From Homework to Home Learning

Stop assigning homework, and watch the learning grow

I\u27m a Better Teacher When Students Aren\u27t Tested

Fear of not scoring well on mandated assessments cripples teachers’ ability to teach for learning and not just performance

Abandoning Superman

A decision to return to being a classroom teacher is tempered by understanding that teachers measure their success in many ways

Technology Criticism in the Classroom (Chapter in The Nature of Technology)

I first heard about a tragedy in Tucson, not from major television news networks, but from a direct message sent by a politically-active friend who was attending the political gathering where a mass shooting took place, including the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords. While the television news sputtered around trying to offer details (initially wrongly claiming that she was dead, likely from pressure to be the first to report big news), I found myself reading Google News, piecing together Facebook posts, e-mailing friends and reading Twitter updates

PD isn\u27t the Problem

It\u27s not necessarily stubborn, lazy teachers keeping new ideas and methods from taking hold in a school. Sometimes it\u27s the flawed policies and unrelenting rigidity of the system itself

Vibratory Finishing of Stereolithography Parts

Rapid Prototype polymer resin models produced by Stereolithography have, by the nature of the process, a relatively poor surface roughness, particularly on concave and convex surfaces. In many cases this is unacceptable, and slow and tedious manual finishing techniques are often used to improve the surface. An investigation has been conducted into a range of automated finishing techniques with the aim of producing an acceptable surface roughness. This paper presents the results from two techniques, Vibratory Bowl Abrasion and Ultrasonic Abrasion using components made from Ciba-Geigy XB5081-1 and XB 5143 resins. Initial results from Scanning Electron Microscopy and surface topography analyses suggest that both techniques are capable of improving the model surfaces.Mechanical Engineerin

A dynamic neural field model of temporal order judgments

Temporal ordering of events is biased, or influenced, by perceptual organization—figure–ground organization—and by spatial attention. For example, within a region assigned figural status or at an attended location, onset events are processed earlier (Lester, Hecht, & Vecera, 2009; Shore, Spence, & Klein, 2001), and offset events are processed for longer durations (Hecht & Vecera, 2011; Rolke, Ulrich, & Bausenhart, 2006). Here, we present an extension of a dynamic field model of change detection (Johnson, Spencer, Luck, & Schöner, 2009; Johnson, Spencer, & Schöner, 2009) that accounts for both the onset and offset performance for figural and attended regions. The model posits that neural populations processing the figure are more active, resulting in a peak of activation that quickly builds toward a detection threshold when the onset of a target is presented. This same enhanced activation for some neural populations is maintained when a present target is removed, creating delays in the perception of the target’s offset. We discuss the broader implications of this model, including insights regarding how neural activation can be generated in response to the disappearance of information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved

Vertical Networks and US Auto Parts Exports: Is Japan Different?

This paper develops a model in which upstream network insiders' conduct relationship specific investment that induces the downstream firm to transact within networks. The scale of destination-country production and part-specific measures of the importance of network relationships and engineering costs are used to explain the pattern of U.S. auto parts exports. Our results support the prediction that large scale promotes relationship-specific investment and reduces imports. Also, while Japan is a large parts importer, the composition of its imports is shifted away from parts where vertical keiretsu are prominent. Nations hosting U.S.-owned automakers import more U.S. parts.