Educational Technology Topic Guide

This guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question: What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes? It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. We define edtech as the use of digital or electronic technologies and materials to support teaching and learning. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured (see http://tel.ac.uk/about-3/, 2014). Effective edtech programmes are characterised by: a clear and specific curriculum focus the use of relevant curriculum materials a focus on teacher development and pedagogy evaluation mechanisms that go beyond outputs. These findings come from a wide range of technology use including: interactive radio instruction (IRI) classroom audio or video resources accessed via teachers’ mobile phones student tablets and eReaders computer-assisted learning (CAL) to supplement classroom teaching. However, there are also examples of large-scale investment in edtech – particularly computers for student use – that produce limited educational outcomes. We need to know more about: how to support teachers to develop appropriate, relevant practices using edtech how such practices are enacted in schools, and what factors contribute to or mitigate against successful outcomes. Recommendations: 1. Edtech programmes should focus on enabling educational change, not delivering technology. In doing so, programmes should provide adequate support for teachers and aim to capture changes in teaching practice and learning outcomes in evaluation. 2. Advisors should support proposals that further develop successful practices or that address gaps in evidence and understanding. 3. Advisors should discourage proposals that have an emphasis on technology over education, weak programmatic support or poor evaluation. 4. In design and evaluation, value-for-money metrics and cost-effectiveness analyses should be carried out

Connecting Spiking Neurons to a Spiking Memristor Network Changes the Memristor Dynamics

Memristors have been suggested as neuromorphic computing elements. Spike-time dependent plasticity and the Hodgkin-Huxley model of the neuron have both been modelled effectively by memristor theory. The d.c. response of the memristor is a current spike. Based on these three facts we suggest that memristors are well-placed to interface directly with neurons. In this paper we show that connecting a spiking memristor network to spiking neuronal cells causes a change in the memristor network dynamics by: removing the memristor spikes, which we show is due to the effects of connection to aqueous medium; causing a change in current decay rate consistent with a change in memristor state; presenting more-linear $I-t$ dynamics; and increasing the memristor spiking rate, as a consequence of interaction with the spiking neurons. This demonstrates that neurons are capable of communicating directly with memristors, without the need for computer translation.Comment: Conference paper, 4 page

The role of Numidian coins in defining the gods of the kingdoms cities

تعد المسكوكات النوميدية من بين الوثائق والمصادر المادية والأثرية التي يمكن للباحث في علم التاريخ والآثار ان يعتمد عليها لفهم الغموض الذي يكتنف فترة من فترات تاريخ المغرب القديم، خاصة في جانبه الديني بما في ذلك التعرف على أسماء الآلهة المنتشرة عبر قرى ومدن المملكة النوميدية خلال الفترة الوثنية قبل ظهور الديانات السماوية. دور العملة النوميدية لا يقتصر على كتابة جانب من تاريخ المنطقة، بل إعطائه المصداقية العلمية والمدلولات التاريخية التي تساهم في توثيق تاريخ المملكة من الناحية الدينية، إلى جانب التعرف على اهم المدن التي انتشرت فيها تلك الآلهة و خصوصياتها، وسر تعلق السكان بها حتى أوصل بهم الأمر إلى صك عملة نقدية تحمل صور وأسماء الآلهة التي عبدها سكان شمال إفريقيا .Numidian coins are among the documents and material archaeological sources that a researcher in history and archeology can rely on to understand the mystery surrounding a period in the history of ancient Magreb, especially in its religious aspect, including identifying the names of the gods scattered throughout the villages and cities of the Numidian kingdom during the pagan period. Before the emergence of the monotheistic religions, and the role of the Numidian currency is not limited to writing part of the history of the region, but rather to give it scientific credibility and historical implications that contribute to documenting the history of the Kingdom from a religious point of view, in addition to identifying the most important cities in which these gods spread and their peculiarities, and the secret of the population’s attachment  It led them to mint a coin bearing the images and names of the gods worshiped by the people of North Africa

Influence of Attitude toward Science, Gender and Locus of Control on Student Achievement in Science

From elementary school to the college level, nationwide trends indicate that males are achieving higher in science than females. The aim of this study was to compare the achievement of boys and girls studying 10th grade biology in the public school system. To achieve this a composite survey of attitude toward science, locus of control and achievement in science was administered to 221 biology students in the 10th grade of a large school district situated in a suburb of Rochester, NY. It was found that females were achieving equally as well as males in 10th grade and that females had a significantly more positive attitude toward science (biology) than males. However, significantly more males chose to elect to study science in the 11th grade. This first major split between the numbers of males and females studying science may be due to the cultural stereotyping of the individual sciences and warrants further investigation. A negative relationship was found between attitude toward science and locus of control. A weak but positive relationship was also found between attitude toward science and achievement

The New Silk Roads' Impact on the Persian Gulf Region. Contextualizing China's Economic Ties and Diplomatic Relations with the Gulf States.

China’s rise and Middle Eastern insecurity are two dominating themes in international relations today. Yet, their relevance for each other is less discussed. The most important connection is China’s and the Persian Gulf region’s new economic interdependence – a part of Asia’s so-called New Silk Roads. Energy and non-energy trade between the Gulf and China has grown fast and is increasingly accompanied by investment flows in both directions, as well as closer diplomatic relations. The same has happened with regards to the ties between the Gulf and other Asian countries, like India. Nevertheless, it is still the US that underwrites basic regional stability with its military presence. So far, Asian countries, China included, have thus benefited by fee-riding on it. However, as China’s power increases and US appetite for Middle Eastern engagement decreases, it needs to be asked whether China (or anyone else) will one day inherit the American mantle and geo-politically dominate the Gulf. This PhD thesis seeks to answer that question via the help of three types of contextualization: Firstly, the use of the two most influential, but antagonistic IR theories – neo-liberal institutionalism and neo-realism – tests which is the more accurate for China’s Gulf role. It ultimately argues in favour of a neo-neo synthesis around the concept of regional hegemonic stablity. Secondly, a brief recap of historical analogies regarding previous external powers and their rivalries in the Gulf is provided. These range from early-modern actors, over the British Raj and to the American hegemon. Thirdly, the inter-regional context is provided by briefly outlining the Gulf states' relations with China's Asian competitors, Japan, South Korea, and India. In the second part of the thesis, China's New Silk Roads across Eurasia and the Gulf are analysed via a regional overview and then via two case studies, on China-Saudi Arabia relations and China-United Arab Emirates relations. The conclusion brings all these various threads together in order to undertake a comparison between current American, Chinese (and partly Indian) capabilities, and their future opportunities and risks. This is done via theoretical assessments as well as historical contextualization and discussion of useful analogies. Why is this research question important? On the one hand, the world economy’s hydrocarbon-dependence continues to rely on the Gulf’s huge reserves. On the other, the region offers a long history of geo-strategic centrality to world affairs and will likely also help determine into which direction global power flows in the 21st century

Pharmaceutical security in South Africa: law and medical geopolitics

Magister Artium - MAThe study focuses on the political and economic geographies of pharmaceutical delivery. In 1997 the South African government passed the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, sparking outrage from both the local and international pharmaceutical industry, and resulting in court action in 2001. The industry believed that South Africa was in breach of its obligations under international intellectual property law. Those fighting for pharmaceutical security hoped the court case would be a 'landmark' in the global campaign for equitable access to medicines. This investigation seeks to analyse the domestic and international legacy of the court action. The inquiry takes its significance from the high prevalence rates of treatable diseases and the need for pharmaceutical security in South Africa and its neighbouring African countries. The absence of a sustainable international medicines delivery system is a global political, economic and moral failure. A solution is required that balances the positive productive forces of the market with a philosophy of justice and equity.South Afric

Capacitive effects and memristive switching in three terminal multilayered MoS<inf>2</inf>devices

We report on the electrical properties of gated two-terminal multilayered molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) memristor devices having a planar architecture. The approach based on highly dispersed MoS2 flakes drop cast onto a bottom gated Si/SiO2 (100nm) wafer containing metal Pd contact electrodes yields devices that exhibit a number of complex properties including memristive and capacitive effects as well as multiple non-zero-crossing current-voltage hysteresis effects. The devices also show a reaction to a varying gate bias. An increasingly positive gate led to the devices displaying a linear ohmic I-V response while an increasingly negative gate bias drove the system to behave more memristive with a widening hysteresis loop

Effect of cholecalciferol on unsaturated model membranes

Vitamin D plays an important role in many physiological processes, particularly calcium and phosphorous homeostasis. The biochemistry of vitamin D is also complex, encompassing a range of active molecules that may be either endogenous or dietary in origin. The role of lipids and fats in the production, processing and use of vitamin D is an interesting one, with a relative paucity of model studies into the interactions of vitamin D with lipidic systems such as micelles and vesicles. Here, we have studied the effect of vitamin D3 in simple unsaturated phospholipid systems. We used NMR and FTIR spectroscopy to investigate the effect of increasing vitamin D concentration on the structure and dynamics of the lipid chains and interfacial region. In order to link these model studies with more complex biomimetic environments, we compare results in the presence of buffer and vitamin D binding protein. We have also used DLS to determine that vitamin D3-DOPC vesicles can retain their size distribution for varying amounts of time in different conditions. We find that the acyl chain region of vitamin D3-DOPC membranes are generally disordered, and that the addition of buffer and/or protein alters the properties of the interfacial region

The 21st Century Ladz: The school-to-work transition and masculine identity of marginalised working-class young men from the South Wales Valleys

This thesis explores the school-to-work transition and formation of masculinity of a group of marginalised working-class young men in the South Wales Valleys, in the context of social and economic change after the end of heavy industry. The qualitative research was undertaken collaboratively with a youth centre organisation and consists of an ethnographic study of nine young men, plus interviews with youth workers and a school teacher. The research engages with the themes of masculinity and social class, whilst also considering predicted future employment changes and the possible implication of these changes for the participants’ educational experiences and employment aspirations. It considers this group of young men in relation to the 1977 research on the lads conducted by Paul Willis (1977). Although there are similarities to the lads, in the context of the loss of heavy industry, there are notable changes in the young men’s views and behaviour, including a pragmatic approach to education, some deviation from a manual employment orientation, softer displays of masculinity and a rupturing of previous modes of being that derived from heavy industrial masculinity. The significance of this is that, while previous research has demonstrated the complex intergenerational effects of the loss of heavy industry, which has resulted in an opposition to neoliberal individualism, service sector employment and emotional labour among a previous generation of young men in the area (Gater 2022), the current research identifies significant generational changes. In light of the coming changes in work related to increased automation and new technologies, it is vital to consider how young men such as these might have access to better paid and skilled employment. The results of this research allow us to consider employment futures other than low-skilled manual employment and thus to potentially increase the life chances of marginalised working-class young men