Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

Primary school teachers' attitude towards Mathematics influences their pupils' attitude. A pupil with a positive attitude is more likely to develop his/her mathematical problem solving skills, thus developing a positive attitude towards Mathematics in case of pre-service primary school teachers is very important. This paper presents the results of a research on de efficiency of collaborative problem solving in changing pre-service primary school teachers attitude towards Mathematics. During the intervention in the experimental group collaborative learning methods was used; in the control group the problem solving was made with more traditional way, using individual and frontal activities. The results show that students from the experimental group had a statistically significant positive change on how much they like Mathematics; their beliefs in the utility of Mathematics improved; and after the intervention they liked more to solve non-routine problems.

Journal of Educational Computing Research

The purpose of this study was to investigate the types of problem-solving behaviors and their effects on solution quality in an online collaborative learning context. A total of twelve preservice teachers enrolled in a computer education course participated in the study. Students in pairs, randomly assigned by the instructor, carried out a problem-solving task and then changed partners for subsequent tasks. The problem-solving processes of twenty-five pairings of students were analyzed. Data on their problem-solving behaviors, the quality of their solutions, and their domain knowledge was collected. Results revealed that students who demonstrated more solution-oriented behaviors led others to better solutions while collaborating. In contrast, students who had difficulty understanding problems demonstrated more problem-oriented behaviors. The solution-oriented students also gained better domain knowledge at the end, compared to the problem-oriented ones. The effects of the student's interactions during the problem-solving process were discussed.

2007

This article described a programme that aimed to enhance students' mathematical problem-solving performance through cooperative learning. In the whole-class study, the researcher planned and implemented the cooperative problem-solving programme for 40 Secondary Three female students. Results using pre and post tests showed that the class scored better in problem-solving performance after the programme. The researcher further selected a group of four students was further selected to study individual student behaviours by audio-taping their discussions in order to identify metacognitive and affective behaviours during cooperative learning. The results revealed that the four students exhibited metacognitive behaviours such as asking for clarification, giving a suggestion, evaluating solutions; and affective behaviours such as persisting in the task, praising and encouraging when they solved problems in a group.

2009

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the students' mathematical problem solving performance by using a cooperative learning model especially for Student-Team-Achievement-Division (STAD). Students' attitude towards mathematics was also examined. This study was conducted at Basic Education High School No (3) Kyeemyindine in Yangon, Myanmar. Sample of thirty-two Grade 9 students participated in this study. This study used a pre-experimental design to observe the changes in students' problem solving performance and students' attitude towards mathematics. This is a pioneer study which applied the cooperative learning model in Myanmar. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed. Two versions of mathematics performance assessment teacher-made (pre-test and post-test) tests, 14 items mathematics attitude test, 9 items problem solving observation rating scale, 8 items rating scale for students' cooperation, and reflective journals were used to assess the changes after intervention. The results of this study showed a definite increase in improvement both on the pre-test and post-test performance assessment and the attitude towards mathematics. Students earned the mean score of 12.06 on mathematics performance pre-test and that of 33.75 on mathematics performance post-test. Similarly, in the pre-attitude test, scores for 32 students has a mean of 30.62 and standard deviation of 6.40. In the post-attitude test, scores for 32 students has a mean of 32.62 and standard deviation of 4.24. The results showed that cooperative learning model can enhance students' problem-solving performance and students' attitude towards mathematics.

ABSTRACT: Whether mathematical problem solving is done face-to-face or through computer-mediated communication, as long as there are multiple participants with their respective approaches, procedures and assessment methods, there is a need for participants to resolve their differences, whether through negotiation, argumentation or some other interactional activity to initiate, maintain and conclude their collaborative problem-solving activity.

Journal of Applied Logic, 2003

Since Pascal introduced the idea of mathematical probability in the 17th century discussions of uncertainty and "rational" belief have been dogged by philosophical and technical disputes. Furthermore, the last quarter century has seen an explosion of new questions and ideas, stimulated by developments in the computer and cognitive sciences. Competing ideas about probability are often driven by different intuitions about the nature of belief that arise from the needs of different domains (e.g., economics, management theory, engineering, medicine, the life sciences etc). Taking medicine as our focus we develop three lines of argument (historical, practical and cognitive) that suggest that traditional views of probability cannot accommodate all the competing demands and diverse constraints that arise in complex real-world domains. A model of uncertain reasoning based on a form of logical argumentation appears to unify many diverse ideas. The model has precursors in informal discussions of argumentation due to Toulmin, and the notion of logical probability advocated by Keynes, but recent developments in artificial intelligence and cognitive science suggest ways of resolving epistemological and technical issues that they could not address. Crown

Geometriae Dedicata, 1985

Journal of Applied Statistics, 2002

The rate of population growth (k ) is an important demog raphic parameter used to assess the viability of a population and to develop management and conser vation agendas. We examined the use of resighting data to estimate k for the snail kite population in Florida from 1997-2000. The analyses consisted of (1) a robust design approach that derives an estimate of k from estimates of population size and (2) the temporal symmetr y (T SM ) approach that directly estimates k using an open-population capture-recapture model. B esides resighting data, both approaches required information on the number of unmarked individuals that were sighted during the sampling periods.

Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 2014

We are witnessing a global, but unplanned, evolutionary experiment with the biodiversity of the planet. Anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat degradation and climate change result in evolutionary mismatch between the environments to which species are adapted and those in which they now exist. The impacts of unmanaged evolution are pervasive, but approaches to address them have received little attention. We review the evolutionary challenges of managing populations in the Anthropocene and introduce the concept of prescriptive evolution, which considers how evolutionary processes may be leveraged to proactively promote wise management. We advocate the planned management of evolutionary processes and explore the advantages of evolutionary interventions to preserve and sustain biodiversity. We show how an evolutionary perspective to conserving biodiversity is fundamental to effective management. Finally, we advocate building frameworks for decision-making, monitoring, and implementation at the boundary between management and evolutionary science to enhance conservation outcomes.

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2006

The area of the town of Mailuu Suu, Kyrgyzstan, is polluted by radionuclides and heavy metals from tailing dumps and heaps resulting from the historic exploitation of uranium mines. In the frame of a European Commission-TACIS funded project, radiological assessment was performed for critical group members living in the city of Mailuu Suu, located downstream the tailings, or in the village of Kara Agach, partially located on a uranium mine waste dump. The actual external exposure is around 1.2 mSv a ÿ1 at both locations and exposure from radon is around 3 mSv a ÿ1 at Mailuu Suu and around 10 mSv a ÿ1 at Kara Agach. Ingestion dose was negligible for a critical group member living at Mailuu Suu. At Kara Agach, however, under the hypothesis that all food and fodder is cultivated locally, exposure from ingestion is much higher (w10e30 mSv a ÿ1 ). In case of an accidental scenario [(part of) Tailing 3 content thrust to river], estimated additional maximum doses result in 45 and 77 mSv for an adult and a child, respectively.