405 research outputs found
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Mathematical thinking of undergraduate students when using three types of software
The research investigates how conceptual understanding of mathematics is promoted when using three types of software: black-box (no mathematical intermediate steps shown), glass-box (intermediate steps shown) and open-box (interaction at each intermediate step). Thirty-eight students were asked to think-aloud and give detailed explanations whilst answering three types of tasks: mechanical (mostly procedural), interpretive (mostly conceptual) and constructive (mixture of conceptual and procedural). The software types had no impact on how students answered the mechanical tasks; however students using the black-box did better on the constructive tasks because of their increased explorations. Students with low maths confidence resorted to using real-life explanations when answering tasks that were application related
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An Illustration of Students’ Engagement with Mathematical Software using Remote Observation
Students using three types of spreadsheet calculators for understanding expected value were observed remotely. This remote observation involves the use of webcams and application sharing for observing students learning mathematics. The study illustrates how remote observation can be used for collecting mathematical education data and raises questions about the extent to which such a method can be used in future experiments
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Technology - Empowering the Educational Researcher through Remote Observation
Observing students using computers often occurs through three methods: user-lab, on-site and remote data logging. Whilst each of these have their advantages with the new type of students such as elearners, an alternative method called web-conferencing remote observation is presented for observing students at a distance. This method collects both audio and video data of the observer through webcams and voice/video conversations. Students are able to interact with the software through application sharing facilities. Further, it allows both quantitative and qualitative data to be collected. This proof-of-concept method is presented here where it has been used in two previous studies using Windows Messenger and Netviewer. Although, video quality is not high the quality is sufficient for observational data
Exotic magnetism on the quasi-FCC lattices of the double perovskites LaNaBO (B Ru, Os)
We find evidence for long-range and short-range ( 70 \AA~at 4 K)
incommensurate magnetic order on the quasi-face-centered-cubic (FCC) lattices
of the monoclinic double perovskites LaNaRuO and LaNaOsO
respectively. Incommensurate magnetic order on the FCC lattice has not been
predicted by mean field theory, but may arise via a delicate balance of
inequivalent nearest neighbour and next nearest neighbour exchange
interactions. In the Ru system with long-range order, inelastic neutron
scattering also reveals a spin gap 2.75 meV. Magnetic
anisotropy is generally minimized in the more familiar octahedrally-coordinated
systems, so the large gap observed for LaNaRuO may result from
the significantly enhanced value of spin-orbit coupling in this
material.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Muon spin rotation/relaxation measurements of the non-centrosymmetric superconductor Mg10Ir19B16
We have searched for time-reversal symmetry breaking fields in the
non-centrosymmetric superconductor MgIrB via muon spin
relaxation in zero applied field, and we measured the temperature dependence of
the superfluid density by muon spin rotation in transverse field to investigate
the superconducting pairing symmetry in two polycrystalline samples of
signficantly different purities. In the high purity sample, we detected no
time-reversal symmetry breaking fields greater than 0.05 G. The superfluid
density was also found to be exponentially-flat as T0, and so can be fit
to a single-gap BCS model. In contrast, the lower purity sample showed an
increase in the zero-field SR relaxation rate below T corresponding to
a characteristic field strength of 0.6 G. While the temperature-dependence of
the superfluid density was also found to be consistent with a single-gap BCS
model, the magnitude as T0 was found to be much lower for a given applied
field than in the case of the high purity sample. These findings suggest that
the dominant pairing symmetry in high quality MgIrB
samples corresponds to the spin-singlet channel, while sample quality
drastically affects the superconducting properties of this system.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, revised version resubmitted to PR
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Comparison of black-box, glass-box and open-box software for aiding conceptual understanding
Three mathematical software types: black-box (no steps shown), glass-box (steps shown) and open-box (interactive steps) were used by 32 students to solve conceptual and procedural tasks on the computer via remote observation. Comparison of the three software types suggests that there is no difference in the scores that students receive for conceptual understanding tasks. Students using the black-box are more likely to explore answers than students using the glass and open-box software
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