Flounders unlimited

The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to higher mathematical concepts and techniques as applied to real-world problems. An interesting case study is the 200-mile limit for fisheries presented in Wan (1989, Mathematical Models and their Analysis (New York: Harper and Row)). It is commented upon, re-examined and solved in a different manner inspired by Turing's (1952, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London , B237 , 37-72) paper as a suitable classroom example for undergraduate students taking a first course on mathematical modelling. Emphasis is made not only on the mathematics--always kept as elementary as possible--but also on interpretations, explanations and translation into plain language of the mathematical expressions and results.     

Contents Vol. 1

Volume Contents

Contents Vol. 1     

The funding of universities in the Netherlands: Developments and trends

Recently, the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science proposed that the funding system of Dutch universities be drastically altered by introducing a system of capacity funding. The intention is to abandon the current (direct) student dependence in funding and, instead, to offer a stable, long-term funds perspective. If this capacity funding is actually adopted, a trend break in the funding system of higher education and research in the Netherlands will occur.This article describes the developments in the funding of Dutch universities over the past decades and the (expected) developments for the future. With regard to the near future and in addition to the capacity funding intended the author will also discuss other developments anticipated by him.It will be shown that during the last forty years four generations of funding models have been used in the Netherlands. Soon the changeover to the fifth generation will possibly be made. A number of issues will be discussed, such as the introduction (and enlargement) of lump sum funding, elements of output funding (performance based funding) and competition on the basis of quality.First, some basic characteristics of funding systems in general will be presented. They will be used to analyse the relevant developments in the Dutch higher education allocation systems.     

Love as a Language for Educational Justice

Abstract

Schools need to do a better job of recognizing the contributions and gifts students bring with them. Such a community-spirit approach could help everyone, from teachers and parents to district leaders and the Secretary of Education, dissuade the public from individualistic school structures and instead focus on equitable solutions that include the norms and histories of the people schools serve.     

Reading ability and memory span: Long-term memory contributions to span for good and poor readers

A number of studies have shown that childrenwith reading difficulties perform poorly ontests of verbal memory span. The extent towhich differences in memory span for good andpoor readers can be explained by differences ina long-term memory component to span as well asby differences in short-term memory processeswas investigated in this study. Memory spanand rehearsal rate were measured for high andlow frequency words and nonwords. Althoughmemory span performance for high frequencywords was comparable for all reading abilitygroups, good readers had better memory spanperformance for low frequency words. This wasattributable to differences in both short-termand long-term memory contributions to spanperformance. Differences between readingability groups also emerged when memory spanfor nonwords was measured. In this case,differences between groups also appeared to bethe result of difficulties which poor readersencountered in learning newphonologically-based materials (i.e. nonwords). The nature of the inter-relationships betweenmemory span, reading and measures ofphonological awareness are discussed in thelight of these findings.     

International Seminar on University Governance and Management: An Overview

Tertiary Education and Management -     

Sensors,programming and devices in Art Education sessions. One case in the context of primary education / Sensores,programación y dispositivos en sesiones de Educación Artística. Un caso en el contexto de Educación Primaria

The pedagogical integration of computing is interesting in educational contexts based on the contributions of Seymour Papert and Wing’s concept of computational thinking. Integrating arts in education can lead to the design of activities using Scratch combined with devices. The main goal is to evaluate the integration of computational thinking in art education making use of technological resources, sensor cards and minicomputers, with a student-centred pedagogical approach. This research assesses the results of a control group of 35 students and an experimental group of 109 students in four different schools, using Mann-Whitney’s U-test for independent samples assessing ‘Active Learning’, ‘computational concepts’ and ‘fun’ scales. Applying data triangulation, and consistent with design-based research, the results of interviews and focus groups reinforced the results obtained in the aforementioned test, providing validity to the study. There are advantages regarding student interest, motivation and commitment related to programming technologies in art and education, particularly pedagogical sessions with music. Handling devices, sensors and Raspberry Pi provides participating students with a factor of commitment and enthusiasm, with significant improvements. Working with coding and devices brings an additional advantage in the development of computational thinking and digital competence. The results show an increase in creativity and artistic competence related to the ability to create music from the activities and technological resources described in the technological intervention.     

The Contribution of a Response-Production Component to a Free-Response Synonym Task

A cognitive approach to the study of format differences is illustrated using synonym tasks. By means of a multiple regression analysis with latent variables, it is shown that both a response-production component and an evaluation component are involved in answering a free-response synonym task. Given the results of Janssen, De Boeck, and Vander Steene (1996), the format differences between the multiple-choice evaluation task and the free-response synonym task can be explained in terms of the kinds of verbal abilities measured. The evaluation task is a pure measure of verbal comprehension, while the free-response synonym task is affected by verbal comprehension and verbal fluency, as well. The design used to study format differences controls both for content effects and for the effects of repeating item stems across formats.