Tools in practice, mathematics in use

We seek to analyse the notion of structuring resources and their role in shaping mathematical activity, and more broadly to add to our understanding of mathematical epistemologies in workplace settings. Our analysis is of two nursing activities – drug administration and fluid balance monitoring – based on data collected in an in–depth study of paediatric nurses on the ward. In the first activity, we examine ways in which nurses conceptualise ratio and proportion problems, while in the second, we provide a case study of two nurses discussing conflicting strategies when monitoring the fluid balance of a patient. We discuss the ways in which the available resources give mathematical and professional meanings in these situations and draw out some implications for the design of viable didactical strategies in vocational mathematics teaching.     

小红帽

A little boy sat at his mother＇s knees, by the long western window, looking out into the garden. It was autumn, and the wind was sad, and the golden elm leaves lay scattered about among the grass, and on the gravel path. The mother was knitting a little stocking; her fingers moved the bright needles, but her eyes were fixed on the clear evening sky.     

Expanding the parameters of academia

This paper draws on qualitative data gathered from two studies funded by the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education to examine the expansion of academic identities in higher education. It builds on Whitchurch’s earlier work, which focused primarily on professional staff, to suggest that the emergence of broadly based projects such as widening participation, learning support and community partnership is also impacting on academic identities. Thus, academic as well as professional staff are increasingly likely to work in multi-professional teams across a variety of constituencies, as well as with external partners, and the binary distinction between ‘academic’ and ‘non-academic’ roles and activities is no longer clear-cut. Moreover, there is evidence from the studies of an intentionality about deviations from mainstream academic career routes among respondents who could have gone either way. Consideration is therefore given to factors that influence individuals to work in more project-oriented areas, as well as to variables that affect ways in which these roles and identities develop. Finally, three models of academically oriented project activity are identified, and the implications of an expansion of academic identities are reviewed.     

Evaluating Group Use of the Information Commons

Evaluating the effectiveness of an information commons has been discussed in many venues since the concept was first implemented. The Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University confronted this same struggle. After two years of activity, the information commons had not been assessed to see whether the purposes for which it was planned were being fulfilled. This paper describes its first assessment. Measuring the number of groups who used the information commons over the period of two years, the assessment showed that indeed the commons is being used to a great extent for group work, one of the goals set for the creation of the information commons.     

Planning an Information Commons

ABSTRACT

Of the steps in implementing an Information Commons, one of the most important is the planning phase. For the planning and implementation to be a success, buy-in and support from library users and administrators is essential. The result of the planning process is a detailed planning document that will influence the success of the commons. The document should include plans for policy changes, space for the commons, staffing issues, and assessments, both before and after implementation. Even with all the planning completed, an evaluation of the viability of and desirability for a commons should determine whether a commons should be implemented on each individual campus.     

Creating spaces: Testimonio,impossible knowledge,and academe

This article examines what it means to engage seriously with speech and writing events, such as testimonio, articulated by people whose theoretical base lies primarily in experience outside the walls of academe. I argue that we dismiss such unfamiliar scholarship to the detriment of all involved. If we are truly committed to learning, then we must expose ourselves to language forms and cultural norms that are different from those with which we are familiar. We must learn from them how to acknowledge the limits of our analysis and how to find "impossible knowledge" in unaccustomed places.     

Aerobic fitness and academic achievement: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

This study aims to quantify the association between aerobic fitness and academic achievement, and determine how different aerobic fitness tests and individual demographic characteristics may modify this association. It includes 41 cross-sectional and 7 longitudinal studies focusing on children and adolescents, from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database and Web of Science. Pooled effect sizes (ES) were estimated for the association between aerobic fitness and specific domains of academic achievement. Subgroup analyses and meta-regressions were based on aerobic fitness tests and demographic characteristics. The ES for the association between aerobic fitness with language/reading-skills, mathematics-related skills and composite scores, were 0.23 (95% CI: 0.12; 0.34); 0.27 (95% CI: 0.19; 0.36) and 0.28 (95% CI: 0.12; 0.45), respectively. Subgroup analyses by aerobic fitness test modified these associations; additionally, analyses by sex or age showed differences between boys and girls as well as between children and adolescents. Finally, meta-regressions revealed a slight effect of body mass index on these associations. Cardiorespiratory fitness is positively associated with academic achievement. Associations were dependent on demographic and aerobic fitness test characteristics, being stronger in boys than in girls, and in children than in adolescents.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42017069677