This note considers the four classes of orthogonal polynomials--Chebyshev, Hermite, Laguerre, Legendre--and investigates the Gibbs phenomenon at a jump discontinuity for the corresponding orthogonal polynomial series expansions. The perhaps unexpected thing is that the Gibbs constant that arises for each class of polynomials appears to be the same…

Postgraduate supervision, until recently, was regarded as an extension of research rather than as a form of teaching. Research students were assumed to be "always/already" autonomous scholars at the beginning of their candidature. So too, postgraduate supervisors were assumed to be "always/already" effective at supervising once they had endured…

The findings of two studies with students doing research with the Internet about topics in science are reported. The focus is on students' methods of text production when using external web-based information and their learning outcomes. In a first exploratory study, the computer-based text production of 45 students was analysed using log files.…

Asking questions is an activity central to inquiry learning. This research examined documents created during an open inquiry learning process of the Biomind programme for Israeli high school students. In addition, to understand how students express and develop curiosity in learning, we observed students during a molecular biology lesson, a subject…

This article explores the influence of the rare book and manuscript repository on graduate student researchers in the humanities, through an examination of the graduate research fellowship program. Based on a comparison of residential research fellowship programs at twenty-three rare book and manuscript repositories, this article argues that…

The new paradigm for student research should be articulations and collaborations with local governmental, academic, and civic entities. This will enable students to make lasting contributions to bettering their communities through scientific research, and to better understand the practical relevance of science. This article presents two such…

Description of a project intended to sharpen the skills of reading, writing, grammar, and idea sequencing in elementary school children. (STS)

A good alternative to the undergraduate psychology seminar is the poster session. During the course each student wrote a review paper. For use in his/her class presentation, the student provided the following information on poster paper: title, author, abstract, a few graphs or illustrations from the literature, conclusions, and references. (RM)

Reexamines what it means to conduct research. Emphasizes the importance of collaborative research, and recommends ways to encourage collaboration in students' research projects. (MM)

Every class needs at least one certified Fact Finder. Most classes have at least one student who is years ahead of the class in reading ability and intellectual curiosity. The teacher and the library media specialist can identify one or more of these students in each class who might be delighted to become a certified Fact Finder. Fact Finders…

This report is the based on a 10-year study of the activities developed under a National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) grant to a collaborative of institutions from the State University of New York. The goals of LSAMP are to recruit and retain under-represented minority students in the STEM…

Undergraduate research experiences have been shown to enhance the educational experience and retention of college students, especially those from underrepresented populations. However, many challenges still exist relative to building community among students navigating large institutions. We developed a novel course called "Entering…

This paper examines the attitudes of student teachers in social studies towards an educational research assignment, undertaken in an educational research methods course given at the Fatih Faculty of Education at Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey. A questionnaire containing open-ended questions and an interview were used in the data-collection…

To explore the reasons for the dearth of minorities in Ph.D.-level biomedical research and identify opportunities to increase minority participation, we surveyed high-achieving alumni of an undergraduate biology enrichment program for underrepresented minorities. Respondents were asked to describe their career paths and to reflect on the…

Teenagers' innate interest with the justice system is one of the reasons that so many high school literary classics teem with criminals, controversial issues, and trials. Novels such as "To Kill a Mockingbird," "A Separate Peace," "The Crucible," and "Twelve Angry Men" feature high-impact trials. In the author's desire to tap into this interest,…