The History of the Planar Elastica: Insights into Mechanics and Scientific Method

Euler’s formula for the buckling of an elastic column is widely used in engineering design. However, only a handful of engineers will be familiar with Euler’s classic paper De Curvis Elasticis in which the formula is derived. In addition to the Euler Buckling Formula, De Curvis Elasticis classifies all the bent configurations of elastic rod—a landmark in the development of a rational theory of continuum mechanics. As a historical case study, Euler’s work on elastic rods offers an insight into some important concepts which underlie mechanics. It sheds light on the search for unifying principles of mechanics and the role of analysis. The connection between results obtained from theory and those obtained from experiments on rods, highlights two different approaches to scientific discovery, which can be traced back to Bacon, Descartes and Galileo. The bent rod also has an analogy in dynamics, with a pendulum, which highlights the crucial distinctions between initial value and boundary value problems and between linear and nonlinear differential equations. In addition to benefiting from the overview which a historical study provides, the particular problem of the elastica offers students of science and engineering a clear elucidation of the connection between mathematics and real-world engineering, issues which still have relevance today.

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Developmental dyslexia: Related to specific or general deficits?

The present study was designed to examine the question of whether developmental dyslexia in 12-year-old students at the beginning of secondary education in the Netherlands is confined to problems in the domain of reading and spelling or also is related to difficulties in other areas. In particular, hypotheses derived from theories on phonological processing, rapid automatized naming, working memory, and automatization of skills were tested. To overcome the definition and selection problems of many previous studies, we included in our study all students in the first year of secondary special education in a Dutch school district. Participants were classified as either dyslexic, garden-variety, or hyperlexic poor readers, according to the degree of discrepancy between their word recognition and listening comprehension scores. In addition, groups of normal readers were formed, matching the poor readers in either reading age or chronological age. A large test battery was administered to each student, including phonological, naming, working memory, speed of processing, and motor tests. The findings indicate that dyslexia is associated with deficits in (1) phonological recoding, word recognition (both in their native Dutch and in English as a second language), and spelling skills; and (2) naming speed for letters and digits. Dyslexia was not associated with deficits in other areas. The results suggest that developmental dyslexia, at the age of 12, might be (or might have become) a difficulty rather isolated from deficiencies in other cognitive and motor skills.     

Guidance in eastern Europe: from ideological formation to an emerging service model

This article analyzes major changes that have occurred in east-European guidance over the past decades. The emphasis has gradually shifted from purely ideological concerns to an interest in serving the needs of individuals. Whereas in the initial stage structural uniformity was of great importance, current views accept a degree of diversification in guidance services on the basis of regional needs and sociocultural traditions. Tangible differences seem to exist between guidance strategies that are prevalent in the Soviet Union and in certain areas of east-central Europe.University of South Florida     

Impacts on college administration: Management information systems and management by objectives systems

Forty-nine private liberal arts colleges received grants from the Exxon Education Foundation to improve their management procedures. Research was conducted to determine the success of the management innovations, and the impact of the process on the college's management. About half the colleges had innovations that completely failed because of staff turnover, inadequate administrative support, or other causes. In the other, more successful group the research showed a number of positive impacts of the projects: (1) Management Information Systems were quite useful in providing comprehensive management data, in analyzing hot spots of trouble, and increasing sophistication of administrators; (2) Management by Objectives projects increased administrative and faculty morale and insured more adequate planning, and (3) combinations of both MIS and MBO projects produced the strongest positive impact. Both types of projects, however, failed to link planning with budgeting, a major flaw.