Fuzzy cognitive map modelling the adoption of educational software in schools

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis focuses on modelling factors in the adoption of educational software in schools based on the perceptions of key stakeholders. Findings indicate educational software adoption in UK secondary schools is unsatisfactory. Given the potential of educational software to affect the learning process; the government's emphasis on developing software content for learning purposes and the concern that scarce resources in schools are wasted on software that is inappropriately used or not used at all, there is a need to ensure the successful take-up of educational software. This study aims to provide schools the means to facilitate better management of resources and achieve greater utilisation of educational software. The study in recognising the importance of stakeholders in any technological adoption considers modelling educational software adoption in schools, based on key stakeholders' perceptions. Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs), considered extensions of cognitive maps used for modelling complex chains of casual relationships, are used as a modelling approach in this study. A mixed methods research approach is adopted. Participants, include students; a range of teachers; ICTCoordinators and ICT-Technicians, drawn from three UK secondary schools. The resulting FCM model offers a visual medium providing insight into the factors required in the take-up of educational software. Some factors identified include the availability and accessibility to IT facilities and equipment; the availability of educational software; software ability to satisfy learning requirements and to meet curriculum requirements. The model provides the means to identify factors which have a greater impact on educational software adoption, so scarce resources can be directed accordingly. As a holistic model it provides insight into the context of educational software adoption in schools. As a dynamic model it allows the opportunity to explore `what-if possibilities relating to policy and investment options. The model can act as a guide for planners, decision-makers and software developers

Fuzzy cognitive map modelling the adoption of educational software in schools

This thesis focuses on modelling factors in the adoption of educational software in schools based on the perceptions of key stakeholders. Findings indicate educational software adoption in UK secondary schools is unsatisfactory. Given the potential of educational software to affect the learning process; the government's emphasis on developing software content for learning purposes and the concern that scarce resources in schools are wasted on software that is inappropriately used or not used at all, there is a need to ensure the successful take-up of educational software. This study aims to provide schools the means to facilitate better management of resources and achieve greater utilisation of educational software. The study in recognising the importance of stakeholders in any technological adoption considers modelling educational software adoption in schools, based on key stakeholders' perceptions. Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs), considered extensions of cognitive maps used for modelling complex chains of casual relationships, are used as a modelling approach in this study. A mixed methods research approach is adopted. Participants, include students; a range of teachers; ICTCoordinators and ICT-Technicians, drawn from three UK secondary schools. The resulting FCM model offers a visual medium providing insight into the factors required in the take-up of educational software. Some factors identified include the availability and accessibility to IT facilities and equipment; the availability of educational software; software ability to satisfy learning requirements and to meet curriculum requirements. The model provides the means to identify factors which have a greater impact on educational software adoption, so scarce resources can be directed accordingly. As a holistic model it provides insight into the context of educational software adoption in schools. As a dynamic model it allows the opportunity to explore `what-if possibilities relating to policy and investment options. The model can act as a guide for planners, decision-makers and software developers.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Interpretations of, and orientations to, “understanding mathematics in depth”: students in MEC programmes across institutions

In this paper we present initial findings from our study of interpretations and orientations to ‘understanding mathematics in depth’ among students in selected Mathematics Enhancement Courses (MEC) in the UK. The MEC is a 26-week pre-Initial Teacher Education (ITE) ‘mathematics subject knowledge for teaching’ course designed for, and undertaken by, graduates wishing to teach mathematics at secondary level, but do not have a Mathematics degree. It is completed before commencing with a PGCE. A common theme running through the MEC documentation is the importance of ‘understanding mathematics in depth’. We are interested in what and how MEC students interpret and orient themselves towards ‘understanding mathematics in depth’. In designing and conducting our empirical work we have drawn upon a related project in South Africa, which is exploring ‘mathematics for teaching’, specifically what and how mathematics and teaching are co-constituted in mathematics teacher education programmes. The MEC is an interesting empirical context for such study, as it is a mathematics course, or set of courses, specifically designed for future teachers. We have collected data through guided, semi-structured interviews with 18 students and 4 lecturing staff at three different institutions. The interpretations and orientations of MEC students towards mathematics and the notion of ‘understanding mathematics in depth’, we contend, provide additional insight into the developing notion of mathematical knowledge in and for teaching

Estimation of population parameters for a data deficient Salmostoma bacaila (Hamilton 1822) stock from the Mahananda river (tributary of the Ganges) in NW Bangladesh

403-409Salmostoma bacaila known as Razorbelly minnow (Hamilton in 1822) is an indigenous fish species in Bangladesh. This study emphasizes on population structure, growth pattern (length-weight and length-length relations), growth considerations (asymptotic length, L∞; weight, W∞; growth coefficient, K; age at zero length, t0), size and age at sexual maturity (Lm), growth performance index (φ), life-span (tmax), conditions factor (Allometric, KA; Fulton’s, KF and Relative, KR), prey-predator status through relative weight (WR), form factor (a3.0), total (Z), natural (M) and fishing mortality (F), exploitation rate (E) and maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of S. bacaila in the Mahananda river, northwestern Bangladesh. Total 305 specimens of S. bacaila were hardly sampled (ranging between 5.5 to 11.9 cm total length (TL), and 1.05 – 9.20 g total body weight (BW)) through regular fishing gears during August 2016 – July 2017. The regression coefficient ‘b’ of length-weight relations specified negative allometric growth. Growth parameters (GP) were figured as L∞ = 12.66 cm, K = 0.60 year-1, W∞ = 11.36 g, t0 = 0.048, tmax = 5.00 year-1 and φ’ = 1.98. The Lm was 7.34 cm in TL. Relative weight did not create any significant dissimilarity of 100 that would suggest a healthy habitat for S. bacaila. The a3.0 was 0.0052 specifying that this fish could be described as elongated. In addition, the Z was calculated to be 1.57 year-1. The M and F values obtained were 0.92 and 0.65 year-1, respectively. The E was 0.41 and MSY (Emax) was estimated as 0.35 year-1 by yield per recruitment model. Present research knowledge will be very useful in planning the sustainable and appropriate management of this species in Bangladesh and bordering countries

Troubling "understanding mathematics-in-depth": Its role in the identity work of student-teachers in England

Copyright @ The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.comThis article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.In this paper, we focus on an initiative in England devised to prepare non-mathematics graduates to train as secondary mathematics teachers through a 6-month Mathematics Enhancement Course (MEC) to boost their subject knowledge. The course documentation focuses on the need to develop “understanding mathematics in-depth” in students in order for them to become successful mathematics teachers. We take a poststructural approach, so we are not interested in asking what such an understanding is, about the value of this approach or about the effectiveness of the MECs in developing this understanding in their participants. Instead we explore what positions this discourse of “understanding mathematics in-depth” makes available to MEC students. We do this by looking in detail at the “identity work” of two students, analysing how they use and are used by this discourse to position themselves as future mathematics teachers. In doing so, we show how even benign-looking social practices such as “understanding mathematics in-depth” are implicated in practices of inclusion and exclusion. We show this through detailed readings of interviews with two participants, one of whom fits with the dominant discourses in the MEC and the other who, despite passing the MEC, experiences tensions between her national identity work and MEC discourses. We argue that it is vital to explore “identity work” within teacher education contexts to ensure that becoming a successful mathematics teacher is equally available to all.King’s College Londo

Mathematics for teaching and deep subject knowledge: Voices of Mathematics Enhancement Course students in England

This article reports an investigation into how students of a mathematics course for prospective secondary mathematics teachers in England talk about the notion of ‘understanding mathematics in depth’, which was an explicit goal of the course. We interviewed eighteen students of the course. Through our social practice frame and in the light of a review of the literature on mathematical knowledge for teaching, we describe three themes that weave through the students’ talk: reasoning, connectedness and being mathematical. We argue that these themes illuminate privileged messages in the course, as well as the boundary and relationship between mathematical and pedagogic content knowledge in secondary mathematics teacher education practice