Large Classes Research Articles

Proportionality in Approval-Based Participatory Budgeting

The ability to measure the satisfaction of (groups of) voters is a crucial prerequisite for formulating proportionality axioms in approval-based participatory budgeting elections. Two common -- but very different -- ways to measure the satisfaction of a voter consider (i) the number of approved projects and (ii) the total cost of approved projects, respectively. In general, it is difficult to decide which measure of satisfaction best reflects the voters' true utilities. In this paper, we study proportionality axioms with respect to large classes of approval-based satisfaction functions. We establish logical implications among our axioms and related notions from the literature, and we ask whether outcomes can be achieved that are proportional with respect to more than one satisfaction function. We show that this is impossible for the two commonly used satisfaction functions when considering proportionality notions based on extended justified representation, but achievable for a notion based on proportional justified representation. For the latter result, we introduce a strengthening of priceability and show that it is satisfied by several polynomial-time computable rules, including the Method of Equal Shares and Phragmén's sequential rule.

How Application Ease The Assessment Process in EFL Classroom

The learning process carried out in Indonesia is still dominated by large classes. It contains more than 20 students. This situation sometimes makes it difficult for teachers to conduct assessments because assessing and evaluating each student takes much time. Nowadays, the assessment process is quite diverse; teachers do not only do paper-based tests but can use application assistance. This study aims to see how well the Pintar Apps help teachers conduct student assessments. The method used in this study is qualitative, with instruments in the form of class observations and interviews. The subjects were 15 and 3 English teachers students of SMP Negeri 2 Tayu. The study results revealed that the application helps the student assessment process faster and more accurately. The teacher does not need to check the results of student answers one by one because the system automatically checks them. Pintar Apps as the student assessment application are beneficial for teachers in managing assessment activities in class. Furthermore, Pintar Apps even helps teachers administer the students who have used this application, and there is a list of them for all activities when using this application.

Problem Based Learning in Engineering Course in Malaysia

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an effective educational approach that promotes critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. The study aimed to review an implementation of PBL in engineering course in Malaysia. PBL has been shown to be effective in engaging students in the learning process by presenting them with complex, open-ended problems that require critical thinking and creativity to solve. Through this process, students develop their critical thinking skills, including their ability to analyze information, evaluate arguments, and make sound judgments. PBL also helps students to develop their problem-solving skills, which are essential in the real world. Despite its benefits, implementing PBL in the classroom can also have some challenges and limitations. It can be time-consuming, difficult to assess, challenging to implement in large classes, and may not be suitable for all students. Thus, careful planning and preparation are required before implementing PBL in a university setting. In an engineering course, PBL provides students with opportunities to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as to enhance their collaboration and communication abilities. It also allows students to see the relevance of the knowledge and skills they are learning and to take ownership of their learning. Therefore, implementing PBL in a university requires identifying appropriate learning objectives and designing a problem or scenario that aligns with those objectives. The problem or scenario should be complex and open-ended, requiring students to draw on knowledge and skills from multiple subject areas. The implementation of PBL should also involve ongoing evaluation and refinement to ensure its effectiveness.

STUDY GROUP SIZE, MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN THE DIGITAL ERA

This study explored the relationship between the size of the study group and the motivation and engagement of students in online and face-to-face classes while exploring the effect of personal and academic background variables, the number of students in the study group, and the level of their motivation to study. The study included 122 participants, students in their second, third, or fourth year of academic studies, who had experienced online studies during Covid-19 as well as face-to-face studies. They had all participated in both small classes (35 students or less) and large classes (more than 35 students). The study indicates that there is indeed a significant difference in students’ motivation and engagement, irrespective of the size of the study group, and the difference in motivation depends on the method of delivery, whether online or traditional (face-to-face). The research results reveal new knowledge regarding online studies and help enrich the literature on this topic, in the context of motivation for online studies and the size of the study group, which are significant causes underlying students’ academic success. It is evident from the study that size does not affect motivation, which is solely the student’s responsibility. The challenge of academic institutions and lecturers in the digital era is to raise students’ motivation and engagement, irrespective of the study group. Keywords: covid-19, higher education, engagement of students, e-learning motivation, face-to-face classes

Saturation of Ordered Graphs

Recently, the saturation problem of 0-1 matrices has gained a lot of attention. This problem can be regarded as a saturation problem of ordered bipartite graphs. Motivated by this, we initiate the study of the saturation problem of ordered and cyclically ordered graphs. We prove that dichotomy also holds in these two cases, i.e., for a (cyclically) ordered graph its saturation function is either bounded or linear. We also determine the order of magnitude for large classes of (cyclically) ordered graphs, giving infinitely many examples exhibiting both possible behaviors, answering a problem of Pálvölgyi. In particular, in the ordered case we define a natural subclass of ordered matchings, the class of linked matchings, and we start their systematic study, concentrating on linked matchings with at most three links and prove that many of them have bounded saturation function. In both the ordered and cyclically ordered case we also consider the semisaturation problem, where dichotomy holds as well and we can even fully characterize the graphs that have bounded semisaturation function.

Assessing Quantum Calculation Methods for the Account of Ligand Field in Lanthanide Compounds

We obtained thorough insight into the capabilities of various computational methods to account for the ligand field (LF) regime in lanthanide compounds, namely, a weakly perturbed ionic body and quasidegenerate orbital multiplets. The LF version of the angular overlap model (AOM) was considered. We intentionally took very simple idealized systems, the hypothetical [TbF]2+, [TbF2]+ and [Tb(O2NO)]2+, in order to explore the details overlooked in applications on complex realistic systems. We examined the 4f and 5d orbital functions in connection to f–f and f–d transitions in the frame of the two large classes of quantum chemical methods: wave function theory (WFT) and density functional theory (DFT). WFT methods are better suited to the LF paradigm. In lanthanide compounds, DFT faces intrinsic limitations because of the frequent occurrence of quasidegenerate ground states. Such difficulties can be partly encompassed by the nonstandard control of orbital occupation schemes. Surprisingly, we found that the simplest crystal field electrostatic approximation, reconsidered with modern basis sets, works well for LF parameters in ionic lanthanide systems. We debated the largely overlooked holohedrization effect that inserts artificial inversion symmetry into standard LF Hamiltonians.

ARKODE: A Flexible IVP Solver Infrastructure for One-step Methods

We describe the ARKODE library of one-step time integration methods for ordinary differential equation (ODE) initial-value problems (IVPs). In addition to providing standard explicit and diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta methods, ARKODE supports one-step methods designed to treat additive splittings of the IVP, including implicit-explicit (ImEx) additive Runge–Kutta methods and multirate infinitesimal (MRI) methods. We present the role of ARKODE within the SUNDIALS suite of time integration and nonlinear solver libraries, the core ARKODE infrastructure for utilities common to large classes of one-step methods, as well as its use of “time stepper” modules enabling easy incorporation of novel algorithms into the library. Numerical results show example problems of increasing complexity, highlighting the algorithmic flexibility afforded through this infrastructure, and include a larger multiphysics application leveraging multiple algorithmic features from ARKODE and SUNDIALS.

Wasserstein convergence rates in the invariance principle for deterministic dynamical systems

AbstractIn this paper, we consider the convergence rate with respect to Wasserstein distance in the invariance principle for deterministic non-uniformly hyperbolic systems. Our results apply to uniformly hyperbolic systems and large classes of non-uniformly hyperbolic systems including intermittent maps, Viana maps, unimodal maps and others. Furthermore, as a non-trivial application to the homogenization problem, we investigate the Wasserstein convergence rate of a fast–slow discrete deterministic system to a stochastic differential equation.

Delivery of a Prevention Program in Large College Classes: Effectiveness of the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum

Background: Despite modest reductions in alcohol use among college students, drinking-related harms continue to be prevalent. Group-delivered programs have had little impact on drinking except for experiential expectancy challenge interventions that are impractical because they rely on alcohol administration. Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC), however, offers a non-experiential alternative suitable for widespread implementation for universal, selective, or indicated prevention. Objectives: ECALC has been effective with mandated students, fraternity members, and small classes of 30 or fewer first-year college students. Larger universities, however, typically have classes with 100 students or more, and ECALC has not yet been tested with groups of this size. To fill this gap, we conducted a group randomized trial in which five class sections with over 100 college students received either ECALC or an attention-matched control presentation and completed follow-up at four weeks. Results: ECALC was associated with significant changes on six subscales of the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale (CEOA), post-intervention expectancies predicted drinking at four-week follow-up, and there were significant expectancy differences between groups. Compared to the control group, students who received ECALC demonstrated significant expectancy changes and reported less alcohol use at follow-up. Conclusions: Findings suggest ECALC is an effective, single session group-delivered intervention program that can be successfully implemented in large classes.

Heuristic search of optimal machine teaching curricula

In curriculum learning the order of concepts is determined by the teacher but not the examples for each concept, while in machine teaching it is the examples that are chosen by the teacher to minimise the learning effort, though the concepts are taught in isolation. Curriculum teaching is the natural combination of both, where both concept order and the set of examples can be chosen to minimise the size of the whole teaching session. Yet, this simultaneous minimisation of teaching sets and concept order is computationally challenging, facing issues such as the “interposition” phenomenon: previous knowledge may be counter-productive. We build on a machine-teaching framework based on simplicity priors that can achieve short teaching sizes for large classes of languages. Given a set of concepts, we identify an inequality relating the sizes of example sets and concept descriptions. This leverages the definition of admissible heuristics for A* search to spot the optimal curricula by avoiding interposition, being able to find the shortest teaching sessions in a more efficient way than an exhaustive search and with the guarantees we do not have with a greedy algorithm. We illustrate these theoretical findings through case studies in a drawing domain, polygonal strokes on a grid described by a simple language implementing compositionality and recursion.

Improving engagement in large undergraduate statistics tutorial classes

We investigate whether introducing the mobile polling system Poll Everywhere had a positive impact on student engagement in large tutorial classes of a second year undergraduate statistics module. In particular, a short quiz facilitated by Poll Everywhere was introduced at the beginning of the tutorial in order to promote active participation. Students’ perceptions of the Poll Everywhere quiz on their tutorial engagement and learning are also explored. We conclude that the Poll Everywhere quiz seemed to have improved student engagement in tutorials and that students believed that it made tutorials engaging and was useful for their learning.

Distribution and Growth Patterns of Crab (P. pelagicus) Based on Environmental Characteristics in Candi Waters, Pamekasan Regency, East Java Province

Blue swimming crab (BSC) is a fishery commodity with high economic value and great demand in domestic and foreign markets. P. pelagicus swimming crabs are commonly found in Indonesian sea waters, one of the largest contributors to the country's foreign exchange after shrimp and tuna. The high demand for blue crab resources will trigger an increase in fishing efforts. If this is done continuously, it is feared that it could endanger the population structure. Moreover, disrupting the sustainability of blue swimming crab resources in the waters, this study examines the morphometric distribution and growth pattern of P. pelagicus crabs based on environmental characteristics in Candi waters, Pamekasaan Regency. Census sampling was carried out using the census method; the census method was carried out by taking all crab samples caught by fishermen. The results obtained found 33 individual crabs, which were divided into three classes, namely small (<10 cm), medium (>10 cm), and large (>12 cm) size classes. Male crabs dominated the research locations with wider straps than female crabs. The analysis results show that the width-weight relationship's b values are 1.47 (males) and 2.00 (females). In addition, male and female crabs have a positive allometric growth pattern. Blue swimming crabs are often found in habitats with a substrate of dusty mud, high salinity and organic matter.

Higgs-portal dark matter from nonsupersymmetric strings

Large classes of non-supersymmetric string models equipped with standard-model features have been constructed, but very little of their phenomenology is known. Interestingly, their spectra exhibit scalar fields whose only couplings to observed particles is through a multi-Higgs sector. On the other hand, bottom-up models with Higgs portals offer still an acceptable framework for dark matter. We explore realizations of such Higgs portals in promising heterotic orbifold models without supersymmetry. We find that a sample model includes Higgs vacua that are stable at one-loop, in which the Higgs sector is compatible with particle-physics observations and a scalar can account for the measured dark matter abundance. In such vacua, interesting constraints on the masses of the dark matter candidate and the heavy Higgs sector are uncovered. These compelling results are not limited to string models, as they can be embedded in similarly motivated bottom-up schemes.

Characterizing facilitation practices of learning assistants: an authoritative-to-dialogic spectrum

BackgroundLearning assistants (LAs) increase accessibility to instructor–student interactions in large STEM lecture classes. In this research, we used the Formative Assessment Enactment Model developed for K-12 science teachers to characterize LA facilitation practices. The Formative Assessment Enactment Model describes instructor actions as eliciting or advancing student thinking, guided by their purposes and the perspective they center as well as by what they notice about and how they interpret student thinking. Thus, it describes facilitation practices in a holistic way, capturing the way purposes, perspectives, noticing, interpreting, and actions are intertwined and working together to characterize different LA actions. In terms of how perspectives influence actions, eliciting and advancing moves can be enacted either in authoritative ways, driven by one perspective that has authority, or in dialogic ways, driven by multiple perspectives. Dialogic practices are of particular interest because of their potential to empower students and center student thinking.ResultsOur analysis of video recordings of LA–student interactions and stimulated recall interviews with 37 introductory physical science lectures’ LAs demonstrates that instead of as a dichotomy between authoritative and dialogic, LA actions exist along a spectrum of authoritative to dialogic based on the perspectives centered. Between the very authoritative perspective that centers on canonically correct science and the very dialogic perspective that centers the perspectives of the students involved in the discussion, we find two intermediary categories. The two new categories encompass a moderately authoritative perspective focused on the LA’s perspective without the claim of being correct and a moderately dialogic perspective focused on ideas from outside the current train of thought such as from students in the class that are not part of the current discussion.ConclusionsThis spectrum further adds to theory around authoritative and dialogic practices as it reconsiders what perspectives can drive LA enactment of facilitation other than the perspective of canonically correct science and the perspectives of the students involved in the discussion. This emerging characterization may be used to give LAs and possibly other instructors a tool to intentionally shift between authoritative and dialogic practices. It may also be used to transition towards more student-centered practices.

It gives me anxiety! Black Academics’ experiences of teaching large classes during the Covid-19 pandemic in a South African university

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the teaching and learning in international higher education. Those of us in the global South have particularly been hard hit, struggling to balance working/ functioning economies, a struggling healthcare system, education, commerce, trade, transport, and the community spread of what was later found to be a very infectious disease (Porter et al., 2021; Rogerson & Rogerson, 2020; Shamasunder et al., 2020). In this paper, we explored and theorised the experiences of academics who taught large classes at a research-intensive university in South Africa. We purposely recruited and interviewed eight academics for this case study. We drew on Chela Sandoval’s (2013) philosophical notion of “decolonial love” to theorise what an inclusive, democratic and ubuntu-orientated teaching of large classes could look like for us in the global South, beyond the pandemic. The findings revealed that academics continue to be frustrated/challenged/made anxious with teaching large classes due to inadequate infrastructure (digital), lack of resources, and general unpreparedness with the virtual/online teaching and learning. The findings also revealed that large classes were problematic as academics struggled to provide critical engagements and discussions during the hard Covid-19 lockdown, and with some lamenting the frustrations of “teaching to themselves” due to the lack of student engagement. We conclude this paper by proposing a decolonial love approach to the online teaching and learning of large classes, underpinned by the ethics of care, compassion and understanding in curriculum imaginations.

Solving 𝑆-unit, Mordell, Thue, Thue–Mahler and Generalized Ramanujan–Nagell Equations via the Shimura–Taniyama Conjecture

In the first part we construct algorithms (over Q \mathbb {Q} ) which we apply to solve S S -unit, Mordell, cubic Thue, cubic Thue–Mahler and generalized Ramanujan–Nagell equations. As a byproduct we obtain alternative practical approaches for various classical Diophantine problems, including the fundamental problem of finding all elliptic curves over Q \mathbb {Q} with good reduction outside a given finite set of rational primes. The first type of our algorithms uses modular symbols, and the second type combines explicit height bounds with efficient sieves. In particular we construct a refined sieve for S S -unit equations which combines Diophantine approximation techniques of de Weger with new geometric ideas. To illustrate the utility of our algorithms we determined the solutions of large classes of equations, containing many examples of interest which are out of reach for the known methods. In addition we used the resulting data to motivate various conjectures and questions, including Baker’s explicit a b c abc -conjecture and a new conjecture on S S -integral points of any hyperbolic genus one curve over Q \mathbb {Q} . In the second part we establish new results for certain old Diophantine problems (e.g. the difference of squares and cubes) related to Mordell equations, and we prove explicit height bounds for cubic Thue, cubic Thue–Mahler and generalized Ramanujan–Nagell equations. As a byproduct, we obtain here an alternative proof of classical theorems of Baker, Coates and Vinogradov–Sprindžuk. In fact we get refined versions of their theorems, which improve the actual best results in many fundamental cases. We also conduct some effort to work out optimized height bounds for S S -unit and Mordell equations which are used in our algorithms of the first part. Our results and algorithms all ultimately rely on the method of Faltings (Arakelov, Paršin, Szpiro) combined with the Shimura–Taniyama conjecture, and they all do not use lower bounds for linear forms in (elliptic) logarithms. In the third part we solve the problem of constructing an efficient sieve for the S S -integral points of bounded height on any elliptic curve E E over Q \mathbb {Q} with given Mordell–Weil basis of E ( Q ) E(\mathbb {Q}) . Here we combine a geometric interpretation of the known elliptic logarithm reduction (initiated by Zagier) with several conceptually new ideas. The resulting “elliptic logarithm sieve” is crucial for some of our algorithms of the first part. Moreover, it considerably extends the class of elliptic Diophantine equations which can be solved in practice: To demonstrate this we solved many notoriously difficult equations by combining our sieve with known height bounds based on the theory of logarithmic forms.

Perceptions of nurse educators and nursing students on the model for facilitating ‘presence’ in large class settings through reflective practices: a contextual inquiry

BackgroundNursing education starts in the classroom environment with a focus on the nurse educator-nursing student relationship. ‘Presence’ is defined as “a practice where the caregiver relates her/himself to the other in an attentive and dedicated way, by doing so learns to see what is at stake for the other; from desires to fear, and, in connection with this, come to understand what could be done in this particular situation and who she/he can be for the other”. ‘Presence’ forms an integral part of the nursing profession and the value thereof should be facilitated during teaching and learning. Reflective practices may offer a teaching–learning strategy to facilitate presence in nursing students by nurse educators in large class settings. Having large classes presents challenges including from nurse educators’ lack of knowledge about alternative teaching approaches; time demands for designing, implementing and testing new teaching methods; a lack of confidence in implementing new teaching approaches in the classroom; selecting and grading assessments; as well as feelings of discomfort and anxiety. A model to facilitate presence through reflective practices has already been developed and published by the present authors. The model relies on well-established steps in theory development covering concept analysis, model development and description (published in two papers by the present researchers) and model evaluation (the subject of this paper). The evaluation was carried out by a panel of experts and nursing participants.MethodsAn explorative and descriptive qualitative design was followed. The developed model was evaluated and refined in two steps (covered in this paper). In Step 1, the model was evaluated by a panel of experts in model development, reflective practices and presence. The panel used critical reflection resulting in the refinement of the model. Step 2 involved an empirical phase where the model was evaluated by participants through participatory evaluation. Participants were selected through purposive sampling. Data collection methods included online semi-structured focus group interviews with nurse educators and virtual World Café sessions with nursing students. Content analysis was done through open coding.ResultsFive themes emerged from the empirical phase, namely: Theme 1: understanding of the model; Theme 2: benefits of the model; Theme 3: limitations of the model; Theme 4: pre-existing conditions needed for successful implementation of the model; and Theme 5: recommendations for further development of the model.ConclusionsThe results produced a refined model to be implemented into the curriculums of undergraduate, postgraduate and continuous professional development programmes across nursing education institutions. This model will significantly contribute to the body of knowledge and increase nurses’ awareness of presence by transforming the way they feel, think, care and act in practice, which contributes to personal and professional development.

AsPeer: Method to Self and Peer Assessment in Large Online Design Classes

Peer and self-assessment open opportunities to scale assessments in online classrooms. This article reports our experiences of using AsPeer- peer assessment system, with two iterations of a university online class. We observed that peer grades highly correlated with staff assigned grades. It was recorded that, the peer grade of all student submissions within the range of instructor grade averaged to 21.0% and that within the next 2 ranges was 49.0%. We performed three experiments to improve accuracy of peer grading. First, we observed grading bias and introduced a data driven feedback mechanism to inform peers of it. Students aided by feedback were mindful and performed grading with better accuracy. Second, we observed that the rubric lacked efficiency in translating intent to students. Simplified guiding questions improved accuracy in assessment by 89% of students. Third, we encouraged peers to provide personalized qualitative feedback along with rating. We provided them with feedback snippets that addressed common issues. 64% of students responded that the snippets helped them to critically look at submissions before rating.

The effects of instructor participation in asynchronous online discussions on student performance: A systematic review

AbstractAsynchronous online discussion is a learning activity commonly used in online teaching. The way instructors participate in asynchronous online discussions significantly impacts students' learning outcomes. This systematic review aims to determine the effects of instructor participation in asynchronous online discussions on student performance by analysing 25 relevant studies in the past twelve years (2011–22). The findings show that the research was focused on the presence, frequency and type of instructor participation. The effects of instructor participation on student performance were mixed and concentrated in five main aspects: the quantity of student participation, the quality of student participation, student achievements, student emotions and student learning time. Not only the teaching experience of instructors but also course content, learning objectives, class sizes and learner characteristics influenced the effects. Based on the findings, several recommendations were made to help instructors effectively participate in asynchronous online discussions, thereby contributing to improving the quality of online education. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Asynchronous online discussion is a learning activity commonly used in online teaching. The way instructors participate in asynchronous online discussions significantly impacts students' learning outcomes. What this paper adds Previous research on instructor participation in asynchronous online discussions and student performance primarily focuses on the presence, frequency and type of instructor participation. The impact of instructor participation on student performance is mixed and concentrated in the following main areas: Quantity of student participation Quality of student participation Student achievements Student emotions Student learning time The effects of instructor participation are influenced not only by the teaching experience of instructors but also by: Course content Learning objectives Class sizes Learner characteristics Implications for practice and/or policy Instructors should participate in asynchronous online discussions based on the class sizes, more in small classes (within 15 students) and less in large classes (more than 30 students). If it is possible, divide the large classes into small discussion groups. Instructors should initiate discussions with heuristic and interesting open‐ended questions, gradually release control and give the central position to students and intervene only when necessary (eg, keep discussions on track, provide correct information, extend discussions, mediate conflicts, etc). Instructors should apply appropriate facilitation strategies (eg, establish detailed discussion rubrics, grade student posts and provide regular individual feedback). Instructors should use more instructional comments and supplement them with sincere rather than perfunctory social comments.

Towards classification of 5d SCFTs: Single gauge node

We propose a number of apparently equivalent criteria necessary for the consistency of a 5d SCFT in its Coulomb phase and use these criteria to classify 5d SCFTs arising from a gauge theory with simple gauge group. These criteria include the convergence of the 5-sphere partition function; the positivity of particle masses and monopole string tensions; and the positive definiteness of the metric in some region in the Coulomb branch. We find that for large rank classical groups simple classes of SCFTs emerge where the bounds on the matter content and the Chern-Simons level grow linearly with rank. For classical groups of rank less than or equal to 8, our classification leads to additional cases which do not fit in the large rank analysis. We also classify the allowed matter content for all exceptional groups.