Sample records for aligning mathematics assessment

  1. Alignment Content Analysis of TIMSS and PISA Mathematics and Science Assessments Using the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum Methodology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Council of Chief State School Officers, 2009

    2009-01-01

    In Fall 2008, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) conducted an alignment content analysis of the 2007 TIMSS Mathematics and Science education assessments for students at grades 4 and 8 and the 2006 PISA Mathematics and Science Literacy assessments for students at age 15 (i.e., TIMSS--Trends in Mathematics and Science Study,…

  2. Two Models for Evaluating Alignment of State Standards and Assessments: Competing or Complementary Perspectives?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newton, Jill A.; Kasten, Sarah E.

    2013-01-01

    The release of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and their adoption across the United States calls for careful attention to the alignment between mathematics standards and assessments. This study investigates 2 models that measure alignment between standards and assessments, the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) and the Webb…

  3. Examining Alignment between State Performance Assessment and Mathematics Classroom Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parke, Carol S.; Lane, Suzanne

    2008-01-01

    The authors describe research on the extent to which mathematics classroom activities in Maryland were aligned with Maryland learning outcomes and the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP; Maryland State Department of Education, 1995, 2000). The study was part of a larger research project (S. Lane, C. S. Parke, & C. A. Stone,…

  4. Evaluating the (Mis)Alignment of the Intended to the Assessed Curriculum for the U.S.: Implications for the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shivraj, Pooja

    2017-01-01

    The Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) has been administered to 15-year- olds every three years since 2000. Since then, the U.S. has performed below average in mathematics, with no significant changes in performance. The objective of this study was to examine the alignment of the content students in the U.S. are assessed on in…

  5. Mathematics Formative Assessment System--Common Core State Standards: A Randomized Field Trial in Kindergarten and First Grade

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lang, Laura B.; Schoen, Robert R.; LaVenia, Mark; Oberlin, Maureen

    2014-01-01

    The Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (FCR-STEM) was awarded a grant by the Florida Department of Education to develop a Mathematics Formative Assessment System (MFAS) aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Intended for both teachers and students, formative assessment is a process that…

  6. Reform in School Mathematics and Authentic Assessment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Romberg, Thomas A., Ed.

    This volume is concerned with the alignment between the way the mathematical performance of students is assessed and the reform agenda in school mathematics. The chapters in this book have been prepared to raise a set of issues that scholars are addressing during this period of transition from traditional schooling practices toward the reform…

  7. Judging Alignment of Curriculum-Based Measures in Mathematics and Common Core Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morton, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    Measurement literature supports the utility of alignment models for application with state standards and large-scale assessments. However, the literature is lacking in the application of these models to curriculum-based measures (CBMs) and common core standards. In this study, I investigate the alignment of CBMs and standards, with specific…

  8. Developing an Assessment Instrument to Measure Early Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schoen, Robert C.; Bray, Wendy; Wolfe, Christopher; Tazaz, Amanda M.; Nielsen, Lynne

    2017-01-01

    This study reports on the development and field study of K-TEEM, a web-based assessment instrument designed to measure mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) at the early elementary level. The development process involved alignment with early elementary curriculum standards, expert review of items and scoring criteria, cognitive interviews with…

  9. Developing an Assessment Instrument to Measure Early Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schoen, Robert C.; Bray, Wendy; Wolfe, Christopher; Tazaz, Amanda M.; Nielsen, Lynne

    2017-01-01

    This study reports on the development and field study of K-TEEM, a web-based assessment instrument designed to measure mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) at the early elementary level. The development process involved alignment with early elementary curriculum standards, expert review of items and scoring criteria, cognitive interviews with…

  10. What Should Common Core Assessments Measure?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chandler, Kayla; Fortune, Nicholas; Lovett, Jennifer N.; Scherrer, Jimmy

    2016-01-01

    The Common Core State Standards for mathematics promote ideals about learning mathematics by providing specific standards focused on conceptual understanding and incorporating practices in which students must participate to develop conceptual understanding. Thus, how we define learning is pivotal because our current definition isn't aligned with…

  11. IRT Analysis of General Outcome Measures in Grades 1-8. Technical Report # 0916

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alonzo, Julie; Anderson, Daniel; Tindal, Gerald

    2009-01-01

    We present scaling outcomes for mathematics assessments used in the fall to screen students at risk of failing to learn the knowledge and skills described in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Focal Point Standards. At each grade level, the assessment consisted of a 48-item test with three 16-item sub-test sets aligned to the…

  12. From Curriculum to Workplace Requirements: Do They "Match"?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lomas, Gregor; Mills, Kelvin

    2013-01-01

    This paper examines correspondences and disjunctions within a national curriculum and between various aspects of its delivery, and how these align with the mathematical needs of the workplace. This is investigated in the context of the New Zealand school mathematics curriculum; the Numeracy Development Project; the senior school assessment regime,…

  13. How Well Do the NSF Funded Elementary Mathematics Curricula Align with the GAISE Report Recommendations?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bargagliotti, Anna E.

    2012-01-01

    Statistics and probability have become an integral part of mathematics education. Therefore it is important to understand whether curricular materials adequately represent statistical ideas. The "Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education" (GAISE) report (Franklin, Kader, Mewborn, Moreno, Peck, Perry, & Scheaffer, 2007),…

  14. A Study of the Alignment between the NAEP Mathematics Framework and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hughes, Gerunda B.; Daro, Phil; Holtzman, Deborah; Middleton, Kyndra

    2013-01-01

    Introduction: For decades, prior to the inception of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was the only vehicle through which states could assess the progress of their students using a common metric. Now, 45 states, 4 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have adopted the CCSS to…

  15. What is Your Time Worth? A Meaningful Introductory Project in Algebra

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Courtney, Scott A.; Gibson, Jessica

    2017-01-01

    There have been many recent policy and program changes in K-12 education across the United States, particularly in area of mathematics. Changes, such as the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and standards-aligned year-end summative assessments, require an increase in student-centered, cognitively demanding activities in the classroom.…

  16. Initial Understandings of Fraction Concepts Evidenced by Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities and Difficulties: A Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunt, Jessica H.; Welch-Ptak, Jasmine J.; Silva, Juanita M.

    2016-01-01

    Documenting how students with learning disabilities (LD) initially conceive of fractional quantities, and how their understandings may align with or differ from students with mathematics difficulties, is necessary to guide development of assessments and interventions that attach to unique ways of thinking or inherent difficulties these students…

  17. A Means for Updating and Validating Mathematics Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunlap, Laurie A.

    2012-01-01

    This article describes how to design program assessment for mathematics departments, in two-year and four-year colleges across the Midwest, based on a set of components that was generated from a Delphi survey. An example is provided to illustrate how this was done at a small four-year college. There is an alignment between these components and a…

  18. Exploration of the Alignment of State Data and Infrastructure to Mathematics and Science Success Indicators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mandinach, Ellen B.; Hauk, Shandy

    2017-01-01

    A range of education initiatives in the U.S. are focusing on ways to improve curriculum, instruction, teacher development, and student assessment related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Key indicators to monitor the quality of STEM education have been proposed by the National Research Council. This paper is…

  19. Developing and Piloting a Framework for Studying the Alignment of Mathematics Examinations with the Curriculum: The Case of Lebanon

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Osta, Iman

    2007-01-01

    This research aimed at developing a methodological framework to investigate the alignment of the Lebanese national math exam tests with the curriculum at the middle school level, during the transitory period of a major curricular reform. The focus is on exploring the characteristics of an "assessment culture" set by the national exams…

  20. Tracing the Assessment Triangle with Learning Progression-Aligned Assessments in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lai, Emily R.; Kobrin, Jennifer L.; DiCerbo, Kristen E.; Holland, Laura R.

    2017-01-01

    We describe an application of the assessment triangle, using a learning progression as the "cognition" vertex. We summarize two studies to evaluate whether evidence of student performance is consistent with our progression. In Study 1, we conducted think alouds using draft assessment activities and evaluated responses in relation to the…

  1. Smarter Balanced and Higher Education: Preparing Young People for Postsecondary Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, 2012

    2012-01-01

    The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is creating next-generation assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts/literacy and mathematics. With more than 40 states implementing the CCSS, the Smarter Balanced assessment system will allow states to certify that students have the knowledge and skills to…

  2. Factors Associated with Alignment between Teacher Survey Reports and Classroom Observation Ratings of Mathematics Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kaufman, Julia Heath; Stein, Mary Kay; Junker, Brian

    2016-01-01

    We investigated the alignment between a teacher survey self-report measure and classroom observation measure of ambitious mathematics instructional practice among teachers in two urban school districts using two different standards-based mathematics curricula. Survey reports suggested mild differences in teachers' instructional practices between…

  3. The Alignment of easyCBM[R] Math Measures to Curriculum Standards. Technical Report #1002

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nese, Joseph F. T.; Lai, Cheng-Fei; Anderson, Daniel; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Tindal, Gerald; Alonzo, Julie

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the alignment of the easyCBM[R] mathematics benchmark and progress monitoring measures to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Curriculum Focal Points" (NCTM, 2006). Based on Webb's alignment model (1997, 2002), we collected expert judgments on individual math items across a sampling of forms…

  4. Assessing the relevance of higher education courses.

    PubMed

    Gómez, Pedro; González, María Jose; Gil, Francisco; Lupiáñez, José Luis; Moreno, María Francisca; Rico, Luis; Romero, Isabel

    2007-05-01

    The establishment of the European Higher Education Area has involved specifying lists of professional competencies that programs are expected to develop, and with this the need for procedures to measure how every course within a higher education program is aligned with the program's competencies. We propose an instrument for characterizing this alignment, a process that we call assessing the relevance of a course. Using information from the course syllabus (objectives, contents and assessment scheme), our instrument produces indicators for characterizing the syllabus in terms of a competence list and for assessing its coherence. Because assessment involves quality, the results obtained can also be used to revise and improve the course syllabus. We illustrate this process with an example of a methods course from a mathematics teacher education program at a Spanish university.

  5. Mathematics Learning Assisted Geogebra using Technologically Aligned Classroom (TAC) to Improve Communication Skills of Vocasional High School Student

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yuliardi, R.; Nurjanah

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of this study to analyze mathematical communication skill’s student to resolve geometry transformation problems through computer Assisted Geogebra using Technologically Aligned Classroom (TAC). The population in this study were students from one of Vocasional High School Student in West Java. Selection of sample by purposed random sampling, the experimental class is taught Technologically Aligned Classroom (TAC) with GeoGebra, while the control class is taught by conventional learning. This study was quasi-experimental with pretest and posttest control group design. Based on the results; (1) The enhancement of student mathematical communication skills through TAC was higher than the conventional learning; (2) based on gender, there were no differences of mathematical communication skilss student who exposed with TAC and conventional learning; (3) based on KAM test, there was significant enhancement of students’ communication skills among ability of high, middle, and low KAM. The differences occur between high KAM and middle KAM, and also between high KAM and low KAM. Based on this result, mathematics learning Assisted Geogebra using Technologically Aligned Classroom (TAC) can be applied in the process of Mathematics Learning in Vocasional High School.

  6. Modeling discrete and continuous entities with fractions and decimals.

    PubMed

    Rapp, Monica; Bassok, Miriam; DeWolf, Melissa; Holyoak, Keith J

    2015-03-01

    When people use mathematics to model real-life situations, their use of mathematical expressions is often mediated by semantic alignment (Bassok, Chase, & Martin, 1998): The entities in a problem situation evoke semantic relations (e.g., tulips and vases evoke the functionally asymmetric "contain" relation), which people align with analogous mathematical relations (e.g., the noncommutative division operation, tulips/vases). Here we investigate the possibility that semantic alignment is also involved in the comprehension and use of rational numbers (fractions and decimals). A textbook analysis and results from two experiments revealed that both mathematic educators and college students tend to align the discreteness versus continuity of the entities in word problems (e.g., marbles vs. distance) with distinct symbolic representations of rational numbers--fractions versus decimals, respectively. In addition, fractions and decimals tend to be used with nonmetric units and metric units, respectively. We discuss the importance of the ontological distinction between continuous and discrete entities to mathematical cognition, the role of symbolic notations, and possible implications of our findings for the teaching of rational numbers. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  7. Theory of grain alignment in molecular clouds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roberge, Wayne G.

    1993-01-01

    Research accomplishments are presented and include the following: (1) mathematical theory of grain alignment; (2) super-paramagnetic alignment of molecular cloud grains; and (3) theory of grain alignment by ambipolar diffusion.

  8. Academic Rigor in General Education, Introductory Astronomy Courses for Nonscience Majors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brogt, Erik; Draeger, John D.

    2015-01-01

    We discuss a model of academic rigor and apply this to a general education introductory astronomy course. We argue that even without central tenets of professional astronomy-the use of mathematics--the course can still be considered academically rigorous when expectations, goals, assessments, and curriculum are properly aligned.

  9. Aligning Practice to Policies: Changing the Culture to Recognize and Reward Teaching at Research Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dennin, Michael; Schultz, Zachary D.; Feig, Andrew; Finkelstein, Noah; Greenhoot, Andrea Follmer; Hildreth, Michael; Leibovich, Adam K.; Martin, James D.; Moldwin, Mark B.; O'Dowd, Diane K.; Posey, Lynmarie A.; Smith, Tobin L.; Miller, Emily R.

    2017-01-01

    Recent calls for improvement in undergraduate education within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines are hampered by the methods used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Faculty members at research universities are commonly assessed and promoted mainly on the basis of research success. To improve the quality of…

  10. North Carolina Linking Study: A Study of the Alignment of the NWEA RIT Scale with the North Carolina State End of Grade (EOG) Testing Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Northwest Evaluation Association, 2014

    2014-01-01

    Recently, the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a study to connect the scale of the North Carolina State End of Grade (EOG) Testing Program used for North Carolina's mathematics and reading assessments with NWEA's Rausch Interval Unit (RIT) scale. Information from the state assessments was used in a study to establish…

  11. Assessing the Effectiveness of a Mathematics-Focused, Instructional Technology Program for Grades 6-8: A 5-Year Trend Analysis of NASA CONNECT(tm) Evaluation Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Glassman, Nanci A.; Perry, Jeannine B.; Giersch, Christopher E.; Lambert, Matthew A.; Pinelli, Thomas E.

    2004-01-01

    NASA CONNECT is a research-, inquiry, and standards-based, integrated mathematics, science, and technology series of 30-minute instructional distance learning (television and web-based) programs for students in grades 6 8. Respondents who evaluated the programs in the series over the first five seasons (1998-99 through 2002-03) reported that (1) they used the programs in the series; (2) the goals and objectives for the series were met; (3) the programs were aligned with the national mathematics, science, and technology standards; (4) the program content was developmentally appropriate for the grade level; and (5) the programs in the series enhanced and enriched the teaching of mathematics, science, and technology.

  12. The Development and Scaling of the easyCBM CCSS Elementary Mathematics Measures: Grade K. Technical Report #1314

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Irvin, P. Shawn; Saven, Jessica L.; Alonzo, Julie; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Anderson, Daniel; Tindal, Gerald

    2012-01-01

    The results of formative assessments are regularly used to inform important instructional decisions (e.g., targeted intervention) within a response to intervention (RTI) system of teaching and learning. The validity of such instructional decision-making depends, in part, on the alignment between formative measures and the academic content…

  13. The Development and Scaling of the easyCBM CCSS Elementary Mathematics Measures: Grade 2. Technical Report #1316

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Irvin, P. Shawn; Saven, Jessica L.; Alonzo, Julie; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Anderson, Daniel; Tindal, Gerald

    2012-01-01

    The results of formative assessments are regularly used to inform important instructional decisions (e.g., targeted intervention) within a response to intervention (RTI) system of teaching and learning. The validity of such instructional decision-making depends, in part, on the alignment between formative measures and the academic content…

  14. A Second Follow-Up Year for "Measuring How Benchmark Assessments Affect Student Achievement." REL Technical Brief. REL 2008-No. 002

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henderson, Susan; Petrosino, Anthony; Guckenburg, Sarah; Hamilton, Stephen

    2008-01-01

    This technical brief examines whether, after two years of implementation, schools in Massachusetts using quarterly benchmark exams aligned with state standards in middle school mathematics showed greater gains in student achievement than those not doing so. A quasi-experimental design, using covariate matching and comparative interrupted…

  15. Using Teacher Evaluation Reform and Professional Development to Support Common Core Assessments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Youngs, Peter

    2013-01-01

    The Common Core State Standards Initiative, in its aim to align diverse state curricula and improve educational outcomes, calls for K-12 teachers in the United States to engage all students in mathematical problem solving along with reading and writing complex text through the use of rigorous academic content. Until recently, most teacher…

  16. The Impact of a "Framework"-Aligned Science Professional Development Program on Literacy and Mathematics Achievement of K-3 Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paprzycki, Peter; Tuttle, Nicole; Czerniak, Charlene M.; Molitor, Scott; Kadervaek, Joan; Mendenhall, Robert

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates the effect of a Framework-aligned professional development program at the PreK-3 level. The NSF funded program integrated science with literacy and mathematics learning and provided teacher professional development, along with materials and programming for parents to encourage science investigations and discourse around…

  17. Is Tutoring Teaching? Exploring Tutoring's Potential to Improve Mathematics Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rasche, Alexander N.

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the tutoring practices of mathematics tutors working in one university tutoring center and the corresponding rationale exhibited by the mathematics tutors. This study illustrates how the tutoring practices of mathematics tutors align with the Eight Mathematics Teaching Practices outlined in NCTM's recent publication…

  18. Integrating Mathematics across the Curriculum. NCTM-Aligned Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martin, Hope

    An effective curriculum gives students the opportunity to perceive relationships among different topics in mathematics, use mathematics in their everyday lives, and apply mathematical thinking and problem solving to other curriculum areas. This book contains fun and creative ways to integrate mathematics across the curriculum with a diversity of…

  19. Common Core State Standards for Mathematics: How Well Do the Textbook and Instructional Methods Align?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rawding, Denise M.

    2016-01-01

    The Common Core Math Standards were written to address concerns that the math curriculum in the United States was not focused and coherent. Based on national and international assessments, the United States math scores have remained stagnant, while other countries have seen significant growth in their scores. This study, designed as an action…

  20. Early Mathematics Fluency with CCSSM

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matney, Gabriel T.

    2014-01-01

    To develop second-grade students' confidence and ease, this author presents examples of learning tasks (Number of the Day, Word Problem Solving, and Modeling New Mathematical Ideas) that align with Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and that build mathematical fluency to promote students' creative expression of mathematical…

  1. Learning Mathematics in High School Courses beyond Mathematics: Combating the Need for Post-Secondary Remediation in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, R. Brent; Hodge, Angie; Edwards, M. Craig; Leising, James G.

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to empirically test the posit that students who participated in a contextualized, mathematics-enhanced high school agricultural power and technology (APT) curriculum and aligned instructional approach would develop a deeper and more sustained understanding of selected mathematics concepts than those students who…

  2. Comparison of Virginia's 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Virginia Department of Education, 2011

    2011-01-01

    This first draft of the "Comparison of Virginia's 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Mathematics" provides a side-by-side overview demonstrating how the 2009 Mathematics SOL are aligned to the CCSS. The comparison was made using Virginia's complete standards program for supporting…

  3. A Study of the "Stanford Achievement Test Series," Tenth Edition (Stanford 10) Alignment to the Common Core State Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pearson Education, Inc., 2011

    2011-01-01

    With the June 2, 2010, release of the Common Core State Standards, state-led education standards developed for K-12 English Language Arts and Mathematics, Pearson Learning Assessments and content experts conducted an in-depth study to analyze how the "Stanford 10 Achievement Test Series," Tenth Edition (Stanford 10) and Stanford 10…

  4. Comparing the Score Distribution of a Trial Computer-Based Examination Cohort with That of the Standard Paper-Based Examination Cohort

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zoanetti, Nathan; Les, Magdalena; Leigh-Lancaster, David

    2014-01-01

    From 2011-2013 the VCAA conducted a trial aligning the use of computers in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment culminating in a group of 62 volunteer students sitting their end of Year 12 technology-active Mathematical Methods (CAS) Examination 2 as a computer-based examination. This paper reports on statistical modelling undertaken to compare the…

  5. Fitting-free algorithm for efficient quantification of collagen fiber alignment in SHG imaging applications.

    PubMed

    Hall, Gunnsteinn; Liang, Wenxuan; Li, Xingde

    2017-10-01

    Collagen fiber alignment derived from second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy images can be important for disease diagnostics. Image processing algorithms are needed to robustly quantify the alignment in images with high sensitivity and reliability. Fourier transform (FT) magnitude, 2D power spectrum, and image autocorrelation have previously been used to extract fiber information from images by assuming a certain mathematical model (e.g. Gaussian distribution of the fiber-related parameters) and fitting. The fitting process is slow and fails to converge when the data is not Gaussian. Herein we present an efficient constant-time deterministic algorithm which characterizes the symmetricity of the FT magnitude image in terms of a single parameter, named the fiber alignment anisotropy R ranging from 0 (randomized fibers) to 1 (perfect alignment). This represents an important improvement of the technology and may bring us one step closer to utilizing the technology for various applications in real time. In addition, we present a digital image phantom-based framework for characterizing and validating the algorithm, as well as assessing the robustness of the algorithm against different perturbations.

  6. Accuracy Estimation and Parameter Advising for Protein Multiple Sequence Alignment

    PubMed Central

    DeBlasio, Dan

    2013-01-01

    Abstract We develop a novel and general approach to estimating the accuracy of multiple sequence alignments without knowledge of a reference alignment, and use our approach to address a new task that we call parameter advising: the problem of choosing values for alignment scoring function parameters from a given set of choices to maximize the accuracy of a computed alignment. For protein alignments, we consider twelve independent features that contribute to a quality alignment. An accuracy estimator is learned that is a polynomial function of these features; its coefficients are determined by minimizing its error with respect to true accuracy using mathematical optimization. Compared to prior approaches for estimating accuracy, our new approach (a) introduces novel feature functions that measure nonlocal properties of an alignment yet are fast to evaluate, (b) considers more general classes of estimators beyond linear combinations of features, and (c) develops new regression formulations for learning an estimator from examples; in addition, for parameter advising, we (d) determine the optimal parameter set of a given cardinality, which specifies the best parameter values from which to choose. Our estimator, which we call Facet (for “feature-based accuracy estimator”), yields a parameter advisor that on the hardest benchmarks provides more than a 27% improvement in accuracy over the best default parameter choice, and for parameter advising significantly outperforms the best prior approaches to assessing alignment quality. PMID:23489379

  7. Re-Animating the Mathematical Concept: A Materialist Look at Students Practicing Mathematics with Digital Technology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chorney, Sean

    2017-01-01

    This paper proposes a philosophical approach to the mathematical engagement involving students and a digital tool. This philosophical proposal aligns with other theories of learning that have been implemented in mathematics education but rearticulates some metaphors so as to promote insight and ideas to further support continued investigations…

  8. A Mathematical Optimization Problem in Bioinformatics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heyer, Laurie J.

    2008-01-01

    This article describes the sequence alignment problem in bioinformatics. Through examples, we formulate sequence alignment as an optimization problem and show how to compute the optimal alignment with dynamic programming. The examples and sample exercises have been used by the author in a specialized course in bioinformatics, but could be adapted…

  9. The PULSE Vision & Change Rubrics, Version 1.0: A Valid and Equitable Tool to Measure Transformation of Life Sciences Departments at All Institution Types

    PubMed Central

    Brancaccio-Taras, Loretta; Pape-Lindstrom, Pamela; Peteroy-Kelly, Marcy; Aguirre, Karen; Awong-Taylor, Judy; Balser, Teri; Cahill, Michael J.; Frey, Regina F.; Jack, Thomas; Kelrick, Michael; Marley, Kate; Miller, Kathryn G.; Osgood, Marcy; Romano, Sandra; Uzman, J. Akif; Zhao, Jiuqing

    2016-01-01

    The PULSE Vision & Change Rubrics, version 1.0, assess life sciences departments’ progress toward implementation of the principles of the Vision and Change report. This paper reports on the development of the rubrics, their validation, and their reliability in measuring departmental change aligned with the Vision and Change recommendations. The rubrics assess 66 different criteria across five areas: Curriculum Alignment, Assessment, Faculty Practice/Faculty Support, Infrastructure, and Climate for Change. The results from this work demonstrate the rubrics can be used to evaluate departmental transformation equitably across institution types and represent baseline data about the adoption of the Vision and Change recommendations by life sciences programs across the United States. While all institution types have made progress, liberal arts institutions are farther along in implementing these recommendations. Generally, institutions earned the highest scores on the Curriculum Alignment rubric and the lowest scores on the Assessment rubric. The results of this study clearly indicate that the Vision & Change Rubrics, version 1.0, are valid and equitable and can track long-term progress of the transformation of life sciences departments. In addition, four of the five rubrics have broad applicability and can be used to evaluate departmental transformation by other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. PMID:27856548

  10. Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs and Practices: Understanding the Influence of Teaching in a STEAM Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Negreiros, Melissa

    2017-01-01

    Many elementary mathematics teachers hold beliefs about the teaching and learning of mathematics and enact practices that are not aligned with the recommendations of reform efforts in the field of mathematics education (Stigler & Hiebert, 2009). For standards-based reform to gain any significant success, many teachers will have to alter the…

  11. The Common Core Mathematics Companion: The Standards Decoded, High School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2017

    2017-01-01

    When it comes to mathematics, standards aligned is achievement aligned… In the short time since "The Common Core Mathematics Companions" for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 burst on the scene, they have been lauded as the best resources for making critical mathematics ideas easy to teach. With this brand-new volume, high school mathematics…

  12. Investigating Alignment between Elementary Mathematics Teacher Education and Graduates' Teaching of Mathematics for Conceptual Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jansen, Amanda; Berk, Dawn; Meikle, Erin

    2017-01-01

    In this article, Amanda Jansen, Dawn Berk, and Erin Meikle investigate the impact of mathematics teacher education on teaching practices. In their study they interviewed six first-year teachers who graduated from the same elementary teacher education program and who were oriented toward teaching mathematics conceptually. They observed each teacher…

  13. An Examination of Preservice Teachers' Capacity to Create Mathematical Modeling Problems for Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paolucci, Catherine; Wessels, Helena

    2017-01-01

    This study examined preservice teachers' (PSTs) capacity to create mathematical modeling problems (MMPs) for grades 1 to 3. PSTs created MMPs for their choice of grade level and aligned the mathematical content of their MMPs with the relevant mathematics curriculum. PSTs were given criteria adapted from Galbraith's MMP design principles to guide…

  14. Findings from a Multi-Year Scale-up Effectiveness Trial of Everyday Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaden-Kiernan, Michael; Borman, Geoffrey; Caverly, Sarah; Bell, Nance; Ruiz de Castilla, Veronica; Sullivan, Kate; Rodriguez, Debra

    2015-01-01

    This study addresses the effectiveness of "Everyday Mathematics" (EM), a widely used core mathematics curriculum that reflects over two decades of National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored research and development studies (Klein, 2007; National Research Council, 2004) and aligns well with recommended policies and practices by the…

  15. Mathematics Teachers' Capacity for Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Golding, Jennie

    2017-01-01

    Mathematics teachers across the Western world are faced with an expectation that they make significant change to their teaching, but repeated attempts have shown little embedded success. This paper draws on a longitudinal study of two apparently well-placed English mathematics departments attempting to make change aligned with both policy and…

  16. Antecedents of Teachers' Educational Beliefs about Mathematics and Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching among In-Service Teachers in High Poverty Urban Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corkin, Danya M.; Ekmekci, Adem; Papakonstantinou, Anne

    2015-01-01

    This paper examines the antecedents of three types of educational beliefs about mathematics among 151 teachers predominantly working in high poverty schools. Studies across various countries have found that teachers in high poverty schools are less likely to enact instructional approaches that align with mathematics reform standards set by…

  17. "Let's Count": Improving Community Approaches to Early Years Mathematics Learning, Teaching and Dispositions through Noticing, Exploring and Talking about Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perry, Bob; Hampshire, Ann; Gervaxoni, Ann; O'Neill, Will

    2016-01-01

    "Let's Count" is a preschool mathematics intervention implemented by The Smith Family from 2012 to the present in "disdvantaged" communities across Australia. It is based on current mathematics and early childhood education research and aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework. Let's Count has been shown to be effective…

  18. An optimal beam alignment method for large-scale distributed space surveillance radar system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Jian; Wang, Dongya; Xia, Shuangzhi

    2018-06-01

    Large-scale distributed space surveillance radar is a very important ground-based equipment to maintain a complete catalogue for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space debris. However, due to the thousands of kilometers distance between each sites of the distributed radar system, how to optimally implement the Transmitting/Receiving (T/R) beams alignment in a great space using the narrow beam, which proposed a special and considerable technical challenge in the space surveillance area. According to the common coordinate transformation model and the radar beam space model, we presented a two dimensional projection algorithm for T/R beam using the direction angles, which could visually describe and assess the beam alignment performance. Subsequently, the optimal mathematical models for the orientation angle of the antenna array, the site location and the T/R beam coverage are constructed, and also the beam alignment parameters are precisely solved. At last, we conducted the optimal beam alignment experiments base on the site parameters of Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS). The simulation results demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of our novel method, which can significantly stimulate the construction for the LEO space debris surveillance equipment.

  19. An Investigation of the Engagement of Elementary Students in the NCTM Process Standards after One Year of Standards-Based Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fillingim, Jennifer Gale

    2010-01-01

    Contemporary mathematics education reform has placed increased emphasis on K-12 mathematics curriculum. Reform-based curricula, often referred to as "Standards-based" due to philosophical alignment with the NCTM Process Standards, have generated controversy among families, educators, and researchers. The mathematics education research…

  20. From Concrete to Abstract: A Story of Passion, Proof and Pedagogy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lawton, Fiona

    2011-01-01

    The author states her belief that mathematics is a human construct based on axiomatic systems, and that these constructs are both personal and social. She argues that to succeed in mathematics, learners' personal constructs need to be aligned with formal globally agreed mathematical conventions. Put more simply, she informs her students that…

  1. Rural High School Mathematics Teachers' Response to Mathematics Reform Curriculum Integration and Professional Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cox, Teodora B.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine rural high school mathematics teachers' responses to the initial implementation of Louisiana's "Comprehensive Curriculum" during their second year of involvement in a professional development program. The curriculum changes were the culmination of an alignment between standards,…

  2. An Alignment Analysis of Washington State's College Readiness Mathematics Standards with Various Local Placement Tests

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Achieve, Inc., 2006

    2006-01-01

    For the past two years, Achieve, Inc. has worked with the Transition Mathematics Project (TMP), a collaborative project of K-12 schools, community and technical colleges, and baccalaureate institutions within the state of Washington, as it developed mathematics standards that "define the core knowledge and skills expected of students entering…

  3. Teachers Implementing Mathematical Problem Posing in the Classroom: Challenges and Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leung, Shuk-kwan S.

    2013-01-01

    This paper reports a study about how a teacher educator shared knowledge with teachers when they worked together to implement mathematical problem posing (MPP) in the classroom. It includes feasible methods for getting practitioners to use research-based tasks aligned to the curriculum in order to encourage children to pose mathematical problems.…

  4. The Development and Scaling of the easyCBM CCSS Middle School Mathematics Measures. Technical Report #1207

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Daniel; Irvin, P. Shawn; Patarapichayatham, Chalie; Alonzo, Julie; Tindal, Gerald

    2012-01-01

    In the following technical report, we describe the development and scaling of the easyCBM CCSS middle school mathematics measures, designed for use within a response to intervention framework. All items were developed in collaboration with experienced middle school mathematics teachers and were written to align with the Common Core State…

  5. Mathematical Self-Efficacy and Understanding: Using Geographic Information Systems to Mediate Urban High School Students' Real-World Problem Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeBay, Dennis J.

    2013-01-01

    To explore student mathematical self-efficacy and understanding of graphical data, this dissertation examines students solving real-world problems in their neighborhood, mediated by professional urban planning technologies. As states and schools are working on the alignment of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM), traditional…

  6. The relationship between standards-based reporting systems and third-grade mathematics and science achievement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prejean-Harris, Rose M.

    Over the last decade, accountability has been the driving force for many changes in education in the United States. One major educational reform effort is the standards-based movement with a focus of combining a number of processes that involve aligning curriculum, instruction, assessment and feedback to specific standards that are measureable and indicative of student achievement. The purpose of this study is to determine if the type of report card is a possible predictor of third grade student achievement on standardized tests in mathematics and science for the 2012 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). The results of this study concluded that the difference in test scores in mathematics and science for students in the traditional report card group was not statistically significant when compared to the scores of students in the standards-based report card group when controlling for poverty level, school locale, and school district. However, students in the traditional report card group scored an average of 1.01 point higher in mathematics and 2.27 points higher in science than students in the standards-based report card group.

  7. Investigating the Alignment of Bhutanese Mathematics Teachers' Planned Approaches within the Context of a Reformed Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dolma, Phuntsho; Nutchey, David; Watters, James J.; Chandra, Vinesh

    2018-01-01

    Reform of mathematics education has been in focus in many countries including those in major economic transition. This paper reports a segment of a study which was conducted in Bhutan, where a reformed elementary mathematics curriculum has been recently introduced. The reformed curriculum is based on social constructivism and its design has been…

  8. New Outcomes: Learning Improvement in Mathematics Integrating Technology - NO LIMIT! An Enhancing Education through Technology Project. Final Report: Years Five and Six (2005-2007)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Popejoy, Kate

    2009-01-01

    NO LIMIT! (New Outcomes: Learning Improvement in Mathematics Integrating Technology) in Washington state was a six-year initiative originally designed to enhance mathematics teaching and learning in the middle grades through integration of technology, alignment of pedagogical practice with NCTM standards, and strong mentorship of teachers. The…

  9. What Are We Developing? A Case Study of a College Mathematics Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Pete

    2007-01-01

    Over one-third of all college mathematics enrollments are in courses considered to be developmental. While such courses have been the subject of a large body of research, one question that seems not to have been studied empirically is the alignment of the content of developmental and college level mathematics courses. This paper gives the results…

  10. Modeling the Eclipse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thornburgh, William R.; Tretter, Thomas R.

    2017-01-01

    This article describes a unit in which students investigate total solar eclipses, such as the one coming August 21, from several perspectives. It incorporates mathematical thinking and aligns with the "Next Generation Science Standard." This article refers to physical, virtual, and mathematical modeling. Various models and perspectives…

  11. Study of the Reliability of CCSS-Aligned Math Measures (2012 Research Version): Grades 6-8. Technical Report #1312

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Daniel; Alonzo, Julie; Tindal, Gerald

    2012-01-01

    In this technical report, we describe the results of a study of mathematics items written to align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in grades 6-8. In each grade, CCSS items were organized into forms, and the reliability of these forms was evaluated along with an experimental form including items aligned with the National Council of…

  12. Using analogy to learn about phenomena at scales outside human perception.

    PubMed

    Resnick, Ilyse; Davatzes, Alexandra; Newcombe, Nora S; Shipley, Thomas F

    2017-01-01

    Understanding and reasoning about phenomena at scales outside human perception (for example, geologic time) is critical across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Thus, devising strong methods to support acquisition of reasoning at such scales is an important goal in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. In two experiments, we examine the use of analogical principles in learning about geologic time. Across both experiments we find that using a spatial analogy (for example, a time line) to make multiple alignments, and keeping all unrelated components of the analogy held constant (for example, keep the time line the same length), leads to better understanding of the magnitude of geologic time. Effective approaches also include hierarchically and progressively aligning scale information (Experiment 1) and active prediction in making alignments paired with immediate feedback (Experiments 1 and 2).

  13. Selected Effects of a Curriculum Integration Intervention on the Mathematics Performance of Secondary Students Enrolled in an Agricultural Power and Technology Course: An Experimental Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parr, Brian; Edwards, M. Craig; Leising, James G.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to empirically test the posit that students who participated in a contextualized, mathematics-enhanced high school agricultural power and technology (APT) curriculum and aligned instructional approach would develop a deeper and more sustained understanding of selected mathematics concepts than those students who…

  14. Highlights from TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015: Mathematics and Science Achievement of U.S. Students in Grades 4 and 8 and in Advanced Courses at the End of High School in an International Context. NCES 2017-002

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephens, Maria; Landeros, Katherine; Perkins, Robert; Tang, Judy H.

    2016-01-01

    The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 is the sixth administration of this international comparative study since 1995 when first administered. TIMSS is used to compare over time the mathematics and science knowledge and skills of fourth- and eighth-graders. TIMSS is designed to align broadly with mathematics and…

  15. Self-aligning and compressed autosophy video databases

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holtz, Klaus E.

    1993-04-01

    Autosophy, an emerging new science, explains `self-assembling structures,' such as crystals or living trees, in mathematical terms. This research provides a new mathematical theory of `learning' and a new `information theory' which permits the growing of self-assembling data network in a computer memory similar to the growing of `data crystals' or `data trees' without data processing or programming. Autosophy databases are educated very much like a human child to organize their own internal data storage. Input patterns, such as written questions or images, are converted to points in a mathematical omni dimensional hyperspace. The input patterns are then associated with output patterns, such as written answers or images. Omni dimensional information storage will result in enormous data compression because each pattern fragment is only stored once. Pattern recognition in the text or image files is greatly simplified by the peculiar omni dimensional storage method. Video databases will absorb input images from a TV camera and associate them with textual information. The `black box' operations are totally self-aligning where the input data will determine their own hyperspace storage locations. Self-aligning autosophy databases may lead to a new generation of brain-like devices.

  16. Are Universities Providing Non-STEM Students the Mathematics Preparation Required by Their Programs?: A Case Study of A Quantitative Literacy Pathway and Vertical Alignment from Remediation to Degree Completion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, Charles

    2017-01-01

    Informed by Gagne's belief in the necessity of prerequisite knowledge for new learning, and Bruner's Spiral Curriculum Theory, the objective of this case study was to explore the postsecondary pathway from remedial mathematics, through one gateway mathematics course, and into the quantitative literacy requirements of various non-STEM programs of…

  17. The Critical Role of a Well-Articulated, Coherent Design in Professional Development: An Evaluation of a State-Wide Two-Week Program for Mathematics and Science Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saderholm, Jon; Ronau, Robert N.; Rakes, Christopher R.; Bush, Sarah B.; Mohr-Schroeder, Margaret

    2017-01-01

    This evaluation study examined a state-wide professional development program composed of two institutes, one for mathematics teachers and one for science teachers, each spanning two weeks. The program was designed to help teachers transform their practice to align with Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Next Generation Science…

  18. Master Class: Children's Literature and Mathematics--an Unhealthy Alliance?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Terrell

    1999-01-01

    Responds to current interest in the integration of children's literature and mathematics. Suggests that although using trade books instead of textbooks in teaching math holds promise, it is potentially negative. Concludes that aligning children's literature and math has the potential to help children better understand and appreciate both…

  19. Testing the Efficacy of a Tier 2 Mathematics Intervention: A Conceptual Replication Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Doabler, Christian T.; Clarke, Ben; Kosty, Derek B.; Kurtz-Nelson, Evangeline; Fien, Hank; Smolkowski, Keith; Baker, Scott K.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this closely aligned conceptual replication study was to investigate the efficacy of a Tier 2 kindergarten mathematics intervention. The replication study differed from the initial randomized controlled trial on three important elements: geographical region, timing of the intervention, and instructional context of the…

  20. It All Adds Up: Learning Early Math through Play and Games

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramani, Geetha B.; Eason, Sarah H.

    2015-01-01

    Playing and learning mathematics do not have to be mutually exclusive activities, especially in kindergarten. Play and games can give young children opportunities to learn and develop foundational math skills that are aligned with Common Core standards for mathematics through age-appropriate, fun, and engaging activities.

  1. The number of reduced alignments between two DNA sequences

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background In this study we consider DNA sequences as mathematical strings. Total and reduced alignments between two DNA sequences have been considered in the literature to measure their similarity. Results for explicit representations of some alignments have been already obtained. Results We present exact, explicit and computable formulas for the number of different possible alignments between two DNA sequences and a new formula for a class of reduced alignments. Conclusions A unified approach for a wide class of alignments between two DNA sequences has been provided. The formula is computable and, if complemented by software development, will provide a deeper insight into the theory of sequence alignment and give rise to new comparison methods. AMS Subject Classification Primary 92B05, 33C20, secondary 39A14, 65Q30 PMID:24684679

  2. Effects of Enhanced Anchored Instruction on Skills Aligned to Common Core Math Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bottge, Brian A.; Cho, Sun-Joo

    2013-01-01

    This study compared how students with learning difficulties in math (MLD) who were randomly assigned to two instructional conditions answered items on problem solving tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards Initiative for Mathematics. Posttest scores showed improvement in the math performance of students receiving Enhanced Anchored…

  3. Early Learning Foundations. Indiana's Early Learning Development Framework Aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards, 2014

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Indiana Department of Education, 2015

    2015-01-01

    The "Foundations" (English/language arts, mathematics, social emotional skills, approaches to play and learning, science, social studies, creative arts, and physical health and growth) are Indiana's early learning development framework and are aligned to the 2014 Indiana Academic Standards. This framework provides core elements that…

  4. Creating Next Generation Teacher Preparation Programs to Support Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards in K-12 Schools: An Opportunity for the Earth and Space Sciences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geary, E. E.; Egger, A. E.; Julin, S.; Ronca, R.; Vokos, S.; Ebert, E.; Clark-Blickenstaff, J.; Nollmeyer, G.

    2015-12-01

    A consortium of two and four year Washington State Colleges and Universities in partnership with Washington's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Teachers of Teachers of Science, and Teachers of Teachers of Mathematics, and other key stakeholders, is currently working to improve science and mathematics learning for all Washington State students by creating a new vision for STEM teacher preparation in Washington State aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Mathematics and Language Arts. Specific objectives include: (1) strengthening elementary and secondary STEM Teacher Preparation courses and curricula, (2) alignment of STEM teacher preparation programs across Washington State with the NGSS and CCSS, (3) development of action plans to support implementation of STEM Teacher Preparation program improvement at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the state, (4) stronger collaborations between HEIs, K-12 schools, government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, and STEM businesses, involved in the preparation of preservice STEM teachers, (5) new teacher endorsements in Computer Science and Engineering, and (6) development of a proto-type model for rapid, adaptable, and continuous improvement of STEM teacher preparation programs. A 2015 NGSS gap analysis of teacher preparation programs across Washington State indicates relatively good alignment of courses and curricula with NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas and Scientific practices, but minimal alignment with NGSS Engineering practices and Cross Cutting Concepts. Likewise, Computer Science and Sustainability ideas and practices are not well represented in current courses and curricula. During the coming year teams of STEM faculty, education faculty and administrators will work collaboratively to develop unique action plans for aligning and improving STEM teacher preparation courses and curricula at their institutions.

  5. Application of discrete Fourier inter-coefficient difference for assessing genetic sequence similarity.

    PubMed

    King, Brian R; Aburdene, Maurice; Thompson, Alex; Warres, Zach

    2014-01-01

    Digital signal processing (DSP) techniques for biological sequence analysis continue to grow in popularity due to the inherent digital nature of these sequences. DSP methods have demonstrated early success for detection of coding regions in a gene. Recently, these methods are being used to establish DNA gene similarity. We present the inter-coefficient difference (ICD) transformation, a novel extension of the discrete Fourier transformation, which can be applied to any DNA sequence. The ICD method is a mathematical, alignment-free DNA comparison method that generates a genetic signature for any DNA sequence that is used to generate relative measures of similarity among DNA sequences. We demonstrate our method on a set of insulin genes obtained from an evolutionarily wide range of species, and on a set of avian influenza viral sequences, which represents a set of highly similar sequences. We compare phylogenetic trees generated using our technique against trees generated using traditional alignment techniques for similarity and demonstrate that the ICD method produces a highly accurate tree without requiring an alignment prior to establishing sequence similarity.

  6. Speedometry: A Vehicle for Promoting Interest and Engagement through Integrated STEM Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sinatra, Gale M.; Mukhopadhyay, Ananya; Allbright, Taylor N.; Marsh, Julie A.; Polikoff, Morgan S.

    2017-01-01

    The curriculum, Hot Wheels Speedometry (Mattel, El Segundo, CA, USA), was designed to align with the Next Generation Science Standards for science and the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Our objective was to develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of this integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)…

  7. Saxon Math. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    What Works Clearinghouse, 2010

    2010-01-01

    "Saxon Math" is a textbook series covering grades K-12 based on incremental development and continual review of mathematical concepts to give students time to learn and practice concepts throughout the year. The series is aligned with standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and various states, and can be…

  8. Plan, Save, Succeed! Financial Literacy Poster/Teaching Guide. Expect the Unexpected with Math[R

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Actuarial Foundation, 2013

    2013-01-01

    "Plan, Save, Succeed!" is a new program aligned with Jumpstart Coalition National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards, and Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice. "Plan, Save, Succeed!" is designed to help students understand key financial literacy topics including…

  9. Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards Alignment with Wisconsin Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2011

    2011-01-01

    Wisconsin's adoption of the Common Core State Standards provides an excellent opportunity for Wisconsin school districts and communities to define expectations from birth through preparation for college and work. By aligning the existing Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards with the Wisconsin Common Core State Standards, expectations can be…

  10. Discrete mathematics course supported by CAS MATHEMATICA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ivanov, O. A.; Ivanova, V. V.; Saltan, A. A.

    2017-08-01

    In this paper, we discuss examples of assignments for a course in discrete mathematics for undergraduate students majoring in business informatics. We consider several problems with computer-based solutions and discuss general strategies for using computers in teaching mathematics and its applications. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we conducted an anonymous survey. The results of the survey provide evidence that our approach contributes to high outcomes and aligns with the course aims and objectives.

  11. Instructional Experiences That Align with Conceptual Understanding in the Transition from High School Mathematics to College Calculus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wade, Carol H.; Sonnert, Gerhard; Sadler, Philip M.; Hazari, Zahra

    2017-01-01

    Using data from the first National study on high school preparation for college calculus success, the Factors Influencing College Success in Mathematics (FICSMath) project, this article connects student high school instructional experiences to college calculus performance. The findings reported here reveal that students were better prepared for…

  12. Aligning High School and College Instruction: Preparing Students for Success in College Level Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alexander, Julie

    2013-01-01

    Across the United States, students are entering college with a need for improvement in basic mathematics and communication skills. In 2008, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 1908 which changed the expectations for the senior year of high school for many students. Students who score within certain levels on the mandatory high school…

  13. Improving Student Motivation and Engagement in Mathematics through One-to-One Interactions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Way, Jennifer; Reece, Amelia; Bobis, Janette; Anderson, Judy; Martin, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    The phenomenon of the "middle-years dip" in mathematics engagement and achievement has been a cause of concern for over a decade. This paper presents an example of one upper-primary classroom identified as having higher than average levels of student engagement, with the purpose of documenting specific teaching strategies that align with…

  14. Constructing an Inquiry Orientation from a Learning Theory Perspective: Democratizing Access through Task Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buell, Catherine A.; Greenstein, Steven; Wilstein, Zahava

    2017-01-01

    It is widely accepted in the mathematics education community that pedagogies oriented toward inquiry are aligned with a constructivist theory of learning, and that these pedagogies effectively support students' learning of mathematics. In order to promote such an orientation, we first separate the idea of inquiry from its conception as a…

  15. The Power of Probability: Poster/Teaching Guide for Grades 6-8. Expect the Unexpected with Math[R

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Actuarial Foundation, 2013

    2013-01-01

    "The Power of Probability" is a new math program aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and Common Core State Standards, which gives students opportunities to practice their skills and knowledge of the mathematics of probability. Developed by The Actuarial Foundation, the program's lessons and worksheets motivate…

  16. Systematic Assessment Through Mathematical Model For Sustainability Reporting In Malaysia Context

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lanang, Wan Nurul Syahirah Wan; Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

    2017-08-01

    Sustainability assessment have been studied and increasingly recognized as a powerful and valuable tool to measure the performance of sustainability in a company or industry. Nowadays, there are many existing tools that the users can use for sustainable development. There are various initiatives exists on tools for sustainable development, though most of the tools focused on environmental, economy and social aspects. Using the Green Project Management (GPM) P5 concept that suggests the firms not only needs to engage in mainly 3Ps principle: planet, profit, people responsible behaviours, but also, product and process need to be included in the practices, this study will introduce a new mathematical model for assessing the level of sustainability practice in the company. Based on multiple case studies, involving in-depth interviews with senior directors, feedback from experts, and previous engineering report, a systematic approach is done with the aims to obtain the respective data from the feedbacks and to be developed into a new mathematical model. By reviewing on the methodology of this research it comprises of several phases where it starts with the analyzation of the parameters and criteria selection according to the Malaysian context of industry. Moving on to the next step is data analysis involving regression and finally the normalisation process will be done to determine the result of this research either succeeded or not. Lastly, this study is expected to provide a clear guideline to any company or organization to assimilate the sustainability assessment in their development stage. In future, the better understanding towards the sustainability assessment is attained to be aligned unitedly in order to integrated the process approach into the systematic approach for the sustainability assessment.

  17. Prospects for School Mathematics. Seventy-Five Years of Progress.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carl, Iris M., Ed.

    This book offers a broad view for a varied audience of what the vision expressed in all three National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Standards documents will look like when aligned with practice and outlines ways in which desired changes can be realized. Six sections and 21 chapters in the book are: Section I--History: (1) "Paths to the…

  18. Performance and Preparation: Alignment between Student Achievement, Teacher Ratings, and Parent Perceptions in Urban Middle-Grades Mathematics Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mowrey, Sascha C.; Farran, Dale C.

    2016-01-01

    The middle grades are a critical transition period in students' mathematics trajectories, as students move from arithmetic to the more complex and abstract concepts of algebra. Teachers' and parents' judgments of students' math abilities in these years are important to instructional planning and decision making for teachers, and can advise parents…

  19. Does a Curriculum Integration Intervention to Improve the Mathematics Achievement of Students Diminish Their Acquisition of Technical Competence? An Experimental Study in Agricultural Mechanics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parr, Brian A.; Edwards, M. Craig; Leising, James G.

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to empirically test the hypothesis that students who participated in a contextualized, mathematics-enhanced high school agricultural power and technology curriculum and aligned instructional approach would not experience significant diminishment in acquisition of technical skills related to agricultural power and…

  20. A Microworld-Based Role-Playing Game Development Approach to Engaging Students in Interactive, Enjoyable, and Effective Mathematics Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Sheng-Yuan; Chang, Shao-Chen; Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Chen, Pei-Ying

    2018-01-01

    In traditional teacher-centered mathematics instruction, students might show low learning motivation owing to the lack of applied contexts. Game-based learning has been recognized as a potential approach to addressing this issue; however, without proper alignment between the gaming and math-applied contexts, the benefits of game-based learning…

  1. Modeling of Geometric Error in Linear Guide Way to Improved the vertical three-axis CNC Milling machine’s accuracy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kwintarini, Widiyanti; Wibowo, Agung; Arthaya, Bagus M.; Yuwana Martawirya, Yatna

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to improve the accuracy of three-axis CNC Milling Vertical engines with a general approach by using mathematical modeling methods of machine tool geometric errors. The inaccuracy of CNC machines can be caused by geometric errors that are an important factor during the manufacturing process and during the assembly phase, and are factors for being able to build machines with high-accuracy. To improve the accuracy of the three-axis vertical milling machine, by knowing geometric errors and identifying the error position parameters in the machine tool by arranging the mathematical modeling. The geometric error in the machine tool consists of twenty-one error parameters consisting of nine linear error parameters, nine angle error parameters and three perpendicular error parameters. The mathematical modeling approach of geometric error with the calculated alignment error and angle error in the supporting components of the machine motion is linear guide way and linear motion. The purpose of using this mathematical modeling approach is the identification of geometric errors that can be helpful as reference during the design, assembly and maintenance stages to improve the accuracy of CNC machines. Mathematically modeling geometric errors in CNC machine tools can illustrate the relationship between alignment error, position and angle on a linear guide way of three-axis vertical milling machines.

  2. TIMSS Advanced 2015 and Advanced Placement Calculus & Physics. A Framework Analysis. Research in Review 2016-1

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lazzaro, Christopher; Jones, Lee; Webb, David C.; Grover, Ryan; Di Giacomo, F. Tony; Marino, Katherine Adele

    2016-01-01

    This report will determine to what degree the AP Physics 1 and 2 and AP Calculus AB and BC frameworks are aligned with the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Advanced Physics and Mathematics frameworks. This will enable an exploration of any differences in content coverage and levels of complexity, and will set the stage…

  3. What Does Research Say about the Ideal Condition for Students Learning Mathematics?--A "Baker's Dozen" Articles to Inform Secondary Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Karrie A.; Vermette, Paul J.; Jones, Jennifer L.

    2012-01-01

    In seeking to align the everyday decision-making and lesson delivery of secondary teachers to current research in mathematics education, this piece provides an application of theory into classroom practice. By focusing on a sample of 13 quantitative and qualitative research studies of pedagogical best practice published since 2000, a set of…

  4. The Integration of technology in teaching mathematics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muhtadi, D.; Wahyudin; Kartasasmita, B. G.; Prahmana, R. C. I.

    2017-12-01

    This paper presents the Transformation of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) of three pre-service math teacher. They participate in technology-based learning modules aligned with teaching practice taught school and became characteristic of teaching method by using the mathematical software. ICT-based learning environment has been the demands in practice learning to build a more effective approach to the learning process of students. Also, this paper presents the results of research on learning mathematics in middle school that shows the influence of design teaching on knowledge of math content specifically.

  5. An Incidence Loss Model for Wave Rotors with Axially Aligned Passages

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Paxson, Daniel E.

    1998-01-01

    A simple mathematical model is described to account for the losses incurred when the flow in the duct (port) of a wave rotor is not aligned with the passages. The model, specifically for wave rotors with axially aligned passages, describes a loss mechanism which is sensitive to incident flow angle and Mach number. Implementation of the model in a one-dimensional CFD based wave rotor simulation is presented. Comparisons with limited experimental results are consistent with the model. Sensitivity studies are presented which highlight the significance of the incidence loss relative to other loss mechanisms in the wave rotor.

  6. Extinction Risk and Overfishing: Reconciling Conservation and Fisheries Perspectives on the Status of Marine Fishes

    PubMed Central

    Davies, Trevor D.; Baum, Julia K.

    2012-01-01

    Anthropogenic disturbances are ubiquitous in the ocean, but their impacts on marine species are hotly debated. We evaluated marine fish statuses using conservation (Red List threatened or not) and fisheries (above or below reference points) metrics, compared their alignment, and diagnosed why discrepancies arise. Whereas only 13.5% of Red Listed marine fishes (n = 2952) are threatened, 40% and 21% of populations with stock assessments (n = 166) currently are below their more conservative and riskier reference points, respectively. Conservation and fisheries metrics aligned well (70.5% to 80.7%), despite their mathematical disconnect. Red Listings were not biased towards exaggerating threat status, and egregious errors, where populations were categorized at opposite extremes of fisheries and conservation metrics, were rare. Our analyses suggest conservation and fisheries scientists will agree on the statuses of exploited marine fishes in most cases, leaving only the question of appropriate management responses for populations of mutual concern still unresolved. PMID:22872806

  7. Extinction risk and overfishing: reconciling conservation and fisheries perspectives on the status of marine fishes.

    PubMed

    Davies, Trevor D; Baum, Julia K

    2012-01-01

    Anthropogenic disturbances are ubiquitous in the ocean, but their impacts on marine species are hotly debated. We evaluated marine fish statuses using conservation (Red List threatened or not) and fisheries (above or below reference points) metrics, compared their alignment, and diagnosed why discrepancies arise. Whereas only 13.5% of Red Listed marine fishes (n = 2952) are threatened, 40% and 21% of populations with stock assessments (n = 166) currently are below their more conservative and riskier reference points, respectively. Conservation and fisheries metrics aligned well (70.5% to 80.7%), despite their mathematical disconnect. Red Listings were not biased towards exaggerating threat status, and egregious errors, where populations were categorized at opposite extremes of fisheries and conservation metrics, were rare. Our analyses suggest conservation and fisheries scientists will agree on the statuses of exploited marine fishes in most cases, leaving only the question of appropriate management responses for populations of mutual concern still unresolved.

  8. System alignment using the Talbot effect

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chevallier, Raymond; Le Falher, Eric; Heggarty, Kevin

    1990-08-01

    The Talbot effect is utilized to correct an alignment problem related to a neural network used for image recognition, which required the alignment of a spatial light modulator (SLM) with the input module. A mathematical model which employs the Fresnel diffraction theory is presented to describe the method. The calculation of the diffracted amplitude describes the wavefront sphericity and the original object transmittance function in order to qualify the lateral shift of the Talbot image. Another explanation is set forth in terms of plane-wave illumination in the neural network. Using a Fourier series and by describing planes where all the harmonics are in phase, the reconstruction of Talbot images is explained. The alignment is effective when the lenslet array is aligned on the even Talbot images of the SLM pixels and the incident wave is a plane wave. The alignment is evaluated in terms of source and periodicity errors, tilt of the incident plane waves, and finite object dimensions. The effects of the error sources are concluded to be negligible, the lenslet array is shown to be successfully aligned with the SLM, and other alignment applications are shown to be possible.

  9. Standardized Tests as Outcome Measures for Evaluating Instructional Interventions in Mathematics and Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sussman, Joshua Michael

    This three-paper dissertation explores problems with the use of standardized tests as outcome measures for the evaluation of instructional interventions in mathematics and science. Investigators commonly use students' scores on standardized tests to evaluate the impact of instructional programs designed to improve student achievement. However, evidence suggests that the standardized tests may not measure, or may not measure well, the student learning caused by the interventions. This problem is special case of a basic problem in applied measurement related to understanding whether a particular test provides accurate and useful information about the impact of an educational intervention. The three papers explore different aspects of the issue and highlight the potential benefits of (a) using particular research methods and of (b) implementing changes to educational policy that would strengthen efforts to reform instructional intervention in mathematics and science. The first paper investigates measurement problems related to the use of standardized tests in applied educational research. Analysis of the research projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Mathematics and Science Education Program permitted me to address three main research questions. One, how often are standardized tests used to evaluate new educational interventions? Two, do the tests appear to measure the same thing that the intervention teaches? Three, do investigators establish validity evidence for the specific uses of the test? The research documents potential problems and actual problems related to the use of standardized tests in leading applied research, and suggests changes to policy that would address measurement issues and improve the rigor of applied educational research. The second paper explores the practical consequences of misalignment between an outcome measure and an educational intervention in the context of summative evaluation. Simulated evaluation data and a psychometric model of alignment grounded in item response modeling generate the results that address the following research question: how do differences between what a test measures and what an intervention teaches influence the results of an evaluation? The simulation derives a functional relationship between alignment, defined as the match between the test and the intervention, and treatment sensitivity, defined as the statistical power for detecting the impact of an intervention. The paper presents a new model of the effect of misalignment on the results of an evaluation and recommendations for outcome measure selection. The third paper documents the educational effectiveness of the Learning Mathematics through Representations (LMR) lesson sequence for students classified as English Learners (ELs). LMR is a research-based curricular unit designed to support upper elementary students' understandings of integers and fractions, areas considered foundational for the development of higher mathematics. The experimental evaluation contains a multilevel analysis of achievement data from two assessments: a standardized test and a researcher-developed assessment. The study coordinates the two sources of research data with a theoretical mechanism of action in order to rigorously document the effectiveness and educational equity of LMR for ELs using multiple sources of information.

  10. The 2012 CASPER Physics Circus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carmona Reyes, Jorge; Land-Zandstra, Anne; Cheng, Joyce; Douglass, Angela; Harris, Brandon; Zhang, Zhuanhao; Chen, Mudi; Matthews, Lorin; Hyde, Truell

    2012-10-01

    The CASPER Physics Circus is one component of a CASPER ongoing educational outreach initiative known as the CASPER Seamless Pathway. The Physics Circus is funded by the United States Department of Education and is designed to increase interest in, engagement with, and understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) within students in grades 6 through 12. The program's material and curriculum is aligned with both TEKS (Texas Essentials Knowledge and Skills) and National Science and Mathematics Standards, with its components (theatre, hands-on exhibitions, game show, professional development and curriculum) reinforcing these goals in a creative and entertaining format. Pre- and post-assessments measuring both content understanding and attitude towards science were conducted for a representative sample of the cohort and the analyzed data will be presented. The role the Circus plays within CASPER's Seamless Pathway will also be discussed along with other current CASPER programs including its High School Scholars program, CASPER's Interns program and CASPER NSF funded REU/RET programs for college undergraduates and K-12 teachers.

  11. Physically motivated global alignment method for electron tomography

    DOE PAGES

    Sanders, Toby; Prange, Micah; Akatay, Cem; ...

    2015-04-08

    Electron tomography is widely used for nanoscale determination of 3-D structures in many areas of science. Determining the 3-D structure of a sample from electron tomography involves three major steps: acquisition of sequence of 2-D projection images of the sample with the electron microscope, alignment of the images to a common coordinate system, and 3-D reconstruction and segmentation of the sample from the aligned image data. The resolution of the 3-D reconstruction is directly influenced by the accuracy of the alignment, and therefore, it is crucial to have a robust and dependable alignment method. In this paper, we develop amore » new alignment method which avoids the use of markers and instead traces the computed paths of many identifiable ‘local’ center-of-mass points as the sample is rotated. Compared with traditional correlation schemes, the alignment method presented here is resistant to cumulative error observed from correlation techniques, has very rigorous mathematical justification, and is very robust since many points and paths are used, all of which inevitably improves the quality of the reconstruction and confidence in the scientific results.« less

  12. Beauty and the beast: Aligning national curriculum standards with state (high school) graduation requirements

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Linder-Scholer, B.

    1994-12-31

    An overview of SCI/MATH/MN - Minnesota`s standards-based, systemic approach to the reform and improvement of the K-12 science and mathematics education delivery system - is offered as an illustration of the challenges of aligning state educational practices with the national curriculum standards, and as a model for business involvement in state educational policy issues that will enable fundamental, across-the-system reform. SCI/MATH/MN illustrates the major challenges involved in developing a statewide vision for math and science education reform, articulating frameworks aligned with the national standards, building capacity for system-oriented change at the local level, and involving business in systemic reform.

  13. Attitude algorithm and initial alignment method for SINS applied in short-range aircraft

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Rong-Hui; He, Zhao-Cheng; You, Feng; Chen, Bo

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents an attitude solution algorithm based on the Micro-Electro-Mechanical System and quaternion method. We completed the numerical calculation and engineering practice by adopting fourth-order Runge-Kutta algorithm in the digital signal processor. The state space mathematical model of initial alignment in static base was established, and the initial alignment method based on Kalman filter was proposed. Based on the hardware in the loop simulation platform, the short-range flight simulation test and the actual flight test were carried out. The results show that the error of pitch, yaw and roll angle is fast convergent, and the fitting rate between flight simulation and flight test is more than 85%.

  14. Evaluating the Effectiveness of the 2001-2002 NASA CONNECT(tm) Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pinelli, Thomas E.; Frank, Kari Lou; Lambert, Matthew A.; Williams, Amy C.

    2002-01-01

    NASA CONNECT(tm) is a research and standards-based, integrated mathematics, science, and technology series of 30-minute instructional distance learning (television and web-based) programs for students in grades 6-8. Respondents who evaluated the programs in the 2001-2002 NASA CONNECT(tm) series reported that (1) they used the programs in the series; (2) the goals and objectives for the series were met; (3) the programs were aligned with the national mathematics, science, and technology standards; (4) the program content was developmentally appropriate for grade level; and (5) the programs in the series enhanced and enriched the teaching of mathematics, science, and technology.

  15. Evaluating the Effectiveness of the 2002-2003 NASA CONNECT(TM) Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pinelli, Thomas E.; Lambert, Matthew A.; Williams, Amy C.

    2004-01-01

    NASA CONNECT is a research-, inquiry-, and standards-based, integrated mathematics, science, and technology series of 30-minute instructional distance learning (television and web-based) programs for students in grades 6 8. Respondents who evaluated the programs in the 2002 2003 NASA CONNECT series reported that (1) they used the programs in the series; (2) the goals and objectives for the series were met; (3) the programs were aligned with the national mathematics, science, and technology standards; (4) the program content was developmentally appropriate for grade level; and (5) the programs in the series enhanced and enriched the teaching of mathematics, science, and technology.

  16. Microbial alignment in flow changes ocean light climate.

    PubMed

    Marcos; Seymour, Justin R; Luhar, Mitul; Durham, William M; Mitchell, James G; Macke, Andreas; Stocker, Roman

    2011-03-08

    The growth of microbial cultures in the laboratory often is assessed informally with a quick flick of the wrist: dense suspensions of microorganisms produce translucent "swirls" when agitated. Here, we rationalize the mechanism behind this phenomenon and show that the same process may affect the propagation of light through the upper ocean. Analogous to the shaken test tubes, the ocean can be characterized by intense fluid motion and abundant microorganisms. We demonstrate that the swirl patterns arise when elongated microorganisms align preferentially in the direction of fluid flow and alter light scattering. Using a combination of experiments and mathematical modeling, we find that this phenomenon can be recurrent under typical marine conditions. Moderate shear rates (0.1 s(-1)) can increase optical backscattering of natural microbial assemblages by more than 20%, and even small shear rates (0.001 s(-1)) can increase backscattering from blooms of large phytoplankton by more than 30%. These results imply that fluid flow, currently neglected in models of marine optics, may exert an important control on light propagation, influencing rates of global carbon fixation and how we estimate these rates via remote sensing.

  17. Development of a group work assessment pedagogy using constructive alignment theory.

    PubMed

    Croy, Suzanne R

    2018-02-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explore group work assessment underpinned by constructive alignment theory to develop a new assessment pedagogy. A review was undertaken of an existing module 'Mental Health Nursing 1', with student nurses participating in the BSc (Hons) Nursing Programme. Constructive alignment theory requires teachers to adopt a deep approach to learning where module learning outcomes are aligned with the teaching environment and modes of assessment. As the module progressed, reviewing the Mental Health Nursing 1 module became an excellent opportunity to begin to understand how constructive alignment theory can inform a group work assessment pedagogy. Working using a constructively aligned assessment process became a valuable learning experience for the module leader whilst at the same time revealed a gap in the research around the impact of constructively aligned teaching and group work assessment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Evaluating the Effectiveness of the 2001-2002 NASA "Why?" Files Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pinelli, Thomas E.; Frank, Kari Lou; Lambert, Matthew A.

    2002-01-01

    This report contains the results of the evaluation conducted for the 2001-2002 NASA 'Why?' Files program that was conducted in March 2002. The analysis is based on the results of 139 surveys collected from educators registered for the program. Respondents indicated that (1) the programs in the series are aligned with the national mathematics, science, and technology standards; (2) the programs are developmentally (grade level) appropriate; and (3) the programs enhance and enrich the teaching and learning of mathematics, science, and technology.

  19. Reading Stories to Learn Math: Mathematics Vocabulary Instruction for Children with Early Numeracy Difficulties.

    PubMed

    Hassinger-Das, Brenna; Jordan, Nancy C; Dyson, Nancy

    2015-12-01

    The present study involved examining whether a storybook reading intervention targeting mathematics vocabulary, such as "equal," "more," and "less," and associated number concepts would increase at-risk children's vocabulary knowledge and number competencies. Children with early numeracy difficulties (N = 124) were recruited from kindergarten classes in four schools. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a storybook number competencies (SNC) intervention, a number sense intervention, or a business-as-usual control. Interventions were carried out in groups of four children over 8 weeks (24 thirty-minute sessions). Findings demonstrated that the SNC intervention group outperformed the other groups on measures of mathematics vocabulary, both in terms of words that were closely aligned to the intervention and those that were not. There was no effect of the SNC intervention, however, on general mathematics measures, suggesting a need to provide the mathematics vocabulary work along with more intensive instruction in number concepts.

  20. Notice, Explore, and Talk About Mathematics: Making a Positive Difference for Preschool Children, Families, and Educators in Australian Communities That Experience Multiple Disadvantages.

    PubMed

    Gervasoni, Ann; Perry, Bob

    2017-01-01

    Let's Count is a preschool mathematics intervention implemented by The Smith Family from 2012 to the present in "disadvantaged" communities across Australia. It is based on current mathematics and early childhood education research and aligns with the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. Let's Count has been shown to be effective in enhancing mathematics learning and dispositions of young children, early childhood educators, and families through a longitudinal evaluation undertaken from 2012 to 2015. In this chapter, the authors explore the development, implementation, and evaluation of Let's Count and highlight the importance of adults noticing, exploring, and talking about children's mathematics. The findings from the longitudinal evaluation of Let's Count suggest that when adults notice children's mathematics, then children's learning thrives, and the positive dispositions and confidence of parents and educators increase. Let's Count has made a positive difference for many children and adults across Australia. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Photodetection and Photoswitch Based On Polarized Optical Response of Macroscopically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Ling; Wu, Yang; Deng, Lei; Zhou, Yi; Liu, Changhong; Fan, Shoushan

    2016-10-12

    Light polarization is extensively applied in optical detection, industry processing and telecommunication. Although aligned carbon nanotube naturally suppresses the transmittance of light polarized parallel to its axial direction, there is little application regarding the photodetection of carbon nanotube based on this anisotropic interaction with linearly polarized light. Here, we report a photodetection device realized by aligned carbon nanotube. Because of the different absorption behavior of polarized light with respect to polarization angles, such device delivers an explicit response to specific light wavelength regardless of its intensity. Furthermore, combining both experimental and mathematical analysis, we found that the light absorption of different wavelength causes characteristic thermoelectric voltage generation, which makes aligned carbon nanotube promising in optical detection. This work can also be utilized directly in developing new types of photoswitch that features a broad spectrum application from near-ultraviolet to intermediate infrared with easy integration into practical electric devices, for instance, a "wavelength lock".

  2. Computer Program for Analysis of High Speed, Single Row, Angular Contact, Spherical Roller Bearing, SASHBEAN. Volume 2: Mathematical Formulation and Analysis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-09-01

    conformity of roller and raceway spherical crowns, while lending the bearing its self -aligning and high load capacity, also results in relative sliding...thus in the negative direction. A positive axial load, acting along the X-axis is also shown in Figure 1. Due to the self -aligning ability of a...34Pubdic irevmln bude tI thui cftlction of mntorniaton e =-mtmiaed to =,..iage 1 hour per respose . incuding the tme for rewiwng Insruc.tions

  3. Evaluating the Effectiveness of the 2002-2003 NASA SCIence Files(TM) Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pinelli, Thomas E.; Lambert, Matthew A.; Williams, Amy C.

    2004-01-01

    NASA SCIence Files (tm) is a research-, inquiry-, and standards-based, integrated mathematics, science, and technology series of 60-minute instructional distance learning (television and web-based) programs for students in grades 3-5. Respondents who evaluated the programs in the 2002-2003 NASA SCIence Files (tm) series reported that (1) they used the programs in the series; (2) the goals and objectives for the series were met; (3) the programs were aligned with the national mathematics, science, and technology standards; (4) the program content was developmentally appropriate for grade level; and (5) the programs in the series enhanced and enriched the teaching of mathematics, science, and technology.

  4. Exploring grade 3 teachers' resistance to `take up' progressive mathematics teaching roles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Westaway, Lise; Graven, Mellony

    2018-03-01

    This article addresses the question: Why teachers of mathematics have yet to `take up' progressive roles? Drawing on the philosophy of critical realism and its methodological equivalent, social realism, we analyse interview and observation data of four grade 3 teachers, with the view to identifying the mechanisms conditioning the expression of teachers' identities. In so doing, we show how post-apartheid changes in systemic roles of teachers create contradictory tensions for teachers as these bring their own mathematical learning and teaching experiences into contradiction with the new post-apartheid roles they are mandated to enact. We examine how this contradiction, together with beliefs about mathematics, pedagogy and learners, is expressed in the teaching of grade 3 mathematics. We maintain that the complementarity between teachers' beliefs and old systemic roles provides an explanation for why teachers of grade 3 mathematics have yet to `take-up' progressive roles. The implications point to the need for teacher development that creates enablers that lead to changes in classroom practices that align with policy-designated, progressive roles in teaching mathematics.

  5. What Skills Should Students of Undergraduate Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Programs Have Upon Graduation?

    PubMed Central

    White, Harold B.; Benore, Marilee A.; Sumter, Takita F.; Caldwell, Benjamin D.; Bell, Ellis

    2014-01-01

    Biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB) students should demonstrate proficiency in the foundational concepts of the discipline and possess the skills needed to practice as professionals. To ascertain the skills that should be required, groups of BMB educators met in several focused workshops to discuss the expectations with the ultimate goal of clearly articulating the skills required. The results of these discussions highlight the critical importance of experimental, mathematical, and interpersonal skills including collaboration, teamwork, safety, and ethics. The groups also found experimental design, data interpretation and analysiand the ability to communicate findings to diverse audience to be essential skills. To aid in the development of appropriate assessments these skills are grouped into three categories, 1) Process of Science, 2) Communication and Comprehension of Science, and 3) Community of Practice Aspects of Science. Finally, the groups worked to align these competencies with the best practices in both teaching and in skills assessment. PMID:24019246

  6. Aligning Practice to Policies: Changing the Culture to Recognize and Reward Teaching at Research Universities

    PubMed Central

    Dennin, Michael; Schultz, Zachary D.; Feig, Andrew; Finkelstein, Noah; Greenhoot, Andrea Follmer; Hildreth, Michael; Leibovich, Adam K.; Martin, James D.; Moldwin, Mark B.; O’Dowd, Diane K.; Posey, Lynmarie A.; Smith, Tobin L.; Miller, Emily R.

    2017-01-01

    Recent calls for improvement in undergraduate education within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines are hampered by the methods used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Faculty members at research universities are commonly assessed and promoted mainly on the basis of research success. To improve the quality of undergraduate teaching across all disciplines, not only STEM fields, requires creating an environment wherein continuous improvement of teaching is valued, assessed, and rewarded at various stages of a faculty member’s career. This requires consistent application of policies that reflect well-established best practices for evaluating teaching at the department, college, and university levels. Evidence shows most teaching evaluation practices do not reflect stated policies, even when the policies specifically espouse teaching as a value. Thus, alignment of practice to policy is a major barrier to establishing a culture in which teaching is valued. Situated in the context of current national efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education, including the Association of American Universities Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, this essay discusses four guiding principles for aligning practice with stated priorities in formal policies: 1) enhancing the role of deans and chairs; 2) effectively using the hiring process; 3) improving communication; and 4) improving the understanding of teaching as a scholarly activity. In addition, three specific examples of efforts to improve the practice of evaluating teaching are presented as examples: 1) Three Bucket Model of merit review at the University of California, Irvine; (2) Evaluation of Teaching Rubric, University of Kansas; and (3) Teaching Quality Framework, University of Colorado, Boulder. These examples provide flexible criteria to holistically evaluate and improve the quality of teaching across the diverse institutions comprising modern higher education. PMID:29196430

  7. Alignment of Standards and Assessments as an Accountability Criterion.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    La Marca, Paul M.

    2001-01-01

    Provides an overview of the concept of alignment and the role it plays in assessment and accountability systems. Discusses some methodological issues affecting the study of alignment and explores the relationship between alignment and test score interpretation. Alignment is not only a methodological requirement but also an ethical requirement.…

  8. The Zoo, Benchmarks & You: How To Reach the Oregon State Benchmarks with Zoo Resources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    2002

    This document aligns Oregon state educational benchmarks and standards with Oregon Zoo resources. Benchmark areas examined include English, mathematics, science, social studies, and career and life roles. Brief descriptions of the programs offered by the zoo are presented. (SOE)

  9. Parametric Transformation Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gary, G. Allan

    2003-01-01

    Because twisted coronal features are important proxies for predicting solar eruptive events, and, yet not clearly understood, we present new results to resolve the complex, non-potential magnetic field configurations of active regions. This research uses free-form deformation mathematics to generate the associated coronal magnetic field. We use a parametric representation of the magnetic field lines such that the field lines can be manipulated to match the structure of EUV and SXR coronal loops. The objective is to derive sigmoidal magnetic field solutions which allows the beta greater than 1 regions to be included, aligned and non-aligned electric currents to be calculated, and the Lorentz force to be determined. The advantage of our technique is that the solution is independent of the unknown upper and side boundary conditions, allows non-vanishing magnetic forces, and provides a global magnetic field solution, which contains high- and low-beta regimes and is consistent with all the coronal images of the region. We show that the mathematical description is unique and physical.

  10. Alignment of Standards and Assessments as an Accountability Criterion. ERIC Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    La Marca, Paul M.

    This digest provides an overview of the concept of alignment and the role it plays in assessment and accountability systems. It also discusses methodological issues affecting the study of alignment and explores the relationship between alignment and test score interpretation. Alignment refers to the degree of match between test content and subject…

  11. Alignment of Standards and Assessment: A Theoretical and Empirical Study of Methods for Alignment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nasstrom, Gunilla; Henriksson, Widar

    2008-01-01

    Introduction: In a standards-based school-system alignment of policy documents with standards and assessment is important. To be able to evaluate whether schools and students have reached the standards, the assessment should focus on the standards. Different models and methods can be used for measuring alignment, i.e. the correspondence between…

  12. Evaluating the Effectiveness of the 2000-2001 NASA CONNECT(TM) Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pinelli, Thomas E.; Frank, Kari Lou; Lambert, Matthew A.

    2002-01-01

    This report contains the results of the evaluation conducted for the 2000-2001 NASA CONNECT(TM) program conducted in March 2001. The analysis is based on the results collected from 154 surveys collected from educators registered for the program. Respondents indicated that the objectives for each program were met; the programs were aligned with the national (mathematics, science, and technology) standards; the programs were developmentally (grade level) appropriate; and the programs in the 2000-2001 NASA CONNECT(TM) series enhanced/enriched the teaching of mathematics, science, and technology.

  13. PORTAAL: A Classroom Observation Tool Assessing Evidence-Based Teaching Practices for Active Learning in Large Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Classes

    PubMed Central

    Eddy, Sarah L.; Converse, Mercedes; Wenderoth, Mary Pat

    2015-01-01

    There is extensive evidence that active learning works better than a completely passive lecture. Despite this evidence, adoption of these evidence-based teaching practices remains low. In this paper, we offer one tool to help faculty members implement active learning. This tool identifies 21 readily implemented elements that have been shown to increase student outcomes related to achievement, logic development, or other relevant learning goals with college-age students. Thus, this tool both clarifies the research-supported elements of best practices for instructor implementation of active learning in the classroom setting and measures instructors’ alignment with these practices. We describe how we reviewed the discipline-based education research literature to identify best practices in active learning for adult learners in the classroom and used these results to develop an observation tool (Practical Observation Rubric To Assess Active Learning, or PORTAAL) that documents the extent to which instructors incorporate these practices into their classrooms. We then use PORTAAL to explore the classroom practices of 25 introductory biology instructors who employ some form of active learning. Overall, PORTAAL documents how well aligned classrooms are with research-supported best practices for active learning and provides specific feedback and guidance to instructors to allow them to identify what they do well and what could be improved. PMID:26033871

  14. Embedding Multiple Literacies into STEM Curricula

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soules, Aline; Nielsen, Sarah; LeDuc, Danika; Inouye, Caron; Singley, Jason; Wildy, Erica; Seitz, Jeff

    2014-01-01

    In fall 2012, an interdisciplinary team of science, English, and library faculty embedded reading, writing, and information literacy strategies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curricula as a first step in improving student learning and retention in science courses and aligning them with the Next Generation Science and…

  15. Implications of Mediated Instruction to Remote Learning in Mathematics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matthews-Lopez, Joy L.; Lopez-Permouth, Sergio R.; Keck, David

    Mediated learning utilizes multimedia-based instructional modules to provide students with individualized access to information in alignment with their individual learning styles (Kinser, Morris, & Hewitt). In contrast with traditional pedagogy, the mission of the instructor in a mediated learning environment is to facilitate learning rather than…

  16. Is Computer Science Compatible with Technological Literacy?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buckler, Chris; Koperski, Kevin; Loveland, Thomas R.

    2018-01-01

    Although technology education evolved over time, and pressure increased to infuse more engineering principles and increase links to STEM (science technology, engineering, and mathematics) initiatives, there has never been an official alignment between technology and engineering education and computer science. There is movement at the federal level…

  17. Norms and Mathematical Proficiency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kastberg, Signe E.; Frye, R. Scott

    2013-01-01

    To challenge students' reasoning and to align with a physical fitness unit that students were studying, teachers and authors, Scott Frye and Signe Kastberg adapted a ratio comparison problem from Susan Lamon, "Ratio and Proportion: Connecting Content and Children's Thinking," (1994) to include athletes and doctors who share…

  18. Kaleidoscopes and Mathematics: An Elegant Connection

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Catherine M.

    2017-01-01

    This article describes a project in which students investigate the question: What dihedral angles between pairs of mirrors in a kaleidoscope result in perfectly symmetric images? The unit culminates with students building their own kaleidoscopes. This content aligns with parts of the Common Core's standards for fifth grade (classify…

  19. Reading Stories to Learn Math: Mathematics Vocabulary Instruction for Children with Early Numeracy Difficulties

    PubMed Central

    Hassinger-Das, Brenna; Jordan, Nancy C.; Dyson, Nancy

    2015-01-01

    The present study involved examining whether a storybook reading intervention targeting mathematics vocabulary, such as “equal,” “more,” and “less,” and associated number concepts would increase at-risk children’s vocabulary knowledge and number competencies. Children with early numeracy difficulties (N = 124) were recruited from kindergarten classes in four schools. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a storybook number competencies (SNC) intervention, a number sense intervention, or a business-as-usual control. Interventions were carried out in groups of four children over 8 weeks (24 thirty-minute sessions). Findings demonstrated that the SNC intervention group outperformed the other groups on measures of mathematics vocabulary, both in terms of words that were closely aligned to the intervention and those that were not. There was no effect of the SNC intervention, however, on general mathematics measures, suggesting a need to provide the mathematics vocabulary work along with more intensive instruction in number concepts. PMID:26726261

  20. P-16 Partnership to Improve Students' Postsecondary Mathematics Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hartman, Jenifer J.

    2017-01-01

    Increasing students' academic success in postsecondary endeavors is an important goal for both high school and college institutions today. However, the standards for high school graduation and college readiness are not well aligned, and successful transition from high school to college is problematic for many students, particularly in math. This…

  1. An Engineer Does What Now?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilbert, Amy; Wade, Katherine

    2014-01-01

    For an introductory engineering class at an all-girls urban high school in the Southeast, the authors planned an experience that would align with the engineering aspects of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013). The goal was to better relate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to everyday…

  2. Mathematics Teachers' Views of Accountability Testing Revealed through Lesson Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yarema, Connie H.

    2010-01-01

    The practice of lesson study, a professional development model originating in Japan, aligns well with recommendations from research for teacher professional development. Lesson study is also an inductive research method that uncovers student thinking and, in parallel, grants teacher-educators the opportunity to study teachers' thinking about…

  3. Alignment of an acoustic manipulation device with cepstral analysis of electronic impedance data.

    PubMed

    Hughes, D A; Qiu, Y; Démoré, C; Weijer, C J; Cochran, S

    2015-02-01

    Acoustic particle manipulation is an emerging technology that uses ultrasonic standing waves to position objects with pressure gradients and acoustic radiation forces. To produce strong standing waves, the transducer and the reflector must be aligned properly such that they are parallel to each other. This can be a difficult process due to the need to visualise the ultrasound waves and as higher frequencies are introduced, this alignment requires higher accuracy. In this paper, we present a method for aligning acoustic resonators with cepstral analysis. This is a simple signal processing technique that requires only the electrical impedance measurement data of the resonator, which is usually recorded during the fabrication process of the device. We first introduce the mathematical basis of cepstral analysis and then demonstrate and validate it using a computer simulation of an acoustic resonator. Finally, the technique is demonstrated experimentally to create many parallel linear traps for 10 μm fluorescent beads inside an acoustic resonator. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. On the relationship between tumour growth rate and survival in non-small cell lung cancer.

    PubMed

    Mistry, Hitesh B

    2017-01-01

    A recurrent question within oncology drug development is predicting phase III outcome for a new treatment using early clinical data. One approach to tackle this problem has been to derive metrics from mathematical models that describe tumour size dynamics termed re-growth rate and time to tumour re-growth. They have shown to be strong predictors of overall survival in numerous studies but there is debate about how these metrics are derived and if they are more predictive than empirical end-points. This work explores the issues raised in using model-derived metric as predictors for survival analyses. Re-growth rate and time to tumour re-growth were calculated for three large clinical studies by forward and reverse alignment. The latter involves re-aligning patients to their time of progression. Hence, it accounts for the time taken to estimate re-growth rate and time to tumour re-growth but also assesses if these predictors correlate to survival from the time of progression. I found that neither re-growth rate nor time to tumour re-growth correlated to survival using reverse alignment. This suggests that the dynamics of tumours up until disease progression has no relationship to survival post progression. For prediction of a phase III trial I found the metrics performed no better than empirical end-points. These results highlight that care must be taken when relating dynamics of tumour imaging to survival and that bench-marking new approaches to existing ones is essential.

  5. towards a theory-based multi-dimensional framework for assessment in mathematics: The "SEA" framework

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anku, Sitsofe E.

    1997-09-01

    Using the reform documents of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (NCTM, 1989, 1991, 1995), a theory-based multi-dimensional assessment framework (the "SEA" framework) which should help expand the scope of assessment in mathematics is proposed. This framework uses a context based on mathematical reasoning and has components that comprise mathematical concepts, mathematical procedures, mathematical communication, mathematical problem solving, and mathematical disposition.

  6. State Standards and State Assessment Systems: A Guide to Alignment. Series on Standards and Assessments.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    La Marca, Paul M.; Redfield, Doris; Winter, Phoebe C.

    Alignment of content standards, performance standards, and assessments is crucial. This guide contains information to assist states and districts in aligning their assessment systems to their content and performance standards. It includes a review of current literature, both published and fugitive. The research is woven together with a few basic…

  7. [Friendly services between scholars : A mesolabe for the edition of Vitruvius' De Architectura (1567)].

    PubMed

    Gessner, Samuel

    2010-01-01

    This article exposes certain functions of scientific correspondence during the second half of the 16(th) century. A professor of mathematics in Rome, Antonio Maria Pazzi, sends a mesolabe together with a letter to Barbaro, the humanist scholar of Venice. The latter would include parts of it in the Latin version of his commentary to Vitruvius. The analysis of the context of this publication shows that both arrive at aligning their personal intentions with the ideal of the "common good" by contributing to the spread of mathematical knowledge and practices.

  8. Multi-profile Bayesian alignment model for LC-MS data analysis with integration of internal standards

    PubMed Central

    Tsai, Tsung-Heng; Tadesse, Mahlet G.; Di Poto, Cristina; Pannell, Lewis K.; Mechref, Yehia; Wang, Yue; Ressom, Habtom W.

    2013-01-01

    Motivation: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been widely used for profiling expression levels of biomolecules in various ‘-omic’ studies including proteomics, metabolomics and glycomics. Appropriate LC-MS data preprocessing steps are needed to detect true differences between biological groups. Retention time (RT) alignment, which is required to ensure that ion intensity measurements among multiple LC-MS runs are comparable, is one of the most important yet challenging preprocessing steps. Current alignment approaches estimate RT variability using either single chromatograms or detected peaks, but do not simultaneously take into account the complementary information embedded in the entire LC-MS data. Results: We propose a Bayesian alignment model for LC-MS data analysis. The alignment model provides estimates of the RT variability along with uncertainty measures. The model enables integration of multiple sources of information including internal standards and clustered chromatograms in a mathematically rigorous framework. We apply the model to LC-MS metabolomic, proteomic and glycomic data. The performance of the model is evaluated based on ground-truth data, by measuring correlation of variation, RT difference across runs and peak-matching performance. We demonstrate that Bayesian alignment model improves significantly the RT alignment performance through appropriate integration of relevant information. Availability and implementation: MATLAB code, raw and preprocessed LC-MS data are available at http://omics.georgetown.edu/alignLCMS.html Contact: hwr@georgetown.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:24013927

  9. Tests of Alignment among Assessment, Standards, and Instruction Using Generalized Linear Model Regression

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fulmer, Gavin W.; Polikoff, Morgan S.

    2014-01-01

    An essential component in school accountability efforts is for assessments to be well-aligned with the standards or curriculum they are intended to measure. However, relatively little prior research has explored methods to determine statistical significance of alignment or misalignment. This study explores analyses of alignment as a special case…

  10. A Robust Self-Alignment Method for Ship's Strapdown INS Under Mooring Conditions

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Feng; Lan, Haiyu; Yu, Chunyang; El-Sheimy, Naser; Zhou, Guangtao; Cao, Tong; Liu, Hang

    2013-01-01

    Strapdown inertial navigation systems (INS) need an alignment process to determine the initial attitude matrix between the body frame and the navigation frame. The conventional alignment process is to compute the initial attitude matrix using the gravity and Earth rotational rate measurements. However, under mooring conditions, the inertial measurement unit (IMU) employed in a ship's strapdown INS often suffers from both the intrinsic sensor noise components and the external disturbance components caused by the motions of the sea waves and wind waves, so a rapid and precise alignment of a ship's strapdown INS without any auxiliary information is hard to achieve. A robust solution is given in this paper to solve this problem. The inertial frame based alignment method is utilized to adapt the mooring condition, most of the periodical low-frequency external disturbance components could be removed by the mathematical integration and averaging characteristic of this method. A novel prefilter named hidden Markov model based Kalman filter (HMM-KF) is proposed to remove the relatively high-frequency error components. Different from the digital filters, the HMM-KF barely cause time-delay problem. The turntable, mooring and sea experiments favorably validate the rapidness and accuracy of the proposed self-alignment method and the good de-noising performance of HMM-KF. PMID:23799492

  11. The Co-Construction of Opposition in a Low-Track Mathematics Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hand, Victoria M.

    2010-01-01

    Student opposition in school is traditionally cast in terms of individual dispositions, whereby particular students or groups of students are said to "resist" or "oppose" school structures and identities aligned with the dominant cultural group. The author examined instead how the teacher and students in a low-track mathematics…

  12. High Speed Cylindrical Roller Bearing Analysis, SKF Computer Program CYBEAN. Volume 1: Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kleckner, R. J.; Pirvics, J.

    1978-01-01

    The CYBEAN (CYlindrical BEaring ANalysis) program was created to detail radially loaded, aligned and misaligned Cylindrical roller bearing performance under a variety of operating conditions. The models and associated mathematics used within CYBEAN are described. The user is referred to the material for formulation assumptions and algorithm detail.

  13. State College- and Career-Ready High School Graduation Requirements. Updated

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Achieve, Inc., 2013

    2013-01-01

    Research by Achieve, ACT, and others suggests that for high school graduates to be prepared for success in a wide range of postsecondary settings, they need to take four years of challenging mathematics--covering Advanced Algebra; Geometry; and data, probability, and statistics content--and four years of rigorous English aligned with college- and…

  14. Culture as Mediator: Co-Regulation, Self-Regulation, and Middle School Mathematics Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hinnant-Crawford, Brandi Nicole; Faison, Morgan Z.; Chang, Mei-Lin

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Self-regulation is defined as strategic, metacognitive behavior, motivation and cognition aimed at a goal (Zimmmerman and Schunk, 2011). Co-regulation, arguably more aligned with norms in communal cultures, is the process of learners sharing "a common problem-solving plane" through which self-regulatory strategies are learned…

  15. A new statistical framework to assess structural alignment quality using information compression

    PubMed Central

    Collier, James H.; Allison, Lloyd; Lesk, Arthur M.; Garcia de la Banda, Maria; Konagurthu, Arun S.

    2014-01-01

    Motivation: Progress in protein biology depends on the reliability of results from a handful of computational techniques, structural alignments being one. Recent reviews have highlighted substantial inconsistencies and differences between alignment results generated by the ever-growing stock of structural alignment programs. The lack of consensus on how the quality of structural alignments must be assessed has been identified as the main cause for the observed differences. Current methods assess structural alignment quality by constructing a scoring function that attempts to balance conflicting criteria, mainly alignment coverage and fidelity of structures under superposition. This traditional approach to measuring alignment quality, the subject of considerable literature, has failed to solve the problem. Further development along the same lines is unlikely to rectify the current deficiencies in the field. Results: This paper proposes a new statistical framework to assess structural alignment quality and significance based on lossless information compression. This is a radical departure from the traditional approach of formulating scoring functions. It links the structural alignment problem to the general class of statistical inductive inference problems, solved using the information-theoretic criterion of minimum message length. Based on this, we developed an efficient and reliable measure of structural alignment quality, I-value. The performance of I-value is demonstrated in comparison with a number of popular scoring functions, on a large collection of competing alignments. Our analysis shows that I-value provides a rigorous and reliable quantification of structural alignment quality, addressing a major gap in the field. Availability: http://lcb.infotech.monash.edu.au/I-value Contact: arun.konagurthu@monash.edu Supplementary information: Online supplementary data are available at http://lcb.infotech.monash.edu.au/I-value/suppl.html PMID:25161241

  16. Learning to Assess and Assessing to Learn: A Descriptive Study of a District-Wide Mathematics Assessment Implementation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ringer, Catharina W.

    2013-01-01

    In today's mathematics education, there is an increasing emphasis on students' understanding of the mathematics set forth in standards documents such as the "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000) and, most recently, the "Common Core State Standards for Mathematics"…

  17. Enhancing student engagement through the affordances of mobile technology: a 21st century learning perspective on Realistic Mathematics Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bray, Aibhín; Tangney, Brendan

    2016-03-01

    Several recent curriculum reforms aim to address the shortfalls traditionally associated with mathematics education through increased emphasis on higher-order-thinking and collaborative skills. Some stakeholders, such as the US National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the UK Joint Mathematical Council, advocate harnessing the affordances of digital technology in conjunction with social constructivist pedagogies, contextual scenarios, and/or approaches aligned with Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). However, it can be difficult to create technology-mediated, collaborative and contextual activities within a conventional classroom setting. This paper explores how a combination of a transformative, mobile technology-mediated approach, RME, and a particular model of 21st century learning facilitates the development of mathematics learning activities with the potential to increase student engagement and confidence. An explanatory case study with multiple embedded units and a pre-experimental design was conducted with a total of 54 students in 3 schools over 25 hours of class time. Results from student interviews, along with pre-test/post-test analysis of questionnaires, suggest that the approach has the potential to increase student engagement with, and confidence in, mathematics. This paper expands on these results, proposing connections between aspects of the activity design and their impact on student attitudes and behaviours.

  18. Implementing a reform-oriented pedagogy: challenges for novice secondary mathematics teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lewis, Gary M.

    2014-06-01

    Novice secondary mathematics teachers attempting teaching consonant with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1991, 2007) Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics experience many stresses related to their attempts at student-centered instruction; prominent among those were novices' challenges when orchestrating whole-class mathematical discussions with students taking a central, substantive role. During such discussions, students offer conjectures, ideas, and solutions and use mathematical argumentation and verification processes. Such teaching can create uncertainty and stress as teachers occupy a revised teaching role. They avoid evaluating student ideas during class; instead, they ask questions to move students' thinking forward, pose problems that deepen students' mathematical understanding, and choose between competing directions the discussion may take. Ultimately, teachers decide whether to continue pursuing such teaching goals or revert back to more familiar, teacher-centered methods. Supportive networks showed promise at helping novices navigate their first few years of teaching; organized networks helped novices meet their teaching goals while limiting the impact of their challenges on their well-being and teaching goals. The results of this study may inform teacher educators, administrators, and colleagues on how to support novices in pursuing teaching better aligned with novices' teaching ideals and reformer's visions.

  19. Links for Academic Learning (LAL): A Conceptual Model for Investigating Alignment of Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flowers, Claudia; Wakeman, Shawnee; Browder, Diane M.; Karvonen, Meagan

    2009-01-01

    This article describes an alignment procedure, called Links for Academic Learning (LAL), for examining the degree of alignment of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) to grade-level content standards and instruction. Although some of the alignment criteria are similar to those used in general education…

  20. Alignment of Hands-on STEM Engagement Activities with Positive STEM Dispositions in Secondary School Students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christensen, Rhonda; Knezek, Gerald; Tyler-Wood, Tandra

    2015-12-01

    This study examines positive dispositions reported by middle school and high school students participating in programs that feature STEM-related activities. Middle school students participating in school-to-home hands-on energy monitoring activities are compared to middle school and high school students in a different project taking part in activities such as an after-school robotics program. Both groups are compared and contrasted with a third group of high school students admitted at the eleventh grade to an academy of mathematics and science. All students were assessed using the same science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) dispositions instrument. Findings indicate that the after-school group whose participants self-selected STEM engagement activities, and the self-selected academy of mathematics and science group, each had highly positive STEM dispositions comparable to those of STEM professionals, while a subset of the middle school whole-classroom energy monitoring group that reported high interest in STEM as a career, also possessed highly positive STEM dispositions comparable to the STEM Professionals group. The authors conclude that several different kinds of hands-on STEM engagement activities are likely to foster or maintain positive STEM dispositions at the middle school and high school levels, and that these highly positive levels of dispositions can be viewed as a target toward which projects seeking to interest mainstream secondary students in STEM majors in college and STEM careers, can hope to aspire. Gender findings regarding STEM dispositions are also reported for these groups.

  1. Identity, power, and shifting participation in a mathematics workshop: Latin@ students' negotiation of self and success

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oppland-Cordell, Sarah; Martin, Danny Bernard

    2015-03-01

    This article describes and explains shifts in participation among eight mathematically successful Latin@ undergraduate students who were enrolled in a culturally diverse calculus I workshop that was part of a university-based Emerging Scholars program. Two questions are explored: (a) How do students explain success-oriented shifts in participation that occurred over time in the workshop setting? and (b) How were these success-oriented shifts related to students' evolving mathematical and racial identities? Drawing on Wenger's (1998) social ecology of identity framework, the analysis shows that participants constructed strengthened identities of participation over time through three modes of belonging (engagement, imagination, and alignment) within two dimensions (identification and negotiability). Given the predominantly White university context, Latin@ Critical Theory was used to help uncover how strengthened participation was related to what it meant for participants to be Latin@. Findings also support intentional collaborative learning environments as one way to foster mathematics success and positive identity development among Latin@ students.

  2. Evaluating the Effectiveness of the 2003-2004 NASA CONNECT(trademark)Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Caton, Randall H.; Pinelli, Thomas E.; Giersch, Christopher E.; Holmes, Ellen B.; Lambert, Matthew A.

    2005-01-01

    NASA CONNECT is an Emmy-award-winning series of instructional (distance learning) programs for grades 6-8. Produced by the NASA Center for Distance Learning, the nine programs in the 2003-2004 NASA CONNECT series are research-, inquiry-, standards-, teacher-, and technology-based and include a 30-minute program, an educator guide containing a hands-on activity, and a web-based component. The 1,500 randomly selected NASA CONNECT registered users were invited to complete an electronic (self-reported) survey that employed a 5-point Likert-type scale. Regarding NASA CONNECT, respondents reported that the programs (1) enhance the teaching of mathematics, science, and technology (4.53); (2) are aligned with the national mathematics, science, and technology standards (4.52); (3) raise student awareness of careers requiring mathematics, science, and technology (4.48); (4) demonstrate the application of mathematics, science, and technology (4.47); and (5) present women and minorities performing challenging engineering and science tasks (4.50).

  3. To Assess Students' Attitudes, Skills and Competencies in Mathematical Modeling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lingefjard, Thomas; Holmquist, Mikael

    2005-01-01

    Peer-to-peer assessment, take-home exams and a mathematical modeling survey were used to monitor and assess students' attitudes, skills and competencies in mathematical modeling. The students were all in a secondary mathematics, teacher education program with a comprehensive amount of mathematics studies behind them. Findings indicate that…

  4. Optical derotator alignment using image-processing algorithm for tracking laser vibrometer measurements of rotating objects.

    PubMed

    Khalil, Hossam; Kim, Dongkyu; Jo, Youngjoon; Park, Kyihwan

    2017-06-01

    An optical component called a Dove prism is used to rotate the laser beam of a laser-scanning vibrometer (LSV). This is called a derotator and is used for measuring the vibration of rotating objects. The main advantage of a derotator is that it works independently from an LSV. However, this device requires very specific alignment, in which the axis of the Dove prism must coincide with the rotational axis of the object. If the derotator is misaligned with the rotating object, the results of the vibration measurement are imprecise, owing to the alteration of the laser beam on the surface of the rotating object. In this study, a method is proposed for aligning a derotator with a rotating object through an image-processing algorithm that obtains the trajectory of a landmark attached to the object. After the trajectory of the landmark is mathematically modeled, the amount of derotator misalignment with respect to the object is calculated. The accuracy of the proposed method for aligning the derotator with the rotating object is experimentally tested.

  5. An Exploration of the Relationships among Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Theory-Aligned Cognitive Abilities and Math Fluency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Piselli, Katherine D.

    2017-01-01

    Math fluency, which refers to the ability to solve single digit arithmetic problems quickly and accurately, is a foundational mathematical skill. Recent research has examined the role of phonological processing, executive control, and number sense in explaining differences in math fluency performance in school-aged children. Identifying the links…

  6. Mathematical Studies and Simulations of Nematic Liquid Crystal Polymers and Nanocomposites

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-01-01

    around the folding point of the phase curve. As the Peclet number increases, the stable branch and the unstable branch of the fold are peeled off from...shaped, boomerang-shaped or banana shaped.76 Recall that in a nematic phase the molecules tend to align along the director n. A biax- ial nematic phase

  7. Discourse Analysis of Interpersonal Meaning to Understand the Discrepancy between Teacher Knowing and Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ilhan, Emine Gül Çelebi; Erbas, Ayhan Kürsat

    2016-01-01

    As is well known, bridging teacher knowledge or learning with practice is not a straightforward task. This paper aims to explore this discrepancy between a mathematics teacher's knowing and practices and to offer ways of alignment between the two based on the social/interpersonal meanings and their realization through teacher's discourse. In this…

  8. More, All Gone, Empty, Full: Math Talk Every Day in Every Way

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greenberg, Jan

    2012-01-01

    Math is everywhere! Mathematics is "a way of describing the world--a way of thinking, knowing, and problem-solving" (Virginia's Early Childhood Development Alignment Project 2008, 83). Infants and toddlers are natural mathematicians. Even without adult support, infants and toddlers use math concepts to make sense of their world. An important role…

  9. Conceptualizing Relations between Instructional Guidance Infrastructure (IGI) and Teachers' Beliefs about Mathematics Instruction: Regulative, Normative, and Cultural-Cognitive Considerations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hopkins, Megan; Spillane, James P.

    2015-01-01

    Scholars have become increasingly interested in what is often referred to as the instructional guidance infrastructure (IGI). Research has identified the characteristics of infrastructures that make them more or less influential in guiding teachers' instruction, such as alignment, authority, and prescriptiveness. Although these are important, a…

  10. Development of Perceived Instrumentality for Mathematics, Reading and Science Curricula

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garcia, Steve L.

    2010-01-01

    Perceptions of instrumentality (PI) are the connections one sees between a current activity and a future goal. With high PI, one is motivated to persist with quality effort because the current activity, even when difficult, is perceived as aligned with, and progress toward, the goal. Conversely, with low PI, one is motivated to relinquish effort…

  11. Solving the Unknown with Algebra: Poster/Teaching Guide for Pre-Algebra Students. Expect the Unexpected with Math[R

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Actuarial Foundation, 2013

    2013-01-01

    "Solving the Unknown with Algebra" is a new math program aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards and designed to help students practice pre-algebra skills including using formulas, solving for unknowns, and manipulating equations. Developed by The Actuarial Foundation with Scholastic, this program provides…

  12. TPACK Development in a Three-Year Online Masters Program: How Do Teacher Perceptions Align with Classroom Practice?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Staus, Nancy; Gillow-Wiles, Henry; Niess, Margaret

    2014-01-01

    A new primarily distance education Master's degree program was focused on the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) for integrating appropriate digital technologies in mathematics and science classes. In this mixed-method multiple case study, we documented in-service K-8 teachers' perceptions of their TPACK…

  13. Validating the Use of pPerformance Risk Indices for System-Level Risk and Maturity Assessments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holloman, Sherrica S.

    With pressure on the U.S. Defense Acquisition System (DAS) to reduce cost overruns and schedule delays, system engineers' performance is only as good as their tools. Recent literature details a need for 1) objective, analytical risk quantification methodologies over traditional subjective qualitative methods -- such as, expert judgment, and 2) mathematically rigorous system-level maturity assessments. The Mahafza, Componation, and Tippett (2005) Technology Performance Risk Index (TPRI) ties the assessment of technical performance to the quantification of risk of unmet performance; however, it is structured for component- level data as input. This study's aim is to establish a modified TPRI with systems-level data as model input, and then validate the modified index with actual system-level data from the Department of Defense's (DoD) Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs). This work's contribution is the establishment and validation of the System-level Performance Risk Index (SPRI). With the introduction of the SPRI, system-level metrics are better aligned, allowing for better assessment, tradeoff and balance of time, performance and cost constraints. This will allow system engineers and program managers to ultimately make better-informed system-level technical decisions throughout the development phase.

  14. Reshaping Assessment Practices: Mathematics Assessment under Challenge. Proceedings from the National Conference on Assessment in the Mathematical Sciences (1st, Geelong, Victoria, Australia November 20-24, 1991).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephens, Max, Ed.; Izard, John, Ed.

    The purpose of the Australian conference on mathematical assessment was to address the challenges to traditional methods of assessment that have resulted as part of the call for reform in the mathematics curriculum. The 28 papers presented were: "Who Assesses Whom and To What Purpose?" (Leone Burton; "Assessment of the Learned…

  15. Classification systems for causes of stillbirth and neonatal death, 2009-2014: an assessment of alignment with characteristics for an effective global system.

    PubMed

    Leisher, Susannah Hopkins; Teoh, Zheyi; Reinebrant, Hanna; Allanson, Emma; Blencowe, Hannah; Erwich, Jan Jaap; Frøen, J Frederik; Gardosi, Jason; Gordijn, Sanne; Gülmezoglu, A Metin; Heazell, Alexander E P; Korteweg, Fleurisca; Lawn, Joy; McClure, Elizabeth M; Pattinson, Robert; Smith, Gordon C S; Tunçalp, Ӧzge; Wojcieszek, Aleena M; Flenady, Vicki

    2016-09-15

    To reduce the burden of 5.3 million stillbirths and neonatal deaths annually, an understanding of causes of deaths is critical. A systematic review identified 81 systems for classification of causes of stillbirth (SB) and neonatal death (NND) between 2009 and 2014. The large number of systems hampers efforts to understand and prevent these deaths. This study aimed to assess the alignment of current classification systems with expert-identified characteristics for a globally effective classification system. Eighty-one classification systems were assessed for alignment with 17 characteristics previously identified through expert consensus as necessary for an effective global system. Data were extracted independently by two authors. Systems were assessed against each characteristic and weighted and unweighted scores assigned to each. Subgroup analyses were undertaken by system use, setting, type of death included and type of characteristic. None of the 81 systems were aligned with more than 9 of the 17 characteristics; most (82 %) were aligned with four or fewer. On average, systems were aligned with 19 % of characteristics. The most aligned system (Frøen 2009-Codac) still had an unweighted score of only 9/17. Alignment with individual characteristics ranged from 0 to 49 %. Alignment was somewhat higher for widely used as compared to less used systems (22 % v 17 %), systems used only in high income countries as compared to only in low and middle income countries (20 % vs 16 %), and systems including both SB and NND (23 %) as compared to NND-only (15 %) and SB-only systems (13 %). Alignment was higher with characteristics assessing structure (23 %) than function (15 %). There is an unmet need for a system exhibiting all the characteristics of a globally effective system as defined by experts in the use of systems, as none of the 81 contemporary classification systems assessed was highly aligned with these characteristics. A particular concern in terms of global effectiveness is the lack of alignment with "ease of use" among all systems, including even the most-aligned. A system which meets the needs of users would have the potential to become the first truly globally effective classification system.

  16. Structural controls on anomalous transport in fractured porous rock

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Edery, Yaniv; Geiger, Sebastian; Berkowitz, Brian

    2016-07-01

    Anomalous transport is ubiquitous in a wide range of disordered systems, notably in fractured porous formations. We quantitatively identify the structural controls on anomalous tracer transport in a model of a real fractured geological formation that was mapped in an outcrop. The transport, determined by a continuum scale mathematical model, is characterized by breakthrough curves (BTCs) that document anomalous (or "non-Fickian") transport, which is accounted for by a power law distribution of local transition times ψ>(t>) within the framework of a continuous time random walk (CTRW). We show that the determination of ψ>(t>) is related to fractures aligned approximately with the macroscopic direction of flow. We establish the dominant role of fracture alignment and assess the statistics of these fractures by determining a concentration-visitation weighted residence time histogram. We then convert the histogram to a probability density function (pdf) that coincides with the CTRW ψ>(t>) and hence anomalous transport. We show that the permeability of the geological formation hosting the fracture network has a limited effect on the anomalous nature of the transport; rather, it is the fractures transverse to the flow direction that play the major role in forming the long BTC tail associated with anomalous transport. This is a remarkable result, given the complexity of the flow field statistics as captured by concentration transitions.

  17. Inverting Image Data For Optical Testing And Alignment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shao, Michael; Redding, David; Yu, Jeffrey W.; Dumont, Philip J.

    1993-01-01

    Data from images produced by slightly incorrectly figured concave primary mirror in telescope processed into estimate of spherical aberration of mirror, by use of algorithm finding nonlinear least-squares best fit between actual images and synthetic images produced by multiparameter mathematical model of telescope optical system. Estimated spherical aberration, in turn, converted into estimate of deviation of reflector surface from nominal precise shape. Algorithm devised as part of effort to determine error in surface figure of primary mirror of Hubble space telescope, so corrective lens designed. Modified versions of algorithm also used to find optical errors in other components of telescope or of other optical systems, for purposes of testing, alignment, and/or correction.

  18. When Mathematics and Statistics Collide in Assessment Tasks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bargagliotti, Anna; Groth, Randall

    2016-01-01

    Because the disciplines of mathematics and statistics are naturally intertwined, designing assessment questions that disentangle mathematical and statistical reasoning can be challenging. We explore the writing statistics assessment tasks that take into consideration potential mathematical reasoning they may inadvertently activate.

  19. Mathematical modelling of anisotropy of illite-rich shale

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Chesnokov, E.M.; Tiwary, D.K.; Bayuk, I.O.; Sparkman, M.A.; Brown, R.L.

    2009-01-01

    The estimation of illite-rich shale anisotropy to account for the alignment of clays and gas- or brine-filled cracks is presented via mathematical modelling. Such estimation requires analysis to interpret the dominance of one effect over another. This knowledge can help to evaluate the permeability in the unconventional reservoir, stress orientation, and the seal capacity for the conventional reservoir. Effective media modelling is used to predict the elastic properties of the illite-rich shale and to identify the dominant contributions to the shale anisotropy. We consider two principal reasons of the shale anisotropy: orientation of clay platelets and orientation of fluid-filled cracks. In reality, both of these two factors affect the shale anisotropy. The goal of this study is, first, to separately analyse the effect of these two factors to reveal the specific features in P- and S-wave velocity behaviour typical of each of the factors, and, then, consider a combined effect of the factors when the cracks are horizontally or vertically aligned. To do this, we construct four models of shale. The behaviour of P- and S-wave velocities is analysed when gas- and water-filled cracks embedded in a host matrix are randomly oriented, or horizontally or vertically aligned. The host matrix can be either isotropic or anisotropic (of VTI symmetry). In such a modelling, we use published data on mineralogy and clay platelet alignment along with other micromechanical measurements. In the model, where the host matrix is isotropic, the presence of a singularity point (when the difference VS1 - VS2 changes its sign) in shear wave velocities is an indicator of brine-filled aligned cracks. In the model with the VTI host matrix and horizontally aligned cracks filled with gas, an increase in their volume concentration leads to that the azimuth at which the singularity is observed moves toward the symmetry axis. In this case, if the clay content is small (around 20 per cent), the singularity point may even vanish. The Thomsen parameters are helpful in fluid type indication in shale. An indicator of gas-filled aligned cracks is ?? > ??. If aligned cracks in illite-rich shale are brine-filled, ?? < ??. Negative value of ?? indicates brine-filled cracks in illite-rich shale. A shale with brine-filled cracks exhibits higher Vp/Vs ratio in the vertical direction as compared to the gas-filled shale. A disorientation of clay platelets and brine-filled cracks may lead to that the singularity point is absent for brine-saturated shale as well. In this case one can also observe ?? > ?? and decreased values of Vp/Vs in the vertical direction as in the case of gas-filled cracks. In the presence of vertically aligned cracks, shales exhibit distinctly revealed features of orthorhombic symmetry. The results have important applications where seismic measurements are applied to predict the maturity state of the shale. ?? 2009 The Authors Journal compilation ?? 2009 RAS.

  20. The Relationship between Students' Performance on Conventional Standardized Mathematics Assessments and Complex Mathematical Modeling Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kartal, Ozgul; Dunya, Beyza Aksu; Diefes-Dux, Heidi A.; Zawojewski, Judith S.

    2016-01-01

    Critical to many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career paths is mathematical modeling--specifically, the creation and adaptation of mathematical models to solve problems in complex settings. Conventional standardized measures of mathematics achievement are not structured to directly assess this type of mathematical…

  1. How much is too much assessment? Insight into assessment-driven student learning gains in large-scale undergraduate microbiology courses.

    PubMed

    Wang, Jack T H; Schembri, Mark A; Hall, Roy A

    2013-01-01

    Designing and implementing assessment tasks in large-scale undergraduate science courses is a labor-intensive process subject to increasing scrutiny from students and quality assurance authorities alike. Recent pedagogical research has provided conceptual frameworks for teaching introductory undergraduate microbiology, but has yet to define best-practice assessment guidelines. This study assessed the applicability of Biggs' theory of constructive alignment in designing consistent learning objectives, activities, and assessment items that aligned with the American Society for Microbiology's concept-based microbiology curriculum in MICR2000, an introductory microbiology course offered at the University of Queensland, Australia. By improving the internal consistency in assessment criteria and increasing the number of assessment items explicitly aligned to the course learning objectives, the teaching team was able to efficiently provide adequate feedback on numerous assessment tasks throughout the semester, which contributed to improved student performance and learning gains. When comparing the constructively aligned 2011 offering of MICR2000 with its 2010 counterpart, students obtained higher marks in both coursework assignments and examinations as the semester progressed. Students also valued the additional feedback provided, as student rankings for course feedback provision increased in 2011 and assessment and feedback was identified as a key strength of MICR2000. By designing MICR2000 using constructive alignment and iterative assessment tasks that followed a common set of learning outcomes, the teaching team was able to effectively deliver detailed and timely feedback in a large introductory microbiology course. This study serves as a case study for how constructive alignment can be integrated into modern teaching practices for large-scale courses.

  2. Transposing reform pedagogy into new contexts: complex instruction in remote Australia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sullivan, Peter; Jorgensen, Robyn; Boaler, Jo; Lerman, Steve

    2013-03-01

    This article draws on the outcomes of a 4-year project where complex instruction was used as the basis for a reform in mathematics teaching in remote Aboriginal communities in Australia. The article describes the overall project in terms of the goals and aspirations for learning mathematics among remote Indigenous Australians. Knowing that the approach had been successful in a diverse setting in California, the project team sought to implement and evaluate the possibilities of such reform in a context in which the need for a culturally responsive pedagogy was critical. Elements of complex instruction offered considerable possibilities in aligning with the cultures of the remote communities, but with recognition of the possibility that some elements may not be workable in these contexts. Complex instruction also valued deep knowledge of mathematics rather than a tokenistic, impoverished mathematics. The strategies within complex instruction allowed for mathematical and cultural scaffolding to promote deep learning in mathematics. Such an approach was in line with current reforms in Indigenous education in Australia where there are high expectations of learners in order to break away from the deficit thinking that has permeated much education in remote Australia. The overall intent is to demonstrate what pedagogies are possible within the constraints of the remote context.

  3. Assessment and Learning of Mathematics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leder, Gilah C., Ed.

    This book addresses the link between student learning of mathematics, the teaching method adopted in the mathematics classroom, and the assessment procedures used to determine and measure student knowledge. Fifteen chapters address issues that include a review of different models of mathematics learning and assessment practices, three contrasting…

  4. A Path to Alignment: Connecting K-12 and Higher Education via the Common Core and the Degree Qualifications Profile

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conley, David T.; Gaston, Paul L.

    2013-01-01

    The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which aim to assure competency in English/language arts and mathematics through the K-12 curriculum, define necessary but not sufficient preparedness for success in college. The Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP), which describes what a college degree should signify, regardless of major, offers useful but…

  5. Policy Critics and Policy Survivors: Who Are They and How Do They Contribute to a Department Policy Role Typology?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Golding, Jennie

    2017-01-01

    This paper considers the policy "roles" adopted by teachers enacting policy in a department. It draws on a longitudinal study of two secondary mathematics departments endeavouring to make deep change aligned with a demanding curriculum policy. The study validates aspects of an existing typology, demonstrates the existence of a variety of…

  6. Technology and Curriculum Standards: How Well Do Internet-Based Learning Games Support Common Core Standards for Mathematics?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bingham, Teri; Ray, Jan

    2013-01-01

    In an effort to keep up with the new generation of digital learners, educators are integrating multiple forms of technology into their teaching, including online learning game applications. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which internet-based learning game applications selected by preservice teachers were aligned with the…

  7. Zeroing in on Number and Operations, Grades 7-8: Key Ideas and Common Misconceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Anne; Dacey, Linda

    2010-01-01

    "The Zeroing in on Number and Operations" series, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards and the NCTM Standards and Focal Points, features easy-to-use tools for teaching key concepts in number and operations and for addressing common misconceptions. Sharing the insights they've gained in decades of mathematics teaching and research,…

  8. Zeroing in on Number and Operations, Grades 3-4: Key Ideas and Common Misconceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dacey, Linda; Collins, Anne

    2010-01-01

    "The Zeroing in on Number and Operations" series, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards and the NCTM Standards and Focal Points, features easy-to-use tools for teaching key concepts in number and operations and for addressing common misconceptions. Sharing the insights they've gained in decades of mathematics teaching and research,…

  9. Zeroing in on Number and Operations, Grades 5-6: Key Ideas and Common Misconceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Anne; Dacey, Linda

    2010-01-01

    "The Zeroing in on Number and Operations" series, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards and the NCTM Sandards and Focal Points, features easy-to-use tools for teaching key concepts in number and operations and for addressing common misconceptions. Sharing the insights they've gained through decades of mathematics teaching and research,…

  10. Teacher Behavioral Process Criteria Grading Practices and the Effect on Student Achievement in English and Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kahney, Jon

    2017-01-01

    Teacher grading practices commonly do not align with the grading practices recommended by leading grading authorities in the field of education. The experts advocate for grades to be determined solely from measures of product criteria that represent a students current level of knowledge and what they can do. Most teachers, however, still use a mix…

  11. Evaluation of mathematical algorithms for automatic patient alignment in radiosurgery.

    PubMed

    Williams, Kenneth M; Schulte, Reinhard W; Schubert, Keith E; Wroe, Andrew J

    2015-06-01

    Image registration techniques based on anatomical features can serve to automate patient alignment for intracranial radiosurgery procedures in an effort to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the alignment process as well as potentially eliminate the need for implanted fiducial markers. To explore this option, four two-dimensional (2D) image registration algorithms were analyzed: the phase correlation technique, mutual information (MI) maximization, enhanced correlation coefficient (ECC) maximization, and the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm. Digitally reconstructed radiographs from the treatment planning computed tomography scan of a human skull were used as the reference images, while orthogonal digital x-ray images taken in the treatment room were used as the captured images to be aligned. The accuracy of aligning the skull with each algorithm was compared to the alignment of the currently practiced procedure, which is based on a manual process of selecting common landmarks, including implanted fiducials and anatomical skull features. Of the four algorithms, three (phase correlation, MI maximization, and ECC maximization) demonstrated clinically adequate (ie, comparable to the standard alignment technique) translational accuracy and improvements in speed compared to the interactive, user-guided technique; however, the ICP algorithm failed to give clinically acceptable results. The results of this work suggest that a combination of different algorithms may provide the best registration results. This research serves as the initial groundwork for the translation of automated, anatomy-based 2D algorithms into a real-world system for 2D-to-2D image registration and alignment for intracranial radiosurgery. This may obviate the need for invasive implantation of fiducial markers into the skull and may improve treatment room efficiency and accuracy. © The Author(s) 2014.

  12. Analyzing the Curriculum Alignment of Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turan-Özpolat, Esen; Bay, Erdal

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to analyze the curriculum alignment of teachers in secondary education 5th grade Science course. Alignment levels of teachers in dimensions of acquisition, content, teaching methods and techniques, activity, material and measurement - assessment, and the reasons for their alignment/non-alignment to the curriculum…

  13. Intentional and automatic processing of numerical information in mathematical anxiety: testing the influence of emotional priming.

    PubMed

    Ashkenazi, Sarit

    2018-02-05

    Current theoretical approaches suggest that mathematical anxiety (MA) manifests itself as a weakness in quantity manipulations. This study is the first to examine automatic versus intentional processing of numerical information using the numerical Stroop paradigm in participants with high MA. To manipulate anxiety levels, we combined the numerical Stroop task with an affective priming paradigm. We took a group of college students with high MA and compared their performance to a group of participants with low MA. Under low anxiety conditions (neutral priming), participants with high MA showed relatively intact number processing abilities. However, under high anxiety conditions (mathematical priming), participants with high MA showed (1) higher processing of the non-numerical irrelevant information, which aligns with the theoretical view regarding deficits in selective attention in anxiety and (2) an abnormal numerical distance effect. These results demonstrate that abnormal, basic numerical processing in MA is context related.

  14. Washback Effect of University Entrance exams in Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences

    PubMed Central

    Díaz, Patricia; Mier, Verónica; Alonso, Pedro

    2016-01-01

    Curricular issues of subject Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences are studied in relation to university entrance exams performed in several Spanish regions between 2009–2014. By using quantitative and qualitative analyses, it has been studied how these exams align with curriculum and how they produce a washback on curriculum and teachers’ work. Additionally, one questionnaire about teachers’ practices has been performed, in order to find out how the exams are influencing teaching methodology development. Main results obtained show that evaluation is producing a bias on the official curriculum, substantially simplifying the specific orientation that should guide applied mathematics. Furthermore, teachers’ practices are influenced by the exams, and they usually approach their teaching methodology to the frequent types of exams. Also, slight differences among the teachers lead to distinguish two behavioral subgroups. Results can also be useful in an international context, because of the importance of standardized exit exams in OECD countries. PMID:27936103

  15. Washback Effect of University Entrance exams in Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences.

    PubMed

    Rodríguez-Muñiz, Luis J; Díaz, Patricia; Mier, Verónica; Alonso, Pedro

    2016-01-01

    Curricular issues of subject Applied Mathematics to Social Sciences are studied in relation to university entrance exams performed in several Spanish regions between 2009-2014. By using quantitative and qualitative analyses, it has been studied how these exams align with curriculum and how they produce a washback on curriculum and teachers' work. Additionally, one questionnaire about teachers' practices has been performed, in order to find out how the exams are influencing teaching methodology development. Main results obtained show that evaluation is producing a bias on the official curriculum, substantially simplifying the specific orientation that should guide applied mathematics. Furthermore, teachers' practices are influenced by the exams, and they usually approach their teaching methodology to the frequent types of exams. Also, slight differences among the teachers lead to distinguish two behavioral subgroups. Results can also be useful in an international context, because of the importance of standardized exit exams in OECD countries.

  16. A case study of effective practice in mathematics teaching and learning informed by Valsiner's zone theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geiger, Vince; Anderson, Judy; Hurrell, Derek

    2017-02-01

    The characteristics that typify an effective teacher of mathematics and the environments that support effective teaching practices have been a long-term focus of educational research. In this article we report on an aspect of a larger study that investigated `best practice' in mathematics teaching and learning across all Australian states and territories. A case study from one Australian state was developed from data collected via classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with school leaders and teachers and analysed using Valsiner's zone theory. A finding of the study is that `successful' practice is strongly tied to school context and the cultural practices that have been developed by school leaders and teachers to optimise student learning opportunities. We illustrate such an alignment of school culture and practice through a vignette based on a case of one `successful' school.

  17. Aligning Assessment and Instruction with State Standards for Children with Significant Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parrish, Polly R.; Stodden, Robert A.

    2009-01-01

    This article presents a classroom teacher's perspective on one of the important requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) legislation and aligned language found in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004)--that of aligning assessment and instructional practices with state academic content standard…

  18. Development of a reinforced electrochemically aligned collagen bioscaffold for tendon tissue engineering applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Uquillas Paredes, Jorge Alfredo

    Type-I collagen is a promising biomaterial that can be used to synthesize bioscaffolds as a strategy to regenerate and repair damaged tendons. The existing in vitro prepared collagen bioscaffolds are in the form of gels, foams, or extruded fibers. These bioscaffolds readily present sites for attachment of biological factors and cells; however, they have extremely poor biomechanical properties in comparison to the properties of native tendons. The biomechanical function of type-I collagen bioscaffolds needs to be elevated to the level of natural tissues for this biomaterial to replace mechanically challenged tendons in a functionally meaningful way. The overall goal of this dissertation is to develop a reinforced electrochemically aligned collagenous bioscaffold for applications in tendon tissue engineering. The bioscaffold is synthesized by a unique electrochemical process via isoelectric focusing (IEF) to attain a very high degree of molecular alignment and packing density. This dissertation presents progress made on four aims: A) development of simple and descriptive electrochemical theory via the mathematical model of IEF and the forces acting on collagen alignment under an electric field; B) optimization of the post-alignment PBS treatment step to achieve d- banding pattern in uncrosslinked electrochemically aligned collagen (ELAC) bioscaffolds; C) optimization of the best crosslinking protocol to produce the strongest possible ELAC biomaterial with excellent cellular compatibility; and D) in vivo evaluation of the biocompatibility and biodegradability properties of electronically aligned collagen bioscaffolds. The results of this dissertation provide strong evidence showing that reinforced ELAC bioscaffolds could be used clinically in the future to repair damaged tendons.

  19. Alignment theory of parallel-beam computed tomography image reconstruction for elastic-type objects using virtual focusing method.

    PubMed

    Jun, Kyungtaek; Kim, Dongwook

    2018-01-01

    X-ray computed tomography has been studied in various fields. Considerable effort has been focused on reconstructing the projection image set from a rigid-type specimen. However, reconstruction of images projected from an object showing elastic motion has received minimal attention. In this paper, a mathematical solution to reconstructing the projection image set obtained from an object with specific elastic motions-periodically, regularly, and elliptically expanded or contracted specimens-is proposed. To reconstruct the projection image set from expanded or contracted specimens, methods are presented for detection of the sample's motion modes, mathematical rescaling of pixel values, and conversion of the projection angle for a common layer.

  20. Alignment of learning objectives and assessments in therapeutics courses to foster higher-order thinking.

    PubMed

    FitzPatrick, Beverly; Hawboldt, John; Doyle, Daniel; Genge, Terri

    2015-02-17

    To determine whether national educational outcomes, course objectives, and classroom assessments for 2 therapeutics courses were aligned for curricular content and cognitive processes, and if they included higher-order thinking. Document analysis and student focus groups were used. Outcomes, objectives, and assessment tasks were matched for specific therapeutics content and cognitive processes. Anderson and Krathwohl's Taxonomy was used to define higher-order thinking. Students discussed whether assessments tested objectives and described their thinking when responding to assessments. There were 7 outcomes, 31 objectives, and 412 assessment tasks. The alignment for content and cognitive processes was not satisfactory. Twelve students participated in the focus groups. Students thought more short-answer questions than multiple choice questions matched the objectives for content and required higher-order thinking. The alignment analysis provided data that could be used to reveal and strengthen the enacted curriculum and improve student learning.

  1. Achievement of Eighth-Grade Students in Korea on the TIMSS 2011 Assessment: Effects of Confidence in Mathematics and Engagement in Mathematics Lessons

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    House, J. Daniel; Telese, James A.

    2016-01-01

    Research studies have identified several factors related to mathematics achievement of students in Korea. Further, results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessments have shown that instructional practices and beliefs about mathematics were significantly associated with mathematics achievement of students in…

  2. Laboratory Experiments on Rotation and Alignment of the Analogs of Interstellar Dust Grains by Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abbas, M. M.; Craven, P. D.; Spann, J. F.; Tankosic, D.; LeClair, A.; Gallagher, D. L.; West, E. A.; Weingartner, J. C.; Witherow, W. K.; Tielens, A. G. G. M.

    2004-01-01

    The processes and mechanisms involved in the rotation and alignment of interstellar dust grains have been of great interest in astrophysics ever since the surprising discovery of the polarization of starlight more than half a century ago. Numerous theories, detailed mathematical models and numerical studies of grain rotation and alignment with respect to the Galactic magnetic field have been presented in the literature. In particular, the subject of grain rotation and alignment by radiative torques has been shown to be of particular interest in recent years. However, despite many investigations, a satisfactory theoretical understanding of the processes involved in grain rotation and alignment has not been achieved. As there appears to be no experimental data available on this subject, we have carried out some unique experiments to illuminate the processes involved in rotation of dust grains in the interstellar medium. In this paper we present the results of some preliminary laboratory experiments on the rotation of individual micron/submicron size nonspherical dust grains levitated in an electrodynamic balance evacuated to pressures of approximately 10(exp -3) to 10(exp -5) torr. The particles are illuminated by laser light at 5320 Angstroms, and the grain rotation rates are obtained by analyzing the low frequency (approximately 0-100 kHz) signal of the scattered light detected by a photodiode detector. The rotation rates are compared with simple theoretical models to retrieve some basic rotational parameters. The results are examined in the light of the current theories of alignment.

  3. How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Jack T. H.; Schembri, Mark A.; Hall, Roy A.

    2013-01-01

    Designing and implementing assessment tasks in large-scale undergraduate science courses is a labor-intensive process subject to increasing scrutiny from students and quality assurance authorities alike. Recent pedagogical research has provided conceptual frameworks for teaching introductory undergraduate microbiology, but has yet to define best-practice assessment guidelines. This study assessed the applicability of Biggs’ theory of constructive alignment in designing consistent learning objectives, activities, and assessment items that aligned with the American Society for Microbiology’s concept-based microbiology curriculum in MICR2000, an introductory microbiology course offered at the University of Queensland, Australia. By improving the internal consistency in assessment criteria and increasing the number of assessment items explicitly aligned to the course learning objectives, the teaching team was able to efficiently provide adequate feedback on numerous assessment tasks throughout the semester, which contributed to improved student performance and learning gains. When comparing the constructively aligned 2011 offering of MICR2000 with its 2010 counterpart, students obtained higher marks in both coursework assignments and examinations as the semester progressed. Students also valued the additional feedback provided, as student rankings for course feedback provision increased in 2011 and assessment and feedback was identified as a key strength of MICR2000. By designing MICR2000 using constructive alignment and iterative assessment tasks that followed a common set of learning outcomes, the teaching team was able to effectively deliver detailed and timely feedback in a large introductory microbiology course. This study serves as a case study for how constructive alignment can be integrated into modern teaching practices for large-scale courses. PMID:23858350

  4. Toolkit for Evaluating Alignment of Instructional and Assessment Materials to the Common Core State Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Achieve, Inc., 2014

    2014-01-01

    In joint partnership, Achieve, The Council of Chief State School Officers, and Student Achievement Partners have developed a Toolkit for Evaluating the Alignment of Instructional and Assessment Materials to the Common Core State Standards. The Toolkit is a set of interrelated, freely available instruments for evaluating alignment to the CCSS; each…

  5. Writing Assessment in the Department of Mathematics at Rochester Institute of Technology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birken, Marcia

    The goal of writing assessment in the Department of Mathematics at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is to assure that students can communicate about mathematics or statistics in a manner appropriate to their future careers. A five-member writing committee, composed of mathematics faculty, assess students at three different times during…

  6. Teaching Assistant Professional Development in Biology: Designed for and Driven by Multidimensional Data

    PubMed Central

    Long, Tammy M.; Ebert-May, Diane

    2014-01-01

    Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are increasingly responsible for instruction in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Various professional development (PD) programs have been developed and implemented to prepare TAs for this role, but data about effectiveness are lacking and are derived almost exclusively from self-reported surveys. In this study, we describe the design of a reformed PD (RPD) model and apply Kirkpatrick's Evaluation Framework to evaluate multiple outcomes of TA PD before, during, and after implementing RPD. This framework allows evaluation that includes both direct measures and self-reported data. In RPD, TAs created and aligned learning objectives and assessments and incorporated more learner-centered instructional practices in their teaching. However, these data are inconsistent with TAs’ self-reported perceptions about RPD and suggest that single measures are insufficient to evaluate TA PD programs. PMID:26086654

  7. Bidirectional Elastic Image Registration Using B-Spline Affine Transformation

    PubMed Central

    Gu, Suicheng; Meng, Xin; Sciurba, Frank C.; Wang, Chen; Kaminski, Naftali; Pu, Jiantao

    2014-01-01

    A registration scheme termed as B-spline affine transformation (BSAT) is presented in this study to elastically align two images. We define an affine transformation instead of the traditional translation at each control point. Mathematically, BSAT is a generalized form of the affine transformation and the traditional B-Spline transformation (BST). In order to improve the performance of the iterative closest point (ICP) method in registering two homologous shapes but with large deformation, a bi-directional instead of the traditional unidirectional objective / cost function is proposed. In implementation, the objective function is formulated as a sparse linear equation problem, and a sub-division strategy is used to achieve a reasonable efficiency in registration. The performance of the developed scheme was assessed using both two-dimensional (2D) synthesized dataset and three-dimensional (3D) volumetric computed tomography (CT) data. Our experiments showed that the proposed B-spline affine model could obtain reasonable registration accuracy. PMID:24530210

  8. An IMU-to-Body Alignment Method Applied to Human Gait Analysis.

    PubMed

    Vargas-Valencia, Laura Susana; Elias, Arlindo; Rocon, Eduardo; Bastos-Filho, Teodiano; Frizera, Anselmo

    2016-12-10

    This paper presents a novel calibration procedure as a simple, yet powerful, method to place and align inertial sensors with body segments. The calibration can be easily replicated without the need of any additional tools. The proposed method is validated in three different applications: a computer mathematical simulation; a simplified joint composed of two semi-spheres interconnected by a universal goniometer; and a real gait test with five able-bodied subjects. Simulation results demonstrate that, after the calibration method is applied, the joint angles are correctly measured independently of previous sensor placement on the joint, thus validating the proposed procedure. In the cases of a simplified joint and a real gait test with human volunteers, the method also performs correctly, although secondary plane errors appear when compared with the simulation results. We believe that such errors are caused by limitations of the current inertial measurement unit (IMU) technology and fusion algorithms. In conclusion, the presented calibration procedure is an interesting option to solve the alignment problem when using IMUs for gait analysis.

  9. Assessment User Guide for Colleges and Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), 2015

    2015-01-01

    The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is one of two multi-state consortia that have built new assessment systems aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is composed of 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands that have worked together to develop a comprehensive assessment system aligned to the…

  10. Development Mathematic Assessment to Increase Mathematical Prerequisite Ability on The Student with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Elementary School

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Robiansyah, S. T. U.; Nanang, F.; Hidayat

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to introduce about mathematic assessment is a process of obtaining data or information about the mastery of a student's mathematical skills as an ingredient in preparing a learning program. With this mathematics assessment can be known obstacles, difficulties and needs of students especially in the field of mathematic, so that the learning program will be in accordance with the potential students because it is tailored to what is required of students. This research study was conducted at elementary school of inclusive precisely at SDN Sukagalih I Bandung City based learning in setting of inclusive education. This research study is motivated by the existence of a first-grade student who has disabilities learning in mathematics, the ability of the mathematical prerequisite mastery of the classification of objects by color. The results of the research can provide a profile picture of student data information, the data obtained from the results of the development of systematic and formal mathematical assessment. After doing the development of mathematics assessment then the teacher gets important related information: 1. process the analysis of students’ learning needs, especially in the field of mathematics, 2. preparing the learning program planning according to student learning needs, 3. Designing procedural of method remedial program.

  11. Coincidence theory: Seeking a perceptual preference for just intonation, equal temperament, and Pythagorean intonation in excerpts for wind instruments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Long, Derle Ray

    Coincidence theory states that when the components of harmony are in enhanced alignment the sound will be more consonant to the human auditory system. An objective method of examining the components of harmony is by investigating alignment of the mathematics of a particular sound or harmony. The study examined preference responses to excerpts tuned in just intonation, Pythagorean intonation, and equal temperament. Musical excerpts were presented in pairs and study subjects simply picked one version from the pair that they perceived as the most consonant. Results of the study revealed an overall preference for equal temperament in contradiction to coincidence theory. Several additional areas for research are suggested to further investigate the results of this study.

  12. Does a Math-Enhanced Curriculum and Instructional Approach Diminish Students' Attainment of Technical Skills? A Year-Long Experimental Study in Agricultural Power and Technology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, R. Brent; Edwards, M. Craig; Leising, James G.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to empirically test the posit that students who participated in a contextualized, mathematics-enhanced high school agricultural power and technology (APT) curriculum and aligned instructional approach would not differ significantly (p less than 0.05) in their technical competence from students who participated in the…

  13. STEM: How a Poorly Defined Acronym Is Shaping Education and Workforce Development Policy in the United States. WCER Working Paper No. 2014-2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oleson, Amanda K.; Hora, Matthew T.; Benbow, Ross J.

    2014-01-01

    The fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, more ubiquitously known by the acronym "STEM," have received a substantial amount of attention in recent years. As part of a research study investigating the alignment (or lack thereof) between the goals and priorities of educators and employers, we found it difficult to…

  14. Internal Consistency of General Outcome Measures in Grades 1-8. Technical Report # 0915

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Daniel; Tindal, Gerald; Alonzo, Julie

    2009-01-01

    We developed alternate forms of a math test for use in both screening students at risk of failure and monitoring their progress over time. In this technical report, we present results of the screener, used in the fall of 2009. The 48-item test was aligned to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum Focal Point Standards…

  15. The Impact of Imaging Modality on the Measurement of Coronal Plane Alignment After Total Knee Arthroplasty.

    PubMed

    Nam, Denis; Vajapey, Sravya; Nunley, Ryan M; Barrack, Robert L

    2016-10-01

    The optimal coronal alignment after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has become an area of increased debate. Sources of variability among investigations include the radiographic technique used for both preoperative surgical planning and postoperative alignment assessments. This study's purpose was to assess the impact of the imaging modality used on the measurement of coronal plane alignment after TKA. A consecutive series of patients undergoing TKA using the same cruciate-retaining prosthesis were included for analysis. Postoperatively, all patients received both a rotationally controlled, scout computed tomography scan and a hip-knee-ankle (HKA) image using the EOS Imaging system (EOS Inc., Paris, France). Two, independent observers measured the HKA angle, and femoral and tibial component alignment from each image. After classifying overall and component alignment as neutral, varus, or valgus, 40.6% (65 of 160) of knees had a discordant alignment classification for HKA, 28.1% (45 of 160) for femoral component alignment, and 26.9% (43 of 160) for tibial component alignment between their computed tomography and EOS images. Overall, 24.4% (39 of 160) of patients had a HKA difference of ≥3° between the 2 images, whereas 18.8% (30 of 160) and 20.0% (32 of 160) of patients had a femoral and tibial component alignment difference of ≥2°, respectively. Significant differences are present when comparing 2 measurement techniques of mechanical alignment after TKA. The impact of imaging modality on postoperative assessments must be accounted for and be consistent when comparing the results of different investigations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Relations between Student Perceptions of Assessment Authenticity, Study Approaches and Learning Outcome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gulikers, Judith T. M.; Bastiaens, Theo J.; Kirschner, Paul A.; Kester, Liesbeth

    2006-01-01

    This article examines the relationships between perceptions of authenticity and alignment on study approach and learning outcome. Senior students of a vocational training program performed an authentic assessment and filled in a questionnaire about the authenticity of various assessment characteristics and the alignment between the assessment and…

  17. Secondary Teachers' Conceptions and Practices of Assessment Models: The Case for Mathematics Teachers in Jordan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al Duwairi, Ahmed

    2013-01-01

    This study aimed at investigating the extent to which secondary schools mathematics teachers practice to assessment models in their mathematics teaching and learning. Definitely, the study aimed at answering the following questions: (1) To what extent do secondary schools mathematics teachers practice each of the assessment models in their…

  18. The fractured landscape of RNA-seq alignment: the default in our STARs.

    PubMed

    Ballouz, Sara; Dobin, Alexander; Gingeras, Thomas R; Gillis, Jesse

    2018-06-01

    Many tools are available for RNA-seq alignment and expression quantification, with comparative value being hard to establish. Benchmarking assessments often highlight methods' good performance, but are focused on either model data or fail to explain variation in performance. This leaves us to ask, what is the most meaningful way to assess different alignment choices? And importantly, where is there room for progress? In this work, we explore the answers to these two questions by performing an exhaustive assessment of the STAR aligner. We assess STAR's performance across a range of alignment parameters using common metrics, and then on biologically focused tasks. We find technical metrics such as fraction mapping or expression profile correlation to be uninformative, capturing properties unlikely to have any role in biological discovery. Surprisingly, we find that changes in alignment parameters within a wide range have little impact on both technical and biological performance. Yet, when performance finally does break, it happens in difficult regions, such as X-Y paralogs and MHC genes. We believe improved reporting by developers will help establish where results are likely to be robust or fragile, providing a better baseline to establish where methodological progress can still occur.

  19. Laboratory Experiments on Rotation and Alignment of the Analogs of Interstellar Dust Grains by Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abbas, M. M.; Craven, P. D.; Spann, J. F.; Tankosic, D.; LeClair, A.; Gallagher, D. L.; West, E. A.; Weingartner, J. C.; Witherow, W. K.; Tielens, A. G. G. M.

    2004-01-01

    The processes and mechanisms involved in the rotation and alignment of interstellar dust grains have been of great interest in astrophysics ever since the surprising discovery of the polarization of starlight more than half a century ago. Numerous theories, detailed mathematical models, and numerical studies of grain rotation and alignment with respect to the Galactic magnetic field have been presented in the literature. In particular, the subject of grain rotation and alignment by radiative torques has been shown to be of particular interest in recent years. However, despite many investigations, a satisfactory theoretical understanding of the processes involved in subject, we have carried out some unique experiments to illuminate the processes involved in the rotation of dust grains in the interstellar medium. In this paper we present the results of some preliminary laboratory experiments on the rotation of individual micron/submicron-sized, nonspherical dust grains levitated in an electrodynamic balance evacuated to pressures of approximately 10(exp -3) to 10(exp -5) torr. The particles are illuminated by laser light at 5320 A, and the grain rotation rates are obtained by analyzing the low-frequency (approximately 0 - 100 kHz) signal of the scattered light detected by a photodiode detector. The rotation rates are compared with simple theoretical models to retrieve some basic rotational parameters. The results are examined in light of the current theories of alignment.

  20. A quick and reliable procedure for assessing foot alignment in athletes.

    PubMed

    De Michelis Mendonça, Luciana; Bittencourt, Natália Franco Netto; Amaral, Giovanna Mendes; Diniz, Lívia Santos; Souza, Thales Rezende; da Fonseca, Sérgio Teixeira

    2013-01-01

    Quick procedures with proper psychometric properties that can capture the combined alignment of the foot-ankle complex in a position that may be more representative of the status of the lower limb during ground contact are essential for assessing a large group of athletes. The assessed lower limb was positioned with the calcaneus surface facing upward in a way that all of the marks could be seen at the center of the camera display. After guaranteeing maintenance of the foot at 90° of dorsiflexion actively sustained by the athlete, the examiner took the picture of the foot-ankle alignment. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.93 demonstrated excellent intratester and intertester reliability for the proposed measurements of forefoot, rearfoot, and shank-forefoot alignments. The intraclass correlation coefficient between the shank-forefoot measures and the sum of the rearfoot and forefoot measures was 0.98, suggesting that the shank-forefoot alignment measures can represent the combined rearfoot and forefoot alignments. This study describes a reliable and practical measurement procedure for rearfoot, forefoot, and shank-forefoot alignments that can be applied to clinical and research situations as a screening procedure for risk factors for lower-limb injuries in athletes.

  1. Mathematics Framework for the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Assessment Governing Board, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Since 1973, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has gathered information about student achievement in mathematics. Results of these periodic assessments, produced in print and web-based formats, provide valuable information to a wide variety of audiences. The NAEP Assessment in mathematics has two components that differ in…

  2. Questions and Answers: EPA's Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment and Supplemental Guidance from Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens

    EPA Science Inventory

    March 29, 2005
    EPA's Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment
    And Supplemental Guidance from Assessing Susceptibility from Early-life
    Exposure to Carcinogens

    Questions and Answers

    The following questions ...

  3. Reorganizing Freshman Business Mathematics II: Authentic Assessment in Mathematics through Professional Memos

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Kris; Emerson, Allen

    2008-01-01

    The first part of this two-part paper [see EJ787497] described the development of a new freshman business mathematics (FBM) course at our college. In this paper, we discuss our assessment tool, the business memo, as a venue for students to apply mathematical skills, via mathematical modelling, to realistic business problems. These memos have…

  4. Spatial representation of pitch height: the SMARC effect.

    PubMed

    Rusconi, Elena; Kwan, Bonnie; Giordano, Bruno L; Umiltà, Carlo; Butterworth, Brian

    2006-03-01

    Through the preferential pairing of response positions to pitch, here we show that the internal representation of pitch height is spatial in nature and affects performance, especially in musically trained participants, when response alternatives are either vertically or horizontally aligned. The finding that our cognitive system maps pitch height onto an internal representation of space, which in turn affects motor performance even when this perceptual attribute is irrelevant to the task, extends previous studies on auditory perception and suggests an interesting analogy between music perception and mathematical cognition. Both the basic elements of mathematical cognition (i.e. numbers) and the basic elements of musical cognition (i.e. pitches), appear to be mapped onto a mental spatial representation in a way that affects motor performance.

  5. Alignment and the States: Three Approaches to Aligning the National Assessment of Educational Progress with State Assessments, Other Assessments, and Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vockley, Martha; Lang, Vockley

    2009-01-01

    Since 1969, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been the common yardstick for measuring the progress of students' education over time across the country. Teachers, principals, parents, policymakers, and researchers all use NAEP results to assess progress and develop ways to improve education in America. To make the…

  6. Examining the Relationships among Mathematics Coaches and Specialists, Student Achievement, and Disability Status: A Multilevel Analysis Using National Assessment of Educational Progress Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harbour, Kristin E.; Adelson, Jill L.; Pittard, Caroline M.; Karp, Karen S.

    2018-01-01

    Using restricted-use data from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics assessment, the current study examined the relationship between the presence of elementary mathematics coaches and specialists (MCSs) and the mathematics achievement of more than 190,000 fourth-grade students in more than 7,400 schools nationwide. In…

  7. The Nation's Report Card: A First Look--2013 Mathematics and Reading. National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4 and 8. NCES 2014-451

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment measures students' knowledge and skills in mathematics and students' ability to apply their knowledge in problem-solving situations. At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure what they know and can do across five mathematics content areas: number…

  8. Assessing Understanding through Reading and Writing in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adu-Gyamfi, Kwaku; Bosse, Michael J.; Faulconer, Johna

    2010-01-01

    The mathematics education community recognizes the integrality of reading and writing in learning and communicating mathematics knowledge. Unfortunately, many students have yet to significantly experience this integrality in their mathematics classrooms despite the power these tools offer teachers for assessing student knowledge. This paper…

  9. Clinical Assessment in Mathematics: Learning the Craft.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunting, Robert P.; Doig, Brian A.

    1997-01-01

    Discusses a professional development program called Clinical Approaches to Mathematics Assessment. Argues for the advanced training of mathematics teachers who understand knowledge construction processes of students; can use clinical tools for evaluating a student's unique mathematical "fingerprint"; and can create or adapt problems, tasks, or…

  10. easyCBM CCSS Math Item Scaling and Test Form Revision (2012-2013): Grades 6-8. Technical Report #1313

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Daniel; Alonzo, Julie; Tindal, Gerald

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this technical report is to document the piloting and scaling of new easyCBM mathematics test items aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and to describe the process used to revise and supplement the 2012 research version easyCBM CCSS math tests in Grades 6-8. For all operational 2012 research version test forms (10…

  11. Access to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics through Early Numeracy Skill Building for Students with Significant Intellectual Disability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jimenez, Bree A.; Staples, Kelli

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the effect of systematic early numeracy skill instruction on grade-aligned 4th and 5th grade Common Core math skill acquisition for three 4th and 5th grade students with a significant intellectual disability. Students were taught early numeracy skills (e.g., number identification, making sets to five items, simple addition)…

  12. Investigations into phase effects from diffracted Gaussian beams for high-precision interferometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lodhia, Deepali

    Gravitational wave detectors are a new class of observatories aiming to detect gravitational waves from cosmic sources. All-reflective interferometer configurations have been proposed for future detectors, replacing transmissive optics with diffractive elements, thereby reducing thermal issues associated with power absorption. However, diffraction gratings introduce additional phase noise, creating more stringent conditions for alignment stability, and further investigations are required into all-reflective interferometers. A suitable mathematical framework using Gaussian modes is required for analysing the alignment stability using diffraction gratings. Such a framework was created, whereby small beam displacements are modelled using a modal technique. It was confirmed that the original modal-based model does not contain the phase changes associated with grating displacements. Experimental tests verified that the phase of a diffracted Gaussian beam is independent of the beam shape. Phase effects were further examined using a rigorous time-domain simulation tool. These findings show that the perceived phase difference is based on an intrinsic change of coordinate system within the modal-based model, and that the extra phase can be added manually to the modal expansion. This thesis provides a well-tested and detailed mathematical framework that can be used to develop simulation codes to model more complex layouts of all-reflective interferometers.

  13. Cooperative interactions in dense thermal Rb vapour confined in nm-scale cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keaveney, James

    Gravitational wave detectors are a new class of observatories aiming to detect gravitational waves from cosmic sources. All-reflective interferometer configurations have been proposed for future detectors, replacing transmissive optics with diffractive elements, thereby reducing thermal issues associated with power absorption. However, diffraction gratings introduce additional phase noise, creating more stringent conditions for alignment stability, and further investigations are required into all-reflective interferometers. A suitable mathematical framework using Gaussian modes is required for analysing the alignment stability using diffraction gratings. Such a framework was created, whereby small beam displacements are modelled using a modal technique. It was confirmed that the original modal-based model does not contain the phase changes associated with grating displacements. Experimental tests verified that the phase of a diffracted Gaussian beam is independent of the beam shape. Phase effects were further examined using a rigorous time-domain simulation tool. These findings show that the perceived phase difference is based on an intrinsic change of coordinate system within the modal-based model, and that the extra phase can be added manually to the modal expansion. This thesis provides a well-tested and detailed mathematical framework that can be used to develop simulation codes to model more complex layouts of all-reflective interferometers.

  14. Oral Assessment in Mathematics: Implementation and Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iannone, P.; Simpson, A.

    2012-01-01

    In this article, we report the planning and implementation of an oral assessment component in a first-year pure mathematics module of a degree course in mathematics. Our aim was to examine potential barriers to using oral assessments, explore the advantages and disadvantages compared to existing common assessment methods and document the outcomes…

  15. Improving mathematical problem solving ability through problem-based learning and authentic assessment for the students of Bali State Polytechnic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Darma, I. K.

    2018-01-01

    This research is aimed at determining: 1) the differences of mathematical problem solving ability between the students facilitated with problem-based learning model and conventional learning model, 2) the differences of mathematical problem solving ability between the students facilitated with authentic and conventional assessment model, and 3) interaction effect between learning and assessment model on mathematical problem solving. The research was conducted in Bali State Polytechnic, using the 2x2 experiment factorial design. The samples of this research were 110 students. The data were collected using a theoretically and empirically-validated test. Instruments were validated by using Aiken’s approach of technique content validity and item analysis, and then analyzed using anova stylistic. The result of the analysis shows that the students facilitated with problem-based learning and authentic assessment models get the highest score average compared to the other students, both in the concept understanding and mathematical problem solving. The result of hypothesis test shows that, significantly: 1) there is difference of mathematical problem solving ability between the students facilitated with problem-based learning model and conventional learning model, 2) there is difference of mathematical problem solving ability between the students facilitated with authentic assessment model and conventional assessment model, and 3) there is interaction effect between learning model and assessment model on mathematical problem solving. In order to improve the effectiveness of mathematics learning, collaboration between problem-based learning model and authentic assessment model can be considered as one of learning models in class.

  16. The Alignment of State Standards and Assessments in Elementary Reading. CIERA Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wixson, Karen K.; Fisk, Maria Chesley; Dutro, Elizabeth; McDaniel, Julie

    A study examined the alignment between state standards and assessments in elementary reading. The impetus for the study was a request by the National Research Council's Committee on Title I Testing and Assessment for information on the extent to which students' performance on state assessments could be assumed to provide evidence of their level of…

  17. A Case Study of the Alignment between Curriculum and Assessment in the New York State Earth Science Standards-Based System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Contino, Julie

    2013-01-01

    In a standards-based system, it is important for all components of the system to align in order to achieve the intended goals. No Child Left Behind law mandates that assessments be fully aligned with state standards, be valid, reliable and fair, be reported to all stakeholders, and provide evidence that all students in the state are meeting the…

  18. Compression-based classification of biological sequences and structures via the Universal Similarity Metric: experimental assessment.

    PubMed

    Ferragina, Paolo; Giancarlo, Raffaele; Greco, Valentina; Manzini, Giovanni; Valiente, Gabriel

    2007-07-13

    Similarity of sequences is a key mathematical notion for Classification and Phylogenetic studies in Biology. It is currently primarily handled using alignments. However, the alignment methods seem inadequate for post-genomic studies since they do not scale well with data set size and they seem to be confined only to genomic and proteomic sequences. Therefore, alignment-free similarity measures are actively pursued. Among those, USM (Universal Similarity Metric) has gained prominence. It is based on the deep theory of Kolmogorov Complexity and universality is its most novel striking feature. Since it can only be approximated via data compression, USM is a methodology rather than a formula quantifying the similarity of two strings. Three approximations of USM are available, namely UCD (Universal Compression Dissimilarity), NCD (Normalized Compression Dissimilarity) and CD (Compression Dissimilarity). Their applicability and robustness is tested on various data sets yielding a first massive quantitative estimate that the USM methodology and its approximations are of value. Despite the rich theory developed around USM, its experimental assessment has limitations: only a few data compressors have been tested in conjunction with USM and mostly at a qualitative level, no comparison among UCD, NCD and CD is available and no comparison of USM with existing methods, both based on alignments and not, seems to be available. We experimentally test the USM methodology by using 25 compressors, all three of its known approximations and six data sets of relevance to Molecular Biology. This offers the first systematic and quantitative experimental assessment of this methodology, that naturally complements the many theoretical and the preliminary experimental results available. Moreover, we compare the USM methodology both with methods based on alignments and not. We may group our experiments into two sets. The first one, performed via ROC (Receiver Operating Curve) analysis, aims at assessing the intrinsic ability of the methodology to discriminate and classify biological sequences and structures. A second set of experiments aims at assessing how well two commonly available classification algorithms, UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) and NJ (Neighbor Joining), can use the methodology to perform their task, their performance being evaluated against gold standards and with the use of well known statistical indexes, i.e., the F-measure and the partition distance. Based on the experiments, several conclusions can be drawn and, from them, novel valuable guidelines for the use of USM on biological data. The main ones are reported next. UCD and NCD are indistinguishable, i.e., they yield nearly the same values of the statistical indexes we have used, accross experiments and data sets, while CD is almost always worse than both. UPGMA seems to yield better classification results with respect to NJ, i.e., better values of the statistical indexes (10% difference or above), on a substantial fraction of experiments, compressors and USM approximation choices. The compression program PPMd, based on PPM (Prediction by Partial Matching), for generic data and Gencompress for DNA, are the best performers among the compression algorithms we have used, although the difference in performance, as measured by statistical indexes, between them and the other algorithms depends critically on the data set and may not be as large as expected. PPMd used with UCD or NCD and UPGMA, on sequence data is very close, although worse, in performance with the alignment methods (less than 2% difference on the F-measure). Yet, it scales well with data set size and it can work on data other than sequences. In summary, our quantitative analysis naturally complements the rich theory behind USM and supports the conclusion that the methodology is worth using because of its robustness, flexibility, scalability, and competitiveness with existing techniques. In particular, the methodology applies to all biological data in textual format. The software and data sets are available under the GNU GPL at the supplementary material web page.

  19. Compression-based classification of biological sequences and structures via the Universal Similarity Metric: experimental assessment

    PubMed Central

    Ferragina, Paolo; Giancarlo, Raffaele; Greco, Valentina; Manzini, Giovanni; Valiente, Gabriel

    2007-01-01

    Background Similarity of sequences is a key mathematical notion for Classification and Phylogenetic studies in Biology. It is currently primarily handled using alignments. However, the alignment methods seem inadequate for post-genomic studies since they do not scale well with data set size and they seem to be confined only to genomic and proteomic sequences. Therefore, alignment-free similarity measures are actively pursued. Among those, USM (Universal Similarity Metric) has gained prominence. It is based on the deep theory of Kolmogorov Complexity and universality is its most novel striking feature. Since it can only be approximated via data compression, USM is a methodology rather than a formula quantifying the similarity of two strings. Three approximations of USM are available, namely UCD (Universal Compression Dissimilarity), NCD (Normalized Compression Dissimilarity) and CD (Compression Dissimilarity). Their applicability and robustness is tested on various data sets yielding a first massive quantitative estimate that the USM methodology and its approximations are of value. Despite the rich theory developed around USM, its experimental assessment has limitations: only a few data compressors have been tested in conjunction with USM and mostly at a qualitative level, no comparison among UCD, NCD and CD is available and no comparison of USM with existing methods, both based on alignments and not, seems to be available. Results We experimentally test the USM methodology by using 25 compressors, all three of its known approximations and six data sets of relevance to Molecular Biology. This offers the first systematic and quantitative experimental assessment of this methodology, that naturally complements the many theoretical and the preliminary experimental results available. Moreover, we compare the USM methodology both with methods based on alignments and not. We may group our experiments into two sets. The first one, performed via ROC (Receiver Operating Curve) analysis, aims at assessing the intrinsic ability of the methodology to discriminate and classify biological sequences and structures. A second set of experiments aims at assessing how well two commonly available classification algorithms, UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) and NJ (Neighbor Joining), can use the methodology to perform their task, their performance being evaluated against gold standards and with the use of well known statistical indexes, i.e., the F-measure and the partition distance. Based on the experiments, several conclusions can be drawn and, from them, novel valuable guidelines for the use of USM on biological data. The main ones are reported next. Conclusion UCD and NCD are indistinguishable, i.e., they yield nearly the same values of the statistical indexes we have used, accross experiments and data sets, while CD is almost always worse than both. UPGMA seems to yield better classification results with respect to NJ, i.e., better values of the statistical indexes (10% difference or above), on a substantial fraction of experiments, compressors and USM approximation choices. The compression program PPMd, based on PPM (Prediction by Partial Matching), for generic data and Gencompress for DNA, are the best performers among the compression algorithms we have used, although the difference in performance, as measured by statistical indexes, between them and the other algorithms depends critically on the data set and may not be as large as expected. PPMd used with UCD or NCD and UPGMA, on sequence data is very close, although worse, in performance with the alignment methods (less than 2% difference on the F-measure). Yet, it scales well with data set size and it can work on data other than sequences. In summary, our quantitative analysis naturally complements the rich theory behind USM and supports the conclusion that the methodology is worth using because of its robustness, flexibility, scalability, and competitiveness with existing techniques. In particular, the methodology applies to all biological data in textual format. The software and data sets are available under the GNU GPL at the supplementary material web page. PMID:17629909

  20. Seizing an Opportunity with Carefully Designed Geoscience Education Professional Development (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holzer, M. A.

    2013-12-01

    The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are providing science education with opportunities to improve classroom practice and student learning within the domain of Earth and space science education. However, accurate and precise interpretation and implementation are the keys to meeting the goals of NGSS. Through their networks, our national geoscience organizations, like National Earth Science Teachers Association, are well positioned to ensure accuracy and precision is achieved in the interpretation and implementation of the NGSS. Nevertheless there are numerous challenges in designing appropriate resources and professional development aligned with the NGSS. This presentation will highlight the challenges and offer solutions to ensuring NGSS specific professional development will assist teachers and increase student learning. In the race to "align" instructional materials with the NGSS a rubber stamp must be avoided, and instead, careful vetting is necessary. The Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (NRC, 2011) set the groundwork for the creation of the NGSS, which then melded the three dimensions (science and engineering practices, cross-cutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas) into the performance expectations within the standards. When instructional materials are aligned, assessment for the explicit integration of all three dimensions must be included if the materials are to be truly aligned. The NGSS team is designing an instructional material alignment rubric to be used in the vetting process. Once the rubric has been created it will be a tool used by anyone creating instructional materials, and once an educator understands how to use the rubric and how to interpret the rubric score, it will increase the likelihood that the NGSS will be implemented with fidelity. As much as it is a challenge to identify instructional materials that "align" with the NGSS, it will be more of a challenge to design and implement appropriate professional development to assist our science educators with the integration of the NGSS into their classrooms. Careful planning in the creation of professional development follows a professional development design framework such as the one in Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics (Loucks-Horsely, et al, 2009) in which a commitment to a vision is created and data on student learning is considered before setting professional development goals, and planning, implementing, and evaluating are done. Those in geoscience organizations offering instructional materials and professional development have the expertise available to ensure their members and audiences are receiving accurate and precise information about the NGSS. However it is imperative that time and care be taken to make sure what is communicate is truly accurate and precise.

  1. Estimating Critical Values for Strength of Alignment among Curriculum, Assessments, and Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fulmer, Gavin W.

    2010-01-01

    School accountability decisions based on standardized tests hinge on the degree of alignment of the test with a state's standards. Yet no established criteria were available for judging strength of alignment. Previous studies of alignment among tests, standards, and teachers' instruction have yielded mixed results that are difficult to interpret…

  2. Estimating Critical Values for Strength of Alignment among Curriculum, Assessments, and Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fulmer, Gavin W.

    2011-01-01

    School accountability decisions based on standardized tests hinge on the degree of alignment of the test with the state's standards documents. Yet, there exist no established criteria for judging strength of alignment. Previous measures of alignment among tests, standards, and teachers' instruction have yielded mixed results that are difficult to…

  3. The Greatest Learning Return on Your Pedagogical Investment: Alignment, Assessment or In-Class Instruction?

    PubMed Central

    Holt, Emily A.; Young, Craig; Keetch, Jared; Larsen, Skylar; Mollner, Brayden

    2015-01-01

    Critical thinking is often considered an essential learning outcome of institutions in higher education. Previous work has proposed three pedagogical strategies to address this goal: more active, student-centered in-class instruction, assessments which contain higher-order cognitive questions, and greater alignment within a classroom (i.e., high agreement of the cognitive level of learning objectives, assessments, and in-class instruction). Our goals were to determine which of these factors, individually or the interactions therein, contributed most to improvements in university students’ critical thinking. We assessed students’ higher-order cognitive skills in introductory non-majors biology courses the first and last week of instruction. For each of the fifteen sections observed, we also measured the cognitive level of assessments and learning objectives, evaluated the learner-centeredness of each classroom, and calculated an alignment score for each class. The best model to explain improvements in students’ high-order cognitive skills contained the measure of learner-centeredness of the class and pre-quiz scores as a covariate. The cognitive level of assessments, learning objectives, nor alignment explained improvements in students’ critical thinking. In accordance with much of the current literature, our findings support that more student-centered classes had greater improvements in student learning. However, more research is needed to clarify the role of assessment and alignment in student learning. PMID:26340659

  4. The Greatest Learning Return on Your Pedagogical Investment: Alignment, Assessment or In-Class Instruction?

    PubMed

    Holt, Emily A; Young, Craig; Keetch, Jared; Larsen, Skylar; Mollner, Brayden

    2015-01-01

    Critical thinking is often considered an essential learning outcome of institutions in higher education. Previous work has proposed three pedagogical strategies to address this goal: more active, student-centered in-class instruction, assessments which contain higher-order cognitive questions, and greater alignment within a classroom (i.e., high agreement of the cognitive level of learning objectives, assessments, and in-class instruction). Our goals were to determine which of these factors, individually or the interactions therein, contributed most to improvements in university students' critical thinking. We assessed students' higher-order cognitive skills in introductory non-majors biology courses the first and last week of instruction. For each of the fifteen sections observed, we also measured the cognitive level of assessments and learning objectives, evaluated the learner-centeredness of each classroom, and calculated an alignment score for each class. The best model to explain improvements in students' high-order cognitive skills contained the measure of learner-centeredness of the class and pre-quiz scores as a covariate. The cognitive level of assessments, learning objectives, nor alignment explained improvements in students' critical thinking. In accordance with much of the current literature, our findings support that more student-centered classes had greater improvements in student learning. However, more research is needed to clarify the role of assessment and alignment in student learning.

  5. War of Ontology Worlds: Mathematics, Computer Code, or Esperanto?

    PubMed Central

    Rzhetsky, Andrey; Evans, James A.

    2011-01-01

    The use of structured knowledge representations—ontologies and terminologies—has become standard in biomedicine. Definitions of ontologies vary widely, as do the values and philosophies that underlie them. In seeking to make these views explicit, we conducted and summarized interviews with a dozen leading ontologists. Their views clustered into three broad perspectives that we summarize as mathematics, computer code, and Esperanto. Ontology as mathematics puts the ultimate premium on rigor and logic, symmetry and consistency of representation across scientific subfields, and the inclusion of only established, non-contradictory knowledge. Ontology as computer code focuses on utility and cultivates diversity, fitting ontologies to their purpose. Like computer languages C++, Prolog, and HTML, the code perspective holds that diverse applications warrant custom designed ontologies. Ontology as Esperanto focuses on facilitating cross-disciplinary communication, knowledge cross-referencing, and computation across datasets from diverse communities. We show how these views align with classical divides in science and suggest how a synthesis of their concerns could strengthen the next generation of biomedical ontologies. PMID:21980276

  6. War of ontology worlds: mathematics, computer code, or Esperanto?

    PubMed

    Rzhetsky, Andrey; Evans, James A

    2011-09-01

    The use of structured knowledge representations-ontologies and terminologies-has become standard in biomedicine. Definitions of ontologies vary widely, as do the values and philosophies that underlie them. In seeking to make these views explicit, we conducted and summarized interviews with a dozen leading ontologists. Their views clustered into three broad perspectives that we summarize as mathematics, computer code, and Esperanto. Ontology as mathematics puts the ultimate premium on rigor and logic, symmetry and consistency of representation across scientific subfields, and the inclusion of only established, non-contradictory knowledge. Ontology as computer code focuses on utility and cultivates diversity, fitting ontologies to their purpose. Like computer languages C++, Prolog, and HTML, the code perspective holds that diverse applications warrant custom designed ontologies. Ontology as Esperanto focuses on facilitating cross-disciplinary communication, knowledge cross-referencing, and computation across datasets from diverse communities. We show how these views align with classical divides in science and suggest how a synthesis of their concerns could strengthen the next generation of biomedical ontologies.

  7. Aligning Practice to Policies: Changing the Culture to Recognize and Reward Teaching at Research Universities.

    PubMed

    Dennin, Michael; Schultz, Zachary D; Feig, Andrew; Finkelstein, Noah; Greenhoot, Andrea Follmer; Hildreth, Michael; Leibovich, Adam K; Martin, James D; Moldwin, Mark B; O'Dowd, Diane K; Posey, Lynmarie A; Smith, Tobin L; Miller, Emily R

    2017-01-01

    Recent calls for improvement in undergraduate education within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines are hampered by the methods used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Faculty members at research universities are commonly assessed and promoted mainly on the basis of research success. To improve the quality of undergraduate teaching across all disciplines, not only STEM fields, requires creating an environment wherein continuous improvement of teaching is valued, assessed, and rewarded at various stages of a faculty member's career. This requires consistent application of policies that reflect well-established best practices for evaluating teaching at the department, college, and university levels. Evidence shows most teaching evaluation practices do not reflect stated policies, even when the policies specifically espouse teaching as a value. Thus, alignment of practice to policy is a major barrier to establishing a culture in which teaching is valued. Situated in the context of current national efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education, including the Association of American Universities Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, this essay discusses four guiding principles for aligning practice with stated priorities in formal policies: 1) enhancing the role of deans and chairs; 2) effectively using the hiring process; 3) improving communication; and 4) improving the understanding of teaching as a scholarly activity. In addition, three specific examples of efforts to improve the practice of evaluating teaching are presented as examples: 1) Three Bucket Model of merit review at the University of California, Irvine; (2) Evaluation of Teaching Rubric, University of Kansas; and (3) Teaching Quality Framework, University of Colorado, Boulder. These examples provide flexible criteria to holistically evaluate and improve the quality of teaching across the diverse institutions comprising modern higher education. © 2017 M. Dennin et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2017 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  8. Results from the Fourth Mathematics Assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindquist, Mary Montgomery, Ed.

    The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) completed its fourth mathematics assessment during the 1985-86 school year and finished the analyses of the results in 1988. This monograph, prepared by an interpretive team of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, represents a comprehensive discussion of the results of the fourth…

  9. Engineering survey planning for the alignment of a particle accelerator: part I. Proposition of an assessment method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Junqueira Leão, Rodrigo; Raffaelo Baldo, Crhistian; Collucci da Costa Reis, Maria Luisa; Alves Trabanco, Jorge Luiz

    2018-03-01

    The performance of particle accelerators depends highly on the relative alignment between their components. The position and orientation of the magnetic lenses that form the trajectory of the charged beam is kept to micrometric tolerances in a range of hundreds of meters of the length of the machines. Therefore, the alignment problem is fundamentally of a dimensional metrology nature. There is no common way of expressing these tolerances in terms of terminology and alignment concept. The alignment needs for a certain machine is normally given in terms of deviations between the position of any magnet in the accelerator and the fitted line that relates the actual position of the magnets’ assembly. Root mean square errors and standard deviations are normally used interchangeably and measurement uncertainty is often neglected. Although some solutions have been employed successfully in several accelerators, there is no off-the-shelf solution to perform the alignment. Also, each alignment campaign makes use of different measuring instruments to achieve the desired results, which makes the alignment process a complex measurement chain. This paper explores these issues by reviewing the tolerances specified for the alignment of particle accelerators, and proposes a metric to assess the quality of the alignment. The metric has the advantage of fully integrating the measurement uncertainty in the process.

  10. Manitoba Mathematics Assessment Program, 1981. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Manitoba Dept. of Education, Winnipeg.

    This document contains conclusions, recommendations, a summary of results, and interpretations of the 1981 Mathematics Assessment Program. The Assessment Program involved the production of achievement tests and teacher questionnaires for the third, sixth, ninth, and twelth-grade students. These were a test related to general mathematics skills,…

  11. PORTAAL: A Classroom Observation Tool Assessing Evidence-Based Teaching Practices for Active Learning in Large Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Classes.

    PubMed

    Eddy, Sarah L; Converse, Mercedes; Wenderoth, Mary Pat

    2015-01-01

    There is extensive evidence that active learning works better than a completely passive lecture. Despite this evidence, adoption of these evidence-based teaching practices remains low. In this paper, we offer one tool to help faculty members implement active learning. This tool identifies 21 readily implemented elements that have been shown to increase student outcomes related to achievement, logic development, or other relevant learning goals with college-age students. Thus, this tool both clarifies the research-supported elements of best practices for instructor implementation of active learning in the classroom setting and measures instructors' alignment with these practices. We describe how we reviewed the discipline-based education research literature to identify best practices in active learning for adult learners in the classroom and used these results to develop an observation tool (Practical Observation Rubric To Assess Active Learning, or PORTAAL) that documents the extent to which instructors incorporate these practices into their classrooms. We then use PORTAAL to explore the classroom practices of 25 introductory biology instructors who employ some form of active learning. Overall, PORTAAL documents how well aligned classrooms are with research-supported best practices for active learning and provides specific feedback and guidance to instructors to allow them to identify what they do well and what could be improved. © 2015 S. L. Eddy et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2015 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  12. Linking GPS and travel diary data using sequence alignment in a study of children's independent mobility

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Global positioning systems (GPS) are increasingly being used in health research to determine the location of study participants. Combining GPS data with data collected via travel/activity diaries allows researchers to assess where people travel in conjunction with data about trip purpose and accompaniment. However, linking GPS and diary data is problematic and to date the only method has been to match the two datasets manually, which is time consuming and unlikely to be practical for larger data sets. This paper assesses the feasibility of a new sequence alignment method of linking GPS and travel diary data in comparison with the manual matching method. Methods GPS and travel diary data obtained from a study of children's independent mobility were linked using sequence alignment algorithms to test the proof of concept. Travel diaries were assessed for quality by counting the number of errors and inconsistencies in each participant's set of diaries. The success of the sequence alignment method was compared for higher versus lower quality travel diaries, and for accompanied versus unaccompanied trips. Time taken and percentage of trips matched were compared for the sequence alignment method and the manual method. Results The sequence alignment method matched 61.9% of all trips. Higher quality travel diaries were associated with higher match rates in both the sequence alignment and manual matching methods. The sequence alignment method performed almost as well as the manual method and was an order of magnitude faster. However, the sequence alignment method was less successful at fully matching trips and at matching unaccompanied trips. Conclusions Sequence alignment is a promising method of linking GPS and travel diary data in large population datasets, especially if limitations in the trip detection algorithm are addressed. PMID:22142322

  13. A Fast Approximate Algorithm for Mapping Long Reads to Large Reference Databases.

    PubMed

    Jain, Chirag; Dilthey, Alexander; Koren, Sergey; Aluru, Srinivas; Phillippy, Adam M

    2018-04-30

    Emerging single-molecule sequencing technologies from Pacific Biosciences and Oxford Nanopore have revived interest in long-read mapping algorithms. Alignment-based seed-and-extend methods demonstrate good accuracy, but face limited scalability, while faster alignment-free methods typically trade decreased precision for efficiency. In this article, we combine a fast approximate read mapping algorithm based on minimizers with a novel MinHash identity estimation technique to achieve both scalability and precision. In contrast to prior methods, we develop a mathematical framework that defines the types of mapping targets we uncover, establish probabilistic estimates of p-value and sensitivity, and demonstrate tolerance for alignment error rates up to 20%. With this framework, our algorithm automatically adapts to different minimum length and identity requirements and provides both positional and identity estimates for each mapping reported. For mapping human PacBio reads to the hg38 reference, our method is 290 × faster than Burrows-Wheeler Aligner-MEM with a lower memory footprint and recall rate of 96%. We further demonstrate the scalability of our method by mapping noisy PacBio reads (each ≥5 kbp in length) to the complete NCBI RefSeq database containing 838 Gbp of sequence and >60,000 genomes.

  14. Formative Assessment in High School Chemistry Teaching: Investigating the Alignment of Teachers' Goals with Their Items

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sandlin, Benjamin; Harshman, Jordan; Yezierski, Ellen

    2015-01-01

    A 2011 report by the Department of Education states that understanding how teachers use results from formative assessments to guide their practice is necessary to improve instruction. Chemistry teachers have goals for items in their formative assessments, but the degree of alignment between what is assessed by these items and the teachers' goals…

  15. The Relation Between Inattentive and Hyperactive/Impulsive Behaviors and Early Mathematics Skills.

    PubMed

    Sims, Darcey M; Purpura, David J; Lonigan, Christopher J

    2016-08-01

    Despite strong evidence that inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive behaviors are associated with mathematical difficulties in school-age children, little research has been conducted to examine the link between these constructs before the start of formal education. The purpose of this study was to examine how different manifestations of inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive behaviors, as measured by different assessment tools, are related to early mathematics skills in preschoolers. Eighty-two preschool children completed a measure of early mathematics and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Teachers rated children's behaviors using the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale-15 Item. Sixty-five of these children completed mathematics assessments 1 year later. Teacher ratings of inattention were uniquely related to concurrent early mathematics skills, whereas CPT errors were uniquely predictive of early mathematics skills 1 year later. Findings have implications for the understanding and assessment of behavior problems that are associated with early mathematics difficulties. © The Author(s) 2012.

  16. Does the Value of Dynamic Assessment in Predicting End-of-First-Grade Mathematics Performance Differ as a Function of English Language Proficiency?

    PubMed Central

    Seethaler, Pamela M.; Fuchs, Lynn S.; Fuchs, Douglas; Compton, Donald L.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the added value of dynamic assessment (DA) beyond more conventional static measures for predicting individual differences in year-end 1st-grade calculation (CA) and word-problem (WP) performance, as a function of limited English proficiency (LEP) status. At the start of 1st grade, students (129 LEP; 163 non-LEP) were assessed on a brief static mathematics test, an extended static mathematics test, static tests of domain-general abilities associated with CAs and WPs (vocabulary; reasoning), and DA. Near end of 1st grade, they were assessed on CA and WP. Regression analyses indicated that the value of the predictor depends on the predicted outcome and LEP status. In predicting CAs, the extended mathematics test and DA uniquely explained variance for LEP children, with stronger predictive value for the extended mathematics test; for non-LEP children, the extended mathematics test was the only significant predictor. However, in predicting WPs, only DA and vocabulary were uniquely predictive for LEP children, with stronger value for DA; for non-LEP children, the extended mathematics test and DA were comparably uniquely predictive. Neither the brief static mathematics test nor reasoning was significant in predicting either outcome. The potential value of a gated screening process, using an extended mathematics assessment to predict CAs and using DA to predict WPs, is discussed. PMID:26523068

  17. Common Formative Assessments Developed through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): A Case Study to Analyze the Alignment of Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction in a Math PLC at a Title I Middle School in the Southern United States

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hill, Tory C.

    2013-01-01

    The introduction of No Child Left Behind increased performance expectations for students across the United States and compelled teachers to focus on standardized assessments instead of frequent formative assessments to monitor instruction and promote student learning. Common formative assessments (CFAs) help teachers align curriculum, assessment,…

  18. An Empirical Development of an Instrument To Assess Mathematics Anxiety and Apprehension.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ikegulu, T. Nelson

    The development and psychometric properties of the Mathematics Anxiety-Apprehension Survey (MAAS), a measure of instructional and/or classroom mathematics phobia are discussed. This instrument was designed to assess levels of mathematics anxiety and apprehension in students with varying levels of education and socio-demographic factors. The highly…

  19. Assessment in the Context of Mathematics Instruction Reform: The Design of Assessment in the QUASAR Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silver, Edward A.; Lane, Suzanne

    Recent reports on mathematics education reform have focused the attention of educational practitioners and policymakers on new goals for mathematics education and new descriptions of mathematical proficiency. QUASAR is a national project (Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning) designed to improve the mathematics…

  20. Assessing the Relation between Seventh-Grade Students' Engagement and Mathematical Problem Solving Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lein, Amy E.; Jitendra, Asha K.; Starosta, Kristin M.; Dupuis, Danielle N.; Hughes-Reid, Cheyenne L.; Star, Jon R.

    2016-01-01

    In this study, the authors assessed the contribution of engagement (on-task behavior) to the mathematics problem-solving performance of seventh-grade students after accounting for prior mathematics achievement. A subsample of seventh-grade students in four mathematics classrooms (one high-, two average-, and one low-achieving) from a larger…

  1. Laboratory Experiments on Rotation of Micron Size Cosmic Dust Grains with Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abbas, M. M.; Craven, P. D.; Spann, J. F.; Tankosic, D.; LeClair, A.; Gallagher, D. L.; West, E.; Weingartner, J.; Witherow, W. K.

    2004-01-01

    The processes and mechanisms involved in the rotation and alignment of interstellar dust grains have been of great interest in astrophysics ever since the surprising discovery of the polarization of starlight more than half a century ago. Numerous theories, detailed mathematical models and numerical studies of grain rotation and alignment along the Galactic magnetic field have been presented in the literature. In particular, the subject of grain rotation and alignment by radiative torques has been shown to be of particular interest in recent years. However, despite many investigations, a satisfactory theoretical understanding of the processes involved in grain rotation and alignment has not been achieved. As there appears to be no experimental data available on this subject, we have carried out some unique experiments to illuminate the processes involved in rotation of dust grains in the interstellar medium. In this paper we present the results of some preliminary laboratory experiments on the rotation of individual micron/submicron size nonspherical dust grains levitated in an electrodynamic balance evacuated to pressures of approx. 10(exp -3) to 10(exp -5) torr. The particles are illuminated by laser light at 5320 A, and the grain rotation rates are obtained by analyzing the low frequency (approx. 0-100 kHz) signal of the scattered light detected by a photodiode detector. The rotation rates are compared with simple theoretical models to retrieve some basic rotational parameters. The results are examined in the light of the current theories of alignment.

  2. Development of the Mathematics of Learning Curve Models for Evaluating Small Modular Reactor Economics

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Harrison, Thomas J.

    2014-03-01

    This report documents the efforts to perform dynamic model validation on the Eastern Interconnection (EI) by modeling governor deadband. An on-peak EI dynamic model is modified to represent governor deadband characteristics. Simulation results are compared with synchrophasor measurements collected by the Frequency Monitoring Network (FNET/GridEye). The comparison shows that by modeling governor deadband the simulated frequency response can closely align with the actual system response.

  3. Paid to Perform: Aligning Total Military Compensation With Talent Management. Volume 8

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-06-01

    matriculates roughly 50 percent of all officers selected for promotion to O-4 (the remainder taking the course via satellite school /distance learning mod...industrial-era personnel as- sembly line: an 0-4 promotion board and a resident 11 30+ 12 Command and General Staff School (CGSS) board. Both are...analytical ability , mathematical intelligence, etc.). 23 Figure 6. Separating Equilibrium (with Army Officer SAT Scores as Talent Proxy). As Figure 6

  4. Applied Problems and Use of Technology in an Aligned Way in Basic Courses in Probability and Statistics for Engineering Students--A Way to Enhance Understanding and Increase Motivation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zetterqvist, Lena

    2017-01-01

    Researchers and teachers often recommend motivating exercises and use of mathematics or statistics software for the teaching of basic courses in probability and statistics. Our courses are given to large groups of engineering students at Lund Institute of Technology. We found that the mere existence of real-life data and technology in a course…

  5. SIRU utilization. Volume 1: Theory, development and test evaluation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Musoff, H.

    1974-01-01

    The theory, development, and test evaluations of the Strapdown Inertial Reference Unit (SIRU) are discussed. The statistical failure detection and isolation, single position calibration, and self alignment techniques are emphasized. Circuit diagrams of the system components are provided. Mathematical models are developed to show the performance characteristics of the subsystems. Specific areas of the utilization program are identified as: (1) error source propagation characteristics and (2) local level navigation performance demonstrations.

  6. An IMU-to-Body Alignment Method Applied to Human Gait Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Vargas-Valencia, Laura Susana; Elias, Arlindo; Rocon, Eduardo; Bastos-Filho, Teodiano; Frizera, Anselmo

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents a novel calibration procedure as a simple, yet powerful, method to place and align inertial sensors with body segments. The calibration can be easily replicated without the need of any additional tools. The proposed method is validated in three different applications: a computer mathematical simulation; a simplified joint composed of two semi-spheres interconnected by a universal goniometer; and a real gait test with five able-bodied subjects. Simulation results demonstrate that, after the calibration method is applied, the joint angles are correctly measured independently of previous sensor placement on the joint, thus validating the proposed procedure. In the cases of a simplified joint and a real gait test with human volunteers, the method also performs correctly, although secondary plane errors appear when compared with the simulation results. We believe that such errors are caused by limitations of the current inertial measurement unit (IMU) technology and fusion algorithms. In conclusion, the presented calibration procedure is an interesting option to solve the alignment problem when using IMUs for gait analysis. PMID:27973406

  7. Elucidating the role of transcription in shaping the 3D structure of the bacterial genome

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brandao, Hugo B.; Wang, Xindan; Rudner, David Z.; Mirny, Leonid

    Active transcription has been linked to several genome conformation changes in bacteria, including the recruitment of chromosomal DNA to the cell membrane and formation of nucleoid clusters. Using genomic and imaging data as input into mathematical models and polymer simulations, we sought to explore the extent to which bacterial 3D genome structure could be explained by 1D transcription tracks. Using B. subtilis as a model organism, we investigated via polymer simulations the role of loop extrusion and DNA super-coiling on the formation of interaction domains and other fine-scale features that are visible in chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) data. We then explored the role of the condensin structural maintenance of chromosome complex on the alignment of chromosomal arms. A parameter-free transcription traffic model demonstrated that mean chromosomal arm alignment can be quantitatively explained, and the effects on arm alignment in genomically rearranged strains of B. subtilis were accurately predicted. H.B. acknowledges support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for a PGS-D fellowship.

  8. Assessing Mathematics 4. Problem Solving: The APU Approach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foxman, Derek; And Others

    1984-01-01

    Presented are examples of problem-solving items from practical and written mathematics tests. These tests are part of an English survey designed to assess the mathematics achievement of students aged 11 and 15. (JN)

  9. Does alignment of constructivist teaching, curriculum, and assessment strategies promote meaningful learning?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jimarez, Teresa

    Despite our national efforts to attract more students to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, the number of students continues to be small. Empirical studies have suggested that in order to actively engage students in the science learning processes, lessons need to be designed which consider student prior experiences and provide a sound curriculum, within an environment promoting social interaction---that is, allowing for sharing and negotiation of those ideas which promote reflective thinking. These premises require an embedded assessment system that continuously provides feedback to both student and teacher. This technique allows adaptation and modification of lessons to better facilitate conceptual understanding. This study focused on the use of constructivist strategies that, when aligned, promoted conceptual understanding while facilitating development of science process skills. Skill development leads to meaningful learning, known to promote a change of attitude toward science. A mixed research design embedded in a case study approach was used to understand the complexity of the variables examined in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used to strengthen the validity and interpretation of the findings. Students from one of three ninth-grade physical science classes were selected for this study. The students numbered 29, 13 boys and 16 girls; the majority of these students were of Hispanic background. The analysis of data suggested that the use of constructivist strategies promotes conceptual understanding of science concepts and development of science process skills and a change of attitude towards science. This study concluded that selecting teaching and multiple assessment strategies is vital to engage students in science careers. Due to the limited nature of this case study, the researcher recommends a replication or followup with a different teacher and school, including a control group and student interviews to add validity to student written pieces of work.

  10. Designing Tasks to Promote and Assess Mathematical Transfer in Primary School Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clark, Julie; Page, Shaileigh; Thornton, Steve

    2013-01-01

    This study aims to design learning situations and tasks that promote and assess the capacity of primary school children to transfer mathematical knowledge to new contexts. We discuss previous studies investigating mathematical transfer, and particularly the strengths and limitations of tasks used to assess transfer in these studies. We describe…

  11. Testing Technology: Administrating Formative Mathematics Assessments in Kindergarten and First Grade

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hill-Cunningham, Pamela Renee

    2012-01-01

    Research was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the use of handheld technology to administer mathematics assessments in kindergarten and 1 st grade classes in North Carolina. This research was a review of secondary data from the first year of implementation of the Mathematics Assessment Pilot Project conducted by the North Carolina…

  12. Classroom Challenge: A 3D Snapshot of Student Learning in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilder, Sandra

    2015-01-01

    This article aims to describe a type of formative assessment, MAP Classroom Challenge, which has been introduced in mathematics classrooms in recent years. MAP, or the Mathematics Assessment Project Classroom Challenges (formerly known as Formative Assessment Lessons), are developed by teams of math educators from the Shell Centre for Mathematical…

  13. An Investigation of Assessment and Feedback Practices in Fully Asynchronous Online Undergraduate Mathematics Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trenholm, Sven; Alcock, Lara; Robinson, Carol

    2015-01-01

    Research suggests it is difficult to learn mathematics in the fully asynchronous online (FAO) instructional modality, yet little is known about associated teaching and assessment practices. In this study, we investigate FAO mathematics assessment and feedback practices in particular consideration of both claims and findings that these practices…

  14. Differential Improvement in Student Understanding of Mathematical Principles following Formative Assessment Intervention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Phelan, Julia; Choi, Kilchan; Vendlinski, Terry; Baker, Eva; Herman, Joan

    2011-01-01

    The authors describe results from a study of a middle school mathematics formative assessment strategy. They employed a randomized, controlled design to address the following question: Does using our strategy improve student performance on assessments of key mathematical ideas relative to a comparison group? Eighty-five teachers and 4,091 students…

  15. Content and Alignment of State Writing Standards and Assessments as Predictors of Student Writing Achievement: An Analysis of 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Troia, Gary A.; Olinghouse, Natalie G.; Zhang, Mingcai; Wilson, Joshua; Stewart, Kelly A.; Mo, Ya; Hawkins, Lisa

    2018-01-01

    We examined the degree to which content of states' writing standards and assessments (using measures of content range, frequency, balance, and cognitive complexity) and their alignment were related to student writing achievement on the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), while controlling for student, school, and state…

  16. An analysis of mathematical connection ability based on student learning style on visualization auditory kinesthetic (VAK) learning model with self-assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Apipah, S.; Kartono; Isnarto

    2018-03-01

    This research aims to analyze the quality of VAK learning with self-assessment toward the ability of mathematical connection performed by students and to analyze students’ mathematical connection ability based on learning styles in VAK learning model with self-assessment. This research applies mixed method type with concurrent embedded design. The subject of this research consists of VIII grade students from State Junior High School 9 Semarang who apply visual learning style, auditory learning style, and kinesthetic learning style. The data of learning style is collected by using questionnaires, the data of mathematical connection ability is collected by performing tests, and the data of self-assessment is collected by using assessment sheets. The quality of learning is qualitatively valued from planning stage, realization stage, and valuation stage. The result of mathematical connection ability test is analyzed quantitatively by mean test, conducting completeness test, mean differentiation test, and mean proportional differentiation test. The result of the research shows that VAK learning model results in well-qualified learning regarded from qualitative and quantitative sides. Students with visual learning style perform the highest mathematical connection ability, students with kinesthetic learning style perform average mathematical connection ability, and students with auditory learning style perform the lowest mathematical connection ability.

  17. WWC Review of the Report "The Impact of Indiana's System of Interim Assessments on Mathematics and Reading." What Works Clearinghouse Single Study Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    What Works Clearinghouse, 2015

    2015-01-01

    The study, "The Impact of Indiana's System of Interim Assessments on Mathematics and Reading," examined the effects of using Diagnostic Assessment Tools (DAT) on mathematics and reading outcomes for students in 59 Indiana schools during the 2009-10 academic year. DAT consists of interim assessment tools--Wireless Generation's mCLASS for…

  18. A Preliminary Report of National Estimates from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1992 Mathematics Assessment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliott, Emerson J., Comp.

    This report contains preliminary results from the 1992 mathematics assessment by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) of nationally representative samples of about 26,000 4th, 8th and 12th grade students in 1,500 public schools and private schools in 44 states; and compares data to findings from the 1990 NAEP mathematics tests.…

  19. Radiographic assessment of knee-ankle alignment after total knee arthroplasty for varus and valgus knee osteoarthritis.

    PubMed

    Gao, Fuqiang; Ma, Jinhui; Sun, Wei; Guo, Wanshou; Li, Zirong; Wang, Weiguo

    2017-01-01

    There are unanswered questions about knee-ankle alignment after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for varus and valgus osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess knee-ankle alignment after TKA. The study consisted of 149 patients who had undergone TKA due to varus and valgus knee OA. The alignment and angles in the selected knees and ankles were measured on full-length standing anteroposterior radiographs, both pre-operatively and post-operatively. The paired t-test and Pearson's correlation tests were used for statistical analysis. The results showed that ankle alignment correlated with knee alignment both pre-operatively and postoperatively (P<0.05). The pre-operative malalignment of the knee was corrected (P<0.05), and the ankle tilt angle was accordingly improved in the operative side after TKA (P<0.05). In addition, TKA had little effect on knee-ankle alignment on the non-operative side (P>0.05). These findings indicated that routine TKA could correct the varus or valgus deformity of a knee, and improve the tilt of the ankle. Ankle alignment correlated with knee alignment both pre-operatively and postoperatively. Both pre-operative knee and ankle malalignment can be simultaneously corrected following TKA. Level III. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Unpacking the Male Superiority Myth and Masculinization of Mathematics at the Intersections: A Review of Research on Gender in Mathematics Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leyva, Luis A.

    2017-01-01

    Gender research in mathematics education has experienced methodological and theoretical shifts over the past 45 years. Although achievement studies have used assessment tools to explore and subsequently challenge the assumption of male superiority on mathematics assessments, research on participation has unpacked these studies' sex-based…

  1. The Turkish Adaptation of the Mathematical Resilience Scale: Validity and Reliability Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gürefe, Nejla; Akçakin, Veysel

    2018-01-01

    Persistent in mathematical studies is an important element allowing students to be successful in their STEM careers, and there is a need for affective measurement instruments to assess persistence in mathematics in spite of problems. For this reason, this study aims to adapt the Mathematical Resilience Scale developed to assess resilience, which…

  2. Developing a Multi-Dimensional Early Elementary Mathematics Screener and Diagnostic Tool: The Primary Mathematics Assessment.

    PubMed

    Brendefur, Jonathan L; Johnson, Evelyn S; Thiede, Keith W; Strother, Sam; Severson, Herb H

    2018-01-01

    There is a critical need to identify primary level students experiencing difficulties in mathematics to provide immediate and targeted instruction that remediates their deficits. However, most early math screening instruments focus only on the concept of number, resulting in inadequate and incomplete information for teachers to design intervention efforts. We propose a mathematics assessment that screens and provides diagnostic information in six domains that are important to building a strong foundation in mathematics. This article describes the conceptual framework and psychometric qualities of a web-based assessment tool, the Primary Math Assessment (PMA). The PMA includes a screener to identify students at risk for poor math outcomes and a diagnostic tool to provide a more in-depth profile of children's specific strengths and weaknesses in mathematics. The PMA allows teachers and school personnel to make better instructional decisions by providing more targeted analyses.

  3. EAPhy: A Flexible Tool for High-throughput Quality Filtering of Exon-alignments and Data Processing for Phylogenetic Methods.

    PubMed

    Blom, Mozes P K

    2015-08-05

    Recently developed molecular methods enable geneticists to target and sequence thousands of orthologous loci and infer evolutionary relationships across the tree of life. Large numbers of genetic markers benefit species tree inference but visual inspection of alignment quality, as traditionally conducted, is challenging with thousands of loci. Furthermore, due to the impracticality of repeated visual inspection with alternative filtering criteria, the potential consequences of using datasets with different degrees of missing data remain nominally explored in most empirical phylogenomic studies. In this short communication, I describe a flexible high-throughput pipeline designed to assess alignment quality and filter exonic sequence data for subsequent inference. The stringency criteria for alignment quality and missing data can be adapted based on the expected level of sequence divergence. Each alignment is automatically evaluated based on the stringency criteria specified, significantly reducing the number of alignments that require visual inspection. By developing a rapid method for alignment filtering and quality assessment, the consistency of phylogenetic estimation based on exonic sequence alignments can be further explored across distinct inference methods, while accounting for different degrees of missing data.

  4. Investigating Conversational Dynamics: Interactive Alignment, Interpersonal Synergy, and Collective Task Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fusaroli, Riccardo; Tylén, Kristian

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates interpersonal processes underlying dialog by comparing two approaches, "interactive alignment" and "interpersonal synergy", and assesses how they predict collective performance in a joint task. While the interactive alignment approach highlights imitative patterns between interlocutors, the synergy…

  5. Examining Fourth-Grade Mathematics Writing: Features of Organization, Mathematics Vocabulary, and Mathematical Representations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hebert, Michael A.; Powell, Sarah R.

    2016-01-01

    Increasingly, students are expected to write about mathematics. Mathematics writing may be informal (e.g., journals, exit slips) or formal (e.g., writing prompts on high-stakes mathematics assessments). In order to develop an effective mathematics-writing intervention, research needs to be conducted on how students organize mathematics writing and…

  6. Nature and origins of mathematics difficulties in very preterm children: a different etiology than developmental dyscalculia.

    PubMed

    Simms, Victoria; Gilmore, Camilla; Cragg, Lucy; Clayton, Sarah; Marlow, Neil; Johnson, Samantha

    2015-02-01

    Children born very preterm (<32 wk) are at high risk for mathematics learning difficulties that are out of proportion to other academic and cognitive deficits. However, the etiology of mathematics difficulties in very preterm children is unknown. We sought to identify the nature and origins of preterm children's mathematics difficulties. One hundred and fifteen very preterm children aged 8-10 y were assessed in school with a control group of 77 term-born classmates. Achievement in mathematics, working memory, visuospatial processing, inhibition, and processing speed were assessed using standardized tests. Numerical representations and specific mathematics skills were assessed using experimental tests. Very preterm children had significantly poorer mathematics achievement, working memory, and visuospatial skills than term-born controls. Although preterm children had poorer performance in specific mathematics skills, there was no evidence of imprecise numerical representations. Difficulties in mathematics were associated with deficits in visuospatial processing and working memory. Mathematics difficulties in very preterm children are associated with deficits in working memory and visuospatial processing not numerical representations. Thus, very preterm children's mathematics difficulties are different in nature from those of children with developmental dyscalculia. Interventions targeting general cognitive problems, rather than numerical representations, may improve very preterm children's mathematics achievement.

  7. Hollow elliptical Gaussian beam and its propagation through aligned and misaligned paraxial optical systems.

    PubMed

    Cai, Yangjian; Lin, Qiang

    2004-06-01

    A new mathematical model called hollow elliptical Gaussian beam (HEGB) is proposed to describe a dark-hollow laser beam with noncircular symmetry in terms of a tensor method. The HEGB can be expressed as a superposition of a series of elliptical Hermite-Gaussian modes. By using the generalized diffraction integral formulas for light passing through paraxial optical systems, analytical propagation formulas for HEGBs passing through paraxial aligned and misaligned optical systems are obtained through vector integration. As examples of applications, evolution properties of the intensity distribution of HEGBs in free-space propagation were studied. Propagation properties of HEGBs through a misaligned thin lens were also studied. The HEGB provides a convenient way to describe elliptical dark-hollow laser beams and can be used conveniently to study the motion of atoms in a dark-hollow laser beam.

  8. Hollow elliptical Gaussian beam and its propagation through aligned and misaligned paraxial optical systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cai, Yangjian; Lin, Qiang

    2004-06-01

    A new mathematical model called hollow elliptical Gaussian beam (HEGB) is proposed to describe a dark-hollow laser beam with noncircular symmetry in terms of a tensor method. The HEGB can be expressed as a superposition of a series of elliptical Hermite-Gaussian modes. By using the generalized diffraction integral formulas for light passing through paraxial optical systems, analytical propagation formulas for HEGBs passing through paraxial aligned and misaligned optical systems are obtained through vector integration. As examples of applications, evolution properties of the intensity distribution of HEGBs in free-space propagation were studied. Propagation properties of HEGBs through a misaligned thin lens were also studied. The HEGB provides a convenient way to describe elliptical dark-hollow laser beams and can be used conveniently to study the motion of atoms in a dark-hollow laser beam.

  9. WEB-server for search of a periodicity in amino acid and nucleotide sequences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    E Frenkel, F.; Skryabin, K. G.; Korotkov, E. V.

    2017-12-01

    A new web server (http://victoria.biengi.ac.ru/splinter/login.php) was designed and developed to search for periodicity in nucleotide and amino acid sequences. The web server operation is based upon a new mathematical method of searching for multiple alignments, which is founded on the position weight matrices optimization, as well as on implementation of the two-dimensional dynamic programming. This approach allows the construction of multiple alignments of the indistinctly similar amino acid and nucleotide sequences that accumulated more than 1.5 substitutions per a single amino acid or a nucleotide without performing the sequences paired comparisons. The article examines the principles of the web server operation and two examples of studying amino acid and nucleotide sequences, as well as information that could be obtained using the web server.

  10. The Leadership Efficacy of Graduates of North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mason, Letita Renee

    This study examines the leadership efficacy amongst graduates of NCSSM from the classes of 2000--07 as the unit of analysis. How do NCSSM graduates' perceptions of their leadership efficacy align with research on non-cognitive variables as indicators of academic performance using the unit of analysis as a performance outcome? This study is based on the theoretical construct that non-cognitive psychological (also called motivational) factors are core components of leadership self-efficacy, indicative of NCSSM graduates (who had high academic performance and attained STEM degrees). It holds promise for increasing both student interest and diversity in the race to strengthen the STEM pipeline. In this study the Hannah and Avolio (2013) Mind Garden Leadership Efficacy Questionnaire (LEQ) is used. The LEQ is a battery of three instruments designed to assess individual perceptions of personal leadership efficacy across three constructs, via one survey tool. In this mixed-methods analysis, a quantitative phase was conducted to collect the data captured by the Mind Garden Leadership Efficacy Questionnaire. A Post Hoc qualitative analysis was conducted in the second phase of the data analysis, using the Trichotomous-Square Test methodology (with an associated qualitative researcher-designed Inventive Investigative Instrument). The results from the study validated the alternative hypothesis [H1], which proposed that there no are significant differences in the perception of the Leadership Efficacy by the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Alumni from the classes of 2000-07 in terms of their overall "Leadership Efficacy" in regards to: Execution or "Leadership Action Efficacy"; Capacity or "Leader Means Efficacy"; and Environment or "Leader Self-Regulation Efficacy" was accepted. The results also led to the development of a new assessment tool called the Mason Leadership Efficacy Model.

  11. Implementation of Formative Assessment--Effects of Quality of Programme Delivery on Students' Mathematics Achievement and Interest

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pinger, Petra; Rakoczy, Katrin; Besser, Michael; Klieme, Eckhard

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the effectiveness of formative assessment interventions by analysing how the "quality of programme delivery" affects students' mathematics achievement and interest. Teachers (n = 17) implemented formative assessment in their ninth-grade mathematics classes and provided their…

  12. What Is the Basis for Self-Assessment of Comprehension When Reading Mathematical Expository Texts?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Österholm, Magnus

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to characterize students' self-assessments when reading mathematical texts, in particular regarding what students use as a basis for evaluations of their own reading comprehension. A total of 91 students read two mathematical texts, and for each text, they performed a self-assessment of their comprehension and…

  13. Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses of Teacher Knowledge in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Countries: Differential Item Functioning in TEDS-M

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blömeke, Sigrid; Suhl, Ute; Döhrmann, Martina

    2013-01-01

    The "Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics" assessed the knowledge of primary and lower-secondary teachers at the end of their training. The large-scale assessment represented the common denominator of what constitutes mathematics content knowledge and mathematics pedagogical content knowledge in the 16 participating…

  14. Equity of Student Use of Graphing Calculators for Mathematics Learning and Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klecker, Beverly M.; Klecker, Richard L.

    2015-01-01

    This study examined equity through the differences average scale scores on the NAEP 2015 12th-grade mathematics test by parents' socioeconomic status (SES) and students' use of graphing calculators in the classroom and while taking the NAEP 2015 assessment. Data were national public composite mathematics 12-grade 2015 NAEP assessment scores. The…

  15. Using Formative Assessment and Self-Regulated Learning to Help Developmental Mathematics Students Achieve: A Multi-Campus Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hudesman, John; Crosby, Sara; Ziehmke, Niesha; Everson, Howard; Issac, Sharlene; Flugman, Bert; Zimmerman, Barry; Moylan, Adam

    2014-01-01

    The authors describe an Enhanced Formative Assessment and Self-Regulated Learning (EFA-SRL) program designed to improve the achievement of community college students enrolled in developmental mathematics courses. Their model includes the use of specially formatted quizzes designed to assess both the students' mathematics and metacognitive skill…

  16. The Relationship between Studying Music and Mathematics Performance on the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prokop, Kristie L.

    2011-01-01

    On assessments such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999) and Program for International Assessment (PISA) ("PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World", 2007) students in the United States have not been performing as well in mathematics as students in other countries. In…

  17. Technology Alignment and Portfolio Prioritization (TAPP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Funaro, Gregory V.; Alexander, Reginald A.

    2015-01-01

    Technology Alignment and Portfolio Prioritization (TAPP) is a method being developed by the Advanced Concepts Office, at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The TAPP method expands on current technology assessment methods by incorporating the technological structure underlying technology development, e.g., organizational structures and resources, institutional policy and strategy, and the factors that motivate technological change. This paper discusses the methods ACO is currently developing to better perform technology assessments while taking into consideration Strategic Alignment, Technology Forecasting, and Long Term Planning.

  18. Aligning Assessments for COSMA Accreditation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Laird, Curt; Johnson, Dennis A.; Alderman, Heather

    2015-01-01

    Many higher education sport management programs are currently in the process of seeking accreditation from the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA). This article provides a best-practice method for aligning student learning outcomes with a sport management program's mission and goals. Formative and summative assessment procedures…

  19. Aligning Science Assessment Standards: Oklahoma and the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Issues & Answers. REL 2007-No. 022

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Timms, Michael; Schneider, Steven; Lee, Cindy; Rolfhus, Eric

    2007-01-01

    This policy research document is intended for Oklahoma policymakers to use when examining possible changes to the state assessment's alignment with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The 2009 NAEP test is not yet in existence, so the purpose of this report is to give policymakers a head start in determining where they might,…

  20. The Search for Adult Assessment Procedures.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Usnick, Virginia; Babbitt, Beatrice C.

    1993-01-01

    Reviewed 12 currently available mathematics assessment tools to determine whether they would be appropriate for use in a college-level mathematics clinic. Tests were assigned to two domains: cognitive and mathematical content. Major deficiencies of the tests are cited. (Contains 15 references.) (MDH)

  1. Electric-Field-Induced Alignment of Block Copolymer/Nanoparticle Blends

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liedel, Clemens; Schindler, Kerstin; Pavan, Mariela J.

    External electric fi elds readily align birefringent block-copolymer mesophases. In this study the effect of gold nanoparticles on the electric-fi eld-induced alignment of a lamellae-forming polystyrene- block -poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymer is assessed. Nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed in the styrenic phase and promote the quantitative alignment of lamellar domains by substantially lowering the critical field strength above which alignment proceeds. The results suggest that the electric-fi eldassisted alignment of nanostructured block copolymer/nanoparticle composites may offer a simple way to greatly mitigate structural and orientational defects of such fi lms under benign experimental conditions.

  2. Acts of Alignment: Of Women in Math and Science and All of Us Who Search for Balance. Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pasztor, Ana; Slater, Judith J.

    This book discusses the aspirations and desires of women in higher education in the fields of mathematics and science and their journey to wholeness and excellence that comes from having the choice and flexibility to create and change their roadmaps at will and thus succeed in a world in which the accepted way of knowing has been different from…

  3. Setting the Stage with Geometry: Lessons & Worksheets to Build Skills in Measuring Perimeter, Area, Surface Area, and Volume. Poster/Teaching Guide. Expect the Unexpected with Math[R

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Actuarial Foundation, 2013

    2013-01-01

    "Setting the Stage with Geometry" is a new math program aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards that is designed to help students in grades 6-8 build and reinforce basic geometry skills for measuring 2D and 3D shapes. Developed by The Actuarial Foundation, this program seeks to provide skill-building math…

  4. The cost of concreteness: the effect of nonessential information on analogical transfer.

    PubMed

    Kaminski, Jennifer A; Sloutsky, Vladimir M; Heckler, Andrew F

    2013-03-01

    Most theories of analogical transfer focus on similarities between the learning and transfer domains, where transfer is more likely between domains that share common surface features, similar elements, or common interpretations of structure. We suggest that characteristics of the learning instantiation alone can give rise to different levels of transfer. We propose that concreteness of the learning instantiation can hinder analogical transfer of well-defined structured concepts, such as mathematical concepts. We operationalize the term concreteness as the amount of information communicated through a specific instantiation of a concept. The 5 reported experiments with undergraduate students tested the hypothesis by presenting participants with the concept of a commutative mathematical group of order 3. The experiments varied the level of concreteness of the training instantiation and measured transfer of learning to a new instantiation. The results support the hypothesis, demonstrating better transfer from more generic instantiations (i.e., ones that communicate minimal extraneous information) than from more concrete instantiations. Specifically, concreteness was found to create an obstacle to successful structural alignment across domains, whereas generic instantiations led to spontaneous structural alignment. These findings have important implications for the theory of learning and transfer and practical implications for the design of educational material. Although some concreteness may activate prior knowledge and perhaps offer a leg up in the learning process, this benefit may come at the cost of transfer.

  5. Alignment of Assessment Objectives with Instructional Objectives Using Revised Bloom's Taxonomy--The Case for Food Science and Technology Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jideani, V. A.; Jideani, I. A.

    2012-01-01

    Nine food science and technology (FST) subjects were assessed for alignment between the learning outcomes and assessment using revised Bloom's taxonomy (RBT) of cognitive knowledge. Conjoint analysis was used to estimate the utilities of the levels of cognitive, knowledge, and the attribute importance (cognitive process and knowledge dimension)…

  6. Constructing Aligned Assessments Using Automated Test Construction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Andrew; Polikoff, Morgan S.; Barghaus, Katherine M.; Yang, Rui

    2013-01-01

    We describe an innovative automated test construction algorithm for building aligned achievement tests. By incorporating the algorithm into the test construction process, along with other test construction procedures for building reliable and unbiased assessments, the result is much more valid tests than result from current test construction…

  7. Improving consistency in large laboratory courses: a design for a standardized practical exam.

    PubMed

    Chen, Xinnian; Graesser, Donnasue; Sah, Megha

    2015-06-01

    Laboratory courses serve as important gateways to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. One of the challenges in assessing laboratory learning is to conduct meaningful and standardized practical exams, especially for large multisection laboratory courses. Laboratory practical exams in life sciences courses are frequently administered by asking students to move from station to station to answer questions, apply knowledge gained during laboratory experiments, interpret data, and identify various tissues and organs using various microscopic and gross specimens. This approach puts a stringent time limit on all questions regardless of the level of difficulty and also invariably increases the potential risk of cheating. To avoid potential cheating in laboratory courses with multiple sections, the setup for practical exams is often changed in some way between sections. In laboratory courses with multiple instructors or teaching assistants, practical exams may be handled inconsistently among different laboratory sections, due to differences in background knowledge, perceptions of the laboratory goals, or prior teaching experience. In this article, we describe a design for a laboratory practical exam that aims to align the assessment questions with well-defined laboratory learning objectives and improve the consistency among all laboratory sections. Copyright © 2015 The American Physiological Society.

  8. Signal Conditioning for the Kalman Filter: Application to Satellite Attitude Estimation with Magnetometer and Sun Sensors

    PubMed Central

    Esteban, Segundo; Girón-Sierra, Jose M.; Polo, Óscar R.; Angulo, Manuel

    2016-01-01

    Most satellites use an on-board attitude estimation system, based on available sensors. In the case of low-cost satellites, which are of increasing interest, it is usual to use magnetometers and Sun sensors. A Kalman filter is commonly recommended for the estimation, to simultaneously exploit the information from sensors and from a mathematical model of the satellite motion. It would be also convenient to adhere to a quaternion representation. This article focuses on some problems linked to this context. The state of the system should be represented in observable form. Singularities due to alignment of measured vectors cause estimation problems. Accommodation of the Kalman filter originates convergence difficulties. The article includes a new proposal that solves these problems, not needing changes in the Kalman filter algorithm. In addition, the article includes assessment of different errors, initialization values for the Kalman filter; and considers the influence of the magnetic dipole moment perturbation, showing how to handle it as part of the Kalman filter framework. PMID:27809250

  9. Signal Conditioning for the Kalman Filter: Application to Satellite Attitude Estimation with Magnetometer and Sun Sensors.

    PubMed

    Esteban, Segundo; Girón-Sierra, Jose M; Polo, Óscar R; Angulo, Manuel

    2016-10-31

    Most satellites use an on-board attitude estimation system, based on available sensors. In the case of low-cost satellites, which are of increasing interest, it is usual to use magnetometers and Sun sensors. A Kalman filter is commonly recommended for the estimation, to simultaneously exploit the information from sensors and from a mathematical model of the satellite motion. It would be also convenient to adhere to a quaternion representation. This article focuses on some problems linked to this context. The state of the system should be represented in observable form. Singularities due to alignment of measured vectors cause estimation problems. Accommodation of the Kalman filter originates convergence difficulties. The article includes a new proposal that solves these problems, not needing changes in the Kalman filter algorithm. In addition, the article includes assessment of different errors, initialization values for the Kalman filter; and considers the influence of the magnetic dipole moment perturbation, showing how to handle it as part of the Kalman filter framework.

  10. Using assessment to individualize early mathematics instruction.

    PubMed

    Connor, Carol McDonald; Mazzocco, Michèle M M; Kurz, Terri; Crowe, Elizabeth C; Tighe, Elizabeth L; Wood, Taffeta S; Morrison, Frederick J

    2018-02-01

    Accumulating evidence suggests that assessment-informed personalized instruction, tailored to students' individual skills and abilities, is more effective than more one-size-fits-all approaches. In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of Individualizing Student Instruction in Mathematics (ISI-Math) compared to Reading (ISI-Reading) where classrooms were randomly assigned to ISI-Math or ISI-Reading. The literature on child characteristics X instruction or skill X treatment interaction effects point to the complexities of tailoring instruction for individual students who present with constellations of skills. Second graders received mathematics instruction in small flexible learning groups based on their assessed learning needs. Results of the study (n=32 teachers, 370 students) revealed significant treatment effects on standardized mathematics assessments. With effect sizes (d) of 0.41-0.60, we show that we can significantly improve 2nd graders' mathematics achievement, including for children living in poverty, by using assessment data to individualize the mathematics instruction they receive. The instructional regime, ISI-Math, was implemented by regular classroom teachers and it led to about a 4-month achievement advantage on standardized mathematics tests when compared to students in control classrooms. These results were realized within one school year. Moreover, treatment effects were the same regardless of school-level poverty and students' gender, initial mathematics or vocabulary scores. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Designing Assessment for Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Depka, Eileen

    2007-01-01

    Teaching mathematics in today's world requires practices and procedures integrated with performance tasks that actively involve students. In this second edition of Designing Rubrics for Mathematics, Eileen Depka clarifies the purpose of rubrics in math instruction and illustrates the relationship between assessment, rubrics, and the National…

  12. The Nation's Report Card: Mathematics 2011. National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4 and 8. NCES 2012-458

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

    2011-01-01

    This report presents results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics at grades 4 and 8. Nationally representative samples of 209,000 fourth-graders and 175,200 eighth-graders participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. At each grade, students responded to…

  13. TIMSS and PIRLS 2011: Relationships among Reading, Mathematics, and Science Achievement at the Fourth Grade--Implications for Early Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martin, Michael O., Ed.; Mullis, Ina V. S., Ed.

    2013-01-01

    TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is an international assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades that has been conducted every four years since 1995, with the most recent assessment in 2011. PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) is an international assessment of reading…

  14. Customer-Provider Strategic Alignment: A Maturity Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luftman, Jerry; Brown, Carol V.; Balaji, S.

    This chapter presents a new model for assessing the maturity of a ­customer-provider relationship from a collaborative service delivery perspective: the Customer-Provider Strategic Alignment Maturity (CPSAM) Model. This model builds on recent research for effectively managing the customer-provider relationship in IT service outsourcing contexts and a validated model for assessing alignment across internal IT service units and their business customers within the same organization. After reviewing relevant literature by service science and information systems researchers, the six overarching components of the maturity model are presented: value measurements, governance, partnership, communications, human resources and skills, and scope and architecture. A key assumption of the model is that all of the components need be addressed to assess and improve customer-provider alignment. Examples of specific metrics for measuring the maturity level of each component over the five levels of maturity are also presented.

  15. The relationship between learning mathematics and general cognitive ability in primary school.

    PubMed

    Cowan, Richard; Hurry, Jane; Midouhas, Emily

    2018-06-01

    Three relationships between learning mathematics and general cognitive ability have been hypothesized: The educational hypothesis that learning mathematics develops general cognitive skills, the psychometric hypothesis that differences in general cognitive ability cause differences in mathematical attainment, and the reciprocal influence hypothesis that developments in mathematical ability and general cognitive ability influence each other. These hypotheses are assessed with a sample of 948 children from the Twins Early Development Study who were assessed at 7, 9, and 10 years on mathematics, English, and general cognitive ability. A cross-lagged path analysis with mathematics and general cognitive ability measures supports the reciprocal influence hypothesis between 7 and 9 and between 9 and 10. A second analysis including English assessments only provides evidence of a reciprocal relationship between 7 and 9. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? The correlations between mathematical attainment, literacy, and measures of general cognitive skills are well established. The role of literacy in developing general cognitive skills is emerging. What the present study adds? Mathematics contributes to the development of general cognitive skills. General cognitive ability contributes to mathematical development between 7 and 10. These findings support the hypothesis of reciprocal influence between mathematics and general cognitive ability, at least between 7 and 9. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  16. The effect of technology on student science achievement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hilton, June Kraft

    2003-10-01

    Prior research indicates that technology has had little effect on raising student achievement. Little empirical research exists, however, studying the effects of technology as a tool to improve student achievement through development of higher order thinking skills. Also, prior studies have not focused on the manner in which technology is being used in the classroom and at home to enhance teaching and learning. Empirical data from a secondary school representative of those in California were analyzed to determine the effects of technology on student science achievement. The quantitative analysis methods for the school data study included a multiple linear path analysis, using final course grade as the ultimate exogenous variable. In addition, empirical data from a nationwide survey on how Americans use the Internet were disaggregated by age and analyzed to determine the relationships between computer and Internet experience and (a) Internet use at home for school assignments and (b) more general computer use at home for school assignments for school age children. Analysis of data collected from the a "A Nation Online" Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau assessed these relationships via correlations and cross-tabulations. Finally, results from these data analyses were assessed in conjunction with systemic reform efforts from 12 states designed to address improvements in science and mathematics education in light of the Third International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS). Examination of the technology efforts in those states provided a more nuanced understanding of the impact technology has on student achievement. Key findings included evidence that technology training for teachers increased their use of the computer for instruction but students' final science course grade did not improve; school age children across the country did not use the computer at home for such higher-order cognitive activities as graphics and design or spreadsheets/databases; and states whose systemic reform initiatives included a mix of capacity building and alignment to state standards realized improved student achievement on the 2000 NAEP Science Assessment.

  17. The Nation's Report Card[TM]: Mathematics 2005: Performance in Puerto Rico. Focus on the Content Areas. NCES 2007-460

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dion, Gloria S.; Haberstroh, Jeff G.; Dresher, Amy R.

    2007-01-01

    This report focuses on the performance of fourth-and eighth-grade students in Puerto Rico in various mathematics content areas on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. The NAEP mathematics assessment was administered to public school students in Puerto Rico for the first time in 2003. Although NAEP had…

  18. Mathematics Dynamic Assessment: Informal Assessment that Responds to the Needs of Struggling Learners in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allsopp, David H.; Kyger, Maggie M.; Lovin, LouAnn; Gerretson, Helen; Carson, Katie L.; Ray, Sharon

    2008-01-01

    Ms. Carlisi teaches middle school mathematics for students who were retained at least 1 year and who were identified as at risk of failure in mathematics. About half of her class of 14 students has identified learning disabilities and/or emotional and behavioral difficulties. Ms. Carlisi worries constantly that she is not going to be able to help…

  19. Iterative non-sequential protein structural alignment.

    PubMed

    Salem, Saeed; Zaki, Mohammed J; Bystroff, Christopher

    2009-06-01

    Structural similarity between proteins gives us insights into their evolutionary relationships when there is low sequence similarity. In this paper, we present a novel approach called SNAP for non-sequential pair-wise structural alignment. Starting from an initial alignment, our approach iterates over a two-step process consisting of a superposition step and an alignment step, until convergence. We propose a novel greedy algorithm to construct both sequential and non-sequential alignments. The quality of SNAP alignments were assessed by comparing against the manually curated reference alignments in the challenging SISY and RIPC datasets. Moreover, when applied to a dataset of 4410 protein pairs selected from the CATH database, SNAP produced longer alignments with lower rmsd than several state-of-the-art alignment methods. Classification of folds using SNAP alignments was both highly sensitive and highly selective. The SNAP software along with the datasets are available online at http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~zaki/software/SNAP.

  20. Assessing Students' Mathematical Problem Posing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silver, Edward A.; Cai, Jinfa

    2005-01-01

    Specific examples are used to discuss assessment, an integral part of mathematics instruction, with problem posing and assessment of problem posing. General assessment criteria are suggested to evaluate student-generated problems in terms of their quantity, originality, and complexity.

  1. Middle School Mathematics Instruction in Instructionally Focused Urban Districts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boston, Melissa D.; Wilhelm, Anne Garrison

    2017-01-01

    Direct assessments of instructional practice (e.g., classroom observations) are necessary to identify and eliminate opportunity gaps in students' learning of mathematics. This study examined 114 middle school mathematics classrooms in four instructionally focused urban districts. Results from the Instructional Quality Assessment identified high…

  2. TIMSS Advanced 2008 Assessment Frameworks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garden, Robert A.; Lie, Svein; Robitaille, David F.; Angell, Carl; Martin, Michael O.; Mullis, Ina V.S.; Foy, Pierre; Arora, Alka

    2006-01-01

    Developing the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Advanced 2008 Assessment Frameworks was a collaborative venture involving mathematics and physics experts from around the world. The document contains two frameworks for implementing TIMSS Advanced 2008--one for advanced mathematics and one for physics. It also contains…

  3. Enhancing student performance: Linking the geography curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the English-speaking Caribbean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collymore, Jennifer C.

    In a 21st century knowledge society individuals are expected to use their knowledge and skills to think critically, problem solve, make decisions, comprehend new ideas, communicate, and collaborate effectively with others. Helping students achieve this level of performance is no easy task and it brings into focus the fact that the effectiveness of any education system rests on the systemic coordination or alignment of three crucial components: curriculum, instruction and assessment (referred to as the CIA). These components must work in concert to facilitate and enhance student performance. However, educational reform typically targets these components in isolation, often treating only one component, rather than the system as a whole. The misalignment of these components can adversely affect student performance in any discipline. When the CIA components are out of alignment, it is difficult to evaluate student and system performance and achieve improvement in an educational system. Therefore, using geography education in Trinidad & Tobago as a case study, this study examined the nature of the alignment among the CIA components in the advanced geography system in the English- Speaking Caribbean and the extent to which the alignment may be affecting student performance. The study sought to determine the possible sources and causes of misalignment, the challenges to achieving alignment, and ways of achieving greater coordination among the CIA components of the system. The methodology employed in the study involved the use of classroom observations, interviews, and the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum Alignment Model which uses content analyses and surveys. The results showed that there were varying degrees of alignment among the components. There was acceptable alignment (Alignment Index ≥ 0.25) between the curriculum and assessment. However, the alignment between curriculum and instruction or assessment and instruction was poor (Alignment Index ≤ 0.12). The baseline threshold for acceptable alignment was 0.25. The misalignment between the curriculum and assessment stemmed from the fact that there were items tested in the assessment that were not identified in the examination syllabus. In terms of the misalignment between the curriculum/assessment and instruction, teachers were misallocating their teaching time and efforts; spending too much time teaching the skills and practices of the discipline rather than the core content areas and they were spending too much time teaching the content at the lower order cognitive level of recall. In addition, while research promotes student-centered approaches, cooperative learning, dialogic discourse, open informal questioning and discursive forms of writing, teachers still primarily use teacher-centered approaches, individualize instruction, monologic discourse and closed recall questions. The teachers' instructional practices are not affording students the opportunity to acquire and display their knowledge at the higher levels of cognition. The cause of the misalignment was attributed to a vague, overloaded syllabus and limited teaching time; vague evaluative criteria and feedback from the Examination Council; inadequate and insufficient teacher training and professional development; a lack of administrative support and mentorship for inexperienced teachers; and teacher frustration. Subsequently, the study offers a number of evidence based recommendations that range from the modification and refinement of the geography CIA triad to professional development programs and the design of interventions that can advance the teaching and learning of the discipline. Though the study is undertaken in a specific context, the educational issues addressed in the study transcend time, scale, and geographic boundaries and the results can inform the decision-making and practices of educators and education policy-makers everywhere.

  4. Minding the gap: Children's difficulty conceptualizing spatial intervals as linear measurement units.

    PubMed

    Solomon, Tracy L; Vasilyeva, Marina; Huttenlocher, Janellen; Levine, Susan C

    2015-11-01

    Understanding measurement units is critical to mathematics and science learning, but it is a topic that American students find difficult. In 3 studies, we investigated the challenges underlying this difficulty in kindergarten and second grade by comparing performance on different versions of a linear measurement task. Children measured crayons that were either aligned or shifted relative to the left edge of either a continuous ruler or a row of discrete units. The alignment (aligned, shifted) and the measuring tool (ruler, discrete units) were crossed to form 4 types of problems. Study 1 showed good performance in both grades on both types of aligned problems as well as on the shifted problems with discrete units. In contrast, performance was at chance on the shifted ruler problems. Study 2 showed that performance on shifted discrete unit problems declined when numbers were placed on the units, particularly for kindergarteners, suggesting that on the shifted ruler problems, the presence of numbers may have contributed to children's difficulty. However, Study 3 showed that the difficulty on the shifted ruler problems persisted even when the numbers were removed from the ruler. Taken together, these findings suggest that there are multiple challenges to understanding measurement, but that a key challenge is conceptualizing the ruler as a set of countable spatial interval units. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. Cell-cell interactions mediate cytoskeleton organization and collective endothelial cell chemotaxis.

    PubMed

    Shamloo, Amir

    2014-09-01

    This study investigates the role of cell-cell and cell-ligand interactions in cytoskeleton organization of endothelial cells (ECs) and their directional migration within a microfluidic device. The migration of ECs in response to a biochemical factor was studied. Mathematical analysis of the cell migration pathways and cellular cytoskeleton revealed that directional migration, migration persistence length, migration speed, and cytoskeletal stress fiber alignment can be mediated by the level of cell contacts as well as the presence or absence of a biochemical polarizing factor. It was shown that in the presence of a biochemical polarizing factor, higher cell density and more frequent cell contacts has a reinforcing effect on collective cell chemotaxis. In contrast, in the absence of a polarizing factor, high cell density can decrease or suppress the ability of the cells to migrate. Also, the correlation of actin stress fiber organization and alignment with directional migration of ECs was investigated. It was shown that in the presence of a biochemical polarizing factor, stress fibers within the cytoskeleton of ECs can be significantly aligned parallel to the gradient direction when the cells have higher level of contacts. The results also show that the organization and alignment of actin stress fibers is mediated by cell adhesion junctions during collective cell migration and introduce cell-cell interactions as a key factor during collective cell chemotaxis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. An Alignment-Free Algorithm in Comparing the Similarity of Protein Sequences Based on Pseudo-Markov Transition Probabilities among Amino Acids

    PubMed Central

    Li, Yushuang; Yang, Jiasheng; Zhang, Yi

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we have proposed a novel alignment-free method for comparing the similarity of protein sequences. We first encode a protein sequence into a 440 dimensional feature vector consisting of a 400 dimensional Pseudo-Markov transition probability vector among the 20 amino acids, a 20 dimensional content ratio vector, and a 20 dimensional position ratio vector of the amino acids in the sequence. By evaluating the Euclidean distances among the representing vectors, we compare the similarity of protein sequences. We then apply this method into the ND5 dataset consisting of the ND5 protein sequences of 9 species, and the F10 and G11 datasets representing two of the xylanases containing glycoside hydrolase families, i.e., families 10 and 11. As a result, our method achieves a correlation coefficient of 0.962 with the canonical protein sequence aligner ClustalW in the ND5 dataset, much higher than those of other 5 popular alignment-free methods. In addition, we successfully separate the xylanases sequences in the F10 family and the G11 family and illustrate that the F10 family is more heat stable than the G11 family, consistent with a few previous studies. Moreover, we prove mathematically an identity equation involving the Pseudo-Markov transition probability vector and the amino acids content ratio vector. PMID:27918587

  7. Comparative Analysis of the Measurement of Total Instructional Alignment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kick, Laura C.

    2013-01-01

    In 2007, Lisa Carter created the Total Instructional Alignment system--a process that aligns standards, curriculum, assessment, and instruction. Employed in several hundred school systems, the TIA process is a successful professional development program. The researcher developed an instrument to measure the success of the TIA process with the…

  8. Evidencing Learning Outcomes: A Multi-Level, Multi-Dimensional Course Alignment Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sridharan, Bhavani; Leitch, Shona; Watty, Kim

    2015-01-01

    This conceptual framework proposes a multi-level, multi-dimensional course alignment model to implement a contextualised constructive alignment of rubric design that authentically evidences and assesses learning outcomes. By embedding quality control mechanisms at each level for each dimension, this model facilitates the development of an aligned…

  9. Using Elephant's Toothpaste as an Engaging and Flexible Curriculum Alignment Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eldridge, Daniel S.

    2015-01-01

    There is an increasing focus across all educational sectors to ensure that learning objectives are aligned with learning activities and assessments. An attractive approach previously published is that of curriculum alignment projects. This paper discusses the use of the fun and famous "Elephant's Toothpaste" experiment as a customizable…

  10. Instructional Alignment under No Child Left Behind

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polikoff, Morgan S.

    2012-01-01

    The alignment of instruction with the content of standards and assessments is the key mediating variable separating the policy of standards-based reform (SBR) from the outcome of improved student achievement. Few studies have investigated SBR's effects on instructional alignment, and most have serious methodological limitations. This research uses…

  11. Mathematics beliefs and instructional strategies in achievement of elementary-school students in Japan: results from the TIMSS 2003 assessment.

    PubMed

    House, J Daniel

    2007-04-01

    Recent findings concerning mathematics assessment indicate that students in Japan consistently score above international averages. Researchers have examined specific mathematics beliefs and instructional strategies associated with mathematics achievement for students in Japan. This study examined relationships among self-beliefs, classroom instructional strategies, and mathematics achievement for a large national sample of students (N=4,207) from the TIMSS 2003 international sample of fourth graders in Japan. Several significant relationships between mathematics beliefs and test scores were found; a number of classroom teaching strategies were also significantly associated with test scores. However, multiple regression using the complete set of five mathematics beliefs and five instructional strategies explained only 25.1% of the variance in mathematics achievement test scores.

  12. State Capacity for Leadership: Ensuring Meaningful Higher Education Involvement in State Implementation of New Assessments Aligned with the Common Core State Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NJ1), 2011

    2011-01-01

    The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and assessments aligned to them represent a significant milestone in public education reform in the U.S. Developed with consultation from higher education, the rigorous new standards and the assessments now being drafted by two consortia promise to help students reach higher levels of academic achievement and…

  13. Development of a Short Form of the Attitudes toward Mathematics Inventory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lim, Siew Yee; Chapman, Elaine

    2013-01-01

    Existing instruments designed to measure mathematics attitudes were too long, dated, or assessed with only western samples. To address this issue, a shortened version of the Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory (short ATMI) which measures four subscales--;enjoyment of mathematics, motivation to do mathematics, self-confidence in mathematics, and…

  14. The Construction of Mathematical Literacy Problems for Geometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Malasari, P. N.; Herman, T.; Jupri, A.

    2017-09-01

    The students of junior high school should have mathematical literacy ability to formulate, apply, and interpret mathematics in problem solving of daily life. Teaching these students are not enough by giving them ordinary mathematics problems. Teaching activities for these students brings consequence for teacher to construct mathematical literacy problems. Therefore, the aim of this study is to construct mathematical literacy problems to assess mathematical literacy ability. The steps of this study that consists of analysing, designing, theoretical validation, revising, limited testing to students, and evaluating. The data was collected with written test to 38 students of grade IX at one of state junior high school. Mathematical literacy problems consist of three essays with three indicators and three levels at polyhedron subject. The Indicators are formulating and employing mathematics. The results show that: (1) mathematical literacy problems which are constructed have been valid and practical, (2) mathematical literacy problems have good distinguishing characteristics and adequate distinguishing characteristics, (3) difficulty levels of problems are easy and moderate. The final conclusion is mathematical literacy problems which are constructed can be used to assess mathematical literacy ability.

  15. The Effect of Peer-Assessment on the Attitudes of Pre-Service Elementary and Middle School Teachers about Writing and Assessing Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beaver, Cheryl; Beaver, Scott

    2011-01-01

    Through a study conducted in a core Foundations of Mathematics course at Western Oregon University, the authors investigate the thesis that peer-grading helps future elementary and middle school teachers improve their own attitudes about writing and assessing mathematics. Study participants were asked to provide scale responses to a series of…

  16. Contrasts in Mathematical Challenges in A-Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics, and Undergraduate Mathematics Examinations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Darlington, Ellie

    2014-01-01

    This article describes part of a study which investigated the role of questions in students' approaches to learning mathematics at the secondary-tertiary interface, focussing on the enculturation of students at the University of Oxford. Use of the Mathematical Assessment Task Hierarchy taxonomy revealed A-level Mathematics and Further Mathematics…

  17. Project LAUNCH: Bringing Space into Math and Science Classrooms

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fauerbach, M.; Henry, D. P.; Schmidt, D. L.

    2005-01-01

    Project LAUNCH is a K-12 teacher professional development program, which has been created in collaboration between the Whitaker Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), and the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI). Utilizing Space as the overarching theme it is designed to improve mathematics and science teaching, using inquiry based, hands-on teaching practices, which are aligned with Florida s Sunshine State Standards. Many students are excited about space exploration and it provides a great venue to get them involved in science and mathematics. The scope of Project LAUNCH however goes beyond just providing competency in the subject area, as pedagogy is also an intricate part of the project. Participants were introduced to the Conceptual Change Model (CCM) [1] as a framework to model good teaching practices. As the CCM closely follows what scientists call the scientific process, this teaching method is also useful to actively engage institute participants ,as well as their students, in real science. Project LAUNCH specifically targets teachers in low performing, high socioeconomic schools, where the need for skilled teachers is most critical.

  18. Using Problem Solving to Assess Young Children's Mathematics Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Charlesworth, Rosalind; Leali, Shirley A.

    2012-01-01

    Mathematics problem solving provides a means for obtaining a view of young children's understanding of mathematics as they move through the early childhood concept development sequence. Assessment information can be obtained through observations and interviews as children develop problem solutions. Examples of preschool, kindergarten, and primary…

  19. The Preschool Rating Instrument for Science and Mathematics (PRISM)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brenneman, Kimberly; Stevenson-Garcia, Judi; Jung, Kwanghee; Frede, Ellen

    2011-01-01

    Until recently, few valid and reliable assessments were available to measure young children's mathematics and science learning in a "comprehensive" way. Now, a number of mathematics assessments have been developed and subjected to testing (Klein, Starkey, & Wakeley, 2000; Ginsburg, 2008; Clements & Sarama, 2008), and progress has…

  20. Alignment in the transverse plane, but not sagittal or coronal plane, affects the risk of recurrent patella dislocation.

    PubMed

    Takagi, Shigeru; Sato, Takashi; Watanabe, Satoshi; Tanifuji, Osamu; Mochizuki, Tomoharu; Omori, Go; Endo, Naoto

    2017-11-17

    Abnormalities of lower extremity alignment (LEA) in recurrent patella dislocation (RPD) have been studied mostly by two-dimensional (2D) procedures leaving three-dimensional (3D) factors unknown. This study aimed to three-dimensionally examine risk factors for RPD in lower extremity alignment under the weight-bearing conditions. The alignment of 21 limbs in 15 RPD subjects was compared to the alignment of 24 limbs of 12 healthy young control subjects by an our previously reported 2D-3D image-matching technique. The sagittal, coronal, and transverse alignment in full extension as well as the torsional position of the femur (anteversion) and tibia (tibial torsion) under weight-bearing standing conditions were assessed by our previously reported 3D technique. The correlations between lower extremity alignment and RPD were assessed using multiple logistic regression analysis. The difference of lower extremity alignment in RPD between under the weight-bearing conditions and under the non-weight-bearing conditions was assessed. In the sagittal and coronal planes, there was no relationship (statistically or by clinically important difference) between lower extremity alignment angle and RPD. However, in the transverse plane, increased external tibial rotation [odds ratio (OR) 1.819; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.282-2.581], increased femoral anteversion (OR 1.183; 95% CI 1.029-1.360), and increased external tibial torsion (OR 0.880; 95% CI 0.782-0.991) were all correlated with RPD. The tibia was more rotated relative to femur at the knee joint in the RPD group under the weight-bearing conditions compared to under the non-weight-bearing conditions (p < 0.05). This study showed that during weight-bearing, alignment parameters in the transverse plane related to the risk of RPD, while in the sagittal and coronal plane alignment parameters did not correlate with RPD. The clinical importance of this study is that the 3D measurements more directly, precisely, and sensitively detect rotational parameters associated with RPD and hence predict risk of RPD. III.

  1. Self-centering fiber alignment structures for high-precision field installable single-mode fiber connectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Erps, Jürgen; Ebraert, Evert; Gao, Fei; Vervaeke, Michael; Berghmans, Francis; Beri, Stefano; Watté, Jan; Thienpont, Hugo

    2014-05-01

    There is a steady increase in the demand for internet bandwidth, primarily driven by cloud services and high-definition video streaming. Europe's Digital Agenda states the ambitious objective that by 2020 all Europeans should have access to internet at speeds of 30Mb/s or above, with 50% or more of households subscribing to connections of 100Mb/s. Today however, internet access in Europe is mainly based on the first generation of broadband, meaning internet accessed over legacy telephone copper and TV cable networks. In recent years, Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) networks have been adopted as a replacement of traditional electrical connections for the `last mile' transmission of information at bandwidths over 1Gb/s. However, FTTH penetration is still very low (< 5%) in most major Western economies. The main reason for this is the high deployment cost of FTTH networks. Indeed, the success and adoption of optical access networks critically depend on the quality and reliability of connections between optical fibers. In particular a further reduction of insertion loss of field- installable connectors must be achieved without a significant increase in component cost. This requires precise alignment of fibers that can differ in terms of ellipticity, eccentricity or diameter and seems hardly achievable using today's widespread ferrule-based alignment systems. In this paper, we present a field-installable connector based on deflectable/compressible spring structures, providing a self-centering functionality for the fiber. This way, it can accommodate for possible fiber cladding diameter variations (the tolerance on the cladding diameter of G.652 fiber is typically +/-0.7μm). The mechanical properties of the cantilever are derived through an analytical approximation and a mathematical model of the spring constant, and finite element-based simulations are carried out to find the maximum first principal stress as well as the stress distribution distribution in the fiber alignment structure. Elastic constants of the order of 104N=m are found to be compatible with a proof stress of 70 M Pa. We show the successful prototyping of 3-spring fiber alignment structures using deep proton writing and investigate their compatibility with replication techniques such as hot embossing and injection moulding. Fiber insertion in our self-centering alignment structures is achieved by means of a dedicated interferometric setup allowing assessment of the fiber facet quality, of the fiber's position in relation to the connector's front and of the spring deformation during fiber insertion. These self-centering structures have the potential to become the basic building blocks for a new generation of field-installable connectors, ultimately breaking the current paradigm of ferrule-based connectivity requiring extensive pre-engineering and highly specialized manpower for field deployment.

  2. Assessment of cone beam CT registration for prostate radiation therapy: fiducial marker and soft tissue methods.

    PubMed

    Deegan, Timothy; Owen, Rebecca; Holt, Tanya; Fielding, Andrew; Biggs, Jennifer; Parfitt, Matthew; Coates, Alicia; Roberts, Lisa

    2015-02-01

    This investigation aimed to assess the consistency and accuracy of radiation therapists (RTs) performing cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) alignment to fiducial markers (FMs) (CBCTFM ) and the soft tissue prostate (CBCTST ). Six patients receiving prostate radiation therapy underwent daily CBCTs. Manual alignment of CBCTFM and CBCTST was performed by three RTs. Inter-observer agreement was assessed using a modified Bland-Altman analysis for each alignment method. Clinically acceptable 95% limits of agreement with the mean (LoAmean ) were defined as ±2.0 mm for CBCTFM and ±3.0 mm for CBCTST . Differences between CBCTST alignment and the observer-averaged CBCTFM (AvCBCTFM ) alignment were analysed. Clinically acceptable 95% LoA were defined as ±3.0 mm for the comparison of CBCTST and AvCBCTFM . CBCTFM and CBCTST alignments were performed for 185 images. The CBCTFM 95% LoAmean were within ±2.0 mm in all planes. CBCTST 95% LoAmean were within ±3.0 mm in all planes. Comparison of CBCTST with AvCBCTFM resulted in 95% LoA of -4.9 to 2.6, -1.6 to 2.5 and -4.7 to 1.9 mm in the superior-inferior, left-right and anterior-posterior planes, respectively. Significant differences were found between soft tissue alignment and the predicted FM position. FMs are useful in reducing inter-observer variability compared with soft tissue alignment. Consideration needs to be given to margin design when using soft tissue matching due to increased inter-observer variability. This study highlights some of the complexities of soft tissue guidance for prostate radiation therapy. © 2014 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

  3. Mathematics beliefs and achievement of a national sample of Native American students: results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 United States assessment.

    PubMed

    House, J Daniel

    2009-04-01

    Recent mathematics assessment findings indicate that Native American students tend to score below students of the ethnic majority. Findings suggest that students' beliefs about mathematics are significantly related to achievement outcomes. This study examined relations between self-beliefs and mathematics achievement for a national sample of 130 Grade 8 Native American students from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 United States sample of (M age = 14.2 yr., SD = 0.5). Multiple regression indicated several significant relations of mathematics beliefs with achievement and accounted for 26.7% of the variance in test scores. Students who earned high test scores tended to hold more positive beliefs about their ability to learn mathematics quickly, while students who earned low scores expressed negative beliefs about their ability to learn new mathematics topics.

  4. Comparing the Major Definitions of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Jeffrey

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to compare two definitions and assessments of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). As part of a larger study, nine current and future teachers took an online version of the Measures of Knowledge for Teaching (MKT)--Mathematics assessment and the Cognitively Activating Instruction in Mathematics…

  5. Self and Peer Assessment of Mathematical Processes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Onion, Alice; Javaheri, Elnaz

    2011-01-01

    This article explores using Bowland assessment tasks and Nuffield Applying Mathematical Processes (AMP) activities as part of a scheme of work. The Bowland tasks and Nuffield AMP activities are designed to develop students' mathematical thinking; they are focused on key processes. Unfamiliar demands are made on the students and they are challenged…

  6. 75 FR 21621 - National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-04-26

    ... Mathematics Achievement Levels Descriptions for Grade 12 and the Technology and Engineering Literacy... closed session to review NAEP mathematics items for grades 4 and 8 for the 2011 operational assessment... performance results for 12th grade NAEP mathematics items administered in 2009. The Committee will also get an...

  7. Building Positive Supportive Cultures for Student Success in Secondary Mathematics Classrooms: Perspectives of Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Neill, Vincent

    2017-01-01

    The mathematics classroom learning environment is often evaluated using numeric scores collected on standardized assessments. Research examining mathematics classroom environments and teacher practices has focused on ways to improve scores on these assessments. In contrast, this study centered on exploring teacher perspectives on creating…

  8. Development and Validation of an Instrument for Assessing Mathematics Classroom Environment in Tertiary Institutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yin, Hongbiao; Lu, Genshu

    2014-01-01

    This report describes the development and validation of an instrument, the University Mathematics Classroom Environment Questionnaire (UMCEQ), for assessing the mathematics classroom environment in tertiary institutions in China. Through the use of multiple methods, including exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, on two independent samples…

  9. 77 FR 69814 - National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-21

    ... linking study at grade 8 in mathematics and science. The linking study was conducted in 2012 between NAEP and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) assessments. These data have not yet... Mathematics Curriculum Study. For the NAEP/TIMSS linking study, the Board will receive an embargoed briefing...

  10. Mathematics beliefs and achievement of adolescent students in Japan: results from the TIMSS 1999 assessment.

    PubMed

    House, J Daniel

    2005-12-01

    A recent study (1) of undergraduate students in a precalculus course indicated that they expressed slightly positive attitudes toward mathematics. It is important, however, to examine relationships between students' initial attitudes and achievement outcomes. The present purpose was to assess the relationship between self-beliefs and mathematics achievement for a large national sample of students from the TIMSS 1999 international sample (eighth graders) from Japan. Several significant relationships between mathematics beliefs and test scores were noted. In addition, the overall multiple regression equation that assessed the joint significance of the complete set of self-belief variables was significant (F7.65 = 159.48, p < .001) and explained 20.6% of the variance in mathematics achievement test scores.

  11. An Early Mathematical Patterning Assessment: identifying young Australian Indigenous children's patterning skills

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Papic, Marina

    2015-12-01

    This paper presents an Early Mathematical Patterning Assessment (EMPA) tool that provides early childhood educators with a valuable opportunity to identify young children's mathematical thinking and patterning skills through a series of hands-on and drawing tasks. EMPA was administered through one-to-one assessment interviews to children aged 4 to 5 years in the year prior to formal school. Two hundred and seventeen assessments indicated that the young low socioeconomic and predominantly Australian Indigenous children in the study group had varied patterning and counting skills. Three percent of the study group was able to consistently copy and draw an ABABAB pattern made with coloured blocks. Fifty percent could count to six by ones and count out six items with 4 % of the total group able to identify six items presented in regular formations without counting. The integration of patterning into early mathematics learning is critical to the abstraction of mathematical ideas and relationships and to the development of mathematical reasoning in young children. By using the insights into the children's thinking that the EMPA tool provides, early childhood educators can better inform mathematics teaching and learning and so help close the persistent gap in numeracy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.

  12. Autonomous Bacterial Localization and Gene Expression Based on Nearby Cell Receptor Density

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-01-22

    synthesis of novel products (Kwok, 2010). In such cases, cell populations are aligned for optimal production . While Nature’s biosynthetic toolbox is vast...less commonly examined but equally innovative strategy envisions a repro- grammed cell itself or small collections of cells as the end products of...to surfaces. In Figure 2B, we depict the level of NF binding and AI-2 production as a function of coated avidin. We used a mathematical model for E

  13. Ancient Chinese Astronomy - An Overview

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Yunli

    Documentary and archaeological evidence testifies the early origin and continuous development of ancient Chinese astronomy to meet both the ideological and practical needs of a society largely based on agriculture. There was a long period when the beginning of the year, month, and season was determined by direct observation of celestial phenomena, including their alignments with respect to the local skyline. As the need for more exact study arose, new instruments for more exact observation were invented and the system of calendrical astronomy became entirely mathematized.

  14. X-ray verification of an optically aligned off-plane grating module

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Donovan, Benjamin D.; McEntaffer, Randall L.; Tutt, James H.; DeRoo, Casey T.; Allured, Ryan; Gaskin, Jessica A.; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.

    2018-01-01

    Off-plane x-ray reflection gratings are theoretically capable of achieving high resolution and high diffraction efficiencies over the soft x-ray bandpass, making them an ideal technology to implement on upcoming x-ray spectroscopy missions. To achieve high effective area, these gratings must be aligned into grating modules. X-ray testing was performed on an aligned grating module to assess the current optical alignment methods. Results indicate that the grating module achieved the desired alignment for an upcoming x-ray spectroscopy suborbital rocket payload with modest effective area and resolving power. These tests have also outlined a pathway towards achieving the stricter alignment tolerances of future x-ray spectrometer payloads, which require improvements in alignment metrology, grating fabrication, and testing techniques.

  15. The Design of Curriculum, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education with Constructive Alignment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ali, Liaqat

    2018-01-01

    In higher education, the principle of constructive alignment for devising teaching, learning activities and assessment tasks is the underpinning concept in curriculum design and development to achieve intended learning outcomes. Student's deep learning is critical and it is the responsibility of the curriculum developer to make sure that synergy…

  16. Summative and Formative Assessments in Mathematics Supporting the Goals of the Common Core Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schoenfeld, Alan H.

    2015-01-01

    Being proficient in mathematics involves having rich and connected mathematical knowledge, being a strategic and reflective thinker and problem solver, and having productive mathematical beliefs and dispositions. This broad set of mathematics goals is central to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. High-stakes testing often drives…

  17. Why do early mathematics skills predict later reading? The role of mathematical language.

    PubMed

    Purpura, David J; Logan, Jessica A R; Hassinger-Das, Brenna; Napoli, Amy R

    2017-09-01

    A growing body of evidence indicates that the development of mathematics and literacy skills is highly related. The importance of literacy skills-specifically language-for mathematics development has been well rationalized. However, despite several prominent studies indicating that mathematics skills are highly predictive of literacy development, the reason for this relation is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to identify how and why early mathematics is predictive of early literacy development. Participants included 125 preschool children 3-5 years old (M = 4 years 3 months). Participants were assessed on mathematics, literacy, and cognitive measures in both the fall and spring of their preschool year. Mediation analyses indicated that the relation between early mathematics and literacy skills is mediated by children's mathematical language skills. These findings suggest that, in prior research identifying mathematical performance as a significant predictor of later literacy skills, mathematical performance may have acted only as a proxy measure for more complex language skills such as those assessed on a mathematical language measure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. International note: Are Emirati parents' attitudes toward mathematics linked to their adolescent children's attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics achievement?

    PubMed

    Areepattamannil, Shaljan; Khine, Myint Swe; Melkonian, Michael; Welch, Anita G; Al Nuaimi, Samira Ahmed; Rashad, Fatimah F

    2015-10-01

    Drawing on data from the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and employing multilevel modeling as an analytic strategy, this study examined the relations of adolescent children's perceptions of their parents' attitudes towards mathematics to their own attitudes towards mathematics and mathematics achievement among a sample of 5116 adolescents from 384 schools in the United Arab Emirates. The results of this cross-sectional study revealed that adolescents who perceived that their parents liked mathematics and considered mathematics was important for their children not only to study but also for their career tended to report higher levels of intrinsic and instrumental motivation to learn mathematics, mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy, and mathematics work ethic. Moreover, adolescents who perceived that their parents liked mathematics and considered mathematics was important for their children's career tended to report positive intentions and behaviors toward mathematics. However, adolescents who perceived that their parents considered mathematics was important for their children's career tended to report higher levels of mathematics anxiety. Finally, adolescents who perceived that their parents considered mathematics was important for their children to study performed significantly better on the mathematics assessment than did their peers whose parents disregarded the importance of learning mathematics. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Resolving the multiple sequence alignment problem using biogeography-based optimization with multiple populations.

    PubMed

    Zemali, El-Amine; Boukra, Abdelmadjid

    2015-08-01

    The multiple sequence alignment (MSA) is one of the most challenging problems in bioinformatics, it involves discovering similarity between a set of protein or DNA sequences. This paper introduces a new method for the MSA problem called biogeography-based optimization with multiple populations (BBOMP). It is based on a recent metaheuristic inspired from the mathematics of biogeography named biogeography-based optimization (BBO). To improve the exploration ability of BBO, we have introduced a new concept allowing better exploration of the search space. It consists of manipulating multiple populations having each one its own parameters. These parameters are used to build up progressive alignments allowing more diversity. At each iteration, the best found solution is injected in each population. Moreover, to improve solution quality, six operators are defined. These operators are selected with a dynamic probability which changes according to the operators efficiency. In order to test proposed approach performance, we have considered a set of datasets from Balibase 2.0 and compared it with many recent algorithms such as GAPAM, MSA-GA, QEAMSA and RBT-GA. The results show that the proposed approach achieves better average score than the previously cited methods.

  20. Mutual information optimization for mass spectra data alignment.

    PubMed

    Zoppis, Italo; Gianazza, Erica; Borsani, Massimiliano; Chinello, Clizia; Mainini, Veronica; Galbusera, Carmen; Ferrarese, Carlo; Galimberti, Gloria; Sorbi, Sandro; Borroni, Barbara; Magni, Fulvio; Antoniotti, Marco; Mauri, Giancarlo

    2012-01-01

    "Signal" alignments play critical roles in many clinical setting. This is the case of mass spectrometry data, an important component of many types of proteomic analysis. A central problem occurs when one needs to integrate (mass spectrometry) data produced by different sources, e.g., different equipment and/or laboratories. In these cases some form of "data integration'" or "data fusion'" may be necessary in order to discard some source specific aspects and improve the ability to perform a classification task such as inferring the "disease classes'" of patients. The need for new high performance data alignments methods is therefore particularly important in these contexts. In this paper we propose an approach based both on an information theory perspective, generally used in a feature construction problem, and on the application of a mathematical programming task (i.e. the weighted bipartite matching problem). We present the results of a competitive analysis of our method against other approaches. The analysis was conducted on data from plasma/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) of "control" and Alzheimer patients collected from three different hospitals. The results point to a significant performance advantage of our method with respect to the competing ones tested.

  1. Contributions of Executive Function and Spatial Skills to Preschool Mathematics Achievement

    PubMed Central

    Verdine, Brian N.; Irwin, Casey M.; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathryn

    2014-01-01

    Early mathematics achievement is highly predictive of later mathematics performance. Here we investigate the influence of executive function (EF) and spatial skills, two generalizable skills often overlooked in mathematics curricula, on mathematics performance in preschoolers. Children (N = 44) of varying socio-economic status (SES) levels were assessed at age three on a new assessment of spatial skill (Test of Spatial Assembly, TOSA) and a vocabulary measure (the PPVT-4). The same children were tested at age four on the Beery Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI), as well as measures of EF, and mathematics. The TOSA was created specifically as an assessment for 3-year-olds, allowing the investigation of links between spatial, EF, and mathematical skills earlier than previously possible. Results of a hierarchical regression indicate that EF and spatial skills predict 70% of the variance in mathematics performance without an explicit math test, EF is an important predictor of math performance as prior research suggested, and spatial skills uniquely predict 27% of the variance in mathematics skills. Additional research is needed to understand if EF is truly malleable and whether EF and spatial skills may be leveraged to support early mathematics skills, especially for lower-SES children who are already falling behind in these skill areas by ages 3 and 4. These findings indicate that both skills are part of an important foundation for mathematics performance and may represent pathways for improving school readiness for mathematics. PMID:24874186

  2. Patient-specific instrumentation for total knee arthroplasty does not match the pre-operative plan as assessed by intra-operative computer-assisted navigation.

    PubMed

    Scholes, Corey; Sahni, Varun; Lustig, Sebastien; Parker, David A; Coolican, Myles R J

    2014-03-01

    The introduction of patient-specific instruments (PSI) for guiding bone cuts could increase the incidence of malalignment in primary total knee arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to assess the agreement between one type of patient-specific instrumentation (Zimmer PSI) and the pre-operative plan with respect to bone cuts and component alignment during TKR using imageless computer navigation. A consecutive series of 30 femoral and tibial guides were assessed in-theatre by the same surgeon using computer navigation. Following surgical exposure, the PSI cutting guides were placed on the joint surface and alignment assessed using the navigation tracker. The difference between in-theatre data and the pre-operative plan was recorded and analysed. The error between in-theatre measurements and pre-operative plan for the femoral and tibial components exceeded 3° for 3 and 17% of the sample, respectively, while the error for total coronal alignment exceeded 3° for 27% of the sample. The present results indicate that alignment with Zimmer PSI cutting blocks, assessed by imageless navigation, does not match the pre-operative plan in a proportion of cases. To prevent unnecessary increases in the incidence of malalignment in primary TKR, it is recommended that these devices should not be used without objective verification of alignment, either in real-time or with post-operative imaging. Further work is required to identify the source of discrepancies and validate these devices prior to routine use. II.

  3. 78 FR 22530 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Program for International Student...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-16

    ... assessment of 15-year-olds which focuses on assessing students science, mathematics, and reading literacy... domain. The field test will also include computer- based assessments in reading, mathematics, and...

  4. Students' Perceptions of Assessment in Undergraduate Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iannone, Paola; Simpson, Adrian

    2013-01-01

    A consistent message emerges from research on undergraduate students' perceptions of assessment which describes traditional assessment as detrimental to learning. However this literature has not included students in the pure sciences. Mathematics education literature advocates the introduction of innovative assessment at university. In this…

  5. Development and preliminary evaluation of a new anatomically based prosthetic alignment method for below-knee prosthesis.

    PubMed

    Tafti, Nahid; Karimlou, Masoud; Mardani, Mohammad Ali; Jafarpisheh, Amir Salar; Aminian, Gholam Reza; Safari, Reza

    2018-04-20

    The objectives of current study were to a) assess similarities and relationships between anatomical landmark-based angles and distances of lower limbs in unilateral transtibial amputees and b) develop and evaluate a new anatomically based static prosthetic alignment method. First sub-study assessed the anthropometrical differences and relationships between the lower limbs in the photographs taken from amputees. Data were analysed via paired t-test and regression analysis. Results show no significant differences in frontal and transverse planes. In the sagittal plane, the anthropometric parameters of the amputated limb were significantly correlated to the corresponding variables of the sound limb. The results served as bases for the development of a new prosthetic alignment method. The method was evaluated on a single subject study. Prosthetic alignment carried out by an experienced prosthetist was compared with such alignment adjusted by an inexperienced prosthetist but with the use of the developed method. In sagittal and frontal planes, the socket angle was tuned with respect to the shin angle, and the position of the prosthetic foot was tuned in relation to the pelvic landmarks. Further study is needed to assess the proposed method on a larger sample of amputees and prosthetists.

  6. Assessing the statistical robustness of inter- and intra-basinal carbon isotope chemostratigraphic correlation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hay, C.; Creveling, J. R.; Huybers, P. J.

    2016-12-01

    Excursions in the stable carbon isotopic composition of carbonate rocks (δ13Ccarb) can facilitate correlation of Precambrian and Phanerozoic sedimentary successions at a higher temporal resolution than radiometric and biostratigraphic frameworks typically afford. Within the bounds of litho- and biostratigraphic constraints, stratigraphers often correlate isotopic patterns between distant stratigraphic sections through visual alignment of local maxima and minima of isotopic values. The reproducibility of this method can prove challenging and, thus, evaluating the statistical robustness of intrabasinal composite carbon isotope curves, and global correlations to these reference curves, remains difficult. To assess the reproducibility of stratigraphic alignment of δ13Ccarb data, and correlations between carbon isotope excursions, we employ a numerical dynamic time warping methodology that stretches and squeezes the time axis of a record to obtain an optimal correlation (in a least-squares sense) between time-uncertain series of data. In particular, we assess various alignments between series of Early Cambrian δ13Ccarb data with respect to plausible matches. We first show that an alignment of these records obtained visually, and published previously, is broadly reproducible using dynamic time warping. Alternative alignments with similar goodness of fits are also obtainable, and their stratigraphic plausibility are discussed. This approach should be generalizable to an algorithm for the purposes of developing a library of plausible alignments between multiple time-uncertain stratigraphic records.

  7. An investigation of assessment and feedback practices in fully asynchronous online undergraduate mathematics courses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Trenholm, Sven; Alcock, Lara; Robinson, Carol

    2015-11-01

    Research suggests it is difficult to learn mathematics in the fully asynchronous online (FAO) instructional modality, yet little is known about associated teaching and assessment practices. In this study, we investigate FAO mathematics assessment and feedback practices in particular consideration of both claims and findings that these practices have a powerful influence on learning. A survey questionnaire was constructed and completed by 70 FAO undergraduate mathematics instructors, mostly from the USA, who were each asked to detail their assessment and feedback practices in a single FAO mathematics course. Alongside these questions, participants also answered the 16-item version of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory. In addition, a novel feedback framework was also created and used to examine how feedback practices may be related to participants' approaches to teaching. Results show that assessment and feedback practices are varied and complex: in particular, we found there was not a simple emphasis on summative assessment instruments, nor a concomitant expectation these would always be invigilated. Though richer assessment feedback appears to be emphasized, evidence suggests this feedback may not be primarily directed at advancing student learning. Moreover, we found evidence of a reliance on computer--human interactions (e.g. via computer-assisted assessment systems) and further evidence of a decline in human interactions, suggesting a dynamic that is both consistent with current online learning theory and claims FAO mathematics courses are becoming commodified. Several avenues for further research are suggested.

  8. Assessing the Potential of Mathematics Textbooks to Promote Deep Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shield, Malcolm; Dole, Shelley

    2013-01-01

    Curriculum documents for mathematics emphasise the importance of promoting depth of knowledge rather than shallow coverage of the curriculum. In this paper, we report on a study that explored the analysis of junior secondary mathematics textbooks to assess their potential to assist in teaching and learning aimed at building and applying deep…

  9. Calculator Use on NAEP: A Look at Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Mathematics Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walcott, Crystal; Stickles, Paula R.

    2012-01-01

    This article summarizes research conducted on calculator block items from the 2007 fourth- and eighth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress Main Mathematics. Calculator items from the assessment were categorized into two categories: problem-solving items and noncomputational mathematics concept items. A calculator has the potential to…

  10. Designing and Developing Assessments of Complex Thinking in Mathematics for the Middle Grades

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graf, Edith Aurora; Arieli-Attali, Meirav

    2015-01-01

    Designing an assessment system for complex thinking in mathematics involves decisions at every stage, from how to represent the target competencies to how to interpret evidence from student performances. Beyond learning to solve particular problems in a particular area, learning mathematics with understanding involves comprehending connections…

  11. Mathematics Objectives and Measurement Specifications 1986-1990. Exit Level. Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Texas Education Agency, Austin. Div. of Educational Assessment.

    This document lists the objectives for the Texas educational assessment program in mathematics. Eighteen objectives for exit level mathematics are listed, by category: number concepts (4); computation (3); applied computation (5); statistical concepts (3); geometric concepts (2); and algebraic concepts (1). Then general specifications are listed…

  12. Enhancing Formative Assessment Practice and Encouraging Middle School Mathematics Engagement and Persistence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beesley, Andrea D.; Clark, Tedra F.; Dempsey, Kathleen; Tweed, Anne

    2018-01-01

    In the transition to middle school, and during the middle school years, students' motivation for mathematics tends to decline from what it was during elementary school. Formative assessment strategies in mathematics can help support motivation by building confidence for challenging tasks. In this study, the authors developed and piloted a…

  13. Student Teachers' Views about Assessment and Evaluation Methods in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dogan, Mustafa

    2011-01-01

    This study aimed to find out assessment and evaluation approaches in a Mathematics Teacher Training Department based on the views and experiences of student teachers. The study used a descriptive survey method, with the research sample consisting of 150 third- and fourth-year Primary Mathematics student teachers. Data were collected using a…

  14. Assessing the Relation between Seventh-Grade Students' Engagement and Proportional Problem Solving Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lein, Amy E.; Jitendra, Asha K.; Starosta, Kristin M.; Dupuis, Danielle N.; Hughes-Reid, Cheyenne L.; Star, John R.

    2016-01-01

    In this study, the authors assessed the contribution of engagement (on-task behavior) to the mathematics problem-solving performance of seventh-grade students after accounting for prior mathematics achievement. A subsample of seventh-grade students in four mathematics classrooms (one high-, two average-, and one low-achieving) from a larger…

  15. Early Numeracy Assessment: The Development of the Preschool Early Numeracy Scales

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Purpura, David J.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

    2015-01-01

    Research Findings: The focus of this study was to construct and validate 12 brief early numeracy assessment tasks that measure the skills and concepts identified as key to early mathematics development by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2006) and the National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008)-as well as critical developmental…

  16. Automated Registration of Multimodal Optic Disc Images: Clinical Assessment of Alignment Accuracy.

    PubMed

    Ng, Wai Siene; Legg, Phil; Avadhanam, Venkat; Aye, Kyaw; Evans, Steffan H P; North, Rachel V; Marshall, Andrew D; Rosin, Paul; Morgan, James E

    2016-04-01

    To determine the accuracy of automated alignment algorithms for the registration of optic disc images obtained by 2 different modalities: fundus photography and scanning laser tomography. Images obtained with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II and paired photographic optic disc images of 135 eyes were analyzed. Three state-of-the-art automated registration techniques Regional Mutual Information, rigid Feature Neighbourhood Mutual Information (FNMI), and nonrigid FNMI (NRFNMI) were used to align these image pairs. Alignment of each composite picture was assessed on a 5-point grading scale: "Fail" (no alignment of vessels with no vessel contact), "Weak" (vessels have slight contact), "Good" (vessels with <50% contact), "Very Good" (vessels with >50% contact), and "Excellent" (complete alignment). Custom software generated an image mosaic in which the modalities were interleaved as a series of alternate 5×5-pixel blocks. These were graded independently by 3 clinically experienced observers. A total of 810 image pairs were assessed. All 3 registration techniques achieved a score of "Good" or better in >95% of the image sets. NRFNMI had the highest percentage of "Excellent" (mean: 99.6%; range, 95.2% to 99.6%), followed by Regional Mutual Information (mean: 81.6%; range, 86.3% to 78.5%) and FNMI (mean: 73.1%; range, 85.2% to 54.4%). Automated registration of optic disc images by different modalities is a feasible option for clinical application. All 3 methods provided useful levels of alignment, but the NRFNMI technique consistently outperformed the others and is recommended as a practical approach to the automated registration of multimodal disc images.

  17. Mathematics Self-Related Beliefs and Online Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ichinose, Cherie; Bonsangue, Martin

    2016-01-01

    This study examined students' mathematical self-related beliefs in an online mathematics course. Mathematical self-related beliefs of a sample of high school students learning mathematics online were compared with student response data from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The treatment group reported higher levels…

  18. Mathematical Modeling in the High School Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hernández, Maria L.; Levy, Rachel; Felton-Koestler, Mathew D.; Zbiek, Rose Mary

    2016-01-01

    In 2015, mathematics leaders and instructors from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP), with input from NCTM, came together to write the "Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Mathematical Modeling Education" (GAIMME) report as a resource for…

  19. Longitudinal Associations between Executive Control and Developing Mathematical Competence in Preschool Boys and Girls

    PubMed Central

    Clark, Caron A.C.; Sheffield, Tiffany D.; Wiebe, Sandra A.; Espy, Kimberly Andrews

    2012-01-01

    Executive control (EC) is related to mathematics performance in middle childhood. However, little is known regarding how EC and informal numeracy differentially support mathematics skill acquisition in preschoolers. A sample of preschoolers (115 girls, 113 boys), stratified by social risk, completed an EC task battery at 3 years, informal numeracy assessments at 3.75 and 4.5 years, and a broad mathematics assessment during kindergarten. Strong associations were observed between latent EC at 3 and mathematics achievement in kindergarten, which remained robust after accounting for earlier informal numeracy, socio-economic status, language and processing speed. Relations between EC and mathematics achievement were stronger in girls than boys. Findings highlight the unique role of EC in predicting which children may have difficulty transitioning to formal mathematics instruction. PMID:23006040

  20. Antares alignment gimbal positioner

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Day, R. D.; Viswanathan, V. K.; Saxman, A. C.; Lujan, R. E.; Woodfin, W. C.; Sweatt, W. C.

    Antares is a 24-beam 40-TW carbon dioxide (CO2) laser fusion system currently under construction at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Antares alignment gimbal positioner (AGP) is an optomechanical instrument that will be used for target alignment and alignment of the 24 laser beams, as well as beam quality assessments. The AGP will be capable of providing pointing, focusing, an wavefront optical path difference, as well as aberration information at both helium neon (He-Ne) and CO2 wavelengths. It is designed to allow the laser beams to be aligned to any position within a 1 cm cube to a tolerance of 10 micrometers.

  1. Functional Alignment of Metabolic Networks.

    PubMed

    Mazza, Arnon; Wagner, Allon; Ruppin, Eytan; Sharan, Roded

    2016-05-01

    Network alignment has become a standard tool in comparative biology, allowing the inference of protein function, interaction, and orthology. However, current alignment techniques are based on topological properties of networks and do not take into account their functional implications. Here we propose, for the first time, an algorithm to align two metabolic networks by taking advantage of their coupled metabolic models. These models allow us to assess the functional implications of genes or reactions, captured by the metabolic fluxes that are altered following their deletion from the network. Such implications may spread far beyond the region of the network where the gene or reaction lies. We apply our algorithm to align metabolic networks from various organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans, showing that our alignment can reveal functional orthology relations that are missed by conventional topological alignments.

  2. Challenges Associated with Curriculum Alignment, Change and Assessment Reforms in Namibia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iipinge, Sakaria M.; Kasanda, Choshi D.

    2013-01-01

    Aligning curriculum change and assessment reforms has been a topic of great concern in Namibia for over the past 23 years. This is because during the pre-colonial period and continuing in post-independence Namibia, national examinations have been used mainly for the certification and selection of learners at Junior and Senior secondary school…

  3. Multistage Complexity in Language Proficiency Assessment: A Framework for Aligning Theoretical Perspectives, Test Development, and Psychometrics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luecht, Richard M.

    2003-01-01

    This article contends that the necessary links between constructs and test scores/decisions in language assessment must be established through principled design procedures that align three models: (1) a theoretical construct model; (2) a test development model; and (3) a psychometric scoring model. The theoretical construct model articulates the…

  4. Constructively Aligning Technologies with Learning and Assessment in a Distance Education Master's Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rogerson-Revell, Pamela

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports on an action research study investigating the use of online learning activities or "e-tivities" to enhance the learning and assessment experience of students on a distance master's programme. The study suggests that to be successfully integrated in a programme, such activities need to be carefully aligned with learning…

  5. A Generalizability Investigation of Cognitive Demand and Rigor Ratings of Items and Standards in an Alignment Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lombardi, Allison; Seburn, Mary; Conley, David; Snow, Eric

    2010-01-01

    In alignment studies, expert raters evaluate assessment items against standards and ratings are used to compute various alignment indices. Questions about rater reliability, however, are often ignored or inadequately addressed. This paper reports the results of a generalizability theory study of cognitive demand and rigor ratings of assessment…

  6. Effect of Directed Study of Mathematics Vocabulary on Standardized Mathematics Assessment Questions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Waite, Adel Marlane

    2017-01-01

    The problems under investigation included (a) Did a directed study of mathematics vocabulary significantly affect student performance levels on standardized mathematical questions? and (b) Did the strategies used in this study significantly affect student performance levels on standardized mathematical questions? The population consisted of…

  7. Adults' Use of Mathematics and Its Influence on Mathematical Competence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duchhardt, Christoph; Jordan, Anne-Katrin; Ehmke, Timo

    2017-01-01

    The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) has recently drawn additional attention to "mathematical literacy" as an important influential factor for individuals' life chances. High levels of mathematical literacy have thereby been linked to using mathematics in daily and working life frequently. In this…

  8. Influence of Writing Ability and Computation Skill on Mathematics Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powell, Sarah R.; Hebert, Michael A.

    2016-01-01

    Mathematics standards expect students to communicate about mathematics using oral and written methods, and some high-stakes assessments ask students to answer mathematics questions by writing. Assumptions about mathematics communication via writing include (a) students possess writing skill, (b) students can transfer this writing skill to…

  9. Implicit Theories, Expectancies, and Values Predict Mathematics Motivation and Behavior across High School and College.

    PubMed

    Priess-Groben, Heather A; Hyde, Janet Shibley

    2017-06-01

    Mathematics motivation declines for many adolescents, which limits future educational and career options. The present study sought to identify predictors of this decline by examining whether implicit theories assessed in ninth grade (incremental/entity) predicted course-taking behaviors and utility value in college. The study integrated implicit theory with variables from expectancy-value theory to examine potential moderators and mediators of the association of implicit theories with college mathematics outcomes. Implicit theories and expectancy-value variables were assessed in 165 American high school students (47 % female; 92 % White), who were then followed into their college years, at which time mathematics courses taken, course-taking intentions, and utility value were assessed. Implicit theories predicted course-taking intentions and utility value, but only self-concept of ability predicted courses taken, course-taking intentions, and utility value after controlling for prior mathematics achievement and baseline values. Expectancy for success in mathematics mediated associations between self-concept of ability and college outcomes. This research identifies self-concept of ability as a stronger predictor than implicit theories of mathematics motivation and behavior across several years: math self-concept is critical to sustained engagement in mathematics.

  10. Assessing Mathematics: 1. APU Framework and Modes of Assessment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foxman, Derek; Mitchell, Peter

    1983-01-01

    The "what" and "how" of the Assessment of Performance Unit surveys of the mathematics performance of 11- and 15-year-olds in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are explained. The framework and forms of assessment are detailed, and the experience of the testers noted. (MNS)

  11. Engineering Mathematics Assessment Using "MapleTA"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Ian S.

    2008-01-01

    The assessment of degree level engineering mathematics students using the computer-aided assessment package MapleTA is discussed. Experience of academic and practical issues for both online coursework and examination assessments is presented, hopefully benefiting other academics in this novel area of activity. (Contains 6 figures and 1 table.)

  12. Teacher Quality and Quality Teaching: Examining the Relationship of a Teacher Assessment to Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hill, Heather C.; Umland, Kristin; Litke, Erica; Kapitula, Laura R.

    2012-01-01

    Multiple-choice assessments are frequently used for gauging teacher quality. However, research seldom examines whether results from such assessments generalize to practice. To illuminate this issue, we compare teacher performance on a mathematics assessment, during mathematics instruction, and by student performance on a state assessment. Poor…

  13. Bibliography of Assessment Alternatives: Mathematics. January 1998 Edition. Innovative Assessment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Northwest Regional Educational Lab., Portland, OR.

    Mathematics alternative assessment continues to be a hot topic with much activity on development, standards setting, and relation to reform. This document defines alternative assessment as any assessment in which students construct a response to a question rather than choosing a response from a list. This annotated bibliography contains the…

  14. Contributions of executive function and spatial skills to preschool mathematics achievement.

    PubMed

    Verdine, Brian N; Irwin, Casey M; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathryn

    2014-10-01

    Early mathematics achievement is highly predictive of later mathematics performance. Here we investigated the influence of executive function (EF) and spatial skills, two generalizable skills often overlooked in mathematics curricula, on mathematics performance in preschoolers. Children (N=44) of varying socioeconomic status (SES) levels were assessed at 3 years of age on a new assessment of spatial skill (Test of Spatial Assembly, TOSA) and a vocabulary measure (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, PPVT). The same children were tested at 4 years of age on the Beery Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) as well as on measures of EF and mathematics. The TOSA was created specifically as an assessment for 3-year-olds, allowing the investigation of links among spatial, EF, and mathematical skills earlier than previously possible. Results of a hierarchical regression indicate that EF and spatial skills predict 70% of the variance in mathematics performance without an explicit math test, EF is an important predictor of math performance as prior research suggested, and spatial skills uniquely predict 27% of the variance in mathematics skills. Additional research is needed to understand whether EF is truly malleable and whether EF and spatial skills may be leveraged to support early mathematics skills, especially for lower SES children who are already falling behind in these skill areas by 3 and 4 years of age. These findings indicate that both skills are part of an important foundation for mathematics performance and may represent pathways for improving school readiness for mathematics. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Early numerical foundations of young children's mathematical development.

    PubMed

    Chu, Felicia W; vanMarle, Kristy; Geary, David C

    2015-04-01

    This study focused on the relative contributions of the acuity of the approximate number system (ANS) and knowledge of quantitative symbols to young children's early mathematical learning. At the beginning of preschool, 191 children (Mage=46 months) were administered tasks that assessed ANS acuity and explicit knowledge of the cardinal values represented by number words, and their mathematics achievement was assessed at the end of the school year. Children's executive functions, intelligence, and preliteracy skills and their parents' educational levels were also assessed and served as covariates. Both the ANS and cardinality tasks were significant predictors of end-of-year mathematics achievement with and without control of the covariates. As simultaneous predictors and with control of the covariates, cardinality remained significantly related to mathematics achievement, but ANS acuity did not. Mediation analyses revealed that the relation between ANS acuity and mathematics achievement was fully mediated by cardinality, suggesting that the ANS may facilitate children's explicit understanding of cardinal value and in this way may indirectly influence early mathematical learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Narrative assessment: making mathematics learning visible in early childhood settings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anthony, Glenda; McLachlan, Claire; Lim Fock Poh, Rachel

    2015-09-01

    Narratives that capture children's learning as they go about their day-to-day activities are promoted as a powerful assessment tool within early childhood settings. However, in the New Zealand context, there is increasing concern that learning stories—the preferred form of narrative assessment—currently downplay domain knowledge. In this paper, we draw on data from 13 teacher interviews and samples of 18 children's learning stories to examine how mathematics is made visible within learning stories. Despite appreciating that mathematics is embedded in a range of everyday activities within the centres, we found that the nature of a particular activity appeared to influence `how' and `what' the teachers chose to document as mathematics learning. Many of the teachers expressed a preference to document and analyse mathematics learning that occurred within explicit mathematics activities rather than within play that involves mathematics. Our concern is that this restricted documentation of mathematical activity could potentially limit opportunities for mathematics learning both in the centre and home settings.

  17. Developing Teachers' Models for Assessing Students' Competence in Mathematical Modelling through Lesson Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aydogan Yenmez, Arzu; Erbas, Ayhan Kursat; Cakiroglu, Erdinc; Alacaci, Cengiz; Cetinkaya, Bulent

    2017-01-01

    Applications and modelling have gained a prominent role in mathematics education reform documents and curricula. Thus, there is a growing need for studies focusing on the effective use of mathematical modelling in classrooms. Assessment is an integral part of using modelling activities in classrooms, since it allows teachers to identify and manage…

  18. Meta Didactic-Mathematical Knowledge of Teachers: Criteria for the Reflection and Assessment on Teaching Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Breda, Adriana; Pino-Fan, Luis Roberto; Font, Vicenç

    2017-01-01

    The objective of this study is to demonstrate that the criteria of didactical suitability, proposed by the theoretical framework known as the Onto-Semiotic Approach (OSA) of mathematical knowledge and instruction, are powerful tools for organizing the reflection and assessment of instruction processes carried out by mathematics teachers. To this…

  19. Becoming a Reflective Mathematics Teacher: A Guide for Observations and Self-Assessment. Studies in Mathematical Thinking and Learning Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Artzt, Alice F.; Armour-Thomas, Eleanor

    This activity-oriented book for preservice mathematics teachers who are taking methods courses or who have been student teaching offers a framework for teacher reflection and self- assessment. It supplies detailed observation instruments for observing other teachers, reflective activities, and guidelines and instruments for supervisors. There are…

  20. Assessing Mathematics Self-Efficacy: How Many Categories Do We Really Need?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Toland, Michael D.; Usher, Ellen L.

    2016-01-01

    The present study tested whether a reduced number of categories is optimal for assessing mathematics self-efficacy among middle school students using a 6-point Likert-type format or a 0- to 100-point format. Two independent samples of middle school adolescents (N = 1,913) were administered a 24-item Middle School Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale…

  1. Tablet-Based Math Assessment: What Can We Learn from Math Apps?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cayton-Hodges, Gabrielle A.; Feng, Gary; Pan, Xingyu

    2015-01-01

    In this report, we describe a survey of mathematics education apps in the Apple App Store, conducted as part of a research project to develop a tablet-based assessment prototype for elementary mathematics. This survey was performed with the goal of understanding the design principles and techniques used in mathematics apps designed for tablets. We…

  2. Comparing Two Versions of Professional Development for Teachers Using Formative Assessment in Networked Mathematics Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yin, Yue; Olson, Judith; Olson, Melfried; Solvin, Hannah; Brandon, Paul R.

    2015-01-01

    This study compared two versions of professional development (PD) designed for teachers using formative assessment (FA) in mathematics classrooms that were networked with Texas Instruments Navigator (NAV) technology. Thirty-two middle school mathematics teachers were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: FA-then-NAV group and FA-and-NAV…

  3. Secondary School Results for the Fourth NAEP Mathematics Assessment: Discrete Mathematics, Data Organization and Interpretation, Measurement, Number and Operations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Catherine A.; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Suggests that secondary school students seem to have reasonably good procedural knowledge in areas of mathematics as rational numbers, probability, measurement, and data organization and interpretation. It appears, however, that students are lacking the conceptual knowledge enabling them to successfully do the assessment items on applications,…

  4. About the Complexities of Video-Based Assessments: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Overcoming Shortcomings of Research on Teachers' Competence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kaiser, Gabriele; Busse, Andreas; Hoth, Jessica; König, Johannes; Blömeke, Sigrid

    2015-01-01

    Research on the evaluation of the professional knowledge of mathematics teachers (comprising for example mathematical content knowledge, mathematics pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge) has become prominent in the last decade; however, the development of video-based assessment approaches is a more recent topic. This…

  5. The Nation's Report Card[TM]: Mathematics, 2003. NCES 2005-451

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braswell, James S.; Dion, Gloria S.; Daane, Mary C.; Jin, Ying

    2005-01-01

    This report presents results of the NAEP 2003 fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics assessments for the nation, for regions of the country, for participating states and other jurisdictions, and for participating urban districts. Assessment results are described in terms of students' average mathematics score on a 0-500 scale and in terms of the…

  6. Exploring Crossing Differential Item Functioning by Gender in Mathematics Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ong, Yoke Mooi; Williams, Julian; Lamprianou, Iasonas

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to explore crossing differential item functioning (DIF) in a test drawn from a national examination of mathematics for 11-year-old pupils in England. An empirical dataset was analyzed to explore DIF by gender in a mathematics assessment. A two-step process involving the logistic regression (LR) procedure for…

  7. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Iowa. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2014

    2014-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2013 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Iowa's 2013 student achievement in mathematics. In…

  8. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Florida. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2014

    2014-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2013 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Florida's 2013 student achievement in mathematics.…

  9. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Arkansas. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2014

    2014-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2013 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Arkansas' 2013 student achievement in mathematics.…

  10. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Idaho. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2014

    2014-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2013 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Idaho's 2013 student achievement in mathematics.…

  11. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. Idaho. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Idaho's student achievement in mathematics. In…

  12. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. Iowa. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Iowa's student achievement in mathematics. In…

  13. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. South Dakota. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This paper presents the results for South Dakota's student achievement in mathematics.…

  14. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. Connecticut. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Connecticut's student achievement in mathematics.…

  15. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. New Jersey. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for New Jersey's student achievement in mathematics.…

  16. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. Illinois. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Illinois' student achievement in mathematics. In…

  17. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. Florida. Grade 12, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Florida's student achievement in mathematics. In…

  18. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2009 State Snapshot Report. Arkansas. Grade 12 Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics State Pilot assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Arkansas' student achievement in mathematics. In…

  19. Formative Assessment for Middle School Mathematics Instruction: An Evidence-Based Approach to Evaluating Teacher Posing, Pausing, and Probing Moves

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmberg, Carrie

    2017-01-01

    This study involved empirical investigation of a moves-based conceptualization of teacher practices of planning, enacting, and reflecting on formative assessment (FA) in mathematics classrooms in a high-needs school district in California. A qualitative case study of six middle school mathematics teachers' practices of "posing"…

  20. Using the Mixture Rasch Model to Explore Knowledge Resources Students Invoke in Mathematic and Science Assessments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Danhui; Orrill, Chandra; Campbell, Todd

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate whether mixture Rasch models followed by qualitative item-by-item analysis of selected Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics and science items offered insight into knowledge students invoke in mathematics and science separately and combined. The researchers administered an…

  1. Assessing the Quality of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cobb, Paul; Jackson, Kara

    2011-01-01

    The authors comment on Porter, McMaken, Hwang, and Yang's recent analysis of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics by critiquing their measures of the focus of the standards and the absence of an assessment of coherence. The authors then consider whether the standards are an improvement over most state mathematics standards by discussing…

  2. Mathematical Knowledge of Technology and Design Student Teachers: Diagnosis and Remediation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bell, Irene Teresa; Gibson, Ken

    2009-01-01

    This research examines how e-assessment and e-resources were used to assess and support the mathematics of Technology and Design students undertaking a B.Ed. (post-primary) teacher education course. The students participated in two similar tests in order to ascertain if their mathematical difficulties were in the underlying concepts of the…

  3. The Mathematics Attitudes and Perceptions Survey: An Instrument to Assess Expert-Like Views and Dispositions among Undergraduate Mathematics Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Code, Warren; Merchant, Sandra; Maciejewski, Wes; Thomas, Matthew; Lo, Joseph

    2016-01-01

    One goal of an undergraduate education in mathematics is to help students develop a productive disposition towards mathematics. A way of conceiving of this is as helping mathematical novices transition to more expert-like perceptions of mathematics. This conceptualization creates a need for a way to characterize students' perceptions of…

  4. Curriculum-Embedded Assessment in Mathematics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Doig, Brian

    The curriculum-embedded procedures used to construct, validate, and refine assessment tasks for mathematics are described and discussed. Curriculum-embedded assessment places assessment tasks in the day-to-day context of the classroom. The test of a curriculum-embedded task is whether it could be regarded as curriculum material per se. In…

  5. Biomechanical and mathematical analysis of human movement in medical rehabilitation science using time-series data from two video cameras and force-plate sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsuruoka, Masako; Shibasaki, Ryosuke; Box, Elgene O.; Murai, Shunji; Mori, Eiji; Wada, Takao; Kurita, Masahiro; Iritani, Makoto; Kuroki, Yoshikatsu

    1994-08-01

    In medical rehabilitation science, quantitative understanding of patient movement in 3-D space is very important. The patient with any joint disorder will experience its influence on other body parts in daily movement. The alignment of joints in movement is able to improve under medical therapy process. In this study, the newly developed system is composed of two non- metri CCD video cameras and a force plate sensor, which are controlled simultaneously by a personal computer. By this system time-series digital data from 3-D image photogrammetry, each foot pressure and its center position, is able to provide efficient information for biomechanical and mathematical analysis of human movement. Each specific and common points are indicated in any patient movement. This study suggests more various, quantitative understanding in medical rehabilitation science.

  6. College Ready: A 7M NSF MSP project to prepare pre- and in-service teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stewart, Gay; Stewart, John

    2009-05-01

    The College Ready in Mathematics and Physics Partnership is comprised of 38 school districts, UA Fort Smith, and UA, Fayetteville, which will serve as the lead among these core partners, with supporting partners AAPT, APS, College Board, Mathematical Association of America, Maplesoft, and Northwest Arkansas Community College. College Ready will build vertical and horizontal learning communities among school and college faculty in order to improve major articulation issues that impact the successful transition of students from high school to college, targeting physics. College Ready will achieve these ends through a series of interconnected activities including vertical alignment of high school and college expectations, intensive content driven workshops, articulation conferences, university course revisions, the creation of professional learning communities, and the opportunity for teachers to earn advanced degrees and endorsements. It builds on and looks to establish synergy between established efforts of PhysTEC and PMET.

  7. Cardiomyocytes from late embryos and neonates do optimal work and striate best on substrates with tissue-level elasticity: metrics and mathematics.

    PubMed

    Majkut, Stephanie F; Discher, Dennis E

    2012-11-01

    In this review, we discuss recent studies on the mechanosensitive morphology and function of cardiomyocytes derived from embryos and neonates. For early cardiomyocytes cultured on substrates of various stiffnesses, contractile function as measured by force production, work output and calcium handling is optimized when the culture substrate stiffness mimics that of the tissue from which the cells were obtained. This optimal contractile function corresponds to changes in sarcomeric protein conformation and organization that promote contractile ability. In light of current models for myofibillogenesis, a recent mathematical model of striation and alignment on elastic substrates helps to illuminate how substrate stiffness modulates early myofibril formation and organization. During embryonic heart formation and maturation, cardiac tissue mechanics change dynamically. Experiments and models highlighted here have important implications for understanding cardiomyocyte differentiation and function in development and perhaps in regeneration processes.

  8. The impact of training under different visual-spatial conditions on reverse-alignment laparoscopic skills development.

    PubMed

    Holznecht, Catherine; Schmidt, Travis; Gould, Jon

    2012-01-01

    Circumstances may arise during laparoscopic procedures in which alignment of the laparoscope and the instruments is off by 180°, creating a mirror image of the operative field. It has been shown that task performance is degraded under these reverse-alignment conditions, and that the magnitude of performance impairment is directly related to laparoscopic experience and skill. The aim of this study was to determine if reverse-alignment surgical skills could be developed through training. Twenty-two medical students were randomized to train in either reverse- or forward-alignment conditions on a standardized laparoscopic task in a video trainer (peg transfer). Baseline scores were attained for each group under both orientations. Subjects participated in three 1-h training sessions during an 8-week period. Post-training scores were then obtained under both alignment conditions. Pre and post-training scores were compared for users in each study group under both conditions. Post-training assessments in the forward orientation demonstrated that subjects in the forward-training group improved significantly compared to pre-testing, while the performance of subjects in the reverse-training group did not improve. Under reverse-alignment conditions, both groups improved on post-test assessment, with dramatic improvements observed for those in the reverse-training group. Laparoscopic novices can learn to adapt to a sensorimotor discordance in a simulated training environment. While it is possible that skills developed by training under standard forward-alignment conditions can be utilized in situations of extreme visual-spatial discordance, the intentional development of reverse-alignment skills by training under these conditions may prove beneficial to novice surgeons.

  9. A fast cross-validation method for alignment of electron tomography images based on Beer-Lambert law.

    PubMed

    Yan, Rui; Edwards, Thomas J; Pankratz, Logan M; Kuhn, Richard J; Lanman, Jason K; Liu, Jun; Jiang, Wen

    2015-11-01

    In electron tomography, accurate alignment of tilt series is an essential step in attaining high-resolution 3D reconstructions. Nevertheless, quantitative assessment of alignment quality has remained a challenging issue, even though many alignment methods have been reported. Here, we report a fast and accurate method, tomoAlignEval, based on the Beer-Lambert law, for the evaluation of alignment quality. Our method is able to globally estimate the alignment accuracy by measuring the goodness of log-linear relationship of the beam intensity attenuations at different tilt angles. Extensive tests with experimental data demonstrated its robust performance with stained and cryo samples. Our method is not only significantly faster but also more sensitive than measurements of tomogram resolution using Fourier shell correlation method (FSCe/o). From these tests, we also conclude that while current alignment methods are sufficiently accurate for stained samples, inaccurate alignments remain a major limitation for high resolution cryo-electron tomography. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. A fast cross-validation method for alignment of electron tomography images based on Beer-Lambert law

    PubMed Central

    Yan, Rui; Edwards, Thomas J.; Pankratz, Logan M.; Kuhn, Richard J.; Lanman, Jason K.; Liu, Jun; Jiang, Wen

    2015-01-01

    In electron tomography, accurate alignment of tilt series is an essential step in attaining high-resolution 3D reconstructions. Nevertheless, quantitative assessment of alignment quality has remained a challenging issue, even though many alignment methods have been reported. Here, we report a fast and accurate method, tomoAlignEval, based on the Beer-Lambert law, for the evaluation of alignment quality. Our method is able to globally estimate the alignment accuracy by measuring the goodness of log-linear relationship of the beam intensity attenuations at different tilt angles. Extensive tests with experimental data demonstrated its robust performance with stained and cryo samples. Our method is not only significantly faster but also more sensitive than measurements of tomogram resolution using Fourier shell correlation method (FSCe/o). From these tests, we also conclude that while current alignment methods are sufficiently accurate for stained samples, inaccurate alignments remain a major limitation for high resolution cryo-electron tomography. PMID:26455556

  11. Design and fabrication of advanced fiber alignment structures for field-installable fiber connectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Erps, Jürgen; Vervaeke, Michael; Sánchez Martínez, Alberto; Beri, Stefano; Debaes, Christof; Watté, Jan; Thienpont, Hugo

    2012-06-01

    Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) networks have been adopted as a potential replacement of traditional electrical connections for the 'last mile' transmission of information at bandwidths over 1Gb/s. However, the success and adoption of optical access networks critically depend on the quality and reliability of connections between optical fibers. In particular a further reduction of insertion loss of field-installable connectors must be achieved without a significant increase in component cost. This requires precise alignment of fibers that can differ in terms of ellipticity, eccentricity or diameter and seems hardly achievable using today's widespread ferrule-based alignment systems. Novel low-cost structures for bare fiber alignment with outstanding positioning accuracies are strongly desired as they would allow reducing loss beyond the level achievable with ferrule-bore systems. However, the realization of such alignment system is challenging as it should provide sufficient force to position the fiber with sub-micron accuracy required in positioning the fiber. In this contribution we propose, design and prototype a bare-fiber alignment system which makes use of deflectable/compressible micro-cantilevers. Such cantilevers behave as springs and provide self-centering functionality to the structure. Simulations of the mechanical properties of the cantilevers are carried out in order to get an analytical approximation and a mathematical model of the spring constant and stress in the structure. Elastic constants of the order of 104 to 105N/m are found out to be compatible with a proof stress of 70 MPa. Finally a first self-centering structure is prototyped in PMMA using our Deep Proton Writing technology. The spring constants of the fabricated cantilevers are in the range of 4 to 6 × 104N/m and the stress is in the range 10 to 20 MPa. These self-centering structures have the potential to become the basic building blocks for a new generation of field-installable connectors.

  12. Predicting First Graders' Development of Calculation versus Word-Problem Performance: The Role of Dynamic Assessment.

    PubMed

    Seethaler, Pamela M; Fuchs, Lynn S; Fuchs, Douglas; Compton, Donald L

    2012-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the value of dynamic assessment (DA; degree of scaffolding required to learn unfamiliar mathematics content) for predicting 1(st)-grade calculations (CA) and word problems (WP) development, while controlling for the role of traditional assessments. Among 184 1(st) graders, predictors (DA, Quantity Discrimination, Test of Mathematics Ability, language, and reasoning) were assessed near the start of 1(st) grade. CA and WP were assessed near the end of 1(st) grade. Planned regression and commonality analyses indicated that for forecasting CA development, Quantity Discrimination, which accounted for 8.84% of explained variance, was the single most powerful predictor, followed by Test of Mathematics Ability and DA; language and reasoning were not uniquely predictive. By contrast, for predicting WP development, DA was the single most powerful predictor, which accounted for 12.01% of explained variance, with Test of Mathematics Ability, Quantity Discrimination, and language also uniquely predictive. Results suggest that different constellations of cognitive resources are required for CA versus WP development and that DA may be useful in predicting 1(st)-grade mathematics development, especially WP.

  13. Predicting First Graders’ Development of Calculation versus Word-Problem Performance: The Role of Dynamic Assessment

    PubMed Central

    Seethaler, Pamela M.; Fuchs, Lynn S.; Fuchs, Douglas; Compton, Donald L.

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the value of dynamic assessment (DA; degree of scaffolding required to learn unfamiliar mathematics content) for predicting 1st-grade calculations (CA) and word problems (WP) development, while controlling for the role of traditional assessments. Among 184 1st graders, predictors (DA, Quantity Discrimination, Test of Mathematics Ability, language, and reasoning) were assessed near the start of 1st grade. CA and WP were assessed near the end of 1st grade. Planned regression and commonality analyses indicated that for forecasting CA development, Quantity Discrimination, which accounted for 8.84% of explained variance, was the single most powerful predictor, followed by Test of Mathematics Ability and DA; language and reasoning were not uniquely predictive. By contrast, for predicting WP development, DA was the single most powerful predictor, which accounted for 12.01% of explained variance, with Test of Mathematics Ability, Quantity Discrimination, and language also uniquely predictive. Results suggest that different constellations of cognitive resources are required for CA versus WP development and that DA may be useful in predicting 1st-grade mathematics development, especially WP. PMID:22347725

  14. Elective Drama Course in Mathematics Education: An Assessment of Pre-Service Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sagirli, Meryem Özturan

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to evaluate a newly introduced elective course "Drama in Mathematics Education" into mathematics education curriculum from the viewpoints of pre-service mathematics teachers. A case study was employed in the study. The study group consisted of 37 pre-service mathematics teachers who were enrolled in a Turkish state…

  15. The Hidden Strand of Mathematical Proficiency: Defining and Assessing for Productive Disposition in Elementary School Teachers' Mathematical Content Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegfried, John Zig Michael

    2012-01-01

    Teachers' mathematical content knowledge is one of the most important constructs considered by researchers studying elementary mathematics education (Fennema & Franke, 1992). One component of mathematical content knowledge that is complicated, ill-defined, and oft-ignored is "productive disposition," defined as the…

  16. Engaging Prospective Teachers in Peer Assessment as Both Assessors and Assessees: The Case of Geometrical Proofs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lavy, Ilana; Shriki, Atara

    2014-01-01

    One aspect of professional development of mathematics teachers relates to the development of assessment skills. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of engaging prospective mathematics teachers in peer assessment, both as assessors and assessees, on the development of their assessment skills in general and assessment of geometrical…

  17. Issues in Analyzing Alignment of Language Arts Common Core Standards with State Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beach, Richard W.

    2011-01-01

    This commentary on Porter, McMaken, Hwang, and Yang's "Common Core Standards: The New U.S. Intended Curriculum," which finds a lack of alignment between the Common Core State Standards and state standards and assessments, suggests possible reasons for the lack of alignment. It also offers possible reasons for Porter et al.'s finding of a…

  18. Implementation of Common Core State Standards: Roles for Advocates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haycock, Kati

    2012-01-01

    Forty-six states and the District of Columbia have committed to fully implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) by the fall of 2013, and members of the two CCSS-aligned assessment consortia have committed to roll out an aligned assessment the following year. With less than a year until the CCSS must be in place in all classrooms, most…

  19. Line Up, Line Up: Using Technology to Align and Enhance Peer Learning and Assessment in a Student Centred Foundation Organic Chemistry Module

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Barry J.

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes how three technologies were utilised in combination to align student learning and assessment as part of a case study. Multiple choice questions (MCQs) were central to all these technologies. The peer learning technologies; Personal Response Devices (a.k.a. "Clickers") and "PeerWise"…

  20. Monitoring Children with Reading Disabilities' Response to Phonics Intervention: Are There Differences between Intervention Aligned and General Skill Progress Monitoring Assessments?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olinghouse, Natalie G.; Lambert, Warren; Compton, Donald L.

    2006-01-01

    This study investigated whether 2 different progress monitoring assessments differentially predicted growth in reading skills associated with systematic phonics instruction. Oral reading fluency (ORE) was compared with an intervention aligned word list (IAWL) as predictors of growth in untimed and timed decoding and word identification and text…

  1. Whole-body diffusion-weighted MR image stitching and alignment to anatomical MRI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ceranka, Jakub; Polfliet, Mathias; Lecouvet, Frederic; Michoux, Nicolas; Vandemeulebroucke, Jef

    2017-02-01

    Whole-body diffusion-weighted (WB-DW) MRI in combination with anatomical MRI has shown a great poten- tial in bone and soft tissue tumour detection, evaluation of lymph nodes and treatment response assessment. Because of the vast body coverage, whole-body MRI is acquired in separate stations, which are subsequently combined into a whole-body image. However, inter-station and inter-modality image misalignments can occur due to image distortions and patient motion during acquisition, which may lead to inaccurate representations of patient anatomy and hinder visual assessment. Automated and accurate whole-body image formation and alignment of the multi-modal MRI images is therefore crucial. We investigated several registration approaches for the formation or stitching of the whole-body image stations, followed by a deformable alignment of the multi- modal whole-body images. We compared a pairwise approach, where diffusion-weighted (DW) image stations were sequentially aligned to a reference station (pelvis), to a groupwise approach, where all stations were simultaneously mapped to a common reference space while minimizing the overall transformation. For each, a choice of input images and corresponding metrics was investigated. Performance was evaluated by assessing the quality of the obtained whole-body images, and by verifying the accuracy of the alignment with whole-body anatomical sequences. The groupwise registration approach provided the best compromise between the formation of WB- DW images and multi-modal alignment. The fully automated method was found to be robust, making its use in the clinic feasible.

  2. 34 CFR 200.11 - Participation in NAEP.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... academic assessments of fourth and eighth grade reading and mathematics under the State National Assessment... academic achievement results in grades four and eight on the State's NAEP reading and mathematics...

  3. 34 CFR 200.11 - Participation in NAEP.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... academic assessments of fourth and eighth grade reading and mathematics under the State National Assessment... academic achievement results in grades four and eight on the State's NAEP reading and mathematics...

  4. 34 CFR 200.11 - Participation in NAEP.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... academic assessments of fourth and eighth grade reading and mathematics under the State National Assessment... academic achievement results in grades four and eight on the State's NAEP reading and mathematics...

  5. 34 CFR 200.11 - Participation in NAEP.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... academic assessments of fourth and eighth grade reading and mathematics under the State National Assessment... academic achievement results in grades four and eight on the State's NAEP reading and mathematics...

  6. 34 CFR 200.11 - Participation in NAEP.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... academic assessments of fourth and eighth grade reading and mathematics under the State National Assessment... academic achievement results in grades four and eight on the State's NAEP reading and mathematics...

  7. Supporting Assessment in Undergraduate Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Steen, Lynn Arthur, Ed.

    2006-01-01

    This publication contains 29 case studies offering lessons learned during a four year NSF-supported MAA project designed to support mathematicians and mathematics departments in the increasingly important challenge of assessing student learning. Three introductory essays set assessment in broader academic and national contexts; an appendix…

  8. Screencasts: Formative Assessment for Mathematical Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soto, Melissa; Ambrose, Rebecca

    2016-01-01

    Increased attention to reasoning and justification in mathematics classrooms requires the use of more authentic assessment methods. Particularly important are tools that allow teachers and students opportunities to engage in formative assessment practices such as gathering data, interpreting understanding, and revising thinking or instruction.…

  9. TIMSS Advanced 2015 Assessment Frameworks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mullis, Ina V. S., Ed.; Martin, Michael O., Ed.

    2014-01-01

    The "TIMSS Advanced 2015 Assessment Frameworks" provides the foundation for the two international assessments to take place as part of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) Advanced 2015--Advanced Mathematics and Physics. Chapter 1 (Liv…

  10. Do the symptoms of language disorder align with treatment goals? An exploratory study of primary-grade students' IEPs.

    PubMed

    Schmitt, Mary Beth; Justice, Laura M; Logan, Jessica A R; Schatschneider, Christopher; Bartlett, Christopher W

    2014-01-01

    Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are legal documents that guide the treatment of students with language disorder (LD). This exploratory study investigated the extent to which students' symptoms of LD align with goals on their IEPs. A total of 99 kindergarten and first-grade students receiving treatment for LD in the public schools participated. IEPs were collected and coded for each student and norm-referenced measures were used to assess students' grammar, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and literacy skills in the fall of the academic year. Results showed there to be alignment between students' symptoms and IEP goals only in the area of vocabulary, such that students who had an IEP goal for vocabulary had lower scores on a vocabulary assessment than those without a goal. In general, there is limited alignment between observed symptoms of LD and treated symptoms as identified on students' IEPs. The limited alignment found in this study suggests more investigation is needed to understand the extent to which IEP goals, as potential indicators of treatment foci, should map on to students' symptoms. Readers will be able to: (1) explain the theoretical and practical relevance of treatment goals aligning to symptoms for children with language impairment; (2) identify three analytic methods used to investigate alignment between treatment goals and symptoms; and (3) describe the extent to which IEP goals align to children's symptoms in a sample of children receiving services in the public schools. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Antares Alignment Gimbal Positioner

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Day, R. D.; Viswanathan, V. K.; Saxman, A. C.; Lujan, R. E.; Woodfin, G. L.; Sweatt, W. C.

    1981-12-01

    Antares is a 24-beam 40-TW carbon-dioxide (CO2) laser fusion system currently under construction at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Antares alignment gimbal positioner (AGP) is an optomechanical instrument that will be used for target alignment and alignment of the 24 laser beams, as well as beam quality assessments. The AGP will be capable of providing pointing, focusing, and wavefront optical path difference, as well as aberration information at both helium-neon (He-Ne) and CO2 wavelengths. It is designed to allow the laser beams to be aligned to any position within a 1-cm cube to a tolerance of 10 μm.

  12. Predicting Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement from Early Quantitative Knowledge and Domain-General Cognitive Abilities

    PubMed Central

    Chu, Felicia W.; vanMarle, Kristy; Geary, David C.

    2016-01-01

    One hundred children (44 boys) participated in a 3-year longitudinal study of the development of basic quantitative competencies and the relation between these competencies and later mathematics and reading achievement. The children's preliteracy knowledge, intelligence, executive functions, and parental educational background were also assessed. The quantitative tasks assessed a broad range of symbolic and nonsymbolic knowledge and were administered four times across 2 years of preschool. Mathematics achievement was assessed at the end of each of 2 years of preschool, and mathematics and word reading achievement were assessed at the end of kindergarten. Our goals were to determine how domain-general abilities contribute to growth in children's quantitative knowledge and to determine how domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to children's preschool mathematics achievement and kindergarten mathematics and reading achievement. We first identified four core quantitative competencies (e.g., knowledge of the cardinal value of number words) that predict later mathematics achievement. The domain-general abilities were then used to predict growth in these competencies across 2 years of preschool, and the combination of domain-general abilities, preliteracy skills, and core quantitative competencies were used to predict mathematics achievement across preschool and mathematics and word reading achievement at the end of kindergarten. Both intelligence and executive functions predicted growth in the four quantitative competencies, especially across the first year of preschool. A combination of domain-general and domain-specific competencies predicted preschoolers' mathematics achievement, with a trend for domain-specific skills to be more strongly related to achievement at the beginning of preschool than at the end of preschool. Preschool preliteracy skills, sensitivity to the relative quantities of collections of objects, and cardinal knowledge predicted reading and mathematics achievement at the end of kindergarten. Preliteracy skills were more strongly related to word reading, whereas sensitivity to relative quantity was more strongly related to mathematics achievement. The overall results indicate that a combination of domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to development of children's early mathematics and reading achievement. PMID:27252675

  13. Predicting Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement from Early Quantitative Knowledge and Domain-General Cognitive Abilities.

    PubMed

    Chu, Felicia W; vanMarle, Kristy; Geary, David C

    2016-01-01

    One hundred children (44 boys) participated in a 3-year longitudinal study of the development of basic quantitative competencies and the relation between these competencies and later mathematics and reading achievement. The children's preliteracy knowledge, intelligence, executive functions, and parental educational background were also assessed. The quantitative tasks assessed a broad range of symbolic and nonsymbolic knowledge and were administered four times across 2 years of preschool. Mathematics achievement was assessed at the end of each of 2 years of preschool, and mathematics and word reading achievement were assessed at the end of kindergarten. Our goals were to determine how domain-general abilities contribute to growth in children's quantitative knowledge and to determine how domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to children's preschool mathematics achievement and kindergarten mathematics and reading achievement. We first identified four core quantitative competencies (e.g., knowledge of the cardinal value of number words) that predict later mathematics achievement. The domain-general abilities were then used to predict growth in these competencies across 2 years of preschool, and the combination of domain-general abilities, preliteracy skills, and core quantitative competencies were used to predict mathematics achievement across preschool and mathematics and word reading achievement at the end of kindergarten. Both intelligence and executive functions predicted growth in the four quantitative competencies, especially across the first year of preschool. A combination of domain-general and domain-specific competencies predicted preschoolers' mathematics achievement, with a trend for domain-specific skills to be more strongly related to achievement at the beginning of preschool than at the end of preschool. Preschool preliteracy skills, sensitivity to the relative quantities of collections of objects, and cardinal knowledge predicted reading and mathematics achievement at the end of kindergarten. Preliteracy skills were more strongly related to word reading, whereas sensitivity to relative quantity was more strongly related to mathematics achievement. The overall results indicate that a combination of domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to development of children's early mathematics and reading achievement.

  14. Aligned Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Polymer Composites Using an Electric Field

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Park, Cheol; Wiklinson, John; Banda, Sumanth; Ounaies, Zoubeida; Wise, Kristopher E.; Sauti, Godfrey; Lillehei, Peter T.; Harrison, Joycelyn S.

    2005-01-01

    While high shear alignment has been shown to improve the mechanical properties of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT)-polymer composites, it is difficult to control and often results in degradation of the electrical and dielectric properties of the composite. Here, we report a novel method to actively align SWNTs in a polymer matrix, which allows for control over the degree of alignment of SWNTs without the side effects of shear alignment. In this process, SWNTs are aligned via field-induced dipolar interactions among the nanotubes under an AC electric field in a liquid matrix followed by immobilization by photopolymerization while maintaining the electric field. Alignment of SWNTs was controlled as a function of magnitude, frequency, and application time of the applied electric field. The degree of SWNT alignment was assessed using optical microscopy and polarized Raman spectroscopy and the morphology of the aligned nanocomposites was investigated by high resolution scanning electron microscopy. The structure of the field induced aligned SWNTs is intrinsically different from that of shear aligned SWNTs. In the present work, SWNTs are not only aligned along the field, but also migrate laterally to form thick, aligned SWNT percolative columns between the electrodes. The actively aligned SWNTs amplify the electrical and dielectric properties in addition to improving the mechanical properties of the composite. All of these properties of the aligned nanocomposites exhibited anisotropic characteristics, which were controllable by tuning the applied field conditions.

  15. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Oregon. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  16. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Minnesota. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  17. The Nation's Report Card [TM]: Mathematics 2003 and 2005: Performance in Puerto Rico. Highlights. NCES 2007--459

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baxter, G.P.; Bleeker, M.M.; Waits, T.L.; Salvucci, S.

    2007-01-01

    This report presents highlights of the results for fourth-and eighth-grade students in Puerto Rico for the 2003 and 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. The NAEP mathematics assessment was administered to public school students in Puerto Rico for the first time in 2003. Although NAEP had previously administered…

  18. Defining Mathematics Competency in the Service of Cognitively Based Assessment for Grades 6 through 8. Research Report. ETS RR-09-42

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graf, Edith Aurora

    2009-01-01

    This report makes recommendations for the development of middle-school assessment in mathematics, based on a synthesis of scientific findings in cognitive psychology and mathematics education. The focus is on background research, rather than test specifications or example tasks. Readers interested in early development and pilot efforts associated…

  19. The Association between Working Memory and Educational Attainment as Measured in Different Mathematical Subtopics in the Swedish National Assessment: Primary Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nyroos, Mikaela; Wiklund-Hornqvist, Carola

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between working memory capacity and mathematical performance measured by the national curriculum assessment in third-grade children (n = 40). The national tests concerned six subareas within mathematics. One-way ANOVA, two-tailed Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were…

  20. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Idaho. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  1. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. New Hampshire. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  2. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Hawaii. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  3. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Wisconsin. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  4. Relationship between English Language Learners' Proficiency in Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking and Proficiency on Maryland School Assessments in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, C. Michael

    2013-01-01

    Mathematics proficiency of English language learners (ELLs) on the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) for mathematics continues to lag behind the proficiency level of students who are proficient English speakers. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a statistically significant relationship between English language learner's…

  5. A Framework for Mathematics Graphical Tasks: The Influence of the Graphic Element on Student Sense Making

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lowrie, Tom; Diezmann, Carmel M.; Logan, Tracy

    2012-01-01

    Graphical tasks have become a prominent aspect of mathematics assessment. From a conceptual stance, the purpose of this study was to better understand the composition of graphical tasks commonly used to assess students' mathematics understandings. Through an iterative design, the investigation described the sense making of 11-12-year-olds as they…

  6. Factors Affecting Mathematics Achievement for Students in Rural Schools. Research Brief.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bottoms, Gene; Carpenter, Kathleen

    In early 2000, an assessment of mathematics achievement and related school practices was carried out in 24 clusters of rural high schools and their feeder middle schools in seven states. More than 2,400 eighth-graders and more than 1,900 12th-graders took a mathematics achievement test referenced to the National Assessment of Educational Progress…

  7. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. DoDEA. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  8. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Oregon. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  9. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Iowa. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  10. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Arkansas. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  11. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Colorado. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  12. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Michigan. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  13. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Virginia. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  14. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. New York. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  15. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. DoDEA. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  16. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Nevada. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  17. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Illinois. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  18. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Arizona. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  19. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. New Hampshire. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  20. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Arizona. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  1. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Kansas. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  2. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Mississippi. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  3. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Alaska. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  4. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Maryland. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  5. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Minnesota. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  6. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Utah. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  7. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. New Jersey. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  8. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Hawaii. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  9. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Florida. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  10. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Texas. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  11. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. California. Grade 8, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

  12. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Vermont. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  13. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. West Virginia. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  14. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. North Dakota. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  15. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Louisiana. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  16. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Rhode Island. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  17. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Oklahoma. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  18. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Montana. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  19. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Wisconsin. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

  20. The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 State Snapshot Report. Colorado. Grade 4, Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

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