Adults Learning Math Online: A Surprising Harmony

Adults returning to school face challenges including overcoming math anxiety. Many choose online courses as they balance life and work schedules. Online math courses therefore can be restructured to prevent math anxiety by catering to individual learning styles, providing tools that aid concept attainment, and using problem-based learning strategies

Mathematics: Going Beyond the Academic Discipline

Mathematics is rigidly classified as an academic discipline. This determines curriculum content and teaching and evaluation methods. These methods can give rise to negative views of mathematics, resulting in increased math anxiety. Educators, therefore, need to look beyond the discipline to provide a classroom environment that meets students’ needs

How the Use of Subjectivist Instructional Strategies in Teaching Multiple Sections of an Eighth Grade Algebra Class in Guyana Relates to Algebra Achievement and Attitude Changes toward Mathematics

In Guyana, South America, the Ministry of Education seeks to provide universal, inclusive education that prepares its citizens to take their productive places in society and to creatively solve complex, real-world problems. However, with frequent national assessments that are used to place students in high school, college or into jobs, teachers resort to using familiar strategies such as lecture, recitation and test drilling. Despite their efforts, over 56% of students are failing the Grade 6 assessments, 43% failing 10th grade Mathematics and over 60% failing college algebra courses. Such performance has been linked to students’ lower academic self-concept and their negative attitudes toward mathematics aggravated by an autocratic culture that continues to view the teacher as sole authority. Subjectivist instructional strategies integrate constructivism and affect by providing a learning experience that gives children more autonomy as they solve contextually relevant algebraic problems. In a quasi-experimental study involving a treatment and control group of eighth grade students at a high school in Guyana, a modified version of the Mathematics Value Inventory was used to measure students’ attitudes towards mathematics before and after the 10-week treatment. Scores on the final examination were used to determine achievement in algebra. Forty seven students in the treatment group were guided in exploring and discovering concepts for themselves. Formal definitions were delayed until after the students experimented with relatable scenarios. Forty two students in the control group were taught using multiple opportunities to practice. Analysis was done using General Linear Models to determine the variance in achievement and attitude scores accounted for by the instructional strategies while controlling for sex, challenge index, and, pretreatment scores for attitude and achievement. The challenge index was developed to identify outside influences on students’ performance such as: travel time; whether living at home; number in household; sleepiness; noisiness; and, resource availability. Results were not all as expected but some interesting relationships surfaced between the challenges, attitudes towards mathematics and achievement scores. Ultimately it was determined that the environment in which students had to study and the challenges they faced outweighed the small gains in attitude changes for the treatment group

ES institucijose dirbančių vertėjų įvaizdžio Airijos Respublikos anglakalbėje žiniasklaidoje tyrimas

 Although the Republic of Ireland has been a member of the European Union for nearly five decades, the country’s first official language, Irish, was only recognised as an official EU language on 1 January 2007. However, a lack of appropriately qualified linguistic personnel means that the language is currently subject to a derogation on its use in the EU institutions, which is scheduled to be lifted in 2022. Interviews conducted previously with interpreters in the Republic of Ireland (Hoyte-West 2020a) noted that practitioners generally viewed media coverage of the derogation as contributing to a positive image of the translational professions within the EU context; however, further research needed to be carried out on the topic. Accordingly, this article looks at how institutional translators and interpreters have been depicted in the Republic of Ireland’s English-language print media from 2007 to 2019. Using data obtained through a qualitative content analysis of the country’s three major English-language newspapers, an overview of the current situation is provided through analysis of the attitudes and opinions expressed.Nors Airijos Respublika yra Europos Sąjungos narė jau beveik penki dešimtmečiai, šalies pirmoji oficialioji kalba – airių – pripažinta ir oficialiąja ES kalba tik 2007 m. sausio 1 d. Vis dėlto dėl nepakankamo tinkamos kvalifikacijos airių kalbos vertėjų skaičiaus kol kas airių kalbos vartojimui ES institucijose taikoma išimtis. Ją numatoma panaikinti 2022 m. Anksčiau vykdyti interviu su konferencijų vertėjais Airijos Respublikoje (Hoyte-West 2020a) atskleidė, kad šios išimties taikymo pristatymą žiniasklaidoje vertėjai vertino kaip teigiamą, prisidedantį prie vertėjų profesijos įvaizdžio ES kontekste stiprinimo, tačiau siekiant tai patvirtinti tyrimą reikėjo tęsti. Šis straipsnis skirtas išsiaiškinti, kaip ES institucijų vertėjai raštu ir žodžiu buvo pristatomi Airijos Respublikos anglakalbėje spaudoje 2007–2019 m. Remiantis turinio kokybinės analizės duomenimis, surinktais iš trijų didžiausių anglų kalba leidžiamų laikraščių, straipsnyje pristatoma dabartinės padėties apžvalga ir spaudoje išreikštų požiūrių ir nuomonių analizė

The western Balkans and EU multilingualism: A focus on translation and interpreting

To date, four countries in the western Balkans have attained EU candidate country status: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. However, little research has focused on the logistics of how the official languages of these countries will eventually be incorporated as official and working languages of the EU. Therefore, in contextualising the unique historical, political and sociolinguistic situation of the western Balkans, this literature-based study examines current translation and interpreting provision for Albanian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, and Serbia within the EU’s language services. In addition, specific attention is focused on the availability of relevant translator and interpreter training options, as well as on further areas for potential cooperation

Book review of Interpreting in Namibia: Past and Present. Overview from Colonial Times to the Present Day

This is a review of Interpreting in Namibia: Past and Present. Overview from Colonial Times to the Present Day, by Jelizaveta Getta (Prague, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2019)

Overweight, obesity, and reality television: Exploring health data and the popularity of local versions of The Biggest Loser in the European context

With rates of overweight and obesity on the rise around the world, there have been numerous reality television shows dedicated to this complex and enduring issue. This exploratory contribution outlines the global epidemiological situation relating to overweight and obesity in the European context, before seeking to discover whether there is any linkage between the rates of overweight in a given European country and the popularity – as demonstrated through the number of seasons broadcast – of the local version of the weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser. Through the analysis of online sources, preliminary data is gained, providing useful information for further research on the topic at a later date