A reappraisal of online mathematics teaching using LaTeX

The mathematics language LaTeX is often seen outside of academic circles as a legacy technology that is awkward to use. MathML - a verbose language designed for data-exchange, and to be written and understood by machines - is sometimes by contrast seen as something that will aid online mathematics and lack of browser support for it bemoaned. However LaTeX can already do many of the things that MathML might promise. LaTeX is here proposed as a language from which small fragments, with concise syntax, can be used by people to easily create and share mathematical expressions online. The capability to embed fragments of LaTeX code in online discussions is described here and its impact on a group of educators and learners evaluated. Here LaTeX is posited as a useful tool for facilitating asynchronous, online, collaborative learning of mathematics

Education in the Covid-19 Era

Peer reviewe

Report of the town offices Mont Vernon, New Hampshire for the year ending December 31, 2012 and of the school district offices for the year ending June 30, 2012.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

Health Literacy and Alcohol Use Behaviors in High School Students

Limited health literacy and alcohol use increase adolescents’ risk for preventable disease burden and adverse outcomes. The Framework for Studying Adolescent Health Literacy (Manganello, 2008) guided this cross-sectional study focused on relationships between high school students’ health literacy and alcohol use. The aims were to describe health literacy in a sample of high school students, explore relationships between health literacy and individual traits, and examine relationships between health literacy and alcohol use. Health literacy was assessed with the Newest Vital Sign. Alcohol use was assessed with questions from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An electronic survey was used to collect data from 39 students (response rate = 5.3%, 39/737) attending a private Midwest high school during the spring of 2020. Most students (76.9%, 30/39) had adequate health literacy. Males were more likely to have adequate health literacy than females, but there were no other differences in health literacy based on individual traits. Many students (42.9%, 15/35) reported drinking, and 18.2% (6/33) reported drinking in the past 30 days. Lifetime and current alcohol use were comparable between students with adequate and limited health literacy. There were no differences in alcohol use based on students’ health literacy. Only students with adequate health literacy reported drinking before age 13 years (15.4%, 2/13), drug or alcohol use (42.8%, 3/7) and alcohol use (20.0%, 1/5) before last sexual intercourse. Only students with adequate health literacy reported binge drinking (10.3%, 3/29), riding with someone under the influence (17.9%, 5/28), and drinking and driving (10.5%, 2/19) in the past 30 days. In conclusion, even students with adequate health literacy engage in unsafe alcohol use. Parents, educators, and clinicians need to monitor all students for warning signs of alcohol use and misuse. This study adds evidence about health literacy and alcohol use in students at one high school

Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching ICTMT 12

Innovation, inclusion, sharing and diversity are some of the words that briefly and suitably characterize the ICTMT series of biennial international conferences – the International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching. Being the twelfth of a series which began in Birmingham, UK, in 1993, under the influential enterprise of Professor Bert Waits from Ohio State University, this conference was held in Portugal for the first time. The 12th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching was hosted by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Algarve, in the city of Faro, from 24 to 27 June 2015, and was guided by the original spirit of its foundation. The integration of digital technologies in mathematics education across school levels and countries, from primary to tertiary education, together with the understanding of the phenomena involved in the teaching and learning of mathematics in technological environments have always been driving forces in the transformation of pedagogical practices. The possibility of joining at an international conference a wide diversity of participants, including school mathematics teachers, lecturers, mathematicians, mathematics educators and researchers, software designers, and curriculum developers, is one facet that makes this conference rather unique. At the same time, it seeks to foster the sharing of ideas, experiences, projects and studies while providing opportunities to try-out and assess tools or didactical proposals during times of hands-on work. The ICTMT 12 had this same ambition, when embracing and welcoming just over 120 delegates who actively and enthusiastically contributed to a very packed program of scientific proposals and sessions on various topics

Aesthetics of emergence

Principles of design composition are commonly understood to pertain to geometrical systems for arranging parts in assembling a formal whole. Connection to socio-cultural 'meaning' and relevance arguably occurs primarily via the assumed divinity or universality of these systems. In the contemporary architectural world, where explicitly held beliefs in fundamental, geometrically defined principles or values have dissipated, guiding principles of composition appear to be obsolete. This seems particularly true in relation to work that highlights process - or change, responsiveness, interactivity and adaptability - since this implies that the composition remains in flux and unable to be grounded in the composition of form. While processually inflected architecture (referred to here as 'processual architecture'), has been an active field since at least the 1960s, it has been significa ntly developed since design experiments involving digital computation intensified in the 1990s. For this field of work, both highly celebrated and criticised as superficial or unethical, any connection to 'meaning' or value that might be offered by principles of composition would appear especially lost. This thesis reviews, counterpoises and reorients these assumptions, arguing a case for the value of processual architectural that has not been previously articulated. After the last 10 to 15 years of digital experimentation, it is clear that digital technology in itself is not the primary issue, but simply part of a complex equation. The thesis articulates this 'equation' through the model of emergence, which has been used in the field with increasing prominence in recent years. Through both practice-based research and theoretical development, a processually inflected theory of composition is proposed. This offers pathways through which the potential of processual architecture might be productively developed, aiming to open this field of work into a deeper engagement with pressing contemporary socio-political issues. The thesis demonstrates how the cultivation of particular modes of attention and engagement, found to hold an implicit but nevertheless amplified significance within processual architecture, make it possible to develop an embodied awareness pertaining to an 'ethico-aesthetic know-how'. This know-how is acquired and matured through attention to the affective dimensions that arise through design activity. The thesis highlight aspects of design process and products that are routinely suppressed in architectural discourse, generating new insights into the importance of affect for design process, design products and the relations between them. The ethical dimensions of such an approach become especially poignant through the explicit connection made between design activity and the practices of everyday life. Relationships between architecture and the social become re-energised, in a radically alternative manner to the social agendas of modernism or the more literary critiques of post-modernism. Through detailed discussions of the specific, local conditions with a series of design projects I have undertaken, I argue how and why close attention to the affective dimensions of design process offers new and productive ways to approach research through design practice. This offers a response to the calls for new 'post-critical' forms of research through empowering both sides of a previously held divide: theory and practice

2022-2023 Graduate School Catalog

Graduate students from more than 67 counties are providing outstanding leadership during the pandemic, as they conduct vital research to inform public health, contribute to the greater good, and stimulate the economy. Their scholarship spans 140 programs - from biomedical engineering to business administration, from history to horticulture, and from marine sciences to music performance

Bringing the islands to schools: improving student attitudes towards statistics

Australia’s continuing decline in its number of statistics graduates has been related to students’ negative attitudes and experiences within their classrooms. Student attitudes are often recognised as important determinants for course performance, as well as interest and participation in higher education. Therefore, providing students with an enriching classroom experience, especially within the early stages of their education, is essential for improving and maintaining students’ attitudes towards statistics. This dissertation focuses on the Islands, an online simulation of a human population, and how its implementation within the classroom can affect student’s attitudes, career prospects, and perceived competency towards statistics. The Islands was developed for a tertiary setting, so its utilisation within high schools was novel and yet to be evaluated. Three studies were carried out to investigate the Islands within the secondary school context, with each following the standard pre-post measurement-intervention protocol. Each study built upon the findings of the previous by improving upon their limitations and optimising the research design. Across these three studies there were fifteen partnered schools, and over 900 student participants. The results of the three studies varied substantially. Whilst the first study saw significant improvements across all domains, the second study only saw improvements for attitudes, with career prospects remaining stable and perceived competency decreasing. The third study, which was considered the most ecologically rigorous (with regards to the research design) saw significant declines across all three domains. When linked with the student’s qualitative feedback, these results revealed an important message that statistics researchers have been advocating for years: teachers require more support and opportunities for professional training. The Islands provides students with an opportunity to conduct realistic data driven experiments, which was expected to enrich their classroom experience and improve their attitudes towards statistics. Students were expected to find the Islands activities motivating due to the self-exploratory and realistic nature of the program. By being actively involved in the data collection process, students can relate to the data because they collected it (as opposed to simply being provided a dataset). Such an approach better emulates real world applications. The results of this research suggests that unless the instructor is adequately trained to deliver the content, students’ attitudes towards statistics are highly resistant to change, and in the worst case scenario, may decline. Given the prior success of the Island within tertiary environments, further research investigating the challenges associated with implementation at the secondary level, in particular with how best to prepare and train teachers, is strongly encouraged