Creating survival strategies: what can be learned from a science class?

Elementary science teaching has been considered by recent researchers as a process in which students should be engaged in a variety of activities to develop science concepts, science process skills and scientific attitudes. From this perspective, hands-on activities are prominent in this approach because it leads the students to both reflect on the natural and physical world, and understand the social role of science in society. In Upadhyay’s article we follow an elementary teacher who struggles to implement a participatory method of science teaching in an environment that prioritizes high-stakes tests as the benchmarks for teachers’ and students’ success. In so doing, the teacher negotiates her identities in order to engage the students in the process of learning science even though the environment requires a teaching methodology that is against her beliefs. In our commentary on Upadhyay’s article we argue that (a) the tensions experienced by teachers create the core of the process of fluidity identity; (b) the different forms of external control over the teaching are inherent in educational systems and also a demand of parents and society; and (c) the possibility for social mobility of minority students is a complex process that goes beyond the dichotomy identified in Upadhyay’s article, namely that either the students learn to think scientifically, or the students learn tricks that enable them to succeed in the tests.

Towards an automated method to assess data portals in the deep web

The rising number of data portals has been increasing demand for new techniques to assess data openness in an automated manner. Some methods have emerged that presuppose well-organized data catalogs, the availability of API interfaces and natively exposed metadata. However, many data portals, particularly those of local governments, appear to be misimplemented and developed with the classic website model in mind, which provides access to data only through user interaction with web forms. Data in such portals resides in the hidden part of the web, as it is dynamically produced only in response to direct requests. This paper proposes an automated method for assessing government-related data in the deep web on the basis of compliance with open data principles and requirements. To validate our method, we apply it in an experiment using the government websites of the 27 Brazilian capitals. The method is fully carried out for 22 of the capitals' websites, resulting in the analysis of 5.6 million government web pages. The results indicate that the keyword search approach utilized in the method, along with the checking of web pages for multifield web forms, is effective for identifying deep web data sources, as 1.5% of web pages with potential government data that are analyzed are found to contain data stored in the deep web. This work contributes to the development of a novel method that allows for the continuous checking and identification of government data from surface web data portals. In addition, this method can be scaled and repeated to assure the widest possible content coverage.     

Longitudinal Theory of Mind (ToM) Development From Preschool to Adolescence With and Without ToM Delay

Longitudinal tracking of 107 three- to-thirteen-year-olds in a cross-sequential design showed a 6-step theory of mind (ToM) sequence identified by a few past cross-sectional studies validly depicted longitudinal ToM development from early to middle childhood for typically developing (TD) children and those with ToM delays owing to deafness or autism. Substantively, all groups showed ToM progress throughout middle childhood. Atypical development was more extended and began and ended at lower levels than for TD children. Yet most children in all groups progressed over the study's mean 1.5 years. Findings help resolve theoretical debates about ToM development for children with and without delay and gain strength and weight via their applicability to three disparate groups varying in ToM timing and sequencing.     

Dimensions as Virtual Items: Improving the predictive ability of top-N recommender systems

Traditionally, recommender systems for the web deal with applications that have two dimensions, users and items. Based on access data that relate these dimensions, a recommendation model can be built and used to identify a set of N items that will be of interest to a certain user. In this paper we propose a multidimensional approach, called DaVI (Dimensions as Virtual Items), that consists in inserting contextual and background information as new user–item pairs. The main advantage of this approach is that it can be applied in combination with several existing two-dimensional recommendation algorithms. To evaluate its effectiveness, we used the DaVI approach with two different top-N recommender algorithms, Item-based Collaborative Filtering and Association Rules based, and ran an extensive set of experiments in three different real world data sets. In addition, we have also compared our approach to the previously introduced combined reduction and weight post-filtering approaches. The empirical results strongly indicate that our approach enables the application of existing two-dimensional recommendation algorithms in multidimensional data, exploiting the useful information of these data to improve the predictive ability of top-N recommender systems.     

Examining expansion and trends in higher education in Mozambique,Africa

Higher Education - Concerns about expansion in higher education (HE) have increasingly become a focus of educational policymakers in sub-Saharan countries. However, critical analysis and discussion...     

The transformation of doctoral education: a systematic literature review

Higher Education - Framed by a wide range of factors, doctoral education has undergone a deep transformation, especially in the last two decades. The aim of this systematic literature review was to...     

Pre‐service science teachers' perceptions of written lesson appraisals: the impact of styles of mentoring

Biology and chemistry graduates (n = 29) on a one year, post graduate, initial teacher training course were asked about their perceptions of written lesson appraisals produced by mentors when observing their teaching. Data were collected using the same open questions at three points in their course. The data relating to mentors who had received only generic training were compared with those for mentors who had been trained to focus on topic‐specific pedagogy. Marked differences in pre‐service science teachers' perceptions are identified. The implications arising from these differences for using written lesson appraisals in developing topic‐specific pedagogy are discussed and opportunities for future research identified.

Nous avons demandé à des licenciés en biologie et chimie poursuivant des études de formation pédagogique d'un an comment ils percevaient les évaluations écrites par leur conseiller pédagogique (mentor) lors des observations de leurs leçons. Nous avons rassemblé les données en posant les mêmes questions ouvertes, à trois reprises pendant leur cours. Nous avons comparé les données reliées aux mentors ayant reçu une formation générique avec les données reliées aux mentors ayant reçu une formation spécifique centrée sur leur matière. Nous avons identifié de nettes différences dans les perceptions des professeurs‐stagiaires. Nous discutons les implications issues de ces différences pour l'utilisation des évaluations écrites de leçons dans le but de développer une pédagogie propre à chaque matière et nous identifions des possibilités de recherches dans le futur.

Preguntamos a licenciados en biología y química que siguen una formación pedagógica de un año cómo percibían las evaluaciones escritas por sus mentores cuando observan sus lecciones. Colectamos nuestros datos por medio de las mismas preguntas abiertas que les hicimos durante el curso. Comparamos los datos relacionados con los mentores que habían recibido una formación genérica con los datos relacionados con los mentores que habían recibido une formación enfocada en una asignatura específica. Notamos diferencias claras en las percepciones de los profesores‐aprendices. Discutimos las implicaciones que resultan de esas diferencias para la utilización de dichas observaciones escritas a fines de desarrollar una pedagogía específica a cada asignatura y acertamos oportunidades para investigaciones futuras.

Biologen und Chemiker (n = 29) mit abgeschlossenem Studium, die an einer einjährigen Referendarausbildung teilnahmen, wurden gefragt, wie sie die schriftlichen Unterrichtsbeurteilungen ihrer beobachtenden Mentoren einschätzten. Daten wurden gesammelt, indem die selben offenen Fragen zu drei verschiedenen Zeitpunkten im Kurs gestellt wurden. Daten bezüglich Mentoren, die nur eine allgemeine Mentorenausbildung mitgemacht hatten, wurden mit Daten betreffs anderer verglichen, die darin ausgebildet worden waren, sich auf themenspezifische Pädagogik zu konzentrieren. Deutliche Unterschiede in den Einschätzungen der Referendare wurden festgestellt. Die aus diesen Unterschieden aufkommenden Implikationen für den Benutz schriftlichen Unterrichtsbeurteilungen bei der Entwicklung themenspezifischer Pädagogik werden hier diskutiert, und Möglichkeiten für zukünftige Forschung identifiziert.     

Clinical and diagnostic utility of saliva as a non-invasive diagnostic fluid:?a systematic review

This systematic review presents the latest trends in salivary research and its applications in health and disease. Among the large number of analytes present in saliva, many are affected by diverse physiological and pathological conditions. Further, the non-invasive, easy and cost-effective collection methods prompt an interest in evaluating its diagnostic or prognostic utility. Accumulating data over the past two decades indicates towards the possible utility of saliva to monitor overall health, diagnose and treat various oral or systemic disorders and drug monitoring. Advances in saliva based systems biology has also contributed towards identification of several biomarkers, development of diverse salivary diagnostic kits and other sensitive analytical techniques. However, its utilization should be carefully evaluated in relation to standardization of pre-analytical and analytical variables, such as collection and storage methods, analyte circadian variation, sample recovery, prevention of sample contamination and analytical procedures. In spite of all these challenges, there is an escalating evolution of knowledge with the use of this biological matrix.Key words: saliva, non-invasive, biological markers, drug monitoring, oral health     

Meta‐Analysis of Theory of Mind and Peer Popularity in the Preschool and Early School Years

It has been argued that children who possess an advanced theory of mind (ToM) are viewed positively by their peers, but the empirical findings are mixed. This meta‐analysis of 20 studies including 2,096 children (aged from 2 years, 8 months to 10 years) revealed a significant overall association (r = .19) indicating that children with higher ToM scores were also more popular in their peer group. The effect did not vary with age. The effect was weaker for boys (r = .12) compared to girls (r = .30). ToM was more strongly associated with popularity (r = .23) than with rejection (r = .13). These findings confirm that ToM development has significant implications for children's peer relationships.     

The mind behind the message: advancing theory-of-mind scales for typically developing children, and those with deafness, autism, or Asperger syndrome

Children aged 3-12 years (n = 184) with typical development, deafness, autism, or Asperger syndrome took a series of theory-of-mind (ToM) tasks to confirm and extend previous developmental scaling evidence. A new sarcasm task, in the format of H. M. Wellman and D. Liu's (2004) 5-step ToM Scale, added a statistically reliable 6th step to the scale for all diagnostic groups. A key previous finding, divergence in task sequencing for children with autism, was confirmed. Comparisons among diagnostic groups, controlling age, and language ability, showed that typical developers mastered the 6 ToM steps ahead of each of the 3 disabled groups, with implications for ToM theories. The final (sarcasm) task challenged even nondisabled 9-year-olds, demonstrating the new scale's sensitivity to post-preschool ToM growth.