Core‐explore‐more: A structure for planning enrichment activities

A framework for planning enrichment activities within a self‐contained classroom is described through the structure of Core‐Explore‐More. At the Core level, activities systematically introduce students to concepts, generalizations and basic skills related to an important curriculum theme. Explore activities allow follow‐up experiences for those students who have been excited and motivated by what they have done at the core level. More activities require greater commitment and individual student initiative because of their specialization.     

The influence of moment of inertia on baseball/softball bat swing speed

The speed at which a player can swing a bat is central to the games of baseball and softball, determining, to a large extent, the hit speed of the ball. Experimental and analytical studies of bat swing speed were conducted with particular emphasis on the influence of bat moment of inertia on swing speed. Two distinct sets of experiments measured the swing speed of colege baseball and fast-pitch softball players using weighted rods and modified bats. The swing targets included flexible targets, balls on a tee and machine pitched balls. Internal mass alterations provided a range of inertial properties. The average measured speeds, from 22 to 31 m s⁻¹, are consistent with previous studies. Bat speed approximately correlates with the moment of inertia of the bat about a vertical axis of rotation through the batter's body, the speed generally decreasing as this moment of inertia increases. The analytical model assumes pure rotation of the batter/bat system about a vertical axis through the batter's body. Aerodynamic drag of the batter's arms and the bat is included in the model. The independent variable is bat moment of inertia about the rotation axis. There is reasonable agreement between the model and the measured speeds. Detailed differences between the two suggest the importance of additional degrees of freedom in determining swing speed.     

Computers as learning resources in the health sciences: impact and issues

Starting with two computer terminals in 1972, the Health Sciences Learning Resources Center of the University of Minnesota Bio-Medical Library expanded its instructional facilities to ten terminals and thirty-five microcomputers by 1985. Computer use accounted for 28% of total center circulation. The impact of these resources on health sciences curricula is described and issues related to use, support, and planning are raised and discussed. Judged by their acceptance and educational value, computers are successful health sciences learning resources at the University of Minnesota.     

How accurately does the VIVO Harvester reflect actual Clinical and Translational Sciences Award–affiliated faculty member publications?

Objective:

The research tested the accuracy of the VIVO Harvester software in identifying publications authored by faculty members affiliated with a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Sciences Award (CTSA) site.

Methods:

Health sciences librarians created “gold standard” lists of references for the years 2001 to 2011 from PubMed for twenty-five randomly selected investigators from one CTSA site. These gold standard lists were compared to the same twenty-five investigators'' reference lists produced by VIVO Harvester. The authors subjected the discrepancies between the lists to sensitivity and specificity analyses.

Results:

The VIVO Harvester correctly identified only about 65% of the total eligible PubMed references for the years 2001–2011 for the CTSA-affiliated investigators. The identified references produced by VIVO Harvester were precise yet incomplete. The sensitivity rate was 0.65, and the specificity rate was 1.00.

Conclusion:

While the references produced by VIVO Harvester could be confirmed in PubMed, the VIVO Harvester retrieved only two-thirds of the required references from PubMed. National Institutes of Health CTSA sites will need to supplement VIVO Harvester–produced references with the expert searching skills of health sciences librarians.

Implications:

Health sciences librarians with searching skills need to alert their CTSA sites about these deficiencies and offer their skills to advance their sites'' missions.     

A comparison of the mathematical performance of mature students and traditional students over a 10-year period

Every student who enrols in a degree programme involving service mathematics in the University of Limerick in Ireland is given a mathematics diagnostic test. The diagnostic test was developed due to mathematics lecturers’ anxiety regarding students’ mathematical competency levels. Students receive the 40 question paper-based test in their first service mathematics lecture without prior notification. Initial analysis of students’ work revealed that many students were having difficulties with basic algebra and arithmetic in particular [Gill, O. 2006. “What Counts as Service Mathematics? An Investigation into the ‘Mathematics Problem’ in Ireland.” PhD diss., University of Limerick]. Further research highlighted the significant decline in diagnostic test performance and the changing profile of service mathematics students between 1998 and 2008 [Faulkner, Fiona, Ailish Hannigan, and Olivia Gill. 2010. “Trends in the Mathematical Competency of University Entrants in Ireland by Leaving Certificate Mathematics Grade.” Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications 29 (2): 76–93]. One of the most notable changes to the student profile over time was the increase in mature students (non-standard students) entering service mathematics programmes. Although non-standard students had a lower mean performance in the diagnostic test, they were found to have a higher mean performance in some cases in service mathematics compared to standard students. This paper explores some of the possible reasons for such findings.     

Computers and medical information: an elective for fourth-year medical students

The Computers and Medical Information elective is a collaborative effort to expose students to a variety of computer applications for medical information management. The course has a modular format so that students can work with a variety of people who are enthusiastic users of computer-based information systems. The elective emphasizes learning by doing. Faculty introduce concepts and systems and serve as guides in the use of systems. Students have rated the course positively and, after four years as an elective, some of the course's content has been integrated into the required curriculum.     

An investigation of prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ conceptual knowledge of and attitudes towards statistics

The development of statistical literacy is fast becoming the focus of a large part of mathematics instruction at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. This broadening of the mathematics curriculum to encompass a focus on statistics makes considerable demands on teachers. Most mathematics teachers acknowledge the practical importance of statistics and are willing to give more relevance to the teaching of statistics; however, many mathematics teachers do not consider themselves well prepared to teach statistics. The aims of this study were to investigate the conceptual understanding of statistics of prospective secondary mathematics teachers; the nature of their attitudes towards statistics and if there was a relationship between attitude towards statistics and conceptual understanding of statistics. Conceptual understanding was measured using a standard assessment instrument (comprehensive assessment of outcomes in a first statistics course) which allows comparison across other disciplines. Despite being very mathematically able and confident, the prospective mathematics teachers in this study do no better in the assessment than students from other (mostly non-quantitative) disciplines. This, perhaps, gives further evidence that statistical thinking is different from mathematical thinking and that a strong background in mathematics does not necessarily translate to statistical thinking. Conceptual knowledge was poor in some fundamental areas of statistics such as being able to properly describe the distribution of a quantitative variable and data production. The attitudes of these teachers towards statistics were measured using a widely used instrument (survey of attitudes towards statistics). The results indicate generally positive attitudes but an acknowledgement that statistics is not a subject quickly learned by everyone and requires discipline to learn. No strong correlation was found between attitudes and conceptual knowledge. It is recommended that in order to improve teacher knowledge, teacher education programmes must include tailored modules in statistics and highlight the differences between mathematical and statistical thinking.