Implementing MTH 155: Statistical Reasoning Co-Requisite

Virginia Highlands Community College (VHCC) implemented MTH 155 — Statistical Reasoning Co-Requisite — in the spring semester of 2018. MTH 155 replaced MTH 146 on VHCC’s campus. Prerequisites for this course are the first five developmental MTE modules. The intended co-requisite audience for this new course consists of students having successfully completed at least three of the five MTE modules. These students co-enrolled in MCR 5 and received targeted assistance for the MTH 155 course. Successful completion of MTH 155 resulted in the prerequisite MTE modules 1-5 being satisfied. This paper will present the results of this study along with implications for future work with co-requisite mathematics courses

Is there a Connection between Learning Style Preferences and Video Game Genres?

The purpose of this research was to determine if a correlation exists between video game genres and learning style preferences The framework used was the cognitive behavioral theoretical framework The quantitative research that guided the study was the relationship between learning style preference and an individual s preferred genre of video game A VARK Survey was implemented to collect data the second data collection process was the different video game genres people play The data was analyzed using the Chi-square test of independence For most video game genres and learning style preferences there was no correlation Teachers administration and workshop educators might benefit by learning how to integrate video game genres to differentiate the lessons for their student

STUDENTS’ MISCONCEPTIONS IN INTERPRETING THE MEAN OF THE DATA PRESENTED IN A BAR GRAPH

Interpreting the mean of the data presented in a bar graph constitutes a mix of two concepts highly useful for testing students’ level of understanding of the mean. This study aimed to  describe students’ misconceptions in the interpretation of the mean of data that are represented in a bar graph and the causes of such misconceptions and to examine whether misconceptions differed by gender and grade. The participants of this study consisted of 112 students (48 males, 64 females) of the Natural Science program of SMAN 1 Tanjungpinang in three grades—tenth, eleventh, twelfth. Employing a mixed method with an exploratory sequential design, this study collected and analyzed qualitative data prior to quantitative ones. The research identified 12 misconceptions about the mean and 8 causes of such misconceptions, and based on the chi-squared test results, neither gender- nor grade-based difference in students’ misconceptions was found. These results have an implication for teachers and other educational stakeholders in considering the achievement of learning objectives and core competences in the learning process, especially in the processing, reasoning, and presentation of the mean of data that are presented in a bar graph

Digital Utilities: The Factors Impacting Municipal Broadband Decisions Among Local Leaders

The venerable concept of universal service crucial to municipal utility operations may be the key to solving a digital-age challenge. Many rural Americans face persistent inequities in broadband Internet access, as low population density limits return on infrastructure investment. However, municipal broadband networks (MBNs) have already gained success at fostering economic growth, enhancing educational opportunities, and furthering social equity in places such as Chanute, KS and Chattanooga, TN. Municipalities are uniquely well-positioned to provide broadband due to their existing right-of-way assets and experience in providing utility services. Just as the 1930s-era Rural Electrification Administration programs helped double the number of farms receiving electricity in just five years, today, municipal broadband networks (MBNs) could meet the education, health, and economic development needs of 21st-century communities. Rather than shutting out private providers, they create choice that stimulates marketplace competition. This research identifies what challenges face municipal broadband adoption, how these challenges vary based on unique local conditions, and how informed management practices can help overcome them. Using an online survey with pre-coded and open-ended questions, this research collects data from 38 managers in Kansas communities, 2 with and 36 without MBNs. These results help illustrate the benefits of and barriers to municipal broadband, and disseminate best practices in utility management. Specifically, this research focuses on the perceived incentives and disincentives of MBN implementation, and how these shape short-term and long-term implementation choices at the urban and rural scales. This project could help communities power a new generation of prosperity by implementing more efficient, equitable, and effective information system

ANALISIS PENGGUNAAN VISUAL MEDIATOR KETIKA MAHASISWA MELAKUKAN PENALARAN STATISTIS

Abstrak  Visual mediator dapat digunakan sebagai alat bantu berpikir dalam wacana matematika, dan merupakan bagian penting dalam proses berpikir. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis penggunaan visual mediator ketika mahasiswa melakukan penalaran statistis. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif. Mahasiswa yang terlibat dalam kajian ini sebanyak 42 mahasiswa. Empat diantara 42 mahasiswa tersebut merupakan subjek dalam penelitian ini. Teknik pengumpulan data adalah hasil tes tertulis dan hasil wawancara. Satu soal diberikan kepada mahasiswa. Soal tersebut memuat pertanyaan yang menuntut mahasiswa melakukan penalaran statistis. Analisis data dilakukan dengan cara mengidentifikasi peran visual mediator yang digunakan mahasiswa ketika mereka melakukan penalaran statistis. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa: 1) visual mediator dapat digunakan sebagai objek awal dan juga sebagai objek final untuk mempermudah dalam menghasilkan substantiation narrative, 2) visual mediator berupa grafik merupakan objek yang dapat mempermudah dalam membuat prediksi data time series, 3) diperlukan penggabungan berbagai visual mediator untuk memberikan substantiation narrative yang tepat dalam membuat kesimpulan dan prediksi data,  4) visual mediator yang sama pada individu berbeda dapat menghasilkan substantiation narrative berbeda dalam membuat kesimpulan dan memprediksi data.  Kajian ini memberikan implikasi bahwa penggunaan berbagai visual mediator merupakan aspek penting dalam memahami objek serta berperan menghasilkan substantiation narrative ketika melakukan penalaran statistis.   Abstract Visual mediators can be used as thinking aids in mathematical discourse and an important part of the thinking process. This study aims to analyze the use of visual mediators when students perform statistical reasoning. This type of research was qualitative research. There were 42 students involved in this study. Four of the 42 students were subjects in this study. Data collection techniques are the results of written tests and interviews. One question given to students. The question contains questions that require students to do statistical reasoning. Data analysis was carried out by identifying the visual role of the mediator used by students when they did statistical reasoning. The results of this study indicate that: 1) visual mediators could be used as initial objects and also as final objects to make it easier to produce substantiation narratives, 2) visual mediators in the form of graphs are objects that can make it easier to predict time series data, 3) it is necessary to combine various visual mediators to provide the right substantiation narrative in making conclusions and predict data, 4) the same visual mediator by different individuals can produce different substantiation narratives in making conclusions and predicting data. This study implies that using various visual mediators is an important aspect of understanding objects and plays a role in producing them

The use of the online tutorial and assessment system, MathXL, in teaching of Algebra I

The integration of web based learning tools into the teaching of mathematics holds much promise for engaging middle and high school students. The purpose of this thesis is to report about my experiences regarding the effectiveness of using an online homework, tutorial and assessment system as part of two of the six Algebra I math classes I taught in the 2008-2009 school year at Sherwood Middle Academic Magnet School in East Baton Rouge Parish. Comparing the two sets of classes I found that such online systems offer many potential advantages to educators, such as the ability to provide instantaneous feedback, as well as a great deal of tutorial assistance on each and every homework problem assigned. Other possible advantages include increasing student motivation to succeed, offering many students the opportunity to develop content mastery, and allowing the educator more time to teach rather than grade homework, quizzes and test. With the great wealth of online resources available, in this thesis project we decided to consider the MathXL online system by Pearson Education that is used by many major educational institutions including Louisiana State University in their College Algebra and Trigonometry classes. A major piece of the thesis project is devoted to the development of a complete Algebra I MathXL online course environment and its integration with traditional instruction in the middle school setting, along with a discussion of the implementation and concluding beliefs after testing the program on one calendar school year

Osittain automatisoitujen menetelmien käyttö suorien anglismien tunnistamiseen suomenkielisissä korpusaineistoissa

The goal of this thesis is to investigate methods that could help with harvesting neologisms and more specifically anglicisms (i.e. English-sourced borrowings) in Finnish language. The work is partially motivated by the Global Anglicism Database project to gather anglicisms from various languages, which can serve both as an anglicism dictionary and researchers as a source of information for studying language contact and borrowing either in depth for a specific language or cross-linguistically. A systematic way of harvesting anglicisms in current Finnish language from a suitable corpus is devised. The research examines what kinds of data sources suitable for this goal are available, and what would be the criteria for a useful data source; how to use a data source like that to prepare a good list of anglicisms candidates so that there would be as little irrelevant material as possible but so that no anglicisms would not be lost in the process, and how could the candidates be scored so that the more probable anglicisms would appear closer to the top of a candidate list. Several of Language Bank's Finnish language monolingual corpora are considered. The most important criteria are identified to be the size and genre of the corpus and its annotation. The criteria are explored from the description of corpora on Language Bank's website and available literature and by hands-on examination of the data. Other important measures of corpus suitability are the amount of unannotated foreign language material, amount of noise, and potential anglicism proportion in the corpora. This information is gained via meticulous exploration of random samples of the corpora neologism candidate lists and evaluation on previously gained anglicism set. A combination of two corpora with good coverage of known anglicisms and relatively low amount of noise is chosen as the dataset for the next phase of the anglicism identification process. Anglicism candidate lists are prepared by a process of removing tokens irrelevant for anglicism harvesting. That includes an identifiable part of foreign language material in the corpus, formally recognizable noise, known lemmas of the words that were present in Finnish language around the time just before the major influx of English borrowings to Finnish language started, and their inflected forms. Several methods of scoring candidates are devised that would assign better scores to tokens with higher probability to be an anglicism. The score is based on tokens' frequency in the corpus and relative frequency of the character-level n-grams made out of tokens in representative purely English and purely Finnish corpora. The tokens in the candidate list are scored and ordered, and the resulting list is evaluated based on the ranking of a set of previously identified anglicisms. The method is proved to be somewhat effective; the resulting average ranking of known anglicisms is better than it would be in a randomly sorted candidate list

Introductory Statistics Textbooks and the GAISE Recommendations

The six recommendations made by the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) committee were first communicated in 2005 and more formally in 2010. In this paper, 25 introductory statistics textbooks are examined to assess how well these textbooks have incorporated the three GAISE recommendations most relevant to implementation in textbooks (statistical literacy and thinking; use of real data; stress concepts over procedures). The implementation of another recommendation (using technology) is described but not assessed. In general, most textbooks appear to be adopting the GAISE recommendations reasonably well in both exposition and exercises. The textbooks are particularly adept at using real data, using real data well, and promoting statistical literacy. Textbooks are less adept—but still rated reasonably well, in general—at explaining concepts over procedures and promoting statistical thinking. In contrast, few textbooks have easy-usable glossaries of statistical terms to assist with understanding of statistical language and literacy development.This work was partially supported by USC Open Learning and Teaching Grant (OLTGP2012/04