Meeting the Needs of Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Mathematics Classrooms: The Role of Schema-Based Instruction on Mathematical Problem-Solving

In this article, we discuss schema-based instruction (SBI) as an alternative to traditional instruction for enhancing the mathematical problem solving performance of students with learning disabilities (LD). In our most recent research and developmental efforts, we designed SBI to meet the needs of middle school students with LD in inclusive mathematics classrooms by addressing the research literatures in special education, cognitive psychology, and mathematics education. This innovative instructional approach encourages students to look beyond surface features of word problems to grasp the underlying mathematical structure of ratio and proportion problems. In addition, SBI introduces students to multiple strategies for solving ratio and proportion problems and encourages the selection of appropriate strategies

Harmonizing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Transportation and Land-Use Planning in California Cities

Abstract: Recent extreme weather events in California—wildfires, drought, and flooding—make abundantly clear the need to plan effective responses to both the causes and the consequences of climate change. A central challenge for climate planning efforts has been identifying transportation and land-use (TLU) strategies that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“mitigation”) and adapt communities so that they will be less affected by the adverse impacts of climate change (“adaptation”). Sets of policies that collectively address both mitigation and adaptation are known as “integrated actions.” This study explores municipal climate planning in California to determine whether cities incorporate integrated actions into their plans, assess the potential drivers of conflict between mitigation and adaptation in municipal plans, and identify ways the State of California can help cities more effectively incorporate integrated actions. The study methods consisted of a detailed analysis of climate planning documents from 23 California cities with particularly long histories of climate planning, plus interviews with 25 local, regional, and state officials who work on municipal climate planning. The authors found that some cities did adopt packages of integrated actions, and, promisingly, two cities with recently updated climate plans explicitly focused on the need for integrated actions. However, most cities addressed climate mitigation and adaptation in separate efforts, potentially reducing synergies between the two types of action and even creating conflicts. Since the first generation of climate action plans focused primarily on mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHGs), adaptation strategies have not yet been effectively or fully combined into mitigation plans in many cities. Also, a cross-comparison of plan content and interview data suggests that cities often had sets of policies that could potentially create conflicts—mitigation policies that would undermine adaptation capacity, and vice versa. In addition, where a city did adopt integrated actions, these efforts are typically not labeled as such, nor do the policies appear within the same policy document. The study findings suggest promising steps that both municipal and state governments can take to support integrated TLU actions at the local level. For example, cities can proactively link the content in climate mitigation and adaptation plans—a process that will require building the capacity for cross-collaboration between the various departments in charge of developing, implementing, and monitoring climate-related plans. As for the state government, it can provide funding specifically for planning and implementing integrated actions, offer technical support to help municipalities adopt programs and projects that produce integrated mitigation and adaptation benefits, and fund research in the area of integrated actions

Synthesis of Reduced Graphene Oxide Using Novel Exfoliation Technique and its Characterizations

For processing of graphene based composite materials Graphene oxide is considered to be the main precursor. Though epitaxial growth and chemical vapor deposition techniques have been utilized to get monolayers of graphene, wet chemical process have been used for its large scale synthesis. For the extraction of graphene monolayer the chemical route relies on the weakening of the Van der Waals cohesive force upon the insertion of reactants in the inter layer space as a consequence sp2 lattice is partially degraded into a sp2-sp3 sheet that possesses a less π-π stacking stability. The method described here uses a novel chemical exfoliation technique. The graphite from the pencil lead is used as the precursor and it is treated with alcohol-ketone-surfactant mixture and mechanically and thermally agitated so as to get the golden brown colored suspension. The material was characterized by Fourier Transform Infra Red spectroscopy. The absence of 1570 cm – 1 peak clearly indicates the oxidation of C = C bonds. The SEM images confirmed the presence of the nanoplatelets of graphene oxide. The AFM analysis confirmed the sheet thickness of the graphene oxide sheets to be < 5 nm. The sheet resistance of the sheets of thermally treated graphene oxide or reduced graphene oxide on Si wafer (p-type, 4-6 Ω/cm) was measured as 200-300 Ω/□. The Ellipsometric characterisations also matches with that of the thermally reduced graphene oxide films formed. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3102

The effect of substituted benzene dicarboxylic acid linkers on the optical band gap energy and magnetic coupling in manganese trimer metal organic frameworks

We have systematically studied a series of eight metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in which the secondary building unit is a manganese trimer cluster, and the linkers are differently substituted benzene dicarboxylic acids (BDC). The optical band gap energy of the compounds vary from 2.62 eV to 3.57 eV, and theoretical studies find that different functional groups result in new states in the conduction band, which lie in the gap and lower the optical band gap energy. The optical absorption between the filled Mn 3d states and the ligands is weak due to minimal overlap of the states, and the measured optical band gap energy is due to transitions on the BDC linker. The Mn atoms in the MOFs have local moments of 5 mu B, and selected MOFs are found to be antiferromagnetic, with weak coupling between the cluster units, and paramagnetic above 10 K

An exploratory study contrasting high- and low-ability students' word problem solving: The role of schema-based instruction.

This study evaluated whether schema-based instruction (SBI), a promising method for teaching students to represent and solve mathematical word problems, impacted the learning of percent word problems. Of particular interest was the extent that SBI improved high- and low-achieving students' learning and to a lesser degree on the indirect effect of SBI on transfer to novel problems, as compared to a business as usual control condition. Seventy 7th grade students in four classrooms (one high- and one low-achieving class in both the SBI and control conditions) participated in the study. Results indicate a significant treatment by achievement level interaction, such that SBI had a greater impact on high-achieving students' problem solving scores. However, findings did not support transfer effects of SBI for high-achieving students. Implications for improving the problem-solving performance of low achievers are discussed

Analysis of cell proliferation rate in Oral Leukoplakia and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objectives: Assessment of the cell proliferation rate in tissues can be one of the markers for impending malignancy in precancers. The state of activation and the proliferation activity of the cells can be assessed by the frequency of silver stained Nucleolar Organiser regions (AgNOR) within the nuclei which is significantly higher in malignant cells. The present study was carried out to analyze the distribution of the AgNOR in oral leukoplakia (OL) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and in their various histological grades, and to assess if the AgNOR distribution could give information on the malignant potentiality in premalignant lesions and aggressiveness of the malignant lesions. Study design: The study specimens comprised of 35 archival cases, of which 15 cases were of OL and 20 cases of OSCC. The specimens were stained by hematoxylin and eosin and modified silver staining method of Ploton et al. for the Nucleolar Organiser Regions. The specimens were analyzed independently by the two observers and was further statistically analysed. Results: The mean AgNOR count in OL was 2.80 ±0.50 and in cases of OSCC was 5.71± 1.08. The mean AgNOR count in OL cases of mild dysplasia was 2.59 ±0.66, in moderate dysplasia was 2.92± 0.43 and in severe dysplasia was 2.79. The mean AgNOR count in cases of well differentiated OSCC was 5.73± 1.62 and in cases of moderately differentiated OSCC was 5.67±1.19. Conclusion: The mean AgNOR count was higher in cases of OSCC as compared to cases of OL, and the AgNOR counts increased with the increase in the grades of dysplasia indicating a higher proliferative rate with increase in dysplasi