Developing Motivation of Adolescent Mathematics Students Through Instructional Choice

Maintaining student motivation in mathematics increases the likelihood of long-term academic success. A key component to building motivation is having perceived control over a task. Students who maintain perceived control exhibit greater task engagement, motivation, and exhibit lower levels of stress and anxiety in that task (Bandura, 1989; Schunk, 2012; Skinner, 1990). This six-week study investigated the relationship between student choice and motivation in mathematics instruction, by affording students an individual choice of their instructor in their mathematics course. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest two group design was implemented using a sample of Integrated Mathematics II high school students. Student motivation to study mathematics was measured by The Motivation for Mathematics Abbreviated Instrument (MMAI; Butler, 2016), a psychometric motivational scale for students in developmental Algebra courses. Students in the intervention group were presented an individual choice: to remain in the current class meeting and follow the lesson instruction with their math instructor, or choose to leave the meeting and join an alternative, yet identically paced class meeting taught using a pre-recorded video lesson of a different instructor. Independent and paired t-tests were conducted to determine the change in student motivation across and within groups. The intervention group exhibited a larger increase in mean scores compared to the control group; however, this change was not statistically significant. Further research should investigate other means of providing student autonomy in a mathematics classroom

Zephyr extensibility in small workstation oriented computer networks

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1998.Includes bibliographical references.by Jason T. Hunter.M.Eng

Effects of Elevated H\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e And P\u3csub\u3ei\u3c/sub\u3e on The Contractile Mechanics of Skeletal Muscle Fibres From Young and Old Men: Implications for Muscle Fatigue in Humans

The present study aimed to identify the mechanisms responsible for the loss in muscle power and increased fatigability with ageing by integrating measures of whole‐muscle function with single fibre contractile mechanics. After adjusting for the 22% smaller muscle mass in old (73–89 years, n = 6) compared to young men (20–29 years, n = 6), isometric torque and power output of the knee extensors were, respectively, 38% and 53% lower with age. Fatigability was ∼2.7‐fold greater with age and strongly associated with reductions in the electrically‐evoked contractile properties. To test whether cross‐bridge mechanisms could explain age‐related decrements in knee extensor function, we exposed myofibres (n = 254) from the vastus lateralis to conditions mimicking quiescent muscle and fatiguing levels of acidosis (H+) (pH 6.2) and inorganic phosphate (Pi) (30 mm). The fatigue‐mimicking condition caused marked reductions in force, shortening velocity and power and inhibited the low‐ to high‐force state of the cross‐bridge cycle, confirming findings from non‐human studies that these ions act synergistically to impair cross‐bridge function. Other than severe age‐related atrophy of fast fibres (−55%), contractile function and the depressive effects of the fatigue‐mimicking condition did not differ in fibres from young and old men. The selective loss of fast myosin heavy chain II muscle was strongly associated with the age‐related decrease in isometric torque (r = 0.785) and power (r = 0.861). These data suggest that the age‐related loss in muscle strength and power are primarily determined by the atrophy of fast fibres, but the age‐related increased fatigability cannot be explained by an increased sensitivity of the cross‐bridge to H+ and Pi

Gain Stabilization of a Submillimeter SIS Heterodyne Receiver

We have designed a system to stabilize the gain of a submillimeter heterodyne receiver against thermal fluctuations of the mixing element. In the most sensitive heterodyne receivers, the mixer is usually cooled to 4 K using a closed-cycle cryocooler, which can introduce ~1% fluctuations in the physical temperature of the receiver components. We compensate for the resulting mixer conversion gain fluctuations by monitoring the physical temperature of the mixer and adjusting the gain of the intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier that immediately follows the mixer. This IF power stabilization scheme, developed for use at the Submillimeter Array (SMA), a submillimeter interferometer telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, routinely achieves a receiver gain stability of 1 part in 6,000 (rms to mean). This is an order of magnitude improvement over the typical uncorrected stability of 1 part in a few hundred. Our gain stabilization scheme is a useful addition to SIS heterodyne receivers that are cooled using closed-cycle cryocoolers in which the 4 K temperature fluctuations tend to be the leading cause of IF power fluctuations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures accepted to IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Technique

Re-Hearing the Gospel: Toward New Practices for Evangelism and Discipleship

The ministry problem addressed in this dissertation is: approaches to evangelism and discipleship are not working well because the works and words of Jesus have been reduced to going to heaven when you die, instead of living a Kingdom life now for the sake of the world. Chapter 1 discusses the problem of a disenstoryed, to coin an apt term for this context, bullet-point theology and uses The Alpha Course, as a step in the right direction. Alpha, while not explicitly storied in its approach, is far more holistic than an average tract on the Gospel. In Chapter 2, I present a biblical basis for the gift of a changed life, rooted in a Covenantal-Kingdom soteriology. Chapter 3 sets forth a review of N. T. Wright\u27s works. I suggest they inform evangelism through an understanding of the biblical story. Chapter 4 reviews the works of Dallas Willard and his take on what it means to be a Christian. Chapter 5 shares the insights of Gordon Smith and asks the question: Does a better conversion experience lead to better discipleship? The Conclusion provides a look at a way forward from the truncated, bullet-point version of the Gospel to a re-hearing of the Gospel in its storied form, leading to fresh vision of Christian Spirituality. The project is supported by five appendices that provide fuller descriptions of the concepts discussed in the main chapters

Synergy of multifrequency studies from observations of NGC6334I

We combine multifrequency observations from the millimeter to near infrared wavelengths that demonstrate the spatial distributions of H2, CO, and NH3 emission, which are all manifestations of various shocks driven by outflows of deeply embedded sources in NGC6334I. In addition to the well-known northeast-southwest outflow we detect at least one more outflow in the region by combining observations from APEX, ATCA, SMA, Spitzer and VLT/ISAAC. Potential driving sources will be discussed. NGC6334I exhibits several signs of active star formation and will be a major target for future observatories such as Herschel and ALMA.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, appeared in the proceedings of the workshop 'The Universe Under The Microscope - Astrophysics At High Angular Resolution', see http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/131/