Search results for: mathematics anxiety

Authors: S. Rawashdi, D. Bshouty

Abstract:

This paper aimed at discussing how to urge middle and high school Arab students in Israel to be aware of the importance of and investing in learning mathematics. In the first phase of the study, three questionnaires were passed to two nine-grade classes, one on Awareness, one on Awakeness and one on Learning. One of the two classes was an outstanding class from a public school (PUBS) of 31 students, and the other a heterogeneous class from a private school (PRIS) with 31 students. The Learning questionnaire which was administrated to the Awareness and Awareness topics was passed to PRIS and the Awareness and Awareness Questionnaires were passed to the PUBS class After two months we passed the post-questionnaire to both classes to validate the long-term impact of the study. The findings of the study show that awakeness and awareness processes have an effect on the math learning process, on its context in students' daily lives and their growing interest in learning math.

Keywords: Awakeness, awareness, learning mathematics, pupils.

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Authors: Belkacem Meziane

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The original 3D Lorenz-Haken equations -which describe laser dynamics- are converted into 2-second-order differential equations out of which the so far missing mathematics is extracted. Leaning on high-order trigonometry, important outcomes are pulled out: A fundamental result attributes chaos to forbidden periodic solutions, inside some precisely delimited region of the control parameter space that governs self-pulsing.

Keywords: chaos, Lorenz-Haken equations, laser dynamics, nonlinearities

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Authors: Hadjikhani R.

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Anxiety is a common disorder that attacks many people in society and often accompanied by physiological sensations such as tachycardia, chest pain, shortness of breath, insensitivity and etc. The purpose of this study is to characterize the putative anxiolytic-like effects of DEV (dichloromethane extracts of valerian) using the elevated plus maze (EPM) in rats. DEV was dissolved in DMSO and orally administered at different doses to adult male wistar rats, 0.5, 1.5 and 3 hours before behavioral evaluation in an EPM respectively. Control rats were treated with an equal volume of DMSO. Single treatment of DEV (at 0.1,0.2. 0.3, and 0.4 g/kg) significantly increased time-spent and arm entries into open arms of EPM versus control groups (p<0.05).However, no changes in the locomotor activity ccured. This result suggests that DEV might prove to be an effective anxiolytic agent.

Keywords: Anxiety, Dichloromethane extracts, Valerian, Rat

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Authors: C. Cruz, A. Breda

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The world is changing and, consequently, the young people need to acquire more sophisticated tools and skills to lead with the new societies’ challenges. In the curriculum of the Portuguese education system, in the profile of students leaving compulsory education, the critical thinking and creative thinking are pointed out as skills to be developed, as well as the capacity of interconnect different knowledge and applicate them in different contexts and learning areas. Unlike primary school teachers, teachers specialized in a specific area sometimes reveal more difficulties in developing interdisciplinary approaches in the classrooms and, despite the effort, the interdisciplinarity is not a common practice in schools. Statements like "Mathematics is everywhere" are unquestionable, however, some math teachers continue to develop an abstract teaching of mathematics devoid of any connection with reality. Good mathematical problems in real contexts are promising in the development of interdisciplinary pedagogical practices. However, these problems are often addressed by teachers in multidisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary contexts or are not addressed at all due several reasons, which range from insecurity in working on disciplinary domains with which they are not comfortable to a lack of pedagogical resources. In this study this issue is approached through a case study involving Mathematics teachers, which, in their professional development scope, attended a training aimed at stimulating interdisciplinary practices in real contexts, namely related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Interdisciplinarity, Mathematics, professional development, teacher training.

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Authors: R. M. Kashim

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The study investigates the conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational number in primary school teachers, specifically, the primary school teachers level of conceptual knowledge about rational number and the primary school teachers level of procedural knowledge about rational numbers. The study was carried out in Bauchi metropolis in Bauchi state of Nigeria. A Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge Test was used as the instrument for data collection, 54 mathematics teachers in Bauchi primary schools were involved in the study. The collections were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that the primary school mathematics teachers in Bauchi metropolis posses a low level of conceptual knowledge of rational number and also possess a high level of Procedural knowledge of rational number. It is therefore recommended that to be effective, teachers teaching mathematics most posses a deep understanding of both conceptual and procedural knowledge. That way the most knowledgeable teachers in mathematics deliver highly effective rational number instructions. Teachers should not ignore the mathematical concept aspect of rational number teaching. This is because only the procedural aspect of Rational number is highlighted during instructions; this often leads to rote - learning of procedures without understanding the meanings. It is necessary for teachers to learn rational numbers teaching method that focus on both conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge teaching.

Keywords: Conceptual knowledge, primary school teachers, procedural knowledge, rational numbers.

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Authors: Alexander Y. Vaninsky

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The paper compares the treatment of fractions in a typical undergraduate college curriculum and in abstract algebra textbooks. It stresses that the main difference is that the undergraduate curriculum treats equivalent fractions as equal, and this treatment eventually leads to paradoxes and impairs the students- ability to perceive ratios, proportions, radicals and rational exponents adequately. The paper suggests a simplified version of rigorous theory of fractions suitable for regular college curriculum.

Keywords: Fractions, mathematics curriculum, mathematics education, teacher preparation

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Authors: Cristina-Maria Păcurar

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The paper presents an original Python-based application that outlines the advantages of combining some elementary notions of mathematics with the study of a programming language. The application support refers to some of the first lessons of analytic geometry, meaning conics and quadrics and their reduction to a standard form, as well as some related notions. The chosen programming language is Python, not only for its closer to an everyday language syntax – and therefore, enhanced readability – but also for its highly reusable code, which is of utmost importance for a mathematician that is accustomed to exploit already known and used problems to solve new ones. The purpose of this paper is, on one hand, to support the idea that one of the most appropriate means to initiate one into programming is throughout mathematics, and reciprocal, one of the most facile and handy ways to assimilate some basic knowledge in the study of mathematics is to apply them in a personal project. On the other hand, besides being a mean of learning both programming and analytic geometry, the application subject to this paper is itself a useful tool for it can be seen as an independent original Python package for analytic geometry.

Keywords: Analytic geometry, conics, Python programming language, quadrics.

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Authors: Joel S. Mtebe, Aron Kondoro, Mussa M. Kissaka, Elia Kibga

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Sub-Saharan Africa is described as the second fastest growing in mobile phone penetration in the world more than in the United States or the European Union. Mobile phones have been used to provide a lot of opportunities to improve people’s lives in the region such as in banking, marketing, entertainment, and paying for various bills such as water, TV, and electricity. However, the potential of mobile phones to enhance teaching and learning has not been explored. This study presents an experience of developing and delivering SMS based quiz questions used to assess mastery of subject content knowledge of science and mathematics secondary school teachers in Tanzania. The SMS quizzes were used as a follow up support mechanism to 500 teachers who participated in a project to upgrade subject content knowledge of teachers in science and mathematics subjects in Tanzania. Quizzes of 10-15 questions were sent to teachers each week for 8 weeks and the results were analyzed using SPSS. Results show that teachers who participated in chemistry and biology subjects have better performance compared to those who participated in mathematics and physics subjects. Teachers reported some challenges that led to poor performance, This research has several practical implications for those who are implementing or planning to use mobile phones in teaching and learning especially in rural secondary schools in sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Mobile learning, e-learning, educational technologies, SMS, secondary education, assessment.

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Authors: Narges Razeghi

Abstract:

In studies on psychological health and children-s personality development and in researches on emotional distresses, children-s behavioral disorders associated with mother deprivation, are known as the major cause of mental disorders. Therefore, for identification of children-s attachment styles in nursery-s children are of significant importance. For this purpose, to compare the attachment styles between children of nursery with those provided care by their families, the Separation Anxiety Test (SAT) of Slough and et al was administered on 72 children (36 in nursery and 36 family-cared). The results indicated, almost half of children in both groups have insecure attachment styles. Tendency ratio of both groups of children towards Secure and Ambivalent Insecure styles are almost the same. However the avoidant style of attachment in children of nursery is more than those provided care by their families. The children under family care compared to the children of nursery, in the situations of separation from their mothers in the first day of school and sleeping in their room, have shown more self reliance.

Keywords: Attachment style, Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), Children, Nursery, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

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Authors: M. Rodionov, Z. Dedovets

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The article describes the theoretical concept of teaching secondary school students proof demonstration skills in mathematics. It describes in detail different levels of mastery of the concept of proof-which correspond to Piaget’s idea of there being three distinct and progressively more complex stages in the development of human reflection. Lessons for each level contain a specific combination of the visual-figurative components and deductive reasoning. It is vital at the transition point between levels to carefully and rigorously recalibrate teaching to reflect the development of more complex reflective understanding. This can apply even within the same age range, since students will develop at different speeds and to different potential. The authors argue that this requires an aware and adaptive approach to lessons to reflect this complexity and variation. The authors also contend that effective teaching which enables students to properly understand the implementation of proof arguments must develop specific competences. These are: understanding of the importance of completeness and generality in making a valid argument; being task focused; having an internalised locus of control and being flexible in approach and evaluation. These criteria must be correlated with the systematic application of corresponding methodologies which are best likely to achieve success. The particular pedagogical decisions which are made to deliver this objective are illustrated by concrete examples from the existing secondary school mathematics courses. The proposed theoretical concept formed the basis of the development of methodological materials which have been tested in 47 secondary schools.

Keywords: Education, teaching of mathematics, proof, deductive reasoning, secondary school.

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Authors: Serkan Narli

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This study aims to specify to what extent students understand topology during the lesson and to determine possible misconceptions. 14 teacher trainees registered at Secondary School Mathematics education department were observed in the topology lessons throughout a semester and data collected at the first topology lesson is presented here. Students- knowledge was evaluated using a written test right before and after the topology lesson. Thus, what the students learnt in terms of the definition and examples of topologic space were specified as well as possible misconceptions. The findings indicated that students did not fully comprehend the topic and misunderstandings were due to insufficient pre-requisite knowledge of abstract mathematical topics and mathematical notation.

Keywords: Mathematics Education, Teacher Education, Topology.

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Authors: Daya Weerasinghe

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Parental expectations often differ to that of their children and the influence and involvement of parents, at home, may affect the student performance in the classroom. This paper presents results from a survey of Asian and European background secondary school mathematics students (N=128) in Melbourne, Australia. Student responses to survey questions were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis, followed by t-tests and ANOVA. The aim of the analysis was to identify similarities and differences in parental expectations in relation to ethnicity, gender, and the year level of the students. The notable findings from the analysis showed no significant difference (at 0.05 level) in parental expectations and student performance, in relation to ethnicity or gender. Conversely, there was a significant difference in both parental expectations and student performance between year 7 and year 12 students. Further, whilst there was a significant difference in parental expectations between year 7 and year 11 students, the students’ performances were not significantly different. The results suggest further research may be needed to understand the parental expectations and student performance between the lower and upper secondary school mathematics students.

Keywords: Ethnic background, gender, parental expectations, student performance, year level.

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Authors: Suttipong Boonphadung

Abstract:

The research on ARCS for critical information retrieval development aimed to (1) investigate conditions of critical information retrieval skill of the Mathematics pre-service teachers before applying ARCS model in learning activities, (2) study and analyze the development of critical information retrieval skill of the Mathematics pre-service teachers after utilizing ARCS model in learning activities, and (3) evaluate the Mathematics pre-service teachers’ satisfaction on using ARCS model in learning activities as a tool to development critical information retrieval skill. Forty-one of 4th year Mathematics pre-service teachers who have enrolled in the subject of Research for Learning Development of semester 2 in 2012 were purposively selected as the research cohort. The research tools were self-report and interview questionnaire that was approved as content validity and reliability (IOC=.66-1.00, α =.834). The research found that critical information retrieval skill of the research samples before using ARCS model in learning activities was in the normal high level. According to the in-depth interview and focus group, the result however showed that the pre-service teachers still lack inadequate and effective knowledge in information retrieval. Additionally, critical information retrieval skill of the research cohort after applying ARCS model in learning activities appeared to be high level. The result revealed that the pre-service teachers are able to explain the method of searching, extraction, and selecting information as well as evaluating quality of information, and effectively making decision in accepting information. Moreover, the research discovered that the pre-service teachers showed normal high to highest level of satisfaction on using ARCS model in learning activities as a tool to development their critical information retrieval skill.

Keywords: Critical information retrieval skill, ARCS model, Satisfaction.

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Authors: Diriba Gemechu, Lamessa Abebe

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The aim of this study was to examine the effect of cooperative learning method on student’s academic achievement and on the achievement level over a usual method in teaching different topics of mathematics. The study also examines the perceptions of students towards cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is the instructional strategy in which pairs or small groups of students with different levels of ability work together to accomplish a shared goal. The aim of this cooperation is for students to maximize their own and each other learning, with members striving for joint benefit. The teacher’s role changes from wise on the wise to guide on the side. Cooperative learning due to its influential aspects is the most prevalent teaching-learning technique in the modern world. Therefore the study was conducted in order to examine the effect of cooperative learning on the academic achievement of grade 9 students in Mathematics in case of Mettu secondary school. Two sample sections are randomly selected by which one section served randomly as an experimental and the other as a comparison group. Data gathering instruments are achievement tests and questionnaires. A treatment of STAD method of cooperative learning was provided to the experimental group while the usual method is used in the comparison group. The experiment lasted for one semester. To determine the effect of cooperative learning on the student’s academic achievement, the significance of difference between the scores of groups at 0.05 levels was tested by applying t test. The effect size was calculated to see the strength of the treatment. The student’s perceptions about the method were tested by percentiles of the questionnaires. During data analysis, each group was divided into high and low achievers on basis of their previous Mathematics result. Data analysis revealed that both the experimental and comparison groups were almost equal in Mathematics at the beginning of the experiment. The experimental group out scored significantly than comparison group on posttest. Additionally, the comparison of mean posttest scores of high achievers indicates significant difference between the two groups. The same is true for low achiever students of both groups on posttest. Hence, the result of the study indicates the effectiveness of the method for Mathematics topics as compared to usual method of teaching.

Keywords: Cooperative learning, academic achievement, experimental group, comparison group.

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Authors: Sherry S. Herron, Douglas Magomo, Paula Gossard

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In this article, we discuss project-based learning in the context of a wheel garden as an instructional tool in science and mathematics education. A wheel garden provides multiple opportunities to teach across the curriculum, to integrate disciplines, and to promote community involvement. Grounded in the theoretical framework of constructivism, the wheel garden provides a multidisciplined educational tool that provides a hands-on, non-traditional arena for learning. We will examine some of the cultural, art, science, and mathematics connections made with this project.

Keywords: Art education, cross-curriculum instruction, multicultural education, project-based learning, school gardens, task based learning.

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Authors: Khalid Pervaiz Akhter, Mahmood Ahmad, Ghulam Murtaza, Ishrat Shafi, Zafar Javed

Abstract:

The objective of this manuscript is to find area under the plasma concentration- time curve (AUC) for multiple doses of salbutamol sulphate sustained release tablets (Ventolin® oral tablets SR 8 mg, GSK, Pakistan) in the group of 18 healthy adults by using computational mathematics techniques. Following the administration of 4 doses of Ventolin® tablets 12 hourly to 24 healthy human subjects and bioanalysis of obtained plasma samples, plasma drug concentration-time profile was constructed. AUC, an important pharmacokinetic parameter, was measured using integrated equation of multiple oral dose regimens. The approximated AUC was also calculated by using computational mathematics techniques such as repeated rectangular, repeated trapezium and repeated Simpson's rule and compared with exact value of AUC calculated by using integrated equation of multiple oral dose regimens to find best computational mathematics method that gives AUC values closest to exact. The exact values of AUC for four consecutive doses of Ventolin® oral tablets were 150.5819473, 157.8131756, 164.4178231 and 162.78 ng.h/ml while the closest values approximated AUC values were 149.245962, 157.336171, 164.2585768 and 162.289224 ng.h/ml, respectively as found by repeated rectangular rule. The errors in the approximated values of AUC were negligible. It is concluded that all computational tools approximated values of AUC accurately but the repeated rectangular rule gives slightly better approximated values of AUC as compared to repeated trapezium and repeated Simpson's rules.

Keywords: Salbutamol sulphate, Area under curve (AUC), repeated rectangular rule, repeated trapezium rule, repeated Simpson's rule.

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Authors: Yasuhito Tanaka

Abstract:

In this paper we will constructively prove the existence of an equilibrium in a competitive economy with sequentially locally non-constant excess demand functions. And we will show that the existence of such an equilibrium in a competitive economy implies Sperner-s lemma. We follow the Bishop style constructive mathematics.

Keywords: Sequentially locally non-constant excess demand functions, Equilibrium in a competitive economy, Constructive mathematics

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Authors: Sameerchand Pudaruth, Nawsheen Bibi Jannnoo

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In this paper, we give an overview of an online elearning tool which has been developed for kids aged from nine to eleven years old in Mauritius for the self-study of Mathematics in order to prepare them for the CPE examination. The software does not intend to render obsolete the existing pedagogical approaches. Nowadays, the teaching-learning process is mainly focused towards the class-room model. Moreover, most of the e-learning platforms that exist are simply static ways of delivering resources using the internet. There is nearly no interaction between the learner and the tool. Our application will enable students to practice exercises online and also work out sample examination papers. Another interesting feature is that the kid will not have to wait for someone to correct the work as the correction will be done online and on the spot. Additional feedback is also provided for some exercises.

Keywords: CPE, e-learning, Mauritius, primary education

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Authors: Veronica Diaz Quezada

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A study and its preliminary results are presented. The research is descriptive and exploratory and it is still in process. Its objective is to develop an assessment method in the field of fostering values using competence mathematics problem solving. This is part of a more extensive research that aims at contributing to educational integration in Latin America, particularly to the development of proposals to link education for citizenship and the mathematics lessons. This is being carried out by research teams of University of Barcelona-España; University Nacional of Costa Rica; University Autónoma of Querétaro-México; Pontificia University Católica of Perú, University Nacional of Villa María- Argentina and University of Los Lagos-Chile, in the context of Andrés Bello Chair for the Association of Latin American Universities. This research was developed and implemented in Chile in 2016, using mixed research methods. It included interviews and a problem-solving math test with ethical values that was administered to students of the secondary education of the regions of Los Ríos and of the Lakes of Chile. The results show the lack of integration between the teaching of values and science discipline.

Keywords: Citizenship, ethical values, mathematics, secondary school, solving problem.

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Authors: L.A du Plessis

Abstract:

South Africa is facing a crisis with not being able to produce enough graduates in the scarce skills areas to sustain economic growth. The crisis is fuelled by a school system that does not produce enough potential students with Mathematics, Accounting and Science. Since the introduction of the new school curriculum in 2008, there is no longer an option to take pure maths on a standard grade level. Instead, only two mathematical subjects are offered: pure maths (which is on par with higher grade maths) and mathematical literacy. It is compulsory to take one or the other. As a result, lees student finishes Grade 12 with pure mathematics every year. This national problem needs urgent attention if South Africa is to make any headway in critical skills development as mathematics is a gateway to scarce skills professions. Higher education institutions initiated several initiatives in an attempt to address the above, including preparatory courses, bridging programmes and extended curricula with foundation provisions. In view of the above, and government policy directives to broaden access in the scarce skills areas to increase student throughput, foundation provision was introduced for Commerce and Information Technology programmes at the Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of North-West University (NWU) in 2010. Students enrolling for extended programmes do not comply with the minimum prerequisites for the normal programmes. The question then arises as to whether these programmes have the intended impact? This paper reports the results of a two year longitudinal study, tracking the first year academic achievement of the two cohorts of enrolments since 2010. The results provide valuable insight into the structuring of an extended programme and its potential impact.

Keywords: Access, extended programmes, foundation provision, mathematics.

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Authors: Sheila R. Bonito

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This study describes the relationship between motivation factors and academic performance among distance education students enrolled in a postgraduate nursing course. Students (n=96) participated in a survey that assesses student's motivational orientations from a cognitive perspective using a selfadministered questionnaire based on Pintrich-s Motivation Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MLSQ). Results showed students- motivational factors are highest on task value (6.44, 0.71); followed by intrinsic goal orientation (6.20, 0.76), control beliefs (6.02, 0.89); extrinsic goal orientation (5.85, 1.13); self-efficacy for learning and performance (5.62, 0.84), and finally, test anxiety (4.21, 1.37). Weak positive correlations were found between academic performance and intrinsic goal orientation (r=0.13), extrinsic goal orientation (r=0.04), task value (r=0.09), control beliefs (r=0.02), and self-efficacy (r=0.05), while there was weak negative correlation with test anxiety (r=-0.04). Conclusions from the study indicate the need to focus on improving tasks and targeting intrinsic goal orientations of students to courses since these were positively correlated with academic performance and downplay the use of tests since these were negatively correlated with academic performance.

Keywords: Motivation factors, academic performance, distance education

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Authors: Turki Alotaibi

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Student counseling programs can provide many benefits to students in schools all around the world. In theory, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia) has committed itself to school counseling programs in educational institutions throughout the country. Student counselors face a number of burdens and obstacles that impact student counseling programs. It is also widely known that Saudi Arabia has extremely high prevalence rates for overweight and obesity, anxiety and depression, and diabetes in children. It has also been demonstrated that teachers and staff are inadequately prepared when dealing with health issues relating to diabetes in schools in Saudi Arabia. This study will clearly demonstrate how student counselors in Saudi Arabia could become 'New Educators' in Saudi schools in relation to these health issues. This would allow them to leverage their position as student counselor to improve the management of these health issues in Saudi schools, to improve the quality of care provided to school children, and to overcome burdens and obstacles that are currently negatively affecting student counseling in Saudi schools.

Keywords: Anxiety, depression, diabetes, overweight, obesity, policy recommendations, student counseling, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: I. Benning

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Using technology to expand the learning space is critical for a productive mathematical discourse. This is a case study of two teachers who developed and enacted GeoGebra-based mathematics lessons following their engagement in a two-year professional development. The didactical and semiotic affordance of GeoGebra in widening the learning space for a productive mathematical discourse was explored. The approach of thematic analysis was used for lesson artefact, lesson observation, and interview data. The results indicated that constructing tools in GeoGebra provided a didactical milieu where students used them to explore mathematical concepts with little or no support from their teacher. The prompt feedback from the GeoGebra motivated students to practice mathematical concepts repeatedly in which they privately rethink their solutions before comparing their answers with that of their colleagues. The constructing tools enhanced self-discovery, team spirit, and dialogue among students. With regards to the semiotic construct, the tools widened the physical and psychological atmosphere of the classroom by providing animations that served as virtual concrete to enhance the recording, manipulation, testing of a mathematical idea, construction, and interpretation of geometric objects. These findings advance the discussion of widening the classroom for a productive mathematical discourse within the context of the mathematics curriculum of Ghana and similar sub-Saharan African countries.

Keywords: GeoGebra, theory of didactical situation, semiotic mediation, mathematics laboratory, mathematical discussion.

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Authors: Jutharat Sunprasert, Ekapong Hirunsirisawat, Narongrit Waraporn, Somporn Peansukmanee

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Metal Ship and Robotic Car is one of the hands-on activities in the course, the Fundamental of Engineering that can be divided into three parts. The first part, the metal ships, was made by using engineering drawings, physics and mathematics knowledge. The second part is where the students learned how to construct a robotic car and control it using computer programming. In the last part, the students had to combine the workings of these two objects in the final testing. This aim of study was to investigate the effectiveness of hands-on activity by integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) concepts to develop scientific and engineering skills. The results showed that the majority of students felt this hands-on activity lead to an increased confidence level in the integration of STEM. Moreover, 48% of all students engaged well with the STEM concepts. Students could obtain the knowledge of STEM through hands-on activities with the topics science and mathematics, engineering drawing, engineering workshop and computer programming; most students agree and strongly agree with this learning process. This indicated that the hands-on activity: “Metal Ship and Robotic Car” is a useful tool to integrate each aspect of STEM. Furthermore, hands-on activities positively influence a student’s interest which leads to increased learning achievement and also in developing scientific and engineering skills.

Keywords: Hands-on activity, STEM education, computer programming, metal work.

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Authors: Abdullah Abu-Tineh, Carol Murphy, Nigel Calder, Nasser Mansour

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This paper reports on an aspect of e-learning in developing inquiry-based learning (IBL). We present data on the views of teachers and students in Qatar following a professional development programme intended to help teachers implement IBL in their science and mathematics classrooms. Key to this programme was the use of WebQuests. Views of the teachers and students suggested that WebQuests helped students to develop technical skills, work collaboratively and become independent in their learning. The use of WebQuests also enabled a combination of digital and non-digital tools that helped students connect ideas and enhance their understanding of topics.

Keywords: Digital technology, inquiry-based learning, mathematics and science education, professional development.

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Authors: Edward J. Kansa, Pavel Holoborodko

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Continuously differentiable radial basis functions (RBFs) are meshfree, converge faster as the dimensionality increases, and is theoretically spectrally convergent. When implemented on current single and double precision computers, such RBFs can suffer from ill-conditioning because the systems of equations needed to be solved to find the expansion coefficients are full. However, the Advanpix extended precision software package allows computer mathematics to resemble asymptotically ideal Platonic mathematics. Additionally, full systems with extended precision execute faster graphical processors units and field-programmable gate arrays because no branching is needed. Sparse equation systems are fast for iterative solvers in a very limited number of cases.

Keywords: Meshless spectrally convergent, partial differential equations, extended arithmetic precision, no branching.

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Authors: Wenhsuan Lee, Yachi Chang, Yingyih Shih

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In clinical practices, it is common that while facing the unknown progress of their disease, palliative care patients may easily feel anxious and depressed. These types of reactions are a cause of psychosomatic diseases and may also influence treatment results. However, the purpose of palliative care is to provide relief from all kinds of pains. Therefore, how to make patients more comfortable is an issue worth studying. This study adopted the “bio-psycho-social model” proposed by Engel and applied spontaneous breathing training, in the hope of seeing patients’ psychological state changes caused by their physiological state changes, improvements in their anxious conditions, corresponding adjustments of their cognitive functions, and further enhancement of their social functions and the social support system. This study will be a one-year study. Palliative care outpatients will be recruited and assigned to the experimental group or the control group for six outpatient visits (once a month), with 80 patients in each group. The patients of both groups agreed that this study can collect their physiological quantitative data using an HRV device before the first outpatient visit. They also agreed to answer the “Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)”, the “Taiwanese version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire” before the first outpatient visit, to fill a self-report questionnaire after each outpatient visit, and to answer the “Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)”, the “Taiwanese version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire” after the last outpatient visit. The patients of the experimental group agreed to receive the breathing training under HRV monitoring during the first outpatient visit of this study. Before each of the following three outpatient visits, they were required to fill a self-report questionnaire regarding their breathing practices after going home. After the outpatient visits, they were taught how to practice breathing through an HRV device and asked to practice it after going home. Later, based on the results from the HRV data analyses and the pre-tests and post-tests of the “Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)”, the “Taiwanese version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire”, the influence of the breathing training in the bio, psycho, and social aspects were evaluated. The data collected through the self-report questionnaires of the patients of both groups were used to explore the possible interfering factors among the bio, psycho, and social changes. It is expected that this study will support the “bio-psycho-social model” proposed by Engel, meaning that bio, psycho, and social supports are closely related, and that breathing training helps to transform palliative care patients’ psychological feelings of anxiety and depression, to facilitate their positive interactions with others, and to improve the quality medical care for them.

Keywords: Palliative care, breathing training, bio-psycho-social Model, heart rate variability.

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Authors: Ali Awde, Yacine Bellik, Chakib Tadj

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Our adaptive multimodal system aims at correctly presenting a mathematical expression to visually impaired users. Given an interaction context (i.e. combination of user, environment and system resources) as well as the complexity of the expression itself and the user-s preferences, the suitability scores of different presentation format are calculated. Unlike the current state-of-the art solutions, our approach takes into account the user-s situation and not imposes a solution that is not suitable to his context and capacity. In this wok, we present our methodology for calculating the mathematical expression complexity and the results of our experiment. Finally, this paper discusses the concepts and principles applied on our system as well as their validation through cases studies. This work is our original contribution to an ongoing research to make informatics more accessible to handicapped users.

Keywords: Adaptive system, intelligent multi-agent system, mathematics for visually-impaired users.

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Authors: Mark Rousell, Di Catherwood, Graham Edgar

Abstract:

The main issue of interest here is whether individuals who differ in arithmetical reasoning ability and levels of imagery ability display different brain activity during the conduct of mental arithmetical reasoning tasks. This was a case study of four participants who represented four extreme combinations of Maths –Imagery abilities: ie., low-low, high-high, high-low, low-high respectively. As the Ps performed a series of 60 arithmetical reasoning tasks, 128-channel EEG recordings were taken and the pre-response interval subsequently analysed using EGI GeosourceTM software. The P who was high in both imagery and maths ability showed peak activity prior to response in BA7 (superior parietal cortex) but other Ps did not show peak activity in this region. The results are considered in terms of the diverse routes that may be employed by individuals during the conduct of arithmetical reasoning tasks and the possible implications of this for mathematics education.

Keywords: Arithmetic, imagery, EEG, education.

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Authors: Kay-Anne Haykal, Issack Biyong

Abstract:

The post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rises from exposure to a traumatic event and appears by a persistent experience of this event. Several psychiatric co-morbidities are associated with PTSD and include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse. The main objective was to compare the criteria for PTSD according to the literature to those used to diagnose a patient in a francophone hospital and to check the correspondence of these two criteria. 700 medical charts of admitted patients on the medicine or psychiatric unit at the Montfort Hospital were identified with the following diagnoses: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, substance abuse, and PTSD for the period of time between April 2005 and March 2006. Multiple demographic criteria were assembled. Also, for every chart analyzed, the PTSD criteria, according to the Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV were found, identified, and grouped according to pre-established codes. An analysis using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) method was elaborated for the study of data. A sample of 57 women and 50 men was studied. Age was varying between 18 and 88 years with a median age of 48. According to the PTSD criteria in the DSM IV, 12 patients should have the diagnosis of PTSD in opposition to only two identified in the medical charts. The ROC method establishes that with the combination of data from PTSD and depression, the sensitivity varies between 0,127 and 0,282, and the specificity varies between 0,889 and 0,917. Otherwise, if we examine the PTSD data alone, the sensibility jumps to 0.50, and the specificity varies between 0,781 and 0,895. This study confirms the presence of an underdiagnosed and treated PTSD that causes severe perturbations for the affected individual.

Keywords: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, diagnosis, co-morbidities, mental health disorders.

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