At the intersection of belief and practice: A mixed-methods study of elementary general music educator praxis

Recent research describing the practices of specialist elementary general music teachers and students is limited, and few research studies specifically examine how practicing music educators think about their music teaching practices. In this mixed-methods case study, we bridged these areas of research by examining music educators’ expressed beliefs about music teaching and learning in light of descriptive analysis and hierarchical linear models (HLM) of time sampling data of their teaching practices in elementary music classrooms. Participants ( N = 7) shared beliefs that everyone is musical and that music educators must therefore create an environment in which children develop their musicianship by singing, moving, and playing. Time sampling data indicated that teachers spent most of their time talking, while students spent most of their time sitting still and silent. Children in younger grades spent significantly more time in movement activities than those in older grades. HLM analyses provided predictive implications for teachers’ use of singing and movement. In this article, we present findings from qualitative analysis of planning artifacts, reflections, and interviews and from HLM of time sampling data, and discuss potential meanings for music teaching and music teacher education.

Technical contribution: Use of continuous recording video monitoring of maintenance and pain behaviors in piglets after surgical castration to validate six continuous time sampling periods for behavior scoring

Castration is a painful procedure routinely performed on piglets. Specific periods relative to castration and time sampling rules are used widely to quantify deviations in piglet’s behavior associated with castration rather than assessing behavior for the entire trial period. However, very limited work has evaluated time sampling recording rules to quantify behavioral changes to piglets undergoing castration. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate the accuracy of six continuous time sampling periods (5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 45 min), to quantify piglet behavior post-castration when compared with a full 60 min observation period. Sixteen Yorkshire-Landrace x Duroc piglets were surgically castrated. Data was collected using continuous observation (recording rule) of each individual male piglet per litter for 60 min post-castration. The 60 min continuous behavioral data set was then subdivided into six data subsets for each defined continuous time sampling period (5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 45 min). Data from each continuous time sampling period and the full period data were analyzed using both a generalized linear mixed model and linear regression analysis. For the generalized linear mixed model, 30 and 45 min continuous time sampling periods were not different (P > 0.05) when compared with the full observation period data for all behaviors. For the linear regression analysis, affiliative interaction, sitting, walking, huddled up, prostrated, scratching, spasms, and trembling behaviors met the pairwise comparison accuracy criteria [1) the coefficient of determination (R 2) was > than 0.90, 2) the intercept did not differ from 0 (P > 0.05), and 3) the slope did not differ from 1 (P > 0.05)] at the 45 min continuous time sampling period compared to full observation period. Results from this study suggest that a 45 min continuous time sampling period would be necessary to accurately investigate piglet behavior during the acute pain sensitivity time post-castration when considering both maintenance and pain associated behaviors.

Blooming fitoplankton di perairan Kepulauan Seribu

Fenomena terjadinya blooming fitoplankton sering terjadi di perairan Kepulauan Seribu (Teluk Jakarta). Pada tanggal 15 Oktober 2020, terjadi kembali blooming tersebut Oleh karena itu, dilakukan kajian ini untuk mengetahui jenis fitoplankton yang mengalami blooming di Teluk Jakarta. Real time sampling terhadap fitoplankton yang mengalami blooming dilakukan. Selanjutnya sampel langsung dianalisis di Laboratorium Produktivitas dan Lingkungan Perairan, IPB University. Parameter yang dianalisis adalah komposisi jenis fitoplankton dan kualitas air. Fitoplankton yang blooming adalah Trichodesmium. Blooming telah terjadi sejak lama dan berulang di perairan Kepulauan Seribu. Hal ini berkaitan erat dengan perubahan musim dan peningkatan kandungan unsur hara di perairan, khususnya nitrat dan ortofosfat, yang mendukung terjadinya pertumbuhan fitoplankton secara pesat (blooming).

Lautleseverfahren und ihre Umsetzung in Alphabetisierungskursen

Zusammenfassung. Hintergrund: Lautleseverfahren haben sich in Klasse 2–8 als wirksames Verfahren zur Förderung von Leseflüssigkeit erwiesen und haben mittlerweile auch in Lehr- und Lernmaterialien von Alphabetisierungskursen Eingang gefunden. Nicht untersucht ist, wie solche Verfahren in der Erwachsenenbildung eingesetzt werden. Methode: In 12 Alphabetisierungskursen wurden Unterrichtsbeobachtungen durchgeführt und mittels Time-Sampling-Verfahren aufgezeichnet. Im direkten Anschluss daran erfolgten Leitfadeninterviews mit den Kursleitenden zu ihrem Unterricht. Ergebnisse: Lautleseverfahren werden von den Kursleitenden eingesetzt und als eine sinnvolle Fördermaßnahme erachtet. Hürden in der Durchführung zeigen sich im Hinblick auf die Zusammensetzung der Lesetandems, da die Kursteilnehmenden oft ein ähnlich niedriges Niveau an Lesekompetenz aufweisen oder Deutsch als L2 sprechen. Der Feedbackprozess liegt damit vorrangig bei der Kursleitung. Zudem fällt es den Kursleitenden schwer, adaptiv auf die verschiedenen herausfordernden Situationen im Rahmen des Leseunterrichts zu reagieren. So werden bspw. Vorentlastungen oft nicht oder nicht in einem lernförderlichen Sinn durchgeführt. Diskussion: Eine fachdidaktische Konzeption zum Einsatz von Lautleseverfahren in Alphabetisierungskursen ist stärker an den kursspezifischen Anforderungen auszurichten. Zudem ist eine weitergehende Professionalisierung der Lehrkräfte zu empfehlen.

The WegenerNet 3D Open-Air Laboratory for Climate Change Research: A unique facility for high-resolution precipitation studies

<p>The WegenerNet Feldbach Region is a unique weather and climate observation network comprising 155 hydrometeorological stations measuring temperature, humidity, precipitation, and at particular locations wind speed and direction as well as other parameters, in a tightly spaced grid within a core area of 22 km x 16 km centered near the city of Feldbach (46.93°N, 15.90°E), in southeastern Austria.</p><p>With about one station every two square-km (area of about 300 square-km in total), and each station with 5-min time sampling, the network provides fully automated regular measurements since January 2007.</p><p>In 2020, the station network was expanded by three major new components, expanding it from a 2D ground station hydrometeorological network into a 3D open-air laboratory for climate change research at very high resolution.  These new atmospheric 3D-observation components consist of:</p><p>1. A polarimetric X-band Doppler weather radar for studying precipitation parameters in the troposphere above the ground network, such as rain rate, hydrometeor classification, Doppler velocity, and approximate drop size distribution and number: it can provide 3D volume data (at about 1 km x 1 km horizontal and 500 m vertical resolution and 2.5 min time sampling) for moderate to strong precipitation. Together with the dense ground network, this allows detailed studies of heavy precipitation events with high resolution and accuracy.</p><p>2. A radiometer pair consisting of two azimuth- and elevation-steerable radiometers: (1) a microwave atmospheric-profiling radiometer with built-in auxiliary infrared radiometer for vertical profiling of temperature, humidity, and cloud liquid water in the troposphere above the WegenerNet area (with about 100 m to 1 km vertical resolution and 5 to 10 min time sampling), also capable of measuring cloud-base heights, vertically integrated water vapor (IWV), and slant IWV along line-of-sight paths towards Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites, and (2) a complementary infrared cloud structure radiometer at similar spatiotemporal sampling for further refining gridded cloud-base height calculations and enabling multi-layer cloud-field reconstruction over the WegenerNet area, providing 3D cloud-field (multi-layered cloud fraction) estimates.</p><p>3. A water-vapor-mapping high-resolution GNSS station network named GNSS-StarNet, comprising six ground stations and spatially forming two star-shaped subnets across the WegenerNet area (one with about 10 km interstation distance and one embedded with about 5 km interstation distance), for providing slant IWV, vertical IWV, and precipitable water, among other parameters, at 2.5 to 15 min time sampling.</p><p>The new components, together with the existing ground network, provide a unique setup for studying extreme meteorological events such as heavy precipitation, hailstorms, droughts, and heat waves at very high resolution. We will present the up-to-date status of the WegenerNet and highlight recent uses in precipitation, hydrology and climate-related studies.</p>

Point and Figure Portfolio Optimization using Hidden Markov Models and Its Application on the Bumi Resources Tbk Shares

The problem of portfolio optimization is to select a trading strategy which maximizes the expected terminal wealth. Since the stocks are traded at discrete random times in a real-world market, we are interested in a time sampling method. The sampling of stock price is obtained from the process of time sampling which is used in a point and figure chart. Point and figure (PF) chart displays the up and down movements of unbalanced stock prices. The basic idea is to describe essential movements of the unbalanced stock prices using a hidden Markov model. The model parameters are transition probability matrices. They are estimated using maximum likelihood method and expectation maximization algorithm. The estimation procedure involves change of measure. The model is then applied to the stock price of Bumi Resources Tbk. collected on a daily basis. The estimated parameters are used to calculate the optimal portfolio using a recursive algorithm. The results show that the discrete hidden Markov model can be applied to describe essential movements of the stock price. The best result gives 93.63% accuracy of the estimate of observation sequence with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) 3.63%. The numerical calculation shows that the optimal logarithmic PF-portfolio increases the wealth.Keywords: point and figure portfolio; optimization portfolio; discrete hidden Markov model; expectation maximization algorithm; stock price of Bumi Resources Tbk. AbstrakMasalah pengoptimalan portofolio adalah pemilihan strategi perdagangan yang dapat memaksimalkan kekayaan terminal yang diharapkan. Karena di pasar dunia nyata, saham diperdagangkan pada waktu acak yang berbeda, sehingga kami tertarik pada metode pengambilan sampel waktu. Proses pengambilan sampel waktu diperoleh sampling harga saham yang digunakan dalam diagram point and figure (PF-chart). Grafik point and figure hanya menampilkan pergerakan naik atau turun harga saham yang tidak seimbang. Ide dasarnya adalah untuk mendeskripsikan pergerakan esensial dari harga saham yang tidak seimbang menggunakan model hidden Markov. Parameter dari model ini adalah matriks probabilitas transisi. Parameter diestimasi menggunakan metode maximum likelihood dan algoritma expectation maximization. Prosedur estimasi melibatkan perubahan ukuran. Model ini kemudian diaplikasikan pada harga saham Bumi Resources Tbk. dari tanggal 2 Januari 2007 sampai dengan 31 Januari 2011. Hasil estimasi parameter tersebut digunakan untuk menghitung portofolio optimal menggunakan algoritma rekursif. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa model hidden Markov diskrit dapat diterapkan untuk menggambarkan pergerakan esensial dari harga saham. Model terbaik memberikan akurasi 93.63% dari estimasi deretan observasi dengan mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) 3,63% dan 5 faktor penyebab kejadian. Perhitungan numerik menunjukkan bahwa logaritma portofolio-PF yang optimal dapat meningkatkan kekayaan.Kata kunci: portofolio point and figure; optimalisasi portofolio; model hidden Markov diskrit; algoritma expectation maximization; harga saham PT Bumi Resources.