Differentiation of teaching and learning mathematics: an action research study in tertiary education

Diversity and differentiation within our classrooms, at all levels of education, is nowadays a fact. It has been one of the biggest challenges for educators to respond to the needs of all students in such a mixed-ability classroom. Teachers’ inability to deal with students with different levels of readiness in a different way leads to school failure and all the negative outcomes that come with it. Differentiation of teaching and learning helps addressing this problem by respecting the different levels that exist in the classroom, and by responding to the needs of each learner. This article presents an action research study where a team of mathematics instructors and an expert in curriculum development developed and implemented a differentiated instruction learning environment in a first-year engineering calculus class at a university in Cyprus. This study provides evidence that differentiated instruction has a positive effect on student engagement and motivation and improves students’ understanding of difficult calculus concepts.     

A Singular Limit Problem for Conservation Laws Related to the Camassa–Holm Shallow Water Equation

We consider a shallow water equation of the Camassa–Holm type, which contains nonlinear dispersive effects as well as fourth order dissipative effects. We prove that as the diffusion and dispersion parameters tend to zero, with a condition on the relative balance between these two parameters, smooth solutions of the shallow water equation converge to discontinuous weak solutions of a scalar conservation law. The proof relies on deriving suitable a priori estimates together with an application of the compensated compactness method in the L ^p setting.     

A simple separable exact C*-algebra not anti-isomorphic to itself

We give an example of an exact, stably finite, simple, separable C*-algebra D which is not isomorphic to its opposite algebra. Moreover, D has the following additional properties. It is stably finite, approximately divisible, has real rank zero and stable rank one, has a unique tracial state, and the order on projections over D is determined by traces. It also absorbs the Jiang-Su algebra Z, and in fact absorbs the 3^∞ UHF algebra. We can also explicitly compute the K-theory of D, namely ${K_0 (D) \cong {\mathbb{Z}} [ \tfrac{1}{3}]}$ with the standard order, and K ₁ (D) =  0, as well as the Cuntz semigroup of D, namely ${W (D) \cong {\mathbb{Z}} [ \tfrac{1}{3} ]_{+} \sqcup (0, \infty).}$      

Exponentiable Functors Between Quantaloid-Enriched Categories

Exponentiable functors between quantaloid-enriched categories are characterized in elementary terms. The proof goes as follows: the elementary conditions on a given functor translate into existence statements for certain adjoints that obey some lax commutativity; this, in turn, is precisely what is needed to prove the existence of partial products with that functor; so that the functor’s exponentiability follows from the works of Niefield (J. Pure Appl. Algebra 23:147–167, 1982) and Dyckhoff and Tholen (J. Pure Appl. Algebra 49:103–116, 1987).      

Plane Cremona maps, exceptional curves and roots

We address three different questions concerning exceptional and root divisors (of arithmetic genus zero and of self-intersection and , respectively) on a smooth complex projective surface which admits a birational morphism to . The first one is to find criteria for the properness of these divisors, that is, to characterize when the class of is in the -orbit of the class of the total transform of some point blown up by if is exceptional, or in the -orbit of a simple root if is root, where is the Weyl group acting on ; we give an arithmetical criterion, which adapts an analogous criterion suggested by Hudson for homaloidal divisors, and a geometrical one. Secondly, we prove that the irreducibility of the exceptional or root divisor is a necessary and sufficient condition in order that could be transformed into a line by some plane Cremona map, and in most cases for its contractibility. Finally, we provide irreducibility criteria for proper homaloidal, exceptional and effective root divisors.

     

Theory of optimal consumption and portfolio selection under a Capital-at-Risk (CaR) and a Value-at-Risk (VaR) constraint

The solution to the optimal portfolio selection and consumptionrule subject to Capital-at-Risk and Value-at-Risk constraintsis derived via the use of stochastic dynamic programming.     

Regularity of multivariate vector subdivision schemes

In this paper we discuss methods for investigating the convergence of multivariate vector subdivision schemes and the regularity of the associated limit functions. Specifically, we consider difference vector subdivision schemes whose restricted contractivity determines the convergence of the original scheme and describes the connection between the regularity of the limit functions of the difference subdivision scheme and the original subdivision scheme.     

Relating Categorical Semantics for Intuitionistic Linear Logic

There are several kinds of linear typed calculus in the literature, some with their associated notion of categorical model. Our aim in this paper is to systematise the relationship between three of these linear typed calculi and their models. We point out that mere soundness and completeness of a linear typed calculus with respect to a class of categorical models are not sufficient to identify the most appropriate class uniquely. We recommend instead to use the notion of internal language when relating a typed calculus to a class of models. After clarifying the internal languages of the categories of models in the literature we relate these models via reflections and coreflections. Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000) 03G30, 03B15, 18C50, 03B20.     

Artificial boundary conditions for Petrovsky systems of second order in exterior domains and in other domains of conical type

The approximation of solutions to boundary value problems on unbounded domains by those on bounded domains is one of the main applications for artificial boundary conditions. Based on asymptotic analysis, here a new method is presented to construct local artificial boundary conditions for a very general class of elliptic problems where the main asymptotic term is not known explicitly. Existence and uniqueness of approximating solutions are proved together with asymptotically precise error estimates. One class of important examples includes boundary value problems for anisotropic elasticity and piezoelectricity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.