Teachers’ views and methods for motivating students to write in English.

Both learning to write and motivation are central themes in Norwegian education and motivation is an important factor in learning to write in English. Yet, little research has been done on what knowledge teachers have of motivation for writing and how they practice it. The purpose of this study is to examine individual teachers’ views on motivation and how they experience motivating students for writing. Interviews were used to ask a small selection of teachers what they thought of motivation, and how they practiced motivation for writing. The data was categorized and analyzed in relation to the relevant theory. This study found that while teachers partly incorporate several of the principles that are described in theories on motivation for writing, they did not show a broad understanding of these theories. Additionally, the study found that the teachers felt their ability to focus on motivation for writing was constrained by various limiting factors such as exams, students’ abilities, and time. As motivation is regarded as important for learning to write, further studies to achieve a more general overview of teachers’ outlook on motivation for writing, as well as studies to test which motivational methods could be successfully integrated into the Norwegian education system are needed

The Magellanic Puzzle: origin of the periphery

In this paper, we analyse the metallicity structure of the Magellanic Clouds using parameters derived from the Gaia DR3 low-resolution XP spectra, astrometry and photometry. We find that the qualitative behavior of the radial metallicity gradients in the LMC and SMC are quite similar, with both of them having a metallicity plateau at intermediate radii and a second at larger radii. The LMC has a first metallicity plateau at [Fe/H]$\approx$-0.8 for 3$-$7\degr, while the SMC has one at [Fe/H]$\approx$-1.1 at 3$-$5\degr. The outer LMC periphery has a fairly constant metallicity of [Fe/H]$\approx$-1.0 (10$-$18\degr), while the outer SMC periphery has a value of [Fe/H]$\approx$-1.3 (6$-$10\degr). The sharp drop in metallicity in the LMC at $\sim$8\dgr and the marked difference in age distributions in these two regions suggests that there were two important evolutionary phases in the LMC. In addition, we find that the Magellanic periphery substructures, likely Magellanic debris, are mostly dominated by LMC material stripped off in old interactions with the SMC. This presents a new picture in contrast with the popular belief that the debris around the Clouds had been mostly stripped off from the SMC due to having a lower mass. We perform a detailed analysis for each known substructure and identify its potential origin based on metallicities and motions with respect to each galaxy.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome

From ART to AART. The Scandinavian Adapted version of ART

The A.R.T. program (Goldstein & Glick, 1987; Goldstein, Glick, & Gibbs, 1998; Glick & Gibbs, 2011) has gone through only minor changes through the years. This has been one of the strengths of the program indicating that the protocol should remain consistent in order to evaluate the effect of the program and also be able to replicate it in different countries. A strict protocol will also prevent trainers from making changes over time which could lead to program drift and a less effective approach. However, on several occasions Dr. Goldstein suggested that A.R.T. should be further developed according to newly available research and theory

Star Clusters in Virgo and Fornax Dwarf Irregular Galaxies

We present the results of a search for clusters in dwarf irregular galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax Cluster using HST WFPC2 snapshot data. The galaxy sample includes 28 galaxies, 11 of which are confirmed members of the Virgo and Fornax clusters. In the 11 confirmed members, we detect 237 cluster candidates and determine their V magnitudes, V-I colors and core radii. After statistical subtraction of background galaxies and foreground stars, most of the cluster candidates have V-I colors of -0.2 and 1.4, V magnitudes lying between 20 and 25th magnitude and core radii between 0 and 6 pc. Using H-alpha observations, we find that 26% of the blue cluster candidates are most likely HII regions. The rest of the cluster candidates are most likely massive (>10^4 Msol) young and old clusters. A comparison between the red cluster candidates in our sample and the Milky Way globular clusters shows that they have similar luminosity distributions, but that the red cluster candidates typically have larger core radii. Assuming that the red cluster candidates are in fact globular clusters, we derive specific frequencies (S_N) ranging from ~0-9 for the galaxies. Although the values are uncertain, seven of the galaxies appear to have specific frequencies greater than 2. These values are more typical of ellipticals and nucleated dwarf ellipticals than they are of spirals or Local Group dwarf irregulars.Comment: 46 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted by AJ. Higher quality PS version of entire paper available at http://www.astro.washington.edu/seth/dirr_gcs.htm

Identification of a Class of Low-Mass Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars Struggling to Become Carbon Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

We have identified a new class of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC/LMC) using optical to infrared photometry, light curves, and optical spectroscopy. The strong dust production and long-period pulsations of these stars indicate that they are at the very end of their AGB evolution. Period-mass-radius relations for the fundamental-mode pulsators give median current stellar masses of 1.14 M_sun in the LMC and 0.94 M_sun in the SMC (with dispersions of 0.21 and 0.18 M_sun, respectively), and models suggest initial masses of <1.5 M_sun and <1.25 M_sun, respectively. This new class of stars includes both O-rich and C-rich chemistries, placing the limit where dredge-up allows carbon star production below these masses. A high fraction of the brightest among them should show S star characteristics indicative of atmospheric C/O ~ 1, and many will form O-rich dust prior to their C-rich phase. These stars can be separated from their less-evolved counterparts by their characteristically red J-[8] colors.Comment: 16 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in Ap