An authentic approach to facilitating transfer of teacher's pedagogical knowledge

The pedagogical knowledge learned by pre-service teachers often fails to transfer to teaching practice. Instead, new teachers revert to instructional strategies they observed as children. This chapter describes design research conducted over four years, where pre-service teachers were immersed in an authentic learning environment using multimedia to learn mathematics assessment strategies. The first study was conducted with pre-service teachers in the second year of their degree, and then the second study followed up with the same people in their second year as practising teachers. The first study revealed several constraints for the participants on professional practice, including limited time and the influence of the supervising teacher. Later, as practising teachers, they faced cultural and practical constraints within the school environment that prevented them from fully operationalising the pedagogical principles they learned as pre-service teachers

Assessment in mathematics: A multimedia resource for preservice teachers

It is commonly accepted that teachers teach the way they were taught and that innovation is difficult to achieve. In this project, the theoretical framework of situated cognition or situated learning has been used to design an interactive multimedia resource that allows preservice teachers to become aware of different assessment strategies in mathematics education, and how to apply them. The resource enables users to encounter the authentic use of a range of assessment strategies and to view their interpretations from multiple perspectives which include the teacher's decision-making processes, the child's thinking, expert opinion and written documentation

Waller Creek Tunnel LA-Qual (v 9.05) Dissolved Oxygen Model for Recirculation Operations

This short report details the function and expected results of a Waller Creek tunnel designed to move sediment and regulate dissolved oxygen within the system.The City of Austin is constructing a stormwater bypass tunnel in lower Waller Creek. Water must be recirculated from Lady Bird Lake through the tunnel during non-storm conditions to prevent water in the tunnel from becoming anoxic. LA-Qual (version 9.05) steady-state models were used to identify optimum tunnel recirculation flow rates under three seasonal conditions and during summer months immediately following storm events in order to maintain dissolved oxygen in the tunnel near 4 mg/L. Model predictions were applied to measured Waller Creek flow data from 1994 to 2009 to estimate the total recirculation withdrawal from Lady Bird Lake for comparison to the maximum allowed under a Firm Water Contract with the Lower Colorado River Authority. Predicted Lady Bird Lake withdrawal for recirculation varies from 1 to 4 ft3 /s during non-storm conditions depending on season, with 4th Street and 8th Street side inlet tunnel flows less than 0.5 ft3 /s. Post-storm recirculation rates are predicted to optimally be 35 ft3 /s, although the actual maximum pump capacity is 28 ft3 /s. Operating the Waller Creek immediately following storm events at 28 ft3/s will not maintain DO in the tunnel above 4 mg/L, but should be sufficient with cascade aeration prior to discharge to Waller Creek to maintain aquatic life use standards. Operation of the Waller Creek Tunnel under these recirculation flow conditions are not anticipated to exceed the annual maximum withdrawal from Lady Bird Lake allowed by the Lower Colorado River Authority.Waller Creek Working Grou

Revisiting the link between teaching and learning research and practice: Authentic learning and design-based research

It has often been argued that research in teaching and learning has only a weak link to practice. Much educational research is criticised for having little relevance to the day-to-day learning experience of students in K-12 and higher education. This criticism is particularly relevant in relation to educational technology research. In this field, many researchers conduct studies that are designed to test the effectiveness of the delivery medium—to prove that one medium is better than another—rather than exploring ways to improve instructional approaches and tasks. With the current proliferation of exciting and innovative technologies that are likely to become more and more common in classrooms (such as cell phones, tablets, and other mobile devices), research needs to move beyond simple comparisons of these devices with each other or with the ‘traditional’ approach. In this presentation, I argue that educational technology research has largely failed to change educational practice and outcomes because of the predominant aim of such research to prove rather than improve. Online and mobile technologies afford the design and creation of truly innovative authentic learning designs, where the technology is both a tool and a platform for presentation of genuine products, and the focus is on learning with technologies rather than from them. Instead of comparative research, a more powerful and appropriate approach is design-based research, where researchers and practitioners work hand in hand to iteratively refine innovations until they get the results they seek. A description of the characteristics of design-based research is given, together with an argument for the more widespread adoption of this approach to enhance the quality and impact of research in teaching and learning

Comparison of Austin-Area Stream Sediments to Sediment Quality Guidelines

This report contains a comparison of sediment content between many Austin creeks.Existing sediment data collected by local, state, and federal agencies from the stream beds and spring pools of the Austin area were compared to human-exposure and environmental toxicity criteria in order to identify the source and location of potential threats to human and ecosystem health. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) parameters were found to be in excess of sediment quality guidelines more frequently, and also were more spatially widespread than any other parameter type assessed. The majority (96%) of parameters evaluated for human health toxicity were below Protective Concentration Limits (PCLs), although data for PAHs, metals, and pesticides were found in Austin-area sediments at levels indicating potential ecosystem toxicity. Applicability of the PCL levels to Austin-area streams is questionable, since a complete exposure pathway may not exist, thus making the use of the PCL criteria an extremely conservative measure of potential adverse human health effects from stream sediments.Waller Creek Working Grou

Summary of 303(d)/305(b) Listed Segments from the Draft 2010 Integrated Report in the Austin area, Texas

This report provides brief descriptions of primary recreation impairments of several Waller Creek locations. The report also mentions that the Waller Creek tunnel will change its hydrology and water quality.The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is required by the federal Clean Water Act sections 303(d) and 305(b) to biennially report on the quality of water bodies in Texas with available data. A review of water bodies identified as impaired or of concern in Austin was conducted. Twelve segments in Austin were identified as impaired in 2010. All but one of the twelve impairments were previously identified in 2008. The most frequent impairment was elevated bacteria levels. Two impairments previously identified in 2008 were de-listed in 2010. There are 27 assessment units in the Austin area identified as being of concern. Not all City of Austin water quality monitoring is submitted to TCEQ for assessment, and Austin’s Environmental Integrity Index is a broader and more consistent comparison of relative water quality citywide. Despite the large number of impaired or of concern water bodies, Austin maintains stream segments with excellent water quality.Waller Creek Working Grou

Action Plan Items Related to EII Site Scores - Fiscal Year 2006

The Environmental Integrity Index (EII) was used to identify creek reaches with at least a 13% decrease in environmental health in using data collected in 2006 compared to initial conditions sampled in 1996 (phase I watersheds). City of Austin teams with the potential to reverse the recent degradation in five problem areas (aquatic life, habitat, nutrients plus bacteria, nutrients alone, and litter) through structural and non-structural BMPs were identified. Primary and secondary problem reach lists are provided for the teams.Waller Creek Working Grou

Understanding new ways of learning in the 21st century: A preliminary study into mobile technologies

In this paper, we describe a theoretical framework and design of a study of mobile technologies in a first year university course, where students use mobile phones, or smartphones as cognitive tools. The paper describes a broader study into the use of mobile technologies with authentic learning environments, and then outlines a plan for an investigation into the nature of use of the devices in the completion of an authentic task

Linking BMPs to Receiving Water Impact Mitigation in Austin, TX

This report mentions how the water quality of upstream Waller Creek can affect downstream sites.Changes to receiving water bodies following Best Management Practices project (BMP) implementation were evaluated using the Environmental Integrity Index (EII). Data from five wet ponds and one channel restoration project were used. Changes in the six EII sub-indices (water quality, sediment quality, contact recreation, non-contact recreation, habitat quality and aquatic life support) were generally positive except for habitat quality, which declined initially but tended to recover. Water quality through wet pond sites improved by an average of 7%, and the channel erosion site improved water by 18%. Additional data collection is needed to strengthen conclusions.Waller Creek Working Grou

Diel dissolved oxygen patterns and aquatic life use assessment

This report mentions Waller Creek as one of three streams "listed as "of concern" for DO impairments".Diel dissolved oxygen (DO) data from 318 deployments at 38 stream sites were evaluated for spatial and temporal patterns and compared using TCEQ aquatic life use assessment DO criteria versus benthic macroinvertebrate aquatic life use categories. Diel DO data suggest that Austin streams generally maintain high or excellent aquatic life use potential. TCEQ assessment methods may not be appropriate for identifying aquatic life use impairments in some high quality Austin streams, and may yield impairments based on DO that are not observed in benthic macroinvertebrate data. Additional investigation of low DO in Bull Creek preserve lands is needed.Waller Creek Working Grou