Mathematics Self-Efficacy and the Use of Virtual Math Manipulatives Among Pre-Service Teachers

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, instructors’ pedagogy has been modified, and technology-based educational tools have been implemented. However, little is known about pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in mathematics and their intentions in implementing such technology. Thus, the objective of this study is to test if perceived mathematics self-efficacy is significantly related to pre-service teachers’ behavioral intention to utilize virtual math manipulatives. The aim of the study was addressed through the use of a descriptive-correlational research design with sixty-nine (69) pre-service teachers. Students’ mathematics self-efficacy and behavioral intention to utilize virtual math manipulatives were assessed using researcher-made questionnaires. It was discovered that a significant association exists between the respondents’ content self-efficacy and their behavioral intention to utilize virtual math manipulatives as to attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. A similar relationship exists between self-efficacy and behavioral intention to use virtual math manipulatives in terms of attitude and behavioral control. The results imply that applying virtual manipulatives is anchored on knowledge and confidence of process and purpose. Therefore, preparing pre-service teachers for the classroom through a variety of training and seminars will help them improve their mathematics self-efficacy while also increasing their intention to use virtual manipulatives

The Evolutionary Basis of Naturally Diverse Rice Leaves Anatomy

Rice contains genetically and ecologically diverse wild and cultivated species that show a wide variation in plant and leaf architecture. A systematic characterization of leaf anatomy is essential in understanding the dynamics behind such diversity. Therefore, leaf anatomies of 24 Oryza species spanning 11 genetically diverse rice genomes were studied in both lateral and longitudinal directions and possible evolutionary trends were examined. A significant inter-species variation in mesophyll cells, bundle sheath cells, and vein structure was observed, suggesting precise genetic control over these major rice leaf anatomical traits. Cellular dimensions, measured along three growth axes, were further combined proportionately to construct three-dimensional (3D) leaf anatomy models to compare the relative size and orientation of the major cell types present in a fully expanded leaf. A reconstruction of the ancestral leaf state revealed that the following are the major characteristics of recently evolved rice species: fewer veins, larger and laterally elongated mesophyll cells, with an increase in total mesophyll area and in bundle sheath cell number. A huge diversity in leaf anatomy within wild and domesticated rice species has been portrayed in this study, on an evolutionary context, predicting a two-pronged evolutionary pathway leading to the ‘sativa leaf type’ that we see today in domesticated species

Two forward genetic screens for vein density mutants in sorghum converge on a cytochrome P450 gene in the brassinosteroid pathway.

The specification of vascular patterning in plants has interested plant biologists for many years. In the last decade a new context has emerged for this interest. Specifically, recent proposals to engineer C4 traits into C3 plants such as rice require an understanding of how the distinctive venation pattern in the leaves of C4 plants is determined. High vein density with Kranz anatomy, whereby photosynthetic cells are arranged in encircling layers around vascular bundles, is one of the major traits that differentiate C4 species from C3 species. To identify genetic factors that specify C4 leaf anatomy, we generated ethyl methanesulfonate- and γ-ray-mutagenized populations of the C4 species sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and screened for lines with reduced vein density. Two mutations were identified that conferred low vein density. Both mutations segregated in backcrossed F2 populations as homozygous recessive alleles. Bulk segregant analysis using next-generation sequencing revealed that, in both cases, the mutant phenotype was associated with mutations in the CYP90D2 gene, which encodes an enzyme in the brassinosteroid biosynthesis pathway. Lack of complementation in allelism tests confirmed this result. These data indicate that the brassinosteroid pathway promotes high vein density in the sorghum leaf, and suggest that differences between C4 and C3 leaf anatomy may arise in part through differential activity of this pathway in the two leaf types