The computation choices made by students in years 5 to 7

This study was designed to explore the computation choices made by 78 students in Years 5 to 7. The ability to choose and use a repertoire of computation methods is an important goal of mathematics education. While one might expect to find a great deal of research outlining the computation choices students make and why they make them, this was not the case; and as such it was decided to explore what computation choices students make and why they make them

A comparison of mental strategies used by skilled and unskilled mental calculators

The purpose of this study was to investigate the various strategies used by year seven students when carrying out division computations mentally. A comparison was made between the strategies used by high and low performing mental calculators. A number of high and low performing mental calculators were chosen as a result of their performances on twelve interview items. Both groups of students were given a set of division problems to complete mentally. After solving each problem the students were asked on a one-to-one basis to reflect on the strategy or method they used to solve the problem. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed and coded. Non verbal behaviour was recorded on a separate sheet during the interview. The data were analysed to determine what differences existed between high and low performing mental calculators in relation to the strategies they used to solve division computations mentally. The diversity and range of strategies used by each group were compared. Commonly used strategies were noted together with those which hindered the mental solution of problems. It is hoped that the results of this investigation can be used to aid teachers to improve the teaching of mental calculation in ordinary classrooms. The results may also be helpful to those working in remedial mathematics. Further it is hoped that a follow up study may be carried out to determine the best way of improving the performance of both skilled and unskilled mental calculators

Mathematics games: Time wasters or time well spent?

Globally education authorities are placing increasing emphasis on the development of literacy and numeracy in primary schools. This paper reports on research designed to assist teachers to improve the numeracy of their students by making the use of mathematics games a more focused aspect of the teaching and learning experience in mathematics. Classroom experience and anecdotal evidence suggest that games are often used without really focussing on the mathematics involved in playing the game,and are justified simply on the basis of children having ‘fun’. In this paper we report on the use of one game, Numero and how teachers made use of the game and the impact on the children’s learning when using the game

Insights into number: Developing flexible mental mathematics

The ability to use flexible strategies when faced with a calculation to do ‘in the head’ is important to acquire. Many children who rely on remembered facts and standard procedures are limited in their approaches to mental computation. Teaching that develops insights, awareness, and connections appears to give this important flexibility and enable children to make sensible and effective choices of calculating strategies

Developing a model for e-prints and open access journal content in UK further and higher education

In this article we describe a delivery, management and access model for eprints and open access journal content for UK further and higher education commissioned by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The target content is (i) e-prints � digital copies of academic research articles published in subscription-based journals that are made available online to permit increased access; and (ii) articles published in open access journals. The proposed service would provide immediate and maximal access to scholarly research, supplementing the more limited access provided by subscription-based journals, in turn maximizing the impact of research. This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down

Developing a model for e-prints and open access journal content in UK further and higher education

A study carried out for the UK Joint Information Systems Committee examined models for the provision of access to material in institutional and subject-based archives and in open access journals. Their relative merits were considered, addressing not only technical concerns but also how e-print provision (by authors) can be achieved – an essential factor for an effective e-print delivery service (for users). A "harvesting" model is recommended, where the metadata of articles deposited in distributed archives are harvested, stored and enhanced by a national service. This model has major advantages over the alternatives of a national centralized service or a completely decentralized one. Options for the implementation of a service based on the harvesting model are presented

Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties

Many soft matter systems have properties which depend on their processing history. It is generally accepted that material properties can be finely tuned by carefully directing self-assembly. However, for gelling colloidal systems, it is difficult to characterize such path-dependent effects since the colloidal attraction is often provided by adding another component to the system such as salts or depletants. Therefore, studies of and an understanding of the role of processing on the material properties of attractive colloidal systems are largely lacking. In this work, we systematically studied how processing greatly influences the properties and the microstructures of model attractive colloidal systems. We perform experiments using a thermogelling nanoemulsion as a model system where the isotropic attraction can be precisely tuned via the temperature. The effects of processing conditions on gel formation and properties is tested by performing well-designed sequential temperature jumps. By properly controlling the thermal history, we demonstrate that properties of colloidal gels can be beyond the limit set by direct quenching, which has been a major focus in literature, and that otherwise slow aging of the system associated with a decrease in elasticity can be prevented. Our results provide new experimental evidence of path-dependent rheology and associated microstructures in attractive colloidal systems and provide guidance to future applications in manufacturing complex colloid-based materials.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DMR – 1419807)Think Global Education Trust (Taiwan) (scholarship