Project work in university mathematics education

This article discusses project work in university mathematics education. The practice perspective is obtained as students and teachers from Aalborg University share their experiences. A theoretical framework is introduced. It includes the following key-terms: Problem-centered studies, interdisciplinarity, participant-directed studies, and the exemplarity principle. The contrasting of this theoretical conception of project work with the practice shows that the original notion of project work has been modified as a consequence of its encounter with practice. The modification can be perceived as both a success and a failure. To discuss this, different perspectives on project work in mathematics are suggested.     

The changing nature of expertise: insights from the case of TAVI

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we interrogate the current views on medical expertise, and expertise more in general, by building upon the study of an innovative medical procedure called transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We find that phenomena like TAVI require that we modify our traditional views of expertise to acknowledge its social, material and distributed nature. We also find that in the case of TAVI expertise feeds upon the broad circuits of knowledge created by the combination of professional relationships, social ties and, increasingly, economic interests. Becoming and remaining an expert implies not only being socialised in a local regime of activity but increasingly also participating in, learning to navigate, and exploiting alternative and potentially competing circuits of knowledge, which may be controlled by private companies. The case of TAVI helps us to appreciate expertise as a translocal and connected phenomenon and foreground some of the implications of the emergence of proprietary circuits of knowledge.     

Effects of an 8-weeks erythropoietin treatment on mitochondrial and whole body fat oxidation capacity during exercise in healthy males

The present investigation was performed to elucidate if the non-erythropoietic ergogenic effect of a recombinant erythropoietin treatment results in an impact on skeletal muscle mitochondrial and whole body fatty acid oxidation capacity during exercise, myoglobin concentration and angiogenesis. Recombinant erythropoietin was administered by subcutaneous injections (5000 IU) in six healthy male volunteers (aged 21 ± 2 years; fat mass 18.5 ± 2.3%) over 8 weeks. The participants performed two graded cycle ergometer exercise tests before and after the intervention where VO_2max and maximal fat oxidation were measured. Biopsies of the vastus lateralis muscle were obtained before and after the intervention. Recombinant erythropoietin treatment increased mitochondrial O₂ flux during ADP stimulated state 3 respiration in the presence of complex I and II substrates (malate, glutamate, pyruvate, succinate) with additional electron input from β-oxidation (octanoylcarnitine) (from 60 ± 13 to 87 ± 24 pmol · s^?1 · mg^?1 P < 0.01). β-hydroxy-acyl-CoA-dehydrogenase activity was higher after treatment (P < 0.05), whereas citrate synthase activity also tended to increase (P = 0.06). Total myoglobin increased by 16.5% (P < 0.05). Capillaries per muscle area tended to increase (P = 0.07), whereas capillaries per fibre as well as the total expression of vascular endothelial growth factor remained unchanged. Whole body maximal fat oxidation was not increased after treatment. Eight weeks of recombinant erythropoietin treatment increases mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation capacity and myoglobin concentration without any effect on whole body maximal fat oxidation.     

Concerns of new university teachers

Eighty-one newly appointed university teachers at the University of Copenhagen were interviewed about their concerns in connection with their forthcoming class-room début. It appeared that most of them had some previous teaching experience. Only one out of four had never taught before. Primary among their concerns ranked problems with their personal subject matter adequacy and with organizing and verbally presenting subject matter in an adequate form. A comparison of their chief concerns with the content components that are most frequently included in education courses for University staff, suggests that some of the latter have little relevance for specifically beginner teachers. A particular analysis of inexperienced new teachers relative to those with ample previous experience unequivocally supports the assumption that inexperienced new teachers are primarily ego-centered in their concerns whilst their more experienced colleagues are primarily teaching- or student-centered in their concerns about teaching. The implications for the design of training programmes for university staff are discussed.     

Opportunities for inclusion? The education of learners with special educational needs and disabilities in special schools in Uganda

The Government of Uganda aims to provide good quality education for all learners in inclusive schools. However, some learners who have severe disabilities, including those who are deaf, will, for some time, continue to receive their education in special schools. In this article, Kirsten Kristensen, consultant in inclusive and special needs education for many countries in East Africa, Martin Omagor-Loican, Commissioner for Special Needs Education, Negris Onen, Principal Education Officer for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, both at the Ministry of Education in Sports in Uganda, and Daniel Okot, co-ordinator for the Diploma in Special Needs Education at Kyambogo University, provide an account of their study of 15 such schools. The findings from the study indicate a striking need for reform and transformation. While Uganda has an advanced structure for training teachers in special needs education, the quality of education and educational materials in special schools, is poor. Often children are admitted to special schools without proper assessment of their educational needs and the resources are not available to provide them with an appropriate range of experiences. The authors of this article call for a thoroughgoing review of provision and make a series of coherent and persuasive recommendations for developments in policy and practice focused on enabling special schools in Uganda to play an essential role in future as resource centres supporting an inclusive education system.     

The library before print and after the computer: The similarities between string search algorithms and mnemonic retrieval in pre-print libraries

It is a common assumption that digital technology stores and retrieves text differently than physical libraries do. Websites and digitized text uploaded on them are retrieved via algorithms, tied together by links, and so on, whereas physical libraries are structured by classification schemes, catalogs, and indexes. Nevertheless, looking further back in history, it can be argued that digital technology in fact makes us store and retrieve text as humanity did to begin with—before the invention of the printing press. This article argues how.     

The End of Innocence: A Critique of 'Ethnomathematics'

Ethnomathematics originated in the former colonies, in response to the Eurocentrism of the history of mathematics, mathematics itself and mathematics education. It has also found expression in several other contexts. It is a part of the broader framework that elaborates the social and political dimensions of mathematics and mathematics education but especially, the dimension of culture. This focus on culture examined in the unique context of South Africa makes visible both conceptual difficulties in its formulation and also difficulties with respect to its interpretation into educational practice. This paper explores a critique of ethnomathematics using the South African situation and conceptual tools of a critical mathematrics education.     

Between-school variation in physical activity,aerobic fitness,and organized sports participation: A multi-level analysis

Abstract

A large proportion of a child's day is spent at school interacting with certain physical surroundings, teachers, and school friends. Thus, schools could have a marked impact on establishing physical activity habits. The aim of the present study was to assess between-school variation in physical activity, aerobic fitness, and organized sports participation. Altogether, we tested 1766 nine- and fifteen-year-old children attending 242 school classes at 35 different schools in Denmark in 1997–2003. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for objectively assessed physical activity ranged between 0.06 and 0.18 depending on the dimension of physical activity and the time considered (i.e. school time vs. leisure time). For aerobic fitness, an ICC of 0.10 was observed, whereas that for organized sports participation ranged between 0.01 and 0.10 depending on the age group. Studying between-school variation in physical activity provides information about the extent to which children adjust their physical activity habits according to the social and environmental circumstances that they share, and helps to plan future school-based physical activity studies, especially in terms of sample size and power calculation.     

Soccer and Zumba as health-promoting activities among female hospital employees: a 40-weeks cluster randomised intervention study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological effects of soccer and Zumba among female hospital employees during a 40-week intervention period. Hospital employees (n = 118) were cluster-randomised to either a soccer group (n = 41), a Zumba group (n = 38) or a control group (n = 39). Both training groups were encouraged to perform 1-h training sessions twice a week outside working hours throughout the 40 weeks. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂ max), blood pressure and body composition were measured and blood samples collected before and after the intervention period. Using intention-to-treat analyses, the Zumba group improved VO₂ max compared to the control group (2.2 mL · kg^?1 · min^?1, 95% CI, 0.9, 3.5, P = 0.001), with no significant increase in the soccer group (1.1 mL · kg^?1 · min^?1, 95% CI, ?0.2, 2.4, P = 0.08). Both intervention groups reduced total body fat mass and fat percentage compared to the control group (P < 0.01). In the soccer group, but not the Zumba group, a significant difference in lower limb bone mineral density and bone mineral content was observed in comparison to the control group (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the soccer group, but not the Zumba group, had increased plasma osteocalcin (6.6 µg · L^?1, 95% CI, 2.2, 11.0, P < 0.01) and decreased plasma leptin (?6.6 µg · L^?1, 95% CI, ?12.5, ?0.7, P < 0.05) compared to the control group. The present study suggests that workplace-initiated soccer and Zumba training comprising 1–2 sessions per week outside working hours may promote physiological health among female hospital employees.     

Symbolic power, robotting, and surveilling

Symbolic power is discussed with reference to mathematics and formal languages. Two distinctions are crucial for establishing mechanical and formal perspectives: one between appearance and reality, and one between sense and reference. These distinctions include a nomination of what to consider primary and secondary. They establish the grammatical format of a mechanical and a formal world view. Such views become imposed on the domains addressed by means of mathematics and formal languages. Through such impositions symbolic power of mathematics becomes exercised. The idea that mathematics describes as it prioritises is discussed with reference to robotting and surveillance. In general, the symbolic power of mathematics and formal languages is summarised through the observations: that mathematics treats parts and properties as autonomous, that it dismembers what it addresses and destroys the organic unity around things, and that it simplifies things and reduces them to a single feature. But, whatever forms the symbolic power may take, it cannot be evaluated along a single good–bad axis.