Publication Type: Single Paper Format
Abstract: This session will present a summary report of participant responses that contributed to the framework for an induction and mentoring program to support our graduates as beginning teachers in schools.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In this lesson, we investigate the radii of the circles in a Pappus Chain using the symbolic geometry software Geometry Expressions. Class members self-select into “doers” and “thinkers”. Doers contribute the next radius value by constructing the geometry using the software. Thinkers attempt to infer the pattern and work out the next value before the doers can measure it. The race is on. How many measurements do we need to make before the thinkers overtake the doers?
Having inferred a pattern, can we prove it? Geometry Expressions differs from traditional dynamic geometry software by allowing the input, manipulation and output of symbolic quantities. Hence an expression involving an indeterminate n can be entered for the radius of one circle, and an expression for the next circle in the sequence output by the program. In this way the class will perform the steps of an inductive proof.
The lesson hopes to draw the important distinction between inductive reasoning (encouraged, facilitated, and arguably overused with traditional dynamic geometry environments) and proof by induction, which the new capabilities of a symbolic geometry system enable.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This review of the literature on teacher induction is undertaken to inform research efforts in principal induction/mentoring programs. There is a paucity of conceptually-grounded research that delves deeply into issues associated with novice principal induction/mentoring. This paper attempts to begin to address that gap. Conclusions are addressed in terms of what the teacher induction literature can and cannot tell us about the design of and research into principal induction programs.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Political event data---categorical data showing who did what to whom (and when) derived from news reports---are frequently converted to an interval level measurement by assigning a numerical scaled value to each event. All of these scaling systems rely on expert assessments to assign the numerical scores, and those assessment do not take into account the actual data that will be aggregated, instead relying on some abstract generalization (or wild-assed guess) of the appropriate value.
This paper uses item response theory (IRT)---a technique originally developed for the scaling of test scores---to derive scales inductively, using event data Israeli interaction with Lebanon and the Palestinians for 1991-2007. In the IRT model, the probability of an event being reported in an interval of time for a particular dyad (for example Israel and Lebanon) and news source is modeled as a logistic function. The aggregate score can then be computed as a function of these probabilities, with rare events being given a higher weight than common events. Scaled monthly scores determined through Rasch scaling, the simplest of the IRT methods, correlate well with scores computed using Goldstein's widely-used scale. The Rasch scales are less successful in reconciling the somewhat divergent sets of events derived from the \textit{Agence France Presse} and Reuters news services. These results will be compared to those obtained with the Goldstein scale, as well as determining whether IRT-derived scales can be used to normalize events derived from multiple news sources.

Publication Type: Individual Poster
Abstract: Background and Aims: Generic language is an important mechanism for efficiently learning about novel kinds. Yet, no research to date has investigated younger children’s ability to effectively make inductive inferences based on hearing generic language. We examined whether generic language would guide 30-month-old infants’ inferences about the properties of novel kinds.

Methods: 30-month-olds were administered an inductive inference task. During the baseline phase, infants were presented with two novel exemplars and an accompanied prop (e.g., blue blick, orange blick, and toy cup). Infants were allowed to explore the objects. During the demonstration phase, the experimenter demonstrated a target action three times with a model exemplar (e.g., blue blick, drinking motion with the cup). The target action modeled was accompanied by either a generic phrase (e.g. “blicks drink milk”) or a non-generic phrase (“this blick drinks milk”). During the generalization phase, the experimenter re-introduced the two exemplars (model match: blue blick; model mismatch: orange blick) and the prop (e.g., cup). The experimenter encouraged the infant to imitate the target action by saying a generic phrase (e.g., “can you show me: blicks drink milk?”) or a non-generic phrase (e.g., “can you show me: this blick drinks milk”).

Key Results: At baseline, in both the generic (model match: M = 1.21; model mismatch: M = 1.50) and non-generic groups (model match: M = 2.75; model mismatch: M = 2.58), infants performed an equivalent amount of target actions with each exemplar. At generalization, infants in the non-generic group performed significantly more target actions with the model match (M = 5.79) compared to the model mismatch (M = 3.79), t = 2.42, p < .05. However, infants in the generic group performed an equivalent amount of target actions with the model match (M = 4.50) compared to the model mismatch (M = 4.54).

Conclusions: Infants were more likely to restrict their target action imitation to the model match exemplar after hearing a non-generic phrase. That is, infants effectively interpreted the non-generic sentence as implying a property that was attributed to the one category member, and was not generalizable to the category as a whole. In contrast, upon hearing a generic phrase, infants interpreted this sentence as indicating that the property was generalizable to the category and thus, performed similar numbers of actions on both test exemplars. This research is first to document two-year-olds’ ability to interpret generics for aiding in the acquisition of novel categories.