Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Retrospective Analysis of a Pre-service Teacher Preparation Course

This SoTL study aimed to determine thirty-eight teacher candidates’ self-efficacy after experiencing semester one of a yearlong residency. Researchers used a pre/post survey, the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), and a retrospective pre TSES to determine perceived levels of self-efficacy in three areas: classroom management, instructional strategies, and student engagement. Findings revealed that pre TSES (candidates scored themselves at the beginning of the semester) and retrospective pre TSES scores (candidates scored themselves at the end of the semester reflecting on where they were at the beginning of the semester) were significantly different, with the retrospective pre TSES showing lower self-efficacy than the pre TSES. Post TSES comparisons to the retro-spective pre TSES showed a significant increase, whereas, the comparison of the traditional pre/post TSES showed no significant changes. This suggests teacher candidates had an overinflated sense of self-efficacy and that teacher educators should look beyond the pre TSES to provide transformational experiences for teacher candidates. The retro-pre TSES helps teacher educators monitor teacher candidates’ change in self-efficacy and gauge program impact

Infrastructure for mobile sensor network in the Singapore coastal zone

URL to conference page. Scroll down to 2010 conference, click on "Paper and session list," and search the PDF for Patrikalakis.Singapore is an island nation located at southern tip of the Malaysian Peninsula. She is at a strategic location along major shipping routes and therefore has one of the busiest harbors in the world. Having a safe and secure harbor environment is vital to maintain trade and growth in the country and region. To help build and maintain a safe harbor environment, the Center of Environmental Sensing and Modelling (CENSAM) under the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) is developing a mobile sensor network in the Singapore coastal zone

Coherent Coupled Qubits for Quantum Annealing

Quantum annealing is an optimization technique which potentially leverages quantum tunneling to enhance computational performance. Existing quantum annealers use superconducting flux qubits with short coherence times limited primarily by the use of large persistent currents I[subscript p]. Here, we examine an alternative approach using qubits with smaller I[subscript p] and longer coherence times. We demonstrate tunable coupling, a basic building block for quantum annealing, between two flux qubits with small (approximately 50-nA) persistent currents. Furthermore, we characterize qubit coherence as a function of coupler setting and investigate the effect of flux noise in the coupler loop on qubit coherence. Our results provide insight into the available design space for next-generation quantum annealers with improved coherence.United States. Office of the Director of National IntelligenceUnited States. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects ActivityUnited States. Dept. of Defense. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (FA8721-05-C-0002

Temperature and carbonate ion effects on Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in benthic foraminifera : aragonitic species Hoeglundina elegans

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 21 (2006): PA1007, doi:10.1029/2005PA001158.Core top samples from Atlantic (Little Bahama Banks (LBB)) and Pacific (Hawaii and Indonesia) depth transects have been analyzed in order to assess the influence of bottom water temperature (BWT) and aragonite saturation levels on Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in the aragonitic benthic foraminifer Hoeglundina elegans. Both the Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in H. elegans tests show a general decrease with increasing water depth. Although at each site the decreasing trends are consistent with the in situ temperature profile, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in LBB are substantially higher than in Indonesia and Hawaii at comparable water depths with a greater difference observed with increasing water depth. Because we find no significant difference between results obtained on “live” and “dead” specimens, we propose that these differences are due to primary effects on the metal uptake during test formation. Evaluation of the water column properties at each site suggests that in situ CO3 ion concentrations play an important role in determining the H. elegans Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios. The CO3 ion effect is limited, however, only to aragonite saturation levels ([ΔCO3]aragonite) below 15 μmol kg−1. Above this level, temperature exerts a dominant effect. Accordingly, we propose that Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca in H. elegans tests can be used to reconstruct thermocline temperatures only in waters oversaturated with respect to the mineral aragonite using the following relationships: Mg/Ca = (0.034 ± 0.002)BWT + (0.96 ± 0.03) and Sr/Ca = (0.060 ± 0.002)BWT + (1.53 ± 0.03) (for [ΔCO3]aragonite > 15 μmol kg−1). The standard error associated with these equations is about ±1.1°C. Reconstruction of deeper water temperatures is complicated because in undersaturated waters, changes in Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios reflect a combination of changes in [CO3] and BWT. Overall, we find that Sr/Ca, rather than Mg/Ca, in H. elegans may be a more accurate proxy for reconstructing paleotemperatures.Yair Rosenthal acknowledges the support of Amtzia Genin and the Hebrew University, Forchheimer Fellowship, during his sabbatical in the Inter-University Institute in Eilat, Israel. This project has been funded by NSF Awards OCE 0220922 to Y.R. and OCE 0220776 to D.W.O. and B.K.L

Supporting self-regulated learning

Self-regulated learning (SRL) competences are crucial for lifelong learning. Their cultivation requires the right balance between freedom and guidance during the learning processes. Current learning systems and approaches, such as personal learning environments, give overwhelming freedom, but also let weak learners alone. Other systems, such as learning management systems or adaptive systems, tend to institutionalise learners too much, which does not support the development of SRL competences. This chapter presents possibilities and approaches to support SRL by the use of technology. After discussing the theoretical background of SRL and related technologies, a formal framework is presented that describes the SRL process, related competences, and guidelines. Furthermore, a variety of methods is presented, how learners can be supported to learn in a self-regulated way

Family time, parental behaviour model and the initiation of smoking and alcohol use by ten-year-old children: an epidemiological study in Kaunas, Lithuania

BACKGROUND: Family is considered to be the first and the most important child development and socialization bond. Nevertheless, parental behaviour model importance for the children, as well as family time for shared activity amount influence upon the child's health-related behaviour habit development has not been yet thoroughly examined. The aim of this paper is to indicate the advanced health-hazardous behaviour modelling possibilities in the families, as well as time spent for joint family activities, and to examine the importance of time spent for joint family activities for the smoking and alcohol use habit initiation among children. METHODS: This research was carried out in Kaunas, Lithuania, during the school year 2004–2005. The research population consisted of 369 fifth-grade schoolchildren (211 (57.2%) boys and 158 (42.8%) girls) and 565 parents: 323 (57.2%) mothers and 242 (48.2%) fathers. The response rate was 80.7% for children; 96.1% and 90.6% for mothers and fathers correspondingly. RESULTS: Eating a meal together was the most frequent joint family activity, whereas visiting friends or relatives together, going for a walk, or playing sports were the most infrequent joint family activities. More than two thirds (81.5%) of parents (248 (77.0%) mothers and 207 (85.9%) fathers (p < 0.05)) reported frequenting alcohol furnished parties at least once a month. About half of the surveyed fathers (50.6%) together with one fifth of the mothers (19.9%) (p < 0.001) were smokers. More frequently than girls, boys reported having tried smoking (6.6% and 23.0% respectively; p < 0.001) as well as alcohol (31.16% and 40.1% respectively; p < 0.05). Child alcohol use was associated both with paternal alcohol use, and with the time, spent in joint family activities. For instance, boys were more prone to try alcohol, if their fathers frequented alcohol furnished parties, whereas girls were more prone to try alcohol, if family members spent less time together. CONCLUSION: Joint family activity time deficit together with frequent parental examples of smoking and alcohol use underlie the development of alcohol and smoking addictions in children to some extent. The above-mentioned issues are suggested to be widely addressed in the comprehensive family health education programs

Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru telescope: Ongoing integration and future plans

PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ∼ 1.6-2.7Å. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project recently started undertaking the commissioning process of a subsystem at the Subaru Telescope side, with the integration and test processes of the other subsystems ongoing in parallel. We are aiming to start engineering night-sky operations in 2019, and observations for scientific use in 2021. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward

Schaatsen: Bezit en gebruik: Factsheet 2017/2

Contains fulltext : 163367.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Koning Winter heeft zich in de winter van 2016/2017 nog nauwelijks in Nederland getoond, maar nu lijkt het er toch van te komen: er kan mogelijk weer (op natuurijs) worden geschaatst. Verwacht mag worden dat Nederlanders in groten getale de schaatsen onderbinden. Het naderende natuurijs is een zegen voor de gezondheid én voor de saamhorigheid. Het brengt miljoenen Nederlanders op de been, ook zij die niet zo sportief zijn aangelegd, en brengt die mensen vooral pret en plezier (93% schaatst in gezelschap). Natuurlijk blijft voorzichtigheid wel geboden. Veel Nederlanders hebben al lang niet meer geschaatst. Daarmee ligt het risico van ongevallen op de loer. Dit factsheet is gebaseerd op data van het Nationaal Sportonderzoek 2016. Voor dit onderzoek is in november 2016 een representatieve groep van 1.530 Nederlanders van 15 jaar en ouder ondervraagd.2 p