02 SEP 2016 by ideonexus
Effects of Good Teachers on Student Outcomes
These findings would suggest that the difference in achievement gains between having a 25th percentile teacher (a not so effective teacher) and a 75th percentile teacher (an effective teacher) is over one-third of a standard deviation (0.35) in reading and almost half a standard deviation (0.48) in mathematics. Similarly, the difference in achievement gains between having a 50th percentile teacher (an average teacher) and a 90th percentile teacher (a very effective teacher) is about one-third... 1 
notes
notes13 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Gary Gygax Explains Dice
As the DM, the tools of your trade are dice — platonic solid-shaped or just about any other sort. The random numbers you generate by rblling dice determine the results based on the probabilities determined herein or those you have set forth on your own. In case you are not familiar with probability curves, there are two types which are determined by your dice: linear (straight line),'which has equal probability of any given integer in the number group, and bell (ascending and descending lin... 1 notes
notesProbability, percentages, averages, there's a lot of math in this introduction to the most important tool of the gamer.
What does it mean that the average role of a 1d6 is 3.5 but the probability of any number coming up is 16.7?
12 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Individuals VS Species
The assumptions of population thinking are diametrically opposed to those of the typologist. The populationist stresses the uniqueness of everything in the organic world. What is true for the human species,–that no two individuals are alike, is equally true for all other species of animals and plants ... All organisms and organic phenomena are composed of unique features and can be described collectively only in statistical terms. Individuals, or any kind of organic entities, form populatio...Folksonomies: taxonomy perspective
Folksonomies: taxonomy perspective
1 notes
notesSpecies are classified according to a mean, the perspective is to ignore the variation within the species.
28 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Benefits of Exercise for Pregnancy
Does that mean exercise should be a part of human pregnancies? Evidence suggests the answer is yes. The first benefit is a practical one, having to do with labor. Many women report that giving birth is both the most exhilarating experience of their lives and the most painful. But women who exercise regularly have a much easier time giving birth than obese women. For fit women, the second stage of labor—that painful phase where you have to do a lot of pushing—lasts an average of 27 minutes... 1 notes
notesWomen who are fit have a shorter second stage labor compared to women who are obese, resulting in less stress and oxygen deprivation for the infant.
19 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Guppies Evolve Their Spots in Experimentation
Guppies are popular freshwater aquarium fish. As with the pheasants we met in Chapter 3,
the males are more brightly coloured than the females, and aquarists have bred them to become
even brighter. Endler studied wild guppies (Poecilia reticulata) living in mountain streams in
Trinidad, Tobago and Venezuela. He noticed that local populations were strikingly different from
each other. In some populations the adult males were rainbow-coloured, almost as bright as those
bred in aquarium tanks. H...Folksonomies: evolution experimentation
Folksonomies: evolution experimentation
1 Spots are attractive to females, but also attractive to predators.
