The computer in secondary school mathematics : an analysis and classification of possible modes of application, with suggested implications for the mathematics curriculum in South Africa

There is a variety of possible ways in which computers can be used to enhance mathematics education. This thesis attempts to identify, analyse and classify these possibilities, particularly at the secondary school level. It describes and exemplifies applications ranging from drill-and-practice through games and simulations to problem solving by computer programming. Software evaluation procedures are considered in some depth. Illuminative evaluations of various items of software and there classroom use are reported. The underlying methodology is small-scale action research. Insights gained during the process of investigating each class of software lead to the eventual formulation of a scheme for classifying mathematics education software by means of 'multidimensional attributes'. It is contended that this scheme will help mathematics teachers to make well informed and sound professional judgements regarding the evaluation and use of computer programs for teaching/learning purposes. Also, it is hoped that this scheme and the thesis as a whole will contribute towards the establishment of well founded standards and procedures for software development in the field of mathematics education. Several implications of the computer for the mathematics curriculum in South Africa are suggested. A note of caution is sounded regarding possible detrimental effects of the computer and several questions requiring further research are posed. A recommendation arising from the thesis is that in-service training courses concerning computer applications in mathematics education should be run for secondary school teachers

MnSnTeO6: A Chiral Antiferromagnet Prepared by a Two-Step Topotactic Transformation

MnSnTeO6, a new chiral antiferromagnet, was prepared both by topotactic transformation of the metastable rosiaite-type polymorph and by direct synthesis from coprecipitated hydroxides. Its structure and its static and dynamic magnetic properties were studied comprehensively both experimentally (through X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, magnetization, specific heat, dielectric permittivity, and ESR techniques) and theoretically (by means of ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations within the spin-polarized generalized gradient approximation). MnSnTeO6 is isostructural with MnSb2O6 (space group P321) and does not show any structural transition between 3 and 300 K. The magnetic susceptibility and specific heat exhibit an antiferromagnetic ordering at TN ≈ 9.8 K, which is confirmed by low-temperature neutron data. At the same time, the thermodynamic parameters demonstrate an additional anomaly on the temperature dependences of magnetic susceptibility χ(T), specific heat Cp(T) and dielectric permittivity ϵ(T) at T∗ ≈ 4.9 K, which is characterized by significant temperature hysteresis. Clear enhancement of the dielectric permittivity at T∗ is most likely to reflect the coupling of dielectric and magnetic subsystems leading to development of electric polarization. It was established that the ground state of MnSnTeO6 is stabilized by seven exchange parameters, and neutron diffraction revealed incommensurate magnetic structure with propagation vector k = (0, 0, 0.183) analogous to that of MnSb2O6. Ab initio DFT calculations demonstrate that the strongest exchange coupling occurs between planes along diagonals. All exchange parameters are antiferromagnetic and reveal moderate frustration. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.The reported study was funded by Russian Science Foundation according to the research project nos. 18-12-00375 (A.K. and M.K.) for neutron studies and 17-12-01207 (E.Z. and S.S.) for magnetic, dielectric and specific heat studies as well as theoretical calculations. Sample preparation and diffraction studies by M.E., M.K., A.K., and V.N. were supported by the grant 18-03-00714 from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. V.N. thanks the International Centre for Diffraction Data for Grant-in-Aid 00-15. A.V. and S.S. acknowledge the support by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation through NUST MISiS grant K2-2017-084 and by the Act 211 of the Government of Russia, contracts 02.A03.21.0004, 02.A03.21.0011, and 02.A03.21.0006. We thank Dr. Yu.V. Popov (SFU’s Shared Use Centre “Research in Mineral Resources and Environment”) for the EDX analysis

Англійська мова для студентів електромеханічних спеціальностей

Навчальний посібник розрахований на студентів напряму підготовки 6.050702 Електромеханіка. Містить уроки, що структуровані за тематичними розділами, граматичний коментар, короткі англо-український і українсько- англійський словники та додатки, які спрямовані на закріплення загальних навичок володіння англійською мовою. Акцентований на ɨсобливості термінології, що застосовується у науково-технічній галузі, зокрема, в електромеханіці та виконання запропонованих завдань, що буде сприяти формуванню навичок перекладу з англійської та української мов, сприйняттю письмової та усної англійської мови, вмінню письмового викладення англійською мовою науково-технічних та інших текстів під час професійної діяльності, спілкуванню з професійних та загальних питань тощо

Supramolecular polymetallic clusters and grids: self-assembly, structure, and magnetic properties

Please see thesis for abstract

The dissolution of the readymade's semiotic imperative

This thesis investigates the altered status of the readymade in relation to its Duchampian inception. With Fountain, Duchamp's most exemplary readymade, the strategy is semiotic, a commonplace object being deployed as the sign of an 'absent' artwork. The object's inherent qualities are subordinate to its signification of an evident morphological alterity; insofar as any non-art object could have signified this alterity, the actual one chosen could be called a virtual art object. Initially exploiting an opposition between generic (non-art) objects and specific (art) objects, the artistic enunciation of commonplace objects to signify such a perceived morphological alterity has all but vanished. But this diminished alterity has not rendered the readymade an obsolete strategy, the terms of its contemporary application now being understood outside the Duchampian enunciative paradigm. I explore the relationship of this outsideness to the readymade's incipient semiotic imperative, moving from an analysis of more traditionally enunciative works-that is, those which emphasise the necessary (institutional) conditions for artistic expression per se-to an analysis of works which assert other (non-institutional) paradigms for their appraisal. Using Richard Wentworth's photographic work, I compare artistic appropriation with 'civilian' appropriation. I examine how Haim Steinbach's enhanced presentational approach conflates Duchampian virtuality with an object's vernacular identity. I explore the idea of consumption as an artistic procedure in which the exchange value/use value axiom is adopted as an alternative to the art/non art dichotomy inaugurated by Duchamp. Finally, I assess the relevance of these concerns to my own art practice, which has been characterised by the displacement of readymade objects into a hypothetical, and sometimes heterotopian, order of things. I end the thesis by explaining how the recent shift from this object-based strategy to a photographic, poster-based one attempts to make this heterotopian dynamic more explicit