Teaching in the Middle Grades Today: Examining Teachers’ Beliefs About Middle Grades Teaching

Since the beginning of the middle school movement in the mid-1960s, middle level advocates have called for a school experience for young adolescents grounded in adolescent development that engages students in meaningful learning (Eichhorn, 1966; Alexander & Williams, 1965). The aim of this exploratory multi-case study was to understand middle level teachers’ beliefs about middle level instruction in the current educational environment. To gain this understanding, researchers asked ten current middle grades teachers with varying levels of experience to discuss their beliefs regarding their primary purpose as a middle grades teacher, the current status of middle level teaching, their best and worst instructional lessons, and their perceived barriers to teaching at the middle level. The teachers described the role of teaching in the middle grades as challenging and stressful, but of great importance. In general, they described instruction that included discovery, student engagement, and relevance in an effort to address students’ academic development. There was minimal mention of the non-academic aspects of adolescent development. Finally, teachers viewed curriculum restrictions, students’ attitudes toward learning, difficulty with differentiation, and lack of technology as significant barriers to their success in the classroom

The Status of Middle Schools in the Southeastern United States: Perceptions and Implementation of the Middle School Model

For more than 100 years, education communities have debated how best to educate the young adolescent. Proponents of both the junior high school model and the current middle school model have advocated for a specialized approach to educating adolescents that emphasizes the developmental needs of students. To accomplish this, various organizational structures and instructional approaches are recommended. This survey study examines the perceptions of these middle school practices and the implementation of those practices in middle schools in the Southeastern region of the United States. We note several key trends in our results and highlight key differences in perception of importance and implementation of middle school components and strategies compared to the most recent large scale survey administered by McEwin and Greene (2011)

America’s Middle Schools: Examining Context, Organizational Structures, and Instructional Practices

The education of the young adolescent has consistently posed a challenge to the educational community. While the general belief is this age group (10-15-year-old children) would benefit from a specialized educational approach, historically, both the junior high school model of the early 1900s and the more current middle school concept have struggled to be fully implemented and embraced by the educational community. With almost a decade passing since the last national survey focused on middle grades schools (McEwin & Greene, 2010, 2011), researchers seek to reassess the context, organizational structures, and instructional practices of middle schools in the United States. Over 1,600 responses from principals and teachers to the national survey indicate the status of middle schools is largely unchanged since the McEwin and Greene (2010, 2011) study. Specific recommendations for moving forward are shared

A Shared Vision? Exploring the Perceptions of Principals and Teachers Regarding the Middle School Concept

From decades of recommendations, middle school advocates have recommended various organizational structures and instructional practices to meet the specific educational needs of young adolescents. Several notable national studies have sought to assess and report the status of implementation of these recommended practices, though largely from the perspective of the building principal. The purpose of this study was to examine both teachers’ and principals’ perceptions concerning the middle school concept. Based on responses of over 1,600 teachers and principals from all 50 states, findings indicate support for components of the middle school concept related to curriculum and instruction as well as school culture; however, support for components related to middle school philosophy and organizational structures received the lowest levels of support from principals and teachers. While reported support for middle school students was encouraging, the waning support for the philosophical and organizational components often considered foundational to the middle school concept was concerning

Mars Technology Rover with Arm-Mounted Percussive Coring Tool, Microimager, and Sample-Handling Encapsulation Containerization Subsystem

A report describes the PLuto (programmable logic) Mars Technology Rover, a mid-sized FIDO (field integrated design and operations) class rover with six fully drivable and steerable cleated wheels, a rocker-bogey suspension, a pan-tilt mast with panorama and navigation stereo camera pairs, forward and rear stereo hazcam pairs, internal avionics with motor drivers and CPU, and a 5-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. The technology rover was integrated with an arm-mounted percussive coring tool, microimager, and sample handling encapsulation containerization subsystem (SHEC). The turret of the arm contains a percussive coring drill and microimager. The SHEC sample caching system mounted to the rover body contains coring bits, sample tubes, and sample plugs. The coring activities performed in the field provide valuable data on drilling conditions for NASA tasks developing and studying coring technology. Caching of samples using the SHEC system provide insight to NASA tasks investigating techniques to store core samples in the future

Force control of heavy lift manipulators for high precision insertion tasks

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, June 2005."May 2005." Leaf 81 blank.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-70).The inherent strength of robotic manipulators can be used to assist humans in performing heavy lifting tasks. These robots reduce manpower, reduce fatigue, and increase productivity. This thesis deals with the development of a control system for a robot being built for this purpose. The task for this robot is to lift heavy payloads while performing complex insertion tasks. This task must be completed on the deck of a naval vessel where possible disturbances include wind, rain, poor visibility, and dynamic loads induced by a swaying deck. The primary objective of the controller being designed here is to allow for insertion of the payload despite tight positioning tolerances and disturbances like surface friction, joint friction, and dynamic loads from ship motions. A control structure designed for intuitive interaction between the robot and operator is analyzed and shown to be stable using an established environment interaction model. The controller is shown to perform within established specifications via numerical simulation based on simple user inputs. An additional objective of this controller design is to prevent part jamming during the insertion task. With a large, powerful manipulator, the chances of a jam occurring is high. Without the use of bilateral force feedback, it will be difficult for the operator feel when these jams will occur and there will be no information about how to prevent them. This thesis analyzes the geometry and mechanics of the jamming problem and derives a control system to assist the user in preventing these jams. These methods can be extended to other insertion tasks simply by specifying the appropriate geometry.by Matthew A. DiCicco.S.M

Mono Lake Analog Mars Sample Return Expedition for AMASE

We explored the performance of one robotic prototype for sample acquisition and caching of martian materials that has been developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for potential use in the proposed MAX-C Mars Sample Return architecture in an environment, rich in chemical diversity with a variety of mineralogical textures. Mono Lake State Tufa Reserve in Mono County, CA possesses a variety of minerals including a variety of evaporites, volcanic glass and lava, and sand and mudstones. The lake itself is an interesting chemical system: the water is highly alkaline (pH is approximately 10) and contains concentrations of Cl, K, B, with lesser amounts of S Ca Mg, F, As, Li, I and Wand generally enriched HREEs. There are also traces of radioactive elements U, Th, Pl