Investigating teachers and prospective teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in the field of proportional reasoning with a focus on their problem solving activities on semantic types

and is a potent means for developing algebraic thinking which necessitates students’ understanding of the functional relationship between measure spaces. The ability to recognize and identify the structural similarity and multiple comparisons in the proportional reasoning process is the base of algebra and advanced mathematics. The concept of proportion and the necessities of developing proportional thinking are cognitively complex and its teaching demands concept-oriented approaches. Studing the quality of teachers' perceptions draws the perspective of the method and development of conceptual structures among the students. The present study focused on determining the extent of recognizing non-proportional situations and also the kind of selected strategies to solve proportional verbal issues in the teaching activity. Considering the importance of the context of this problem, the study focused on four semantic types of the problems in this field. Considering the pedagogical thinking of teachers in solving proportional problems provides the discussion on the obstacles of using the proportional reasoning among different semantic types. Methods: The study was done by descriptive survey method. The statistical population included 180 teachers of primary schools and mathematics teachers of the first level of the secondary schools, and prospective teachers who participated in the study voluntarily. The research instrument was a researecher-developed test containing 17 problems comprised of 3 non-proportional situations of additive problem types and 14 direct proportional problems, presented in the missing-value type which were either researcher-devised or selected from reliable research sources.  The content validity of the test was confirmed by professors in the field of mathematics and testing and psychometrics.  The collected data were analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistics. Findings: The results of the first study revealed that the primary school teachers and the prospective teachers were faced with some difficulties in recognizing non-proportional statements. It seems that the superficial characteristics of verbal problem including having a structure similar to the proportional problems of the type of missing value and also the multiplicative nature of numerical structure are involved in determining the situation as a proportional structure.  In studying the the strategies of solving the proportional problems in the teaching activity, the responses of the participants were analyzed using the descrtiptive method based on 9 types of problem-solving strategies. The results of the analyses showed that all of the first levele of the secondary school teachers and the prospective teachers of both of these levels, at least in one of their first two priorities in teaching these problems, applied algorithmic proportional strategies or algebraic equation formulation while being slightly influenced by semantic types. Teachers of the primary schools had little desire to use the algorithmic proportional strategies. On the contrary, as compared to other teachers, they had a higher preference for using functional and numerical proportional reasoning. However, they did not prefer to use proportional functional reasoning in their activities. On the other hand, the first two priorities of the primary school teachers were not included in any semantic types, utilization of more complex proportional reasonings, and scale factor.  Conclusion: The results emphasize the necessity of the development of pedagogical content knowledge in this field in order to develop the application of the strategies of functional proportional reasoning and appropriate representations by teachers which are aimed at providing more desirable conditions for students’ proportional reasoning development. Unexpected behaviors of prospective teachers in this study emphasize creating higher sensitivity to the consequences of delaying the emergence of students’ relative thinking in the instructional plans of teacher training courses. ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2021 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Planning and establishment of the laboratory information database system for Iranian fisheries research organization

Due to lack of access to comprehensive and up-to-date information regarding equipment, personnel, laboratory services tariffs and chemicals in the laboratories of Iran Fisheries Research Institute and felt the necessity of having this information for optimal management of the laboratories, it was decided with regard to all information needs in this area and using previous experiences in this regard as well as the experiences of other institutions and related organizations at the national (and even international) level, the system would be designed. The main purpose of implementing this plan was to establish and implement a software system based on web technology to create a comprehensive database of the Fisheries Research Institute's laboratories, so that in addition to organizing information, using periodic reports on various related areas a more appropriate monitoring and management system could be applied. Fortunately, after the design and implementation stages, the system in early January 2011 was fully applicable. The main parts of this system include portal; database; advanced data entry, search and reporting capabilities; direct tests order system and discussion forums

Promotion and updating of laboratories database for Iran Fisheries Research Organization

Creating a database of affiliated laboratories of the institute is organized with the aim of integrating information related to laboratories of research centers and their subsidiaries. The main objective of conducting this project in this stage is to upgrade it, establish and running one software system based on up-to-date technology of networking. In this way, in addition to organizing the centers database, a periodic report on various aspects can be done which help for implementing appropriate monitoring and management. Generally, the items that are designed and upgraded for this system include: Portal, bank of information, advanced possibilities for inputting data, searching and reporting on laboratory equipment and materials, information about calibration and repair and expiration dates of chemical materials, expertise and capabilities of personnel, providing laboratory services of institutes and research centers, direct order collecting of experiments from inside and outside of the institute, exchanging information, new test methods and sharing of new ideas and professional proposals, organizing laboratory materials, and exchange of expensive chemical materials. The advantages of this system compared to the previous version is that comprehensive, precise and updated reports can be collected easily from the general information of research institutes and centers, reports of the number of lab experts with different educational levels in affiliated centers, awareness of numbers and status of the chemical materials in the laboratories of each center, and the significant and important point is about economizing equipment, chemical materials and on time calibration, in time repairing of equipment and providing laboratories tariff and other matters

Information Standards Enabling or Constraining Innovative Hospital Facilities? -A Scandinavian Case

The losses from suboptimal interoperability in IT supported design,production, and operation of health care facilities are tantamount. In these yearsnew built of hospitals in Scandinavia could be realized in a more efficient andinnovative way if using information standards. This paper inquires into whethercomputerized information standards enable or constrain innovation in publicprocurement of buildings. In architectural and engineering design of publicbuildings the project based product development tends be done in constellationsof firms in interorganisational contracting, which do not provide stability orroom for innovation. A large hospital project was investigated throughinterviews, documents and observations. The effects of implementingbuilding information standards are both inter- and intraorganisational. Thebuilding client claims to have saved money, through better structured buildingcomponent data that gave considerable positive effects during tendering. TheIT-suppliers develop IT-tools, and the AEC companies can commence developservices preparing for new markets

Information Standards Enabling or Constraining Innovative Hospital Facilities? -A Scandinavian Case

The losses from suboptimal interoperability in IT supported design,production, and operation of health care facilities are tantamount. In these yearsnew built of hospitals in Scandinavia could be realized in a more efficient andinnovative way if using information standards. This paper inquires into whethercomputerized information standards enable or constrain innovation in publicprocurement of buildings. In architectural and engineering design of publicbuildings the project based product development tends be done in constellationsof firms in interorganisational contracting, which do not provide stability orroom for innovation. A large hospital project was investigated throughinterviews, documents and observations. The effects of implementingbuilding information standards are both inter- and intraorganisational. Thebuilding client claims to have saved money, through better structured buildingcomponent data that gave considerable positive effects during tendering. TheIT-suppliers develop IT-tools, and the AEC companies can commence developservices preparing for new markets