Educational reforms, cultural clashes and classroom practices

This article presents an ongoing study of educational policy enactment in Singapore lower primary English classrooms. It explores how teachers react to and interpret educational reforms in their classroom practices against a backdrop ofvtraditional cultural values. Using a prescribed coding scheme, the article presents the instructional organisational patterns and participation structures of the lessons.Through a systematic analysis of the enacted curricula, the paper examines classroom practices as well as teaching and learning activities in Primary 1 (7–8 years) and Primary 2 (8–9 years) English lessons in Singapore. The results suggest that there are cultural clashes between major educational reforms which emphasise independent/critical thinking and ‘Asian values’ which promote respect for authority and conformity.

Educational simulation in construction: the virtual construction simulator

Students in the architecture, engineering, and construction disciplines are often challenged with visualizing and understanding the complex spatial and temporal relationships involved in designing and constructing three-dimensional (3D) structures. An evolving body of research traces the use of educational computer simulations to enhance student learning experiences through testing real-world scenarios and the development of student decision-making skills. Ongoing research at Pennsylvania State University aims to improve engineering education in construction through interactive construction project learning applications in an immersive virtual reality environment. This paper describes the first- and second-generation development of the Virtual Construction Simulator (VCS), a tool that enables students to simultaneously create and review construction schedules through 3D model interaction. The educational value and utility of VCS was assessed through surveys, focus group interviews, and a student exercise conducted in a construction management class. Results revealed VCS is a valuable and effective four-dimensional (4D) model creation and schedule review application that fosters collaborative work and greater student task focus. This paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and the future development steps of the VCS educational simulation

Electron acceleration and parallel electric fields due to kinetic Alfvén waves in plasma with similar thermal and Alfvén speeds

We investigate electron acceleration due to shear Alfven waves in a collissionless plasma for plasma parameters typical of 4–5RE radial distance from the Earth along auroral field lines. Recent observational work has motivated this study, which explores the plasma regime where the thermal velocity of the electrons is similar to the Alfven speed of the plasma, encouraging Landau resonance for electrons in the wave fields. We use a self-consistent kinetic simulation model to follow the evolution of the electrons as they interact with a short-duration wave pulse, which allows us to determine the parallel electric field of the shear Alfven wave due to both electron inertia and electron pressure effects. The simulation demonstrates that electrons can be accelerated to keV energies in a modest amplitude sub-second period wave. We compare the parallel electric field obtained from the simulation with those provided by fluid approximations.

Educational attainment in poor comprehenders

To date, only one study has investigated educational attainment in poor (reading) comprehenders, providing evidence of poor performance on national UK school tests at age 11 years relative to peers (Cain & Oakhill, 2006). In the present study, we adopted a longitudinal approach, tracking attainment on such tests from 11 years to the end of compulsory schooling in the UK (age 16 years). We aimed to investigate the proposal that educational weaknesses (defined as poor performance on national assessments) might become more pronounced over time, as the curriculum places increasing demands on reading comprehension. Participants comprised 15 poor comprehenders and 15 controls; groups were matched for chronological age, nonverbal reasoning ability and decoding skill. Children were identified at age 9 years using standardised measures of nonverbal reasoning, decoding and reading comprehension. These measures, along with a measure of oral vocabulary knowledge, were repeated at age 11 years. Data on educational attainment were collected from all participants (N = 30) at age 11 and from a subgroup (n = 21) at 16 years. Compared to controls, educational attainment in poor comprehenders was lower at ages 11 and 16 years, an effect that was significant at 11 years. When poor comprehenders were compared to national performance levels, they showed significantly lower performance at both time points. Low educational attainment was not evident for all poor comprehenders. Nonetheless, our findings point to a link between reading comprehension difficulties in mid to late childhood and poor educational outcomes at ages 11 and 16 years. At these ages, pupils in the UK are making key transitions: they move from primary to secondary schools at 11, and out of compulsory schooling at 16.

Power transfer in velocity-vortex acceleration

A theoretical model is presented of an electron acceleration-as-oscillator method derived from the work of Joseph Larmor unified with J. Clerk Maxwell’s theory of vorticity for the displacement of radiation into free-space at an antenna interface.

Educational inclusiveness through Ludic engagement and digital creativity

This paper describes an approach to teaching and learning that combines elements of ludic engagement, gamification and digital creativity in order to make the learning of a serious subject a fun, interactive and inclusive experience for students regardless of their gender, age, culture, experience or any disabilities that they may have. This approach has been successfully used to teach software engineering to first year students but could in principle be transferred to any subject or discipline.

Ion acceleration at both the interior and exterior Alfvén waves associated with the magnetopause reconnection site: Signatures in cusp precipitation

We present evidence for the acceleration of magnetospheric ions by reflection off two Alfvén waves, launched by the reconnection site into the inflow regions on both sides of the reconnecting magnetopause. The “exterior” wave stands in the inflow from the magnetosheath and is the magnetopause, in the sense that the majority of the field rotation occurs there. The other, “interior” wave stands in the inflow region on the magnetospheric side of the boundary. The population reflected by the interior wave is the more highly energized of the two and appears at low altitudes on open field lines, immediately equatorward of the cusp precipitation. In addition, we identify the population of magnetosheath ions transmitted across the exterior Alfvén wave, as well as a population of magnetospheric ions which are accelerated, after transmission through the interior wave, by reflection off the exterior wave. The ion populations near the X line are modeled and, with allowance for time-of-flight effects, are also derived from observations in the dayside auroral ionosphere. Agreement between observed and theoretical spectra is very good and the theory also explains the observed total fluxes and average energies of the precipitations poleward of the open/closed field line boundary. The results offer a physical interpretation of all the various classifications of precipitation into the dayside ionosphere (central plasma sheet, dayside boundary plasma sheet, void, low-latitude boundary layer, cusp, and mantle) and allow the conditions in both the magnetosphere and the magnetosheath adjacent to the X line to be studied.