3, 2, 1 … Discovering Newton’s Laws

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” “Except when a bug hits your car window, the car must exert more force on the bug because Newton’s laws only apply in the physics classroom, right?” Students in our classrooms were able to pick out definitions as well as examples of Newton’s three laws; they could recite the laws and even solve for force, mass, and acceleration. However, when given “real world” questions, they would quickly revert to naive explanations. This frustration led to an examination of our approach to teaching Newton’s laws. Like many, we taught Newton’s laws in their numerical order—first, second, and then third. Students read about the laws, copied definitions, and became proficient with vocabulary before they applied the laws in a lab setting. This paper discusses how we transformed our teaching of Newton’s laws by flipping the order (3, 2, 1) and putting the activity before concept, as well as how these changes affected student outcomes

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Establishing the critical elements that determine authentic assessment

This study sought to determine the critical elements of an authentic learning activity, design them into an applicable framework and then use this framework to guide the design, development and application of work-relevant assessment. Its purpose was to formulate an effective model of task design and assessment. The first phase of the study identified from the literature critical elements that determined assessment as being authentic, and presented these to practitioners and experts for feedback. In phase two, it codified the elements into a framework that was then applied to the redesign of assessments in an army course. Phase three involved student evaluation of the redesigned assessment activities. This led to further review and revision of elements in phase four. The study outcomes suggest that it is possible, by identifying and codifying individual elements, to determine the ways in which the authenticity of an individual assessment activity might be enhanced. The paper concludes with a literature update on the framework elements that lead to suggestions for further research

Establishing the critical elements that determine authentic assessment

This study sought to determine the critical elements of an authentic learning activity, design them into an applicable framework and then use this framework to guide the design, development and application of work-relevant assessment. Its purpose was to formulate an effective model of task design and assessment. The first phase of the study identified from the literature critical elements that determined assessment as being authentic, and presented these to practitioners and experts for feedback. In phase two, it codified the elements into a framework that was then applied to the redesign of assessments in an army course. Phase three involved student evaluation of the redesigned assessment activities. This led to further review and revision of elements in phase four. The study outcomes suggest that it is possible, by identifying and codifying individual elements, to determine the ways in which the authenticity of an individual assessment activity might be enhanced. The paper concludes with a literature update on the framework elements that lead to suggestions for further research

Teaching the New Writing: Technology, Change, and Assessment

Bryan Ripley Crandall is a contributing author, Senior Boards: Multimedia presentations from year-long research and community-based projects, p.107-123. Book Description: How has the teaching of writing changed in the 21st century? In this innovative guide, real teachers share their stories, successful practices, and vivid examples of their students’ creative and expository writing from online and multimedia projects, such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, electronic poetry, and more. The book also addresses assessment: How can teachers navigate the reductive definitions of writing in current national and statewide testing? What are teachers’ goals for their students’ learning—and how have they changed in the past 20 years? What is “the new writing”? How do digital writers revise and publish? What are the implications for the future of writing instruction? The contributing authors are teachers from public, independent, rural, urban, and suburban schools. Whether writing instructors embrace digital literacy now or see the inevitable future ahead, this groundbreaking book (appropriate for the elementary through college level) will both instruct and inspire.https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/education-books/1057/thumbnail.jp

Acceptance and integration of biofortified vitamin A maize into common diets in northern Zambia

In 2014, a utilization survey was conducted by HarvestPlus among Zambian households belonging to the Livelihood Enhancement Groups (LEGs) that participated in the cultivation of Vitamin A maize (VAM) in the Northern Province. After the first year in which the community was introduced to the biofortified VAM, LEGs grew the crop in group plots, shared produce from the harvest, and participated in their first home-use testing. Nintey-six of the households that cultivated and shared produce were randomly sampled to answer a range of questions. Sampled households included 52 in the Mbala district and 44 in the Luwingu district; The integration of VAM into common diets was assessed through descriptive analysis. Almost all households preferred VAM to both cassava and white maize meal. There were no differences in the likability of VAM across districts or genders. The reasons cited for VAM preference include: nutritional content, taste, and the ability to prepare nshima using less VAM flour compared to cassava and white maize flour. Farmers also liked the agronomic traits of VAM, such as their early maturing and double-cobbing characteristics. These results provide a mix of agronomic and consumption attributes that can be used to promote VAM in the future. These results can also have further research implications, such as the need to econometrically test households' perceived VAM benefits.Non-PRIFPRI1; HarvestPlus; CRP4HarvestPlus; A4NHCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH