Using video cases to encourage participants’ engagement with research and theory: Emergent pedagogies from an online course on digital technologies for mathematical learning

In this paper we present the model behind our on-line master level module Digital Technologies for Mathematical Learning, which focuses on the teaching and learning supported by digital technologies. In our evaluation of the delivery of this module over two years, we reflect here on the emergence of two pedagogies: the online pedagogy of the tutors, ensuring that online teaching and learning is effective and the participants’ developing RiTPACK (Research Informed Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge - our own acronym for this concept) as they start experimenting with using the digital technology in their classroom practice and linking it with the research knowledge base of the module

Kondo effect in spin-orbit mesoscopic interferometers

We consider a flux-threaded Aharonov-Bohm ring with an embedded quantum dot coupled to two normal leads. The local Rashba spin-orbit interaction acting on the dot electrons leads to a spin-dependent phase factor in addition to the Aharonov-Bohm phase caused by the external flux. Using the numerical renormalization group method, we find a splitting of the Kondo resonance at the Fermi level which can be compensated by an external magnetic field. To fully understand the nature of this compensation effect, we perform a scaling analysis and derive an expression for the effective magnetic field. The analysis is based on a tight-binding model which leads to an effective Anderson model with a spin-dependent density of states for the transformed lead states. We find that the effective field originates from the combined effect of Rashba interaction and magnetic flux and that it contains important corrections due to electron-electron interactions. We show that the compensating field is an oscillatory function of both the spin-orbit and the Aharonov-Bohm phases. Moreover, the effective field never vanishes due to the particle-hole symmetry breaking independently of the gate voltage.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Learning from the pandemic: Capitalising on opportunities and overcoming challenges for mathematics teaching and learning practices with and through technology

This new working group (WG) was created to discuss the theoretical and methodological challenges faced by the mathematics education field when the prevailing boundaries of the classroom shifted; alongside the changed nature of the classroom interactions between the humans (teachers and students) and the chosen technologies. Starting with the assumption that technology resources are being used, the WG explored the nature of these tools and their affordances for the mathematical teaching and learning. The work was framed by the following three pedagogic activities, which are proving to be particularly challenging: introducing and developing understanding of new mathematical topics; managing interaction and communication in mathematics; and assessing mathematics, both formatively and summatively. Three case studies of teachers’ practices were presented to initiate discussions with respect to these challenges and to highlight some existing theoretical and methodological frames

Alternative Solutions for Data Storage Using Magnetic Films Exchange-Coupled Through Non-Magnetic Layer

We describe an alternative solution to encode information in magnetic films that goes beyond the conventional way of digital magnetic recording. In our approach the information is stored via a continuous variable, namely the remanent coupling angle between two magnetic films that are separated by a nonmagnetic spacer layer. Using the technique of nuclear resonant scattering (NRS) [1, 2] we show with good precision, how this coupling angle can be conveniently adjusted with high degree of remanence by shortly applied external magnetic fields. Moreover this effect is explained using a micromagnetic model [3, 4]. Extremely important for future applications of this concept, we demonstrate, that the remanent coupling angles can be read out via magneto-optical or magneto-resistance effects. In principle, this approach allows to design novel memory cells for advance data storage devices, where multiple states per unit cell can be generated and recorded

Establishment of methodical basics and initial analysis for the physiological characterization of Roseobacter clade bacteria

Die Roseobacter-Gruppe gehört zu den dominanten Bakteriengruppen mariner Habitate. Über ihre Physiologie und zugehörige Genetik ist wenig bekannt. Im ersten Abschnitt der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden deshalb die methodischen Grundlagen für eine genetische Analyse von Mitgliedern der Roseobacter-Gruppe gelegt. Es wurden Transformationsprotokolle mittels Elektroporation und Transduktion etabliert. Stabil replizierbare Plasmide wurden identifiziert und ein Sauerstoff-unabhängiges Reportergensystem erfolgreich getestet. Im zweiten Teil wurde das Sekretom verschiedener Stämme der Roseobacter-Gruppe funktionell mittels Enzymnachweisverfahren und strukturell mittels 2D-Gelelektrophorese basierten Proteomics bestimmt. Eine Adaption des Sekretoms an sich ändernde Nährstoffbedingungen wurde beobachtet. Schließlich wurde die anaerobe Genexpression von Dinoroseobacter shibae umfassend für denitrifizierende und Arginin-fermentierende Bedingungen in Abhängigkeit von Licht mittels DNA-Array Analysen erfasst. Eine generelle anaerobe Induktion von über siebzig Genen ohne großen Einfluss von Nitrat, Arginin oder Licht wurde beobachtet. Zusammengefasst wurden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wesentliche methodische und intellektuelle Grundlagen für eine zukünftige systembiologische Charakterisierung der Roseobacter-Gruppe gelegt.The Roseobacter clade belongs to the dominant groups of bacteria in marine habitats. Little is know about their physiology and its corresponding genetics. Therefore, in the first section of the present work, a methodological background was established which enables the genetic analysis of members of the Roseobacter clade. Transformation protocols using electroporation and transduction were established. After identification of stable replicating plasmids, an oxygen-independent reporter gene system was developed. In the second part, the secretome of different strains of the Roseobacter group were determined. Functional analysis were performed via enzyme assays while structural analysis were carried out via 2D-gel electrophoresis based Proteomics. An adaptation of the secretome towards changing nutrient supplies was observed. Finally, the anaerobic gene expression of Dinoroseobacter shibae both under denitrifying as well as arginine-fermentative conditions according to light was comprised extensively via DNA-array analysis. A general anaerobic induction of more than sixty genes without any influence of nitrate, arginine or light was observed. Summarised, essential methodological and intellectual basics for future characterization of the Roseobacter-group via system biology were created

Ground water regimes containing country rock minerals in Southern Kuzbass (case study: Narysk-Ostashkin)

The paper describes the calculation results revealing groundwater in equilibrium to carbonates and aluminosilicate minerals of country rocks in Narysk-Ostashkinsk area. It was proved that groundwater is in nonequilibrium to primary (endogenous) minerals in which they dissolve, however are in equilibrium to clays and carbonates which precipitate in the groundwater. The groundwater composition varies

Learning from the pandemic: Capitalising on opportunities and overcoming challenges for mathematics teaching and learning practices with and through technology

This working group (WG), which met for the second time in June 2021, was created to discuss the theoretical and methodological challenges faced by the mathematics education field when the prevailing boundaries of the classroom shifted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a brief introduction to the aims for the WG, we offer three further case studies of teachers’ practices and an emerging synthesis of the cases according to three pedagogic activities that are proving to be particularly challenging

Engagement discourses, relationality and the student voice: connectedness, questioning and inclusion in post-Covid digital practices

The Covid-19 crisis has led to a rapid pivot to online teaching and student engagement across higher education internationally, due to public health ‘lockdown’ measures. In March 2020 in the UK this move was sudden, and universities were forced to move their provision to digital formats with little preparatory time, and in many cases, inadequate training and experience. In the subsequent period, higher education institutions have prioritised the enhancement of digital education, with a range of strategic initiatives and training programmes for teaching staff. This paper, written by a staff-student partnership of authors, reports on two institutionally-supported studies conducted at a large, research-focused university in England, in which student views were sought on their experiences and priorities surrounding online engagement during the Covid-19 crisis. In our discussion of the findings, we argue that the student accounts challenge some of the mainstream assumptions about constructs such as student ‘inclusivity’, academic ‘community’ online, and teaching which encourages ‘questioning’, requiring us to think more deeply about what constitutes a meaningful and rich online educative experience. In the spirit of ‘lessons learned’ from the Covid-19 pandemic, the paper proposes alternative conceptions of these values, emphasising relationality, communities, difference, and the importance of an ethos of care. We conclude with a discussion of findings, implications for theory, research, policy and practice in a post-pandemic context, proposing that an ethos of care be recognised as central to the development of digital education and the practices and ethics of student engagement

Learning from Lockdown: Listening to students' voices about the challenges and benefits in the post-COVID-19 digital practices

The sudden move to remote teaching and learning in Spring 2020 brought together staff and students in order to learn from each other how to best address the challenges of the new ways of teaching and learning. In this synchronous presentation the seven authors will take turns: *to introduce the two institutionally-supported studies conducted last year, one surveying the UCL undergraduates, and the other one surveying the postgraduate taught students in the CPA department of UCL IoE; *to share the framework that guided the analysis of students’ views of their experiences and priorities surrounding online learning, gathered via online surveys and focussed group discussions; *to propose alternative conceptions for what could be a meaningful and rich online educative experience; *to discuss our findings and their implications for theory, research, policy and practice in a post-pandemic context; and last and most important, *to describe how staff and students collaborated on carrying out these projects, and later worked together to write an academic paper about to the two projects