NATHAN AND DAVID IN II SAMUEL 12:1–13: AN ALTERNATIVE TEXT WITH COMMENTARY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

I am honored to give the opening address on the conference theme which deals with 100 years of Jewish education in North America. The topic of this session, “From Sunday School to Day School,” suggests that Jewish education has moved from a one-day-a-week enterprise to a full-time system of education. While there has been significant movement in this direction during the last half of the past 100-year period, this trend has to be placed in proper historical, religious, cultural and social perspective.     

Discussion in College Math

Online videos are used increasingly in higher education teaching as part of the explosion of Web 2.0 tools that are now available. YouTube is one popular example of a video-sharing resource that both faculty and students can use effectively, both inside and outside of the classroom, to engage students in their learning, energize classroom discussion, and meet course learning goals. The authors, integrating current literature with their own classroom experiences, describe different types of assignments for which online video can be effectively used.     

Context matters: increasing understanding with interactive Clicker Case studies

Although interactive technology is presumed to increase student understanding in large classes, no previous research studies have empirically explored the effects of Clicker Cases on students?? performance. A Clicker Case is a story (e.g., a problem someone is facing) that uses clickers (student response systems) to engage students in understanding the meaning of the science contained within the story. Using an experimental randomized Solomon design across 11 institutions, we found that Clicker Cases increased student understanding more than PowerPoint lectures in large introductory biology classrooms, although there was variation across institutions and topics. By examining student performance in conjunction with faculty experience, we found that strong Clicker Cases created dissonance, captured attention and involved students in interpreting data or making decisions. This study provides a model for collaborative research across multiple institutions and demonstrates the need for using multiple institutions and topics in research on education.     

The UK/NL millimetre wave telescope

Astronomical observation in the millimetre wave region is of comparatively recent origin, but promises important contributions to our knowledge of the formation of stars, the structure of galaxies, and chemical reactions between ions and radicals not available in the laboratory. This article describes some of the very complex technological problems encountered in the design and construction of the important UK/NL millimetre wave telescope now nearing completion on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and the kinds of result expected of it.     

The enterprise knowledge dictionary

One of the difficulties in knowledge management is that knowledge sources are widely distributed and exist in many forms. Earl's taxonomy (2001) of knowledge management systems, particularly, the Technocratic school – Systems, Cartographic, and Engineering, is described to provide a context for discussing the different types of knowledge management systems. To support these different types of knowledge sources, we describe an Enterprise Knowledge Dictionary (EKD) and the supporting n-tier architecture that allows access too many types of knowledge though a common interface. The EKD provides a knowledge portal that allows the knowledge seeker to locate and access the various types of knowledge for a domain of interest from a single source. In addition to facilitating knowledge reuse, the EKD is used for evaluation and planning of knowledge management activities within the firm. An n-tier architecture that both optimizes knowledge management implementations and minimizes the load on transaction processing systems is outlined.     

Teacher evaluation and school improvement: An analysis of the evidence

In recent years, substantial investments have been made in reengineering systems of teacher evaluation. The new generation models of teacher evaluation typically adopt a standards-based view of teaching quality and include a value-added measure of growth in student learning. With more than a decade of experience and research, it is timely to assess empirical evidence bearing on the efficacy of this school improvement strategy. This paper examines the new generation of teacher evaluation along three lines of analysis: evidence on the magnitude, consistency, and stability of teacher effects on student learning, evidence on the impact of teacher evaluation on growth in student learning, and literature from the sociology of organizations on how schools function. Although the trend towards focusing on teacher evaluation is increasingly evident internationally, most of the empirical research evaluated in this paper is from the USA. This critical evaluation of the empirical literature yields two key conclusions. First, we conclude that the policy logic supporting this reform remains considerably stronger than the empirical evidence. Second, we suggest that alternative improvement strategies may yield more positive results and at a lower cost in terms of staff time and district funds.     

An Assessment of the Nonparametric Approach for Evaluating the Fit of Item Response Models

As item response theory has been more widely applied, investigating the fit of a parametric model becomes an important part of the measurement process. There is a lack of promising solutions to the detection of model misfit in IRT. Douglas and Cohen introduced a general nonparametric approach, RISE (Root Integrated Squared Error), for detecting model misfit. The purposes of this study were to extend the use of RISE to more general and comprehensive applications by manipulating a variety of factors (e.g., test length, sample size, IRT models, ability distribution). The results from the simulation study demonstrated that RISE outperformed G² and S‐X² in that it controlled Type I error rates and provided adequate power under the studied conditions. In the empirical study, RISE detected reasonable numbers of misfitting items compared to G² and S‐X², and RISE gave a much clearer picture of the location and magnitude of misfit for each misfitting item. In addition, there was no practical consequence to classification before and after replacement of misfitting items detected by three fit statistics.     

First‐Generation Students' Sense of Belonging,Mental Health,and Use of Counseling Services at Public Research Universities

This study explored 1st‐generation students' sense of belonging, mental health status, and use of mental health services in comparison to non‐1st‐generation students. Using the Student Experience in the Research University multi‐institutional survey, the authors found that 1st‐generation students tended to report lower ratings of belonging, greater levels of depression/stress, and lower use of services compared to non‐1st‐generation students. Implications for college counselors and suggestions for future inquiry are provided.     

Development of a Questionnaire Assessing School Physical Activity Environment

This study was designed to develop the Questionnaire Assessing School Physical Activity Environment (Q--SPACE) based on student perceptions. Twenty-eight items rated on 4-point Likert scales were administered to 244 middle school students in 9 schools. Exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate the underlying structure of the items and 2 factors were extracted: physical environment (PE) and social environment (SE). Twelve and 8 items loaded saliently on PE (e.g., gym classes available) and SE (e.g., teacher encouragement), respectively. Factor scales had alpha coefficients of .86 (PE) and .81 (SE). One-week test–retest reliabilities for the factor scales of PE and SE were .78 and .72, respectively. Differences in PE scale scores across schools and PE and SE scale scores across student school physical activity behavior (e.g., participation on school teams) provided some evidence of scale construct validity. Overall, Q–SPACE demonstrates acceptable reliability for capturing middle school students' perceptions of school physical activity environment. The factorial validity needs to be assessed with confirmatory factor analysis and invariance testing procedures.     

Label-free electronic probing of nucleic acids and proteins at the nanoscale using the nanoneedle biosensor

Detection of proteins and nucleic acids is dominantly performed using optical fluorescence based techniques, which are more costly and timely than electrical detection due to the need for expensive and bulky optical equipment and the process of fluorescent tagging. In this paper, we discuss our study of the electrical properties of nucleic acids and proteins at the nanoscale using a nanoelectronic probe we have developed, which we refer to as the Nanoneedle biosensor. The nanoneedle consists of four thin film layers: a conductive layer at the bottom acting as an electrode, an oxide layer on top, and another conductive layer on top of that, with a protective oxide above. The presence of proteins and nucleic acids near the tip results in a decrease in impedance across the sensing electrodes. There are three basic mechanisms behind the electrical response of DNA and protein molecules in solution under an applied alternating electrical field. The first change stems from modulation of the relative permittivity at the interface. The second mechanism is the formation and relaxation of the induced dipole moment. The third mechanism is the tunneling of electrons through the biomolecules. The results presented in this paper can be extended to develop low cost point-of-care diagnostic assays for the clinical setting.