Crossword

The first part carries the answers to the crossword on cell that appeared in the October 2018 issue of Resonance while the second part contains a new crossword on nucleic acids.     

THE ACHIEVEMENT GOALS ORIENTATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN FIRST YEAR UNIVERSITY PHYSICS STUDENTS

This paper is concerned with organizational principles of a pool of familiar problems of expert problem posers and the ways by which they are utilized for creating new problems. The presented case of Leo is part of a multiple-case study with expert problem posers for mathematics competitions. We present and inductively analyze the data collected in a reflective interview and in a clinical task-based interview with Leo. In the first interview, Leo was asked to share with us the stories behind some problems posed by him in the past. In the second interview, he was asked to pose a new competition problem in a thinking-aloud mode. We found that Leo’s pool of familiar problems is organized in classes according to certain nesting ideas. Furthermore, these nesting ideas serve him in posing problems that, ideally, are perceived by Leo as novel and surprising not only to potential solvers, but also to himself. Because of the lack of empirical research on experts in mathematical problem posing, the findings are discussed in light of research on experts in problem solving and on novices in mathematical problem posing.     

Adjustment to college and prediction of depression during post-secondary transition

Many studies have reported an increase in mental health problems during post-secondary transition, often originating from high school years. The present study examined how depressive symptoms during the 2 years following the post-secondary transition could be predicted by, on the one hand, school performance, externalized and learning difficulties, and depressive symptoms before the post-secondary transition, and on the other hand, personal factors, family functioning, and adjustment to college after the transition. From a sample of 438 participants (M = 16.20, SD = 0.87) at time point 1, an integrated model was elaborated using structural equation modeling. The statistical analyses showed that the five constructs fit the data well. The path coefficients showed a negative relationship between externalized and learning problems as perceived by the teacher (ELPT) before the transition and academic performance (AP). Personal characteristics (PC) negatively predicted academic adjustment (AC) over time, whereas the path coefficients between the family factor (FF) and AC were not significant over time. ELPT and AP negatively predicted depression at time point 1. At time points 2 and 3, PC positively predicted depression, and depressive symptoms were positively related over time. The percentage of variance accounted for by the depressive symptoms increased over time.     

Longitudinal resistance performance of granular ballast beds under cyclic symmetric displacement loading

The longitudinal resistance performance of a granular ballast bed under cyclic symmetric displacement loading was studied based on a full-scale test model of ballast track structures. The change law of the longitudinal resistance characteristics of the ballast bed under variable displacement amplitudes was analyzed. The results show that: the resistance-displacement curves of a granular ballast bed are a set of closed hysteretic curves, indicating obvious energy consumption; a granular ballast bed softens gradually during the cyclic process with constant displacement amplitude, and the residual deformation rate increases nonlinearly with increasing cycle number; the peak value of the longitudinal resistance of lines decreases with increasing cycle number; the cyclic softening of a granular ballast bed is dependent on the displacement amplitude–the higher the displacement, the more severe the cyclic softening will become; after cyclic displacement loading is applied several times, the longitudinal resistance of the bed will degenerate obviously, and the higher the displacement amplitude, the higher the longitudinal resistance attenuation rate of the ballast bed will become.     

Different ways in which students handle chance encounters in the explorative setting of a dice game

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ways in which Swedish seventh grade students (12 and 13 years old) handle chance encounters. Four groups of students working in pairs participated in the study. In the group discussions, which were tape-recorded and fully transcribed, the students were encouraged to explore strategies for winning a specifically designed dice game based on the sum of two dice. The dice game included four different set-ups of dice designed to bring to the fore different aspects of probability modelling and to offer the student the opportunity to encounter small differences in the mathematical structure of the sample space and of the probability distribution between the four different set-ups. The study describes strategies that the students use when confronted with these different set-ups, what their activities imply in terms of resources in handling random phenomena and what the dice game offers in terms of opportunities for learning probability. In order to explain such meaning-making processes the students’ activities are viewed from a perspective that takes into consideration how the students’ understanding varies with their interpretations of the situation they are confronted with, i.e., how they contextualize the different set-ups of the dice game. The results show how the students, during the course of the game, reorganize their interpretations of the mathematical content confronting them, and how a variation of guiding principles becomes the object of exploration. Approaches of extremes and a number model are described as a means for the students to identify and assign probabilities for the total of two dice.     

Design,development, and implementation of electronic learning environments for collaborative learning

Developments in society and business, and related changes in higher education and lifelong learning, require educators and educational designers or technologists to rethink education. Examples of such changes are the growing importance of achieving complex learning, the integration of learning and work in education, and the need for improved flexibility with regard to time, place, and individual needs. These changes cannot simply be responded to by adding technological solutions implemented according to existing educational approaches. Instead, an integrated view of e-learning is necessary, characterized by the combination of pedagogical, technical, social, and organizational factors. This two-part special issue elaborates on the different characteristics of integrated e-learning, from design through future topics for research. He would like to give special thanks to Jan Elen and Brent Wilson, who took on the task of reviewing and discussing all of the contributions, both at AECT 2003 in Anaheim and for this issue, and J. Michael Spector, Development Editor of this journal, for his faith in all of us.     

Moderators of the interest congruence-occupational outcome relation

Several reasons for the modest relation between interest congruence and occupational outcomes are discussed, but focus is placed on possible moderators of this relation. Specifically individual differences, environmental differences and time are proposed as potential moderators. Overall, it is important to investigate theoretically driven moderators of the congruence-outcome relation to further our knowledge of this area.     

A Systematic Literature Review of Funding for Higher Education Institutions in Developed Countries

Resource allocation and funding in higher education is crucial to the success of reform and transformation of our higher education system. With a view to identifying trends and best practices in the area, utilizing a method of systematic literature review, we have critically reviewed relevant theories and practices from developed counties that are covered in the scholarly literature published in English in the past 10 years. Our review has revealed: (1) Several universal trends have exerted a decisive impact on resource allocation in higher education, for example, funding reduction and tuition fee increases, performancebased funding, privatization, corporatization, and internationalization; (2) Several theories underpin key research in the area, for example, new institutional economics, resource dependence theory, and political economy; (3) Several controversial issues have made their way into public debate, for example, higher education as a public good or private good, academic capitalism, educational equity, and the role of econometrics.