821 research outputs found
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Computational thinking ā back to the future
Computational Thinking is regarded as a gift from Computer Science to other discipline areas, a digital literacy skill and a cornerstone of the computing programme of study has been delivered as part of the National Curriculum in English Schools since September 2014 [1]. Since Wingās [2] seminal article sets outs with a clear and concise call to embed Computational Thinking in all subject areas, the impact of, and influence of, Computational Thinking can be seen worldwide. This is evident in the ubiquitous and pervasive nature of computing, the engagement and interaction with big data in a range of disciplines and the development of the computer science curriculum in countries globally. However, there is continuing discussion and debate [3] regarding the need for a robust distinct definition of the term āComputational Thinkingā, as at present there is no collective consensus definition for this term. In this paper, the authors seek to contribute to this ongoing dialogue by presenting the findings of a desk-based academic literature review relating to computational thinking which utilised both Influential Literature Analysis [4] and Citation Analysis [5] to identify relevant key texts. These key texts were then analysed to identify the most frequent occurring items (i.e. terms, descriptions and meanings) and coded using appropriate synonyms. This review does not use Wingās article [2] as its epicentre but identifies the historical roots which have developed and shaped computational thinking. Criteria are proposed for the objectives of a definition of computational thinking, in accordance with the findings presented in the literature review. The criteria were then used as a theoretical framework together with the identified criteria as the vocabulary to propose a definition for computational thinking. The proposed definition was then evaluated against definitions proposed by other computer science educational researchers [6, 7, 3] to determine its effectiveness. The authors look back to identify the historical roots of computational thinking, and look to the future in which educators use a consensus definition of computational thinking
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Implementing the computing curriculum at national and regional level: lessons learnt
This paper will present how an emerging Community of Practice is supporting the development of a new national computing curriculum in primary (5-11 years) and secondary (11-18) schools in England.
Computing, because of its ubiquity and role in innovation, has become an essential requirement in the increasingly global digital knowledge economy. Consequently, industry, government, academics and policy makers have become increasingly concerned that England was beginning to lose its innovative and competitive edge [1] [2]. This paper will present a background to changes at national level following the disapplication of Information Communication Technology as a subject, in 2013, through to the development of a new Computing curriculum in 2014. This curriculum is applicable for children 5-16 years, while new higher level qualifications for learners 16-18 have also been introduced. The paper will consider the new curriculum, challenges faced by schools, teachers and teacher trainers in terms of delivery of the new curricula, new programming languages, changing pedagogy, and upskilling in-service and pre-service teachers.
The paper will present a national picture of support for teachers in England via funding from the Department for Education, devolved by Computing at School, a grass-roots organization that now has over 28,000 members, to 10 regional universities. The paper will then share how teachers across one region of England are building a networked community of practice comprising: computing master teachers who support less experienced teachers, and regional hubs which host events for local teachers. Data will be presented relating to teacher's growing confidence and the impact in the classroom, measured using Gukeyās [3] impact framework. This data indicates growing confidence, and identifies the support still required to increase classroom impact. The paper will finally share some of the resources teachers have found to be most useful ā these are all available online for delegates to access and share. The conclusion will focus on sharing lessons learnt from the project (The Royal Society 2017) and consider its future direction
The Anticorrelated Nature of the Primary and Secondary Eclipse Timing Variations for the Kepler Contact Binaries
We report on a study of eclipse timing variations in contact binary systems,
using long-cadence lightcurves in the Kepler archive. As a first step,
'observed minus calculated' (O-C) curves were produced for both the primary and
secondary eclipses of some 2000 Kepler binaries. We find ~390 short-period
binaries with O-C curves that exhibit (i) random-walk like variations or
quasi-periodicities, with typical amplitudes of +/- 200-300 seconds, and (ii)
anticorrelations between the primary and secondary eclipse timing variations.
We present a detailed analysis and results for 32 of these binaries with
orbital periods in the range of 0.35 +/- 0.05 days. The anticorrelations
observed in their O-C curves cannot be explained by a model involving mass
transfer, which among other things requires implausibly high rates of ~0.01
M_sun per year. We show that the anticorrelated behavior, the amplitude of the
O-C delays, and the overall random-walk like behavior can be explained by the
presence of a starspot that is continuously visible around the orbit and slowly
changes its longitude on timescales of weeks to months. The quasi-periods of
~50-200 days observed in the O-C curves suggest values for k, the coefficient
of the latitude dependence of the stellar differential rotation, of
~0.003-0.013.Comment: Published in The Astrophysical Journal, 2013, Vol. 774, p.81; 14
pages, 12 figures, and 2 table
Long-term evolution of FU Orionis objects at infrared wavelengths
We investigate the brightness evolution of 7 FU Orionis systems in the 1-100
micrometer wavelength range using data from the Infrared Space Observatory
(ISO). The ISO measurements were supplemented with 2MASS and MSX observations
performed in the same years as the ISO mission (1995-98). The spectral energy
distributions (SEDs) based on these data points were compared with earlier ones
derived from the IRAS photometry as well as from ground-based observations
carried out around the epoch 1983. In 3 cases (Z CMa, Parsamian 21, V1331 Cyg)
no difference between the two epochs was seen within the measurement
uncertainties. V1057 Cyg, V1515 Cyg and V1735 Cyg have become fainter at
near-infrared wavelengths while V346 Nor has become slightly brighter. V1057
Cyg exhibits a similar flux change also in the mid-infrared. At lambda >= 60
micrometer most of the sources remained constant; only V346 Nor seems to fade.
Our data on the long-term evolution of V1057 Cyg agree with the model
predictions of Kenyon & Hartmann (1991) and Turner et al. (1997) at near- and
mid-infrared wavelengths, but disagree at lambda > 25 micrometer. We discuss if
this observational result at far-infrared wavelengths could be understood in
the framework of the existing models.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The effect of stellar limb darkening values on the accuracy of the planet radii derived from photometric transit observations
We study how the precision of the exoplanet radius determination is affected
by our present knowledge of limb darkening in two cases: when we fix the limb
darkening coefficients and when we adjust them. We also investigate the effects
of spots in one-colour photometry. We study the effect of limb darkening on the
planetary radius determination both via analytical expressions and by numerical
experiments. We also compare some of the existing limb darkening tables. When
stellar spots affect the fit, we replace the limb darkening coefficients,
calculated for the unspotted cases, with effective limb darkening coefficients
to describe the effect of the spots. There are two important cases. (1) When
one fixes the limb darkening values according to some theoretical predictions,
the inconsistencies of the tables do not allow us to reach accuracy in the
planetary radius of better than 1-10% (depending on the impact parameter) if
the host star's surface effective temperature is higher than 5000 K. Below 5000
K the radius ratio determination may contain even 20% error. (2) When one
allows adjustment of the limb darkening coefficients, the a/Rs ratio, the
planet-to-stellar radius ratio, and the impact parameter can be determined with
sufficient accuracy (<1%), if the signal-to-noise ratio is high enough.
However, the presence of stellar spots and faculae can destroy the agreement
between the limb darkening tables and the fitted limb darkening coefficients,
but this does not affect the precision of the planet radius determination. We
also find that it is necessary to fit the contamination factor, too. We
conclude that the present inconsistencies of theoretical stellar limb darkening
tables suggests one should not fix the limb darkening coefficients. When one
allows them to be adjusted, then the planet radius, impact parameter, and the
a/Rs can be obtained with the required precision.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics Vol. 549, A9 (2013) - 11 page
Do theoretical physicists care about the protein-folding problem?
The prediction of the biologically active native conformation of a protein is
one of the fundamental challenges of structural biology. This problem remains
yet unsolved mainly due to three factors: the partial knowledge of the
effective free energy function that governs the folding process, the enormous
size of the conformational space of a protein and, finally, the relatively
small differences of energy between conformations, in particular, between the
native one and the ones that make up the unfolded state.
Herein, we recall the importance of taking into account, in a detailed
manner, the many interactions involved in the protein folding problem (such as
steric volume exclusion, Ramachandran forces, hydrogen bonds, weakly polar
interactions, coulombic energy or hydrophobic attraction) and we propose a
strategy to effectively construct a free energy function that, including the
effects of the solvent, could be numerically tractable. It must be pointed out
that, since the internal free energy function that is mainly described does not
include the constraints of the native conformation, it could only help to reach
the 'molten globule' state. We also discuss about the limits and the lacks from
which suffer the simple models that we, physicists, love so much.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX file, aipproc package. To be published in
the book: "Meeting on Fundamental Physics 'Alberto Galindo'", Alvarez-Estrada
R. F. et al. (Ed.), Madrid: Aula Documental, 200
On the Use of Multipole Expansion in Time Evolution of Non-linear Dynamical Systems and Some Surprises Related to Superradiance
A new numerical method is introduced to study the problem of time evolution
of generic non-linear dynamical systems in four-dimensional spacetimes. It is
assumed that the time level surfaces are foliated by a one-parameter family of
codimension two compact surfaces with no boundary and which are conformal to a
Riemannian manifold C. The method is based on the use of a multipole expansion
determined uniquely by the induced metric structure on C. The approach is fully
spectral in the angular directions. The dynamics in the complementary 1+1
Lorentzian spacetime is followed by making use of a fourth order finite
differencing scheme with adaptive mesh refinement.
In checking the reliability of the introduced new method the evolution of a
massless scalar field on a fixed Kerr spacetime is investigated. In particular,
the angular distribution of the evolving field in to be superradiant scattering
is studied. The primary aim was to check the validity of some of the recent
arguments claiming that the Penrose process, or its field theoretical
correspondence---superradiance---does play crucial role in jet formation in
black hole spacetimes while matter accretes onto the central object. Our
findings appear to be on contrary to these claims as the angular dependence of
a to be superradiant scattering of a massless scalar field does not show any
preference of the axis of rotation. In addition, the process of superradiance,
in case of a massless scalar field, was also investigated. On contrary to the
general expectations no energy extraction from black hole was found even though
the incident wave packets was fine tuned to be maximally superradiant. Instead
of energy extraction the to be superradiant part of the incident wave packet
fails to reach the ergoregion rather it suffers a total reflection which
appears to be a new phenomenon.Comment: 49 pages, 11 figure
Conjoint Control of Hippocampal Place Cell Firing by Two Visual Stimuli: II. a Vector-Field Theory That Predicts Modifications of the Representation of the Environment
Changing the angular separation between two visual stimuli attached to the wall of a recording cylinder causes the firing fields of place cells to move relative to each other, as though the representation of the floor undergoes a topological distortion. The displacement of the firing field center of each cell is a vector whose length is equal to the linear displacement and whose angle indicates the direction that the field center moves in the environment. Based on the observation that neighboring fields move in similar ways, whereas widely separated fields tend to move relative to each other, we develop an empirical vector-field model that accounts for the stated effects of changing the card separation. We then go on to show that the same vector-field equation predicts additional aspects of the experimental results. In one example, we demonstrate that place cell firing fields undergo distortions of shape after the card separation is changed, as though different parts of the same field are affected by the stimulus constellation in the same fashion as fields at different locations. We conclude that the vector-field formalism reflects the organization of the place-cell representation of the environment for the current case, and through suitable modification may be very useful for describing motions of firing patterns induced by a wide variety of stimulus manipulations
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