PISA 2012: series on the learning environment

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international study that is administered on a three-yearly basis. The study assesses how well 15 year-old are prepared to meet the challenges of today’s society. PISA assesses three key areas of knowledge and skills: reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy, and has a focus on one these learning areas in each administration. In the 2012 administration of PISA, over half a million 15-year-olds from 65 countries or economies took part, including all of the OECD member countries. Vol I In this report factors relating to opportunities students have to learn different mathematical concepts are brought together to provide a picture of the learning environment and how it relates to maths achievement in the PISA 2012 assessment. First of all, student contact with maths is examined through factors such as time spent learning maths, and whether additional maths classes and extra-curricular maths activities are offered at school. Next, student self-reports of familiarity with 13 mathematical content areas are presented. Finally, information is provided of the relative opportunities that New Zealand students have to learn formal maths problems. Vol II In this report the way in which mathematical content is delivered in classrooms is examined. First, some information on maths teaching staff is presented, including teacher qualifications, participation in professional development with a focus on maths, maths teacher-student ratio, and principals’ reports of teacher shortage and how that relates to maths achievement. Secondly, principals’ reports of lack in physical infrastructure and educational resources in their school are examined. Thirdly, principals’ reports of teacher factors that can hinder student learning are presented. Next, students’ reports of teacher-student relationships at school and four teaching practices in maths lessons (cognitive activation, student-orientation, teacher-directed instruction, and formative assessment ) are explored. Finally, this volume examines school principals’ reports of ability grouping practices within and between maths classes. Vol III In this report student behaviour, behaviour demonstrated by 15-year-olds that hinders learning, is put under scrutiny. Students\u27 reports of the disciplinary climate in maths lessons are presented together with principals\u27 reports of student factors that hindered learning at school, and how they relate to maths achievement. Finally student self reported measures of arriving late for school, and skipping class or a day of school are examined

A Benes Based NoC Switching Architecture for Mixed Criticality Embedded Systems

Multi-core, Mixed Criticality Embedded (MCE) real-time systems require high timing precision and predictability to guarantee there will be no interference between tasks. These guarantees are necessary in application areas such as avionics and automotive, where task interference or missed deadlines could be catastrophic, and safety requirements are strict. In modern multi-core systems, the interconnect becomes a potential point of uncertainty, introducing major challenges in proving behaviour is always within specified constraints, limiting the means of growing system performance to add more tasks, or provide more computational resources to existing tasks. We present MCENoC, a Network-on-Chip (NoC) switching architecture that provides innovations to overcome this with predictable, formally verifiable timing behaviour that is consistent across the whole NoC. We show how the fundamental properties of Benes networks benefit MCE applications and meet our architecture requirements. Using SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA), formal properties are defined that aid the refinement of the specification of the design as well as enabling the implementation to be exhaustively formally verified. We demonstrate the performance of the design in terms of size, throughput and predictability, and discuss the application level considerations needed to exploit this architecture

Student diversity, extra-curricular activities and perceptions of graduate outcomes

This research will examine how different student groups engage with extra-curricular activities and what effect these activities have on their degree and graduate outcomes. Recent research has indicated that different student groups have different degree and employment outcomes, this research examines how different student groups engage with extra-curricular activities and what effect these activities have on their degree and graduate outcomes. It examines what extra-curricular activities students participate in and whether different groups have preferences for different types of activities (i.e. are there patterns of participation in certain activities by certain groups of students) and if so what impact does this patterning have on graduate employment potential. Extra-curricular activities are broadly defined in this research, such as part-time work, involvement in University union clubs and societies, (and different types of clubs and societies, cultural, sporting and other), other University related activities such as volunteering, class representation, etc. and other activities outside of University life, such as family commitments and community activitie

The Present and Future Energy Performance of the First Passivhaus Project in the Gulf Region

With voluntary and mandatory energy performance standards now becoming more common around the world, schemes to develop low energy buildings have become more apparent in developed countries. The Passivhaus standard, established 25 years ago in Germany, is one the most stringent and promising low energy building standards in Europe. It started as a construction concept applied to residential buildings, but has since spread as a voluntary ultra-low energy efficient standard to different parts of the world. Qatar, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, announced in 2013 the completion of the first Passivhaus project in the Gulf Region. The current and future performance of the Passivhaus project in Qatar was investigated in this study using current and future climate scenarios. Computer modelling was used to simulate the energy performance of the house and the thermal comfort of the occupants. In addition, on-site measurements were made to corroborate the modelling outcomes. Further, the impacts of climate change on the Passivhaus project was examined, and comparative analyses were undertaken. The findings suggested that the Passivhaus performs well under the current and the future weather data sets. Furthermore, the modelling indicates that the Qatar house is close to achieving the Passivhaus standard

Tag to track? Analytics to measure the impact of educational policies

Analytics, or the utilisation of user data to enhance education, derives from business intelligence and has received considerable attention over the last few years (Cooper, 2012; Goldstein and Katz 2005). In the context of institutional research, it is argued that data can aid the decision making, implementation and analysis of policy and change (e.g. Saupe, 1990), and that new forms of online data collection make the incorporation of educational data more accessible and analysable for this purpose (e.g. Campbell and Oblinger, 2007). An academic analytics approach has been used to evaluate the impact of two recently introduced educational policies designed to enhance the student experience at a London based university. These are a revised academic framework, which resulted in the redesign of most courses; and an online submission, marking and feedback policy. Each has had significant implications for the use and uptake of technologies to support learning, teaching and assessment. The virtual learning environment of the institution has been used to collect longitudinal user data, including through customized page tagging, to enable the impact of the policies to be visualised and assessed. This paper discusses the findings

Does science need computer science?

IBM Hursley Talks Series 3An afternoon of talks, to be held on Wednesday March 10 from 2:30pm in Bldg 35 Lecture Room A, arranged by the School of Chemistry in conjunction with IBM Hursley and the Combechem e-Science Project.The talks are aimed at science students (undergraduate and post-graduate) from across the faculty. This is the third series of talks we have organized, but the first time we have put them together in an afternoon. The talks are general in nature and knowledge of computer science is certainly not necessary. After the talks there will be an opportunity for a discussion with the lecturers from IBM.Does Science Need Computer Science?Chair and Moderator - Jeremy Frey, School of Chemistry.- 14:00 "Computer games for fun and profit" (*) - Andrew Reynolds - 14:45 "Anyone for tennis? The science behind WIBMledon" (*) - Matt Roberts - 15:30 Tea (Chemistry Foyer, Bldg 29 opposite bldg 35) - 15:45 "Disk Drive physics from grandmothers to gigabytes" (*) - Steve Legg - 16:35 "What could happen to your data?" (*) - Nick Jones - 17:20 Panel Session, comprising the four IBM speakers and May Glover-Gunn (IBM) - 18:00 Receptio

Innovative Approaches to Option Generation

Central and local governments often employ sophisticated modelling and appraisal procedures to ensure that the transport strategies and schemes that are selected for implementation meet policy objectives and are economically efficient. But relatively little effort has been made by the profession to develop methods to assist with the generation of appropriate and innovative options which form the core inputs to this whole process. The paper first summarises UK local authority views about the importance of option generation and their current ability to develop suitable options. It then provides an overview of methods that have been used in a variety of disciplines and policy areas to generate options. Some mainly represent or package existing knowledge, while others encourage ‘outside-the-box’ thinking, with the aim of developing solutions that have not previously been thought of. Methods range from those that are highly quantitative and replicable, to others that are qualitative and much more subjective in nature. Four option generation tools developed as part of the DISTILLATE project are described and illustrated with case study examples. Two apply at the strategic level; one is designed to assist in selecting packages of measures that contribute to an urban transport/land use strategy, while the other assists in identifying accessibility problems experienced by different population groups, and in generating a range of potential solutions. The other two apply at the scheme level and are more participatory in nature; they deal with streetspace allocation and with the improvement of community spaces