Mapping Curriculum Innovation in STEM Schools to Assessment Requirements: Tensions and Dilemmas

Specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools create niche areas in an attempt to attract the best students, establish the school status, and justify their privilege to valuable resources. One Singapore STEM school does this in applied science learning to differentiate its curriculum from the national prescribed curriculum. Reflecting on the issues of curriculum innovation from the perspective of a teacher and head of department in this school, the second author discusses the constraints in curriculum innovation in a specialized school context embedded within a larger system of the national curriculum. We reflect on her experiences in designing, planning, writing, and implementing applied science courses and the challenges in having to simultaneously address the standardized assessment guidelines.     

Ultra-sensitive hybrid diamond nanothermometer

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are promising quantum sensors because of their long spin coherence time under ambient conditions. However, their spin resonances are relatively insensitive to non-magnetic parameters such as temperature. A magnetic-nanoparticle-nanodiamond hybrid thermometer, where the temperature change is converted to the magnetic field variation near the Curie temperature, were demonstrated to have enhanced temperature sensitivity () (Wang N, Liu G-Q and Leong W-H et al. Phys Rev X 2018; 8: 011042), but the sensitivity was limited by the large spectral broadening of ensemble spins in nanodiamonds. To overcome this limitation, here we show an improved design of a hybrid nanothermometer using a single NV center in a diamond nanopillar coupled with a single magnetic nanoparticle of copper-nickel alloy, and demonstrate a temperature sensitivity of . This hybrid design enables detection of 2 mK temperature changes with temporal resolution of 5 ms. The ultra-sensitive nanothermometer offers a new tool to investigate thermal processes in nanoscale systems.     

题目：利用稻壳灰和人工砂的轻质油棕壳混凝土力学性能的提高

目的：探索稻壳灰和人工砂在轻质油棕壳混凝土中部分替换水泥和细骨料对混凝土力学性能的影响,期望得到力学性能较高的轻质混凝土。方法：1.将不同比例的稻壳灰（5%,10%,15%和20%）替换水泥和100%的人工砂或石粉替换沙子,研究它们对混凝土抗压强度的影响;2.研究不同替换比例的稻壳灰（0和15%）和人工砂（0,50%和100%）对混凝土力学性能的综合影响。结论：1.在15%的稻壳灰替换水泥和100%人工砂替换沙子的情况下,最大抗压强度为51.49 MPa;2.替换比例为15%稻壳灰和100%人工砂的组合表现出最好的力学性能,包括抗压强度、抗拉强度、抗弯强度和杨氏模量。     

Identity conflict in sojourners

The research adopted an intrapersonal perspective on identity and acculturation and explored the prediction of identity conflict in Chinese sojourners in Singapore. One hundred and six sojourners from the People's Republic of China completed a questionnaire which assessed tolerance of ambiguity, attributional complexity, host and co-national identification, quality and quantity of host and co-national contact, perceived discrimination, cultural distance, length of residence abroad and identity conflict. Step-wise regression analysis revealed that greater tolerance of ambiguity, attributional complexity, and co-national identification and less perceived discrimination and contact with host nationals predicted lower levels of identity conflict. These variables combined to account for 35% of the variance in the outcome measure. Results are discussed in terms of competing models of identity, acculturation and cross-cultural adaptation.     

From ITPA Language Profiles to the Componential Analysis of Early Reading Processes

This paper discusses the role of phonological and morphological processing in learning to read and spell. It is also a personal reflection on the author's research program in these areas for nearly 30 years, moving from language profiles of children with special needs to componential analysis of reading and spelling. Several studies on the effect of morphological processing on reading and spelling are outlined. It is suggested that the trend is towards a cross-linguistic framework and studies of psycholinguistic and neurocognitive levels of reading processes.     

An electrohydrodynamic flow in ac electrowetting

In ac electrowetting, hydrodynamic flows occur within a droplet. Two distinct flow patterns were observed, depending on the frequency of the applied electrical signal. The flow at low-frequency range was explained in terms of shape oscillation and a steady streaming process in conjunction with contact line oscillation. The origin of the flow at high-frequency range has not yet been explained. We suggest that the high-frequency flow originated mainly from the electrothermal effect, in which electrical charge is generated due to the gradient of electrical conductivity and permittivity, which is induced by the Joule heating of fluid medium. To support our argument, we analyzed the flow field numerically while considering the electrical body force generated by the electrothermal effect. We visualized the flow pattern and measured the flow velocity inside the droplet. The numerical results show qualitative agreement with experimental results with respect to electric field and frequency dependence of flow velocity. The effects of induced-charge electro-osmosis, natural convection, and the Marangoni flow are discussed.     

Psychometric Properties of the Caregiver Assessment of Movement Participation Scale for Screening Children with Development Coordination Disorders

Using Rasch analysis, the psychometric properties of a newly developed 35‐item parent‐proxy instrument, the Caregiver Assessment of Movement Participation (CAMP), designed to measure movement participation problems in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder, were examined. The CAMP was administered to 465 school children aged 5–10 years. Thirty of the 35 items were retained as they had acceptable infit and outfit statistics. Item separation (7.48) and child separation (3.16) were good; moreover, the CAMP had excellent reliability (Reliability Index for item = 0.98; Person = 0.91). Principal components analysis of item residuals confirmed the unidimensionality of the instrument. Based on category probability statistics, the original five‐point scale was collapsed into a four‐point scale. The item threshold calibration of the CAMP with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children Test was computed. The results indicated that a CAMP total score of 75 is the optimal cut‐off point for identifying children at risk of movement problems.