New actions upon old objects: A new ontological perspective on functions

We argue in this paper that the systematic use of special software in instruction has a profound impact on the notion of function as an abstract entity to be constructed. We argue that through the medium of the computer, the objects in the graphical, tabular and algebraic settings can change their essence and thus become objects of a new kind we callrepresentatives. Actions on representatives which naturally arise in this framework induce an ontological shift. A taxonomy of the skills involved in the learning of the concept of function through these new ontological lenses is presented, as well as software, and problem solving tasks that embody the same ontological perspective. Within the framework of a teaching experiment, students' acquisition of many of the identified skills was investigated by means of a questionnaire and interviews during computer supported problem solving sessions. The most salient results of the study indicate that a majority of students were able (1) to cope with partial data about functions (e.g., problems of interpolation and arbitrariness), (2) to recognize invariants (i. e., properties of functions) while coordinating actions among representatives from different settings, and (3) to recognize invariants while creating and comparing different representatives from the same setting.     

Fathers' participation in family work and children's sex-role attitudes

The relation between fathers' participation in family work (child care and home chores) and children's sex-role attitudes was examined in an interview study of 160 Caucasian middle-class families. Children were stratified by age level (5-year-olds and 10-year-olds), sex, and maternal employment status. 5 types of paternal participation were assessed--for example, total interaction time, performance of traditionally feminine home chores--using joint estimates by fathers and mothers. Children's attitudes were measured by questionnaire; their occupational aspirations were also assessed. Data are provided on the extent of fathers' participation for each of the 5 types assessed. The direct effects of paternal participation per se on children's attitudes were weak. Among fourth graders, mother's attitude toward the male role was the strongest predictor of stereotyping; children with nontraditional mothers were significantly less stereotyped.     

Correction to: Better beware: comparing metacognition for phishing and legitimate emails

Metacognition and Learning - The article “Better beware: comparing metacognition for phishing and legitimate emails”, written by Casey Inez Canfield, Baruch Fischhoff and Alex Davis,...     

A Study of Reported Tension in Interparental Relationships as Co-Existent with Behavior Adjustment in Young Children

The importance of replication is widely recognized in several research traditions. Empirical synthesis of seemingly diverse results may be particularly important when factor structure similarities are being evaluated because apparent differences in findings may be an artifact of different locations of factor axes, even though variable positions in factor space may be virtually identical. The present study empirically evaluated the comparability of seven sets of factor structures reported in previous research with the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Results indicate that the inventory’s primary factors were reproduced in the studies, although the Masculine scale was somewhat less invariant than its Feminine counterpart. Thus, the results support the validity of this androgyny measure across several variations in sample types. The study represents a heuristic example of a methodology for the meta-analysis of factor structure studies.     

Academic support model for post-secondary school students with learning disabilities: student and instructor perceptions

ABSTRACT

While post-secondary school students with learning difficulties confront many challenges, there is little research on methods of support. In the current study, the ‘adapted course’ model was qualitatively examined from the perspective of both students and instructors. The main goal was to explore how students and instructors perceived the instruction in adapted courses. Five pre-service students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and three instructors were interviewed. Responses were analysed using subjective analysis, with central content categories identified based on student and instructor statements. Six main themes emerged: (1) small class size; (2) emotional support; (3) adjusted teaching methods; (4) independent practice exercises; (5) instruction by modelling; and (6) instructor characteristics. The current study can inform pedagogical principles on which a support model for post-secondary students with LD can be based. It provides analyses of the effectiveness of one support model and presents the perceptions of both faculty and students. Moreover, the study provides an opportunity to learn about potential components of effective teaching-learning, not only in the specific context of adapted courses, but in any supportive learning situation (e.g. tutoring) or course.     

E-Moderation of Synchronous Discussions in Educational Settings: A Nascent Practice

E-moderation has been a common practice in asynchronous discussions of postsecondary courses. We consider here e-moderation of synchronous discussions in the school context. We adopt a design research approach to elaborate an environment, the Argunaut system, that fits the reality of classrooms in which moderation of several small-group synchronous discussions in parallel is desirable. We describe the Argunaut system and then describe an experiment in which a moderator could elaborate several strategies in 2 synchronous discussions (1 with 2 groups in parallel and 1 with 4 groups in parallel). Through the technique of cued retrospective reporting, we could identify those strategies and could show how technology and moderation are interwoven. We then assessed whether the actions of the moderator had some positive impact on the flow of the discussions. The positive findings that emerge from this study indicate that teachers can enact this novel practice in classrooms, enabling by such proper guidance for productive engagement in the synchronous discussions of many students in the same class.     

The role of contradiction and uncertainty in promoting the need to prove in Dynamic Geometry environments

In many geometrical problems, students can feel that the universalityof a conjectured attribute of a figure is validated by their action in adynamic geometry environment. In contrast, students generally do not feelthat deductive explanations strengthen their conviction that a geometricalfigure has a given attribute. In order to cope with students' convictionbased on empirical experience only and to create a need for deductiveexplanations, we developed a collection of innovative activities intended tocause surprise and uncertainty. In this paper we describe two activities, thatled students to contradictions between conjectures and findings. We analyzethe conjectures, working methods, and explanations given by the studentswhen faced with the contradictions that arose.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Implications of competing interpretations of practice for research and theory in mathematics education

In this paper we explore the issue of interdependency of theory and research findings in the context of research on the practice of mathematics teaching and learning at school. We exemplify how analyses of a lesson by using two different theoretical perspectives lead to different interpretations and understandings of the same lesson, and discuss the implications of competing interpretations of practice for research and theory in mathematics education.     

The contribution of morphological awareness to reading comprehension in early stages of reading

The contribution of morphological awareness to reading comprehension in Hebrew was studied in 298 second grade students who practiced two types of inflections, plural and possessive. Reading tasks at the beginning and end of the school year indicated that all improved on all tests in that period. Orthographic word recognition and morphological awareness predicted reading comprehension at the end of year. Students with low (LPD) and high (HPD) phonological decoding skills clearly differed qualitatively in reading comprehension. In the HPD students it was predicted by awareness of possessive inflections; in the LPD students it was predicted by orthographic word recognition ability. The results highlight the importance of examining the different components of morphological awareness in readers with different levels of phonological decoding ability.