Balancing classroom management with mathematical learning: Using practice-based task design in mathematics teacher education

In this paper we present the results from a study conducted in a UK institution in which 21mathematics pre-service teachers engage with two practice-based tasks featuring incidents where classroom management interferes with mathematical learning. We investigate their considerations when they make decisions in classroom situations and how these tasks can trigger their reflections on the teaching and learning of mathematics. In our analysis we used the constructs of social and sociomathematical norms (Cobb & Yackel, 1996) and Teaching Triad (Jaworski, 1994). Results indicate commendable norms pre-service teachers aspire to establish in their classroom, such as peer respect, value of discussion and investigative mathematical learning. However, they often miss the opportunity to engage students with metacognitive discussions and mathematical challenge as they focus on behavioural issues or endorse dichotomous and simplistic views of mathematical learning. We credit these tasks with allowing insight into pre-service teachers’ considerations and we propose their further implementation in teacher education programs

Early professional experience of mathematics teachers: values, self-efficacy and retention

This research is a study of the 22 graduates from the 2010-11 University of East Anglia’s (UEA) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (mathematics) course and a review of their first year in teaching. Within the study consideration of self-efficacy, values and experience occurred, mindful of the wider issue of attrition rates in the field of mathematics teaching. By focusing solely on the experience of beginner mathematics teachers, I felt that there may be some distinguishing features or nuances that differ from other subject areas. The reality is that this was not the case. The problems and difficulties which afflict all beginner teachers in England are in many ways the same as those encountered by mathematics NQTs

Moderate relationships between NAA and cognitive ability in healthy adults:implications for cognitive spectroscopy

Background: Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (H-MRS) is a non-invasive imaging technique that enables quantification of neurochemistry in vivo and thereby facilitates investigation of the biochemical underpinnings of human cognitive variability. Studies in the field of cognitive spectroscopy have commonly focused on relationships between measures of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), a surrogate marker of neuronal health and function, and broad measures of cognitive performance, such as IQ. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, we used H-MRS to interrogate single-voxels in occipitoparietal and frontal cortex, in parallel with assessments of psychometric intelligence, in a sample of 40 healthy adult participants. We found correlations between NAA and IQ that were within the range reported in previous studies. However, the magnitude of these effects was significantly modulated by the stringency of data screening and the extent to which outlying values contributed to statistical analyses. Conclusions/Significance: H-MRS offers a sensitive tool for assessing neurochemistry non-invasively, yet the relationships between brain metabolites and broad aspects of human behavior such as IQ are subtle. We highlight the need to develop an increasingly rigorous analytical and interpretive framework for collecting and reporting data obtained from cognitive spectroscopy studies of this kind

Meyouandus: Interactive in-venue displays. Research and Development Report

Arts practice MeYouAndUs will produce TILO, a hybrid display system for cultural venues. It uses digital screens situated in the public spaces of a venue, combined with live feeds and sensors to display engaging, interactive and personalised content. TILO aims to create a dialogue between the arts organisation, the building and its visitors, and will allow artists to carry out their own interventions. The system will be piloted at FACT, the popular cross-arts venue in Liverpool

Working atmosphere in the secondary mathematics classroom: When things do not work according to the lesson plan

In this paper we focus on a collaborative research and development project in which a team consisting of secondary mathematics teachers (newly qualified and experienced), researchers in mathematics education (faculty and doctoral students) and mathematics teacher educators work together on how to achieve balance between creating opportunities for high quality mathematical thinking and attending to classroom management and behaviour issues. To this aim we deploy Haydn’s 10-point scale on the working atmosphere in the classroom. This construct was not devised specifically for the mathematics classroom and our study explores its potentialities for it: we ask whether a scale (Haydn-M) with mathematics specificity can provide meaningful insight into the working atmosphere in the secondary mathematics classroom. In this paper we provide examples suggested by newly qualified teachers in our team of such a mathematically specific use of the scale

Host-linked soil viral ecology along a permafrost thaw gradient

Climate change threatens to release abundant carbon that is sequestered at high latitudes, but the constraints on microbial metabolisms that mediate the release of methane and carbon dioxide are poorly understood1,2,3,4,5,6,7. The role of viruses, which are known to affect microbial dynamics, metabolism and biogeochemistry in the oceans8,9,10, remains largely unexplored in soil. Here, we aimed to investigate how viruses influence microbial ecology and carbon metabolism in peatland soils along a permafrost thaw gradient in Sweden. We recovered 1,907 viral populations (genomes and large genome fragments) from 197 bulk soil and size-fractionated metagenomes, 58% of which were detected in metatranscriptomes and presumed to be active. In silico predictions linked 35% of the viruses to microbial host populations, highlighting likely viral predators of key carbon-cycling microorganisms, including methanogens and methanotrophs. Lineage-specific virus/host ratios varied, suggesting that viral infection dynamics may differentially impact microbial responses to a changing climate. Virus-encoded glycoside hydrolases, including an endomannanase with confirmed functional activity, indicated that viruses influence complex carbon degradation and that viral abundances were significant predictors of methane dynamics. These findings suggest that viruses may impact ecosystem function in climate-critical, terrestrial habitats and identify multiple potential viral contributions to soil carbon cycling

Barrett's esophagus: prevalence–incidence and etiology–origins

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86957/1/j.1749-6632.2011.06042.x.pd