Gender differences in expectancy of academic success in mathematics

Includes bibliographical references

Photometry as a proxy for stellar activity in radial velocity analyses

Stellar activity remains a limiting factor in measuring precise planet parameters from radial velocity spectroscopy, not least in the search for Earth mass planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars. One approach to mitigate stellar activity is to use combined analyses of both radial velocity and time-series photometry. We present an analysis of simultaneous disk-integrated photometry and radial velocity data of the Sun in order to determine the useful limits of a combined analysis. We find that simple periodogram or autocorrelation analysis of solar photometry give the correct rotation period <50% of the time. We therefore use a Gaussian process to investigate the time variability of solar photometry and to directly compare simultaneous photometry with radial velocity data. We find that the hyperparameter posteriors are relatively stable over 70 years of solar photometry and the amplitude tracks the solar cycle. We observe good agreement between the hyperparameter posteriors for the simultaneous photometry and radial velocity data. Our primary conclusion is a recommendation to include an additional prior in Gaussian process fits to constrain the evolutionary timescale to be greater than the recurrence timescale (ie., the rotation period) to recover more physically plausible and useful results. Our results indicate that such simultaneous monitoring may be a useful tool in enhancing the precision of radial velocity surveys.Comment: 10 pages, accepted in A

Piecewise-linear pseudodiagrams

There are 2^n possible resolutions of a smooth pseudodiagram with n precrossings. If we consider piecewise-linear (PL) pseudodiagrams and resolutions that themselves are PL, certain resolutions of the pseudodiagram may not exist in three-space. We investigate this situation and its impact on the weighted resolution set of PL pseudodiagrams as well as introduce a concept specific to PL pseudodiagrams, the forcing number. Our main result classifies the PL shadows whose weighted resolution sets differ from the weighted resolution set that would exist in the smooth case.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures; V2 fixes a minor typo in both statement of Cor. 2.8 and in its proo

Commercial Gestational Surrogacy on The Biopolitcal Horizon

This article is featured in the journal Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities, volume 4

Linking math teachers' motivations and beliefs to learning mindsets

Teacher mindsets are the subject of research due to their importance in understanding teacher retention and success. Building on past growth mindset research, I argue that mindsets are related to a teachers’ motivations for becoming a teacher and their beliefs regarding teaching ability. To evaluate these relationships, I use math teacher survey data from the National Study of Learning Mindsets. The math teacher survey collection took place in 2015-2016 with 321 teachers completing the survey. These teachers were chosen because they taught students who participated in the National Study. Results indicate that having additional years of teaching experience and choosing to teach because of the flexible schedule correlates with having a higher fixed mindset. Contrastingly, trust in the school principal correlates with teachers having more of a growth mindset. When comparing low-quality schools to high quality/high minority, the latter schools have teachers with more of a fixed mindset. This finding matters because it shows that low-quality schools are probably attracting teachers who accept that the students at their school are struggling and attribute this to their intelligence or failure to work hard. Future research will examine the relationship between these findings while considering the context of the school by adding in student survey questions in which they report their experiences with these teachers.Sociolog

Too Taboo?: Preliminary Explorations of Counselor Experiences of Client Sexuality

For many years, researchers and clinicians have discussed the weakness in the counseling profession surrounding education and training specific to sexuality. Previous research has largely focused on quantitative approaches to explore why client sexuality is a source of discomfort for counselors. This study sought to explore the qualitative experience of two counselors to begin filling in the gaps left by similar quantitative research. Through narrative interviews, themes related to avoidance of and motivators for discussing sexuality with clients were identified. Results from this research can help influence counselors in practice, counselor educators and future areas of sexuality counseling research

Cue the Paralinguistics: A Qualitative Case Study of Teacher Social Presence

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand teachers’ rationale and practices as they establish a social presence in a 100% online learning environment in a high school setting, with a specific emphasis on paralinguistic cues and symbols, such as emoji, emoticons, and Bitmoji. This case study focused on the meaning and understanding of teacher social presence in the virtual setting, utilizing a variety of data collection methods. In-depth interviews were conducted, followed by digital document collection and a focus group interview; transcripts of both interviews and the focus group were analyzed in order to establish the specific practices teachers use to establish a social presence as well as their rationales. Specific emphasis was placed on paralinguistic cues and their role in the establishment of social presence. Findings supported previous research on social presence strategies with few exceptions. Online educators rely on strategies that humanize their virtual interactions with special consideration for tone in written communication, particularly considering the age of high school students. Paralinguistic cues were widely used, with Bitmojis used universally by all participants as a visual extension of their physical selves in computer-mediated communication. Suggestions for future research, practice, and teacher education are included