How do student and classroom characteristics affect attitude toward mathematics? A multivariate multilevel analysis

This study investigated the effects of student and classroom characteristics on math self-confidence, perceived usefulness, and enjoyment of mathematics as multiple outcomes. A sample of 7th-grade students from 78 classes of 49 schools was studied. The data were collected using, among other instruments, an attitude questionnaire. The results of the multivariate multilevel analysis showed that the variance of the 3 indicators was situated mostly at the student level, and that the indicators correlated strongly at the class level. Higher prior mathematics achievement and positive parental beliefs and attitudes were significant predictors of higher scores across the 3 indicators. Each of the baseline indicators was significantly associated with its corresponding final indicator. At the classroom level, classroom assessment was significantly associated with less endorsement of all 3 indicators, higher levels of classroom modeling with greater endorsement of perceived usefulness of mathematics, and classroom questioning with greater enjoyment of mathematics.     

High pressure research on materials

In this part of the article, various experimental techniques for investigating materials under high pressure are discussed. The effect of pressure on the behaviour of materials is discussed with suitable examples. P Ch Sahu (left) is at the Materials Science Division of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. He is a specialist in the field of high pressure science and is presently heading this activity at his institute. N V Chandra Shekar (right) is a Senior Scientist at the Materials Science Division of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. His primary research areas are in high pressure phase transitions and in synthesis and study of novel materials under extreme pressure and temperature conditions.     

Face the Books: A Leadership Journey

Leadership, as a topic, has seen a lot of interest in academics as well as with practitioners. The search, however, has not yielded a concrete formula, though there are quite a few theories which have worked well in certain contexts. The context of special libraries is one such area which has a huge potential in discovering what leadership actions have worked well and what can be a framework for success in other special libraries, especially when the utility of special libraries is being questioned in a corporate environment. The dearth of leadership and leadership development literature in special libraries, from a practitioner's point of view, provides a good opportunity for sharing a small journey of success. The column builds upon the application of leadership actions deriving from diverse and merging fields like learning and development, organizational behavior, marketing, and human psychology of reading in making a case for the utility of corporate libraries in the development of employees.     

Learning styles of the open university students of Sri Lanka

Conclusions This study presented an analysis of learning styles of a sample of Sri Lankan Open University students using the LSI. Results indicate that the program of study is more likely to influence learning style than gender. It could also be assumed that the older students who were employed specifically in the PGDE program were influenced by the type of employment they were engaged in, as well as by the type of program they were enrolled in. Although the use of the LSI with this population was not incongruent, one of the questions that remains to be answered in order to better understand learning styles is related to the appropriateness of the LSI for this cultural context. It is hoped that the completion of the larger study described earlier will yield more useful information in this regard. The authors wish to thank Dr. Buddhi Weerasinghe, Director of the Educational Technology Division, OUSL, for supporting this study, and Mr. S. Somaratne of the Department of Botany, OUSL, for statistical analysis.