Probability distribution

When analysing data we have a choice between methods that make distributional assumption, called parametric methods, and those which make no assumptions about distributions, called distribution-free or non-parametric methods. The importance of probability distributions in statistical analysis reflects the dominance of parametric methods..



If two statistics A and B are both unbiased estimators of a parameter, then the better estimate will come from the statistic with the smaller standard deviation, so that over a large number of samples this statistic will be closer to the parameter.

Oxford Univ. Statistics for Health Researchers





...........The "gravest threat" to bats is seen in New York where up to 11,000 were found dead last winter and many more are showing signs illness this winter. Researchers scrambling to find the cause of mysterious condition dubbed "white nose syndrome."

................Millions of French honeybees suffering from "mad bee disease" and are unable to find their way back to their hives, causing a dramatic drop in honey production. Honey bees will die within hours if they cannot find their way home.

Quota conspiracy

Given open access in university applications, some groups seem to gain more places than their proportion of society would suggest; maybe their culture values education and study more than others do. To allow others entry on lower qualifications discriminates against them. If people are to be discriminated against because of something done by a group their ancestors might have belonged to, there are no limits, nor any indication as to how far back this should go. To the Romans, perhaps?

What is needed is not positive discrimination, with its unsavoury flavour of racial classification and quotas, but open opportunity for people of all groups. Instead of giving preferred places to those whose race, sex, sexual or religious preference have been discriminated against in the past, we should be making sure that we extend to all the choices and the opportunities which were more restricted in previous times. We should be creating an open society, not one where advancement depends on membership of whatever minority groups are sufficiently powerful or fashionable to command preference.

Positive discrimination perpetuates racism and dignifies it with legal claims, whereas the open society overwhelms it by being blind to a person's background. It should matter more where a person is going, rather than where they came from. It should be individual merit, not ethnic quota, which determines advancement.

source: www.adamsmith.org/blog

Creative and insightful researches

Seeing a number of papers presented at the ASSA meetings, David Laibson's work on hyperbolic discounting provides a better illustration of how the new technology can enhance the field of economics. In this article in Science, he and his co-authors show:


When humans are offered the choice between rewards available at different points in time, the relative values of the options are discounted according to their expected delays until delivery. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the neural correlates of time discounting while subjects made a series of choices between monetary reward options that varied by delay to delivery. We demonstrate that two separate systems are involved in such decisions. Parts of the limbic system associated with the midbrain dopamine system, including paralimbic cortex, are preferentially activated by decisions involving immediately available rewards. In contrast, regions of the lateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex are engaged uniformly by intertemporal choices irrespective of delay. Furthermore, the relative engagement of the two systems is directly associated with subjects’ choices, with greater relative fronto-parietal activity when subjects choose longer term options.

The research shows that two different neural systems, which evolved for very different purposes in the human brain, deal with the two decisions. When a part of the brain is activated during a particular decision, we can infer that the decision is similar to other choices or behaviors that activate that part of the brain. The more primitive part of the brain is activated with the near-term choice. This is what gives Laibson's argument credibility. We have already learned from observation of individual choices that behavior departed from the classical model. Without the brain imaging, there could have been a number of competing theories for why this is so, many of which would not cause us to dramatically rethink the underlying model. With the brain imaging, we give substantially greater weight to the theories like Laibson's that are predicated on different decision frameworks for different types of intertemporal choices.

Andrew Samwick, www.adamsmith.org/blog













T Pott Comment:
Produce only to consume. Otherwise, why produce? Consume and so produce. Otherwise we starve. Modernity rides on the twin horses of mass production and mass consumption. Massive surplus from production lifts the sight above sweat and grind, and mass media veer that instrument of labour, the body, towards glorification and gratification. Modern marriage (it is numbers sensitive) has more economic value for being less permanent�€”conceptually at least. Who stands to gain? Everyone who is on the economic wagon. Who loses? The products of sexual unions until the young generation start to make sense of it all if not themselves. But if life is all economics, then it is worthwhile to bear in mind the scientific principle that nature naturally behaves to conserve maximum energy possible. Here marriage or family is in line with the principle. But it is good to think we have a choice.

The age of hedonic marriage, Economist, 18 Jan.





Statistical Degrees of Freedom

Early in this century it was shown by W.S. Gossett, writing under the name of ‘Student’, that the mean of a sample from a Normal distribution with unknown variance has distribution that is similar to, but not quite the same as, a Normal distribution. He called it the t distribution, and we still refer to it as Student’s t distribution. As the sample size increases the sampling distribution of the mean become closer to the Normal distribution. We use the t distribution for estimation and hypothesis testing relating to the means of one or two samples. Although we can use the Normal distribution for large samples there is little point in doing so, since for large samples the methods give virtually identical answers and it is simpler to use the same method regardless of the sample size.

The t distribution has one parameter, a quantity called the degrees of freedom. The concept of degrees of freedom is one of the more elusive statistical ideas. In general the degrees of freedom are calculated as the sample size minus the number of estimated parameters. The degrees of freedom for the t distribution relate to the estimated standard deviation, which is calculated as variation around the estimated mean. Hence, for a single sample of n observations we have n-1 degrees of freedom.

Altman D., (Oxford Univ.'s Medical Statistics), Practical statistics for medical research, p. 181

Variables relationship

Linear regression is statistical technique for describing and analyzing relationships between a dependent variable and one or, with multiple regression, two or more independent variables. To use regression analysis the variables must be interval - or ratio-scale, meaning they must naturally take the form of numbers (such as income or age). An exception to this is any variable that takes the form of a dichotomy (gender) or a multi categorize variable such as (education) that is collapsed to two categories as ‘less than university’ and ‘some university or more’. Regression analysis is best illustrated in a figure, where a scatter plot shows the relationship between two variances: the percentage of a population that is literate X and the population’s life expectancy Y, each representative country and the location (or coordinates) of each dot is determined by its level of life expectancy (on the vertical axis) and the percentage of the population that is literate (on X). there is a tendency for countries high on X to also be high on Y (there are no dots in the upper left); there is then, a positive relationship between literary and life expectancy. The higher the literacy level is , the longer people tend to live on the average.

Allan Johnson, The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology - 2000

Story telling

"If you want your children to be intelligent," Albert Einstein said, "read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Stories are how we make sense of the world, they help shape what we see, do and dream. Children who have difficulties focusing in class will sit spellbound by a narrative.

There are a lot of studies on the power of stories; psychologists refer to information presented in story form as 'psychologically privileged'. Our brains, it seems, are especially attentive and responsive to information conveyed in a narrative. Stories greatly aid recall. They provide a meaningful structure — hooks upon which to hang new knowledge.

All this is a gift, you would have hoped, to communicators of science. Yet too many authors of children's science books pick up on one of the key strands of storytelling without taking the creative step of bringing them all together.

The use of complications and challenges in a narrative help to create a problem solving scenario that involves the reader.


David Donohue, Nature/nature, no 7172, 13 Dec 2007

Demystify the Primes

No longer prime numbers confine to the mathematical citadel. Three finest mathematicians found a way to use primes to protect our credit card number as they travel through the electronic shopping malls, or the global marketplaces. Today, without the power of prime numbers e-business doesn’t exist. Every time you place an order on a website your co is using the security provided by the existence of prime number with a 100 digits. Over a million primes have already been put to use to protect the world of electronic commerce.

The security of this system depends on our inability to answer basic questions about prime numbers. Mathematicians know enough about the primes to build these internet codes, but not enough to break them. The more we demystify the primes, the less secure these internet codes are becoming. These numbers are the keys to the locks that protect the world’s electronic secrets. And this is the reason why Number Theory and business have become such strange bedfellows.

……At the turn of 21 century we were still completely in the dark as to the nature of the most fundamental numbers in mathematics.

Marcus du Sautoy, The music of primes, 2001






Righteous are you, O Lord,
And your laws are right.
The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
They are fully trustworthy.
My zeal wears me out.
For my enemies ignore your words.
Yours promises have been thoroughly tested’
And your servant loves them.
Though I am lowly and despised,
I do not forget your precepts.
Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.
Trouble and distress have come upon me,
But your commands are my delight.
Your statutes are forever right;
give me understanding that I may live


Psalm 119:139

Learner Autonomy

Learner independence - mature dependence - learner autonomy

Develop the exercise of independence of mind, and a readiness to challenge and criticise accepted opinion.

The study of a foreign culture develops an awareness of contrasts with our native
culture. Learning strategies may be designed to inculcate independence of thought, most particularly the vigorous argument that we seek to encourage in regular tutorials. Students are expected to acquire familiarity with different and sometimes conflicting approaches and interpretations, and to develop their own views through critical engagement with the work of others.

They will also have regular contact, through tutorials and lectures, with postholders at the forefront of new research whose own work is likely to challenge certain aspects of the status quo within their particular fields.


One study found that researchers argue that success at university is associated with personal confidence and competence, emotional stability, a tendency to introversion, acceptance of extra-curricular work demands, and independence from teachers. Failure is associated with learning anxiety (in both lack of confidence and incompetence), and overdependence on teachers. The key factors determining success or failure that staff-student relationships can actively control are, therefore, independence or overdependence. (Raaheim and Wankowski, 1981). Ramsden (1992: 111-6) presents three main theories of teaching in higher education. The first, a notion of teaching as transmission, assumes a traditional didactic approach, with the teacher as an undisputed source of information and the students as passive recipients. It is modelled on the idea that input equals output: as long as students attend and regurgitate lectures they will succeed. The second, a transitional stage, sees teaching as organising student activity. Authoritative knowledge recedes into the background, and learning becomes a process of active supervision. Finally, there is teaching as a means of making learning possible. This theory incorporates and develops aspects of the first two, but has a different pedagogical approach. Instead of the teacher organising the learning, the relationship between learner and teacher is a cooperative one of instruction and interaction combined. Knowledge of the subject content is actively constituted by the learner, and courses are structured around an awareness of student learning Gibbs (1995). Assessment, Gibbs argues, should incorporate a wider range of activities. This includes an emphasis of group activities; peer and self-assessment; diaries, logs, and journals; learning contracts and negotiated assignments; and achievement profiles. These assessment elements not only encourage ‘learner independence’ but also teach and develop transferable skills that benefit the learner in the outside world. This third view mirrors the notion of ‘mature dependency’ introduced by Fairbairn (1952), i.e. one which in the context of university education would mean a considered and appropriate recourse to tutor or peer support. Indeed, the term ‘mature dependency’ may be less prone to misunderstanding than the more popular ‘learner independence’, encapsulating as it does the recognition that successful scholars seldom work in isolation.

Gibbs, G. (1995) Assessing Student Centred Courses, Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff Development.
http://www.humanities.bham.ac.uk/handbook/shared/committees/ltg/Colloquia/LrnrIndependence/LIReport2.pdf








One subject for research is about the impact of IT in independence learning:


A qualitative study of experienced high school teachers’ perceptions of learning technologies is reported. Underlying the study was a research-based theoretical background that highlighted the importance of appropriate perceptions to successful integration of learning technologies into classrooms. The transcripts of 31 semi-structured, open-ended interviews with a group of teachers were combined to form a pool of decontextualized statements about learning technologies. The pool of statements was analyzed using a phenomenographic research approach. A limited number of qualitatively different perceptions of learning technologies were identified. The perceptions varied with respect to “what” and “how” components. The “what” component concerned perception of what constitutes a technology. The “how” component concerned perception of how the technology impacted on learning. Some of the perceptions were considered inappropriate with regard to the “how” component and unlikely to lead to successful integration.

For teachers holding these perceptions professional development is proposed in how learning technologies can be used to encourage enhanced learning outcomes.

Enhanced learning outcomes resulting from the use of learning technologies require grasping meaning; better learning techniques and strategies; skill in using the technology; assistance and motivation from the technology; and more effective presentation of the learning outcomes.

Teachers conceptualise and approach teaching in a limited number of qualitatively different but related ways. Broadly, teachers who perceive learning as the accumulation of information are more likely to view teaching as the transfer of information. Such teachers are more likely to use a teacher centred approach where the teacher imparts information to students and uses assessment techniques which encourage and test rote learning. In contrast, teachers who view learning as conceptual change are more likely to view teaching as facilitating conceptual change. Such teachers are more likely to use a student centred teaching approach where independence in learning is encouraged through discussion, debate and questioning among students, and assessment which reveals conceptual change (Prosser & Trigwell, 1999).

Students' approaches to learning are related to their teachers' approaches to teaching (Trigwell, Prosser & Waterhouse, 1999). Teachers who describe using a conceptual change/student focussed teaching approach are more likely to be teaching students who report using a deep approach to learning. Deep learning approaches have an intention to seek meaning in learning situations through linking aspects of the content. With a deep learning approach there is the possibility of the conceptual change and deeper understanding which is assumed in this paper to constitute an enhanced learning outcome (Cope, 2000; Marton & Booth, 1997). Indeed, in many empirical studies deep learning approaches have been found to be strongly associated with conceptual change learning outcomes (e.g., Marton & Säljö, 1976; Prosser & Millar, 1989). In contrast, teachers who describe using an information transfer/teacher centred teaching approach are more likely to be teaching students who report using surface learning approaches. Surface learning approaches focus on memorising aspects of the content in isolation with the intention of recalling the content in assessment situations. There is little intention to seek meaning in the content, and little likelihood of significant conceptual change (Ramsden, 1988).

An explanation of the association between teacher and student approaches has been proposed and supported empirically by Prosser & Trigwell (1999). The learning context provided by a teacher is the practical implementation of the teacher’s perceptions of learning and teaching, and approach to teaching. Students have been found to vary their learning approach in response to certain factors they perceive in the learning context. Students using deep learning approaches are more likely to value independence in learning, good teaching and clear learning goals, factors consistent with a student-centred teaching approach. Students using surface learning approaches are more likely to have different values, and, consequently different perceptions.

Source: http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/uploaded/cope_ward2002.pdf

Trigwell, K., Prosser, M., & Waterhouse, F. (1999). Relations between teachers’ approaches to teaching and students’ approaches to learning. Higher Education, 37, 57-70.

Logical Constant

One study to elicit classical Aristotelian logic from interviewees in a remote area led to some entertaining exchanges. Here is a typical example:

Question: All bears are white where there is always snow: in Novaya Zemlya there is always snow; what colour are the bears there?
Answer: I have seen only black bears and I do not talk of what I have not seen.
Question: But what do my words imply?

Answer: If a person has not been there he cannot say anything on the basis of words. If a man was 60 or 80 and had seen a white bear there and told me about it, he could be believed.

Source: Comment is free, Jan, 06




Logical political lessons

Amusing twist on an old favourite...

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income

THE LONDON REPUBLIC OF KENINGRAD
You have two cows.
You give them jobs with the GLA on £70k each, working in strategic partnership clusters to mainstream a framework for delivery of an equality and diversity strategy to end discrimination against another cow that is rumoured to live in Epping Forest.
There are no fields on which to graze the cows, so you compulsorily purchase Kensington Palace and turn it into a byre.
Some space remains, so you fill it with foreigners.
They eat the cows and torch the building in protest at having no 50-inch TV.
Leninstone rehouses them and gives them the cows' old job at double the salary.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells his rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report shows the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive


Source: Comment in Boris johnson weblog,13 Jan
www.boris-johnson.com

Engaging in Education

The Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training questions an unprecedented amount of policy initiatives, but little real change. It also described as a ‘major problem’ the failure of many young people to engage in education. It said:’ that failure is partly due to inappropriate targets, learning experiences and forms of assessment.’

Suggested reforms include reducing the burden of assessment, ensuring more practical modes of learning for all young people and raising the status of vocational qualifications through linking them to licence to practice.


In pursuing its assessment of the evidence, the Nuffield Review has achieved the following:
• examined the many data sets to give an historical and comprehensive account of participation, retention and progression, and shown where there are gaps in the data upon which policy is based (Annual Reports 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06)
• paid particular attention, following the analysis of the participation, retention and progression within the system, to those who fall outside it – the characteristics of this mixed group of young
people and the reasons why they leave (Annual Report 2005-06)
• explored the organisational arrangements for 14-19 education and training, developing the new concept of ‘strongly collaborative 14-19 local learning systems’ (Annual Reports 2004-05 and 2005-06)
• provided a detailed account of policy initiatives and the mechanisms employed for
implementing policy, including the debates around the Working Group on 14-19 Reform
proposals, the DfES 14-19 White Paper and the current development of the specialised
Diplomas (Annual Reports 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06)
• addressed the different manner in which Wales is tackling the Learning Pathways 14-19, and lessons which England might learn (Annual Report 2005-06)
• reviewed the evidence on transition from school and college to higher education (Annual Report 2005-06)
• raised issues about the role of employers and the youth labour market in the education and training system and their effect on the framing of 14-19 policy and the system performance (Annual Reports 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06)
• raised questions about the educational aims and values which permeate the changes, and which have implications for the nature, organisation and provision of learning (Annual Reports 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06)
• pioneered an innovative approach to reviewing evidence through the ongoing involvement of policy makers, practitioners and researchers, each providing their own particular perspective on policy, practice and performance (Annual Reports 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06).



Special needs
• The education of those with learning difficulties and disabilities requires special attention since too many are ill served by an inflexible and narrow definition of standards and by inappropriate provision.
• The failure of many to engage in education, a disproportionate number of whom have learning difficulties and disabilities, is a major problem and needs closer analysis. That failure is partly due to inappropriate targets, learning experiences and forms of assessment.


The questions shaping the Review, therefore, will be:
• What educational principles and practices should characterise the system which prepares all young people for the future?
• What is needed to improve the current education and training system in order to
reflect these principles and practices and to support the development of all young people?
• What policy developments are being, or should be, initiated to ensure high quality education and training for all 14-19 year-olds and a coherent and inclusive 14-19 system?


Source: Department of Education, University of Oxford,
www.education.ox.ac.uk
www.nuffield14-19review.org.uk

Mobility

Intergenerational class mobility in contemporary Britain: political concerns and empirical findings

There is no evidence that absolute mobility rates are falling; but, for men, the balance of upward and downward movement is becoming less favourable. This is overwhelmingly the result of class structural change. Relative mobility rates, for both men and women, remain essentially constant, although there are possible indications of a declining propensity for long-range mobility.
We conclude that under present day structural conditions there can be no return to the generally rising rates of upward mobility that characterized the middle decades of the twentieth century – unless this is achieved through changing relative rates in the direction of greater equality or, that is, of greater fluidity. But this would then produce rising rates of downward mobility to exactly the same extent – an outcome apparently unappreciated by, and unlikely to be congenial to, politicians preoccupied with winning the electoral ‘middle ground’.

John H. Goldthorpe, Nuffield College, Oxford and
Michelle Jackson, Nuffield College, Oxford

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com

links

The rate of change of the function

We are now ready to interpret the derivative in terms of the average rate of change of a function.

Rf(A, Bi) = (^x)/(^y) gives the slope of the straight line passing through A and Bi (i= 1,2,3,.....,n). These lines are called secant lines. By definition of the derivative, lim ^x->0 (^y)/(^x)= f'(a).

Also as ^x approaches zero, the points Bi aproach the point A.

These two statments taken together mean that f'(a) gives the limit of the average rates of change of y=f(x) between A and Bi, as Bi approaches A along the graph of the function. this limit is called simply Rf(A).




Bibliotheca Publica

Milton had strong ideas about the place of a "Public library" (Bibliotheca Publica) in the cultivation of virtue, with the librarian as a "faithful guardian of works eternal." Even though Milton had good words for the Bodleian Library in his 'Ode to Rouse', he lamented that the students were making poor use of it. In a cautionary letter to his former pupil who had come up to Oxford to study, Milton wrote "The library there is rich in books, but unless the minds of the students be improved by a more rational mode of education, it may better deserve the name of a book-repository than of a library."

Oxford Univ. News, Opening of Bodleain Milton Exhibition, 17 Dec.




Wisemen's advice

Philip Pullman advice to teachers to put the class in order: "If you work out quickly in the first couple of days who the king and queen are, and you direct all your attention to them in the first week or so, get them on your side, you won't have any discipline problems because everyone follows them. They don't follow you. They follow them."

He noticed that if a girl fell out of one group and joined the other, she instantly took on the attributes of the new group.

Source: An interview with Pullman, INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, December 2007
http://moreintelligentlife.com/node/697






Milton charges Cromwell with the duty of maintaining in peacetime all that has been won in war.
Tanner 831, Bodleian Library, John Milton, 'To Oliver Cromwell,' Letters of State (1694) , Oxford Univ.








A look at statistics

The average UK person will this year have a greater income than their US counterpart for the first time since the 19th Century, figures suggest (BBC,07 Jan 2008).

UK’s Gross national income and net national income is higher than other OECD countries after US and Norway and Switzerland (2005).

Percentage of elderly population is highest in Japan and Germany 19%, in UK is 16% and US 12%. (2005)

In 2002, OECD universities awarded some 5.9 million degrees at university level, of which 156 000 doctorates. In other words, fewer than one person in three at the typical age of graduation completed a university degree, while one out of 100 received a doctoral degree.

In 2002, the United States hosted 79 000 foreign doctoral students, the largest number in the OECD. The United Kingdom is the second major host with over 22 000 students.

International mobility of doctoral students has increased over the past five years, particularly so in Norway and in Spain. The share of foreign students enrolled in advanced research programmes grew in most countries between 1998 and 2002, with the notable exception of two of the main European host countries (Belgium and the United Kingdom). In the United Kingdom, this was due to a sharp change from 2001 to 2002.

On average, 28% of persons employed in the OECD area had a tertiary-level degree in 2003. Canada and Japan (over 40%) and the United States (38%) ranked far ahead of the European Union, where less than one worker out of four holds a tertiary-level degree.

Between 1998 and 2003, employment of tertiary-level graduates grew at an annual pace of about 4% in the OECD area. The population of tertiary-level workers is aging.

In 2004, almost 54 million persons were employed in an Science &Technology occupation, across the EU25, almost 42 million in the United States and about 10 million in Japan. In Europe, two-thirds were concentrated in the four largest economies, i.e. Germany (23%), France (14%), the United Kingdom (13%) and Italy (12%). The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic together employed 12%.

European natives are more likely to go abroad, especially if they are highly educated. Two-thirds of OECD-area highly skilled expatriates are European. Emigration is particularly frequent from the United Kingdom (19% as percentage of native highly skilled workers) and Austria, and is also common from eastern Europe.

In the vast majority of OECD countries, the number of researchers rises at a faster rate than the number of total R&D personnel.

In 2000, approximately 3.4 million researchers were engaged in research and development (R&D) in the OECD area. Around 38% of all OECD area researchers reside in the United States, 29% in the EU15 and 19% in Japan.

In the United States, four out of five researchers work in the business sector but only one out of two in the European Union.

Share of countries in Biotech patents filed in 2001, Germany 12.8, UK 5.9, Netherland, 2.2, France 5.3 - (US 41.5% and EU 34%).

The United States is first direction for migration, with over 7.8 million highly skilled expatriates. The European Union follows with 4.7 million, before Canada and Australia, with 2 and 1.4 million highly skilled foreign residents, respectively. Over half of these migrants come from outside the OECD area. In addition to the 6.7 million highly educated persons involved in intra-OECD skill flows, the region has attracted 10.1 million from non-OECD countries.

Source: OECD Statisitcs, 2007

Interpreting the derivative geometrically, we see that it gives the slope of the straight line that touches the curve at A = (a, f(a)) and occupies the limiting position of the secnt lines. The line just described is called the tangent line to the curve at A.

Finally, the two interpretaitons discussed above are summarized y the following statement. The point rate of change of y = f(x) at the point A equals the slope of the tangent line to the graph of y = f(x) at the point A.

Education

The Role and Purposes of Educational Research

Educational research potentially has a range of different roles and purposes. It may for example:
• aspire to use the findings from controlled experimentation to ‘guide’ policy and practice;
• enter into the ‘policy cycle’ at a number of points - as part of policy planning; in policy development and as part of evaluation;
• be used as part of professional development through practitioner or action research;
• have a key role in the maintenance and development of higher education.


Prof. John Furlong, Oxford University, Dept of Education, www.edstud.ox.ac.uk









.........In the first, an educational production function links measurable teacher characteristics to pupil achievement, controlling for student characteristics. The methodologies adopted in this approach vary, from IV approaches (Hoxby, 1996; Kingdon and Teal, 2007; Sprietsma and Waltenberg, 2005) to panel data studies (Clotfelter, Ladd and Vigdor, 2006; Hanushek, 2005), to randomized experiment studies
(Lavy, 2002; Glewwe and Kremer, 2006). The consensus from this wide array of studies is that many of the standard teacher characteristics such as certification, training and experience do not matter to pupil achievement (Hanushek and Rivkin, 2006). As these resumè characteristics often underpin teacher compensation policies, these findings are controversial and widely debated. A second approach calculates ‘teacher quality’ as a teacher fixed effect in an equation of student achievement gain where different groups of students (in a given year or over time) are taught by the same teacher. The resulting ‘total teacher effect’ enables the researcher to define a good teacher as one who consistently produces high achievement growth for pupils. This approach, in estimating total teacher effects, does not require identification of specific teacher characteristics that generate student learning. A number of studies have used this approach (Aaronson, Barrow and Sander, 2003; Rockoff,2004; Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain, 2005; and Hanushek, Kain, O’ Brien and Rivkin, 2005) and they conclude that teacher quality matters substantially to pupil achievement. However, when they regress this teacher fixed effect on teachers’ observed characteristics, their findings are consistent with those from the more direct achievement production function approach: observable characteristics such as certification and training explain little of the variation in teacher quality.

What can Teachers do to Raise Pupil Achievement?
M. Aslam and G. Kingdon, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, June 2007





Policies

.....This modern decentralisation agenda is key to achieving social and environmental progress in the twenty-first century. We will never win the fight to make British poverty history as long as we rely on top-down, centralised state mechanisms. We will only achieve our green objectives - whether improving the quality of life in our neighbourhoods or reducing carbon emissions - by empowering individuals and communities.

One particularly exciting aspect of this decentralisation agenda is that it is shared by other parties. Last year, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats worked together to pass the Sustainable Communities Bill, a measure which will see a major transfer of power from Westminster and Whitehall to local communities. This follows our success in working together to put pressure on the Government to introduce a Climate Change Bill. I believe the Green Party also shares our commitment to decentralise political power in Britain, and our commitment to social justice and environmental progress.

David Cameron, Dec. 2007
www.conservatives.com


Michael Gove, the Shadow Children's Secretary, pointed the finger at Labour for forcing teachers out of the profession:

"I fear that a combination of classroom bureaucracy, Government micromanagement and poor discipline in too many schools has encouraged a drift away from teaching."



Modern Britian

How come modern Britain seems incapable of dealing with these teenage gangsters? And how come they are spreading apprehension - the fear of crime, if not crime itself - into areas that are demonstrably safe?

Boris Johnson




Apologies for the length of this note, but the subject does interest me.

Kids Company does sound like a good thing (and Camila Batmanghelidjh needs all the support she can get). Kids with problems become so isolated that they need people who will listen to them. More counsellors/psychologists in schools working alongside teachers wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

(And incidentally, Merry Christmas to you, too, and all the people involved in this list.)

But like before on a similar occasion, I have to say - Boris, if you really, really want to change things, you HAVE to tackle the plight of those teachers in 'challenging' schools. School is where youngsters spend most of their time.

In France, teachers are only expected to do 18 hours of classroom teaching per week. The rest of the full-time quota is given over to marking and preparation - incredibly time-consuming activities - and all those extras that teachers have to do, like parents' evenings, project work, detentions, etc. But it's a civilized job, leaving them with time to pay individual attention to those who need it.

Over here, many teachers are expected to do up to 25 hours of teaching per week and, on top of this workload, have to cover absence/sickness. Sometimes, they may not get a break all day because they're asked to cover break/lunch-time duties, yet may then have to spend evenings/weekends doing marking and preparation.

The net result is that teachers are exhausted, with very little time to recover or regenerate from week to week, let alone build up the necessary resources to deal with difficult kids.

In addition to ALL this, they are bullied and browbeaten and pushed around by a punitive government that seems to have absolutely no idea of what the process of education entails - constant change, for instance, is destabilizing and destructive - and whose educationalists have probably never set foot in a classroom or, if they have, couldn't cope and got out of there fast (and probably into OFSTED).

It is a punishing regime - most people want to make a good job of earning a living, but they also want to get on with their lives! Why does work in some sectors have to be turned into such an ordeal? (And I would include the NHS in the list, but that's yet another matter...)

I would like to say - get rid of government interference - but that's probably unrealistic. However, EMPOWERING the teachers could build a real foundation for improvement in schools.

If kids see teachers being pushed around - an adult form of bullying on the part of our government - then it follows that they will imitate that behaviour. So teachers have to work twice as hard in 'difficult' schools.

Incidentally, in a moment of madness, I enrolled on a teaching course - and even stuck it out despite its resemblance to a crash-course in character-building. So at least I do know what it's like to be faced with a teenager who tells you to "f... off", a class that sabotages everything you try and do and the difficulty in dealing with a bunch of confused and slightly crazed boys taller than myself. Theories go out the window! (What a shame the 'students' don't follow...)

I also experienced teaching in a good school, where there were few discipline problems. Why? Because, amongst other reasons, the teachers were fully supported (and there were many of them), there were definite discipline rules and problem areas were tackled intelligently by the head and staff alike (without blame falling continually on teachers). There was also money, of course, for good facilities. It was a happy school.

source: www.boris-johnson.com

angela king said:
December 26, 2007 2:15 PM | permalink

I know that everyone ridiculed David Cameron for his "hug a hoddie" attitude (although actually he never said that) but I have always thought he had the right idea. Psychologists agree with him and say he is right. Teenagers that turn to crime have never had boundaries set, nor the loving discipline they need and have never had a chance in life. It is too easy an answer to chuck them into jail. A lot of the kids turning to crime are very intelligent, but have never had any encouragement. Young kids need goals, support and the inspiration to learn. Could more organised community service be brought in for young offenders, before things get too far and they are turning to violence? Also someone to inspire kids to learn and to see how worthwhile education is, would be fantastic. This is why I so support Mr. Johnson. He has the gift of reaching out to people through his humour, he is highly educated, but not intimidating with his knowledge. Development of culture is part of the Lord Mayor's task. I so hope he will produce incentives for youngsters to learn and to make learning fun, because so much darkness and sadness and negativity is portrayed on our tv. screens ( did you SEE the Christmas soaps!) - it would be so great to counteract that. It is inspiring to lose yourself in a book and let your imagination run free, it is inspiring to paint a picture, or knit a scarf making up your own pattern. London is rich in culture, from Doris Salcedo to Banksie to our theatres. You can get books for a few quid on the internet. It is all there, we need someone who is approachable, affable, not patronising, to turn things in a more positive direction.

source: www.boris-johnson.com



Literacy

The yobs pretend not to care about language but they do. they actually choose to speak it badly. It is a late 20th century phenomenon. Many of them were brought up to use perfectly good English but decided some where along the road to develop what they would probably call street cred. Out went their carefully knotted ties and in came their Estuary English and 'y' knows and 'like'...... It's a while since they called themselves society gels.

The era of miss Smyth with her sensible tweed skirt are gone. She taught. You listened.

But it is easy to choose to dumb down when you are suitably equipped with all the skills and tools you need to navigate your way around the language. What tends to be forgotten is that those who are dumbed down to, have no choice but to take the education menu that is offered to them. They will never hope to achieve the literacy skills that their dumbing down masters already possess.

A student once said to me, 'I want to know what you know.'


John Humphrys and John wakefield; Lost for Words; 2005, Hodder