PE/CaCO3-nanocomposites synthesized by in-situ polymerization

Polyethylene-nanocomposites with CaCO3-weight fractions from 0 to 15 wt.% were prepared by in-situ polymeriza- tion with Me2Si(Ind)2ZrCl2/MAO metallocene catalysts. A high activity especially in the presence of TIBA was observed. The morphology was investigated by using raster electron microscopy (REM) showing that the CaCO3-nanoparticles are uniformly distributed. The melting temperatures and the crystallization temperatures are not much influenced by increasing filler content.     

Using Technology-Enhanced Inquiry-Based Instruction to Foster the Development of Elementary Students’ Views on the Nature of Science

The Next Generation Science Standards support understanding of the nature of science as it is practiced and experienced in the real world through interconnected concepts to be imbedded within scientific practices and crosscutting concepts. This study explored how fourth and fifth grade elementary students’ views of nature of science change when they engage in a technology-enhanced, scientific inquiry-oriented curriculum that takes place across formal and informal settings. Results suggest that student engagement in technology-enhanced inquiry activities that occur in informal and formal settings when supported through explicit instruction focused on metacognitive and social knowledge construction can improve elementary students’ understanding of nature of science.

     

Film Biographies

Dore Schary, Heyday (Boston: Little Brown, 1979 -- $14.95)

Rosiland Delmar, Joris Ivens: 50 Years of Film-Making (London: British Film Institute, 1979---£2.45)

Allen Estrin, The Hollywood Professionals, Volume 6: Capra, Cukor, Brown (South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes, 1980 -- $12.00 hardcover)

Stan Brakhage, Film Biographies (Berkeley, California: Netzahualcoyotl Historical Society, 1979 -- $7.95 in paper -- write c/o 2845 Buena Vista Way, Berkeley 94708)

Stuart Kaminsky, Coop: The Life and Legend of Gary Cooper (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980 -- $10.95)     

Using desktop publishing in an editing class—the lessons learned and students' assessments

This article—based on personal observations, a survey, and modified Nominal Group Techniques—reports students' perceptions of learning desktop publishing systems (DTP). Students learned the foundations of DTP in less than 60 hours of hands‐on experience; the incremental introduction of DTP functions and practice sessions before the assignments were more effective than alternative teaching strategies tried; and the use of DTP encouraged non‐artistic students to use artwork to enhance their publications.     

The impact of teacher preparation on student achievement in algebra in a “hard-to-staff” urban PreK-12-university partnership

Debate about teacher supply, demand, retention, and attrition has been renewed in recent years by an increased concern about the reduced numbers of prospective teachers entering teacher education programs, the high attrition rate of beginning teachers, and the resulting teacher shortages. U.S. schools are experiencing teacher shortages, especially in low-income urban areas, because of increased school enrollment, teacher retirement, reduction in class size, teacher attrition, and turnover related to low salaries, job dissatisfaction, and lack of administrative support and influence over decision-making. Recently, the increased interest in teacher quality has been the topic of debate for policy-makers, the public, and the educational community. The purpose of this study was to determine if a nontraditional teacher preparation program, the Transition To Teaching program, was a viable way to ease the teacher shortages in a high poverty, urban U.S. school district, and at the same time, to evaluate the impact of teacher training on students' academic achievement. The results of this study afford evidence that the students taught by 1st-year, alternatively prepared teachers achieved as well as or better than their peers taught by traditionally certified 1st-year teachers, according to student achievement in mathematics, specifically Algebra I.