A Model for Inverting the Advanced Calculus Classroom

In this paper I discuss my experience in using the inverted classroom structure to teach a proof-based, upper level Advanced Calculus course. The structure of the inverted classroom model allows students to begin learning the new mathematics prior to the class meeting. By front-loading learning of new concepts, students can use valuable class time for exploring and solving complex problems, with the instructor available for guidance and assistance. This paper compares student performance in the inverted classroom with student performance in the direct instruction classroom. I also share student perceptions of the inverted classroom experience.     

Children's Reasoning About Self-Presentation Following Rule Violations: The Role of Self-Focused Attention

Rule violations are likely to serve as key contexts for learning to reason about public identity. In an initial study with 91 children aged 4–9 years, social emotions and self‐presentational concerns were more likely to be cited when children were responding to hypothetical vignettes involving social‐conventional rather than moral violations. In 2 further studies with 376 children aged 4–9 years, experimental manipulations of self‐focused attention (either by leading children to believe they were being video‐recorded or by varying audience reactions to transgressions) were found to elicit greater attention to social evaluation following moral violations, although self‐presentational concerns were consistently salient in the context of social‐conventional violations. The role of rule transgressions in children’s emerging self‐awareness and social understanding is discussed.     

Jakob Leupold's Imaginary Automatic Anamorphic Devices of 1713

In 1713, the scientific instrument-maker Jakob Leupold published designs for three machines were the first attempt to design machinery with internal moving parts that replaced human agency in creating original images. This paper first analyzes his text and engravings in order to explain how he proposed to do this, given contemporary materials and command of physical forces. Next, it characterizes the devices as a transition from concepts of incision to concepts of mirroring, taken as models of the history of mechanical reproduction. And finally, Leupold’s replacement of the sighting grid with differential gears points to a set of problems appearing in contemporary philosophy represented in Rococo artistic production of this period as well. Taking the proposed devices in context, they help to theorize the complex notions of creative activity in Rococo visual culture. Taken as an episode in the history of communications, they instance the development of conceptions of personhood and of physical forces at stake in the invention of automated media.     

The Inter-relationship of Science and Religion: A typology of engagement

This study explores whether the religious background of students affects their opinions about and attitudes to engaging with scientific explanations of the origins of the universe and of life. The study took place in four English secondary schools representing three different contexts (Christian faith-based; non-faith with majority Muslim catchment; and non-faith, mixed catchment). It comprised questionnaires and focus groups with over 200 students aged 14–16, supplemented by teacher interviews. The analysis approach was informed by grounded theory and resulted in the development of an engagement typology, which has been set in the context of the cross-cultural border crossing literature. It divides students into categories depending on both the nature and amount of engagement they were prepared to have with the relationship between science and religion. The model takes into account where students sit on four dimensions. These assess whether a student's preferred knowledge base is belief-based or fact-based; their tolerance of uncertainty (do they have a need for resolution?); their open mindedness (are they unquestioning or inquiring?); and whether they conceptualise science and religion as being in conflict or harmony. Many Muslim students resisted engagement because of conflicting religious beliefs. Teachers did not always appreciate the extent to which this topic troubled some students who needed help to accommodate clashes between science and their religious beliefs. It is suggested that increased appreciation of the complexity represented by their students can guide a teacher towards an appropriate approach when covering potentially sensitive topics such as the theory of evolution.     

Response to ‘Assessment of Practical Work in Ireland: A critique’ by P. Matthews and P. McKenna

We welcome all constructive contributions to the debate on the assessment of practical work in Ireland, and offer a number of comments in relation to the points raise by Matthews and McKenna.     

Images and stories: through the eyes of at-risk college learners

In a study with at-risk Scottish college learners (n?=?81), a participatory action research method called Photovoice was strategically employed. Participant-driven photographs were used to access learners’ intimate thoughts and emotions while photograph-inspired stories were used to understand further their views and experiences. This photo-elicitation method provided access to rich and informative findings and enhanced the overall research process where photographs and narratives encouraged reciprocal validation. The study uncovered four key aspects in supporting at-risk learners: (a) overcoming psychological barriers; (b) addressing physical barriers; (c) providing adequate social support; and (d) assistance through suitable support for learning. This led to three pragmatic results: it (a) raised awareness about the plight of vulnerable learners, (b) afforded them a coordinated voice and (c) brought real benefits to both at-risk and other college learners alike. The implications of the study findings were discussed using the Human Capital Theory.     

A bibliometric analysis of academic publication and NIH funding

Academic productivity and research funding have been hot topics in biomedical research. While publications and their citations are popular indicators of academic productivity, there has been no rigorous way to quantify co-authors’ relative contributions. This has seriously compromised quantitative studies on the relationship between academic productivity and research funding. Here we apply an axiomatic approach and associated bibliometric measures to revisit a recent study by Ginther et al. (Ginther et al., 2011a, Ginther et al., 2011b) in which the probability of receiving a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 award was analyzed with respect to the applicant's race/ethnicity. Our results provide new insight and suggest that there is no significant racial bias in the NIH review process, in contrast to the conclusion from the study by D. K. Ginther et al. Our axiomatic approach has a potential to be widely used for scientific assessment and management.     

Artistry in Education

This paper argues that the primary mission of education is the preparation of artists. The concept of artistry used here is not limited to the fine arts, but to everything made well. Well-made objects, processes and ideas, whether practical or theoretical, require aesthetic judgement, depend upon technical skill, reflect attention to proportion and depend upon imagination. The paper argues that these cognitive processes, so important in the arts, are critically important in all walks of life today. As schools are impacted by well-intentioned but often ill-informed policies that standardise and homogenise the process of schooling, artistry can serve as an important remedy to its mechanisation.