Book review

Dancing with the Devil: Information Technology and the New Competition in Higher Education. Richard N. Katz and Associates. (EDUCAUSE, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 1999, 152 pp., $16.95).     

What Are the New Implications of Chaos for Unpredictability?

From the beginning of chaos research until today, the unpredictabilityof chaos has been a central theme. It is widely believed andclaimed by philosophers, mathematicians and physicists alikethat chaos has a new implication for unpredictability, meaningthat chaotic systems are unpredictable in a way that other deterministicsystems are not. Hence, one might expect that the question ‘Whatare the new implications of chaos for unpredictability?’has already been answered in a satisfactory way. However, thisis not the case. I will critically evaluate the existing answersand argue that they do not fit the bill. Then I will approachthis question by showing that chaos can be defined via mixing,which has never before been explicitly argued for. Based onthis insight, I will propose that the sought-after new implicationof chaos for unpredictability is the following: for predictingany event, all sufficiently past events are approximately probabilisticallyirrelevant.

1. Introduction
2. Dynamical Systems and Unpredictability

   2.1 Dynamical systems

   2.2 Natural invariant measures

   2.3Unpredictability

3. Chaos

   3.1 Defining chaos

   3.2 Definingchaos via mixing

4. Criticism of Answers in the Literature

   4.1 Asymptotic unpredictability?

   4.2 Unpredictability dueto rapid or exponential divergence?

   4.3 Macro-predictabilityand Micro-unpredictability?

5. A General New Implication ofChaos for Unpredictability

   5.1Approximate probabilistic irrelevance

   5.2 Sufficiently pastevents are approximately probabilisticallyirrelevant for predictions

6. Conclusion

     

Impact of intervening learning on resurgence in humans with Autism Spectrum Disorders

In the present study, we investigated the degree to which responding would resurge in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) following an intervening training period comprising different schedules of reinforcement. Twenty-four children of the ages 7–15, with a diagnosis of an ASD, were taught a play a sequence on a variable ratio- (VR) 3 schedule of reinforcement, during a 30-min session. The play sequence was then extinguished before the participants were taught a second play sequence, using a VR-4 schedule for 30 min, a VR-4 schedule for 60 min, or a VR-2 schedule for 30 min. A 5-min extinction session was then conducted to determine the impact that the intervening schedules had on the resurgence of the original behavior. The original sequence resurged to a greater extent for Group VR-4 30 min than it did for the other two groups. The results provide evidence that the length of time between initial training and testing is not a prime determinant of the level of resurgence, but that the amount of conditioning may play a stronger role: The greater the number of reinforcers received, the smaller the resurgence effect.     

Spatial Thinking in Practice: A Snapshot of teacher's Spatial Activity Use in the Early Years' Classroom

Spatial thinking predicts Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics achievement, yet is often absent from educational policy. We provide benchmarks of teachers' usage and perceptions of spatial activities in practice in the reception classroom (first year of primary school). In this questionnaire study of educational professionals working in the reception classroom in England (N = 104), we found that spatial and numeracy activities were perceived as significantly less important, and were reportedly completed significantly less often, than literacy or life skills. Despite the lower perceived importance of spatial skills in curriculum guidance in England, rates of reported spatial activity use were encouragingly high and were broadly comparable to those of numeracy. Teachers had moderate anxiety levels for both spatial and mathematics domains. The findings highlight a need to elevate teachers' understanding of the importance of developing children's early spatial and numeracy skills, which may begin with efforts to reduce spatial and mathematics anxiety.     

Fostering self-monitoring of university students by means of a standardized learning journal—a longitudinal study with process analyses

The self-regulation of learning behavior is an important key competence for university students. In this presented study, we aimed at fostering students’ self-regulation of learning by means of a standardized learning journal. In two of four courses that were included in the study, students had to keep a structured learning diary and/or received further intervention on self-regulated learning through a weekly course. Students who received these interventions were compared to students who received no treatment whatsoever in their self-regulation and learning achievement. The study reports pre–post measures as well as process analyses. Results revealed that keeping a structured learning diary without any further intervention did not improve students’ self-regulation. Those students who only kept learning diaries even showed a decrease in their motivation. Students who kept the learning diary and at the same time received further information on self-regulation showed increases in their strategy use and their self-efficacy. However, no improvements were found for students’ academic performance. It can be concluded that in order for students to profit in keeping a structured learning diary, they should be informed on the benefits of self-monitoring to increase their motivation.     

Unpredictable shoe midsole perturbations provide an instability stimulus to train ankle posture and motion during forward and lateral gym lunges

ABSTRACT

Unstable footwear may enhance training effects to the lower-limb musculature and sensorimotor system during dynamic gym movements. This study compared the instability of an unstable shoe with irregular midsole deformations (IM) and a control shoe (CS) during forward and lateral lunges. Seventeen female gym class participants completed two sets of ten forward and lateral lunges in CS and IM. Ground reaction forces, lower-limb kinematics and ankle muscle activations were recorded. Variables around initial ground contact, toe-off, descending and ascending lunge phases were compared statistically (p < .05). Responses to IM compared to CS were similar across lunge directions. The IM induced instability by increasing the vertical loading rate (p < .001, p = .009) and variability of frontal ankle motion during descending (p = .001, p < .001) and ascending phases (p = .150, p = .003), in forward and lateral lunges, respectively. At initial ground contact, ankle adjustments enhanced postural stability in IM. Across muscles, there were no activation increases, although results indicate peroneus longus activations increased in IM during the ascending phase. As expected, IM provided a more demanding training stimulus during lunge exercises and has potential to reduce ankle injuries by training ankle positioning for unpredictable instability.     

Construction and Validation of an Eight-Iron Approach Test

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to construct a golf test which would be usable for assessing the ability to perform an eight-iron approach shot at a distance of 12 yards from the pin. A good approach shot was defined as one which is high enough to avoid potential hazards between the point of contact and the pin and which comes to rest at or near the pin. Pilot studies were conducted to determine target size, number of trials and days of testing, hitting distance, objectivity, and reliability. The revised test was administered to 424 beginning golfers. Reliability estimates determined by analysis of variance procedures and by correlation techniques indicated that the test was reliable for the subjects involved. Logical validity was claimed and was further supported by comparing mean scores of a beginning and an experienced group. The test confidently differentiated the performance of the two groups.     

Liminality,disruption, and change: A prismatic look at pandemic education

PROSPECTS - Using prismatic inquiry, a team of researchers documented a variety of personal experiences that spanned elementary through higher education, with the goal of determining what helped...