The Evaluation of Mathematical Competency: Elaboration of a Standardized Test in Ticino (Southern Switzerland)

AbstractSince 2010 a project with the aim of producing and administering a standardized test (Woolfolk, 2007) to evaluate mathematical competencies in the fourth class of primary school has been started in Ticino. In order to produce the test several steps was necessary: a team has first identified the areas of the mathematical program to be tested, second a group composed by primary and lower secondary school teachers, discipline experts and teachers of mathematical didactics has produced items coherent with the aim and with the characteristics of students and school programs, third the item produced were tested on a sample of students to evaluate the discriminative capacities of the items, fourth a preliminary analysis of the items was carried out, fifth the test was produced and administered to the whole population of students. In the fourth phase we used the classical Rasch model (1960) to evaluate and select the items and the software ConQuest supported in the analysis.Every teacher received a report on his or her own class in which it is possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the class on each part of the tested program.This is the first experience in Ticino in producing this kind of tests in the primary school

Note scolastiche e competenze fondamentali in matematica degli allievi dell’11° anno HarmoS in Ticino

Dal confronto tra il raggiungimento delle competenze fondamentali in matematica nell’indagine VeCoF 2016 e la nota scolastica in matematica assegnata dagli insegnanti agli stessi allievi al termine dell’11° anno scolastico, è emerso che ottenere una nota uguale o superiore alla sufficienza frequentando il corso di base non assicura il raggiungimento delle competenze fondamentali in questa materia. Sebbene gli allievi non siano a conoscenza del loro esito nel raggiungimento delle competenze fondamentali, esso, a parità di nota e di tipo di corso in matematica, sembra associarsi a determinate scelte per la formazione post-obbligatoria

Schulnoten und Grundkompetenzen in Mathematik bei Schülerinnen und Schülern der 11. Klasse der HarmoS-Studie im Tessin

Dal confronto tra il raggiungimento delle competenze fondamentali in matematica nell’indagine VeCoF 2016 e la nota scolastica in matematica assegnata dagli insegnanti agli stessi allievi al termine dell’11° anno scolastico, è emerso che ottenere una nota uguale o superiore alla sufficienza frequentando il corso di base non assicura il raggiungimento delle competenze fondamentali in questa materia. Sebbene gli allievi non siano a conoscenza del loro esito nel raggiungimento delle competenze fondamentali, esso, a parità di nota e di tipo di corso in matematica, sembra associarsi a determinate scelte per la formazione post-obbligatoria. (DIPF/Orig.)Ein Vergleich der erreichten Grundkompetenzen in der ÜGK-Mathematik- Erhebung von 2016 und den Mathematik-Schulnoten, die den Schülerinnen und Schülern am Ende des 11. Schuljahres von den Lehrpersonen vergeben wurden, ergab Folgendes: Das Erreichen der Grundkompetenzen in Mathematik wird nicht durch den Besuch der Grundkurse und durch eine genügende oder höhere Benotung garantiert. Obwohl den Schülerinnen und Schülern ihre erreichten Grundkompetenzen nicht bekannt waren, scheinen diese – bei gleicher Note und Art des Mathematikkurses – mit spezifischen Entscheidungen betreffs der postobligatorischen Ausbildung zusammen zu hängen. (DIPF/Orig.

Mathematical Competence Scale (MCS) for Primary School: The Psychometric Properties and the Validation of an Instrument to Enhance the Sustainability of Talents Development through the Numeracy Skills Assessment

The adequate development of the numeracy skills is a target of the fourth of the Sustainable Development Goals and is considered the basis for a financial literacy: both are competences needed for successful social and professional inclusion. Building on these goals, we carried out a unidimensional Mathematical Competence Scale (MCS) for primary school. The aim of this study was to present the psychometric properties and the validation process of MCS, designed basing on Item Response Theory. The final version of the scale, which measures different domains of mathematical knowledge (Data Analysis and Relationships, Geometry, Dimensions and Measurements, Numbers and Calculations), was validated on the entire population of 2935 fourth graders in Ticino Canton, Switzerland. The results reveal the high level of correlation between the six mathematical dimensions and confirm the assumption of a latent “mathematical construct”. However, even the multidimensional model could be considered a good model because it fitted the data significantly better than the one-dimensional model. In particular, the differences of the deviance between the two models are significant (χ2 (20) = 642.66, p < 0.001). Moreover, findings show a significant gender effect and a positive correlation between students’ actual school performance during the same academic year and MCS scores. MCS allows a reading of the learning and teaching process in the perspective of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development and helps a teacher to sustain student talent through the development of numeracy skills; in fact, the scale is intended both as an assessment tool and an innovative approach for shaping the development of curriculum, and therefore has potential to serve as a bridge between empirical research, classroom practice and a positive (school and professional) career development

Long-term, dose-dependent effects of spironolactone on left ventricular function and exercise tolerance in patients with chronic heart failure

AbstractObjectivesThis study was designed to assess the effects of spironolactone (SP) on left ventricular (LV) function and exercise tolerance in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).BackgroundIn severe heart failure (HF), SP improves survival, but the underlying mechanisms are not clear.MethodsWe randomized 106 outpatients with HF to SP (12.5 to 50 mg/day) (group 1) or control (group 2). Complete echocardiography and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were performed at baseline and 12 months after randomization.ResultsLeft ventricular end-systolic volume at baseline and at follow-up was 188 ± 94 ml and 171 ± 97 ml in group 1 and 173 ± 71 ml and 168 ± 79 ml in group 2 (treatment group-by-time interaction, p = 0.03). Left ventricular ejection fraction at baseline and at follow-up was 33 ± 7% and 36 ± 9% in group 1 and 34 ± 7% and 34 ± 9% in group 2 (treatment group-by-time interaction, p = 0.02). At baseline, 9 patients in group 1 and 3 patients in group 2 had a restrictive mitral filling pattern, a marker of severe diastolic dysfunction; at follow-up, 3 patients in group 1 and no patient in group 2 improved their pattern. No patient in group 1 and 4 patients in group 2 worsened their pattern (chi-square, p = 0.02). Peak oxygen consumption increased significantly in patients treated with 50 mg of SP and decreased in group 2 (17.7 ± 5.2 vs. 18.5 ± 5.9 and 19.1 ± 5.6 vs. 17.9 ± 5.3, respectively; analysis of variance, p = 0.01).ConclusionsSpironolactone improves LV volumes and function; furthermore, it improves exercise tolerance at the highest administered dose. Our data might explain the mortality reduction during aldosterone antagonism in patients with HF

Sustainable catchment managing in a climate changing world: new integrative modalities for connecting policy makers, scientists and other stakeholders

This paper characterises some of the main issues confronting water-catchment managing in a climate-changing world and addresses wide-spread concerns about the lack of connectivity between science, policy making and implementation. The paper’s arguments are ‘framed’ within a paradigm of systemic and adaptive governing, regulating, planning and managing understood as a nested systemic hierarchy. It is argued that climate change adaptation is best understood as a coevolutionary dynamic, principally, but not exclusively between human beings and the biophysical world. Two forms of ‘knowledge brokerage’ based on mode 1 (knowledge) and mode 2 (knowing) are distinguished with practical implications. Drawing on extensive research by the authors, eight modalities for enacting ‘knowledge brokerage’ are introduced. The conditions for or against success in employing these modalities are described. Consistent with the views of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 4th Report 2007, it is argued that water managing is a paradigmatic domain for making climate change adaptation ‘real’ and a systemic issue of global concern at the core of sustainable development