Organizational roles of university committees

On the basis of relationships found empirically to hold among 20 organizational characteristics of university committees, two distinctive sets of such characteristics are derived. The sets, in turn, are utilized as indices to the organizational roles which university committees play. The first is an essentially deliberative, collective decision-making role played by committees whose activities are member-dominated. The second is an essentially one-person advisory role played by committees whose activities are chairperson-dominated. The organizational basis of each role is inferred from the characteristics comprising each of the two sets.     

Getting at the Mathematics: Sara’s Journal

In this paper, we discuss issues in planning and conducting research into mathematics learning. We emphasize two central themes: (a) the learners mathematics (especially the issues and ideas, in given problem situations, that learners choose to think about and to present) and (b) the kinds of knowledge that learners may be building (including their ideas about what mathematics is, and how people do, learn, use, communicate and understand it). While the first theme is at least partly mathematical, the second interweaves cognition and epistemology. Anchored in student data from an extended classroom teaching experiment in the mathematics of change, we focus on key choices needed to build narratives to help researchers capture, in detail, how students engage with mathematics in extended problem explorations.     

Ethene/norbornene copolymerization by [Me_2Si(3-~(tert)BuCp)(N~(tert)Bu)]TiCl_2/MAO-catalyst

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＦｏｒｍｏｒｅｔｈａｎ 1 0ｙｅａｒｓ,ｅｔｈｅｎｅ ｎｏｒｂｏｒｎｅｎｅｃｏｐｏｌｙｍｅｒｓ (ＣＯＣｓ)ｈａｖｅｂｅｅｎｏｆｇｒｅａｔｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔｔｏｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙａｎｄｓｃｉｅｎｃｅ,ｂｅｃａｕｓｅｏｆｔｈｅｉｒｅｘｃｅｌ ｌｅ     

Artificial grammar learning in pigeons

In two experiments, we developed a new methodology for studying complex stimulus control by spatial sequences of letters generated by artificial grammars. An artificial grammar is a system of rules that defines which letter sequences or strings are “grammatical.” In Experiment 1, pigeons learned to respond differently to strings conforming to a grammar versus strings that were nongrammatical distortions. Several different criteria all suggested that performance was controlled both by some short chunks of strings shared between reinforced training strings and novel transfer strings and by more complex sequential regularities. In Experiment 2, pigeons quickly and accurately learned to respond differently to strings conforming to one or the other of two different artificial grammars. As in Experiment 1, performance was controlled both by some short chunks and by more complex sequential regularities. The results are interpreted in terms of family resemblance and pose new goals for theories of complex stimulus control.     

Determining the conceptions of teaching science held by experienced high school science teachers

The article describes the process of analysis for determining a teacher's conception of teaching science using an available interview task. The analytical process provides a transparent link between teachers' spoken words and the different representations of their conceptions of teaching science. Representations of a teacher's conception of teaching science include a grid for analyzing different themes in a teacher's conception, a brief summary of the themes, and a longer written interpretive summary. Because these representations are based on the fundamental components of teaching science, they allow the uniqueness of both specific and structural aspects of teachers' views to emerge, and they facilitate comparisons between teachers. The analysis and its outcomes are exemplified using interviews with several experienced high school science teachers.     

New materials by polymerization of olefins and styrene by metallocene/mao catalysts

Metallocenes and other transition metal compounds comprise a new generation of single site catalysts for the production of precisely designed polyolefins and engineering plastics. The discovery of metallocene methylalumoxane (MAO) catalysts has opened a frontier in the area of polymer synthesis and processing. A great number of symmetric and chiral zirconocenes have been synthesized to give isotactic, syndiotatic, isoblock, or stereoblock polymers with increased impact strength and toughness, better melt characteristics or elasticity, and improved clarity in films. Cycloolefin copolymers (COC) and syndiotactic polystyrene can be produced by metallocene catalysts. These are new types of polymers with special properties and a high potential as engineering plastics. Norbornene-ethene copolymers are most interesting for technical uses because of the easily available monomers. Due to different incorporation values of the cyclic olefin in the copolymer, the glass transition temperature can vary over a wide range and reaches 180°C.     

The Role of Department Head in Australian Universities: changes and challenges

The role of the academic departmental head in Australian universities has been little explored. This article reports a study of the role by comparing key demographic data with a similar American‐based study, and examining the role in terms of personal, professional, and organisational variables, and their relationships with the generic measures of role‐conflict and role‐ambiguity. Results indicate differences in the role classified by gender, type of initial appointment, age and willingness to serve (among other variables), and on such dimensions as job satisfaction, work stress, role‐conflict and ambiguity, and publications record. Findings indicate a job where stress appears manageable, satisfaction is in short supply and maintaining an appropriate publications record is an ongoing pressure.