Extracts

A Shishkin mesh for a singularly perturbed Riccati equation

M.J. O Reillya and E. O’Riordanb,
Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics
Volume 182, Issue 2 , 15 October 2005, Pages 372-387

a. St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland
b. School of Mathematical Sciences, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9

Abstract:
In this paper a singularly perturbed Riccati initial value problem is examined. Parameter explicit bounds on the solution and its derivatives are given. A numerical method composed of an implicit difference operator and a piecewise-uniform Shishkin mesh is constructed. A theoretical parameter independently bound on the errors in the numerical approximations is established. Numerical results are presented which are in agreement with the theoretical error bound.

Teaching and learning in multigrade classrooms: More questions than answers.

Mulryan-Kyne, C.(2005).

Oideas, 51: 85-95.

Abstract:

Whereas single-grade teaching has traditionally been the most favoured option in primary education systems throughout the world, a significant number of pupils and teachers work in classes with two or more grade levels. These multigrade classes differ from single-grade classes on a number of important dimensions. A further distinction can be made between multigrade classes in large, predominantly single-grade, schools and multigrade classes
in small schools in which multigrade teaching is the norm. International research on multigrade teaching has shown no significant differences between the cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes of pupils in single-grade and multigrade classes. However, this research also shows that multigrade teachers tend not to maximise on the potential of the multigrade teaching and learning setting. Instead, they use teaching approaches similar to those used by teachers in the single-grade setting. Teaching grade levels separately appears to be widespread. Recent research findings in the Irish context do not support previous findings in relation to the instructional practices of multigrade teachers. A study by Mulryan-Kyne (in press) found that multigrade teachers in two-teacher multigrade schools in Ireland, unlike multigrade teachers involved in earlier studies, use a wide range of teaching approaches within and across subject areas. Further research in this area is needed, especially research in a variety of contexts that relates the instructional practices of teachers to pupil learning outcomes.

 

Ethical and Effective Interviewing of Children in Pedagogical Contexts

Elizabeth Dunphy

European Early Childhood Educational Research Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2. In press.

Abstract:

Ethical and effective interviewing of children in pedagogical contexts

Ethical and effective interviewing of young children in relation to their learning is a challenging and complex process. This paper describes the use of an experience-based flexible and focused interview methodology in a study based on young children’s views and understandings of number. It shows how the approach used builds on previous work in relation to interviewing children for pedagogical purposes. The fourteen children interviewed as part of the study were just beginning school. At the time of the interviews, thirteen of the children were four years of age and one child was aged five years.  The nature of the interviews carried out with the children is discussed and characterised. This characterisation is in terms of the approach to the questioning; the focus on the exploration and development of the child’s thinking; and the intensity of the experience for both child and adult. The flexible approach to interviewing taken in this study was seen to be very successful in eliciting children’s views and understandings of number in a sensitive and ethical way. It is argued that such an approach can help to address some of the perceived difficulties with the use of an interview methodology with young children in educational contexts. It also illustrates how, in such conditions, children’s agency is discernible; their awareness of metacognitive issues is expressed; and their numerical thinking is developed. The findings indicate that child interviews can be a powerful and effective method of researching and assessing children’s learning.

 

Padraig Carmody, "Transforming Globalisation and Security: Africa and
America Post-9/11", Africa Today, Volume 52, No. 1, Fall 2005, pp. 97-120.

Abstract

Africa has traditionally had a marginal and decreasing role in international affairs. Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, however, the continent has taken center stage in the emerging security discourse, and access to African oil is now a strategic priority for the United States, which now trades more with Africa than Central Europe and the former Soviet Union combined. This fact, and the potential threat from global terrorism, are reflected in emerging security regimes on the continent, bolstered by increased U.S. military assistance. Thus, global forces have penetrated not only African economic policymaking, but also security; however, increased military assistance and the suppression of human rights are further distancing society from the African state, worsening long-term instability and jeopardizing U.S. access to African oil. The creation of genuine security in Africa and the United States will depend on the reconceptualization of security as human security, and the addition of a substantive social-welfare dimension to globalization.

 

Last Updated: Monday November 05 2007