Teaching in the Montessori Classroom: Investigating Variation Theory and Embodiment as a Foundation of Teachers’ Development

The theory of Montessori education has been interpreted by some researchers to be vaguely formulated. However, as shown in previous research, Maria Montessori’s didactic approach to teaching and learning mathematics is fully consistent with variation theory and the theory of embodiment. Dr. Montessori used the theoretical concept of isolation of quality, which means that the learning objects have to be kept identical except for one variable, which has to differ to be perceptible. This concept is in alignment with variation theory, which emphasizes variation as a necessary condition for learners to discern aspects of an object of learning. The other theory applied in this article is the theory of embodiment: important cognitive functions are fundamentally grounded in action that is concordant with Dr. Montessori’s view that mind and movement are parts of the same entity.                 This article reports on a qualitative single-case study with a formative intention in which we investigated the significance of being acquainted with variation theory and the theory of embodiment when working with Montessori material. The study analyzes a teacher’s mathematics presentations with the Montessori material and the children’s work with this material, using Epistemological Move Analysis, which focuses on how the teacher directs children’s learning. The analysis was shared with the teacher to support her awareness of the ways teaching can be developed from a variation and embodiment theoretical perspective. Results show that the teacher’s awareness of why a specific learning object be treated in accordance with variation theory and embodiment seems to promote a more constructive and effective way to direct children’s learning

Virus Evolution: Fitting Lifestyles to a T

The structure of a double-stranded RNA virus outer shell has revealed unexpected similarities with virions of positive-strand RNA viruses. These similarities intersect with emerging parallels in RNA replication to create intriguing evolutionary possibilities

COLLABORATION AND ALTERED PROCESSES

The architectural technologist could be defined as a designer whose methods are driven by the intimate and experimental use of varying digital technologies. The technologist, in this scenario, is a designer by training, but typically, seen primarily for their technical expertise. Through an emerging practice of the architectural technologist as a design collaborator, an identity is forming of the technologist as a designer who balances general issues of architecture with an analytical mind towards digital/computational methods. Collaboration exists ultimately in the realm of design (not in production) but introduces a shift in process, where design involves the construction of digital means and the critique of process by all participants in the collaboration. This paper describes the necessity of this type of collaboration in relation to several specific design projects, to which Sean Ahlquist / Proces2 participated as the technologist. At issue is the technologist’s degree of influence on the processes, the level of exchange between designers, and the resulting influence on the success of the design. Three projects will be discussed to show the range of collaborative interaction. In one scenario, the technologist worked within a stratified and somewhat traditional process based on the applying digitallyderived systems to a specified form. A second scenario looked to find a generative, computational method through the collaboration. The intent was to discover an architectural pattern that had an advanced level of complexity, and simultaneously provide data for fabrication and construction. The last project saw the collaboration as a necessity to produce an array of highly complex 3-dimensional forms and provide means of communication between the highly digital environment and analog means for analysis and fabrication

The parent-child relationship in adolescent school phobia.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit