Development of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Professional Knowledge and Identity in Working with Information and Communication Technology

This paper describes the workundertaken in a course in communication andinformation technology in a pre-service programfor secondary school mathematics teachers. Thiscourse aimed to help pre-service teachersdevelop a positive attitude regarding ICT anduse it confidently. It focused on theexploration of educational software and of theInternet's potential as a means of research andproduction of web sites. We discuss how thepre-service mathematics teachers evaluate theirwork concerning their commitment, difficultiesthey found, learning they identified, andpersonal relationship. We also analyse theeffects of the course on the development oftheir professional knowledge and identity.     

The impact of image characteristics on written naming in adults

The present study was aimed at investigating whether and how image characteristics influence written naming performance in adults. In three different sessions, participants had to quickly write down the names of pictured objects on a graphic tablet. Across sessions, the picture format was different, but the to-be-named objects were the same: There were black-and-white pictures (Snodgrass & Vanderwart’s [SV] 1980 drawings), grayscale and colored pictures of the SV drawings as provided by Rossion and Pourtois (2004). Linear-mixed models (LMM) were used to analyze written latencies. The main findings were the following: (1) Colorized pictures yielded shorter written naming latencies than line drawings with the grayscale pictures being situated between the two; (2) Both within- and between-picture format LMM revealed reliable effects of name agreement, objective word frequency, frequency trajectory (the effect was marginal in the grayscale condition), and imageability on written latencies. The influence of image agreement was, however, less stable (reliable only in the colorized condition in the within-picture format LMM analysis; significant with both line drawings and their colorized version only in the between-picture format LMM analysis); (3) None of the interactions with picture format reached significance except the interaction of Image agreement with Picture format. In line with Bonin, Roux, Barry, & Canell (2012b), the findings support a limited-cascading account of written word production.

     

The open method of coordination and the implementation of the Bologna process

In this paper the authors argue that the use of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) in the implementation of the Bologna process presents coordination problems that do not allow for the full coherence of the results. As the process is quite complex, involving three different levels (European, national and local) and as the final actors in the implementation process higher education institutions (HEIs) have considerable degree of autonomy, assuming that the implementation of Bologna is a top–down linear policy implementation process does not account for the developments taking place, which produce implementation difficulties at several different levels. Constraints resulting from economic concerns at European and national levels may be an obstacle for the Bologna’s contribution to a social Europe.     

The application of production functions to the higher education system — some examples from Portuguese universities

Production functions were established for the Arts and Law Faculties of Coimbra and Lisbon Universities and for the Higher Institute of Engineering of Lisbon, in which the number of enrolled students was related to the number of professors and assistants. It was possible to find in Coimbra and Lisbon Universities the existence of possibilities of substitution among those factors and economies of scale. In the case of the Higher Institute of Engineering there seems to exist a relation of complementarity between the number of professors and assistants. Also with regard to this Institute, a production function for graduates was estimated which relates them to the expenditures on academic staff and materials. It was found that in this case it was necessary to introduce time as a representative of technological progress, although it was found to be negative. These results are discussed, and the interest and the limitations of the use of production functions for educational management purposes are outlined.     

Can the LCFF Improve Teaching and Learning for EL Students? A Review of the Emerging Research in California and Directions for Future Implementation

Unlike previous school finance policies, California’s new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) has the potential to more equitably distribute funding to public schools. Having only recently been implemented, the impact of this policy is still under examination. However, emerging research points to the shortcomings of the policy, including the lack of explicit focus on English learners (EL). Many of the limitations of the LCFF can be attributed to the lack of spending accountability and specific measurable outcomes in the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). This article discusses remedies and recommendations for increased attention and accountability for EL students in future implementations of the LCFF and LCAP.     

Application of functional principal component analysis in race walking: An emerging methodology

This study considered the problem of identifying and evaluating the factors of individual performance during race walking. In particular, the study explored the use of functional principal component analysis (f-PCA), a multivariate data analysis, for assessing and classifying the kinematics and kinetics of the knee joint in competitive race walkers. Seven race walkers of international and national level participated to the study. An optoelectronic system and a force platform were used to capture three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics of lower limbs during the race walking cycle. Functional principal component analysis was applied bilaterally to the sagittal knee angle and net moment data, because knee joint motion is fundamental to race walking technique. Scatterplots of principal component scores provided evidence of athletes' technical differences and asymmetries even when traditional analysis (mean ± s curves) was not effective. Principal components provided indications for race walkers' classification and identified potentially important technical differences between higher and lower skilled athletes. Therefore, f-PCA might represent a future aid for the fine analysis of sports movements, if consistently applied to performance monitoring.     

Cross-Border Higher Education: The Expansion of International Branch Campuses

Research in Higher Education - The international expansion of higher education has intensified in recent decades with a rapidly growing number of international branch campuses appearing on the...     

Detection of explanation obstacles in scientific texts: the effect of an understanding task vs. an experiment task

The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of tasks on the detection of explanation obstacles when secondary school students read scientific texts. Students were instructed to read short passages under different task conditions, and to ask questions if necessary. Obstacle detection was operationalised in terms of the type of questions asked by the students. The experiment examined the influence of goals associated with the task of reading to understand a text vs. reading to perform a procedure described by the text (a science experiment). Significantly, more explanation obstacles were found in the understanding condition than in the experiment condition. Scientific text also had an effect on the explanation obstacles detected.     

Tracing the evolution of education through street maps and town plans: educational institutions in the maps of Edinburgh during the seventeenth,eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

In recent years, visual records have come to be seen as important sources of information in the study of education and its history. However, most of the images used in this way simply provide a glimpse – though admittedly a precise one – of only one moment in the educational process. Graphic verisimilitude is not only to be found in these images; it might also be found in iconographic and symbolic representations that indicate not just the existence of the facts and phenomena represented, but also their significance. An example of this might be the study of the graphic and textual references to educational institutions that appear in maps. It is with the aim of discovering what these primary sources – maps and street plans – can teach us that we have carried out this study of the cartography of the city of Edinburgh in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a period that saw great changes in both the urban geography of the city and in education. This article describes the rationale, processes and results of this study.