GTR component of planetary precession

Even as the theory of relativity is more than a hundred years old, it is not within easy reach of undergraduate students. These students have an insatiable urge to learn more about it even if the full machinery of the tools required to study the same is not within their comfortable reach. The recent detection of gravitational waves has only augmented their enthusiasm about the General Theory of Relativity (GTR), developed just over a hundred years now, encapsulated in Einstein’s Field Equations. The GTR provided a consistent formulation of the theory of gravity, removed the anomalies in the Newtonian model, and predicted spectacular natural phenomena which eventual experiments have testified to. This pedagogical article retraces some of the major milestones that led to the GTR and presents a simple numerical simulation of the GTR advance of the perihelion of planetary motion about the sun.     

Supporting Disability Education through a Combination of Special Schools and Disability-Inclusive Schools in the Pacific Islands

This article reports on a multi-method study of the ways in which special and mainstream schools support the educational needs of children with disabilities in Fiji. The aims of the study were: (1) to identify capacity and functions of special schools to support inclusive mainstream schools for children with disabilities; and (2) to explore the capacity of mainstream disability-inclusive schools in meeting the needs of children with disabilities. Results from the special education survey indicated that type of disability, geographic location and controlling authority were associated with transition to mainstream education. Findings from the action research study suggest that supportive school leadership and positive attitudes towards disability and inclusion contribute to greater mobilisation of supporting resources. However, limitations in facilities and resources currently pose barriers which prevent inclusion for all students with disabilities. Together, these findings indicate that special and inclusive mainstream schools jointly support disability-inclusive education in Fiji.     

Understanding the use of domain and task knowledge in the interpretation of graphical displays

Given the complexity of most cognitive processes and that of the associated knowledge base, which facilitates effective and efficient use of electronic diagnostic equipment, this paper addresses the important area of understanding how human operators interact with and construct meaningful understanding from the data displayed by such devices. Some work has been done in areas related to graphical and diagrammatical information processing. However, none of these studies considered the interaction of domain and task experts’ performance on similar graphical tasks. The exploratory study presented in this paper intends to identify patterns in cognitive processes used by ultrasound operators, and to provide an explanation for the reason for such patterns in light of the structure and deployment of domain and task-knowledge. The findings illustrate the complex interrelatedness of theoretical and practical knowledge, which constitutes professional knowledge. Professional knowledge becomes more complex when individuals depend on sophisticated tools to assist in their thinking. The study suggests a possibility to think about professional knowledge as a distributed knowledge across task and domain knowledge and knowledge inherent in the tools. Such distributed knowledge in professional practice needs further exploration.     

Working Memory and Reading Difficulties: What We Know and What We Don’t Know About the Relationship

This paper examines the role of Working Memory (WM) in developmental reading problems, considering: 1) The operationalization of WM; 2) The unique contribution of WM to reading; 3) Domain-general or -specific explanations of decoding and reading comprehension deficits; and 4) The capacity of WM constructs to distinguish between reading disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is concluded that: 1) Significant problems operationalizing working memory measures remain; 2) No clear unique role for WM is evident in longitudinal studies of reading acquisition; 3) Existing evidence concerning the domain-specificity or generality of WM problems is hard to interpret given problems in identification and sampling of poor readers and operationalization of WM constructs; 4) Further work is required to specify the nature of WM problems in samples of poor readers, as distinct from other co-occurring problems such as ADHD. Additional research is suggested to address these issues more fully.     

Strategic interaction among public school districts: Evidence on spatial interdependence in school inputs

This paper provides evidence on strategic interaction among public school districts in Massachusetts. The open enrollment program in Massachusetts is unique in testing the strategic competition thesis because it allows students to attend public schools located outside their home district. For each student who transfers out, funds are deducted from the sending district's local aid distribution and added to the receiving district's local aid. Thus, school districts no longer have the assurance of a ready supply of students and funding, instead they have to compete with neighboring districts, and enact strategies that will help retain as well as attract more students. A spatial econometric framework is applied to disentangle the correlation due to strategic interaction from the one that is simply due to spatially correlated error shocks. The results show that public school districts respond positively to the expenditure decisions of neighboring districts, thereby acting strategically when setting their own spending levels.     

Validation of the diagnostic tool for assessing Tertiary students’ readiness for online learning

Increasing numbers of educational institutions are adopting an online approach to teaching and learning; however, little regard has been given to the prerequisite personal and technical qualities required for academic achievement and satisfaction within this environment. In recognition of this, researchers have been exploring the design, development and testing of diagnostic tools to assess student readiness for online learning. This study builds on previous work by the authors to further validate their diagnostic tool for assessing Tertiary students’ readiness for online learning (TSROL) which has four subscales: ‘Technical skills’, ‘Computer self‐efficacy’, ‘Learner preferences’ and ‘Attitudes towards computers’. Factor and reliability analyses revealed that Technical skills and Computer self‐efficacy possessed good reliability and validity, and ‘Attitudes towards computers’ fair reliability and validity. However, ‘Learner preferences’ required revision as it possessed poor reliability and validity. Analysing the demographic data revealed that older students had lower Technical Skills and computer self‐efficacy than younger students. The TSROL can be improved by adopting a more multidimensional interpretation of the Learning preferences and Attitudes towards computers subscales.     

Role of oxidative stress and antioxidants in aetiopathogenesis and management of oral submucous fibrosis

Lipid peroxidation product, malonaldehyde (MDA) and antioxidants were estimated in plasma and erythrocytes of 34 cases of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) of different grades with equal number of healthy controls to evaluate the association of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and OSMF. While plasma MDA was found to be significantly higher in patients (3.3±0.4 nmole/ml, P<0.001) as compared to controls (2.4±0.5 nmole/ml), plasma beta carotene and vitamin E levels were found to be decreased significantly in patients (81.7±14.3 μg/100 ml, P<0.001; 9.3±0.9 mg/L, P<0.01 respectively) with respect to healthy controls (110±20.8 μg/100 ml and 10.1±1.2 mg/L). The decrease in beta-carotene and vitamin E was found to be more significant in OSMF grade II and III than in grade I. After 6 weeks of oral administration of beta-carotene and vitamin E, patients showed increase in plasma level of these two antioxidants along with decrease in MDA level associated with clinical improvement.     

Creating educative spaces for second-generation Somali-Canadian youth through informal education

Available statistics and literature indicate that Somali-Canadian youth face unique challenges in their everyday lives. Somali students have a 36.7 % dropout rate (Jibril, 2011). Somali-Canadian community members in Edmonton contend that Somali-Canadian students are labelled with behavioural or cognitive disorders, diagnoses that do not take into consideration students’ academic, social, or cultural backgrounds (Ahmed, 2007). They are situated in a complex web of family, religion, culture, and education (Forman, 2001) where they have to negotiate their sense of self and develop their identity. This research will attempt to understand the experiences of Somali-Canadian youth regarding their identity as learners, community members, and as Canadians. In this study, we utilize a social justice framework to help uncover the complex intersections of racism, cultural identities, and liberal education systems. This qualitative study is focused on understanding the lived experiences and actual social contexts of Somali-Canadian youth in Alberta.