In Pursuit of a Connected Way of Knowing: The Case of One Mathematics Teacher

In this paper, we offer illustrations of a mathematics teacher’s difficulties with content knowledge when trying to find connections between school mathematics and science; we do so by describing the development of this teacher’s thinking and learning in her pursuit of connections between the concepts of slope of a line and density of matter. The paper is based on a sub-study that is part of a larger Colombian project, PROMESA (Creating Science and Mathematics Connected Learning Experiences that Open Opportunities for the Promotion of Algebraic Reasoning), which incorporated a Professional Learning Programme (PLP) seeking to integrate school science and mathematics teachers into working teams, in order to create science and mathematics connected learning experiences that considered the promotion of algebraic reasoning. The ‘challenging questions’ that emerged for this teacher, during the workshops of the induction stage of the PLP, became the driving force for her continued engagement in learning mathematics content in a connected way, as opposed to the compartmentalised content-item thinking that she had experienced as a school student. We provide illustrations of first steps in the development of a teacher’s mathematical understanding, which can support growth of mathematical knowledge for teaching.     

A hybrid and flipped version of an introductory mathematics course for higher education

Abstract

This in practice paper describes the experience of seven lecturers in a hybrid and flipped version of an introductory mathematics course for higher education. In a Mexican university, lecturers adapted to this innovation supported by an adjusted Massive Open Online Course. The experience revealed the relevance of leaving conventional assessment processes to make way for an understanding of lecturers as a collaborative team, trying to transform their own perspective about the learning of mathematics. This experience is an example of the reconceptualisation of the teaching of STEM education that contributes towards a non-formal educational context, promoting lecturers’ education and dialogic transformative learning.     

Stereotyping Hispanics: The differential effect of research method,label, and degree of contact

One hundred Anglo university students were asked to rate a number of ethnic/national groups (American, Chicano, Mexican American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Japanese, and German) on a Semantic Differential and to openly produce traits they identified with each group. As expected, the freely produced traits differed from those obtained in another study which used the Katz and Braly technique with students from the same university. Furthermore, differential evaluations were found for Chicanos and Mexican Americans in which the latter group was perceived more positively in the Evaluative Dimension, but not in terms of Potency or Activity. Also, as expected, having a member of the group as a friend produced the highest correlations with a positive perception of the group as a whole.     

The continuous nature of timing reprogramming in an interceptive task

The time course of movement timing reprogramming was examined in a task requiring temporal coincidence of the conclusion of a forehand drive with the arrival of a moving luminous target at the end of an electronic trackway. The moving target departed from one end of the trackway at a constant velocity of 2 m (.) s(-1), and for a part of the trials its velocity was increased to 3 m (.) s(-1). Target velocity was modified at different moments during stimulus displacement, producing times-to-arrival after velocity increment (TAVIs) from 100 to 600 ms. The effect of specific practice on movement reprogramming was also examined. The results showed early adjustments to the action (TAVIs = 100 - 200 ms) that seemed to be stereotyped, while feedback-based corrections were implemented only at TAVIs of 300 ms or longer. Temporal accuracy was progressively increased as longer TAVIs were provided up to 600 ms. Skill training led to an overall increment of temporal accuracy, but no effect of specific practice was found. The results indicate that timing reprogramming in interceptive actions is a continuous process limited mainly by intrinsic factors: latency to initiate more effective adjustments to the action, and rate-of-movement timing reprogramming.     

The Birth of Particle Physics In Spain

Experimental high-energy and nuclear physics was created in Spain thanks to Joaquín Catalá de Alemany, who founded the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC) at the University of Valencia in 1950. The physics of photographic emulsions, cheap and easy to manipulate, were well adapted to the depressed situation in Spain following the Civil War. This essay describes how, using these techniques, Catalá de Alemany created a group, established links with international laboratories, and fostered a tradition that continues today.     

The role of comparison in perceptual learning: effects of concurrent exposure to similar stimuli on the perceptual effectiveness of their unique features

In three experiments, rats were given concurrent exposure to a compound flavor (AX) and to one of the elements of the compound (X). The perceptual effectiveness of A was then assessed by a test involving generalization of a conditioned aversion. Comparison was made with a preexposure procedure in which the compound and the common element were presented on separate trials, either in alternation or in separate blocks of trials. The effectiveness of the unique cue was less after blocked preexposure than after either of the other procedures; concurrent preexposure did not produce a greater effect than did alternating preexposure. These results challenge the suggestion that concurrent preexposure engages a special comparison process that will facilitate this form of perceptual learning.     

An On-Demand and Cloud-Based Digital Scholarship Applications Dashboard

Building on the findings of a 2013 NEH Digital Humanities Start-Up funded project, in early 2016 we began working on an IMLS Sparks! funded project: Digital Scholarship Applications Dashboard. The project is a collaborative initiative between University IT and the Library's Center for Digital Scholarship. We are currently evaluating an efficient and user-friendly dashboard solution that will allow faculty and student to easily choose, configure, deploy, and evaluate any of a set of common web applications in a shared and virtual hosting environment. The service is similar to those offered by commercial hosting providers for deployment of popular web applications, but our Scholars Dashboard service will focus on tools more relevant to digital scholarship and digital humanities. The prototype leverages OpenNebula, an open source cloud-computing platform for managing distributed data center environments, and Amazon Web Services for deploying virtual machines. In this article, we will describe the work we have done in the last year and further discuss the role of digital scholarship teams within academic libraries in providing cloud-based infrastructure for digital scholarship and research.