Arithmetic equality statements: numerical balance and notational substitution

Numerous studies have investigated the benefits of teaching young children that the equals sign means “is the same as” and presenting a variety of statement forms such as a+b=b+a and c=a+b. However, an important and overlooked aspect of equivalence relations is that of replacing one term with another, which implies a “can be substituted for” meaning of the equals sign. I report a trial with a pair of primary pupils working on a computer-based task that requires viewing equality statements in terms of both numerical balance and notational substitution. I present screenshots and transcript excerpts to illustrate how they articulated and coordinated balance and substitution in order to achieve the task goals

Peer assessment using comparative and absolute judgement

Peer assessment exercises yield varied reliability and validity. To maximise reliability and validity, the literature recommends adopting various design principles including the use of explicit assessment criteria. Counter to this literature, we report a peer assessment exercise in which criteria were deliberately avoided yet acceptable reliability and validity were achieved. Based on this finding, we make two arguments. First, the comparative judgement approach adopted can be applied successfully in different contexts, including higher education and secondary school. Second, the success was due to this approach; an alternative technique based on absolute judgement yielded poor reliability and validity. We conclude that sound outcomes are achievable without assessment criteria, but success depends on how the peer assessment activity is designed

Early algebraization: a global dialogue from multiple perspectives (book review)

Early algebraization: a global dialogue from multiple perspectives (book review

A qualitative study exploring risk perception in congenital cardiac surgery: the perspective of UK surgeons

Introduction:Managing risk is central to clinical care, yet most research focuses on patient perception, as opposed to how risk is enacted within the clinical setting by healthcare professionals.Aim:To explore how surgical risk is perceived, encountered, and managed by congenital cardiac surgeons.Methods:Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 congenital cardiac surgeons representing every unit across England and Wales. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, with analysis based on the constant comparative approach.Findings:Three themes were identified, reflecting the interactions between personal, institutional, and political context in which risk is encountered and managed. First, “communicating risk” highlights the complexity and variability in methods employed by surgeons to balance legal/moral obligations with parental need and expectations. Universally, surgeons described the need for flexibility in their approach in order to meet the needs of individual patients. Second, “scrutiny and accountability” captures the spectrum of opinion arising from the binary nature of the outcomes collated and the way in which they are perceived to be interpreted. Third, “nature of the job” highlights the personal and professional implications of conveying and managing risk and the impact of recent policy changes on the way this is enacted.Conclusion:Variations in approaches to communicating risk demonstrate a lack of consensus, compounded by insufficient evidence to determine or monitor a “best-care” approach. With current surgical outcomes suggesting little room for increasing survival rates, future care needs should shift to the “soft skills” in order to continue to drive improvements in parental and patient experience.</div

Enhancing the capabilities of fluid bed granulation through process automation and digitalisation

Developers, Data Scientists and Data Engineers (Dukart, et al., 2020). Drug manufacturing processes This paper describes a PAT-enabled, digitalised, and automated fluid bed granulation system. A multichannel Near-Infrared (NIR) spectrophotometer and a direct imaging particle size and shape analyser in constant dialogue with the SmartX no-code/low-code platform provide a ground-breaking process automation toolset now located at the Bernal Institute in the University of Limerick. Two sets of results are presented for this study, from two iterations of the Advance Dynamic Process Control (ADPC) controller application. The results demonstrate the direct measurement and control of the product’s critical quality attributes through digitality enabled feedback control of processing setpoints and parameters. The platform controlled the particle size more tightly compared to non-automated control and a more accurate measurement-driven process endpoint for moisture content was achieved. Implementing a digitally enabled control approach can significantly reduce batch to batch variation and greatly improve process performance and product consistency

Additional file 2: Figure S1. of Saline versus balanced crystalloids for intravenous fluid therapy in the emergency department: study protocol for a cluster-randomized, multiple-crossover trial

Schedule of enrollment, interventions, and assessments for the Saline Against Lactated Ringer’s or Plasma-Lyte in the Emergency Department (SALT-ED) trial. (DOCX 17 kb

Additional file 1: of Saline versus balanced crystalloids for intravenous fluid therapy in the emergency department: study protocol for a cluster-randomized, multiple-crossover trial

SPIRIT checklist. (DOCX 61 kb