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[Mailbag] Direct Instruction V. Inquiry Learning, Round Eleventy Million
August 14th, 2013 by Dan Meyer
Let me highlight another conversation from the comments, this time between Kevin Hall, Don Byrd, and myself, on the merits of direct instruction, worked examples, inquiry learning, and some blend of the three.
Some biography: Kevin Hall is a teacher as well as a student of cognitive psychology research. His questions and criticisms around here tend to tug me in a useful direction, away from the motivational factors that usually obsess me and closer towards cognitive concerns. The fact that both he and Don Byrd have some experience in the classroom keep them from the worst excesses of cognitive science, which is to see cognition as completely divorced from motivation and the classroom as different only by degrees from a research laboratory.
While people tend to debate which is better, inquiry learning or direct instruction, the research says sometimes it's one and sometimes the other. A recent meta study found that inquiry is on average better, but only when "enhanced" to provide students with assistance [1]. Worked examples actually can be one such form if assistance (e.g., showing examples and prompting students for explanations of why each step was taken).
One difficulty with just discussing this topics that people tend to disagree about what constitutes inquiry-based learning. I heard David Klahr, a main researcher in this field, speak at a conference once, and he said lots of people considered his "direct instruction" conditions to be inquiry. He wished he had just labelled his conditions as Condition 1, 2, and 3 because it would have avoided lots of controversy.
Here's where Cognitive Load Theory comes in: effectiveness with inquiry (minimal guidance) depends in the net impact of at least 3 competing factors: (a) motivation, (b) the generation effect, and (c) working memory limitations. Regarding (a), Dan often makes the good point that if teachers use worked examples in a boring way, learning will be poor even if students cognitive needs are being met very well.
The generation effect says that you remember better the facts, names, rules, etc that you are asked to come up with on your own. It can be very difficult to control for this effect in a study, mainly because its always possible that if you let students come up with their own explanations in one group while providing explanations to a control group, the groups will be exposed to different explanations, and then you're testing the quality of the explanations and not the generation effect itself. However, a pretty brilliant (in my opinion) study controlled for this and verified the effect [2]. We need more studies to confirm. Here is a really portent paragraph from the second page of the paper: "Because examples are often addressed in Cognitive Load Theory (Paas, Renkl, & Sweller, 2003), it is worth a moment to discuss the theory's predictions. The theory defines three types of cognitive load: intrinsic cognitive load is due to the content itself; extraneous cognitive load is due to the instruction and harms learning; germane cognitive load is due to the instruction and helps learning. Renkl and Atkinson (2003) note that self-explaining increases measurable cognitive load and also increases learning, so it must be a source of germane cognitive load. This is consistent with both of our hypotheses. The Coverage hypothesis suggests that the students are attending to more content, and this extra content increases both load and learning. The Generation hypothesis suggests that load and learning are higher when generating content than when comprehending it. In short, Cognitive Load Theory is consistent with both hypotheses and does not help us discriminate between them."
Factor (c) is working memory load. The main idea is found in this quote from the Sweller paper Dan linked to above, Why Minimal Instruction During Instruction Does Not Work [3]: "Inquiry-based instruction requires the learner to search a problem space for problem-relevant information. All problem-based searching makes heavy demands on working memory. Furthermore, that working memory load does not contribute to the accumulation of knowledge in long-term memory because while working memory is being used to search for problem solutions, it is not available and cannot be used to learn." The key here is that when your working memory is being used to figure something out, it's not actually being used to to learn it. Even after figuring it out, the student may not be quite sure what they figured out and may not be able to repeat it.
Does this mean asking students to figure stuff out for themselves is a bad idea? No. But it does mean you have to pay attention to working memory limitations by giving students lots of drill practice applying a concept right after they discover it. If you don't give the drill practice after inquiry, students do worse than if you just provided direct instruction. If you do provide the drill practice, they do better than with direct instruction. This is not a firmly-established result in the literature, but it's what the data seems to show right now. I've linked below to a classroom study [4] and a really rigorously-controlled lab study study [5] showing this. They're both pretty fascinating reads… though the "methods" section of [5] can be a little tedious, the first and last parts are pretty cool. The title of [5] sums it up: "Practice Enables Successful Learning Under Minimal Guidance." The draft version of that paper was actually subtitled "Drill and kill makes discovery learning a success"!
As I mentioned in the other thread Dan linked to, worked examples have been shown in year-long classroom studies to speed up student learning dramatically. See the section called "Recent Research on Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving" in [6]. This result is not provisional, but is one of the best-established results in the learning sciences.
So, in summary, the answer to whether to use inquiry learning is not "yes" or "no", and people shouldn't divide into camps based on ideology. Still unanswered question is the question when to be "less helpful" as Dan's motto says and when to be more helpful.
One of the best researchers in the area is Ken Koedinger, who calls this the Assistance Dilemma and discusses it in this article [7]. His synthesis of his and others' work on the question seems to say that more complex concepts benefit from inquiry-type methods, but simple rules and skills are better learned from direct instruction [8]. See especially the chart on p. 780 of [8]. There may also be an expertise reversal effect in which support that benefits novice learners of a skill actually ends up being detrimental for students with greater proficiency in that skill.
Okay, before I go, one caveat: I'm just a math teacher in Northern Virginia, so while I follow this literature avidly, I'm not as expert as an actual scientist in this field. Perhaps we could invite some real experts to chime in?
Thanks a mil, Kevin. While we're digesting this, if you get a free second, I'd appreciate hearing how your understanding of this CLT research informs your teaching.
The short version is that CLT research has made me faster in teaching skills, because cognitive principles like worked examples, spacing, and the testing effect do work. For a summary of the principles, see this link.
But it's also made me persistent in trying 3-Acts and other creative methods, because it gives me more levers to adjust if students seem engaged but the learning doesn't seem to "stick".
Here's a depressing example from my own classroom:
Two years ago I was videotaping my lessons for my masters thesis on Accountable Talk, a discourse technique. I needed to kick off the topic of inverse functions, and I thought I had a good plan. I wrote down the formula A = s^2 for the area of a square and asked students what the "inverse" of that might mean (just intuitively, before we had actually defined what an inverse function is). Student opinions converged on the S = SqRt(A). I had a few students summarize and paraphrase, making sure they specifically hit on the concept of switching input and output, and everyone seemed to be on board. We even did an analogous problem on whiteboards, which most students got correct. Then I switched the representations and drew the point (2, 4) point on a coordinate plane. I said, "This is a function. What would its inverse be?" I expected it to be easy, but it was surprisingly difficult. Most students thought it would be (-2, -4) or (2, -4), because inverse meant 'opposite'. Eventually a student, James (not his real name), explained that it would be (4, 2) because that represents switching inputs and outputs. Eventually everyone agreed. Multiple students paraphrased and summarized, and I thought things were good.
Class ended, but I felt good. The next class, I put up an similar problem to restart the conversation. If a function is given by the point (3, 7), what's the inverse of that function? Dead silence for a while. Then one student (the top student in the class) piped up: "I don't remember the answer, but I remember that this is where James 'schooled' us last class." Watching the video of that as I wrote up my thesis was pretty tough.
But at least I had something to fall back on. I decided it was a case of too much cognitive load–they were processing the first discussion as we were having it, but they didn't have the additional working memory needed to consolidate it. If I had attended to cognitive needs better, the question about (2, 4) would have been easier, and I should NOT have switched representations from equations to points until it seemed like the switch would be a piece of cake.
I also think knowing the CLT research has made me realize how much more work I need to do to spiral in my classroom.
Then in another thread on adaptive math programs:
My intention was to respond to your critique that a computer can't figure out what mistake you're making, because it only checks your final answer. Programs with inner-loop adaptivity do, in fact, check each step of your work. Before too long, I they might even be better than a teacher at helping individual students identify their mistakes and correct them, because as as teacher I can't even sit with each student for 5 min per day.
I have only a modest amount of experience as a math teacher; I lasted less than two years — less than one year, if you exclude student teaching — before scurrying back to academic informatics/software research. But I scurried back with a deep interest in math education, and my academic work has always been close to the boundary between engineering and cognitive science. Anyway, I think Kevin H. is way too optimistic about the promise of computer-based individualized instruction. He says "It seems to me that if IBM can make Watson win Jeopardy, then effective personalization is also possible." Possible, yes, but as Dan says, the computer "struggles to capture conceptual nuance." Success at Jeopardy simply requires coming up with a series of facts; that's highly data based and procedural. The distance from winning Jeopardy to "capturing conceptual nuance" is much, much greater than the distance from adding 2 and 2 to winning Jeopardy.
Kevin also says that "before too long, [programs with inner-loop adaptivity] might even be better than a teacher at helping individual students identify their mistakes and correct them, because as as teacher I can't even sit with each student for 5 min per day." I'd say it's likely programs might be better than teachers at that "before too long" only if you think of "identifying a mistake" as telling Joanie that in _this_ step, she didn't convert a decimal to a fraction correctly. It'll be a very long time before a computer will be able to say why she made that mistake, and thereby help her correct her thinking.
2013 Aug 14. Christian Bokhove passes along an interesting link summarizing criticisms of CLT.
31 Responses to "[Mailbag] Direct Instruction V. Inquiry Learning, Round Eleventy Million"
on 14 Aug 2013 at 8:25 am1 Ryan Muller
If you're learning a mechanical skill and the computer has identified the incorrect step, there is not really a "why" it's wrong other than "it's not the right step"–which the computer knows. I think Don is way too pessimistic about the promise of children learning a skill with precise correctness feedback.
If there is a consistent bias in the student's thinking, I'd hypothesize the computer is also better than the teacher at identifying what that bias is, given enough data. See for example http://pact.cs.cmu.edu/koedinger/pubs/Koedinger,Nathan-04.pdf where the teachers got it wrong on what type of math problems were hardest for students.
Kevin's example of
inverse of (2,4) -> (-2,-4), (-2,4), or (2,-4)
maaybe wouldn't be a result from the most simplistic machine learning algorithm bash, but it's pretty well in the realm of mechanical rules and computer-representable knowledge.
That's just to respond to doing skill-building on a computer, not motivating a lesson or explaining "why do we subtract from both sides" in a way that is deeply satisfying at a human level. (That's another discussion perhaps.)
on 14 Aug 2013 at 10:14 am2 Christian
I agree with Kevin that there are many interesting articles and principles from CLT (and related) research, including worked examples, impasses (vanLehn), fading of feedback (Renkl) and Koedingers work. It's also interesting to read about the criticisms, it keeps us sharp. See http://edtechdev.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/cognitive-load-theory-failure/ for an overview of some points.
on 14 Aug 2013 at 11:52 am3 Jason Dyer
Regarding Kevin's (2,4) problem:
I think the student confusion has less to with cognitive load issues than with raw linkage of content. The conceptual gap seems to be that with coordinate points (by tradition) the x-value is considered the input and the y-value is considered the output. Therefore it is possible to make a point or set of points and declare it a function. However, the student mental model would default to geometrical points, which doesn't match what students are used to with functions (which are often depicted as linkages).
Another way to think of this issue is that a geometrical coordinate point is relatively low on the abstraction level, whereas functions are an abstraction of an abstraction of an abstraction. Even without CLT issues the leap would be a pretty far one without a conceptual step in between.
on 14 Aug 2013 at 2:33 pm4 Pam Harris
Regarding Kevin's idea and result of asking students to come up with what the inverse of A=s^2 might be… To me, this is less of an issue about cognitive load and more an issue of what to get students to inquire about. Asking students what a term (inverse function) might mean can draw on student's prior knowledge and thus produce the 'opposite' effect that Kevin saw. Then one student guesses correctly what Kevin had in mind and the rest of the students remember this "schooling". The name "inverse" is social knowledge, convention, something someone once decided. Students have to guess this kind of stuff because it's not something you can figure out. The concept of an inverse function – now that's something worth inquiring about. My question to Kevin is – how could you present a problem that would perplex students about some inverse function(s) and then after they have used your accountable talk to flesh out the concept, then you tag it with the term "inverse function". Now follow that with your examples (like ordered pairs) in a short burst of more directed, focused instruction. I called these more directed, focused instruction bits "problem strings" – series of problems that construct relationships in the learners head that makes strategies to solve them natural extensions of the relationships.
I guess the part I'm commenting on is that when I discuss inquiry versus direct instruction, I find it helpful to parse out what the parts are that can be constructed and what the parts are that must be memorized.
on 14 Aug 2013 at 3:11 pm5 blaw0013
Direct Instruction, Discovery Learning, and most interpretations of Inquiry Teaching are both unethical and doomed to failure because their basic goal is to get another person to think/know/act like oneself.
The epistemological break from Behaviorism invited learning theorists to consider the mind by creating models for how it seems to work. However, the educationalist mindset mires in the stimulus-response metaphor for trying to determine (fix, name, define) the act of teaching–as if there were a causal relationship.
Piaget, Maturana, Varela, Bateson, Ackermann, von Glasersfeld, Laroschelle, von Foerster, Kamii, Steffe, Fosnot, and possibly even Vygotsky (among many others) created ways to study student learning, some of whose methods were very particular to what they referred to as mathematical learning.
Most significantly, they stopped looking for their own mathematical ways of knowing, or some a priori Mathematics, to appear in the students. Instead, they allowed students to express their own mathematics.
A post-behaviorist learning theory redefines teaching to no longer look for particular behaviors, actions indicative of knowing (as oneself does). Instead, it takes behaviors as feedback against the viability of a model for the learner as mathematical knower. That model, an idea (knowledge) of the observer/listener/researcher/teacher suggests to this observer a "zone of potential construction" (Steffe) and from one's own ways of knowing helps to hypothesize actions; actions that may be post hoc defined as teaching.
This teacher, one who pursues student(s') ideas, I claim will ensure mathematical learning and do so in an ethical manner, respecting the ideas and mind of the learner.
Behaviorist concerns such as motivation, transfer, and even working memory have little use to a teacher that embraces a Post-Behaviorist learning theory.
on 14 Aug 2013 at 6:56 pm6 James Cibulka
Like grant wiggins keeps alluding to, it's like soccer. We do have to run drills ( direct instruction of skills), we do have to do scrimmages (3 act authentic, novel context tasks) and we do have to play the game for real (assessments).
But most students walk onto the field with no game plan!!! Hence we often see failure. Would a pro team go into a game situation without an idea of what they were going to do to try and win? Heck no!
This is where modeling instruction comes in. It IS the game plan. By simplifying a multitude of ideas into a few elegant models of understanding, students can attack a problem like an expert. Analogically, soccer teams run only a few base formations to score, ( or prevent it!) despite the fact that every opponent is different. Teaching via models allows our students to at least have a game plan to attempt problem solving.
I'll still teach via DI some skills. I'll give open ended tasks. And the students will have a game plan.
Thanks for all you do. This was interesting!
on 14 Aug 2013 at 7:17 pm7 Kevin Hall
Thanks, everyone, for reading and commenting.
Ryan, if I understand you correctly, you're saying that it's not too subtle for a computer that's following each step of your work to identify where you went wrong. But since cognitive tutors not only check correctness of your step, but also track the rule you most likely applied to get that step, wouldn't you say they can actually identify your misconception? For example, if a student does 1/2 + 1/3 and gets 2/5, a cognitive tutor will not just mark it wrong. It'll increase its estimate of the probability that the student believes the rule is to add the numerators and add the denominators, won't it? The disappointment I've had with cognitive tutors in the past is that, aside from a hint message targeted to that misconception, they don't take much tutorial action to help students see where they're going wrong. In other words, they're better at diagnosing than at remediating. Don, any thoughts on this?
Christian, thanks for that link. I read it with interest. The research I was citing above was largely empirical, so even if CLT falls out of favor as an explanatory theory, would you say the practical implications of what I wrote above for inquiry vs. direct instruction would still hold? I'm thinking in terms of practical advice you'd give to teachers who are feeling buffeted by conflicting reports about using inquiry or direct instruction.
Jason, I think you make a good point about why the jump was difficult for students. What intrigued/disappointed me most, however was not that they found the jump difficult, but that after eventually making the leap in a good discussion, they forgot it by the next class. I had been operating on the assumption that if you get students to paraphrase or challenge each others' thoughts and gradually build toward the correct concept, the depth of that experience would increase retention. But honestly, I would have gotten better retention if I just used drill-and-kill. Of course, perhaps they didn't really understand it at the end of Day 1. But based on the discussion, I thought they did.
Pam, I think your comment about parsing the constructable and non-constructable ideas is very valuable. In this case, I actually didn't resolve the dilemma for the class. They disagreed about what the "inverse" of the point (2, 4) was, and even when the correct student explained it, I didn't tell the class he was right. I waited until other students had become convinced and had convinced others. By the time I stepped in, I'd say about 80% of the class was on board with the correct answer. So they did "construct" it on their own, but that knowledge didn't stick somehow. Of course, maybe that's due to shoddy teaching somewhere. If I were already the teacher I'd like to be, I wouldn't be on Dan's blog so much shamelessly stealing everyone's ideas.
blaw0013, I have to confess that I don't really understand your comment. But that's literature I'm not very familiar with.
on 14 Aug 2013 at 10:49 pm8 John Lloyd
Most helpful. I've obviously got to rethink some of my teaching.
on 15 Aug 2013 at 1:22 am9 Ryan Muller
"For example, if a student does 1/2 + 1/3 and gets 2/5, a cognitive tutor will not just mark it wrong. It'll increase its estimate of the probability that the student believes the rule is to add the numerators and add the denominators, won't it?"
Most definitely, this could be a misconception that is programmed in and easily checked since it's a rule, incorrect or not. I recall seeing programs that do this though I can't name one offhand.
The more interesting question to me is whether computers can discover misconceptions that weren't programmed in–perhaps ones that teachers haven't recognized–and then whether the discovery can be used to improve development of the skill. My guess is yes on both counts.
on 15 Aug 2013 at 4:28 am10 Kevin Hall
Ryan, have you read Matsuda's work with SimStudent, such as this:
(Here is a longer list of SimStudent publications: https://sites.google.com/site/simstudentprojectweb/publications)
You seem conversant in the literature, so you may already know about this.
on 15 Aug 2013 at 10:21 am11 Christian
@Kevin yes, that's what I meant with that there are many interesting articles and principles. When I was still teaching at secondary level (moved on to other pastures since a year) I tried to use elements from 'both sides', on a practical level. The reason why I posted the link, and read almost everything, is that I don't believe in a black and white world where one theory of Everything explains everything, both on a theoretical and practical level any way. But I also don't believe in an 'everything goes' attitude. There is worthwhile research in many areas that can inform us.
Jumping in the dialogue with Ryan, and a bit weary of the fact that I don't want to be a guy who always cites stuff related to his own work, I agree that there are interesting developments with feedback and misconceptions. Apart from Cognitive Tutor, Activemath for example, and IDEAS feedback connected to -there it is- applets from the FI ;-) See, for example, http://ideas.cs.uu.nl/www/ What, in my opinion, is particularly interesting is designing tools by using student and teacher knowledge on these misconceptions. Although AI has gone a long way, I'm not really sure if all those millions spent on AI and Machine Learning algorithms could not be better invested in teacher and student interviews and analyses of student work for misconceptions (actually many projects already have these lists) with 95% coverage of what students (and teachers) do wrong. In any case, this topic needs more thought than 'just deploying some ML algorithms' or 'it will never happen'. Just thinking aloud here. :-)
on 15 Aug 2013 at 11:26 am12 Howard Phillips
Somewhere in the talk is "the function given by the point (2,4)"
and a discussion about its inverse. With no specification of range or domain how can anybody proceed? The cognitive load from this sort of stuff is too much. Am I the only one who is not surprised by the resulting confusion in the students' overloaded brains.
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on 15 Aug 2013 at 6:22 pm14 Kevin Hall
@Christian, that looks quite interesting. Personally, I like it when commenters say what projects they're working on. It gives the rest of us a sense of who you are and what you bring to the discussion. I looked at the link, and it looks very interesting. When I have time, I'll create an account and play around on the Ideas exercises collection.
@James, the point here is a little different than how I think you took it. Clearly, drill is not a good way to teach modeling. But what is the best way to teach core concepts (not modeling, but things like the rules for integer operations)? This is where the debate between "let them discover it" and "just show them" gets tough to navigate. An example would be Dan's last Monday Makeover. He came down on the side of having students discover how to find the least common multiple, using the cool simulator to assist with the discovery.
on 15 Aug 2013 at 7:25 pm15 blaw0013
@Kevin & @dan
I attended a presentation by Dr. John Polesko, Mathematics department chair at U. Delaware and an Applied Mathematician. His talk was about Mathematical Modeling. Briefly, he delineated two types of modeling (I forgot the names he used). The first is, in essence, fitting a function to data, to interpolate or extrapolate. The second is to take an ill-defined situation, name assumptions, identify core mathematical structures, and build forth from there [sorry both definitions are lacking].
What was most clear in his message that he as a mathematician, whether in an applied or pure field, work in ways that, while sometimes goal-directed, can lead almost anywhere. And it is his preference to teach in a similar manner (even his calculus classes, with "so much to cover").
Teaching in this way is NOT about beginning with "what math is to be learned", but instead with either, "what problem is to be solved" or "what are we curious about."
And here is where I try to re-define teaching, and argue why the Direct Instruction vs. Discovery Learning or Inquiry Teaching is really a misguided debate. Neither respect the learners' curiosities, competencies, or constructions of mathematical knowledge/ways of knowing. All have a particular way of knowing for the child to mimic already in mind.
For anyone interested, check out http://www.comap.com/highschool/contests/himcm/ for modeling competitions and further info.
on 16 Aug 2013 at 2:49 am16 Chris Shore
I will never forget William Schmidt of the TIMSS studies telling me that in America we focus too much on methodology and in the high performing countries they focus on the mathematics in which they engage the kids.
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on 18 Aug 2013 at 6:41 am18 Monty
Concerning factor B, given by Kevin Hall, The generation effect (you remember better the facts, names, rules, etc that you are asked to come up with on your own): I get the sense that experts are still studying something (granted, it is possibly for the sake of documentation) which has long since been well established. For example, this has been the method used by Jewish rabbis for centuries (or millenia). In order for their students to obtain optimal cognizance, the students will learn far better when they apply the problem to themselves personally, thus optimal learning is achieved.
Look at it this way: Someone wants to know the answer to a question. He asks the teacher, "What is the answer to my question?" The teacher can answer that question, but the answer will be only a one-dimensional fact for the inquirer and will soon fade into obscurity. Instead, the teacher asks a question – or better yet – a series of questions, which, in the process of answering, the inquirer supplies his own answer to his own original question. Now he "knows" the answer because it means something to him personally.
Take this example, which was an incident that actually happened: A group of American tourists went to Israel and were browsing some shops.
A female tourist entered a shop that sold photographs that were taken by the proprietor. The lady was very impressed by the photographs. She told the shop owner that she was looking for souvenirs to take back to her children and was interested in his photographs.
She asked the photographer, "Of all of these pictures, which one is your favorite?"
The photographer was a rabbi. He asked the lady, "You are thinking of giving my pictures to your children?"
"Yes," the lady answered.
"How many children do you have?" the rabbi asked.
"Three," she answered.
"Tell me," said the rabbi. "Which one is your favorite?"
Instantly the lady had the answer to her own question and it was meaningful to her.
This is a helpful method to know about and it is interesting indeed when we read in Luke 2:46 that Jesus was in the temple courts asking the teachers questions.
this is theology.
try something.
if it works, do more of it.
if it fails, do less. lather,
rinse, repeat.
in other words, do what
everybody actually *trying*
to do this impossible task
actually *does*.
talking about it? it's like
"explaining" poetry:
"you want me to say it
again, longer and worse?"
going off somewhere
to sober up. yashka
spoke with authority.
This is a response mostly to Kevin (comment #7) and Ryan (#9). I somehow overlooked this interesting conversation of over six months ago! I don't know if anyone is still paying attention, but I can't resist commenting on a very important aspect of it.
It should be obvious that you can't "discover misconceptions…perhaps ones that teachers haven't recognized" unless you understand many, if not most, of the relevant concepts in the student's head. Unfortunately, and this may not be obvious at all, current AI programs understand no concepts at all in any reasonable sense of the word "concept"! Then how can IBM's Watson win at Jeopardy? Because a cleverly-written program can sidestep many of the issues involved and appear to understand far more than it does. Sure, it "knows" tons of facts, and it can parse English statements of the kind involved to decide what facts apply; but it understands just about nothing.
The recent book by the well-known cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander, _Surfaces and Essences_ gives a lot of background for the incredible subtlety of concepts. I may as well reveal that I'm a disciple of Doug's; he was my thesis advisor, and we've remained in close touch. I don't think it's going too far to say that his view is that most AI work is a sham — perhaps well-intentioned, but a sham nonetheless, in that the AI programs (IBM's Watson might be a good example) are cheating, very much in the tradition of Joseph Weizenbaum's famous "psychotherapist" program of the 1960's, ELIZA. After conversing with ELIZA (via typing), many people insisted it really understood them. But typing "My mother gave birth to me prematurely" to it tends to elicit the response "Who else in your family gave birth to you prematurely?", suggesting what it's really doing :-) .
Does this mean that cognitive tutors can't identify misconceptions? No, but only if they've been programmed in, and therefore only if they've been recognized by someone.
To paraphrase something I wrote elsewhere apropos of a completely different discipline, people — even first graders — bring an enormous amount of context to bear on anything they do; they can't help it, and they're rarely even aware of it. But computers can't bring _any_ context to bear on _anything_ unless they're told to. Well, you can't really understand much of anything without a lot of context.
I'm not claiming at all that computers are inherently incapable of having concepts or of understanding anything! — just that we have a long, long way to go, and I doubt if most AI work is even going in the right direction.
One question for Kevin. I haven't read Matsuda's work with SimStudent; should I?
on 05 Mar 2014 at 1:05 pm21 Kevin Hall
@Don, glad you found this comment thread interesting. Here's the most relevant article by Matsuda: Automatic Student Model Discovery.
I'm no expert in AI, but for context, the AI programs I was talking about are built on the ACT-R framework of cognition, which is not just throwing "big data" at problems but instead explicitly models cognition. AI built on ACT-R really does try to build a model of what the human is thinking. Here is an example of how that's been found to align with fMRI images of what people are actually thinking: ACT-R and fMRI.
The authors used to have a really cool video online which showed the computer using fMRI to predict the equation-solving steps a student was taking, versus the steps the student was actually taking, and they lined up exactly, except for when the computer knew the student was about to take a step a fraction of a second BEFORE he/she actually did. They seem to have taken that down–I can't find it anymore.
Thanks for the links, Kevin.
I took a quick look at the ACT-R and fMRI paper. It's interesting and impressive research. And the video you describe sounds very impressive, though of course the fact their program did so well _once_ doesn't mean that much. More to the point, I don't see how this works suggests they're anywhere near being able to identify misconceptions that haven't been programmed in. I'm not a classroom teacher anymore, but I'm still tutoring, and still being blindsided by students misunderstanding something that never occurred to me at all. I'm sure that becomes less and less common as you get more experienced, but there are so many ways to misunderstand!
on 10 Mar 2014 at 9:25 am23 Kevin Hall
Don, based on the Matsuda papers, here's how the current capabilities of the cognitive modeling works. You can decide for yourself whether this counts as "discovering" a misconception that hasn't been programmed in:
Take a problem, such as an equation to solve: 2x+4=10. Matsuda's program has a parser with which to read the problem (the program identifies features such as an x, a coefficient of x, a constant that's being added, and a right-hand side).
First let a bunch of students work through the problem, some correctly, some incorrectly. Then activate the learning component of the Matsuda's program, which allows it to learn from examples. Play back one student's work at a time, flagging each step as correct or incorrect. For example, if a student's trying to solve 2x+4=10 started by writing x+4=5, you would mark it incorrect.
At this point, Matsuda's program would try to generate a rule that would have gotten the student from the start state to their first line. Here the rule would be something like "In Ax + B = C", replace Ax with x, and divide C by A. Since you've marked this step incorrect, the computer would learn that that's not a good rule to follow. But it would have created the rule in it's memory, so if it saw other students doing the same thing on other problems, it would recognize the mistake. If you've programmed a feedback message or little video tutorial about that misconception, it can be shown to any future students. Each rule (called a production rule. in ACT-R, is coded in Jess.
This does require human tagging of each step of a large sample of student work, but it doesn't require a human to code the production rule in Jess. It also allows the computer to follow multiple correct solution paths. Any correct or incorrect step taken by a student, if it has been successfully generalized into a production rule, can be used in feedback with future students.
Matsuda's paper linked in comment #21 describes correct and incorrect parsers in more detail–sometimes the incorrect parsers are what students are using.
Dan, sorry if my replies are too long. I can take the conversation over to my blog if you'd prefer.
Interesting. So, for each step in solving a given problem, a human must say "these are correct" and "these are wrong"; then the program tries to infer good and bad rules that apply in that situation. Yes?
You say "Any correct or incorrect step taken by a student, if it has been successfully generalized into a production rule, can be used in feedback with future students." Can the program use it properly in _different problems_ where in fact the same rule applies? If the answer is no, I'd say it's definitely not discovering a misconception in a reasonable sense. If yes, it might count as discovering a misconception — though even then, what it actually discovered would be a special case of what we would see as the real misconception. I don't see how any "production rule" could really capture the essence of a misconception!
Still, this does sound like it could be a useful tool, especially with a very large class.
on 14 Mar 2014 at 6:30 pm25 Kevin Hall
Definitely–the ability to apply it to a different problem is what distinguishes a cognitive tutor from an example-tracing tutor. (See this description of tutor types.
on 14 Mar 2014 at 7:57 pm26 blaw0013
Yashka @vlorbik has given a quite rational response, beginning to end ;-)
Dan @ddmeyer recognizes that he himself obsesses with motivation. Ideas about motivation, especially those of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, live in the world of behaviorist learning theory that western culture knows so well we have a hard time knowing/thinking outside of of it (like fish & water).
The present constructivist theory of knowing and learning, superseding behaviorism, really messes up the idea of motivation. At first, it creates a changed definition for learning. It is not a definition that relies on a "what" to be learned (what overwhelms us as math teachers), but instead focuses on hypothetical models for knowing and defines learning changes to those knowing structures modeled. So "what" is to be learned is recognized as an idea of the teacher, and something they want to "see" replicated in the learner. Now motivation has become more of a problem OF the teacher, not a lacking in the learner.
I continue this rumination at http://blaw0013.blogspot.com/2014/03/on-constructivism-and-motivation.html and won't fill Dan's space with my meandering thoughts.
Last comment: I was intrigued to return here by @Don Byrd's comments, especially that "Does this mean that cognitive tutors can't identify misconceptions? No, but only if they've been programmed in, and therefore only if they've been recognized by someone." What struck me was the reminder that an observer must exist in any statement that is made.
on 16 Mar 2014 at 10:26 pm27 Cohort Blogs, My Blog | Escaping Flatland
[…] My fellow cohorts read my struggles with thinking about misconceptions and helped me consider new perspectives here and here. After a conversation with a classmate about my desire to learn Excel, I was thrilled to find a few posts that provided direct support. Also, the amazing resources provided by our UW tech class lead me to numerous blogs where teachers are thinking deeply about math and technology and ways of learning. […]
Kevin, in belated response to your last comment (#25), I'm ready to be more negative about "cognitive tutors" :-) . The example you gave was "if a student's trying to solve 2x+4=10 started by writing x+4=5, you would mark it incorrect… At this point, Matsuda's program would try to generate a rule… something like "In Ax + B = C", replace Ax with x, and divide C by A. Since you've marked this step incorrect, the computer would learn that that's not a good rule to follow." Agreed. But what's the _misconception_ here? By itself, it looks to me more like a silly mistake! Maybe this student has made "similar" errors repeatedly, suggesting they really have a misconception, something like "You can divide _something_ on the left side of an equation by a number as long as you divide _something_ on the right side by the same number." But no entity, human or computer, is going to know that from an isolated example, and no program I've ever heard of can generalize anything very well from any collection of examples of anything.
Again, I'm not at all saying that programs like CTAT can't be useful. But they're still light-years away from having anything like real _concepts_. And _misconceptions_ are mistakes involving concepts.
on 10 Apr 2014 at 12:11 pm29 Kevin Hall
@Don, the mistake is a common one for students. Students understand that to solve 2x + 4 = 10, you eventually have to divide by 2. From the expert perspective, it's easier to subtract 4 first. But some students mistakenly divide by 2 first. That can work, but when you do that, you have to remember to divide 4 by 2 as well. The misconception is that you don't have to distribute the dividing by 2 to both terms, the 2x and the 4.
Of course, when training Matsuda's program, you need to feed it LOTS of examples, so it can generalize successfully. As you say, isolated examples won't work. But that's just a problem of scale.
I guess I don't really understand your point when you talk about computers not being able to have concepts. If you taught a computer the rule, "When you divide both sides of an equation by something, you must divide each term by that quantity", is that not a concept? That essentially is the concept of distribution.
It really doesn't matter whether the concept was "discovered" by a learning program such as Matsuda's, or was programmed in (which is how most cognitive tutors acquire their production rules).
on 23 Apr 2014 at 6:23 pm30 Conceptual Understanding and Inquiry vs Direct Instruction | Five Twelve Thirteen
[…] instruction are missing something. I've read a decent amount of research on the topic (see here and here for two samples) and I'm unconvinced by their validity, and in particular by […]
on 24 Apr 2014 at 8:44 pm31 Arguing with Grant Wiggins and Dan Meyer… | ijkijkevin
[…] (cuz, yeah, there really aren't regular readers of my blog) may know that worked examples are an interest of mine. Here's how the stuff I've learned applies to Shipping […]


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DEC 06, 2013 - Yahoo! News
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Thieves robbed an armored car on the University of Houston campus on Friday, escaping with an undisclosed amount of money, federal investigators said. No one was injured in the heist, in which an armored car guard fired one shot in defense, FBI Special Agent Shauna Dunlap said. The robbers left the armored car in a parking lot near the Student Center, where the robbery occurred. The campus remained open during and after the robbery, university spokesperson Shawn Lindsey said.
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Tag Archives: internet privacy
Privacy? It depends on who's looking!
Electronic documentation and the Internet has greatly changed the way we communicate, but privacy issues and security have become something every business owner and consumer has to think about these days. Just last month google presented sweeping changes to its … Continue reading
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BEAR MOUNTAIN STATE PARK — Are you looking for a less frightening alternative this Halloween season? Help Trailside Museums and Zoo celebrate the spookiest of seasons with some family-friendly fun during the "Boo at the Zoo" from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 26.
The event will include making Halloween snacks for the black bears at 10:30 a.m., which the bears will devour at 11 a.m.
Throughout the day, visitors can touch real animal skulls, see stuffed specimens in the Nature Study museum, learn about not-so-scary owls and vultures, and find out about some of the things that make autumn a special season.
Parking at Bear Mountain State Park is $8. There is no admission fee to Trailside Museums and Zoo, but donations are gladly accepted. The rain date is Oct. 27.
For more information, call 786-2701, ext. 293.
Location, ST | website.com


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Hi there,
I'm wondering why it is not possible to stream a m2ts-container (i.e. ripped untouched blu-ray h.264-stream, no subs, solely one DTS-audio stream) directly to the PS3 using the tsmuxer-engine? (yes, respective options "Keep DTS in stream.." and "use tsmuxer when stream is..." are selected)
I always have to hit the #transcode# folder and use the mencoder/tsmuxer-option (w dts as audio-track) and then it works (actually w/o trancoding). The other way is to remux the streams (h264+dts) in a mkv-container.
Is it a desired way or is there a misunderstanding on my side?


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When Gretchen came into my world, she brightened it all up. However, she also brought a certain amount of INSANE MISCHIEF that I wasn't used to. King was too old to cause too many problems. Webster is skittish, so he's careful about making anyone upset. Gretchen? She was found in a ditch. She'll eat ANYTHING, scavenge for any bug that comes inside when I open the door (which I'm grateful for), and stare down a full-grown raccoon with only a thin window screen separating her from impeding death. She also likes to get into EVERYTHING. Especially dollhouses. This is NOT good.
This photo was taken on my camera phone, so it's crappy, but it's the only shot I have of Gretchen with the Cattery. After this, the Cattery moved to my parents' house, where it's still sitting in storage until I can figure out how to keep it safe from Gretchen. I had the Observatory in my home office, but she got in it and stole a few things, so it's now sitting high up on a shelf in my entryway where no one can see it. It's a shame because I'd like to lovingly display both of these builds prominently. The Spring Fling build hasn't been pieced together yet, but it will no doubt also be quite fascinating to a certain furbaby:
When the Beacon Hill finally came to Farmhouse Villa, this immediately happened:
And this:
She loves to jump up there at all times to get a good view of the rest of her abode:
Webster has only ventured inside of the Beacon Hill a few times. He walks around it, but he rarely walks in it. He also doesn't have the balls to try to jump on top of it. This makes me happy:
Webster and Gretchen love to be located exactly where I need to be. On a daily basis, I go to the restroom or to get a soda or something and come back into the home office to find this:
And then there are the minis themselves. If I take anything out to photograph it, Gretchen is ON it:
When I went to put the siding on the front of the Beacon the other day, I noticed a ridiculous amount of yellow fur trapped in all of the little cracks. REALLY? This is how it gets everywhere. She lurves the Beacon:
And this is the regular view from the couch when she wants to see what's going on in the yard:
Like I said, they are everywhere. They both get upset if I try to go to the bathroom or shower with the door closed. The bathroom door doesn't stay latched shut, so Webster has busted in on both of my parents from time to time. Whoopsie. And I realized at some point that making my bed each day was rather pointless:
Oh, those darn bay windows. If only she could tear down the walls and have her precious Bar & Library back:
They have even taken over my dollhousing chair. I put this rocker in front of the dollhouse for ME to sit in, not them. But there they are, bathing each other:
Speaking of the Crime Museum... Remember this dog for the Son of Sam?
He got chomped, but there were no marks. Thank GAWD:
She sneaks up on me when I'm taking pictures. She moves lightning fast:
This little gas can almost didn't make it when she appeared out of nowhere:
But whenever I get mad at her, she cuddles up on me like this and purrs and purrs and rubs her face on my glasses and my forehead and is so snuggly and adorable and cute that I can't take it:
You don't even want to know what has happened to some of my embroidery thread. Luckily, I haven't started this kit yet:
Here she is sneaking into a picture of laser cut place mats:
All of these pictures of Gretchen? They are a reminder to myself of why The Beacon Hill Is in Danger. Currently, all of my minis are wrapped up and stored in boxes in the guest room or drawers or wherever I can hide them because Miss Gretchen can't keep her freaking paws off of anything! Recently, I opened the leaves of my dining room table to make room for the Spring Fling build. Her newest trick is standing on the very edge of that table and knocking all of the magnets off the fridge. I found one in the water bowl. This, quite appropriately, was the magnet:
I can't make this stuff up, people.
So now I come to the sad part of the story. You may recall this lovely plant I made at my mini guild meeting:
And this stunning orchid from April that she sent me for my birthday:
I didn't want to tell April about this event, so I sat here with guilt building up in my chest for weeks. Today, I confessed to April. I apologized and felt horrible and sent her the picture of her mangled orchid. Like a champ, she reminded me that it's just a thing and that it's OK. She also noted that it looked like a Real Life plant that has been mangled by a cat, and suddenly, we were chatting about making a scene with a mini cat showing the disaster in action.
April is such a good friend. Bless your heart, April. I think I was so worried because Gran once told me if I wasn't going to take good care of my presents that she wouldn't give them to me anymore. I was like 6. Gran was a tough lady. She created a life-long paranoia of accidentally breaking something someone else gave me and then having them hate me. April = The Anti-Gran. YAY.
So how to keep Gretchen out of the Beacon Hill? Windows and doors will keep her out of one side, but what about this open end:
I've decided to implement Operation Plexi Cover. The Beacon Hill is a huge house. She's 32" wide and 40" tall. How to cover her? I've been hemming and hawing over this for quite some time. Then Brae made a really fantastic window wall for her Artist's Studio. I studied Brae's construction, but there was too much maths in there for me. My head hurt. So I drew up this little drawing and consulted with Pa and my mini girls:
Brae told me that Manchester Woodworks sells 1:12 scale 1/8 inch channel molding. SCORE! My plan is to put channel molding on the tops and bottoms of the existing floor-separating trim and cut three big sliding pieces of plexi or another acrylic sheet the right size to slide in and out of each floor (with stoppers on either end, of course -- Gretchen IS smart enough to open things). So these separating pieces will have channel molding pointing up and down on each level. There's another one that goes along the top, but I haven't put it on there yet:
My sketch shows the tower piece lifting straight up, but I forgot about that whole roof thing, so it will either go up and down or side to side, depending on how it looks. The Cattery also got a sketch going the wrong direction, so I corrected it. But both structures will have the same general plan to KEEP THAT KITTEN OUT OF THERE!
And the ______ I'm making for the Spring Fling contest? It won't need a plexi wall, but I can't tell you why. That's still a secret. Heh heh.
Now Gretchen will be saved from being "taken to the farm" or "going for a walk in the back 40" as we say here out here in the boonies. I suppose I will keep her. For now.


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Dressmaking for beginners – what equipment you really need to start sewing
Basic dressmaking equipment
You don't need that much to get started. Apart from a sewing machine and iron, beginners can buy the essentials for under £30. You'll also need a table to work at and a bit of space to store your equipment.
The bare minimum
- Tape measure – preferably with cm and inches. A standard 150cm/60" length is fine unless you are very tall.
- Pins – dressmakers steel pins that are reasonably thin and long. My pins are size 34 x 0.6mm with flat heads.
- Sewing needles – packet of mixed hand sewing needles
- Sharp dressmaking scissors or shears for cutting fabric with – most people advise buying the best you can afford. However, until you find out whether or not you're going to take to dressmaking, I'd recommend just buying a reasonable pair that is not too expensive. You can get a good pair for about £20. Don't buy the cheapest available as they really don't cut all that well. Once you've got your dressmaking scissors, only use them to cut fabric to avoid blunting them. Threaten anyone else in your house with a painful death if they pinch them for cutting paper or anything else!
- Tailor's chalk or dressmaker's chalk pencils – pencils are probably easiest to mark the fabric with. It's good to have a dark one (generally pink or blue) and a light one (white).
- Ruler, pencil and rubber – for making alterations to patterns.
- Iron and ironing board – unfortunately ironing is a major part of dressmaking. You'll need to iron fabric and patterns, and often use the iron to press seams and darts. A steam iron is useful but it doesn't need to be an expensive one.
- Sewing machine – you could get by without one if you like hand sewing and have lots of time but dressmaking is much, much quicker using a sewing machine.
Some other very useful things for beginners
- Pincushion and magnet – helpful for not losing pins in the carpet and then standing on them. You can always make your own pincushion.
- Seam ripper – very cheap and very handy for fixing mistakes. I use mine quite a lot …
- Small sharp scissors – for cutting thread.
- Cheap scissors or shears – for cutting out paper patterns. I find it's good to keep a pair of cheaper scissors with my dressmaker's shears so that I'm not tempted to use the shears for cutting evil, blunting paper.
- Large artist's natural bristle paintbrush – for cleaning fluff out of your sewing machine. Sizes 10-14 work well for this.
- Extra bobbins for sewing machine – buy a pack of plastic bobbins to fit your machine so that you can have several colours of thread on the go.
- Pressing cloth – to prevent shine on fabric when ironing, and to help avoid sticking interfacing to your iron. You can use a tea towel.
Where to buy dressmaking equipment
For basic supplies, try your local sewing shop if you have one or John Lewis. These are also the best places to look at sewing machines. You could also try arts and crafts shops as they sometimes have a limited range of sewing things.
You might be able to pick up some things second-hand in charity shops. I wouldn't recommend buying scissors second-hand though unless you can try them on some fabric to check that they're sharp.
I've put together some recommendations for basic dressmaking equipment on Amazon.
Another good option for buying online is Fred Aldous: they have pins, needles, tape measure, seam ripper, dressmaker's shears and small scissors.
Things to think about buying later on
There are lots of things that you could buy but it's probably best to wait until you need them or get really into making stuff. Some of them are:
- Dressmakers dummy – this is really useful for fitting blouses and shirts, but they are not cheap. You can make do without one.
- Extra feet for your sewing machine – your machine should come with a few different feet but you may need some extra. Zipper feet for ordinary and concealed zips are particularly useful.
- Storage and organisational things – storage racks for threads and bobbins, boxes for fabric, findings, and haberdashery. The plastic boxes they sell in DIY stores for organising screws can be useful. It's easy to get carried away with buying lots of different boxes (I find that anyway)
- More specialist ironing equipment – proper pressing cloth, tailor's ham for pressing curved seams and sleeve board. One day I'll have these!
- Pattern making stuff – plain pattern paper (though any paper will do really), French or bendy curves for making patterns and a metre rule.
- Bits and bobs – things like a stiletto for turning points, strap turner, pinking shears, the list goes on! All nice to have if you are working on a project that will use them but not in any way essential when you are starting up.
See the clothes-press Amazon shop for ideas.
Where to put all this stuff
You will need a table to put your sewing machine on when you are using it. If you can set up an ironing board nearby, that will make your life much easier.
It really helps if you can find a corner in your home somewhere to put a table and store your stuff. It's much easier to find time for sewing if you don't have to spend ages getting all your equipment out before you start, and it helps a lot if you can leave things out when you're in the middle of making something.
However if this isn't possible, you could use any table to sew at and you can cut fabric out on the floor.
Read more
- All about sewing machines
Do you need a sewing machine, types of machines, how to choose a sewing machine, where to buy.
- Dressmaking for beginners
Equipment and books, courses and tutorials, where to get help and inspiration, choosing patterns and buying fabric.
If you have any recommendations or things you'd like me to cover in this guide to dressmaking for beginners, please leave a comment.


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The latest African billionaires
Issue 321
By SSI staff writer
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 7, 2008 - Forbes released its annual list of global billionaires by geographical region, with the number of African billionaires substantially increased over last year.
Among the handful of billionaires, four are from Egypt and are from the same family. The richest man in the African continent is Naguib Sawiris, the 53 year-old eldest son of ORASCOM conglomerate founder Onsi Sawiris. He is worth USD 12.5 billion, and his wealth initially came from a family inheritance. He continued to expand his Telecom venture in Europe via his holding company, "Weather Investments." In addition to ORASCOM, Weather's assets include Italian phone company "Wind," leading Greek telecom companies "Wind Hellas" and "Tellas ORASCOM," and his high-risk operation, Iraqna, the first mobile phone provider in Iraq. Sawiris recently sold his 19% stake in Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Telecommunications. He was educated in Switzerland at the Swiss Federal Polytechnical Institute.
Following Naguib is his youngest brother, 46 year-old Nassef Sawaris, whose fortune estimated at $11 billion also stemmed from family wealth. Nassef took over the construction division from his father Onsi in 1998. He successfully cracked the tough French market in late December when blue chip company Lafarge agreed to buy ORASCOM Construction's cement division for $13 billion. As part of deal, Nassef was granted an 11.4% stake and a seat on the board. He has continued his father's tradition of pursuing business in high-risk countries: he recently invested $115 million in a North Korean cement plant. He was educated in the US at the University of Chicago.
Next in line is the senior and founding patriarch of ORASCOM, one of Egypt's largest conglomerates, Mr. Onsi Sawiris, a 78 year-old risk-loving businessman, who at one time was forced to rebuild his construction company from scratch after it was nationalized by the government in the 1960s. He now serves as chairman of ORASCOM Construction. His three sons run construction, telecommunications and tourism divisions. He has a foundation through which he sponsors university scholarships for Egyptian students.
After the Egyptian family comes the Ethio-Saudi tycoon Mohammed Al-Amoudi, whose "empire" extends from Scandinavia to Ethiopia. Born in Ethiopia and now a Saudi citizen, Al-Amoudi made his fortune in construction and real estate before betting on energy. He owns Swedish refinery Preem as well as Svenska Petroleum, which made big plays in Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Angola this year. His net worth now hits USD 9 billion and is growing. He has invested more than $1 billion in Ethiopia, from hotels to gold mines. Last fall, he celebrated the year 2000 in the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar by hosting international musicians in his new 20,000 seat concert hall in Addis Ababa. Recently, he announced that he would invest massively in the coming years in Ethiopia in the agri-business areas of palm-oil, rubber, tea, etc.
The southern part of the continent also produced a number of billionaires, topped by South Africa's diamond conglomerate De Beers owner Nicky Oppenheimer. The 62 year-old, over the past few years, has amassed massive revenues. The firm hived off a piece of its South African operation, welcomed its first black executive, and settled a long-standing price-fixing class suit that prevented it from opening offices in the U.S. In 2006, Nicky sold off a third of his family's interest in global mining giant Anglo American, founded in 1917 by his grandfather Ernest, to Chinese billionaire Larry Yung. On behalf of De Beers, Oppenheimer courted Russian President Vladimir Putin in fall of 2006; two months later De Beers and Russia's state-owned Alrosa diamond mining firm signed a joint prospecting deal. De Beers sold $400 million worth of Alrosa diamonds in 2007. Now, Nicky's net worth is USD $5.7 billion.
Following Nicky is Johann Rupert, who inherited his wealth. He is the jovial yet reclusive head of publicly-traded Swiss luxury group Richemont, which owns Cartier, Chloe, Dunhill and other premium brands. Weathering a U.S. slowdown in luxury spending, with growing demand in key European and Asian markets, he is reportedly negotiating a deal to invest $19 million in Saracens, the English rugby club. With family relatives, he owns two of South Africa's best-known vineyards, Rupert & Rothschild and LOOmarins. He also owns own of the country's most exclusive golf clubs. His net worth is USD 3.8 billion.
Two black Africans also made it on the list of Forbes billionaires. The first is Nigeria's only billionaire, Aliko Dangote, who hit the jackpot when his sugar-production company was listed on the Nigerian stock exchange last year. He began his career as a trader at 21 with a loan from his uncle. He built his Dangote Group into a conglomerate with interests in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, haulage and oil and gas. Closely linked to Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo, his worth hits USD 3.3 billion.
The eighth African billionaire is the middle son of ORASCOM conglomerate founder Onsi Sawiris. Samih Sawiris runs the family's ORASCOM real estate and hotel division, which owns and operates hotels in Egypt, Jordan, Oman, UAE and Switzerland. He also has plans in the pipeline to develop prime property in Mauritius and Morocco. After record growth in 2006, the hotel group's Ebitda for the first half of 2007 was up 105%. He recently established ORASCOM Housing Communities in Cairo, dedicated to developing low-income housing. His net worth is USD 2.9 billion. Fluent in German, he has an engineering degree from the Berlin Institute of Technology.
The latest addition to the billionaires list is the Johannesburg mining magnate Patrice Motsepe – South Africa's first black billionaire. Born in the sprawling black township of Soweto and trained as a lawyer, Motsepe became the first black partner at Johannesburg's Bowman Gilfillan law firm, before starting a low-level contracting business doing mine work. He bought low-producing gold mine shafts in 1994, and turned them profitable using a lean, mean management style. Since then, he built an $875-million mining conglomerate, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), with interests in a wide swath of minerals: precious metals (platinum and its cousins), nickel, chrome, iron, manganese and coal. He benefited from South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, which mandate that companies be at least 26% black-owned in order to get a government mining license. He also holds a 5.5% stake in Sanlam, a publicly traded financial services company outside Cape Town. At the age of 46, with hands on hips and wearing a brightly patterned shirt, a smiling Patrice Motsepe stares out from the cover of the latest issue of Forbes magazine.
Of the 1,125 people who made it onto the Forbes list of billionaires, Motsepe ranks number 503, below fellow South Africans Nicky Oppenheimer and Johann Rupert, who rank an impressive 173 and 284 respectively.
But while South Africa can proudly proclaim Motsepe as its newest success story, the man himself remains unfazed and unperturbed. His net worth is USD 2.4 billion.
Source: The Sub-Saharan Informer
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… And he's totally on point. Networking and a couple Heinekens are not worth dozens of Benjamins.
Take, for example, this week's SIIA conference in New York. I already bitched that these bozos wanted to charge me $500 to attend their full conference after speaking on their panel. The speakers are the content for these unevents, and to have the chutzpah to try to charge the content providers appalled me. I tried to drop out of the panel, but the guy who organized it — unpaid and paying to attend the event himself, the poor shmuck — would have been left holding the empty chair. So I'm doing it. But I'll do it growling and fomenting revolt.
Look at the basic economics of this conference:
* 400 are attending at $1,100 to $1,700 each, which adds up to $440k to $680k. So let's average that out at $560k.
* The 14 sponsor slots bring in $20k-$5k each for the privilege of handing out junk mail sans postage. That adds up to $140k (though one $15k slot is still open).
* The total: $700k. (And that doesn't include membership fees to the organization that range from $850 to $125k per year.)
* So let's give them $100k for the venue and coffee.
* That leaves $600k for content.
* There are 50 speakers. That means $12k per speaker. Hell, $5k would be nice. $1k would be something. $500 payment instead of a $500 fee would at least be polite.
But, no, the attendees and speakers are foolish enough to enrich the organizers to the tune of $700K, gross because they are a captive audience.


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Definition of glenoid cavity in English:
glenoid cavity
(also glenoid fossa)
A shallow depression on a bone into which another bone fits to form a joint, especially that on the scapula into which the head of the humerus fits.
Example sentences
- This joint is formed where your upper arm bone meets the glenoid cavity, which is part of your shoulder blade (scapula).
- The shoulder joint is a synovial, ball-and-socket type joint formed by the head of the humerus and glenoid cavity of the scapula.
- The glenohumeral joint represents the articulation of the humerus with the glenoid fossa, and it is the most mobile joint in the body.
Early 18th century: glenoid from French glénoïde, from Greek glēnoeidēs, from glēnē 'socket'.
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: glen|oid cav¦ity
Definition of glenoid cavity in:
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Eliana Alvarez Martinez, Director of Photography
Eliana Alvarez Martinez started making short films at the age of sixteen, and had already begun working as a Cinematographer in the television industry in Spain before she graduated with her degree in Image and Sound at twenty-one. She continued to distinguish herself in the Spanish industry for six years before deciding to make the big jump to New York in 2008. Within months, she was well ensconced in the film business here as well. And by January of 2010, even the U.S. Government had officially recognized her as a "Distinguished Artist" with an O1 visa.
In the short time she's been in New York, Alvarez has also served as Director of Photography on the feature film, Indebted, produced by Ahmad Razvi, of Man Push Cart fame (currently in post production), five feature documentaries, Strat-O-Matic: The Movie, Gaming the System, The Girls Downstairs, I Sing Beijing and Indian Summer (all in production/post), several nationally broadcast music videos and more than twenty-five short films. In addition, Alvarez currently shoots commercials and viral videos for clients including el Jimador Tequila, Formulatin, paidContent and Get Some Series, as well as her own award-winning short films.


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Star Tracks: Monday, May 16, 2016 42 years, 2,191 covers and 55,436 stories from PEOPLE magazine's history for you to enjoy
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- April 14, 1975
- Vol. 3
- No. 14
Why Is Arthur Burns of the Fed Smiling? He Sees Recovery
Despite his optimism, however, Burns has been critically roasted of late for resisting demands to prime the economy. As FRB chairman, he has the power to influence the flow of money and to help set interest rates. AFL-CIO President George Meany has called him "a national disaster," and Sen. Hubert Humphrey has compared him to Simon Legree. But if Burns is troubled, he is not letting on. "Criticism doesn't bother me," he chuckles in a voice that sounds a little like W.C. Fields. He glances around his office which is chockablock with piles of books and papers and adds: "I wince for a second, but it doesn't interfere with my sleep or my digestion. Now and then I say a prayer for my critics."
An unreconstructed fiscal conservative, Burns has a prodigy's impatience with those who seem not to grasp his ideas. The son of a house painter, born in Stanislau, Austria, he emigrated to New York City with his family in 1914. When he was 6 he could translate the Talmud into Polish and Russian. At 9, he decided socialism couldn't work. After graduating from high school he wandered over to Columbia University with the intention of quizzing its president. "I wanted to know if it was worthwhile to spend four years there," Burns says. The president was out, so Burns talked to the university secretary. The result: Burns was offered a scholarship within 48 hours.
For the intellectually voracious Burns, college was a revelation. "A whole new world opened up," he remembers. "I don't think I had a single date in college. I would sing my studies, I got so much joy out of them!" Graduating Phi Beta Kappa, he went on to become an instructor at Rutgers. Soon after he met another teacher, his future wife, Helen Bernstein. "It was too much trouble to travel to Brooklyn to see her," Burns says. "It was much more efficient to marry her." Married 45 years—"it's still an experiment," jokes Burns—the couple has two sons, David, 38, a lawyer, and Joseph, 36, an economist. (The boys once saw a snapshot of their father as a young man, with his hair parted sharply in the middle then as now, and commented, "You really took a chance, Mother.")
Mrs. Burns is vice-president of the Academy of American Poets and has led a drive to get American poets on U.S. postage stamps. She calls her husband "Ba" (pronounced "bay," short for baby) which embarrasses him. They seem to enjoy each other enormously, although Burns expresses regret that he does not have the time to keep his wife on a budget.
It was in 1953 that Burns, then director of the National Bureau of Economic Research, was named chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, and immediately began teaching Eisenhower economics. "He asked me about various problems," Burns recalls, "and I said I would prepare a paper. He said, 'I can't read,' and I said, 'I can't write.' " After that Burns and Eisenhower began talking informally, and Ike told his aides, "I want the doctor in here once a week." As for Ike, Burns says simply, "I loved the man. I think history is reappraising Ike, and as the years go by he'll be recognized as a wise man who brought the country tranquillity."
Among other Presidents he served, Burns found Kennedy "most attractive and brilliant, a keen analyst, a fine student. If he had lived, he might have become one of our truly great Presidents." Burns will not discuss President Johnson, though he does observe that "inflation has been underway since 1964. Our current troubles are because we've practiced loose finance, running deficits year in and year out." Burns urged LBJ to raise taxes to head off Vietnam-induced inflation, but was ignored. "I am not much of a diplomat." he admits. The chairman does not speak much of Nixon either, although he had such clout with him—so the story goes—that Burns could silence a roomful of White House aides by clearing his throat at a meeting. Burns's view of President Ford: "A man of great simplicity, honest, dedicated to the job and the country."
Absorbed in his work, Burns rarely takes time to relax (he reads the Bible and history before he goes to sleep) and, to his wife's despair, seldom shops for clothes. "The man is in tatters," she wails. Though he once spent four months a year at his Vermont farmhouse, he has cut back on vacations. "I went up last summer but came back after 10 days. After spending eight hours on the phone every day, I decided it was easier to be in Washington."
Around the capital, Burns has a reputation for absentmindedness, based partly on his occasional habit of wandering out of dinner parties with napkins that Mrs. Burns must wash, iron and return. As Burns explains it, his mind tends to fasten on whatever issue he's dealing with. Once, he recalls, he was concentrating so ferociously on passing a car on the highway that he almost ran into a train. Bells were ringing, sirens blaring and a companion was shrieking, "Stop! Stop! Stop!," but Burns's attention was riveted on the car ahead. "Focusing on the problem at hand," Burns concedes, "can be both a source of strength and a weakness."
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Ballmer: Linux More Dangerous than Apple
Linux is proving to be a stronger competitor than Apple for Microsoft, says Steve Ballmer at a recent Strategic Update meeting with investors, and has a supporting graphic to prove it.
In the regular investor meetings it's customary to have Microsoft finance chief Chris Liddell and CEO Ballmer ready with financial figures, future plans, market share and competitor information. The presentations are generally done by PowerPoint, this time being no exception.
Ballmer took over when it came to market share matters. One of his slides was entitled "Economic effects on home and business PC's" on which he exposed the current market share of Windows, unlicensed Windows, Apple and Linux. His accompanying comment:
"Windows license, number one market share, number two market share goes to Windows pirated, or unlicensed... Linux, you could see on the slide, and Apple has certainly increased its share somewhat."
Ballmer took the competition with Apple pretty seriously, but then remarked that "a point of market share on a number that's about 300 million is interesting." He continued, "we're very focused in on both Apple as a competitor, and Linux as a competitor. I think the dynamic with Linux is changing somewhat."
He enhanced his analysis further with another slide that showed the market share of Windows Mobile, which came in third place after Symbian and Rim/Blackberry.
Ballmer nevertheless sees the attack on Windows coming from two sides:
"I assume we're going to see Android-based, Linux-based laptops, in addition to phones. We'll see Google more as a competitor in the desktop operating system business than we ever have before."
The consequences for Microsoft: "The seams between what's a phone operating system and a PC operating system will change, and so we have ramped the investment in the client operating system," says Ballmer.
Issue 190/2016
Buy this issue as a PDF
Mirantis Joins Hands with SUSE To Offer RHEL Support; Red Hat Not Happy
Competitors get in the game with RHEL without Red Hat
Linux on Windows 10 Poses a Security Risk
Security researchers have already notified Microsoft; some fixes are available
Mirantis to Refactor OpenStack Fuel for Kubernetes
The company is collaborating with Google and Intel to use Kubernetes as an engine for Fuel
Canonical Joins Document Foundation Advisory Board
The upcoming release of LibreOffice will be available as a snap package
SUSE Joins the Microsoft Test Drive Program
Customers can take a free test drive of SLES for HPC on the Azure Cloud
SiFive Launches a Line of Open Source Chips
San Francisco-based chip company announces their first fully open source chip platform.
Fedora 24 Released
The whole distro gets rebuilt on glibc 2.3
Canonical Announces Cross-Distro Support for Snaps
Ubuntu Vendor tries to solve app packaging and distribution problem across distributions.
ownCloud Forked
Founder of ownCloud launches the Nextcloud project.
HP Enterprise Unveils a Futuristic Computer
Will The Machine change the way future programmers think about memory?


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Share Photo
U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Quill, center, kisses his 2-year-old son, Zack, while waiting to receive the Silver Star medal with two other recipients, U.S. Marine Sgt. Frankie Shinost, left, and U.S. Marine Maj. James Rose, right, during a ceremony held at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. The three received the medals for their heroism while serving in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)


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Ah, yet another random encounter to add to the annals of my history. It's like there must be a giant blinking sticker on my head that says "TALK TO ME IF YOU'RE WEIRD".So there I was walking down from the bus stop when I was suddenly accosted by a short bald gentleman, brandishing several books and smiling excitedly. I was brooding about something, so when he greeted me I stupidly stopped in confusion and blinked. Before I knew it I was engrossed in a discussion with no avenue of escape as he practically pinned me up against a phone box."I'm here to discuss the benefits of Yoga with you" he yammered happily. Now usually I would have tried to extricate myself from the situation, but perhaps because of his Yogic mind control powers I found myself unable to leave."There is a purpose in everything... your purpose brought you here to me." he cryptically grinned forcing a book into my hand."I think you'd enjoy reading this..." I looked down in amazement as he thrust a small tatty volume on the basic principals of Yoga into my trembling hands. "Of course, it is customary to make a small donation to the temple" he winked.I was beginning to feel I was losing control of the situation, so I forced the book back into his hands. "Look," I cried "lets just make this simple… there is no way in hell I'm gonna take up Yoga.""Ahhhh, do you believe in Karma my friend?" he queried."No.""Well, I suspect that in order to expand your higher conscience you had better take what I'm about to tell you quite seriously"He then proceeded to bombard me with a load of quasi mystical codswallop which several idle loitering school children seemed to find hilarious. To cut a long story short I only finally managed to escape by pretending I'd just received a phone call on my mobile then walking off very quickly. Now I'm terrified that I'll run into this guy again…Does this kind of thing happen regularly to other people or is there something particularly strange about my life? "I know you believe you understand what you think I've said. But I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
it happens every day i come to work. there's this guy who i not-so-affectionately call "the creepy cult guy" and he's tried 5 or 6 times to get me to come to one of his creepy cult meetings. he tries to recommend books and movies to me, (well, not just me -- he hits up anyone who will give him a listen for a split second) and just today he fliered everyone's car with a solicitation to donate to his massage school tuition. for every $15 we donate, he will give us a one-hour massage -- IN SIX MONTHS (after he's done with the course). He says he wants to do it as a sideline to his career here at the orifice, and that our donation would be an investment and a "Win-Win" situation. He wants to spread his message of the benefits of healing through massage and meditation. Barf. I want to write "PRICK" in big black letters across the flier and stick it on his windshield. or something much, much worse. meow
Stop there Percy! Was this guy a bit dirty and did he have an American accent? This happened to me in the summer. I was just about to walk into water-stones the one near Fenwick's when all of a sudden this guy comes up to me telling me about mediation showing me these books with quite noticeable tears. (not a good place to be selling books outside of a bookshop) I just said "soz mate and smiled" and walked off. "I don't spell check my word" Jamie M Simpson 2003
In reply to:Was this guy a bit dirty and did he have an American accent?
Was this guy a bit dirty and did he have an American accent?
That's the guy. He had breath bad enough to stun a skunk. He did mention he'd been knocking about for around 6 months at the local temple.You know, I keep thinking I've probably staggered past you sometime in Newcastle. I was probably the guy laughing manically with a flower in my hair trying to vault over concrete benches. "I know you believe you understand what you think I've said. But I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
In reply to: It's like there must be a giant blinking sticker on my head that says "TALK TO ME IF YOU'RE WEIRD".
It's like there must be a giant blinking sticker on my head that says "TALK TO ME IF YOU'RE WEIRD".
Percy, you're only accosted by weird strangers because 1) you're lonely 2) you look depressed 3) you smell of booze. The homeless, the lunatic on the bus, etc., identify with your glum disposition and sense a confidant with whom they can easily talk. Sometimes, if the lunatics are in a particularly friendly vein, they may try to help you, as this gentleman was clearly trying to do. There you were at the bus stop, miserable, doing nothing, when you could've been doing light exercises or reading some spiritual self-help manual to put that morose pout off your face. True, if you had been engaged in your yoga routine while the school kids were at the bus stop, they would still have laughed at you, but this would've only shown their own insecurities because you were doing something positive. Now that you mention it, Percy, I have numerous self-help manuals myself that I'm more than willing to part with for a nominal sum, not to mention a handful of Zamfir pan pipes CDs that my Gran is eager to depart with, all of which are available to all TWers through a quick PM. Remember: this could be the first step in the right direction to put your life on track again.
In reply to: Jamie!: (not a good place to be selling books outside of a bookshop)
Jamie!: (not a good place to be selling books outside of a bookshop)
Indeed, I hear the foyer of bowling alleys is a hotbed for literary enthusiasts.Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head . . .
I thought I seen you once in Newcastle a few months ago. (I remember seeing that picture of you which caused bit of a scandal because dogz had it on his computer, or something like that I don't recall so well.) but I definitely remember seeing someone who looked like you round greys monument. It wouldn't surprise me if it was me you seen I'm usually up in Newcastle with work and all and bloody uni starting up soon. If you do see me you you're more than welcome to come up and shot something in my general direction. "I don't spell check my word" Jamie M Simpson 2003
I had a Hari Krishna come up to me once on campus. He pushed the Bhagavad Gita into my chest and said with a very awkward smile, "I have a book on Meditation."That's it. He didn't say, "Would you like this book on meditation? Here, I'd like to show you this book on meditation. Etc." Nothing, just, "I have it."So I said, "Good for you!" and walked away. "Maybe you are jealous because your face will still look like an anus no matter what you do." ~Vanessa


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Community-Scale Air Toxics Ambient Monitoring
The summary for the Community-Scale Air Toxics Ambient Monitoring grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Environmental Protection Agency, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.
Community-Scale Air Toxics Ambient Monitoring: This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits proposals for projects designed to assist state, local and tribal communities in identifying and profiling air toxics sources, assessing emerging measurement methods, characterizing the degree and extent of local air toxics problems, and tracking progress of air toxics reduction activities.
|Federal Grant Title:
|Community-Scale Air Toxics Ambient Monitoring
|Federal Agency Name:
|Environmental Protection Agency
|Grant Categories:
|Type of Opportunity:
|Funding Opportunity Number:
|Type of Funding:
|Cooperative Agreement Grant
|CFDA Numbers:
|CFDA Descriptions:
|Surveys, Studies, Research, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Special Purpose Activities Relating to the Clean Air Act
|Current Application Deadline:
|May 23, 2011
|Original Application Deadline:
|May 23, 2011
|Posted Date:
|Mar 23, 2011
|Creation Date:
|Mar 23, 2011
|Archive Date:
|Jun 22, 2011
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|Cost Sharing or Matching:
- Applicants Eligible for this Grant
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
- Additional Information on Eligibility
- See Section III of the announcement for additional eligibility information.
- Link to Full Grant Announcement
- Grant Announcement Contact
- Michael Jones,(919)541-0528
Mike Jones [firstname.lastname@example.com]
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