Demarches de resolution et de simulation face au probleme de la ruine d'un joueur

Prior to large experimentations on the teaching of probability theory, it appeared useful to observe some students working for a fairly long time. This observation should make more precise the difficulties of an important aspect when solving probability problems: the modelling aspect. Does systematic use of simulation produce miracles as it is sometimes said? Are the students naturally sensitive to a frequentist approach of probability theory? This paper contains some results on these questions, for example we pointed out for some students an obstacle to the frequentist approach. The results permit to conceive how using simulation for teaching could contribute to an improvement of students' approach to probability.     

Effects of academic training on metatextual knowledge and hypertext navigation

We investigated the effects of college training on students’ metatextual knowledge, hypertext navigation strategies and their acquisition of problem-relevant information. Ten psychology undergraduates and nine clinical psychology post-graduate students were asked to study a 3,400-word, 14-section hypertext with the purpose of drafting a short essay on a specific, complex issue in the area of teenage psychopathology. The specialists outperformed the novices on a metatextual knowledge test. They spent more time visiting relevant sections of the hypertext, and wrote essays containing more critical information. They also displayed a better incidental memory for the hypertext structure. We discuss the data in terms of the late acquisition of metatextual knowledge and study strategies.     

The PISA Tasks: Unveiling Prospective Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Difficulties with Contextual,Conceptual, and Procedural Knowledge

The aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate the difficulties prospective elementary mathematics teachers have in solving the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 released items. A mathematics test consisting of 26 PISA items was administered, followed by interviews. Multiple data were utilized to provide rich insights into the types of mathematical knowledge that a particular item requires and prospective teachers’ difficulties in using these knowledge types. A sample of 52 prospective teachers worked the mathematics test, and 12 of them were interviewed afterwards. The data-sets were complementary: the quantitative data showed that PISA items could be categorized under contextual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge and indicated the most frequent difficulties in the combined contextual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge items. The qualitative data revealed that few prospective teachers could give mathematical explanations for conceptual knowledge items, and that their contextual knowledge was fragmented. Educational implications were discussed.     

A graphical method for relating multiple socio-economic goals to research and development objectives in agriculture

A quantitative graphical method is presented that identifies a set of technologies within an agricultural production sector that best serves a number of socio-economic goals. Technical research objectives that are derived from this set of technologies can be used by agricultural R&D policy planners as a guide when deciding on the selection and encouragement of specific research programmes.The application of this approach is illustrated with an example from sheep husbandry and wheat cultivation in a semi-arid zone in Israel. It is shown that the set of socio-economically viable technologies includes some of those that are applicable today as well as those that require more research. Despite the fact that some technologies do not meet all the goal criteria, they are currently applied for various reasons.It is suggested that the approach developed here can serve to bridge a communication gap between the agricultural development administration and the research establishment when evaluating agricultural R&D policy. It can also be used to determine the socio-economic limits to technological development in a given situation.     

Ramadan Fasting and the Propensity for Learning: Is There a Cause for Concern?

The literature indicates that glucose deprivation, dehydration, decreased sleep quality and quantity, and mood changes, independently and adversely can influence cognitive functions and therefore learning. The Ramadan fast is an annual religious act undertaken by Muslims where individuals refrain from consuming food and fluid during daylight hours, daily over 30 days. Alteration in eating times and sleep–wake cycles lead to a disruption in the body's daily circadian rhythm resulting in sleep perturbations and mood swings. Consequently, Ramadan fasting is linked to daytime lower glucose concentration, dehydration, decreased sleep quality and quantity, mood swings and elevated subjective feelings of fatigue and malaise. This review highlights how Ramadan fasting potentially poses learning difficulties as a result of the independent and/or combined effects of these factors.     

Effects of orthographic consistency and word length on the dynamics of written production in adults: psycholinguistic and rTMS experiments

Reading and Writing - Recent studies on written word production aim at studying how information is transmitted between central (linguistic) and peripheral (motor) processes. Neurocognitive models...     

Transformation impossible: policy,evidence and change in South African higher education

Higher Education - A quarter of a century after South Africa’s transition to democracy, the rhetoric of ‘transformation’ remains firmly ingrained in its higher education policy...     

Tackling the anxiety of learning statistics: The mystery of the red envelope

Most graduate programs in management require students to carry out a substantive research project. However, few management students have a comfortable command of the statistical techniques needed to realize such quantitative projects. This can lead to student anxiety and stress, which challenges instructors to devise ways to build students’ self-efficacy with statistical analysis. Drawing on game-based learning principles, we developed an exercise to help students in a graduate-level research methods course practice these statistical techniques. Designed around a series of four gamified challenges, students perform basic statistical analyses (correlations, t-tests, and simple linear regression) to solve puzzles and unlock a reward hidden in a mysterious red envelope. We used the exercise on seven occasions (five times in the methods course and twice in a graduate program preparatory course). After launching it in fall 2021, we observed that students were engaged and enthusiastic about the exercise. To ascertain its effectiveness more systematically, we collected data in five subsequent sections using a pretest/posttest design (N = 84) which showed that perceptions of statistics self-efficacy increased following the exercise. We conclude by suggesting that our exercise can be tailored to other learning contexts such as management and statistics-centered courses.     

Documenting Collections: Cornerstones for More History of Science in Museums

Historians of science have recently become increasingly involved with collections and scientific instruments. This creates opportunities for a more significant role of history in museums of science, as well as more meaningful and contextualized exhibitions and educational programmes. However, complementing the mainstream focus on universal scientific principles with history requires structural and cultural changes in museums’ approaches and practices. In this paper we draw from recent collaborative work with historians of science at the University of Lisbon to reflect on the challenges museums face as they prepare for a more meaningful historical approach to science. We argue that documentation is crucial both before objects enter the museum and as regular collections practice. We propose a conceptual and methodological framework comprising two operational levels: documenting individual objects and documenting collections.