MATHEMATICS EDUCATORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON CULTURAL RELEVANCE OF BASIC LEVEL MATHEMATICS IN NEPAL

The main purpose of this paper was to explore mathematics educators’ perception of the cultural relevance of basic level mathematics in Nepal. The design of this study involved an interpretive qualitative approach by administering in-depth interviews with five purposively selected mathematics educators teaching at five higher education institutions in the Kathmandu valley. Each interview was audio-recorded and transcribed for coding and constructing themes. The major themes that emerged were teaching in a mother language, contextualized Ethnomathematics, and the local knowledge in the curriculum as a teaching approach. The findings of the study can be helpful to curriculum designers and teachers at the basic level of mathematics. The study also adds to the literature of cultural aspects of mathematics teaching and learning and curriculum design

Exploring the dimensions of place branding: an application of the ICON model to the branding of Toronto

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the place branding dimensions of a city undergoing a concerted effort to build a distinctive brand for itself. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative, exploratory approach is adopted, applying the ICON model of place branding to the multistakeholder city branding strategy of Toronto. A combination of interviews, participant observation, content analysis and professional reflection inform the study. Findings: Toronto’s emergence as a creative city with global standing has been achieved, in part, through a holistic and collaborative approach that is integrated, contextualized, organic and new. Practical implications: Place and destination promoters are offered a practical application of the ICON model of place branding, informing future initiatives and offering insight into good practice. Originality/value: Viewed through the lens of the ICON model, the paper provides insights into the collaborative and innovate practices that characterize effective city branding

2017 The Role of Books and Reading in STEM: An Overview of the Benefits for Children and the Opportunities to Enhance the Field

In April 2017, STEM Next, in partnership with the Hoag Foundation and the Molina Foundation, commissioned the Institute for Entrepreneurship in Education (IEE) and the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research at the University of San Diego to provide an overview of literacy learning within the disciplinary context of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). This overview includes (1) a literature review on the benefits of integrating literacy and STEM for elementary and middle-school-aged children, (2) an environmental scan of reading programs, organizations, and materials that focus on Literacy in STEM, and (3) a set of criteria for identifying high-quality STEM reading materials and programs for school-aged children both in school and out of school.https://digital.sandiego.edu/npi-youth/1001/thumbnail.jp

Exploring the dimensions of place branding: an application of the ICON model to the branding of Toronto

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the place branding dimensions of a city undergoing a concerted effort to build a distinctive brand for itself. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative, exploratory approach is adopted, applying the ICON model of place branding to the multistakeholder city branding strategy of Toronto. A combination of interviews, participant observation, content analysis and professional reflection inform the study. Findings: Toronto’s emergence as a creative city with global standing has been achieved, in part, through a holistic and collaborative approach that is integrated, contextualized, organic and new. Practical implications: Place and destination promoters are offered a practical application of the ICON model of place branding, informing future initiatives and offering insight into good practice. Originality/value: Viewed through the lens of the ICON model, the paper provides insights into the collaborative and innovate practices that characterize effective city branding

Games for a new climate: experiencing the complexity of future risks

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.This report is a product of the Pardee Center Task Force on Games for a New Climate, which met at Pardee House at Boston University in March 2012. The 12-member Task Force was convened on behalf of the Pardee Center by Visiting Research Fellow Pablo Suarez in collaboration with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre to “explore the potential of participatory, game-based processes for accelerating learning, fostering dialogue, and promoting action through real-world decisions affecting the longer-range future, with an emphasis on humanitarian and development work, particularly involving climate risk management.” Compiled and edited by Janot Mendler de Suarez, Pablo Suarez and Carina Bachofen, the report includes contributions from all of the Task Force members and provides a detailed exploration of the current and potential ways in which games can be used to help a variety of stakeholders – including subsistence farmers, humanitarian workers, scientists, policymakers, and donors – to both understand and experience the difficulty and risks involved related to decision-making in a complex and uncertain future. The dozen Task Force experts who contributed to the report represent academic institutions, humanitarian organization, other non-governmental organizations, and game design firms with backgrounds ranging from climate modeling and anthropology to community-level disaster management and national and global policymaking as well as game design.Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centr

Culturally Relevant Teaching for the 21st Century: The Success and Challenges of Pre-service Teachers when Using Technology in Critical Ways

This case study examined pre-service teachers\u27 use of technology as they implemented culturally relevant literacy lessons while tutoring elementary students in their field placement sites. As we enter a new decade, we want our students to be future-ready with technology skills. Here, we present an examination of how pre-service teachers integrated culturally relevant teaching with technology along with a discussion of the tools and devices their students used. Findings provided evidence that as pre-service teachers experienced authentic and engaging learning experiences within a supportive space, they emerged equipped to teach in culturally responsive ways that supported student learning and deeper levels of engagement. The implication for practice is for community-engaged teacher preparation models to focus on shaping prospective teachers\u27 orientation toward culturally relevant teaching so that they build learning experiences around students\u27 lives in engaging multiple, multimodal, and multifaceted ways

Introduction to location-based mobile learning

[About the book] The report follows on from a 2-day workshop funded by the STELLAR Network of Excellence as part of their 2009 Alpine Rendez-Vous workshop series and is edited by Elizabeth Brown with a foreword from Mike Sharples. Contributors have provided examples of innovative and exciting research projects and practical applications for mobile learning in a location-sensitive setting, including the sharing of good practice and the key findings that have resulted from this work. There is also a debate about whether location-based and contextual learning results in shallower learning strategies and a section detailing the future challenges for location-based learning

Augmenting the field experience: a student-led comparison of techniques and technologies

In this study we report on our experiences of creating and running a student fieldtrip exercise which allowed students to compare a range of approaches to the design of technologies for augmenting landscape scenes. The main study site is around Keswick in the English Lake District, Cumbria, UK, an attractive upland environment popular with tourists and walkers. The aim of the exercise for the students was to assess the effectiveness of various forms of geographic information in augmenting real landscape scenes, as mediated through a range of techniques and technologies. These techniques were: computer-generated acetate overlays showing annotated wireframe views from certain key points; a custom-designed application running on a PDA; a mediascape running on the mScape software on a GPS-enabled mobile phone; Google Earth on a tablet PC; and a head-mounted in-field Virtual Reality system. Each group of students had all five techniques available to them, and were tasked with comparing them in the context of creating a visitor guide to the area centred on the field centre. Here we summarise their findings and reflect upon some of the broader research questions emerging from the project

Survivance Among Social Impact Games

Studying social impact games can result in many outcomes, such as awareness or action around a social issue. Research can help inform best practices for the design process, strategies for reaching players, game mechanics for aligning with social impact outcomes, and methods for identifying the impact of the game on players and the wider community. One such research project is Survivance (http://www.survivance.org)—a social impact game that addresses healing from intergenerational historical trauma experienced by Indigenous communities. Survivance was designed collaboratively with Indigenous game designer/researcher Elizabeth LaPensée and the non-profit organization Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. This paper seeks to contextualize the area of social impact games within the Games for Change movement, compare perspectives on social impact games, and create connections and comparisons with Survivance