Calls for Change in High School Mathematics Essay Example for Free

Calls for Change in High School Mathematics Essay Mathematic educators, parents and students are calling for proper changes in approaches to learning mathematics in high schools. The need to improve learning of mathematics in schools is highly recognized and underlined. Thus, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics published the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics that offered recommendations for high school mathematics reform. In addition, the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences in their official report ‘The Mathematical Sciences Curriculum K–12: What Is Still Fundamental and What Is Not’ stresses the importance of new topics and techniques in the secondary schools. New approaches should develop new learning techniques that would be discrete from statistics, mathematics, and emphasis on algebra and geometry should be properly re-assessed according to different abilities and needs of students who are taking mathematics course in the secondary school and high school respectively. The need for change and innovation is generally driven by emergence of advanced computing technologies that offers excellent opportunities for school educators to replace manipulative traditional techniques with more complex realistic problem-solving techniques. In its turn, the National Science Board Commission issued a report ‘Educating Americans for the 21st Century’ challenging courses in algebra and pre-calculus and stressing the importance of developing integrated mathematical sciences curriculum in the secondary school. Researchers argue that new curriculum will positively affect students’ achievement outcomes in the secondary and high schools. To make changes more effective teachers are required to understand the advantage of curriculum’s full scope and its consequences; students are required to support the expectations of classroom environment. The Core-Plus Mathematic Project is newly developed curriculum for high school mathematics. Of course, the Core-Plus Mathematic Project or CPMP curriculum is a matter of debates and controversies as not everyone admits the need of high school mathematics reforms. Nonetheless, the CPMP curriculum is worked out with assistance of mathematics education researchers, instructional specialists and classroom teachers. Moreover, the curriculum is shaped by empirical evidence gathered from students and teachers who are willing to participate in field testing. In particular, organization of mathematics curriculum should be interpreted in terms of teaching and assessment recommendations and should follow the standards set in the above-mentioned reports. New mathematics curriculum is a three-year mathematics course for high-school students who are allowed to take the fourth year to prepare for college mathematics. Newly designed curriculum differs from more traditional approaches as new curriculum encourages students’ understanding of mathematics – statistics, probability, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and discrete mathematics. Learning mathematics is developed in focused units that combine fundamental ideas with mathematical habits of mind. It means that new curriculum stresses the need to connect function, data analysis and symmetry with recursive and visual thinking. In contrast to traditional approaches to mathematics, new curriculum emphasizes the role of mathematical modeling and problem-solving instead of simple calculus. Researchers say the primary goal of curriculum improvement is to enhance students’ understanding and comprehension of key mathematical processes and concepts, to enhance student’s ability to use mathematical concepts in real-world problem-solving. Graphic calculators should enhance students’ understanding and abilities to solve authentic problems. Improved instructional materials encourage active teaching and learning processes that will primarily focus on problem situations, abstraction and analysis. Oral and written communication, reasoning with ability to represent, and conceptual understanding are highly appreciated and encouraged. All courses centre on mathematical reasoning and thinking with abilities to develop formal proof. Additional fourth year course will allow to keep students, who prepare for college mathematics, despite whether their undergraduate program is based on calculus. Students interested in mathematics are encouraged to be accelerated into the fourth course year. Today, many researches are focus on identifying whether new curriculum meets its specific goals. In particular, they try to reveal whether the learning outcomes based on new patterns of mathematics learning process differ from outcomes based on more traditional curriculum. During the past eight years researchers conducted various studies to examine mathematical achievement in classroom with CPMP curricula. Research studies have revealed that performance of CPMP students is much better than that of students with traditional interpretation of mathematical representation. It means that problem-solving and recursive thinking appear to be more effective in learning mathematics than simple understanding of key concepts of processes. Further, CPMP students are characterized by higher grade results at the end of the years than students with traditional approach to mathematics. Summing up, recent researches have indicated that CPMP students perform better than students with traditional curriculum. CPMP students are characterized by better abilities to interpret mathematical representation and calculation, to measure conceptual understanding and to recognize the importance of problem-solving. CPMP students are better in probability and statistics, algebraic manipulative skills, etc. Nonetheless, researchers argue that student’s success in college mathematics doesn’t fully depend on CPMP curriculum. Other factors, as, for example, student’s attentiveness, readiness to participate in learning process, self-awareness, classroom environment, play their important role in student’s high school mathematics performance. With guidance from educators, researchers and teachers, curriculum developers will be able to build on stronger patters of student outcomes. References Schoen, H. L. , Hirsch, Ch. R. (2003). Responding to Calls for Change in High School Mathematics: Implications for Collegiate Mathematics. The Mathematical Association of America Monthly, February, pp. 109-123. Available on-line from http://www. jstor. org/stable/3647770 .

Writing Curriculums: An International Perspective :: Essays Papers

Writing Curriculums: An International Perspective Introduction: According to Dr Samuel Johnson, rhetoric is essential to modern-day communication. Yet, the importance of writing is being overlooked. In part this can be explained for the reason that writing is not a new invention, thus universally writing is being taken for granted (â€Å"Writing System Alternativs†). Further, due to the familiarity of rhetoric research and improvement to the system is also almost completely being ignored (â€Å"Writing System Alternativs†). In the United States there are no national standard writing curriculums required at university levels, however more capita per year is spent on writing programs in school systems here than other countries throughout the world. Unfortunately, these generous contributions to society continue to result in poor writing, unoriginal composition, and a consistently high illiteracy rates (â€Å"Writing System Alternativs†). Here, at Syracuse University, writing 105 and 205 are required for almost all majors. However, not all schools throughout the university, and other universities abide by the same requirements. Subsequently, this requirement is to some extent peculiar because it does not exist everywhere. Thus, in attempting to explain the writing curriculum requirements at Syracuse University it may be beneficial to consider writing requirements at university levels throughout other countries around the world International (Writing) Curriculum Summaries: In an article written by Alistair Ross, a Professor of Education at the University of North London, Ross notes that it was not until 1988 that a national curriculum was taken upon by the United Kingdom. Prior to 1988 branches of learning, including writing classes, were strongly suggested but not mandatory (Ross). Today, English writing programs in the UK are required from ages 5 to 16, but thereafter are no longer mandatory (Ross). However, it is important to recognize that this national curriculum does not include writing course requirements for students attending universities in the United Kingdom. Similar to the UK, Japan also has a national writing curriculum that extends until college. In an article about Japanese educational systems, taken from the Department of Education, education in Japan is described as â€Å"very rapid† (Mackey). National curriculums from elementary to high school cover an array of material that ranges from Japanese writing to Humanities (Mackey). After the completion of high school many students attend universities throughout the country, however at this point curriculum https://sv1.123helpme.com/servlet/p1.PaperAdminControllerrequirements (including writing) are no longer applied (Mackey).

Water Diuresis in Man Practical Report Essay

INTRODUCTION The body needs to maintain equilibrium to function properly in everyday life. The most important substance it must regulate is water; water is everywhere in our body and its balance is essential for proper body function. A very carefully regulated process is solute concentration. If there is a sudden increase in water which enters the extracellular fluid, sodium ions will then contribute less to the extracellular solute concentration as the ratio between water and solute has now changed. Osmolality is the amount of solute in a kilogram, hence the osmolality in the extracellular space has also decreased. Water diuresis is the increase in urinary water excreted with little or no change in the solute excretion. Excess water needs to be excreted to maintain a good balance of water and solute inside the body. The aim of this practical is to test the effects of strenuous exercise and desmopressin (anti-diuretic hormone) on urine flow and urine sodium concentration. We will be testing the hypotheses that vigorous exercise will decrease urine flow and increase urine sodium concentration, whereas desmopressin will have the opposite effect of decreased urine flow and increased sodium concentration. Use the class data (refer to the appropriate figures in your discussion). (a) What happens to the rate of urine production (i.e. urine flow) for the three procedures (i.e. control, desmopressin and exercise)? Use your knowledge of statistics to evaluate the evidence that the responses after the treatments (i.e. desmopressin and exercise) differed from that in the control subjects. Explain the following (including the underlying mechanisms): i. why there is a delay in the onset of the diuresis after water loading in the control subject (A); ii. the effects of administered desmopressin on the diuresis (subject B); iii. the mechanisms by which a single session of vigorous exercise affects the diuresis produced by the water load (subject C). After drinking water, the control and test subjects had gradual increase of urine flow, reaching a peak then decreasing again, whereas the desmopressin subject had decreased urine flow after taking the hormone, thereafter plateauing. According to the Dunnett’s t test between the urine flow of the subjects, the urine flow of the treatment subjects was significantly different to that of the control. There is a delay in the onset of diuresis after loading in the control subject as it takes time for the water to be filtered in the body. Water is absorbed from the gut into the extracellular fluid. Osmoreceptors from the posterior pituitary detect the water through cell stretch and initiate responses that control ADH secretion (Widmaier et al., 2014). Fluids are filtered through the kidneys and the excess water is transported to the bladder where it will then be excreted. Desmopressin decreases the urine volume excreted. Desmopressin is a synthetic substitute  for anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). ADH acts on the kidneys to reabsorb water. Due to increased water reabsorption, diuresis (urine volume) is decreased. A single session of vigorous exercise sharply decreases the urine flow and hence, diuresis. During exercise, you lose sodium and water by sweating so the kidney works to reabsorb the water so you are not dehydrated. This results in more concentrated urine. (b) If a control subject was dehydrated at the beginning of the practical class, how would you expect this to affect their response to the water load? They would retain some of the water and hence would have decreased urine excretion compared to someone who is well hydrated. (c) What effect does alcohol have on water diuresis? What is the mechanism of the action of alcohol on a water diuresis? Alcohol inhibits the pituitary secretion of ADH, which acts on the kidneys to reabsorb water. Because ADH levels drop, the kidneys do not reabsorb as much water and hence produce more urine, causing increased water diuresis. (d) Use the class graphs and statistical analysis of the urine sodium concentration to determine if this is different for the control and desmopressin subjects. Do you think there a relationship between urine flow and the urine sodium concentration? According to the statistical analysis, the difference between the control and desmopressin subjects for sodium urine concentration were significantly different. Looking at the class graphs, this is also true; the graph values vary significantly. There seems to be an inverse relationship between urine flow and urine sodium concentration. When the urine flow is high, the urine sodium concentration is relatively low and vice versa. (e) Use the class graphs and statistical analysis of the sodium excretion rate to determine if this is different for the control and desmopressin subjects. Do you think there a relationship between urine flow and the sodium excretion rate? According to the statistical analysis, the sodium excretion rate for the control and desmopressin subjects are not significantly different. This can also be seem from the class graphs; they  follow similar values. There does not seem to be a high correlation between urine flow and sodium excretion rate. After taking desmopressin, the subjects’ sodium secretion rate is similar to the control’s, however, the urine flow is noticeably decreased after drinking water. Looking at the exercise subjects, their sodium excretion is lower than the other subjects after drinking water, however their urine flow after a few samples is significantly increased. (f)Complete the following table: Stimulus Type/Site of Receptors ADH Response Physiological response on Urine Volume Physiological response on Blood Volume Increased osmolality (dehydration) Osmoreceptors High ADH levels Decreased Decreased Decreased osmolality Osmoreceptors Low ADH levels Increased Increased Increased blood volume Baroreceptors Decreased ADH secretion Increased Increased Decreased blood volume Barereceptors Increased ADH secretion Decreased Decreased CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that strenuous exercise decreases urine flow and hence will increase the concentration of urine. Desmopressin decreased urine flow and due to this increased water excretion, also decreased the concentration of urine. REFERENCES: Widmaier, EP, Raff, H & Strang, KT (2014). Vander’s Human Physiology. The Mechanisms of Body Function. MCGraw Hill, Chapter 14, page 499.

The Importance Of Disclosure Of Transgender Identity

Abstract Disclosure of transgender identity is one of the most challenging yet personally liberating pronouncements that an individual can share with others. Verbalizing their self-identity can be a struggle for transgender individuals due to fears of social disapproval, rejection, loss of loved ones, discrimination, ostracism, verbal harassment, and violence (Shira Maguen, 2007). An estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender. This implies that there are approximately 9 million LGBT Americans, a figure roughly equivalent to the population of New Jersey. Among adults who identify as LGB, bisexuals comprise a slight majority (Transgender: By the numbers, 2015) Summary Breasts. Bows. Barbie dolls. The foundation of a societal female identity has been established and reinforced time and time again. 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