The importance of component-wise stochasticity in particle swarm optimization

This paper illustrates the importance of independent, component-wise stochastic scaling values, from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. It is shown that a swarm employing scalar stochasticity is unable to express every point in the search space if the problem dimensionality is sufficiently large in comparison to the swarm size. The theoretical result is emphasized by an empirical experiment, comparing the performance of a scalar swarm on benchmarks with reachable and unreachable optima. It is shown that a swarm using scalar stochasticity performs significantly worse when the optimum is not in the span of its initial positions. Lastly, it is demonstrated that a scalar swarm performs significantly worse than a swarm with component-wise stochasticity on a large range of benchmark functions, even when the problem dimensionality allows the scalar swarm to reach the optima.The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa (Grant Number 46712).http://link.springer.combookseries/5582019-10-03hj2018Computer Scienc

Correction to: Cluster identification, selection, and description in Cluster randomized crossover trials: the PREP-IT trials

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article

Creating a Teacher Development Program Linked to Curriculum Renewal

This paper presents one Colombian university English as a foreign language program’s in-house teacher development program for curriculum renewal. This program is an innovative attempt to prepare teachers for implementing a new curriculum and, simultaneously, engages them in professional development activities. The program is a response to the lack of existing teacher and professional development models that fit certain specific contextual needs, including preparation for implementing new curriculum as well as emphases in the updating of particular teaching practices. In addition to presenting the program, the article also describes the integration of key aspects of various existing models of teacher and professional development into one program that meets contextual needs while encouraging positive change among faculty and students.Este artículo presenta un programa de desarrollo profesoral de una universidad colombiana para acompañar una renovación curricular. Este modelo se presenta como una iniciativa innovadora para preparar profesores en implementar un nuevo currículo y, simultáneamente, involucrarlos en actividades de desarrollo profesional. El modelo se da en respuesta a la carencia de modelos existentes de desarrollo profesoral que respondan a las necesidades particulares de un contexto, que incluyan preparación para la implementación de un nuevo currículo, así como un énfasis en la actualización de las prácticas de enseñanza. Adicionalmente, el artículo describe la integración de aspectos clave de modelos existentes en un solo modelo que responda a las necesidades contextuales y al mismo tiempo promueva cambios positivos en los docentes, estudiantes y programas

Creating a Teacher Development Program Linked to Curriculum Renewal

This paper presents one Colombian university English as a foreign language program’s in-house teacher development program for curriculum renewal. This program is an innovative attempt to prepare teachers for implementing a new curriculum and, simultaneously, engages them in professional development activities. The program is a response to the lack of existing teacher and professional development models that fit certain specific contextual needs, including preparation for implementing new curriculum as well as emphases in the updating of particular teaching practices. In addition to presenting the program, the article also describes the integration of key aspects of various existing models of teacher and professional development into one program that meets contextual needs while encouraging positive change among faculty and students.Este artículo presenta un programa de desarrollo profesoral de una universidad colombiana para acompañar una renovación curricular. Este modelo se presenta como una iniciativa innovadora para preparar profesores en implementar un nuevo currículo y, simultáneamente, involucrarlos en actividades de desarrollo profesional. El modelo se da en respuesta a la carencia de modelos existentes de desarrollo profesoral que respondan a las necesidades particulares de un contexto, que incluyan preparación para la implementación de un nuevo currículo, así como un énfasis en la actualización de las prácticas de enseñanza. Adicionalmente, el artículo describe la integración de aspectos clave de modelos existentes en un solo modelo que responda a las necesidades contextuales y al mismo tiempo promueva cambios positivos en los docentes, estudiantes y programas

Creating a Teacher Development Program Linked to Curriculum Renewal

This paper presents one Colombian university English as a foreign language program’s in-house teacher development program for curriculum renewal. This program is an innovative attempt to prepare teachers for implementing a new curriculum and, simultaneously, engages them in professional development activities. The program is a response to the lack of existing teacher and professional development models that fit certain specific contextual needs, including preparation for implementing new curriculum as well as emphases in the updating of particular teaching practices. In addition to presenting the program, the article also describes the integration of key aspects of various existing models of teacher and professional development into one program that meets contextual needs while encouraging positive change among faculty and students

Puncturing Parts of History’s Blindness: South Saami and South Saami Culture in Early Picture Postcards

In this chapter, I discuss early picture postcards of South Saami and South Saami culture from approximately 1880–1950. The point of departure is Tromsø University Museum’s collection of more than 3800 postcards with Saami motives as well as the postcard exhibition ‘With an eye for the Sámi’ at Perspektivet Museum in the same city. While postcards of Saami have a bad reputation as objects of contempt or symbols of oppression, I emphasize their potential as historical sources. How picture postcards are technologies of memory that may help reclaim a hidden or lost past, providing both personal and collective value as they open up discussions related to colonization and decolonization

Fostering the intercultural dimensions of internationalisation in higher education: Metaphors and challenges in the Japanese context

The sustainability of many Japanese institutions of higher education is dependent on the injection of large numbers of foreigners. This requires addressing the intercultural dimensions of internationalisation. In this article, the authors contrast the literature on internationalisation in Japan (kokusaika) with the Anglo-European discourse on internationalisation andhighlight the limited attention given to intercultural dimensions in the Japanese context. The authors examine how the constrained professional situation of foreign English teachers seems to inhibit the generation of opportunities for promoting reciprocal intercultural understanding. The authors discuss how these teachers' use of metaphorical constructs, such as uchi/soto andomote/ura, to frame their experience in the Japanese higher education context provide conceptually powerful tools with which to consider internationalisation in the Japanese higher education context. The authors conclude by arguing that metaphors that stress notions of difference andotherness are problematic as they create challenges for addressing the intercultural aspects of internationalisation in the Japanese context. © 2011 Nuffic