The Didactic Contract to Interpret Some Statistical Evidence in Mathematics Standardized Assessment Tests

In this study we analyse results of Italian standardized tests in mathematics integrating quantitative analysis based on the Rasch Model and didactical interpretation. We use specific graphs to analyse the trend of each answer as function of the students' math ability. This approach led us to focus on specific items in which a wrong answer results particularly popular among medium/high level students and analyse this particular trend with the lenses of math education theories. The study reveals that these phenomena are particularly related to implicit and explicit rules governing classroom practices exist at all school levels and regard different mathematical content and skills

THE SOCIO-POLITICAL IMPACT OF DEAF LEADERS' DISCOURSE IN ARGENTINA

Actualmente, la Argentina es el escenario del impacto sociopolítico del discurso político de los líderes Sordos. Desde los 90, en el medio de una de las más dramáticas crisis económicas, los excluidos luchan por encontrar nuevas identidades, y así el discurso político Sordo (DPS) emerge. El discurso de las ciencias sociales y sus prácticas llevan a la legitimación de la Lengua de Señas Argentina (LSA) y los lingüistas funcionamos como investigadores orgánicos. Las personas Sordas empiezan a convertirse en letrados a través del uso de las nuevas tecnologías y fuera de la escuela formal. El propósito de este trabajo es analizar la jerarquización de la información desde la Lingüística Funcional y el Análisis del Discurso en un corpus recolectado en el 2007. El análisis de los temas y los remas mostrará los objetivos y los contenidos que el DPS tira en la arena de la lucha sociopolítica. Hipotetizamos la existencia del Tema del Evento y Rema del Evento que pertenecen a la práctica discursiva que actúa dialécticamente –en términos lacanianos– con la práctica social. Estos dos discursos, líderes Sordos y lingüística, generan una tensión intertextual que intenta fragmentar al discurso dominante.Currently, Argentina is the scenario of the socio-political impact of the discourse of Deaf leaders. Since the 90’s, in the middle of the most dramatic economic crisis, the excluded fought to find new identities and the Deaf political discourse or DPD emerges. The social sciences discourse and its practices produced the legitimation of Argentine Sign Language (LSA) and we the linguists function as organic researchers. Deaf people start to become literate through the use of new technologies and outside formal school. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the information distribution through Functional Linguistics and Discourse Analysis in a corpus gathered in the year 2007. The analysis of theme and rheme will show the aims and subjects DPD threw into the arena of socio-political fight. We further hypothesize the existence of Event Theme and Event Rheme which clearly belong to a discursive practice that acts dialectically –in Lacan’s terms– in order to change social practice. These two discourses  –Deaf leaders and linguistics- intend to generate an intertext tension which is fragmenting dominant discourse

Biofabrication: an overview of the approaches used for printing of living cells

The development of cell printing is vital for establishing biofabrication approaches as clinically relevant tools. Achieving this requires bio-inks which must not only be easily printable, but also allow controllable and reproducible printing of cells. This review outlines the general principles and current progress and compares the advantages and challenges for the most widely used biofabrication techniques for printing cells: extrusion, laser, microvalve, inkjet and tissue fragment printing. It is expected that significant advances in cell printing will result from synergistic combinations of these techniques and lead to optimised resolution, throughput and the overall complexity of printed constructs

IMPRONTE: Breast Cancer Women: Innovative Model for Processing Traumatic Experience

The onset of early breast cancer is a traumatic experience that holds the risk of impairing the quality of life of women even years after the end of treatments. Despite medical advances to reduce the mortality rate, clinical health psychology is still researching for solutions to address the psychological impact caused. Narrative meaning-making processes of the traumatic experience are key elements to promote psychic elaboration and well-being. Narrative Research and PI studies highlight significant markers of the transformative narrative process at the end of treatment. In this case, the narrative is a re-constructive and re-elaborative device for an already passed experience. Nowadays, narrative and diachronic markers of psychic elaboration of the traumatic experience related to the medical treatment do not exist. This project aims to fill this gap. The aim is to overturn, in an innovative way, the view of the literature, studying the narrative as a device to promote a psychic elaboration process in a diachronic way to the illness experience. This agrees with an personalized healthcare. These markers, as functions of connection and narrative transformation, are clues of risk and/or resilience of the psychic elaboration process. These markers allow the construction of a diachronic map of the functioning flow of the traumatic elaboration related to breast cancer (Diachronic flow of Illness Narrative Elaboration Markers - DINEM). DINEM is a precious tool for health operators in order to orient them in supporting the different phases of oncological treatment. The identification of these markers also allows us to build a theoretical model of Narrative Processing of Traumatic Experience (NAPTE) of women with early breast cancer, which is still absent in the literature. This model will be able to positively impact the quality of life of women, hospitals, and health operators

Attained curriculum and external assessment in Italy: how to reflect on them?

In this paper we argue how the Italian standardized assessment tests can be used by teachers to perceive the intended curriculum. These tests aim at evaluating students\u2019 learning, but they can also become a means for teachers and students to deal with tasks that are constructed according to the goals explicitly stated in the National Guidelines. Through the analysis of an example, we highlight how merged qualitative and quantitative analysis of tasks, selected from Italian standardized assessment tests, may lead to reflections on the learning achieved by students (attained curriculum), and on the validity of educational choices in the implemented curriculu

Confrontare decimali e frazioni: analisi delle concezioni degli studenti a partire da una domanda INVALSI

A partire da una domanda a risposta multipla tratta dai test standardizzati INVALSI per la quinta primaria, investighiamo la concezione di numero razionale sviluppata dagli studenti italiani. Lo scopo di questa ricerca è quello di individuare quali invarianti-operatori emergono dalle risposte degli studenti e quali di questi conducono più facilmente a conclusioni corrette o errate. Vengono anche osservati alcuni errori comuni nella conversione da frazione a decimale (e viceversa). Sono discusse alcune implicazioni per la pratica e la ricerca

Analyzing difficulties in arithmetic word problem solving: An epistemological case study in primary school

This paper focuses on difficulties that primary school students have in facing mathematical word problems. In particular, we are interested in exploring how they develop in the transition from grade 2 to grade 5. The research basis of the hypothesis is that some difficulties detected in grade 5 are already predictable in grade 2. Starting from the data collected in grade 5 by the National Standardized Assessment, we carry out a quantitative analysis looking for word problems in which students experience difficulties. Subsequently, we conduct a backward analysis of the grade 2 test of the same cohort of students in order to identify a set of word problems linked with those selected in grade 5 test. The analysis shows the presence of many common difficulties in the two grades. We design and carry out specific educational activities concerning word problem-solving in grade 2. These activities produce positive changes in the experimental class compared to the control class. This could suggest that a previous intervention in grade 2 could allow overcoming future difficulties in word problem text comprehension in grade 5