Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Elementary Linear Algebra Using Matlab: An Initial Investigation, Xiaoxu Han

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at EMU

Xiaoxu Han teaches linear algebra. In his quest to innovate his class, he has explored using a computer software package to do the calculations for students and remove some of the tedious algebra and arithmetic that often lead to minor math errors when working with matrices. Moreover, the software packages become necessary when matrices become too large to be solved by hand. Xiaoxu’s project involved incorporating MATLAB, his software of choice, into his course and examining the students’ perceptions of how much using this program helped them to learn the course material. His first-stage analysis focused largely on student reports …

Using Think-Alouds To Examine Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Visualization Of Fractional Concepts, Barbara B. Leapard

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at EMU

Barb Leapard’s chapter discusses a problem that might cause many of us nightmares—fractions. Barb’s students really need to understand how to work with fractions, because they will soon be teaching this subject to their elementary school students. The need to teach a subject requires a significantly higher form of learning than most students achieve. Barb’s past experiences indicated that students often do not achieve this deep understanding – they may have a rote understanding of rules for dealing with fractions, but this will not be all that useful to them in a few months, when they are teaching inquisitive elementary …

Introduction: Making Learning Visible To Whom?, Jeffrey L. Bernstein

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at EMU

No abstract provided.

Acknowledgments, Jeffrey L. Bernstein

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at EMU

No abstract provided.

Supersymmetric Lattices - A Brief Introduction, Simon Catterall

Physics - All Scholarship

Recently, new theoretical ideas have allowed the construction of lattice actions which are explicitly invariant under one or more supersymmetries. These theories are local and free of doublers and in the case of Yang-Mills theories also possess exact gauge invariance. In this talk these ideas are reviewed with particular emphasis being placed on {\cal N}=4 super Yang-Mills theory.

We Are…Marshall, October 23, 2009, Office Of Marshall University Communications

We Are ... Marshall: the Newsletter for Marshall University 1999-2023

No abstract provided.

Reduction And Characterization Of Error In Low Current Measurements, Justin Dekany, Jr Dennison, Alec Sim

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Intra-Annual Comparison Of Mesospheric Gravity Waves Over Halley And Rothera Stations, Antarctica, Jonathan Pugmire, Michael J. Taylor, K. Nielsen, A. Wall, J. Thompson, P. D. Pautet

Graduate Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Chemistry In Second Life, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

This review will focus on the current level on chemistry research, education, and visualization possible within the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life. We discuss how Second Life has been used as a platform for the interactive and collaborative visualization of data from molecules and proteins to spectra and experimental data. We then review how these visualizations can be scripted for immersive educational activities and real-life collaborative research. We also discuss the benefits of the social networking affordances of Second Life for both chemists and chemistry students.

Agenda: World Energy Justice Conference And Appropriate Technology Arcade, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law

World Energy Justice Conference (October 23-24)

The 2009 CEES Energy Justice Conference took place at the University of Colorado Law School on October 23rd and 24th, 2009. It featured 11 sessions, more than 40 speakers, and attracted over 200 attendees. The Conference brought together leading international and U.S. decision-makers in politics, engineering, public health, law, business, economics, and innovators in the sciences to explore how best to address the critical needs of the energy-oppressed poor (EOP) through long-term interdisciplinary action, information sharing, and deployment of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs).

The Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy (CJIELP) at the University of Colorado Law …

The Relationship Of Self-Efficacy And Gpa, Attendance, And College Student Retention, Stephen P. Becker, Robert K. Gable

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

The study determined the extent and manner; self-efficacy explains variation in GPA, attendance, and retention. The General Self-Efficacy Scale was adapted with a sample of N = 194, 34% male and 66% female. General and Specific factors had alphas of .72 and .75, respectively. Step-wise regression demonstrated General self-efficacy incremented the explanation of GPA variance 5% (p < .01). GPA was significantly correlated with non-attendance (r = - .72, p < .01, d = large) and retention (r = .52, p < .01, d = large). Non-attendance significantly correlated with retention (r = -.39, p < .01, d = medium).

Temperature Dependence Of Electrostatic Breakdown Of Polymeric Insulators, Charles Sim, Jr Dennison

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Database System Architecture For Fault Tolerance And Disaster Recovery, Anthony Nguyen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Application systems being used today rely heavily on the availability of the database system. Disruption of database system can be damaging and catastrophic to the organization that depends on the availability of the database system for its business and service operations. To ensure business continuity under foreseeable and unforeseeable man-made or natural disasters, the database system has to be designed and built with fault tolerance and disaster recovery capabilities. This project explored existing technologies and solutions to design, build, and implement database system architecture for fault tolerance and disaster recovery using Oracle database software products. The project goal was to …

Presidential Inaugural Address, 2009, Samuel L. Stanley

State of the University Address

No abstract provided.

The New York City Teaching Fellows Program: A Case Study In Alternative Certification In Mathematics, Brian Evans

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

The purpose of this study is to understand the mathematical content knowledge new teachers have before and after taking a mathematics methods course in the New York City Teaching Fellows program. Further, the purpose is to understand attitudes toward mathematics Teaching Fellows have over the course of the semester. Findings revealed a significant increase in mathematical content knowledge and positive attitudes toward mathematics. Relationships were found between attitudes and self-efficacy. Finally, Teaching Fellows found that classroom management was the biggest issue in their teaching, and that problem solving and numeracy were the most important topics addressed in the methods course.

A Researcher's Dilemma: A Comparison Of Estimated Versus Actual College G.P.A., William E. Herman, Gena C. Nelson

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

This study compared college student reported grade point average (GPA) with actual GPA as recorded at the Registrar’s Office to determine the accuracy of student reported GPA. Results indicated that, on average, students reported slightly higher GPA than their actual GPA. Additionally, females were virtually as accurate as males and students with high GPA’s were more accurate than students with lower GPA’s. Since 17% of unexplained variance in actual GPA was found based upon student GPA estimates, the findings support the recommendation that researchers employ the actual GPA recorded in the Registrar’s Office whenever possible and feasible.

From Concrete To Abstract: Teaching For Transfer Of Learning When Using Manipulatives, Penina Kamina, Nithya N. Iyer

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

One of the most important uses of manipulatives in a classroom is to aid a learner to make connection from tangible concrete object to its abstraction. In this paper we discuss how teacher educators can foster deeper understanding of how manipulatives facilitate student learning of math concepts by emphasizing the connection between concrete objects and math symbolization with, preservice elementary teachers, the future implementers of knowledge. We provide an example and a model, with specific steps of how teacher educators can effectively demonstrate connections between concrete objects and abstract math concepts.

Parallel Reflections: The Interdisciplinary Process Of Co-Constructing Meaning, Martha J. Strickland, Jane B. Keat, Jane M. Wilburne, Beatrice Adera

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

This paper reports the results of a study conducted by four teacher educators who represent four disciplines in education. The purpose was to understand how pre-service teacher reflections influenced teacher educator reflections within a course. Data collection methods included narrative and document review. Data analysis methods included multiple readings and discussions of individual portraits in search of answers to research questions. Findings include a parallel reflection model that illustrates a dynamic process that occurs within the dialogic space as student and professor thoughts and discourse are interwoven to make theory to practice connections, co-construct new knowledge and begin challenging existing …

High Stakes Testing Literature Review And Critique, Youness Elbousty

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

Standardized testing has been long established in most of the schools in United States. States have attached "high stakes" to tests as a response to the federal law NCLB. Under this law, schools had to develop or alter their assessments which are administered to gauge school progress. While many agree that high‐stakes testing has an impact on students; studies have been conducted to vet whether such impact has propitious or harmful outcomes. In this paper, I review and critique the literature on high stakes testing coupled with a close scrutiny of the research methods utilized in the articles under review.

Validating The Instrument: Students' Perceptions On Learning Calculus, Su Liang

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the instrument, Students’ Perceptions on Learning Calculus. The SPLC contains three scales and 31 items. The three scales include Usefulness of Calculus, Professor Efficacy, and Work Ethic. The surveys were given to the students who registered for Calculus I, Calculus II, and Business Calculus at Uconn in spring, 2009. 340 students completed the survey. An exploratory analysis was applied to validate the instrument. Using principal axis factoring with oblique rotation, the analysis suggests that 7 items should be dropped and that the remaining 24 items are best represented by the …

The Homework Debate: How Much Homework Is Helpful For Students To Acquire Mathematical Procedural Knowledge?, Nicholas D. Hartlep, Jacqueline Gosz

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

The effects of using homework guides and homework logs on students’ abilities to solve word problems involving basic addition and subtraction facts were studied. Students received one of three versions of addition and subtraction timed tests once per week—every Friday—that focused on measuring automaticity of basic addition and subtraction facts. Thirty-one first-grade students participated in this action-research study. Students’ automaticity of basic addition and subtraction facts increased over the course of this study. Results indicated that homework guides positively affected student motivation to put forth more effort on homework. Additionally, word problems that involved basic subtraction facts appeared more difficult …

Who Drops Out? A Study Of Secondary School Dropouts In Connecticut, Xing Liu, Y.H. Alison Zhou

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between the dropout pattern and student characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and grade level among exited students from grade 7 to grade 12. The study included 57,709 students from grades 7-12 in the 2006-2007 school year in Connecticut. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine demographic factors related to student dropout pattern. This study provides empirical evidence of identifying secondary school students in Connecticut who were more likely to drop out. Identifying the groups of high risk students would help practitioners and policy makers to develop prevention programs or …

Validation Of A Reader Self Perception Scale (Rsps2) For Use In Grades 7 And Above, Steven A. Melnick, William A. Henk, Barbara A. Marinak

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

Clearly, the attitudes, values, expectations, and beliefs that individuals possess about literacy will play a vital role in shaping their engagement with reading, writing, and other language processes. Grounded in Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977, 1982; Schunk, 1984), the Reader Self Perception Scale Version 2 predicts that students take four basic factors into account when forming literacy self-perceptions: Progress, Observational Comparisons, Social Feedback, and Physiological States. Student response data (n=3,031 in grades 7-10) provides evidence of construct validity through a principal components analysis of the factor structure. Alpha reliabilities by factor are reported.

Reporter - October 23rd 2009, Rit Reporter Staff

University Publications

No abstract provided.

Faculty Newsnotes 2009 No. 412, Office Of The Provost

Faculty Newsnotes (1972-2010)

No abstract provided.

Chemistry In Second Life, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

This review will focus on the current level on chemistry research, education, and visualization possible within the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life. We discuss how Second Life has been used as a platform for the interactive and collaborative visualization of data from molecules and proteins to spectra and experimental data. We then review how these visualizations can be scripted for immersive educational activities and real-life collaborative research. We also discuss the benefits of the social networking affordances of Second Life for both chemists and chemistry students.

Best Practices For Inclusive Science Instruction, Lucinda S. Spaulding, Jenny Sue Flannagan

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this session is to provide an overview of evidence based best practices for inclusive science instruction and to equip teachers with applicable strategies for scaffolding instruction and responding to learner needs based on research in special education and science instruction. As a result of this session, participants will learn strategies and methods for helping students learn to independently design experiments, use the scientific process, and develop critical thinking skills. There will also be an emphasis on effective co-teaching practices and employing instructional strategies for reinforcing skills and content knowledge across the curriculum, providing more time for instruction …

Montana Kaimin, October 23, 2009, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

From Solar Cells To Exascale Computing, Kirk E. Jordan

Amgen Seminar Series in Chemical Engineering

Beginning with a brief overview of a boundary integral problem that led from an intractable computational problem to model an efficient solar cell but through a novel mathematical formulation became tractable, I will lay the foundation of the importance of mathematics in computation. This problem led to my career in High Performance Computing (HPC). Today, as we move from the Petascale era to Exascale era, HPC is a tool frequently used to understand complex problems in numerous areas such as aerospace, biology, climate modeling and energy. Scientists and engineers working on problems in these and other areas demand ever increasing …

Probes Of Nearly Conformal Behavior In Lattice Simulations Of Minimal Walking Technicolor, Simon Catterall, Joel Giedt, Francesco Sannino, Joe Schneible

Physics - All Scholarship

We present results from high precision, large volume simulations of the lattice gauge theory corresponding to minimal walking technicolor. We find evidence that the pion decay constant vanishes in the infinite volume limit and that the dependence of the chiral condensate on quark mass m_q is inconsistent with spontaneous symmetry breaking. These findings are consistent with the all-orders beta function prediction as well as the Schroedinger functional studies that indicate the existence of a nontrivial infrared fixed point.