Building Middle-Level Mathematics Teachers\u27 Capacities as Teachers and Leaders: The Math in the Middle Institute Partnership

This article describes professional development for middle-level mathematics teachers offered through the Math in the Middle Institute Partnership, a National Science Foundation-funded project to build teachers’ capacities to improve mathematics learning for all students. An overview of the project, including descriptions of its goals and curriculum are provided. Detailed descriptions of two mathematics courses and one pedagogy course are offered. The mathematics courses included here are the introductory course to the Math in the Middle Institute, as well as one of the final math courses of the Institute in which participants apply mathematical knowledge and processes to real-world problems. The pedagogy course features curriculum that enables teachers to acquire an understanding of the nature and purpose of action research, and launches teachers into planning and implementing systematic inquiry in their own mathematics classrooms around topics of their choosing. The varied abilities of teachers, as well as growth in teachers’ mathematical and pedagogical capacities, are represented by several samples of student work provided within the article. In addition, mathematical and pedagogical products of student work are also provided through the project’s URL links. Improving teacher quality is identified as a national need in mathematics education and one many universities and schools across the country are working in partnership to try to address. This article describes a professional development project aimed at improving mathematics teaching and learning in the middle grades. An overview of the project, along with a close look at several of its course offerings, are presented highlighting mathematical and pedagogical goals, challenges, and accomplishments

Understanding Teacher Leadership in Middle School Mathematics: A Collaborative Research Effort

We report findings from a collaborative research effort designed to examine how teachers act as leaders in their schools. We find that teachers educated by the Math in the Middle Institute act as key sources of advice for colleagues within their schools while drawing support from a network consisting of other teachers in the program and university-level advisors. In addition to reporting on our findings, we reflect on our research process, noting some of the practical challenges involved, as well as some of the benefits of collaboration

Profile, Plan and Section: Three Developments for Sea-Bed Survey

The purpose of this article is to offer a response to some of the requirements, indicated in previous contributions, in underwater measurement and detection. The instruments described here were demonstrated to delegates during the International Hydrographic Conference in April 1967. Most of the accompanying records were taken during the course of the Conference

The Remarkable Mid-Infrared Jet of Massive Young Stellar Object G35.20-0.74

The young massive stellar object G35.20-0.74 was observed in the mid-infrared using T-ReCS on Gemini South. Previous observations have shown that the near infrared emission has a fan-like morphology that is consistent with emission from the northern lobe of a bipolar radio jet known to be associated with this source. Mid-infrared observations presented in this paper show a monopolar jet-like morphology as well, and it is argued that the mid-infrared emission observed is dominated by thermal continuum emission from dust. The mid-infrared emission nearest the central stellar source is believed to be directly heated dust on the walls of the outflow cavity. The hydroxyl, water, and methanol masers associated with G35.20-0.74 are spatially located along these mid-infrared cavity walls. Narrow jet or outflow cavities such as this may also be the locations of the linear distribution of methanol masers that are found associated with massive young stellar objects. The fact that G35.20-0.74 has mid-infrared emission that is dominated by the outflow, rather than disk emission, is a caution to those that consider mid-infrared emission from young stellar objects as only coming from circumstellar disks.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters; 4 pages; 2 figures; a version with full resolution images is available here: http://www.ctio.noao.edu/~debuizer

The Gutenberg Algorithm: Evolutionary Bayesian Magnitude Estimates for Earthquake Early Warning with a Filter Bank

Earthquake early warning (EEW) is a race against time. In particular, at proximal sites to the epicenter (typically the most heavily affected sites), strong ground motion starts shortly after the P‐wave onset. For these sites, regional‐type EEW systems that wait until data from several stations are available before issuing a warning and that require fixed data windows following a trigger are not fast enough. Single‐station algorithms, on the other hand, have high uncertainties that compromise their usefulness. In this article, we propose that uncertainties of the earliest warning messages can be reduced substantially if the broadband frequency information of seismic signals is fully exploited. We present a novel probabilistic algorithm for estimating EEW magnitudes. The Gutenberg algorithm uses a filter bank for a time–frequency analysis of the real‐time signals and estimates the posterior probabilities of both magnitude and source–station distance directly from the observed frequency content. It starts off as a single‐station algorithm and then naturally evolves into a regional‐type algorithm, as more data become available. Using an extensive near‐source waveform data set, we demonstrate that the Gutenberg parameter estimates reach the estimation accuracy and precision of existing regional‐type EEW systems with only 3 s of data from a single station. The magnitude estimates, however, saturate at a threshold magnitude that depends on the available signal length that is used for the estimation, suggesting that current EEW magnitude estimates (1) are observational rather than predictive and (2) have to be considered minimum estimates, depending on the amount of available data

Feasibility and initial efficacy of project-based treatment for people with ABI

Background: Communication impairments are common and pervasive for people a long time following acquired brain injury (ABI). These impairments have a significant impact on a person's quality of life (QOL) post‐injury. Project‐based treatment is a treatment approach that could have an impact on communication skills and QOL for people with ABI a long‐term post‐injury. This treatment is embedded in a context of meaningful activities chosen by people with ABI, whereby, as a group, they work collaboratively to achieve a tangible end product. Aims: To evaluate the feasibility and initial efficacy of project‐based treatment on improving the communication skills and QOL for people with ABI. Methods & Procedures: An exploratory controlled trial with alternate allocation of groups, and follow‐up at 6–8 weeks, was completed. Twenty‐one people with chronic ABI were recruited in groups of two to three from community settings, allocated to either a TREATMENT (n = 11) or WAITLIST group (n = 10). Participants attended a 20‐h group‐based treatment over 6 weeks where they worked towards achieving a project that helped others. To determine feasibility, four criteria were used: demand, implementation, practicality and acceptability. A range of communication and QOL outcomes was used to determine a fifth feasibility criterion, initial efficacy. Some of these criteria were additionally used to evaluate the feasibility of the outcomes. Outcomes & Results: All participants received the treatment as allocated with high attendance and no dropouts. The treatment was feasible to deliver as intended and was highly acceptable to participants. Medium and large effect sizes were found from pre‐ to post‐treatment, and from pre‐treatment to follow‐up for measures of conversation, perceived communicative ability and QOL. Conclusions & Implications: Project‐based treatment is feasible with indications of initial efficacy for both communication skills and QOL. The treatment provides a promising new approach for improving communication skills and QOL in people with chronic acquired brain injuries in the community setting

Damping And Vibrations Experiment (DAVE): On-Orbit Performance of a CubeSat Particle Damper

The Damping And Vibrations Experiment (DAVE) is a 1U CubeSat designed to study the performance of particle damping technology in the space environment. Particle dampers rely on the free movement and collision of particles and, as such, are influenced significantly by gravitational effects on Earth. Damper performance was characterized using a single degree of freedom cantilever beam experiment. Beams were equipped with particle dampers and then excited to produce a response at various input amplitudes and frequencies. The on-orbit response of the system was compared to a theoretical model of particle damping as well as ground and ZERO-G flight test data in order to ascertain the degree of non-linearity of the system

A portfolio analysis of autism research funding in Aotearoa New Zealand 2007–2021

Previously documented global trends in autism research funding have been skewed towards biology research, which is at odds with the priorities expressed by autistic and autism community members. We aimed to document the areas of autism research that have previously been funded in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to explore the views of the autistic and autism communities on this funding distribution. We searched for research grants awarded to autism research in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2007 and 2021. We categorised the funding for autism research to enable comparison to that previously documented in other countries. We elicited the views of the autistic and autism communities in relation to the funded autism research, through an online survey and a series of focus groups. The largest proportion of money and number of grants was awarded to biological research. Community members expressed dissatisfaction with this pattern of funding, and noted that it does not address the needs and priorities of the autistic community. Community members suggested that the funding pattern indicated a lack of autistic consultation and engagement in research design and funding allocation. The priorities of the autistic and autism communities need to be considered by researchers and funders alike. We discuss how autistic inclusion in research can be supported through decision-making regarding funding and ethics relating to autism research. Lay Abstract: We aimed to document the areas of autism research that have previously been funded in Aotearoa New Zealand. We searched for research grants awarded to autism research in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2007 and 2021. We compared the funding distribution in Aotearoa New Zealand to other countries. We asked people from the autistic community and broader autism community whether they were satisfied with this funding pattern, and whether it aligned with what is important to them and to autistic people. We found that the majority of funding for autism research was awarded to biology research (67%). Members of the autistic and autism communities were dissatisfied with the funding distribution, and expressed a lack of alignment with what is important to them. People from the community indicated that the funding distribution did not address the priorities of autistic people, and that it indicated a lack of engagement with autistic people. Autism research funding needs to reflect the priorities of the autistic and autism communities. Autistic people need to be included in autism research and related funding decisions