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Cruise Control
I recently installed a trailer hitch & wiring on my 2004 blazer. Of course I disconnected the negative from the battery and now the cruise control won't work. Fuse is fine. Does it just need time for the computer to reset itself or should I contact the dealer?
tidester Posts: 10,059Try Chevy Blazer/GMC Jimmy: Problems & Solutions.
tidester, host0
If it worked prior to the wiring install you have to think thats the problem - no, the computer does not have to reset for cruise. Did you buy the GM connector (all prewired back there) or splice in? Bet the cruise thinks the brake pedal (switch on the pedal arm) is depressed so cuts the cruise out. Check the new wiring and the rear connector - oh any trailer brakes on this so 7 not 4 pins?0
catlover11381 Posts: 1I recently brought my Chevy Impala LS 2002 to have a problem with high beams and lights repaired. Combo switch assembly was replaced and now, my cruise control does not function. Mechanic said cruise worked when it was tested, there are no loose connections, etc. Never had a problem prior to this repair visit. I'm being told perhaps it's something in the dash not working . . . activation cruise control light no longer appears on dash. Any suggestions?0
Since when is this a Blazer - anyway he pulled the harness from the column so think its on him to correct - gee worked before but not after - have a discussion with the manager - also the brake pedal has a shutoff switch/brake light switch that may be involved/bad/disconnected - seen them activate the brake lights but were adjusted so far out that they deactivated the cruise. Check all fuses and all the connectors too. No light = no activation0
gundoctor Posts: 1My cruise control works during the daytime, but when the lights come on (other than daylight driving lights) or I manually turn them on, my cruise control quits working in less than a minute. Cannot set the cruise control while lights are on. As soon as I turn the lights off, cruise will work again. Any ideas?0
Would look at a voltage drop in the circuit probably in the multifunction switch - look at the wiring in the column as the hi/low beam is in the MFS.0
jmosby1469 Posts: 1The conventional wisdom that the use of cruise control helps improve fuel economy, by evening out the accelerations and decelerations involved in usual driving practices, has a flaw. I notice that using this feature on roads with varying terrains, including many hills, results in my RPM's increasing sharply as my vehicle ascends these hills. I believe these sudden sharp increases in my engine's output negates many benefits to fuel economy of keeping the cruise control set. Your comments, please.0
jlflemmons Posts: 2,242You are correct. Cruise control is not effective for fuel economy in rolling terrain as it cannot "look ahead" and compensate. Nor can it "average" such as letting the car gain a few MPH leading up to a hill, or drop a few extra MPH while approaching the crown of a hill.0
This discussion has been closed.


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The latest U.S. HIV/AIDS surveillance results from CDC have not yielded good news for gay men. HIV rates have risen among this group -- particularly sharply among young men. Young gay men of color, who make up a tiny portion of the U.S. population, saw more new HIV cases than any other segment of the gay male population. The global HIV/AIDS landscape for young gay men offers a similar picture of increased vulnerability and scant resources.
It's easy to get bogged down in such dismal numbers. But before these data are allowed to eclipse the complex lives they represent, consider these diverse and thoughtful responses from community members to the question: How best to support young gay men of color in terms of HIV prevention? Hint: Their answers go far beyond what numbers can describe.

subset: commoncrawl


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Only hotels in 40533 zip code are listed below. Search for cheap and discount hotel rates in Lexington, KY for your upcoming leisure or conference / group travel. We list the best 40533 hotels and motels so you can review the Lexington hotel list below to find the perfect lodging. Hotels in Fayette county and area code 859 are also listed.
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Login | Checkout | My Account | Shopping Cart Now in your cart 0 items
MSM Powder, 16 oz - The Raw Food World
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· Degenerative arthritis
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· Help to normalize stomach function
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· Help create an internal environment unfriendly to many types of parasites
· Helps with diabetic neuropathy of the extremities and gastrointestinal tract
· Speed wound healing, reduces scar tissue
· Stimulate immune function
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.


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The U.S. dollar is little changed against other North American currencies in New York trading.
It's worth 1.31 Canadian dollars, unchanged from late Thursday.
And the dollar is trading at 19.10 Mexican pesos, down slightly from late Thursday.
Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.


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Girardi takes Pineda under his wing
BOSTON -- Once things had calmed down, Yankees manager Joe Girardi did something absolutely brilliant. He summoned pitcher Michael Pineda to a private place up the tunnel from the visitors' dugout at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
"Michael, this is a little bump in the road," Girardi told him. "We'll get through this. You'll be back pitching before you know it."View Full Game Coverage
BOSTON -- Once things had calmed down, Yankees manager Joe Girardi did something absolutely brilliant. He summoned pitcher Michael Pineda to a private place up the tunnel from the visitors' dugout at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
"Michael, this is a little bump in the road," Girardi told him. "We'll get through this. You'll be back pitching before you know it."View Full Game Coverage
If someone ever wants to debate Girardi's genius as a big league manager -- and there shouldn't be much -- this brief moment would be a good place to start. At a time when he could have reacted a dozen different ways to what Pineda did on Wednesday night, Girardi focused on the big picture.
Girardi did something that attempted to protect the best interests of the Yankees as an organization and all those players he's committed to winning with.
That's where it begins.
Yes, the bottom line.
The Yankees desperately need Pineda to pitch at a high level if they're going to make the postseason. They've got an assortment of moving parts as they try to figure out what they can expect from CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and others.
If you look at the Yankees a certain way, you can see them rolling right through this season and playing October baseball. You can also see them coming undone as age and health issues finally catch up to them.
Girardi simply was doing the right thing for his team. The Yankees have invested two years in trying to resurrect Pineda's career in the wake of a right shoulder injury that had plenty of people thinking he'd never throw another pitch in the big leagues.
Pineda has made it all the way back and had pitched well this month. But the Yankees still have no idea what kind of career he's going to have and whether the shoulder will hold up. He was once seen as a 200-inning, 200-strikeout top-of-the-rotation workhorse.
That was before surgery left him with diminished velocity and confidence. If the Yankees don't know what Pineda can be, it's probably a good bet Pineda doesn't know, either.
Can you imagine his doubts? His fears? He's 25 years old. He has dreams.
Girardi also knew what the reaction to Pineda's ridiculously dumb move would be. He saw the firestorm coming. Pineda is going to deserve everything he gets because what he did almost defies logic.
So the tabloids and talk shows are going to make sure Michael Pineda has the full New York experience. He's likely going to be suspended by Major League Baseball, too, and there's not a thing he can do except attempt to learn from it.
So that's where Girardi was Wednesday night when Pineda made the inexcusable decision to walk to the mound in the second inning with a glob of pine tar on the right side of his neck.
At least no one can accuse him of attempting to hide anything. He couldn't have been more obvious if he'd gone to the mound with a sandwich board announcing, "Check me for pine tar."
The Red Sox had looked the other way two weeks ago when Pineda pitched a game against them at Yankee Stadium with a large, noticeable swatch of pine tar on his hand for an inning.
Red Sox players said they understood he wasn't trying to cheat. That is, it wasn't like he was scuffing the ball or loading it up with Vaseline. Rather than trying to do something to cause increased movement on the baseball, Pineda almost certainly was using pine tar to allow him to get a better grip on the ball on a blustery night.
Some of the Red Sox saw it as a safety issue. When a guy is throwing a 95-mph fastball, they would rather he's able to grip -- and thus control -- the baseball. That he would put pine tar in an even more visible place on Wednesday, that he would do it against the same team that looked the other way two weeks ago, was as baffling as him actually doing it.
Strip everything away, and this simply is a scared kid, a kid still recovering from shoulder surgery, a kid who just didn't think things through. Pineda was warned not to do it again, but who knows if he really understood? He speaks only limited English, and when confronted by a battery of reporters after Wednesday's game, he had a deer-in-the-headlights look. Pineda spoke quietly and briefly, saying he couldn't grip the ball and that he'd apologized to the Yankees.
The Red Sox had banged him around for two runs in the bottom of the first inning, and Pineda apparently disappeared into the clubhouse between innings. When he returned he had the pine tar on his neck.
Red Sox manager John Farrell, seeing a violation so obvious as well as a chance to chew up the Yankees bullpen, asked that Pineda be checked.
It took home-plate umpire Gerry Davis about 20 seconds to find the pine tar and eject Pineda. Now the Yankees are in scramble mode regarding their pitching.
And there are the larger issues. Girardi said it was "a mistake in judgment" and that Pineda now fully understood and would learn from it. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman used the word "embarrassed" more than once in speaking to reporters.
As for Pineda, who knows? It's unlikely he'll ever use pine tar again. Now he must deal with the thunder-and-lightning reaction. Girardi is the right man to lead him back. He began that process almost immediately.
Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. Read his blog, Justice4U.


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Stagecraft is a traveling exhibit that is currently at the New EnglandCarouselMuseum until May 15, 2014.
In a press release, Hartford Stage said, "In celebration of Hartford Stage's 50th Anniversary Season, the STAGECRAFT exhibit consists of a selection of costumes, props and scenic elements from the company's extensive collection. A hallmark of the theater's work is the quality of the work that appears on stage, all of which is built here in Hartford. Scores of locally-based artists, craftspeople, and technicians created these pieces to animate the visions of some of the world's most prominent theatrical designers."
For more information, contact the New EnglandCarouselMuseum, 95 Riverside Ave., Bristol, by calling (860)585-5411 or emailing firstname.lastname@example.com


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Thank You, "Play at Home Mom" for sharing such a great sensory experience for children.
Here is the link to their wonder blog: http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/search/label/Water%20Beads
Water beads, also known as water gel or crystal soil, is a fragrance –free water super absorbent polymer. They hold 100 times their own weight in water.
They are beautiful soft beads, which reflect light in a glistening sparkle.
Although this product is non-toxic, it is a choking hazard for children. Please supervise children at all times while playing with water beads. Do not flush down drains.


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FmPro Layout Diff extracts and compares field info from FileMaker 7 - 8.5 layouts. Fields can be compared by either Field ID or Field Name, with the differences displayed in a re-sizable, sortable list. FmPro Layout Diff quickly shows FileMaker 8.5 layout object names for an entire layout. Large layouts are instantly resized and printed on a single printed page for documentation and development.
Requirements for FmPro Layout Diff
- Mac OS X 10.2 or later
- FileMaker 7 - 8.5


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Six Figure Mentors Help You Improve!
Welcome to VR-Mall.com where we are on a mission to help you to get fit and be the best that you can be!
We are experts in helping people to get healthy and to develop their own home business.
Unfortunately, good intentions will not help you to get into shape! You have to be physically active to reap benefits. There is so much information available on the subject of fitness. Here are some suggestions that some of my friends over at The Six Figure Mentors Program have found helpful to become or stay fit:
Switch up your routine. If you have a regular exercise routine or exercise using some sort of circuit at your local gym, try to mix it up a little. You might stop seeing results as fast if your muscles are given time to adapt to a routine once you stick with it long enough.
Roofing Disaster
I'll never forget the time I was working out in the loft at my house in Plymouth when the roof fell in. I had to call these Plymouth roofers to get it fixed. I haven't had any leaks since I had my roof repaired. Kudos to them!
If you're overwhelmed by all the new workouts, exercise equipment and training machines, stick with the exercises that have worked for years. Do a few pushups and situps, and run around a track for a while. You don't have to get complicated to stay in shape.
Try to make a schedule so that you won't avoid exercising by making silly excuses. Choose a few days each week to exercise, then follow through with your plans. If something on your agenda conflicts with your scheduled workout, make it up as soon as possible, and treat it just as importantly as you would a regular workout.
Strenuous workouts can put a great deal of strain on your muscles, especially in the neck area. To reduce tension and prevent strain when you do your sit-ups or crunches, hold your tongue on the roof of your mouth. This guarantees that your head and neck muscles are properly aligned in a natural position.
Work your legs in reverse to get stronger legs. When it is time for your leg workout, do your lunges in reverse. Doing lunges this way, will force your front leg to workout through the entire exercise. You will use the same movements as in a regular lunge, but instead of stepping forward, step backward. Perhaps a mentor might help you to develop yourself.
When pursuing your fitness goals, you should aim to strengthen your back. Your back is one of the largest muscles in your upper body. You do not need to neglect working it out because if you do not, you are bound to injure it. Perform pullups and lat pulldowns to increase the strength of your back.
Words matter, so avoid using the words "exercise" or "workout" to describe exercising. By calling it these kinds of names it may seem less motivating to actually go and exercise. The best way to get around this is to refer to the exercise you are doing by its actual name, such as swimming or skiing.
Try purchasing a pedometer to keep track of how many steps you take in a day. It is recommended that you should take 10,000 steps per day. If you are not getting this many in, you should work to increase the number. This can help you with your overall weight loss. It is also interesting to see how much you actually move during the day. I used to work in the shim washer business and I can tell you I used to walk over 5000 steps a day just on the factory floor!
Judge how well your abdominal muscles are doing by testing them with a backwards sit-up. Start by sitting with your feet flat, legs bent, and fingers behind your ears with your elbows out. Try to lower yourself down slowly; any less than 5 seconds indicates that you need to focus more on your abdominal routine. The best way to do that is by working on your abs first in your exercise routine.
Hopefully, with the information you just read, you will be equipped to maintain or become physically fit! There is so much information on the subject of fitness. Apply the suggestions that fit your lifestyle and learn from Stuart Ross. Stick to it! Remember, good intentions will not get into shape! You have to work for it! But, the benefits of The Six Fgure Mentors training are worth it!


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Free standard delivery available on all orders
Uniform Wares is a London-based brand known for men's watches that blend classic British design with contemporary styling. The watches are pared down and minimal, characterised by thoughtful design, with mechanical components carefully selected from the best Swiss manufacturers. London-based watch brand Known for understated designs Swiss mechanisms are used


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If you don't find Inc. Magazine completely fascinating and relevant to you, you're probably not right for the entrepreneurial life. Norm Brodsky, Jason Fried, Leigh Buchanan, Meg Hirshberg, and Jane Berentson talk about the minutia of life in a small business. The tiniest things. Which, of course, is what it's all about. Entrepreneurship isn't about […]
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How to know if you should be an entrepreneur
March 4, 2012
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Friday August 23, 2019; 07:00 pm EDT
Students compete at the Battle by the Bay FIRST LEGO League robot tournament
atch robotic teams in action — applying science, technology and quick thinking — at the Second Annual Battle by the Bay FIRST LEGO League robot tournament on Saturday, December 8, in the Center for Applied Learning and Technology at Anne Arundel Community College.
Students and their Mindstorm robots compete from 1:30 to 3:30pm with awards at 4pm.
An international program founded by LEGO and technology entrepreneur Dean Kamen, inventor of Segway, FIRST LEGO uses robotics to excite children about science and technology.
"FIRST programs challenge and inspire more than 4,000 students in more than 500 teams across the state," says Marjorie Rawhouser, an engineering professor at the college, which sponsors the Anne Arundel tournament.
Plus, she adds, "it's fun."
Team names are fun, too. The Rampaging Mindstorms from Jones Elementary in Severna Park and Terminator from Boys and Girls Club in Annapolis are two of 16 teams competing from local schools and youth groups.
Top performing teams advance to the Maryland state Tournament at UMBC on January 26.


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boulder3m wrote:I remember well going down there however many years ago (six??) when we expected to roll over PC. It was hot as blue blazes and that game came down to the end with us winning by one score in a game as close as it sounds. They can be tough, and this will be the biggest game of their season.
That might've been the hottest game I have ever been to. Or was it the year before at Charleston Southern?


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Let's talk service. We have it in spades. Our dedicated staff is attentive and knowledgeable. Did we mention friendly? When you dine with us, you're always in good hands.
Stop in the next time you're in the neighborhood and enjoy an old favorite. or, discover a new one. Either way, we'll treat you to a dining experience that's unparalleled.
To learn more about Darbar India Grill, visit: http://www.darbarindiagrill.com/applevalley/index.html


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Monday, January 12, 2009
The Red Plate Special
In our household, when someone has a special day or has accomplished something extra special they are rewarded with dinner arriving on the red plate. There is only one and the recipient usually does not know they are getting it until their dinner arrives at the table. The red plate does not come out every week. It is much more magical because you never know when it is going to appear but it is always welcomed with smiles and applause and makes dinner that night just a bit more special. In the case of the Frog Princess, she also gets her milk in a small wine glass we have reserved just for her on red plate nights.
What kind of fun family traditions do you have?
What kind of fun family traditions do you have?
Posted by pink and green mama MaryLea
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The fate of technological innovation may once again be at stake in Arista v. LimeWire, the recording industry lawsuit that seeks to hold a technology company liable for the actions of its users. In an amicus brief submitted to the court, the EFF and a coalition of digital rights groups say that this case's outcome may be as important as the MGM v. Grokster case—perhaps even as important as the Sony Betamax ruling.
The brief, submitted to the court by a coalition of digital rights organizations like the Center for Democracy and Technology, the EFF, and others, is meant as a reminder that "the law requires caution in assessing whether to impose copyright liability on the makers of multi-use technologies." Previous cases similar to LimeWire's, including Sony's and Grokster's, tested whether (and when) the creator of a technology could be held liable for how it is used.
In a nutshell, Sony won its case because Betamax was found to offer "substantial noninfringing uses," but Grokster lost because it was decided that the company distributed its product "with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright." This is the line that the brief is urging the court to remember when coming to a decision, and it argues that an overly-restrictive decision could hamper innovation for years to come.
LimeWire litigation
LimeWire's adventures in the courtroom began over two years ago, when the major recording labels accused LimeWire LLC of actively facilitating illegal file sharing with its software and not doing a thing to stop it. After a federal judge tossed out LimeWire's attempt at an antitrust countersuit alleging conspiracies and unfair business practices, the focus of the case turned back to the charges originally brought against the company.
Like the Grokster case, LimeWire's "active promotion"—and not its technology—is at the heart of Arista's secondary copyright liability complaint. In the recording industry's motion for summary judgment, the labels state that:
Lime Wire has aggressively targeted the known infringing
userbases of Napster, Grokster, Morpheus and Kazaa [...] Lime Wire's
business model depends on massive infringing use of the LimeWire client
[...] Lime Wire has failed to undertake genuine efforts to filter
copyrighted materials from users' downloads or otherwise reduce
infringement [...] Lime Wire ensured that its technology had infringing
capabilities [...] and Lime Wire assisted and did not discourage
infringement by LimeWire's users.
In LimeWire's countersuit, the company had attempted to make a case for itself based on its decentralized architecture that retains no records of files or user activity. It also announced plans to "go straight" by educating users about copyrighted material and redirecting them to legitimate music services like iTunes. In August 2007, the company went so far as to announce a legit, DRM-free music store of its own, a beta of which failed to ignite much excitement earlier this year.
Despite its agnostic architecture and wholesome store intentions, the labels may still be able to send LimeWire the way of both the dodo and Grokster, largely due to the company's lack of antipiracy action. The new amicus brief doesn't take sides in the case, but it does attempt to make clear the tremendous stakes of any decision.
In a statement, the EFF said that it "urges the court to apply the law in a manner that will not chill technological innovation and to reaffirm that developers should not be held liable for copyright infringement based on misuses of their technology that they did not actively promote."


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Complaints: Cellphone Battery Designed To Fail At First Drop Of Water?
Does one of the LG cellphone batteries have a sensor on it to cause cellphone failure after the first touch of water? Even though no significant amount of water has penetrated the actual battery or cellphone itself. That's what Tim wonders after conducting a little experiment and paper hack following dropping his cell phone into a tiny bit of coffee.
I recently dropped my cell phone into the last sip of coffee I had in my cup, so I know the liquid didn't penetrate to any meaningful hardware, especially considering I plucked it out immediately. Stickers, on both the inside of the battery casing (on the phone) and the battery itself, were pink/red when I opened the battery cover, however, very little moisture was present. 5 minutes later my phone turned itself off and I wasn't able to turn it back on until I plugged it into my charger at the end of the day. The phone blinked the 'Charge Complete' signal to me almost immediately, but when I unplugged it from the charger it immediately turned off again and I wasn't able to turn it on without it being plugged into the charger.That's very interesting, can you supply photos of the paper and sensors?
Here's where the super-sketchiness comes into play. I noticed that the pink sticker on the battery was covering an indented rectangular area, so I pulled off the sticker which revealed two small brass sensors. When I cut out and installed a plain piece of white paper to replace the color changed sticker, the phone miraculously began taking a charge again and when I unplugged it from the charger, it didn't turn off.
This seems like something that would create a lot of unnecessary consumer battery purchases and therefore sales for LG (the manufacturer of the phone and the battery) while at the same time serving to void warranties for few, if any, legitimate, consumer caused issues. These phone companies take advantage of water exposure by attributing future glitches to water damage whether water is the cause or not. It is also my opinion that they have gone so far as to implement 'water activated failure mechanisms' into phones and batteries in an effort to create replacement sales for products that aren't really damaged. As my example illustrates, the removal of the failure mechanism (the pink sticker on the battery) restored the phone and battery to its pre-coffee state . . . What a scam!
Ben,Is this a safety feature, a product designed to fail, or something else entirely?
Your reply prompted the attached pictures and an additional test. Upon insertion of the white paper rectangle, the phone recognized the battery as not being fully charged and began charging when plugged in. After a full charge was again realized I tried two more things with the same result:
1. I removed the white paper rectangle so that no barrier existed between the 'sensors' and the phone.
2. I replaced the pink/red rectangle between the sensors and the phone.
Both resulted in full functionality when I disconnected the phone from the charger. I'm sure you can hypothesize as well as I can as to the possible scenarios here. What I can tell you for sure is that I removed the phone from the charger after seeing the 'Charge Complete' message at least four times with the same result . . . immediate shut off. I then removed the pink/red rectangle, replaced it with the white paper rectangle, plugged it back in, started receiving a charge, waited 5 minutes, unplugged it, and it did not shut off.
I have ordered another battery and will check the original color of the pink/red rectangle when I receive it.
(Via Consumerist.)


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Jungle Team - Very Real [Unsigned Hype]
This is the first single from the debut album Forced Entry from Zodiak Killa and Mr Barnacle's collaboration Jungle Team. Directed by Kidney&IP=22.214.171.124
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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Merrill Lynch Bonus Recipients May Be Revealed Next Week
Well, it looks like the whole Merrill Lynch bonus scandal may have a Scooby Doo ending — with a judge unmasking the executives by the end of next week.
"What I am going to try to do is get a decision written in the next week or less," the judge said as the hearing ended.
Bank of America is arguing that by revealing the compensation numbers they are divulging a corporate secret — and by betraying their employee's privacy scary foreign banks will be able to swoop in and steal all their "top talent."
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo thinks that's a load of crap.
"Imagine, tomorrow in the Daily News, 200 names and their compensation," [a lawyer for Bank of America] said. "Americans care about their privacy. That matters to us because if we don't try to protect it and succeed in protecting it, we'll lose them to foreign banks."
So, does that mean the foreign taxpayers will have to pay their bonuses then, or how will that work?
Merrill Bonus Recipients May Be Named Within a Week (Update2) [Bloomberg]
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.


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One natural disaster we don't have to worry about in Texas is volcanoes, and after looking at these photos of Mount Etna in Italy we can be glad of that.
Mount Etna rises about two miles above sea level on the island of Sicily and regularly erupts. The most recent series of eruptions began during early on February 19, and this is believed to be the largest eruption of Mt. Etna since at least 2000.
The series of eruptions culminated on Saturday night, when the volcano sent fountains of lava more than 800 meters into the air, according to an estimate by Boris Behncke of the Osservatorio Etneo. His photograph of the eruption appears below.
As Erik Klemetti notes, the eruption in the photo below is taller than two Empire State buildings.
Another perspective of Etna's eruptions appears in the false-color satellite image below that combines shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and green light. It comes via NASA's Earth Observatory.
This combination of imaging techniques makes it easy to differentiate between fresh lava (red), snow (blue), clouds (white), and forest (purple — just kidding, it's green).
This is Europe's tallest active volcano, so enjoy its activity from afar.


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TELL CITY – The JFK Pool in Tell City is now open for the season. Pool hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Admission is $2.50 for anyone 4 years of age and older; children under 4 are admitted for free.
Pool parties are available again this season. Public lessons will begin June 21 and will cost $40 for the first child in a family, $35 for the second and so on. Lessons are on a first-come, first-served basis.
To register for lessons or book a party, call the pool at 719-2876.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Perry County News, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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Invest Smartly In Your Business With A Low-Cost Point Of Sale System That Will Increase Sales And Increase Profits.
Your System Includes The Following Items:
* 3-Years Free Telephone Support
* ALL NEW HARDWARE. No refurbished equipment sold here.
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text: Put away your credit cards and your cameras: there's nothing to see here and no reason to buy tickets. Ping pong is the onomatopoetic alliteration of a ball hitting a bat in the game of table tennis. It is also a threat I sometimes hear when big blokes with garden hoses and mesh-backed hats remark,"I gonna go ping pong on yo' apps, yeah", and the like. People who play don't say stuff like that. But, I'm sure that LOLriffic Stuff, maker of Ping Pong do (say stuff like that).


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The NIJ program helps ensure that body armor coming off the assembly line meets the requirements of NIJ's standard.
© Thinkstock (see
reuse policy). Image is used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted is a model.
In the mid-1970s, NIJ began developing performance standards for body armor to help provide confidence that law enforcement officers are properly and consistently protected each and every time they face gunfire in the line of duty. Since that time, body armor has been credited with saving the lives of more than 3,100 law enforcement officers.[1]
NIJ's most recent body armor standard —
Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor, NIJ Standard-0101.06, published in July 2008 — establishes minimum performance requirements and test methods for the ballistic resistance of body armor designed to protect the torso against gunfire. Although this standard and all other NIJ standards are voluntary — that is, manufacturers are not required to follow them — many public safety agencies require compliance with NIJ standards before they purchase equipment. Through the NIJ Compliance Testing Program (CTP), manufacturers can voluntarily submit equipment samples for testing by NIJ-approved laboratories to determine whether their models comply with a particular standard.
See "Revising the Body Armor Standard"
The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center System's National Center (NLECTC-National) oversees NIJ's body armor conformity assessment efforts. With funding from NIJ, NLECTC-National administers two distinct phases of conformity assessment through the CTP. Phase 1 involves documenting the design of an armor model and testing up to 28 samples voluntarily submitted by manufacturers to verify that the model meets the standard's minimum performance requirements. Models that meet the standard are added to the
Compliant Products List.[2]
But how do we ensure that recently manufactured body armor is constructed similarly to samples that were previously tested and deemed compliant with the NIJ standard?
This is where phase 2 comes in. NLECTC-National began implementing the second part of the conformity assessment effort, called the Follow-Up Inspection and Testing Program, in 2010. The program subjects new armor samples to additional ballistic testing and compares the construction of newly made armor with samples evaluated in phase 1, providing confidence that body armor coming off the assembly line is manufactured consistently and performs in accordance with NIJ standards.
"The follow-up program provides an additional set of eyes and ears into the manufacturing process," said Lance Miller, NLECTC-National director. "We want to ensure that the men and women who wear these vests on a daily basis have as much confidence in these products as we can possibly give them."
The follow-up program applies to armor models deemed compliant with the 2008 NIJ standard. Each month, the CTP staff reviews the number of models a manufacturer currently has on the Compliant Products List that have not been inspected within the past 10 months and prepares a list of models and manufacturers for follow-up inspection.
Independent inspectors conduct surprise inspections at these manufacturers' locations. If a manufacturer does not agree to this follow-up inspection and testing, its armor will not remain on the Compliant Products List.
The inspectors randomly select two newly manufactured vests for each identified model of interest and send them to NIJ-approved, accredited laboratories for testing. The laboratories send the test results to Underwriters Laboratories, an independent, not-for-profit testing and certification organization, for processing. Meanwhile, the laboratories send the vests to CTP staff, who also inspect the armor's construction. Both steps — the laboratory testing and the inspection of construction — help ensure that the manufacturer has built the newly manufactured vest the same way as vests previously submitted for phase 1 testing.
Inspectors conducted their first follow-up inspection in September 2010. Through August 2012, they had visited 90 manufacturing locations in five countries (United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia and the People's Republic of China) and tested 222 body armor models, according to Jamie Phillips, NLECTC-National conformity assessment coordinator. Of those models, five sustained multiple perforations during laboratory testing. Subsequently, the manufacturers issued recalls and replaced more than 1,750 fielded armors to ensure that practitioners had effective ballistic body armor that complied with the NIJ standard. The manufacturers also took corrective actions to fix what was causing the perforations.
"Staff at NIJ and NLECTC have worked actively with manufacturers to identify the root cause of these performance issues," explained Miller. "In cases where it was a significant issue, manufacturers voluntarily took immediate action to recall and replace units or take some sort of corrective action out in the field."
To date, inspectors have discovered eight models with major variations in construction that could affect ballistic performance. For example, in one case, the number of layers in the follow-up testing vest samples differed from those in the original samples; in another, leaking covers allowed water to penetrate to the ballistic panel. Inspectors also identified 33 models with minor variations in construction that would not affect ballistic performance. In response, manufacturers worked with the CTP team to implement quality-control improvements at several locations to prevent these and other variations in construction.
Inherent to the follow-up inspection process is increased communication between body armor manufacturers and the assessors.
"The program provides an opportunity to work more closely with manufacturers to ensure that fielded armor is more likely to comply with the NIJ standard," Phillips said. "It allows manufacturers to express their concerns, and we, in turn, are able to explain the reasons behind our decisions and how those decisions support the law enforcement community as a whole."
See "NIJ's Body Armor Challenge"
NIJ does not anticipate major changes to the follow-up process, but staff will continue to explore opportunities for improvement. "I think we view it in the same light as the entire Compliance Testing Program," Miller noted. "We view the standard itself as a living, breathing document that is flexible and can adapt to changing trends in the industry and new testing methods, and I don't see the follow-up program as any different."
"We obviously have learned much," he added. "As we continue this dialogue with manufacturers, we continue to learn more about the body armor manufacturing processes and how quality management in that industry works. And as we learn more, we will adapt the program."
NIJ Journal No. 271, February 2013NCJ 240697
Michele R. Coppola is a senior writer and editor at the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center System's National Center.
Back to the top.
For More Information
Next article: The Grant Progress Assessment Program: Looking Back on Success and Moving Forward.
[note 1] DuPont,
"IACP/DuPont Kevlar Survivors' Club", Wilmington, DE: Author, 2012.
[note 2] There is a
similar list for stab-resistant body armor.
National Institute of Justice, 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531


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April 19, 2008
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Four goals by MIT in the fourth quarter broke open a tied game and resulted in a 9-5 victory over Clark University in a Pilgrim Lacrosse League game on Saturday. Corey Garvey paced the Engineers (4-7, 2-3 Pilgrim) with three goals and three assists as Andrew Webber led the Cougars (3-10, 1-4 Pilgrim) with two goals.
Garvey picked up his first point of the day by connecting on a feed from Ryan Ballentine for a man-up goal at 12:32. Just over a minute later, Andrew Webber tallied the equalizer for Clark. MIT's long-stick defenders accounted for its next goal as Ebbe Strathairn lit the lamp and Alex Andrzejewski earned the assist. Webber knotted the contest at two on a solo effort with eight seconds remaining in the period.
Clark captured the lead on an unassisted goal by Sam McAdam after 4:52 elapsed in the second quarter. The Cougars were later awarded a three-minute extra-man opportunity, but MIT's defense thwarted any scoring attempts. Patrick Shannon recorded back-to-back assists on scores by Dan Piemont and Garvey that put the Engineers up, 4-3, with 3:49 left in the half. The Cougars countered with Alex Craven finding the back of the net over two minutes later.
MIT wasted little time regaining the advantage in the third quarter as Dylan Roden converted a pass from Garvey after 52 seconds expired. A defensive battle ensued until Chris Adams evened the score at five with 4:04 remaining in the quarter.
Eric Zuk set up Dan Piemont for what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 13:44 mark of the final frame. The Engineers extended their advantage three minutes later as Zuk connected on a feed from Garvey. Following seven minutes of tireless defensive efforts by both sides, Garvey broke through with an unassisted goal and then found Roden for the last goal of the day.
Strathairn picked up a game-high five groundballs as Shannon added four of his own. In net, Garth Grove collected nine saves for the Engineers.
Tyler Campbell and Tim Roche each posted three groundballs as Campbell made 28 saves for the Cougars.
Both teams will continue Pilgrim action next week. MIT will travel to Wheaton College on Wednesday, April 23 while Clark will host Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Tuesday, April 22.


text: Premier Traveler Awards Ceremony 2014, including (from left to right) Michael Kohlstrand, Vice President of Sales – West Coast; Aubrey Tiedt, Vice President of Guest Services; and, Geert Boven, Senior Vice President of the Amer 06 Dec 2014 13:30 Etihad Airways has been recognized as "Best Airline in the Middle East" by the readers of U.S.-based Premier Traveler magazine. The award was presented at Premier Traveler's "Best of 2014 Awards Gala" yesterday, December 4 at the Sofitel Hotel in Los Angeles. A survey of more than 10,000 of the magazine's readers determined the award winners. "At Etihad Airways, we benchmark against not only the best airlines in the world, but the very best within the hospitality industry, including five-star hotels, restaurants and resorts," said James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways. "Our aim is not to be the world's biggest airline but to be the very best in class as determined by our guests traveling with us across every cabin of service. The secret ingredient to all of this remains our employees who are the ambassadors of the Etihad Airways brand on the ground and in the air. This award is a testament to their dedication and commitment to excellence and we are honored to be named Best Airline in the Middle East by the readers of Premier Traveler magazine." Etihad Airways continues its rapid expansion within the U.S. this year, doubling the total number of cities the airline serves to six with its most recent launch of new daily, nonstop service to San Francisco on November 18 and nonstop service to Dallas/Fort Worth on December 3. Guests traveling between cities within America, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., can also connect to the airline's home of Abu Dhabi, a rapidly growing, globally competitive aviation, cultural and economic marketplace, onto the world. Get in touch with us. Contact us Let us know what you think Send feedback Join our community Etihad Facebook Watch our latest videos Etihad YouTube Follow us Etihad Airways


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South African Journal of Education
versão On-line ISSN 2076-3433
versão impressa ISSN 0256-0100
S. Afr. j. educ. vol.28 no.4 Pretoria Nov. 2008
Conceptions on modelling processes in Italian high-school prospective mathematics and physics teachers
Claudio FazioI; Filippo SpagnoloII
IAssistant Professor of physics education in the Faculty of Education at Palermo University, Italy. His research interests focus on the pedagogical use of the new technologies of information and communication and the re-direction of pupils' cognitive resources to improve understanding of physics at all schooling levels
IIAssociate Professor of mathematics education in the Faculty of Education at Palermo University, Italy. His research interests focus on (a) the multicultural approach in mathematics education with contributions from history of mathematics, Epistemology, Natural Language, Semiotic approach in mathematics, and mathematics communication; and (b) statistical instruments of research in mathematics education. E-mail: email@example.com
We present a study on the conceptions of Italian prospective mathematics and physics teachers with respect to modelling activities. Common ground for both the mathematician and the physicist, these activities are a relevant aspect of the Graduate School for Mathematics and Physics Teacher Education curriculum at University of Palermo, Italy. The answers to a questionnaire on the processes of modelling are analysed, according to an a-priori analysis built by taking into account a general scheme of reference on the philosophy of mathematics and physics. The study was performed by using methods of quantitative data analysis: factorial analysis of the correspondences and Gras implicative analysis. The results showed that prospective teachers appear to use mostly a constructivist approach in the modelling processes.
Modelling activities are very common both in mathematics and in physics and they also represent a popular subject in the teaching of these disciplines. One of the goals of education in scientific disciplines is, at every schooling level, to lead pupils to build models or, in other words, representations that can describe and explain real world phenomena. By means of models it is possible to obtain predictions about experimental trends, mechanisms and processes. The construction of models can be a very formative pedagogical activity (Andaloro et al., 1991; Berry et al., 1986). In fact, it allows students to see analogies and differences between many apparently different phenomena and may help them to better understand the unitary way science approaches real world problems.
It is easy to find in mathematics and physics education research literature different definitions of the process of model construction (Gilbert et al., 1998). We understand "modelling" of a phenomenon as the process by which one can,
1. identify the variables which can be relevant in the description of the phenomenon itself;
2. give a verbal and schematic description of the phenomenon;
3. determine the existing relationships between the variables; and
4. express such relationships through equations and/or rules that give the model a predictive value (Gilbert et al., 1998).
In a pedagogical approach to modelling a phenomenon, the habit of following the previously stated steps can lead to a more complete understanding of the phenomenon. It can be definitely considered an improvement with respect to the traditional school approach to the study of physics, that usually starts from the analysis of already well-formalised situations and simply involves pupils in discussing or solving equations and adapting a mathematical function to experimental data, when they are available.
It is important to note that the above indicated four steps do not necessarily have to be developed all together for every schooling level. They indicate the complete logical sequence that a mature student should perform in order to learn to correctly model an observed phenomenon. The experienced teacher will opportunely select and measure their treatment, adapting it to her/his pupils' age, to her/his own pedagogical goals, and to the level at which she/he wants to go deeper into the modelling idea.
In this article, we discuss a research study carried out with respect to the conceptions of future mathematics and physics teachers on modelling activities. Such activities are a common ground for both the mathematician and the physicist and they are a relevant aspect of the curriculum of the Mathematics and Physics section of the Graduate School for Secondary School Teacher Education (SSIS) at the University of Palermo. An aspect to take into consideration is the fact that the courses of SSIS are usually attended by mathematicians, physicists, and engineers. They have had a previous education in specific technical/scientific subjects at their university graduate courses (four years for mathematics and physics and five years for engineering). The SSIS courses consist of very intense theoretical preparation with respect to general pedagogy and psychology and also include theoretical and laboratory activity with respect to the teaching of mathematics and physics in upper secondary schools (high schools). Moreover, a relevant part of the curriculum is devoted to apprenticeship activities to be performed in real school classes, under the supervision of experienced school teachers.
The main work hypothesis is that mathematics and physics prospective teachers implicitly have their own philosophy with respect to construction of knowledge and to understanding the reality, which then becomes explicit in actual modelling processes. This "implicit philosophy" turns out to be the result of their past experience as students and of other implicit behaviours of their past teachers. Experiences of scientific literature reading and other cultural references, coming from parents and relatives and from the social context in which they live and work, can also play a relevant role.
Philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of physics: a reference framework
In literature it is possible to find many references on different philosophical approaches more or less explicitly linked to mathematics and physics and to their teaching. In Appendix 1 a description of some of these approaches is presented. In our research, we concentrated only on some of them, mainly because many philosophical approaches are not easily or commonly identifiable in future teacher behaviours. They are summarised in Table 1.
Sample and methodology
The research sample was chosen by looking at students enrolled at the mathematics and physics section of SSIS, at the University of Palermo, during the academic year 2002/2003. The number of students enrolled for their first year was 58; they were mainly graduates in mathematics and engineering, with only a few with a physics discipline degree. The two-year SSIS course included:
a. Head-on lessons on pedagogy, epistemology, pedagogy, psychology and anthropology;
b. widening head-on lessons on mathematics and physics subjects, from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view;
c. disciplinary pedagogical laboratories for both mathematics and physics (pedagogical laboratory of algebra, pedagogical laboratory of calculus, pedagogical laboratory of thermodynamics, etc.);
d. apprenticeship activities in high school real classes, under the supervision of experienced teachers.
At the beginning of the course, a questionnaire on the processes of modelling was administered and the answers were analysed without considering the differences in the students' cultural origin.
The questionnaire and its a-priori analysis
In this section we report on the six open-answer questions of the questionnaire, and the related a-priori analysis1 (Brousseau, 1997).
1. Are the models creations of human thought or do they already exist in nature?
A1 They are creations of human thought. They are idealisations of events that happen in nature.
A2 They are creations of human thought. They are used to outline phenomena in nature and they are only approximations of them.
A3 They are creations of human thought. Their creation comes from the continuous interaction with the 'real' external world.
A4 They are creations of human thought. They formalise the 'natural models'.
A6 They are creations of human thought.
A7 Some of them exist in nature and others are creations of human thought.
2. Do the physical models play an explanatory and/or predictive role of the phenomena?
B1 Building, understanding and explaining how the various phenomena operate.
B2 They have both roles.
B3 The model represents the reality. When formalised, it can give new information about nature.
B4 They have both roles, but are understood better within a theory (formal laws).
B6 They explain phenomena.
B7 They foresee phenomena.
3. Do the models serve to obtain information about nature?
C1 Understanding and explaining how the phenomena happen and operate.
C2 Yes.
C3 Yes, if theorised it can lead to new information about nature.
C4 Yes, if theorised it can lead to new information about nature and it can be used to make some predictions.
C5 Yes, but they do not completely exhaust the scientific research.
C6 Yes, it checks the evolution and the development of a well known phenomenon.
C7 No, they are only representations of natural phenomena.
C8 Not always.
4. Are the terms model and theory synonymous?
D1 No
D2 No, because the model is a representation of a phenomenon and on this a theory is built.
D3 The model can be useful for explaining a theory.
D4 No, the theory includes the models.
D5 No, but they are dialectically connected.
D6 No, they are connectible but not synonymous.
D7 Yes.
D8 The model can be useful for building a theory.
D9 No, the model is the tool that makes a theory explicit.
5. Are all models in physics representations of real things, existing objects structures or processes in nature? Give some examples and reasons for them.
E1 Yes. For example: kinetic theory of gases, atomic model, harmonic oscillator with/without friction, heat. .
E2 Not always. For example: some electrical and magnetic phenomena, heat,
E3 Yes, they are representations in continuous evolution for a better adaptation to the observed phenomena.
E4 No, because the model is always an abstraction.
E5 Yes, the model is a representation of how "things could be" for explaining a series of observed phenomena.
E6 Yes.
6. What can be the usefulness of formalising a theory?
G1 It must allow a process of explanation, but above all it has to allow the prediction of a series of phenomena. To the 'Theory' concept is associated the idea of predicting what can happen.
G2 It must be able to describe the observed phenomena, generalising them into typical cases.
G4 Mathematical formalisation always allows explaining and predicting.
G5 Mathematical formalisation supplies the operative tools to allow the quantitative application of the theory.
G6 It allows communication and sharing of results. It represents a reference point for everyone.
Data analysis
Every experimental research project requires the researcher to collect some data that can be considered formed of a collection of elementary information. In the specific field of pedagogical research, each piece of elementary information reports, in general, a behaviour of a pupil in a situation. A statistical analysis of data will, therefore, take into account a set composed of: student, situation, and behaviours.
Let us consider that the student belongs to an observed sample E, assumed to be extracted from a larger population, either by chance or following a system of control situations (e.g. scholastic level, gender, previous personal knowledge). The situation is chosen in a set S (e.g. of questions, exercises) generated and structured by conditions and parameters of varying nature (e.g. the knowledge in play, material conditions, didactic conditions). The behaviours (typical of knowledge or of aimed knowledge) are taken in a set C of the student's possible responses in the conditions in which he is placed.
A class can be defined as a set of students E, a Mathematics/Physics course as a set of exercises S, the results of the students as a certain application of E in the set S × C, where C is the set of the behaviours of success or error, a note as an application of S × C in R.
Knowledge of a certain behaviour can be represented by a certain application of a set of questions in a set of behaviours.
With respect to historical and epistemological analysis, we have attempted to identify the groups of variables (behaviours of the pupils in a table of contingency) highlighted in the a-priori analysis. This made us able to identify a table (Table 2) of a-priori contingency that gave us the possibility to analyse the experimental data in an appropriate way.
We called these groups 'supplementary variables'. They represent different cognitive styles and they allow better analysis of the experimental data. The introduction of supplemental variables as ideal individuals has been used in many research papers of the GRIM (see, for example, Spagnolo, 1998; 2006; 2008). The results of these research projects allow us to validate this method both experimentally and theoretically. In this context, due to the high number of variables in play, such an investigative method allows better highlighting of the fundamental characteristics of the a-priori analysis.
Let us clarify the conceptions further:
1. Platonism:
a. Models are creations of human thought. They formalise the 'natural models'.
b. Some exist in nature, others are creations of human thought.
c. Understanding and explaining how the phenomena operate.
d. Yes (the models serve to obtain information about nature).
e. Yes, if theorised they can lead us new information about nature.
f. Yes, if theorised they can lead us to new information about nature and to make predictions.
g. No, they are only representations of natural phenomena.
2. Pragmatism, Empiricism:
a. Yes. For example: kinetic theory of gases, atomic model, harmonic oscillator with/without friction, heat ...
b. Mathematical formalisation supplies the operative tools to allow the quantitative application of the theory.
c. It allows communication and sharing of results. It represents a reference point for everyone.
3. Constructivism (also in the probabilist vision):
a. Models are creations of human thought. Their creation comes from the continuous interaction with the 'real' external world.
b. Building, understanding and explaining how the various phenomena operate.
c. They have both roles.
d. They foresee phenomena.
e. Yes, if theorised they can lead us to new information about nature and to make predictions.
f. Yes, but they do not completely exhaust the scientific research.
g. Yes, it checks the evolution and the development of a well-known phenomenon.
h. No (the terms model and theory are not synonymous).
i. No, because the model is a representation of a phenomenon and on this a theory is built.
j. The model can be useful for building a theory.
k. Yes, models are representations in continuous evolution for a better adaptation to the observed phenomena.
l. It must allow a process of explanation, but above all it has to allow the prediction of a series of phenomena. To the 'Theory' concept is associated the idea of predicting what can happen.
m. Mathematical formalisation supplies the operative tools to allow the quantitative application of the theory.
n. It allows communication and sharing of results. It represents a reference point for everyone.
4. Formalism, Logicism: control of the deductive activity
a. The model represents reality; when formalised, it can give new information about nature.
b. They have both roles, but are understood better within a theory (formal laws).
c. Yes, if theorised they can lead us to new information about nature.
d. Yes, if theorised they can lead us to new information about nature and to make predictions.
e. The model can be useful for explaining a theory.
f. No, the theory includes the models.
g. No, but they are dialectically connected.
h. No, they are connectible, but not synonymous.
i. Yes, (the terms model and theory are synonymous).
j. No, the model is the tool that makes a theory explicit.
k. Not always, example: some electrical and magnetic phenomena and/or heat.
l. No, because the model is always an abstraction.
m. It must be able to describe the observed phenomena, generalising them into typical cases.
n. Mathematical formalisation always allows explaining and predicting.
5. Aristotelian and Galilean Premise:
a. Models are creations of human thought; they are idealisations of events that happen in nature.
b. They are creations of human thought. They are used to outline phenomena in nature. They are approximations of the natural phenomenon.
c. They are creations of human thought.
d. Some of them exist in nature and others are creations of human thought.
e. Building, understanding and explaining how the various phenomena operate.
f. They explain phenomena.
g. Yes. For example: kinetic theory of gases, atomic model, harmonic oscillator with/without friction, heat
h. Yes, the model is a representation of how 'things could be' for explaining a series of observed phenomena.
i. Yes (the models in physics are representations of real things )
Statistical analysis with respect to the variables in play
The analysis of the similarities, the implicative and the hierarchical implicative analysis do not give results that can be compared in a clear-cut way. Five profiles of pupils who follow the table of a-priori contingencies have been introduced as supplementary variables. These profiles correspond to:
1. Platonist;
2. Pragmatist, Empiricist;
3. Constructivist;
4. Formalist, Logicist;
5. With Aristotelian-Galilean premise.
Similarity analysis and factorial analysis with supplementary variables.
Non-parametric statistics uses small samples and utilises specific analysis methods and software. In this research we used two different non-parametric statistical data analysis methods: the method of similarities between variables and factorial analysis. These two methods classify variables and group them according to hierarchical levels (similarities) and to variables of variable (factorial analysis) and supplement each other.
Lermann's similarity index classifies variables according to hierarchical levels. It follows the Poisson law and it is defined as follows:
Where n a and n b are, respectively, the occurrences of A and B.
The Lermann's similarity index is related to the implication index by the following formula:
Data were analysed by using C.H.I.C.2 (Classification Hiérarchique Implicative et Cohésitive) software. The analysis of data with supplementary variables was done on the transposed matrix. Therefore, the number of variables, in the transposed matrix, is 58 plus 5. The matrix that we took into account is of the following form:
So, when taking into account the transposed matrix, it has the form:
The similarity graph, resulting from C.H.I.C. analysis, is reported in Figure 1.
From this graph it can be seen that the similarity analysis classifies student groups with respect to the three supplementary variables 'Constructivism', 'Platonism Aristotelian/Galilean' , 'Formalism'. The closer the variables are with respect to the highest level, the stronger the similarity is, but the splitting between the three groups appears to be clear. The Formalist profile remains isolated, while the Platonist with the Aristotelian-Galilean form a significant group. The majority of students appears to be Constructivist, even if at a lower level of significance.
Factorial analysis of the correspondences
Data were also analysed with the SPSS 10.03 software. In using this software, we used only two factors4 as the information possible to obtain is still sufficient, while obtaining a significant simplification of analysis.
The resulting variance spread is 27.45. This value can be considered significant, due to the high number of variables in the transposed matrix (students plus supplementary variables). The rotated components graph, reporting results of the performed factorial analysis, is shown in Figure 2.
From the factorial analysis we can make a final consideration. One rather evident result is that there are two large groups of pupils with respect to the vertical factor. The bigger group is composed by 'Constructivist', while the other one is composed by 'Aristotelian-Galilean' and 'Platonist'.
This allows us to conclude that a relevant number of future mathematics and physics teachers appear to adopt constructivist reasoning schemes, but other reasoning schemes appear to be present too.
In this article, we have reported a research study regarding the conceptions on modelling activities of future upper secondary school mathematics and physics teachers. The research sample was composed of prospective teachers attending the mathematics and physics section of the Graduate School for Secondary School Teacher Education (SSIS) at University of Palermo, Italy. In analysing the data, we used two different quantitative analysis methods, obtaining very similar results.
From our data the 'constructivist' conception seems to be the most common in our sample. This confirms our main work hypothesis: we can suppose that previous experience as a student of the secondary schools and subsequent university instruction can have induced some, maybe unconscious, disposition toward Constructivism in prospective teachers.
This is apparently a common trend in future teacher conceptions about modelling in several industrialised countries. The 20th century tendencies with respect to scientific education have still be studied in their entirety, but we think that experimental considerations of this type can supply useful indications for deeper theoretical-experimental knowledge about epistemology, history of science, and the conceptions of future teachers with respect to the discipline they are going to teach.
1. Given a situation/problem, one defines a-priori analysis of a given situation/problem the set of the: a) epistemological representations; b) historical-epistemological representations; c) possible behaviours.
a. By 'epistemological representations' we understand the representations of the possible cognitive paths with respect to a particular concept. Such representations can be prepared by a student or by a scientific community in a particular historic period.
b. By 'historical-epistemological representations' we understand the representations of the cognitive paths (syntactic, semantic, pragmatic) with respect to a particular concept.
c. By 'possible behaviours' of the pupil when confronting the situation/problem, we mean all the possible solution strategies both correct and not. Amongst the incorrect strategies, those that can devolve into correct strategies will be taken into consideration.
The study of the epistemological and historical-epistemological representations is a priori an element of diversification with respect to the paradigm of the theory of situations. This study allows us a more exact analysis of the possible behaviours also in relation to the erroneous strategies on the part of the pupils.
2. Information regarding the software can be found at the following site of the A.R.D.M. (Association de Recherche en Didactique des Mathématiques): http://www.ardm.asso.fr/CHIC.html
3. Widely used professional statistical software.
4. Factors represent the meaning given to experimental variables that are near to x and y axes. They help to discriminate between the remaining variable groups.
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Appendix 1
In this appendix, we take into account some approaches to the philosophy of mathematics and physics, without certainly claiming to completely describe the philosophical analysis of the two disciplines. Here we will refer to some exemplifications of each philosophical framework, referring to the specialised literature for possible wider investigations.
They negate the existence of abstract elements of mathematics, but also those of other contexts. They accept finite sets. They reject the infinite as an analysable and changeable object. Classical analysis is not essential for physics, but only useful. In mathematical practice, nominalist reconstruction utilises constructive methods (algorithms for example). Amongst the nominalists one can encounter both constructivists and formalists (Wang, 1984).
They hold a nominalist position but they are nominalists who don't draw on mathematics. For example: Robinson and non-standard analysis, Hilbert and the deductive hypothetical system without any relationship to real objects. (Wang, 1984).
They are also nominalists, above all in the re-construction phases.
Theory of knowledge and cybernetic constructivism
The concept of self-regulation had its origin in the attempts to construct mechanical devices ('servomechanisms') able to substitute human activity which had the aim of controlling a specific aspect of a given situation and controlling it, or governing it, as would a human agent. The refrigerator thermostat is perhaps the most notable example. A specific temperature limit is set and, if everything works (including the cooling system), the thermostat then makes sure that, in the controlled environment, the temperature does not exceed the indicated value. It isn't, however, the thermostat that chooses the aspect to control nor the value to maintain. This choice comes from an external agent. This fact, obvious and almost insignificant in the engineering environment, assumed central importance when applying cybernetic concepts to the field of cognition was attempted. Actually, it led to a distinction between that which, in retrospect was defined as "first cybernetics" and that which was then defined as 'cybernetics of the second order'. Meanwhile, some psychologists and neurophysiologists, appropriating some of the concepts of cybernetic technique, began explaining certain behaviours of living organisms in terms of servomechanisms and homeostasis (always maintaining absolute separation between the scientist-observer and the object observed, the object to explain. Others posed for themselves as a problem their own perceiving, observing and thinking. Thus, one passed from the study of the systems observed to the study of the observers.
If one is convinced that a living organism can be distinguished from mechanical devices by the ability to choose, at least within certain limits, the aspects to be conceived (because also perception presupposes the existence of concepts) and to keep them more or less in balance amongst themselves, then one very quickly realises that what is called 'Knowing' is something something the organism cannot find prefabricated. One realises that 'Knowledge' cannot be a 'representation' of the external world made up of little pieces or 'information' taken away of the 'real' world, but must be an internal construction made with internal material. Starting from neurophysiologic research in the field of visible perception of amphibians, Maturana & Varela (1985) reached the same conclusions. On the basis of a series of very refined experiments, they showed that what the observer categorises, for example, as 'the insect that gets eaten by a frog in one jump', is nothing for the frog but a combination of electrical impulses of whose origin the frog can know nothing.
A second factor brought to light by cybernetics regards communications. It isn't necessary to dwell on the mathematical theory of Shannon who for the first time supplied a useful and precise definition of the notion of information. It suffices to remember what the analysis of the communication process shows in a very clear way: it is the physical signals that, one can say, 'travel' from the sender to the receiver, not their meanings. Therefore, these signals, and this also stands for the words of natural language, do not transmit contents but instructions of choice, and this choice regards the repertoire of concepts and of conceptual structures that each of the communicants has built during his experience of social interaction. Cybernetics, therefore, with these two factors has supplied two important elements to the theory of knowledge.
In Psychology
In 1936 Piaget published 'La construction du réel chez l'enfant' (The Construction of Reality in the Child). At first glance, despite the unsettling title and some argumentative sentences in the introduction, the text could seem nothing other than a chronicle of the conceptual development of Piaget's children during the first two years of their lives. Therefore, it does not surprise us that professional philosophers and others interested in the epistemology of adults have relegated this work to infantile psychology. Instead, the work is not only complex but profound; such that even today it constitutes a cornerstone of constructivism.
The complexity of the text derives from the fact that Piaget presents a model of construction of more than one concept: 'object', 'space', 'randomness' and 'time', and then suggests how the four elements are integrated to form the background of experience, that is, the external world. Given that it has to do with a composite model, the author must of course explain the construction of the parts, one after the other, although in the child their generation is simultaneous. In this way, it is up to the reader to consider the play of the interactions that is realised up to the end of the constructive process towards the age of two years. A notable effort and, seeing the inappropriate judgments that are heard from various parts, I have the impression that few readers have carried it through to the end.
Piaget introduces the term 'constructivism' as descriptive of his 'Genetic Epistemology'. In short, in cognitive psychology, constructivism begins just as soon as one realises that any knowledge, that is not assumed to be innate, can only be generated by the physical and conceptual activities of the subject himself. Setting aside the question of whether knowledge is or is not a representation of an independent reality, if one doesn't want to imagine a newborn child who has in his head everything he will know in his life, it is necessary to explain the way in which he knows. Such an explanation, however one looks at it, will have to highlight a process of construction. And, it is exactly the way in which the conceptual construction is analysed that generates a distinction between the contemporary versions of constructivism.
Setting aside the construction of conceptual structures, there is another indispensable idea for completing the concept of radical constructivism; an idea that comes from the Darwinian theory of evolution and was used independently by various scholars around the beginning of the last century. It has to do with the idea of negative selection; therefore, the elimination of that which is not necessary or does not work, so that everything that remains is "suitable" or, as I prefer to say, viable, that is, usable, practicable. It seems that William James was the first to suggest, in 1880, the use of this principal in epistemology.
In mathematics and physics
Intuitionism of the 1900s, Constructivism is a way of doing mathematics and physics. There exist different types of constructivists: liberals, fundamentalists, etc.
Constructivism addresses itself to producing mathematics/physics attentive to the type of demonstrations developed, to the information derived and to the actual content of the theorems. Every theorem must state something that can be done, not that exists. It generally uses weak logic. It accepts the potential infinite. It rejects classical mathematics (of the 1900s), the continuous set theory, the "pathological" functions, the management of the infinite carried out with Cantor's methodologies.
"Mathematics is a mix of the real and the ideal", the real part supplies the check, the ideal part allows simplifications and opens new possibilities. The balance must be reasonable and the pragmatic considerations must be the final guide. (Wang, 1985; Mangione, 1993).
Realists and Structuralists
Mathematics (theory of sets) is the study of an objective universe, the universe of sets; that which renders the mathematical structure semantically meaningful. In Greek mathematics: the distinction between geometry and land surveying.
Bourbakism and the architecture of mathematics:
1. The entities of which the mathematical theories speak exist;
2. The theories that have to do with them (in large measure) are true;
3. Their truth is independent of our knowledge and of our way of knowing them.
And finally:
1. The terms of the theory are either true or false;
2. That which makes them true or false is external (the semantic base of the concept of truth) (Tarski, 1965; Mangione, 1993). Quine: scientific realism. (Quine, 1969; Wang, 1985).
They belong to a philosophical current that presents itself as a reaction to the intellectualism of the 1800s, taking on, in the face of the failure of reason in relation to metaphysical problems, practice as the criterion of evaluation. Pragmatism developed between the end of the 19th century and the first twenty years of the 20th, specifically in the American and Anglo-Saxon cultural area, but it had vast influence also on continental European thought and especially in Italy. The fundamental theses of pragmatism as the term itself were introduced by the American philosopher, CS Peirce, one of its greatest representatives. He attributed the gnoseological problem to a pragmatic behaviour that is the true font of every cognitive activity. For Peirce, the knowledge of a thing is closely connected to the practical and concrete interest that the thing offers for us and the idea that we make of it is the set, the sum of the ideas that the thing provokes for our practical interest.
This cognitive behaviour would be the only unique genuine way to gather the sense of things and objects, leaving aside all those theoretical and abstract formulations that such sense ends up losing. The main worry of the Peirce pragmatists, therefore, is the establishing of a theory of meaning.
They champion Ontological Realism. The mathematical entities exist outside of us with the same character necessary for objective reality and we can then encounter, discover, study them
Connes: 'I believe myself to be rather close to the realist point of view. For me the list of the prime numbers, just to give an example, has a more stable reality than the material reality that surrounds us. We can compare the work of a mathematician to that of an explorer exploring the world'. (Changeux & Connes, 1991).
Separation between mathematics and the physical world (Galileo and the scientific revolution). The mathematical structure is the true reality and the observers perceive it imperfectly.
Mathematical truths are objective because the mathematical entities are logically defined; they are concepts. Maximum control of the deductive activity. (Dedekind, 1967; Frege, 2003).
Semiotics Interpreters
Mathematics can be classified semiotically: syntax, semantics, pragmatic. There exist, then, the operative tools of semiotics; icon, indicator, symbol, metaphors, etc. ...
Mathematics is the set of assertions: 'If then ' that are logically valid. Logic of the first order. Its role is only deductive. Formalisation is not requested. Weak logic is used. (Enriques, 1984).
Conjectures and Confutations (Lakatos, 1976; Popper, 1934).
Mathematical knowledge is like empirical knowledge (Putnam, 1967).
There are three main interpretations of Aristoteliansim: Alexandrist, Averroist and Thomist.
a. The first comes from the ancient commentator on Aristotle, Alexander of Aphrodisias. Alexander maintained that in man the Intellect Potential is present, but that the Intellect Agent is the same supreme Cause (God) who, illuminating the intellect potential, makes knowledge possible. Being so, there is no place for an immortal soul, given that it should coincide with the Intellect Agent.
b. In the 11th century, Averroës commented on the works of Aristotle. Characteristic of his interpretation was the thesis according to which there existed an Intellect, unique for all men and separate from them. Thus, every possibility of speaking of the immortality of man collapsed, the only immortal being the unique Intellect.
Typical of this current was, then, the so-called doctrine of the 'double truth', which distinguished the truth accessible through the force of reason from that accessible only through faith.
c. The third interpretation is the Thomistic one, which attempted a grand conciliation between Aristotelian thought and Christian doctrine.
In the Renaissance ...
In the age of the Renaissance all of these interpretations were posed again. Today, one tends to contest the validity of this outline, noting how reality is very complex and how there is not a single Aristotelian who can claim to be a follower of one of these tendencies on all points and how, on the individual problems, the various thinkers mutate ideas with great variety of combination.
As concerns the themes, we recall that, because of the structure of university teaching, the Aristotelians of the Renaissance period were overall involved with logical-gnoseological problems and with physics problems (the politics, the ethics and the poetry remained the heritage of the humanistic philologists).
With respect to the sources of knowing, the Aristotelians distinguish: (a) the authority of Aristotle, (b) reason applied to the facts, (c) direct experience. However, little by little they began to prefer the last one, to the point that scholars believe they can be defined (at least tendentially) as "empiricists".
All the concepts of Aristotelian physics were analytically discussed, but, on this ground, the general set up of the cosmology of the Stagirian, that distinguished the celestial world made up of incorruptible ethers from the terrestrial one constituted of corruptible elements, did not allow for notable progress, imposing this rigorous separation of astronomy from physics. Moreover, the theory of the four qualitatively determined elements and of the "forms" made the qualification of physics and the application of mathematics impossible.
Physical reality is fundamental. Mathematical language is only a useful approximation.