Application of CAE in Teaching Vibration Engineering

CAE has enabled vibrational problems, which were regarded as intractable 20 years ago, to be solvable by students using computational support. The paper describes a problem set to final year undergraduates which concerns the torsional vibrational response of a three degrees of freedom system which is subjected simultaneously to three different arbitrarily varying torques. The solution involves the use of standard library routines for matrix multiplication and eigensolutions, a Runge-Kutta routine to solve a second order differential equation and general competence in writing software.     

Curriculum Contests: environmental studies versus geography

Much of the literature promoting environmental education as ‘a just cause’ assumes a rational discussion of curriculum options. In fact, the promotion of new curriculum areas threatens existing subject territories. Historically environmental education has threatened the boundaries of geography. Thus, by studying these ‘border wars’ we learn more about the process of promoting new curriculum areas. This paper seeks to build on previous work which has scrutinised the social history of school subjects. A conviction underlying this work has been that as well as studying the interactive nature of curriculum practice, also examining the conflict over the definitions of curriculum which precede classroom events (with the insights thereby provided into the vested interests involved) will further our understanding of ‘what counts as education’.     

Observations from the classroom: When analogies go wrongi

Specializations: teachers' pedagogical knowledge, analogical reasoning, conceptual change.     

Ureaplasma urealyticum and large colony mycoplasma colonization in female children and its relationship to sexual contact, age, and race.

In order to determine if Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) or large colony mycoplasma (LCM) colonization was related to a history of sexual abuse, the type of sexual contact, an enlarged vaginal introitus transverse diameter (greater than 4 mm), age or race, 452 female children, ages 1-12 years, were evaluated by the Child Sexual Abuse Team at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, NC. Thirty-six girls were deleted because of inadequate cultures. When controlled for race and age, Uu throat (T), vaginal (V), and rectal (R) colonization and LCM vaginal and rectal colonization were not related to any of the other variables listed above. The enlarged vaginal introital diameter was related to a history of sexual abuse (p less than .001). Uu and LCM vaginal colonization rates were increased in black girls as compared to white girls (p less than .05). Uu V, Uu R, LCM V, and LCM R colonization increased with age. In our study population, Uu and LCM colonization was not a useful marker of sexual contact.     

Children's made-up mathematics problems — a new perspective on talented mathematicians

As part of a large scale mathematics study, students were asked to make up a mathematics problem that would be difficult for a friend to solve. They were also asked to solve the problem themselves. A sub-sample of 11- to 13-year-olds was interviewed while they worked through the items in the study.The problems made up by a group of eight more able and eight less able children from this sub-sample are reported here, together with the comments the children made during the interviews about their respective problems.The results highlight features of the problems made up by the two groups of children. In general, the more able children made up problems of greater computational difficulty, with more complex number systems and with more operations than their less able peers. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that the more able students planned their problems and were able to work out the answer, while their less able peers had difficulty with both the planning and the solution of their own problems.As the substance and style of the problem made up by each child uniquely reflects that child's mathematical experiences and ideas, the made up problem is a particularly useful tool for studying mathematically talented children for whom routine tasks are usually completed quickly and accurately.     

An updated analysis of author affiliation across four school psychology journals: Is practitioner research increasing?

This study analyzed articles published in four school psychology journals (Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Quarterly, and School Psychology Review) between the years 2009 and 2015. Articles were classified based on whether they were narrative or empirical, and affiliation of each author was classified as either practitioner or university. Results were compared to those of a previous study that similarly classified articles from 2000 to 2008. Across the years, the total number of authors increased; however, the proportion of practitioners compared to university affiliates decreased from 9% to 6%. In particular, a regression analysis revealed a large increase in the number of university secondary authors. Discussion focuses on examining the impact that practitioners’ involvement in research has on implementing evidence‐based practices within the schools.     

How to Teach Engineering and Industrial Design: a U.K. Experience

Within the U.K. there has, over recent years, been a strong correlation between the lack of total design literacy of graduate engineers and the decline of the U.K. manufacturing industry. With the formation of the Engineering Council and the mandatory requirement of design studies in undergraduate courses, this trend is being reversed. Unfortunately the inclusion of industrial design is being ignored. The paper explores the possibilities of teaching engineering, whatever the discipline, through an open-ended design project approach at all years of a course. The use of CAD and professional facilities are recommended to be appropriate 'within a student-centred learning environment. However, staff attitudes to a total design activity—not engineering or industrial design only—have to change radically for the engineering graduate to leave higher education with an appropriate toolkit of knowledge and skills. The paper concludes that specific engineering/product design undergraduate courses are essential to meeting the immediate and future needs of U.K. industry.     

BOOK REVIEWS

A HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN AMERICAN CULTURE. By R. Freeman Butts and Lawrence A. Cremin.
ACADEMIC PROCESSION. By Ernest Earnest.
THE NATURE OF PREJUDICE. By Gordon W. Allport.
THE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS. By Nathaniel Cantor.