Through (Tracking) Their Eyes: Abstraction and Complexity in Program Comprehension

Previous studies on writing and understanding programs presented evidence that programmers beyond a novice stage utilize plans or plan-like structures. Other studies on code composition showed that learners have difficulties with writing, reading, and debugging code where interacting plans are merged into a short piece of code. In this article, we focus on the question of how different code-composition strategies and the familiarity with code affect program comprehension on a more abstract, i.e., algorithmic level. Using an eye-tracking setup, we explored how advanced students comprehend programs and their underlying algorithms written in either a merged or abutted (sequenced) composition of code blocks of varying familiarity. The effects of familiarity and code composition were studied both isolated and in combination. Our analysis of the quantitative data adds to our understanding of the behavior reported in previous studies and the effects of plans and their composition on the programs’ difficulty. Using this data along with retrospective interviews, we analyze students’ reading patterns and provide support that subjects were able to form mental models of program execution during task performance. Furthermore, our results suggest that subjects are able to retrieve and create schemata when the program is composed of familiar templates, which may improve their performance; we found indicators for a higher element-interactivity for programs with a merged code composition compared to abutted code composition.

Book Review: Researching second language acquisition in the study abroad learning environment: An introduction for student researchers

Researching Second Language Acquisition in the Study Abroad Learning Environment: An Introduction for Student Researchers (Isabelli-García and Isabelli, 2020) presents an overview of some of the major topics relevant to research on study abroad. This book is intended to be a basic primer for advanced students and beginner professional researchers and serves to provide general orientation on various aspects ranging from language and interactional systems to research gaps in the topic area. The book gives a relatively thorough presentation on some of the scholarly perspectives on study abroad that can be used as a guidebook for anyone who is interested in conducting academic research in the area. While there are some shortcomings, the book does an excellent job of synthesizing some of the major scholarly themes that are relevant to study abroad. Consequently, this is a useful book not only for novel researchers but also for faculty or staff who are interested in organizing university study abroad programs and would like a more thorough background.

Using Grammarly to Enhance Students’ Academic Writing Skills

The paper aims to present the results of the experiment in applying the online writing assistant Grammarly.com to evaluate ESP students’ essay writing skills. One hundred master students’ papers were processed by the application to identify persisting errors at a master’s level. Quantitative and qualitative methods enabled the researchers to analyze the essays by setting five parameters: audience, formality, domain, tone, and intent. At the other end, the application broke down the outcome by five measurable factors: correctness, clarity, delivery, engagement, and style issues. The representative number of the essays fed into Grammarly.com provided a vivid and reliable picture of which lexis, grammar, structure, or style issues still need addressing. The most common mistakes detected by Grammarly.com were punctuation, wordy sentences, redundancy, and the abundance of personal pronouns in a formal style. They show that the gaps in students’ academic writing need a remedial course. Another objective of the research was to explore the potential of the online writing tool for students’ self-study. Grammarly.com cannot do work for students: it cannot think for them, neither can it write for them, but it can help learners identify the reoccurring writing problems, eliminate them, and monitor the progress. The application could be particularly useful for advanced students. The functionality of the Grammarly premium version allows for a choice of styles, type of addressee, tone of writing, and many other nuances, which could be beneficial not only for studies but in future professional life. Nonetheless, despite Grammarly’s advanced features, it only suggests a better variant, sometimes it errs, and in no way is it a substitute for a teacher.

GENDER SPECIFICITY OF SUBJECTIVITY MANIFESTATIONS IN SITUATIONS OF AUTONOMY AND NON-AUTONOMY

The relevance of this article is due to the need to study the gender specifics of the relationship between the manifestations of subjectivity (mental states, procedural and effective parameters of the situation) with the basic psychological need for autonomy to apply the data obtained in the practice of psychological and pedagogical support of the educational process at the university. The goal of the empirical research was to determine the gender common and peculiar in the manifestations of subjectivity, depending on the degree of autonomy of the subject of activity. The main hypothesis was the assumption that there are differences in the manifestations of subjectivity in situations with different levels of autonomy among respondents of different genders. The sample consisted of 112 people (56 men and 56 women). The age of men was from 22 to 42 years (M=25, SD=3,5 years). The age of women was from 22 to 45 years (M=24, SD=2,8 years). The respondents - advanced students (n=112) in the form of a free essay described the situations of extrinsic and internal motivation when studying at the university and compared them with each other by any possible criteria. For data processing, the methods of content analysis, frequency analysis of text and the Fisher angular transformation criterion were used. Statistically significant differences in the emotional and intellectual-emotional manifestations of states in subjects of different sexes were revealed. In situations of autonomy, women more often experienced states of joy, interest and passion (p≤0,05), and men experienced pleasure (p≤0,01). The state of relief in situations of non-autonomy was more common for women than for men (p≤0,01). Differences in the frequency of mention of procedural and effective parameters of situations in respondents of different sexes were not found. The results of the study can be used in the development of programs for the adaptation of future specialists to changes in the labor market conditions.

Astrophysical Magnetic Fields

Magnetic fields permeate space and affect many major astrophysical phenomena, but they are often ignored due to their perceived complexity. This self-contained introduction to astrophysical magnetic fields provides both a comprehensive review of the current state of the subject and a critical discussion of the latest research. It presents our knowledge of magnetic fields from the Early Universe, their evolution in cosmic time through to their roles in present-day galaxies, galaxy clusters and the wider intergalactic medium, with attention given to both theory and observations. This volume also contains an extensive introduction into magnetohydrodynamics, numerous worked examples, observational and mathematical techniques and interpretations of the observations. Its review of our current knowledge, with an emphasis on results that are likely to form the basis for future progress, benefits a broad audience of advanced students and active researchers, including those from fields such as cosmology and general relativity.

Nursing Students’ Experiences in Providing Patient Education in the Clinical Setting

Background: Patient education is associated with reduced hospital readmission rates, lower patient anxiety, and improvement in quality of life. Although nursing students report feeling ill-prepared and less confident in educating their patients in clinical settings, few studies have assessed their perspectives on this topic.Method: This study explores the perceived challenges, obstacles, self-efficacy, and preparedness of undergraduate nursing students in providing patient education by collecting qualitative data through focus group discussions (FGDs).Results: Five major themes emerged from the FGDs: significance of patient education, nursing process in providing patient education, evolving sense of preparation, evolving sense of confidence, challenges/barriers to providing patient education. While all interviewed nursing students felt that patient education was a vital nursing responsibility, advanced students had more confidence and knowledge regarding this responsibility.Conclusion: Understanding the nursing student experience in patient education preparedness may aid nursing instructors in better tailoring nursing curricula and support to meet their students' needs.

Advanced Topics in Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics is one of the most successful theories in science, and is relevant to nearly all modern topics of scientific research. This textbook moves beyond the introductory and intermediate principles of quantum mechanics frequently covered in undergraduate and graduate courses, presenting in-depth coverage of many more exciting and advanced topics. The author provides a clearly structured text for advanced students, graduates and researchers looking to deepen their knowledge of theoretical quantum mechanics. The book opens with a brief introduction covering key concepts and mathematical tools, followed by a detailed description of the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) method. Two alternative formulations of quantum mechanics are then presented: Wigner's phase space formulation and Feynman's path integral formulation. The text concludes with a chapter examining metastable states and resonances. Step-by-step derivations, worked examples and physical applications are included throughout.

300 Problems in Special and General Relativity

Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity form a core part of today's undergraduate (or Masters-level) physics curriculum. This is a supplementary problem book or student's manual, consisting of 150 problems in each of special and general relativity. The problems, which have been developed, tested and refined by the authors over the past two decades, are a mixture of short-form and multi-part extended problems, with hints provided where appropriate. Complete solutions are elaborated for every problem, in a different section of the book; some solutions include brief discussions on their physical or historical significance. Designed as a companion text to complement a main relativity textbook, it does not assume access to any specific textbook. This is a helpful resource for advanced students, for self-study, a source of problems for university teaching assistants, or as inspiration for instructors and examiners constructing problems for their lectures, homework or exams.

Naming and Indexicality

How do words stand for things? Taking ideas from philosophical semantics and pragmatics, this book offers a unique, detailed, and critical survey of central debates concerning linguistic reference in the twentieth century. It then uses the survey to identify and argue for a novel version of current 'two-dimensional' theories of meaning, which generalise the context-dependency of indexical expressions. The survey highlights the history of tensions between semantic and epistemic constraints on plausible theories of word meaning, from analytic philosophy and modern truth-conditional semantics, to the Referentialist and Externalist revolutions in theories of meaning, to the more recent reconciliatory ambition of two-dimensionalists. It clearly introduces technical semantical notions, theses, and arguments, with easy-to-follow, step-by-step guides. Wide-ranging in its scope, yet offering an accessible route into literature that can seem complex and technical, this will be essential reading for advanced students, and academic researchers in semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language.