The Cumulative and Residual Impact of a Systemic Reform Program on Teacher Change and Student Learning of Science

This longitudinal, five‐year study of teachers and students who had participated in a systemic reform program in science explored if (1) teacher change in practice realized during a three‐year program is sustained one, two, and three years following the program, (2) student performance on state science assessments two years following studying with teachers at this school still demonstrated significant differences from students who attended the control school, and (3) student performance continued to be enhanced for both White and Minority students. Student achievement was assessed using the Discovery Inquiry Test in Science during sixth through eighth grades and the Ohio Graduation Test was used in 10th grade. The same students completed the test in grades 6–8 and 10th grade. Students from the Program school significantly outperformed students who attended the control school on the 10th grade state assessment in science. Findings in this study revealed the ability for sustained, whole‐school, professional development programs to have a cumulative and residual impact on teacher change and student learning of science.     

Making Connections in Math and Science: Identifying Student Outcomes

A three-phase Collaborative Science Education Research Project (CSERP) has been established between the AIMS Education Foundation and The National Center for Science Teaching and Learning. The goal of Phase I is to identify student outcomes as perceived by classroom teachers to be related to participation in a hands-on, integrated mathematics science program called AIMS, Activities Integrating Math and Science. The raw data were then summarized and interpreted by the principal investigators. Data collection procedures involved seven Research Team Leaders; 45 teacher-researchers; and 2,025 students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 located in six states. The teacher-researchers identified 423 cognitive, 234 affective, and 188 social outcomes that were coded and classified by the principal investigators. An unanticipated teacher outcome also emerged. Teacher involvement in the research project greatly contributed to their own sense of professionalism. These outcomes will be used to develop, pilot (Phase II), and field test (Phase III) prototypic assessment items in the subsequent phases of the CSERP.     

A Study of Local Sign Change Adjustment in Balancing Structures

The adjustment of signed structures (symmetric positive and negative relations) under a local (myopic) sign-change dynamic is studied both analytically and through simulation. Models deriving from various theories but notably balance theory are inspected to determine the convergent properties of the dynamic process.     

Scan Statistics for Detecting a Local Change in Variance for Normal Data with Known Variance

In this article, several scan statistics are discussed for detecting a local change in variance for one dimensional normal data. When the length of the scanning window is known, a fixed window scan statistic based on moving sum of squares is proposed. Two approximations for the distribution of this scan statistic are investigated. When the length of the scanning window is unknown, a variable window scan statistic based on a generalized likelihood ratio test and a multiple window minimum P-value scan statistic are proposed for detecting the local change in variance. For a moderate or large shift in variance, numerical results indicate that both the variable and multiple window scan statistics perform well. For large data sets, considering the detection power and computing efficiency, the multiple window scan statistic is recommended.     

Change Trees and Mutagrams for the Visualization of Local Changes in Sequence Data

The analysis of local changes in sequence data is of interest for various applications such as the segmentation of DNA and other genetic sequences, or financial data sequences. Patterns of change that can be characterized as local jump change or slope change are of special interest. We propose simple graphical tools to visualize such patterns of local change. The concept of mode trees—developed for the visualization of local patterns in densities—is adapted to visualize patterns of local change in dependency on a threshold parameter by means of a change tree . The simultaneous visualization of scale effects, in analogy to SiZer, motivates another graphical device, the mutagram . We illustrate these concepts with several sets of sequence data.     

局部对立条件下斜率变点估计的收敛速度

对至多只有一个斜率变点的模型,在误差分布为非正态时,本文利用滑窗方法研究了局部对立假设下变点估计的相合性和收敛速度问题,同时给出了部分模拟结果.     

Local Change of Coordinates for Grid-Functions on Regions with Curved Boundary

Local change of coordinates, providing an appropriate transformation of functions on a domain Ω ∩ R ⁿ into functions on R ⁿ and R ⁺_n, is a well-known and frequently used technical tool in the theory of Sobolev-spaces W^m,p (Ω) and partial differential equations. In this paper we propose a corresponding transformation mapping grid-functions on regular grids Ω_h into functions on R ⁿ_h and R ⁿ_h,+ which as in the continuous case can be used to remedy various difficulties arising the curved boundary of Ω.     

Student Reactions to Learning About Probability and Statistics: Evaluating the Quantitative Literacy Project

The NCTM “Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics” (1989) reflect the current movement to introduce probability and statistics in the precollege curriculum. These standards include topics and principles for instruction in probability and statistics which are included in the Quantitative Literacy Project (QLP) curriculum materials. This paper presents results of a survey which explored the successes of the QLP materials in terms of student reactions to instruction in probability and statistics. A student survey of 917 students of teachers trained in QLP workshops assessed how students regarded the instructional materials in general, how well they liked learning topics in probability and statistics, and how well they believed that they had learned the content. Results indicated that students have mostly positive attitudes towards learning statistics. However, fewer students felt it was useful to learn about these topics. An increase in positive attitudes with grade level suggests the topics may be received more favorably and, therefore, may more appropriately be used in higher grades.     

Impact of Middle School Student Energy Monitoring Activities on Climate Change Beliefs and Intentions

The Going Green! Middle Schoolers Out to Save the World project aims to direct middle school students' enthusiasm for hands‐on activities toward interest in science and other STEM areas while guiding them to solve real‐world problems. Students in this project are taught by their teachers to use energy monitoring equipment to audit standby power consumed by electronic devices in their homes and communities. Major findings were: (a) Beliefs in climate change increased more for students in the treatment than comparison group, pre to post; and (b) For girls there was a larger positive impact on climate change beliefs than for boys. These and additional findings presented in this paper provide evidence that a hands‐on engaged‐learning curriculum can have a positive influence on climate change beliefs and intentions and strengthen the association between the two constructs.     

大工程决策中公众意愿与地方政府行为偏好研究

在公共事务决策中公众参与正影响着地方政府决策。基于博弈视角在地方政府与公众的策略互动中,博弈收敛速度的提高能够降低双方的成本从而提高社会效率。建立基于大工程议案决策的地方政府与公众动态博弈过程,应用马尔可夫决策研究博弈收敛的条件并分析了基于折扣准则下地方政府采取妥协策略时的最优停止条件。讨论了地方政府对不稳定的容忍度、地方政府选择妥协的概率与博弈收敛速度三者之间的关系。研究表明大工程预期经济收益指标与地方政府对地方不稳定的容忍度呈正向关系,地方政府对地方不稳定的容忍度与双方关于大工程议案决策博弈的收敛速度呈反向关系,且公众支持度对地方容忍度的影响依概率分布变化。     

Systemic decision making in AHP: a Bayesian approach

Systemic decision making is a new approach for dealing with complex multiactor decision making problems in which the actors’ individual preferences on a fixed set of alternatives are incorporated in a holistic view in accordance with the “principle of tolerance”. The new approach integrates all the preferences, even if they are encapsulated in different individual theoretical models or approaches; the only requirement is that they must be expressed as some kind of probability distribution. In this paper, assuming the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is the multicriteria technique employed to rank alternatives, the authors present a new methodology based on a Bayesian analysis for dealing with AHP systemic decision making in a local context (a single criterion). The approach integrates the individual visions of reality into a collective one by means of a tolerance distribution, which is defined as the weighted geometric mean of the individual preferences expressed as probability distributions. A mathematical justification of this distribution, a study of its statistical properties and a Monte Carlo method for drawing samples are also provided. The paper further presents a number of decisional tools for the evaluation of the acceptance of the tolerance distribution, the construction of tolerance paths that increase representativeness and the extraction of the relevant knowledge of the subjacent multiactor decisional process from a cognitive perspective. Finally, the proposed methodology is applied to the AHP-multiplicative model with lognormal errors and a case study related to a real-life experience in local participatory budgets for the Zaragoza City Council (Spain).     

Student problems with a modelling exercise

In this paper an attempt is made to outline some of the problems facing the student who undertakes a course in mathematical modelling. A case study, considered by several cohorts of students, is used as a medium for introducing the various types of obstacles the students encounter. This approach also results in a demonstration of some of the errors that can be made in operating a modelling course and the paper concludes by offering suggestions on how to overcome certain difficulties that are exposed.     

Uncovering Student Ownership in Science Learning: The Making of a Student Created Mini‐Documentary

An important challenge in urban science education is finding ways to engage all students in the learning of science. However, research in this area has consistenly shown that around middle school student engagement in science wanes. Using critical ethnographic methods this study reveals how students cultivate a sense of ownership in an informal science video project. Student ownership of what they they learn plays an important role in how they engage in the learning environment. In this study ownership is characterized by five themes, and the notion of student ownership science is challenged as an outcome. Ownership is defined as a complex, multifaceted process that captures the relationships that students build between themselves, as youth and as learners, with science as the subject they aspire to participate in and with the context in which that participation takes place.     

The Virginia State Systemic Initiative: A Brief Overview of the Lead Teacher Component and a Description of the Evolving Mathematics & Science Integration Outcomes

This article describes the Lead Teacher Component of the NSF-funded State Systemic Initiative, Virginia's Quality Education in Science and Technology (V-QUEST). Part of V-QUEST focuses on the integration of mathematics and science in elementary and middle schools. Some recent research findings and recommendations which informed the planning and decisions are cited. The article describes the guiding principles, objectives, strategies, and agencies involved in the project. An outline of how the integration of mathematics and science elements were developed is provided and some preliminary outcomes are catalogued. An important feature of the systemic project is the manner through which it includes a wide range of individuals and organizations concerned with education in all the planning and implementation phases.