI [??0.11, 0.06]) and no support for the time displacement hypothesis could be found in a meta-analytical mediation analysis. SNS use for academic purposes exhibited a small positive association, \( \widehat{\rho} \) = .08, 95% CI [.02, .14]. Hypotheses with regard to cross-cultural differences were not supported.     

Using Tasks to Explore Teacher Knowledge in Situation-Specific Contexts

Research often reports an overt discrepancy between theoretically/out-of context expressed teacher beliefs about mathematics and pedagogy and actual practice. In order to explore teacher knowledge in situation-specific contexts we have engaged mathematics teachers with classroom scenarios (Tasks) which: are hypothetical but grounded on learning and teaching issues that previous research and experience have highlighted as seminal; are likely to occur in actual practice; have purpose and utility; and, can be used both in (pre- and in-service) teacher education and research through generating access to teachers’ views and intended practices. The Tasks have the following structure: reflecting upon the learning objectives within a mathematical problem (and solving it); examining a flawed (fictional) student solution; and, describing, in writing, feedback to the student. Here we draw on the written responses to one Task (which involved reflecting on solutions of $ {\left| x \right|} + {\left| {x - 1} \right|} = 0 $ ) of 53 Greek in-service mathematics teachers in order to demonstrate the range of teacher knowledge (mathematical, didactical and pedagogical) that engagement with these tasks allows us to explore.     

A limit result for self-normalized random sums

Suppose {X, X _n ;n≥1} is a sequence i.i.d.r.v. withEX=0 andEX ²<∞. Shao (1995) proved a conjecture of Révész (1990); ifP(X=±1)=1/2, then

A class of not max-stable extreme value distributions

The sequences {Zi,n, l≤i≤n}, n≥l have multi-nomial distribution among i.i.d. random variables {X1,i, i≥1}, {X2,i,u≥l }, …, {Xm,i, i≥1 }. The extreme value distribution Gz(x) of this particular triangular array of i.i.d, random variables Z1,n, Z2Zn,n is discussed in this paper. We found a new type of not max-stable extreme value distributions, i) Gz(x) = r-1∏i=1ФAiαi(x) × Фαr (x);ii) Gz (x) = r-1∏i=1ψAiαi (x) × ψαr (x); iii) Gz (x) = r-1∏i=1 ∧Ai (λix) × A(x), r≥2, 0＜α1≤α2≤…≤αr and λi∈ (0,1] for i, l≤i≤r-1 which occur if Fj, …, Fm belong to the same MDA.     

Effects of computer-aided and blended teaching strategies on students’ achievement in civic education concepts in mountain learning ecologies

The need to enhance students’ learning outcomes has become integral in secondary schools in developing countries due to increased students enrollment. Research has shown that the strategies utilized in teaching secondary school students have significant influence on their learning outcomes. At present in Nigeria, public secondary schools have not been deploying learning technologies to teach students despite the surge in enrollment. This study, therefore, determined the effects of computer-aided and blended teaching strategies on students’ achievement in civic education concepts in mountain learning ecologies. The study adopted the pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design using 3 × 2 × 3 factorial matrix. Seventy-eight students from six intact classes in secondary schools in Ondo State were selected for the study and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Five instruments used were: Students’ Knowledge of Civic Education Test (r = 0.78), Academic Ability Test (r = 0.72), Online and Blended Teaching Instructional Guides for experimental groups, Conventional Lecture Method Guide for the control group and Teaching Strategies Evaluation Sheet. One hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data was subjected to Analysis of Covariance, Estimated Marginal Means, and Scheffe’s Pairwise Comparison. There was a significant effect of treatment on students’ achievement in Civic Education concepts (F _{(2; 61)} = 4.93, p < 0.05; η ²  = .14). The students exposed to Computer-aided teaching programme had higher adjusted achievement mean score (\( \overline{x} \)= 27.86), than the blended instructional strategy group (\( \overline{x} \)= 23.06), and the control group (\( \overline{x} \)= 18.69). It was, therefore, recommended that teachers in secondary schools in mountainous locations should explore the benefits of teaching with Information and Communication Technology based strategies in civic education classrooms.     

Active Learning Strategies for the Mathematics Classroom

Active learning involves students engaging with course content beyond lecture: through writing, applets, simulations, games, and more (Prince, 2004 Prince, M. 2004. “Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research.” Journal of Engineering Education 93: 223–232.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). As mathematics is often viewed as a subject area that is taught using more traditional methods (Goldsmith &; Mark, 1999 Goldsmith, L. T., &; J. Mark. 1999. “What is a Standards-Based Mathematics Curriculum?”. Educational Leadership 57: 40—44.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), there are actually many simple ways to make undergraduate mathematics courses more active, starting with the discussion of the syllabus. This article describes simple ways to turn course introductions, review of prior knowledge, and formative assessment into active learning experiences for students.     

Agnotology, Scientific Consensus, and the Teaching and Learning of Climate Change: A Response to Legates, Soon and Briggs

Agnotology is a term that has been used to describe the study of ignorance and its cultural production (Proctor in Agnotology: the making and unmaking of ignorance. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2008). For issues that are contentious in the societal realm, though largely not in the scientific realm, such as human evolution or the broad basics of human-induced climate change, it has been suggested that explicit study of relevant misinformation might be a useful teaching approach (Bedford in J Geogr 109(4):159–165, 2010). Recently, Legates et al. (Sci Educ. doi:10.1007/s11191-013-9588-3, 2013) published an aggressive critique of Bedford’s (J Geogr 109(4):159–165, 2010) proposals. However, the critique is based on a comprehensive misinterpretation of Bedford’s (J Geogr 109(4):159–165, 2010) paper. Consequently, Legates et al. (Sci Educ. doi:10.1007/s11191-013-9588-3, 2013) address arguments not actually made by Bedford (J Geogr 109(4):159–165, 2010). This article is a response to Legates et al. (Sci Educ. doi:10.1007/s11191-013-9588-3, 2013), and demonstrates their errors of interpretation of Bedford (J Geogr 109(4):159–165, 2010) in several key areas: the scientific consensus on climate change; misinformation and the public perception of the scientific consensus on climate change; and agnotology as a teaching tool. We conclude by arguing that, although no single peer-reviewed publication on climate change, or any other scientific issue, should be accepted without due scrutiny, the existence of a scientific consensus—especially one as overwhelming as exists for human-induced climate change—raises the level of confidence that the overall findings of that consensus are correct.     

Factors impacting job performance and role attractiveness in Academic Directors and their implications for policy and practice in higher education

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that impacted on the performance and attractiveness of the Academic Director’s role. Academic Directors are responsible for leading and managing an academic qualification. Academic Directors ( $n=101$ ) participating in a leadership development programme were invited to respond to an online $360^\circ $ feedback survey. They invited ( $n=808$ ) Significant Others to provide feedback using the same $360^\circ $ survey. In the main, there was agreement between the two groups on impact factors. The factors impacting strongly on performance were focused on workload points, complexity of the role, knowledge and skills, people skills and others’ expectations. The factors impacting strongly on role attractiveness were around working conditions, autonomy and authority, clarity of work goals and expectations of others. Middle level academic management positions in higher education are poorly researched and the implications of this research with respect to job design, leadership development and recruitment and retention are significant. This is the first study of its kind to investigate factors impacting on the performance of the Academic Director role.     

Mathematics Achievement in the Netherlands and Appropriateness of the TIMSS Mathematics Test

Evaluators are frequently asked to assess the effectiveness of school programs implemented to improve academic achievement. School connectedness has been shown to be directly related to academic achievement (McNeely, Nonnemaker, &; Blum, 2002 McNeely, C. A., Nonnemaker, J. M. and Blum, R. W. 2002. Promoting school connectedness: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Journal of School Health, 72: 138–146. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and is therefore of interest to evaluators. The construct of school connectedness has been shown to consist of 3 elements: connectedness to adults in schools, connectedness to peers, and connectedness to the school (Karcher &; Lee, 2002 Karcher, M. J. and Lee, Y. 2002. Connectedness among Taiwanese middle school students: A validation study of the Hemingway Measure of Adolescent Connectedness. Asia Pacific Education Review, 3: 92–114. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). This paper reports the psychometric properties and factor analyses findings from a School Connectedness Scale (SCS) given to adolescents in 2 very different high schools in the Northeast, one a large urban school and one a medium-sized suburban school. The results indicate that the SCS is highly reliable with a stable factor structure across diverse populations. The broad applications of use for the instrument are discussed.     

Who Knows What? Maintaining Multiple Perspectives During Reading

Recent findings (Keysar, 1994 Keysar, B. 1994. The illusory transparency of intention: Linguistic perspective taking in text.. Cognitive Psychology, 26: 165–208. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Weingartner & Klin, 2005 Weingartner, K. M. and Klin, C. M. 2005. Perspective taking during reading: An on-line investigation of the illusory transparency of intention.. Memory & Cognition, 33: 48–58. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) have shown that readers are not always accurate at taking a story character's perspective. When readers evaluated a character's understanding of a written message, they mistakenly took into account information that was inaccessible to that character. The results from the three experiments reported here demonstrate that this “illusory transparency of intention” is not dependent on the message readers' communicative role: Even when the message was composed for one character but read by another, readers assumed that the message was understood as it was intended. The results are discussed in the context of two theoretical accounts for these perspective-taking errors: the “knowledge projection hypothesis,” which appeals to readers’ expectations about cooperative behavior during communication, and “construal,” which attributes the illusory transparency of intention to a general cognitive bias that occurs during the perception of ambiguous stimuli.     

The Influence of Music Distraction upon Reading Efficiency

ABSTRACT

The author examined the effectiveness of 2 fluency-oriented reading programs on improving reading fluency for an ethnically diverse sample of second-grade students. The first approach is Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction (S. A. Stahl &; K. Heubach, 2005 Stahl, S. A. and Heubach, K. 2005. Fluency-oriented reading instruction. Journal of Literacy Research, 37: 25–60. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), which incorporates the repeated reading of a grade-level text over the course of an academic week. This approach to reading is scaffolded by expert readers. The other approach is Wide-Reading Instruction (M. R. Kuhn, 2005 Kuhn, M. R. 2005. A comparative study of small group fluency instruction. Reading Psychology, 26: 127–146. [Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), which also utilizes scaffolding by expert readers, but 3 different grade-level texts are read repeatedly each academic week. The results indicate that both Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction and Wide-Reading Instruction are useful schemes for reading instruction with ethnically diverse second-grade students.     

Do We Fear Ageing? A Multidimensional Approach to Ageing Anxiety

Ageing anxiety is the expression of peoples' fear of ageing (Lynch, 2000 Lynch, S. M. (2000). Measurement and prediction of aging anxiety. Research on Aging, 22(5), 533.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Despite greater longevity in the population, there is a lack of research into this aspect of life (Lasher &; Faulkender, 1993 Lasher, K. P., &; Faulkender, P. J. (1993). Measurement of aging anxiety: Development of the Anxiety about Aging Scale. The International Journal of Aging &; Human Development, 37(4), 247–259.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This research explored fears of ageing across four dimensions: Fear of Old People, Physical Appearance, Psychological Concerns, and Fear of Losses. Three hundred and forty eight participants aged 18–88 participated in an online survey. Findings were: (a) men and women have different fears of ageing; (b) greater quality contact is related to less ageing anxiety; (c) poor health is related to greater ageing anxiety, (d) ageism, defined by Nelson (2005 Nelson, T. D. (2005). Ageism: Prejudice against our feared future self. Journal of Social Issues, 61(2), 207–221.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) as prejudice toward ageing is positively correlated with ageing anxiety. The implications of these findings are that better quality contact and more positive attitudes toward ageing are associated with less ageing anxiety. As such, possible key target areas in developing appropriate interventions are provided, with hope to prepare adults of all ages for the inevitable—life is a terminal illness, so enjoy while you can.     

Homework Stress: Construct Validation of a Measure

This article presents 2 studies aimed at validating a measure of stress experienced by children and parents around the issue of homework, applying Benson's program of validation (Benson, 1998 Benson, J. 1998. Developing a strong program of construct validation: A test anxiety example. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 17: 10–17. doi: 10.1111/j.1745–3992.1998.tb00616.x[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Study 1 provides external validity of the measure by supporting hypothesized relations between stress around homework and students’ and parents’ positive and negative affect, students’ sense of competence, and students’ type of motivation. In Study 2, the measure was administered to students with and without learning disability—2 groups assumed to differ in the level of stress experienced while doing homework. Results of both studies support the validity of the measure.     

Categories as Rhetorical Barriers and the Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina

I explore the role of categories as rhetorical barriers in organizations responding to crisis (Veil, 2011 Veil, S. R. (2011). Mindful learning in crisis management. Journal of Business Communication, 48(2), 116–147. doi:10.1177/0021943610382294[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). I analyze some problematic categories of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the categories’ impact on the organizations’ response to Hurricane Katrina. My analysis shows that unintended and perverse consequences (Giddens, 1984 Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. [Google Scholar], 1987 Giddens, A. (1987). Social theory and modern sociology. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. [Google Scholar]) reversed the power of a key legitimated category (Orlikowski, 1995 Orlikowski, W. J. (1995). Categories: Concept, content, and context. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 3, 73–78.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Giddens, 1984 Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. [Google Scholar]) and exposed a set of reified categories (Giddens, 1984 Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. [Google Scholar]).     

Mirror,Mirror on the Wall: Ageist and Sexist Double Jeopardy Portrayals in Children's Picture Books

Bandura's Social Learning Theory purports that early exposure to this social information may have an impact on children's schema development (e.g., Bandura, 2001 Bandura , A. ( 2001 ). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective . Annual Review of Psychology , 52 , 1 – 26 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), which may influence how children and later adults think about what it means to age and get older (e.g., what it means to be an aging woman in society). By extension, if the portrayal of aging women characters in picture books contains both ageist and sexist attitudes, then the concern is that learned double jeopardy social schemas may influence both children's and the broader society's reactions to this aging sub-population (Chappell & Havens, 1980 Chappell , N. L. , & Havens , B. ( 1980 ). Old and women: Testing the double jeopardy hypothesis . The Sociological Quarterly , 21 ( 2 ), 157 – 171 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and personal self-efficacy toward aging (Bandura, 2011 Bandura , A. ( 2011 , September). On the functional properties of perceived self-efficacy revisited. Journal of Management pp. 1–37. doi:10.1177/0149206311410606  [Google Scholar]). For the purpose of the current research, a possible double jeopardy portrayal was examined for older women characters in children's picture books. Using a stratified random sampling of 90 children's picture books, results found that older book characters were depicted in only about one-third of the sampled books, and older women portrayals were generally more negative (e.g., “hag”). The current study analyzed the biased aging portrayals in children's picture books, and found evidence for double jeopardy (e.g., both ageist and sexist attitudes combined) in how aging women characters were presented in both text and imagery. Implications toward future research and education interventions that convey more positive messages about aging and being a woman aging in society will be discussed.     

Freeing the Mind of the Oppressed

This article examines the evidence that supports and rebuts the claims of school resegregation. By examining both types of evidence and considering them complementary (James 1986 James, F. 1986. A new generalized “exposure-based” segregation index: Demonstration in Denver and Houston. Sociological Methods and Research, 14(3): 301–16. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Kelly and Miller 1989 Kelly, P. and Miller, W. 1989. Assessing desegregation efforts: No “best measure.”. Public Administration Review, 49(5): 431–37. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the author gives the reader a deeper understanding of the current trends in school segregation. First, the literature on the topic of school segregation is discussed. Then follows a discussion of the methods used in the study and the findings. The conclusion includes implications of the findings.     

AN EXAMPLE OF THE APPLICATION OF A BALANCED INCOMPLETE BLOCK DESIGN

A study was conducted to estimate the reliability of oral examinations at the College of Medicine, The University of Iowa. In this paper, a part of the study is presented to provide the reader with an example of the applicability of a Balanced Incomplete Block Design (BIBD). This type of design is used when only fewer than all participating examiners can rate each examinee. Such a design was proposed originally by Yates in 1936.(1 Yates, F. 1936. “Incomplete randomised blocks”. Annals of Eugenics, 7: 121–140. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) The methods for analysing data obtained by BIBD were presented by Fleiss.(2 Fleiss, J. L. 1981. “Balanced incomplete block designs for inter‐rater reliability studies”. Applied Psychological Measurement, 5(1): 105–112. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) The reliability coefficient of the oral examination was .71, higher than some experts would anticipate in a similar situation. When some of the sources of error were eliminated by evaluating students' performances on audio‐tape, the reliability coefficient increased to .88.     

Taking a Different Route: Contribution of Articulation and Metacognition to Intervention With At-Risk Third-Grade Readers

This study compared the impact of 2 types of small-group interventions targeting below-level 3rd-grade students. The study compared WordWork decoding and spelling instruction (Calfee, Miller, Norman, Wilson, &; Trainin, 2006 Calfee, R. C., Miller, R. G., Norman, K., Wilson, K., &; Trainin, G. (2006). Learning to do educational research. In M. A. Constas &; R. J. Sterenberg (Eds.), Translating theory and research into educational practice: Developments in content domains, large scale reform, and intellectual capacity (pp. 77–103). New York, NY: Routledge. [Google Scholar]; Calfee &; Patrick, 1995 Calfee, R. C., &; Patrick, C. L. (1995). Teach our children well: Bringing K–12 education into the 21st Century. Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Assoc. [Google Scholar]), which includes attention to articulation and metacognition, with a more traditional phonological awareness program (Torgesen &; Bryant, 1993 Torgesen, J. K., &; Bryant, B. R. (1993). Phonological awareness training for reading. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed. [Google Scholar]). University education students delivered the interventions with equal instructional time and fidelity, to both groups. Students in both intervention groups engaged in repeated readings of connected text to promote transfer. The impact of training was assessed through decoding, spelling, and oral reading fluency measures. Results indicated that WordWork produced more positive results in decoding, spelling, and fluency, and had significantly fewer treatment resisters.     

Mario Bunge’s Scientific Realism

This paper presents and comments on Mario Bunge??s scientific realism. After a brief introduction in Sects. 1 and 2 outlines Bunge??s conception of realism. Focusing on the case of quantum mechanics, Sect. 3 explores how his approach plays out for problematic theories. Section?4 comments on Bunge??s project against the background of the current debate on realism in contemporary analytic philosophy.