New Media and Online Mathematics Learning for Teachers

In this chapter we offer a case study of an online Mathematics for Teachers course through the lens of four affordances of new media: democratization, multimodality, collaboration and performance. Mathematics, perhaps more so than other school subjects, has traditionally been a subject that people do not talk about outside of classroom settings. However, we demonstrate through the case of the Mathematics for Teachers course that this does not have to be the case. Mathematics, even mathematics that traditionally has been seen as abstract or inaccessible, can be talked about in ways that can engage not only adults but also young children. The affordances of new media can help us rethink and disrupt our existing views of mathematics (for teachers and for students) and of how it might be taught and learned, by (1) blurring teacher/student distinctions and crossing hierarchical curriculum boundaries; (2) communicating mathematics in multimodal ways; (3) seeing mathematics as a collaborative enterprise; and (4) helping us learn how to relate good math stories to classmates and family when asked “What did you do in math today?

Phylogeny of the tropical tree family Dipterocarpaceae based on nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast RBCL gene

The Dipterocarpaceae, well-known trees of the Asian rain forests, have been variously assigned to Malvales and Theales. The family, if the Monotoideae of Africa (30 species) and South America and the Pakaraimoideae of South America (one species) are included, comprises over 500 species. Despite the high diversity and ecological dominance of the Dipterocarpaceae, phylogenetic relationships within the family as well as between dipterocarps and other angiosperm families remain poorly defined. We conducted parsimony analyses on rbcL sequences from 35 species to reconstruct the phylogeny of the Dipterocarpaceae. The consensus tree resulting from these analyses shows that the members of Dipterocarpaceae, including Monotes and Pakaraimaea, form a monophyletic group closely related to the family Sarcolaenaceae and are allied to Malvales. The present generic and higher taxon circumscriptions of Dipterocarpaceae are mostly in agreement with this molecular phylogeny with the exception of the genus Hopea, which forms a clade with Shorea sections Anthoshorea and Doona. Phylogenetic placement of Dipterocarpus and Dryobalanops remains unresolved. Further studies involving representative taxa from Cistaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Hopea, Shorea, Dipterocarpus, and Dryobalanops will be necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the phylogeny and generic limits of the Dipterocarpaceae

Childrens gratitude: implication of contextual and demographic variables in Argentina

Este artículo explora los motivos de agradecimiento que expresan los niños,teniendo en cuenta variables demográficas y contextuales. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 249 participantes argentinos de 8 a 10 años de edad (127 niños de estrato socioeconómico medio -Grupo 1-, y 122 de estrato socioeconómico bajo -Grupo 2). Se utilizó la técnica de respuestas libres y se realizaron pruebas V de Cramer para analizar si los motivos de gratitud se asociaban al estrato socioeconómico, al género y la edad. El Grupo 1 agradece principalmente por la familia, mientras que el Grupo 2 se focaliza en los bienes materiales y elementos básicos para la supervivencia, como el alimento. Las niñas agradecen mayormente por las relaciones afectivas. Los varones mencionan los objetos materiales, los préstamos y la indulgencia parental. Los motivos de gratitud también estuvieron significativamente asociados a la edad.􀀑-Introduction. -Method. -Results. -Discussion. -References