The Landscape of US Elementary Mathematics Teacher Education: Course Requirements for Mathematics Content and Methods

The adequate preparation of future teachers of mathematics is critical, requiring sufficient opportunities to develop both pedagogical skill and content knowledge. Yet, despite new recommendations for mathematics teacher preparation, we know little about the landscape of course-based learning opportunities in US elementary teacher education programs. To what extent do US elementary teacher education programs meet the Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics outlined by the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) for mathematics content and methods courses? Based on an a priori power analysis, we gathered a random sample of 291 higher education institutions. Within these institutions, we analyzed 736 programs, including Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Credential programs. We found that overwhelmingly US elementary teacher education programs do not meet the aspirations outlined in the AMTE standards, with Master’s and Credential programs and those covering all elementary grades particularly falling short. Potential explanations for these challenges and implications for teacher education program design are discussed

Exile Vol. XXXIV No. 2

ARTWORK The Race and the Load by Rhonwen Churchill (cover) Population 6 by Rory Herbster 5 Untitled by Itar 9 Untitled by Itar 17 Untitled by Itar 25 Floating Nude by Shelley Dicerson 27 Valley of Fire, New Mexico by Pam Schilling 33 Untitled by Rhonwen churchill 39 Merely Players by Rhonwen Churchill 43 Newark at Night by Rob Myers 55 Torso II by Shelley Dickerson 57 Untitled by Don Jacobs 61 Serenade by Jenny Smith 65 FICTION Untitled by Lauren Williams 11-15 A Subtle Change in the Flowers by Zach Smith 30-32 Documenting Secrets by Laura Munson 47-52 POETRY Ars Poetica by David Zivan 3 Jesse James In Wax by Itar 4 Catechism by Jennie Dawes 7 Silent State by Cam Martin 8 Red Rock Mound by Itar 16 Almost There by Chris Hanson 19 In Memory by Kent Lambert 20-23 Driving Cross-Country by David Zivan 24 Yoga At Sunrise by Itar 35-36 His Photograph by Debra Benko 37 Appalachian Spring by Jennie Dawes 38 My Proposal by Liza Jones 41 Spheres of Influence by Zach Smith 42 The Eros Motel by Cam Martin 45 A Sacrificial Science by Jen Druley 46 Bird\u27s-Eye View by Itar 53 Driving by David Zivan 54 Mobile Home In The Sky by Itar 59-60 The Cleaving by Amy Judge 63 She Kent Lambert 64 CONTRIBUTOR NOTES 67 Editorial decision is shared equally among the Editorial Board members. - title pag

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

Novel Blood Pressure Locus and Gene Discovery Using Genome-Wide Association Study and Expression Data Sets From Blood and the Kidney.

Elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has a substantial genetic contribution. Genetic variation influencing blood pressure has the potential to identify new pharmacological targets for the treatment of hypertension. To discover additional novel blood pressure loci, we used 1000 Genomes Project-based imputation in 150 134 European ancestry individuals and sought significant evidence for independent replication in a further 228 245 individuals. We report 6 new signals of association in or near HSPB7, TNXB, LRP12, LOC283335, SEPT9, and AKT2, and provide new replication evidence for a further 2 signals in EBF2 and NFKBIA Combining large whole-blood gene expression resources totaling 12 607 individuals, we investigated all novel and previously reported signals and identified 48 genes with evidence for involvement in blood pressure regulation that are significant in multiple resources. Three novel kidney-specific signals were also detected. These robustly implicated genes may provide new leads for therapeutic innovation

A Meta-analysis of Gene Expression Signatures of Blood Pressure and Hypertension

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered numerous genetic variants (SNPs) that are associated with blood pressure (BP). Genetic variants may lead to BP changes by acting on intermediate molecular phenotypes such as coded protein sequence or gene expression, which in turn affect BP variability. Therefore, characterizing genes whose expression is associated with BP may reveal cellular processes involved in BP regulation and uncover how transcripts mediate genetic and environmental effects on BP variability. A meta-analysis of results from six studies of global gene expression profiles of BP and hypertension in whole blood was performed in 7017 individuals who were not receiving antihypertensive drug treatment. We identified 34 genes that were differentially expressed in relation to BP (Bonferroni-corrected p<0.05). Among these genes, FOS and PTGS2 have been previously reported to be involved in BP-related processes; the others are novel. The top BP signature genes in aggregate explain 5%–9% of inter-individual variance in BP. Of note, rs3184504 in SH2B3, which was also reported in GWAS to be associated with BP, was found to be a trans regulator of the expression of 6 of the transcripts we found to be associated with BP (FOS, MYADM, PP1R15A, TAGAP, S100A10, and FGBP2). Gene set enrichment analysis suggested that the BP-related global gene expression changes include genes involved in inflammatory response and apoptosis pathways. Our study provides new insights into molecular mechanisms underlying BP regulation, and suggests novel transcriptomic markers for the treatment and prevention of hypertension

An insulator-based dielectrophoretic microdevice for the simultaneous filtration and focusing of biological cells

Manipulating and discriminating biological cells of interest using microfluidic and micro total analysis system (μTAS) devices have potential applications in clinical diagnosis and medicine. Cellular focusing in microfluidic devices is a prerequisite for medical applications, such as cell sorting, cell counting, or flow cytometry. In the present study, an insulator-based dielectrophoretic microdevice is designed for the simultaneous filtration and focusing of biological cells. The cells are introduced into the microchannel and hydrodynamically pre-confined by funnel-shaped insulating structures close to the inlet. There are ten sets of X-patterned insulating structures in the microfluidic channel. The main function of the first five sets of insulating structures is to guide the cells by negative dielectrophoretic responses (viable HeLa cells) into the center region of the microchannel. The positive dielectrophoretic cells (dead HeLa cells) are attracted to regions with a high electric-field gradient generated at the edges of the insulating structures. The remaining five sets of insulating structures are mainly used to focus negative dielectrophoretic cells that have escaped from the upstream region. Experiments employing a mixture of dead and viable HeLa cells are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design. The results indicate that the performance of both filtration and focusing improves with the increasing strength of the applied electric field and a decreasing inlet sample flow rate, which agrees with the trend predicted by the numerical simulations. The filtration efficiency, which is quantitatively investigated, is up to 88% at an applied voltage of 50 V peak-to-peak (1 kHz) and a sample flow rate of 0.5 μl/min. The proposed device can focus viable cells into a single file using a voltage of 35 V peak-to-peak (1 kHz) at a sample flow rate of 1.0 μl/min

Integrated inventory model with quantity discount and price-sensitive demand

Integrated model, Quantity discount, Markup rate, Price-sensitive demand, 90B05,