Bipolaron in different configuration of quantum confinement

INTRODUCTION The bipolaron in bulk materials has been ex-tensively discussed in the past decade. With morerecent advances in the creation of nanocrystal withstrong ionic coupling (Hudgins et al., 1997), onenatural problem is that the effect of bipolarons insome quantum low dimensional systems with ef-fective electron-phonon coupling is very strongowing to the confinement. This problem is alsorelevant to the proposal of the bipolaronic mecha-nism for pairing in CuO2 plane (quasi-tw…     

Multimethod assessment of self-regulated learning in college students: different methods for different components?

Instructional Science - Although self-regulated learning (SRL) is seen as highly relevant for successful college learning, college students oftentimes show a lack in SRL abilities. Therefore, it...     

Prospective teachers’ perceptions on different aspects of portfolio

This qualitative–case study examined how portfolio and portfolio assessment were perceived by prospective teachers. The participants were 23 prospective teachers from seven different teaching areas from a Turkish university. A semi-structured individual interview was conducted. The interview schedule included 15 open-ended questions. The main results emerged from content analysis were that prospective teachers perceived portfolio as a learning and an assessment tool. Further, they believed that portfolio was complementary rather than an alternative assessment method to traditional assessment procedures.     

Qualitatively different ways of experiencing student self‐assessment

In the literature, student self‐assessment as a practice and as a goal in higher education is generally emphasized for academics. This paper reports a study that investigates what academics emphasize in their experiences of student self‐assessment. The investigation focused on the different ways academics described their understanding and practise of self‐assessment. A phenomenographic approach was used to research and identify a set of progressive variations of academics’ ways of experiencing student self‐assessment. Altogether, 16 academics from a variety of disciplines and programs of study in three Australian universities participated in the investigation. The consequent research findings describe five qualitatively different conceptions that depict how academics understand and use student self‐assessment. These findings are subsequently discussed in terms of the potential for academics to understand and use student self‐assessment to enhance students’ self‐assessment ability, to further students’ lifelong learning and to empower, rather than discipline, students.     

Frequency of co‐teaching in different teacher categories

Co‐teaching – or the use of more than one teacher in a classroom – has been commonly recommended as a means to promote inclusive education. The aim of the present study was to survey the actual frequency of co‐teaching among different teacher categories in the comprehensive school level in one Finnish city. The data were collected through a questionnaire answered by two representative samples of teachers including 117 resource room teachers in the first survey, and 317 teachers of various teacher categories in the second. The results showed that co‐teaching was a widespread phenomenon among resource room teachers and special class teachers but less frequent among other teacher groups. Overall, it was used only infrequently, typically from two to three hours a week. On a weekly basis it was implemented by every second special education teacher, every third classroom teacher and every sixth subject teacher. A comparison with a study from the early 1980s confirmed that the relative popularity of co‐teaching had increased only slightly during the years. Although co‐teaching is used sparsely, the teachers reported almost uniquely positive experiences obtained from it. It is argued that the promotion of co‐teaching needs additional incentives if it is hoped to make it more common.     

Expansion of spherical cavity of strain-softening materials with different elastic moduli of tension and compression

An expansion theory of spherical cavities in strain-softening materials with different moduli of tension and com-pression was presented. For geomaterials,two controlling parameters were introduced to take into account the different moduli and strain-softening properties. By means of elastic theory with different moduli and stress-softening models,general solutions cal-culating Tresca and Mohr-Coulomb materials' stress and displacement fields of expansion of spherical cavity were derived. The effects caused by different elastic moduli in tensile and compression and strain-softening rates on stress and displacement fields and development of plastic zone of expansion of cavity were analyzed. The results show that the ultimate expansion pressure,stress and displacement fields and development of plastic zone vary with the different elastic moduli and strain-softening prop-erties. If classical elastic theory is adopted and strain-softening properties are neglected,rather large errors may be the result.     

Extreme value distributions of mixing two sequences with different MDA's

INTRODUCTION Let {Xi, i ≥1} and {Yi, i ≥1} be two independ-ent sequences of independent and identicallydistributed random variables with distribution func-tions FX(x)∈MDA(GX) and FY(x)∈MDA(GY), res-pectively. We deal with the case when {Zi , 1≤i≤n},nis a mixture of two independent sequences {Xi, i≥1}and {Yi, i≥1}, for pn∈[0, 1) which is defined by: Zi,n = ???Yi Xi with probability pn with probability 1? pn.We consider the extreme value distribution GZ(x) of{Zi , 1≤i≤n}…     

University students＇ conceptions of good teaching across different faculties

Quality of teaching in higher education has been widely discussed. It clearly underlines the importance of undertaking a multidimensional view about the teaching/learning process as well as involving the main actors of university life according to a participative model, in order to elicit their opinions about important quality issues. Moreover, some studies suggested that the importance of differentiating between the various disciplinary contexts determines which aspects are specific and which are transversal to faculties. On the basis of these assumptions, the aim of this study is to involve the students of various faculties in the identification of what constitutes ＂good teaching＂. Furthermore, the concept of ＂good teaching＂ is strongly linked to teaching evaluation, for this reason, it was considered important to verify differences in the attribution of importance of the various dimensions by students from different faculties, in order to understand if teaching evaluation in the university can take place without distinctions, or whether it should provide methodologies and instruments covering commonalties and differences for each disciplinary area. The results legitimize a complex approach to the issue and a diversified framework of competencies when considering different teaching contexts.     

Students’ conceptions of good teaching in three different disciplines

This paper explores students’ conceptions of good teaching in three different disciplines. Moreover, the aim is to explore the relation between these conceptions and students’ approaches to learning by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of 695 students from the Faculties of Behavioural Sciences, Law and Veterinary Medicine participated in the study. The students’ conceptions of good teaching were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. Furthermore, the students were assigned to homogenous subgroups on the basis of their responses to items measuring approaches to learning and the differences between these subgroups and the students’ conceptions were examined. The association between the conceptions, disciplines and approaches to learning were examined using Chi‐square tests. Twenty‐one dimensions were created from the data and 12 of them differed between the disciplines. Only one dimension differed between the student groups. The study suggests that there is disciplinary variation in students’ conceptions of good teaching and universities should take this into account in the development process of the student evaluation system.     

Do students' values change in different types of schools?

The purpose of this study was to determine if students' values were different depending on which type of school they attended, and whether these values changed across the school year. Students of three different types of schools (private, state, religious) were measured at the beginning and the end of a school year, using the Schwartz Portrait Values Questionnaire 40. At both measurement times the analyses showed that the most significant differences between the types of schools were found for values of Tradition and Hedonism. Across all schools, the most notable changes were discovered for the values of Power and Achievement, lesser changes were found for Benevolence and Universalism. The impact of school on change in values was mediated by religiosity for Conformity, Tradition, Benevolence, Hedonism and Power.     

Bond strength improvement of GFRP rebars with different rib geometries

Based on the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) criteria,105 pullout specimens were tested to investigate the effect of different rib geometries on bond strength of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebars embedded in concrete. Two kinds of conventional reinforcing rebars were also studied for comparison. Each rebar was embedded in a 150 mm concrete cube,with the embedded length being four times the rebar diameter. The experimental parameters were the rebar type,rebar component,rebar diameter,rebar surface texture,rib height,rib spacing and rib width. Theoretical analysis was also carried out to explain the experimental phenomena and results. The experimental and theoretical results indicated that the bond strength of GFRP rebars was about 13%～35% lower than that of steel rebars. The bond strength and bond-slip behavior of the specially machined rebars varied with the rebar type,rebar diameter,rebar surface texture,rib height,rib spacing and rib width. Using the results,design recom-mendations were made concerning optimum rib geometries of GFRP ribbed rebars with superior bond-slip characteristics,which concluded that the optimal rib spacing of ribbed rebars is the same as the rebar diameter,and that the optimal rib height is 6% of the rebar diameter.     

Do different routes to becoming a special educator produce different understandings of the profession and its core concepts?

There are multiple routes to becoming a special educator in Norway. In recent years, bachelor's degree programmes have offered an alternative to the traditional path in which special education coursework is taken as a part of teacher education. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether these different programmes produce different understandings of the special education profession and its core concepts. We surveyed 27 bachelor students and 36 teacher education students using open-ended questions concerning their future goals and expectations and the concepts of ‘inclusion,’ ‘learning disability,’ and ‘special educator’. Teacher education students were more likely to: (a) view inclusion from a broad perspective, emphasizing a sense of belonging and community, (b) define the concept of learning disability from a categorical perspective, and (c) perceive special educators as essentially ‘expert’ teachers for children with special needs. Bachelor’s degree students also emphasized special educators’ role in supporting individuals with special needs, yet were more likely to apply a relational perspective when describing the concept of learning disability.     

Effects of different evaluative feedback on students’ self-efficacy in learning

Two studies examined the effects of four types of teachers’ evaluative feedback on Chinese students’ self-efficacy in English vocabulary acquisition. In Study 1, a random sample of Grade 8 students (N = 79) learned prefixes and received either formative or summative feedback after failure in test. The results showed that students who received summative feedback showed a larger decrease in their self-efficacy than those who received formative feedback. In Study 2, a random sample of Grade 7 students (N = 77) went through similar procedures as in Study 1 except that students received either self-referenced or norm-referenced feedback. The results showed that self-referenced feedback was more beneficial to students’ self-efficacy than norm-referenced feedback. The influences of teachers’ evaluation and feedback on students’ self-efficacy are discussed.     

How different are students of school psychology and clinical psychology?

Based on many years of training students in both school and clinical psychology, the authors have formulated some impressions of differences and similarities found in these trainees. While generalizations remain tentative and call for research, the students in each of these disciplines seem to present different patterns in cognitive styles, perceptions of clients, conceptions of professional role, and personality characteristics. In personality, the students in these fields often display differences in need for structure, need for external support, social maturity, and desire for autonomous professional functioning. Differences seem to be related to variations in previous work and educational experiences, and to differences in age, sex and marital status. Implications for quality of service offered and training needs are outlined.     

Choice of majors: are women really different from men?

The gender wage gap persists in the workplace in part because women major in fields that lead them into lower-paid occupations than fields associated with majors men choose. An open question is why women are more likely than men to switch towards majors that lead to lower-paying careers. Drawing on research suggesting that women are affected more by negative feedback than men, we use unique administrative data from a large private university on the East Coast from 2008 to 2016 to test whether women are more likely than men to switch majors in response to low grades in major-related classes. We also test whether the prevalence of men in a major or a major’s reputation for being stereotypically male-oriented induces women to switch out of that major more readily than men. We control for other factors that may affect a student’s final major, including high school performance, gender composition of faculty and peers, and economic returns of majors. The results show that overall women and men are equally likely to change their majors in response to poor grades in major-related courses. We also find no evidence that women in male-dominated majors are more likely than men to switch out, but we find that men with very low grades in female-dominated majors are more likely to switch out of these majors than women. In addition, we find that women are more likely to switch out of majors that are both male-dominated and STEM in response to poor performance compared to men. Thus, our results suggest that only when women students experience multiple signals suggesting their lack of fit in a field (i.e., low grades combined with gender peer composition, and external stereotyping signals) they tend to switch out of the major more often than male students. We find that men exhibit this tendency in response to even fewer overlapping signals about misfit than women.     

The effects of task explicitness to communicate on the expressiveness of children’s drawings of different topics

Effects of asking children to communicate through their drawings have been investigated using animate rather than inanimate drawing topics. The present study investigated the impact of a communication context on children’s drawings of topics with contrasting animism. Three hundred and twenty-two children, 156 boys and 166 girls aged 6–11 years were allocated to two conditions. The communication condition (n = 161) involved instructions to communicate emotion and the reference condition (n = 161) gave no instruction to communicate. Children drew either houses or human figures (House, N = 160, Human figures, N = 162), producing freehand drawings of the topic; a baseline version followed by a happy and a sad version in counterbalanced order. Expressive content in the communication condition was greater than in the reference condition and impacted differentially on the strategies used between the houses and human figures drawings. The findings are considered with respect to the cue dependency model and framework theory of art.     

Effects of different types of true–false questions on memory awareness and long-term retention

This study investigated the effects of two different true–false questions on memory awareness and long-term retention of knowledge. Participants took four subsequent knowledge tests on curriculum learning material that they studied at different retention intervals prior to the start of this study (i.e. prior to the first test). At the first and fourth (pre- and post-) tests, participants indicated which form of memory awareness (i.e. remember, know, familiar and/or guess) accompanied their answer. On the two intermediate tests, testing format was manipulated: true/false or true/false justification, that is a true/false statement with the additional instruction to explain why the statement is true or false. The results resembled earlier findings in that different forms of memory awareness could be distinguished. The study did not indicate (additional) knowledge schematisation as a result of testing or testing format. However, independent of test format, the proportion of correct answers on the post-test was higher than on the pre-test. This could indicate that the beneficial effects of testing can occur even when the learning episode was at a long retention interval prior to the first test.     

The effect of different initial densities of nematode （Meloidogyne javanica） on the build-up of Pasteuria penetrans population

Pasteuria penetrans will build-up faster where there is a high initial nematode density and can suppress root-knot nematode populations in the roots of tomato plants. The effect of different initial densities of nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) (150, 750, 1500, 3000) and P. penetrans infected females (F1, F3) densities (F0=control and