The Religious Roots of Ernest L. Boyer's Educational Vision: A Theology of Public Pietism

The educational theories and policies promoted by Ernest L. Boyer (1928–1995), who served as chancellor of the SUNY system, U.S. Commissioner (Secretary) of Education, and president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, were significantly influenced by his affiliations with the Brethren in Christ Church and the Society of Friends (Quakers) even though he rarely spoke about his faith publicly. Drawing on Anabaptist, pietistic, and apophatic (silence-oriented) theological traditions, Boyer's public career demonstrated a service-focused convictional theology that could be termed “public pietism.” Boyer's educational philosophy focused on human connectedness and called for all citizens to be active participants in improving their communities by living out nonsectarian “consensus virtues.” While Boyer was a strong proponent of the separation of church and state, his public service was imbued with deeply held Christian values.     

The attitudes and opinions of high school sports participants: an exploratory empirical examination

Sport scholars and public commentators have long held both positive and critical opinions about the influence of athletic involvement on participants and their perceptions of the social world. Yet for all of the strong claims and deeply held assumptions, relatively little empirical data or social scientific analysis have been available. This study begins to address this deficiency using new data from a nationally representative survey of American high school students. We compare sports participants and their peers in terms of concern for social problems, interracial contact and attitudes, views of gender roles and sex-based discrimination and political orientation. We find participants and non-participants differ very little in their social concern and views of gender roles and sex-based discrimination, while significant differences were found in levels of interracial contact, views on race relations and political orientation. In view of these findings, we make some general conclusions about the social influence of sport in the lives of American youth and how this topic may be further explored in subsequent work.     

Entropic depletion of DNA in triangular nanochannels

Using Monte Carlo simulations of a touching-bead model of double-stranded DNA, we show that DNA extension is enhanced in isosceles triangular nanochannels (relative to a circular nanochannel of the same effective size) due to entropic depletion in the channel corners. The extent of the enhanced extension depends non-monotonically on both the accessible area of the nanochannel and the apex angle of the triangle. We also develop a metric to quantify the extent of entropic depletion, thereby collapsing the extension data for circular, square, and various triangular nanochannels onto a single master curve for channel sizes in the transition between the Odijk and de Gennes regimes.     

Modeling the relaxation time of DNA confined in a nanochannel

Using a mapping between a Rouse dumbbell model and fine-grained Monte Carlo simulations, we have computed the relaxation time of λ-DNA in a high ionic strength buffer confined in a nanochannel. The relaxation time thus obtained agrees quantitatively with experimental data [Reisner et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 196101 (2005)] using only a single O(1) fitting parameter to account for the uncertainty in model parameters. In addition to validating our mapping, this agreement supports our previous estimates of the friction coefficient of DNA confined in a nanochannel [Tree et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 228105 (2012)], which have been difficult to validate due to the lack of direct experimental data. Furthermore, the model calculation shows that as the channel size passes below approximately 100 nm (or roughly the Kuhn length of DNA) there is a dramatic drop in the relaxation time. Inasmuch as the chain friction rises with decreasing channel size, the reduction in the relaxation time can be solely attributed to the sharp decline in the fluctuations of the chain extension. Practically, the low variance in the observed DNA extension in such small channels has important implications for genome mapping.     

The early prevention of mathematics difficulty: its power and limitations

In this article, the authors consider the power and limitations of responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) for reducing the need for ongoing and intensive services for the segment of the school population traditionally identified as having a learning disability in mathematics. To assess the robustness of RTI, the authors describe four studies with strong demonstrations of efficacy, as they considered the percentage of students who failed to respond, the post-tutoring achievement gap between tutored and not-at-risk students, and the extent of transfer across components of the mathematics curriculum. The authors then discuss implications and additional research questions pertaining to mathematics intervention generally and within the context of RTI. They conclude with a proposal for an expanded conceptualization of RTI.     

The effects of individual or group guidelines on the calibration accuracy and achievement of high school biology students

A 2 × 2 factorial design was employed in a quasi-experiment to investigate the effects of guidelines in group or individual settings on the calibration accuracy and achievement of 82 high school biology students. Significant main effects indicated that calibration practice with guidelines and practice in group settings increased prediction and postdiction accuracy. A significant interaction showed that students who practiced calibration in groups using guidelines showed the greatest accuracy in their predictions and postdictions. Students in the guidelines condition and in the group setting condition had significantly higher achievement scores. The findings of this study suggest that the use of guidelines and group settings can promote calibration accuracy and achievement in high school biology courses.     

Building reading resilience: re-thinking reading for the literary studies classroom

This paper introduces the concept of ‘reading resilience’: students’ ability to read and interpret complex and demanding literary texts by drawing on advanced, engaged, critical reading skills. Reading resilience is a means for rethinking the place and pedagogies of close reading in the contemporary literary studies classroom. Our research was across four Australian universities and the first study of its kind in the Australian context. We trialled three working strategies to support students to become consistent and skilled readers, and to equip teachers with methods for coaching reading: ‘setting the scene’ for reading, surveying students on their reading experiences and habits, and rewarding reading within assessment. We argue that the nature and pedagogy of close reading has not been interrogated as much as it should be and that the building of reading resilience is less about modelling or outlining best practice for close reading (as has traditionally been thought) and more about deploying contextual, student-centred teaching and learning strategies around reading. The goal is to encourage students to develop a broad suite of skills and knowledge around reading that will equip them long term (for the university and beyond). We measured the effectiveness of our strategies through seeking formal and informal student feedback, and through students’ demonstration of skills and knowledge within assessment.