How Secondary Mathematics Preservice Teachers Grapple with Enacting Culturally Responsive Practices at Placement Sites

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - Many scholars call for teacher educators to provide experiences that can lead prospective teachers to adopt and implement culturally...     

Combining fiber dissection,plastination, and tractography for neuroanatomical education: Revealing the cerebellar nuclei and their white matter connections

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in white matter anatomy of the human brain. With advances in brain imaging techniques, the significance of white matter integrity for brain function has been demonstrated in various neurological and psychiatric disorders. As the demand for interpretation of clinical and imaging data on white matter increases, the needs for white matter anatomy education are changing. Because cross‐sectional images and formalin‐fixed brain specimens are often insufficient in visualizing the complexity of three‐dimensional (3D) white matter anatomy, obtaining a comprehensible conception of fiber tract morphology can be difficult. Fiber dissection is a technique that allows isolation of whole fiber pathways, revealing 3D structural and functional relationships of white matter in the human brain. In this study, we describe the use of fiber dissection in combination with plastination to obtain durable and easy to use 3D white matter specimens that do not require special care or conditions. The specimens can be used as a tool in teaching white matter anatomy and structural connectivity. We included four human brains and show a series of white matter specimens of both cerebrum and cerebellum focusing on the cerebellar nuclei and associated white matter tracts, as these are especially difficult to visualize in two‐dimensional specimens and demonstrate preservation of detailed human anatomy. Finally, we describe how the integration of white matter specimens with radiological information of new brain imaging techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging tractography can be used in teaching modern neuroanatomy with emphasis on structural connectivity. Anat Sci Educ. 7: 47–55. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Effects of Academic Discipline and Teaching Goals in Predicting Grading Beliefs Among Undergraduate Teaching Faculty

Prior research reveals that differential grading patterns exist among the academic disciplines. One explanation may lie in discipline-related differences in teaching goals and beliefs about the meaning grades should convey. This study examined the effects of academic discipline and teaching goals on grading beliefs. A national sample (n = 442) of undergraduate teaching faculty provided responded to a survey measuring the importance of various teaching goals and orientations toward norm-referenced or criterion-referenced grading (Frame of Reference), and beliefs about using grades to sort and select students on the basis of achievement (Gatekeeping). Both teaching goals and academic discipline were significantly related to gatekeeping beliefs, but not to beliefs about frames of reference for grading. Higher gatekeeping scores were associated with faculty in the paradigmatic fields and those who emphasized analytic skills and time management. Lower gatekeeping scores were associated with the preparadigmatic disciplines and teaching goals of synthesis and integration and developing respect for others. Faculty who identified their primary teaching role as subject matter oriented were more gatekeeping than those who identified themselves primarily as being student/personal development oriented.     

Synthesis of RC transfer immittance functions with a minimum number of capacitors

In this paper a method for the realization of RC transfer immittance functions with an unsymmetrical lattice is presented. The method yields minimal capacitor realizations for Z₁₂(s) with no pole at s = 0 and ?y₁₂(s) having no pole at s = ∞. The number of resistors needed are only two more than the minimum needed.     

Jordanian and Malaysian science teachers' prominent perceived professional needs: A comparison

The prominent perceived professional needs of 365 Jordanian and 1,162 Malaysian secondary-level science teachers were examined using the Science Teacher Inventory of Need. These were compared across subgroups of the respective samples and across the two samples. The Jordanian science teachers' needs were in the areas of delivering science instruction, managing science instruction, administering science instructional facilities and equipment, and improving one's competence as a science teacher. The Malaysian science teachers' needs came from those four areas plus the area specifying objectives for science instruction. Needs from the first four areas were shared across the two samples. These needs were similar to ones observed in U.S. samples. The reason for the similarities is questioned.     

Educational concerns of Arabic speaking migrants from Sudan and Iraq to Melbourne: Expectations on migrant parents in Australia

Families immigrating to Australia face many challenges integrating into the educational system, including language barriers and interrupted schooling. We have qualitatively evaluated the educational concerns of Arabic migrants from Sudan and Iraq to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, a city that receives a high percentage of Australia's immigrants. Using an interactive paradigm incorporating focus group discussions for thematic analysis, we concluded that the parents’ frame of reference for education was a more didactic style of learning. Parents viewed education as an essential part of the way forward for their children in Australia. However, it was stressful for them to try to cope with a new host nation's expectation of their involvement in their children's education while at the same time dealing with a language barrier. Professionals should look to empower parents with structural information about the key elements of the educational curriculum with minimal reliance on written technical language and match their expectations of parental involvement to the situation of the parents.     

Mathematical thinking in second-grade children with different forms of LD

Based on their performance on a standardized achievement test, second-grade children (N = 49) were classified as having mathematics difficulties with normal reading achievement (MD only), both mathematics and reading difficulties (MD/RD), reading difficulties with normal mathematics achievement (RD only) and normal mathematics and reading achievement (NA). Each child was given a series of tasks so that we might assess their thinking across four areas of mathematics: number facts, story problems, place value, and written calculation. Children with MD/RD performed significantly worse than NA children in most areas of mathematical thinking, whereas children with MD only performed worse than NA children only on complex story problems. The MD-only group outperformed the MD/RD group on story problems and written calculation. No significant differences were found between the RD-only and NA groups on any of the tasks. The results suggested that among children with mathematics difficulties, the MD/RD subgroup is distinct from the MD-only subgroup, with the former being characterized by pervasive deficiencies in mathematical thinking and the latter by more specific deficits in problem solving.     

Negotiating status hierarchies in middle school inquiry science: implications for marginal non-participation

Instructional Science - While previous classroom studies of status hierarchies tell us who has low status and how to increase those learners’ participation in small group contexts via...     

A comparison of the aversive and female attractant properties of urine from dominant and subordinate male mice

The urine of individual dominant and subordinate male mice was tested for male-aversive and female-attractant properties using dominant and subordinate male donors and Ss and estrous and anestrous female Ss in open-field tests. The results indicate (1) the presence of a factor in the urine of dominant males which proves aversive to both dominant and subordinate Ss, (2) the presence of a female attractant in the urine of dominant males, (3) naive females must be in estrous to respond positively to male urine. The results are discussed in terms of preputial and coagulating gland contents, androgen levels, and possible territorial functions.