Explore K-State history online

Back matter for the Fall 2019 issue on exploring K-State history online

Exploring K-3 Teachers\u27 Implementation of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (CSI)

This study surveyed teacher implementation of strategy instruction for improved comprehension. The inquiry positions teachers, administrators, and teacher educators to better understand current levels of implementation of comprehension strategies and suggests ideas for meeting the challenges of increasing and/or sustaining their use

Technology or pedagogy?:Exploring k-12 teacher acceptance of learning management systems for collaborative learning

Abstract. The uptake of Learning Management Systems (LMS) by K-12 institutions has sky-rocketed in the past years, yet a dearth of studies exists measuring teacher acceptance of LMS by taking into consideration collaborative learning. Drawing on this gap, the present study embarks to explore Turkish K-12 teachers’ acceptance of using learning management systems for collaborative learning. This study followed a quantitative approach and adopted Technology Acceptance Model as the theoretical framework. Both internal (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, and behavioral intention) and external variables (self-efficacy, compatibility, and facilitating conditions) of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) literature were taken into consideration when studying how teachers’ beliefs on collaborative learning (learning belief, motivation belief, and effort belief) impact their acceptance of LMS for collaborative learning. This study involves a survey of 60 teachers at private schools in Turkey. A Likert-scale type survey questionnaire including demographics, technology acceptance, and collaborative learning beliefs was distributed, and to answer the research questions, descriptive analysis and stepwise multiple regression were utilized for data analysis. Results of the present study indicate that the K-12 teachers accept the use of LMS for CL as easy and useful to use. The teachers reported positive attitudes and willingness to use the LMS for collaborative learning (CL). Both self-efficacy and compatibility positively significantly predicted the acceptance of LMS for CL, while facilitating conditions did not predict acceptance. No significant relationship was found between K-12 teacher CL beliefs and their acceptance of LMS for CL. The present study concluded that a) the availability of support on an organizational and peer level to support K-12 teachers is essential for self-efficacy and b) the compatibility of the either the LMS with the teacher’s way of teaching or vice versa impact K-12 teacher acceptance. The practical implications include suggestions for LMS developers and organizations

Exploring K-3 Teachers\u27 Implementation of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (CSI) Using Expectancy-Value Theory

This research investigated factors that influence the implementation levels of evidence-based comprehension strategy instruction (CSI) among K–3 teachers. An explanatory design was chosen to gather and probe the data. Quantitative data were gathered via a mailed survey distributed through a representative sample of the 40 school districts (through a stratified-random selection of teachers) in a state in the Rocky Mountain West. Expectancy-value theory was applied as it affects self-reported levels of teacher implementation of CSI. Both expectancy and value showed significance for predicting self-reported CSI implementation in two multiple regression analyses. Surveys revealed teachers\u27 perceptions of what impedes or supports their sustained implementation of CSI. These findings suggest that increases in school support will also raise teacher CSI implementation levels

Low-energy kaon-nucleon/nuclei interaction studies at DAΦNE by AMADEUS

The AMADEUS experiment deals with the investigation of the low-energy kaon-nuclei hadronic interaction at the DAΦNE collider at LNF-INFN, fundamental to respond to longstanding open questions in the non-perturbative QCD in the strangeness sector. One of the most interesting aspects is to understand how hadron masses and interactions change in the nuclear environment. The antikaon-nucleon potential is investigated searching for signals from possible bound kaonic clusters, which would imply a strongly attractive antikaon-nucleon potential. AMADEUS step 0 consists in the analysis of 2004/2005 KLOE data, exploring K− absorptions in H, 4He, 9Be and 12C present in setup materials. The status of the various preliminary analyses is presented, together with future perspectives

A tabu search heuristic for the Equitable Coloring Problem

The Equitable Coloring Problem is a variant of the Graph Coloring Problem where the sizes of two arbitrary color classes differ in at most one unit. This additional condition, called equity constraints, arises naturally in several applications. Due to the hardness of the problem, current exact algorithms can not solve large-sized instances. Such instances must be addressed only via heuristic methods. In this paper we present a tabu search heuristic for the Equitable Coloring Problem. This algorithm is an adaptation of the dynamic TabuCol version of Galinier and Hao. In order to satisfy equity constraints, new local search criteria are given. Computational experiments are carried out in order to find the best combination of parameters involved in the dynamic tenure of the heuristic. Finally, we show the good performance of our heuristic over known benchmark instances

The Professional Learning Motivation Profile (PLMP): A Tool for Assessing Instructional Motivation

This article chronicles the collaboration of administrators from six districts and three college professors as they assessed professional learning during the first year of teaching. The examination led to the development of a Professional Learning Motivation Profile. Results from the profile indicated a traditional model of professional development was not effective in growing the professional learning motivation of beginning teachers. Anecdotal data shared includes how administrators used the data to inform conversations designed to support teachers in their journey toward courageous, effective instruction

Hierarchically-coupled hidden Markov models for learning kinetic rates from single-molecule data

We address the problem of analyzing sets of noisy time-varying signals that all report on the same process but confound straightforward analyses due to complex inter-signal heterogeneities and measurement artifacts. In particular we consider single-molecule experiments which indirectly measure the distinct steps in a biomolecular process via observations of noisy time-dependent signals such as a fluorescence intensity or bead position. Straightforward hidden Markov model (HMM) analyses attempt to characterize such processes in terms of a set of conformational states, the transitions that can occur between these states, and the associated rates at which those transitions occur; but require ad-hoc post-processing steps to combine multiple signals. Here we develop a hierarchically coupled HMM that allows experimentalists to deal with inter-signal variability in a principled and automatic way. Our approach is a generalized expectation maximization hyperparameter point estimation procedure with variational Bayes at the level of individual time series that learns an single interpretable representation of the overall data generating process.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure