A gentle transition from Java programming to Web Services using XML-RPC

Exposing students to leading edge vocational areas of relevance such as Web Services can be difficult. We show a lightweight approach by embedding a key component of Web Services within a Level 3 BSc module in Distributed Computing. We present a ready to use collection of lecture slides and student activities based on XML-RPC. In addition we show that this material addresses the central topics in the context of web services as identified by Draganova (2003)

Developing mathematical giftedness within primary schools: A study of strategies for educating children who are gifted in mathematics

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis explores the range of strategies used for educational provision for gifted children in mathematics in a group of schools in England. A review of literature relating to international theory and existing research in gifted education and empirical work into the teaching of gifted mathematicians were carried out. The literature review examined the dominant theories of intelligence and giftedness in general, including the historical background of definitions of giftedness and methods for its measurement, before specifically focusing on the concept of mathematical giftedness. The study was located in primary schools within Greater London, where schools are required to implement the ‘Gifted and Talented’ policy of the UK government. The research was conducted in two stages during the school years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The first stage involved a questionnaire survey sent to primary schools within five Local Educational Authorities. For the second stage of the research, which constituted the main study, a case study approach was used. The main methods of data collection employed within the case study were observations of mathematics lessons, semi-structured interviews with children nominated as able or gifted mathematicians and their teachers, as well as analysing documentary evidence (i.e., school policy, teacher’s planning, children’s assessment records and children’s written work). It was found that schools were responding to the policy in pragmatic terms, although no specific training was provided for practising teachers or school co-ordinators as part of the national training programme in making provision for mathematically gifted children. In practice, in classrooms, it was found that teachers’ level of confidence and expertise, the level of focused attention given to gifted children, the level of support and extension through higher-order questioning, as well as the size of the class and the nature of the work set were factors which affected the progress, perceptions and attitudes of children who were nominated to be able mathematicians. There is a paucity of research which has investigated aspects of provision for gifted and talented children, particularly in mathematics, in the UK. By specifically addressing this topic, this study makes a distinct contribution to current literature in both understanding aspects of mathematical giftedness and the range of provision used. This study makes a particular contribution to finding out how practising teachers in England are responding to a government initiative, which should be of interest to both policy-makers and practitioners. This thesis also presents examples for organising and teaching mathematics to gifted children at higher cognitive levels, within regular classrooms; this may be of interest to audiences internationally, including countries where there are no policies of provision for mathematically gifted children

Attuning to the mathematics of difference: Haptic constructions of number.

CAPTeaM develops and trials activities that Challenge Ableist Perspectives on the Teaching of Mathematics. The project involves teachers and researchers from the UK and Brazil in reflecting upon the practices that enable or disable the participation of disabled learners in mathematics. In this paper, we focus on two themes that emerged from data analyses generated in the first phase of the study: deconstructing the notion of the normal mathematics student/classroom and attuning mathematics teaching strategies to student diversity. Here, we address these themes through exemplifying participants’ haptic constructions of number in the context of a multiplication task in terms of four strategies they devise: “counting fingers”; “tracing the sum”; “negotiating signs to indicate place value”; “decomposing”

Teachers' use of resources for mathematics teaching: The case of teaching trigonometry.

This paper draws on the documentational approach and knowledge quartet to analyse a trigonometry Year 13 lesson of a secondary mathematics teacher who uses a range of paper based and electronic resources. Data were collected during one lesson observation and a follow-up interview with the teacher. Analysis identifies the resources and schemes of use of these resources: aims of the teaching activity, rules of actions, operational invariants and inferences in relation to the trigonometry lesson but also in relation to Year 13 teaching, especially towards student preparation for the exams. It also explores this teacher’s work in the class by using the different dimensions of the knowledge quartet: foundation, transformation, connection and contingency. The findings explore teacher’s use of resources and the potencies of using the knowledge quartet in tandem with the documentational approach

Dyscalculia in higher education

This research study provides an insight into the experiences of dyscalculic students in higher education (HE). It explores the nature of dyscalculia from the student perspective, adopting a theoretical framework of the social model of disability combined with socio-cultural theory. This study was not aimed at understanding the neurological reasons for dyscalculia, but focussed on the social effects of being dyscalculic and how society can help support dyscalculic students within an HE context. The study s primary data collection method was 14 semi-structured interviews with officially identified dyscalculic students who were currently, or had been recently, studying in higher education in the UK. A participant selection method was utilised using a network of national learning support practitioners due to the limited number of participants available. A secondary data collection method involved reflective learning support sessions with two students. Data were collected across four research areas: the identification process, HE mathematics, learning support and categorisations of dyscalculia. A fifth area of fitness to practise could not be examined in any depth due to the lack of relevant participants, but the emerging data clearly pinpointed this as a significant area of political importance and identified a need for further research. A framework of five categories of dyscalculic HE student was used for data analysis. Participants who aligned with these categories tended to describe differing experiences or coping behaviours within each of the research areas. The main findings of the study were the importance of learning support practitioners in tackling mathematical anxiety, the categorisations of dyscalculic higher education students, the differing learning styles of dyscalculic and dyslexic students, and the emergence of four under-researched dyscalculic characteristics: iconicity, time perception, comprehension of the existence of numbers that are not whole and dyscalculic students understanding of non-cardinal numbers

A systemic study of learners' knowledge sharing and collaborative skills development : a case study in a British business school

Knowledge management, as Leistner (2010) argues, is a “misnomer”. Knowledge cannot be managed since it relates to prior experience and is present merely in the mind of individuals (p. 4). We can manage knowledge flow, but not the knowledge itself. Leistner states that ‘‘you can enable a flow by creating an environment that people find safe, attractive, and efficient, and that motivates them to share their knowledge. This could be either face-to-face or by recording relevant information that can be used by others to re-create knowledge in their own frame of reference’’ (p. 10). Therefore, managing the flow is “as much about creating conditions that will make sharing more likely as it is about trying to have a direct influence on people’’ (pp. 17-18).In the arena of creating such conditions, operational research (OR) is assumed to offer special capacities to lead the advancements in knowledge management and knowledge sharing research. However, the role of OR is not clear in knowledge management. There is also very little account of OR studies concerning knowledge management in combination with social network analysis. This situation has not changed over past years. In addition, although soft-OR tools promote specific solutions with which to tackle complexity management in organisations, there are very few studies concerning the use of action research and soft-OR tools such as the Viable System Model, which are designed specifically for knowledge sharing projects and simulating social networks.This research intends to design, develop and implement a soft canonical operational research (SCOR) methodological framework for the processes of knowledge sharing. The researcher combines Davison et al.’s (2012) canonical action research and Checkland’s (1985) F-M-A soft account of action research. The framework has, in itself, an embedded solution for skill development and performance improvement through collaborative knowledge sharing and experiential learning/practising. In this research, a combinative perspective of VSM and SNA is considered.Adopting a pragmatic philosophy with an interpretivist ontology and relativist epistemology, the researcher inductively conducted two cycles of action research and analysed the outcomes. Four types of transformations occurred in (1) individuals’ skill level, (2) performance, (3) knowledge network and (4) gradual development of strategies across levels. This research elucidates said transformations and explains the key mechanisms for facilitating collective knowledge sharing in order to develop skills and to improve performance. It also brings to light the evidence regarding two unplanned phenomena that occurred in both cycles: leadership development and autopoiesis.Reflection is provided on the design of the soft-OR multi-methodology and on how this design has been useful and effective in the present research. In addition, the study’s contributions to knowledge and practice are also explained. This research suggests that guided self-organisation is a more effective approach for skill development than traditional methods and that it can create an effective context in which a knowledge network is able to reproduce itself. Finally, the limitations of the research and implications for future studies are clarified

Developing mathematical giftedness within primary schools : a study of strategies for educating children who are gifted in mathematics

This thesis explores the range of strategies used for educational provision for gifted children in mathematics in a group of schools in England. A review of literature relating to international theory and existing research in gifted education and empirical work into the teaching of gifted mathematicians were carried out. The literature review examined the dominant theories of intelligence and giftedness in general, including the historical background of definitions of giftedness and methods for its measurement, before specifically focusing on the concept of mathematical giftedness. The study was located in primary schools within Greater London, where schools are required to implement the ‘Gifted and Talented’ policy of the UK government. The research was conducted in two stages during the school years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The first stage involved a questionnaire survey sent to primary schools within five Local Educational Authorities. For the second stage of the research, which constituted the main study, a case study approach was used. The main methods of data collection employed within the case study were observations of mathematics lessons, semi-structured interviews with children nominated as able or gifted mathematicians and their teachers, as well as analysing documentary evidence (i.e., school policy, teacher’s planning, children’s assessment records and children’s written work). It was found that schools were responding to the policy in pragmatic terms, although no specific training was provided for practising teachers or school co-ordinators as part of the national training programme in making provision for mathematically gifted children. In practice, in classrooms, it was found that teachers’ level of confidence and expertise, the level of focused attention given to gifted children, the level of support and extension through higher-order questioning, as well as the size of the class and the nature of the work set were factors which affected the progress, perceptions and attitudes of children who were nominated to be able mathematicians. There is a paucity of research which has investigated aspects of provision for gifted and talented children, particularly in mathematics, in the UK. By specifically addressing this topic, this study makes a distinct contribution to current literature in both understanding aspects of mathematical giftedness and the range of provision used. This study makes a particular contribution to finding out how practising teachers in England are responding to a government initiative, which should be of interest to both policy-makers and practitioners. This thesis also presents examples for organising and teaching mathematics to gifted children at higher cognitive levels, within regular classrooms; this may be of interest to audiences internationally, including countries where there are no policies of provision for mathematically gifted children.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A phenomenological exploration of feelings, thinking and learning: a practitioner action research investigation

In this thesis I researched as a student, teacher, educational mentor, researcher and evaluator investigating the effects and functions of feelings in learning. Feelings were defined as physical and mental sensations. Four data strands contributed to a new learning theory developed over eight years. Using collaborative methods I asked the guiding question; “What is the relationship between feelings, thinking and learning?” including an appropriate subsidiary question in each strand. My first aim was to find causes for disaffected student behaviour. While home-tutoring I asked the question; "Emotional blocks: what do they tell us about the learning process?" The resulting narratives revealed complex ecological factors of which I was previously unaware (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Inquiry Strand 1: Tutoring 12 school refusers). These were analysed thematically. In the second strand I asked; "How do feelings affect my learning and teaching?” resolving learning problems and developing professional insight. (Inquiry Strand 2: The author's learning process). The third strand compared other teachers’ experiences asking; “How do feelings affect other teachers’ learning and teaching?" (Inquiry Strand 3: Mentoring 8 teachers as learners). The fourth strand explored the theory’s potential to inform professional practice (Inquiry Strand 4: Evaluating a primary school arts festival: observations of feeling based learning in action). Strands 2, 3 and 4 were also thematically analysed and included a framework of positive 'emotionally linked' learning behaviours as additional themes. The latter were derived from Claxton’s Effective Learning Profile (2002). In this Resilience is associated with absorption, managing distractions, noticing, perseverance; Resourcefulness with questioning, making links, imagining, reasoning; Reflectiveness with planning, revising, distilling, meta-learning and Reciprocity with interdependence, collaboration, empathy, listening and imitation. My fifth aim of sharing findings with others was undertaken throughout the research. My theory developed through reading, self reflection, writing and working with those who participated as colleagues and students (Wenger 2002). The findings make a contribution to knowledge, which evidences the claim that in education feelings may usefully be considered as legitimate thoughts

Navigating Toward Success: Black and Minority Ethnic Students in Postgraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Courses in England

This thesis aims to address a paucity in the literature of the experiences of ‘home’ Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students in postgraduate (PG) education in England, with a particular focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This is done by (1) identifying institutional barriers to access to and progression through PG study, including the role of Widening Participation (WP) policy and (2) the factors facilitating educational success of BME students. This thesis uses a multi-faceted framework of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991), Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Gillborn, 2008), Bourdieusian thinking tools (Bourdieu 1997) and Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth (CCW) capitals (aspirational, linguistic, social, navigational, familial and resistant). It argues for the addition of what is theorised as perspective capital to the CCW framework, which can be seen as a resource that allows people of colour to make contributions to the field, stemming from a perspective which is not readily available to people from dominant groups. The data includes semi-structured initial (n=15) and follow up interviews (n=10) with BME students in PG STEM courses, semi-structured interviews with university staff (n=18), student survey (n=246) and various policy and marketing documents. The data suggests that the lack of intersectional thinking in the conceptualisation of WP policy has had negative impacts on BME students. Furthermore, BME students in this research experienced othering. This stemmed from academics’ discourses marking racial difference and from how the organisational structures of the PG field relegated these students to a category of needing support. This had negative impacts on their progression and mental wellbeing. However, students in this study had a range of capitals at their disposal, which allowed them to navigate the PG field. This thesis makes a significant contribution to knowledge by developing Yosso’s work to include a new notion of perspective capital and fine-tuning the conceptualisations of linguistic and social capitals within the CCW framework