Mathematics Learning Support in Ireland in 2015

The provision of mathematics learning support in higher-level institutions on the island of Ireland has developed rapidly in recent times with the number of institutions providing some form of support doubling in the past seven years. The Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network aims to inform all mathematics support practitioners in Ireland on relevant issues. Consequently it was decided that a detailed picture of current provision was necessary. A comprehensive online survey was conducted to amass the necessary data. The ultimate aim of the survey is to benefit all mathematics support practitioners in Ireland, in particular those in third-level institutions who require further support to enhance the mathematical learning experience of their students. The survey reveals that the majority of Irish higher-level institutions provide mathematics learning support to some extent, with 65% doing so through a support centre. Learners of service mathematics are the primary users: first-year science, engineering and business undergraduates, with non-traditional students being a sizeable element. Despite the growing recognition for the need to offer mathematics learning support almost half of the centres are subject to annual review. Further, less than half the support offerings have a dedicated full-time manager, while 60% operate with a staff of five or fewer. The elevation of mathematics support as a viable and worthwhile career in order to attract and retain high quality staff is seen by many respondents as the crucial next phase of development.

Genomic Resources Notes Accepted 1 June 2015 - 31 July 2015

This article documents the public availability of (i) microbiomes in diet and gut of larvae from the dipteran Dilophus febrilis using massive parallel sequencing, (ii) SNP and SSR discovery and characterization in the transcriptome of the Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus, L) and (iii) assembled transcriptome for an endangered, endemic Iberian cyprinid fish (Squalius pyrenaicus).

DRHA 2015: Bringing practice closer to research - seeking integrity, sincerity and authenticity

A paper on 'practice as research' (or as I emphasise in this presentation as "Practice Research") debating current dialogue around the issue of practice and research.

Failure to produce an anti-poverty strategy: The Committee on the Administration’s Application [2015] NIQB 59, June 30, 2015

This is a note on the Northern Ireland High Court decision of 30 June 2015 that the Northern Ireland Executive had acted unlawfully in failing to fulfil its statutory duty to adopt a strategy setting out proposals for tackling poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need.

Think, code, succeed: The Programming Studio as a games-based collaboration:Paper published in the Proceedings of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe conference: Teacher Education through Partnerships and Collaborative Learning Communities, Glasgow, UK. ATEE, 2015

This paper investigates the profile of teachers in the island of Ireland who declared themselves willing to undertake professional development activities in programming, in particular to master programming by taking on-line courses involving the design of computer games. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), it compares scores for teachers “willing” to undertake the courses with scores for those who declined, and examines other differences between the groups of respondents. Findings reflect the perceived difficulties of programming and the current low status accorded to the subject in Ireland. The paper also reviews the use of games-based learning as a “hook” to engage learners in programming and discusses the role of gamification as a tool for motivating learners in an on-line course. The on-line course focusing on games design was met with enthusiasm, and there was general consensus that gamification was appropriate for motivating learners in structured courses such as those provided.

Reigning Supreme: Events at the UK Supreme Court in 2015

This short article provides statistics on the number of decisions issued by the UK Supreme Court during 2015 and highlights some of the most interesting of them.

Queen's University Belfast, APC Expenditure Report 2015

The Library’s Open Access Team has submitted, on behalf of the University, an Article Processing Charges (APCs) expenditure report to Jisc Collections for 2015. In 2015 Queen’s University Belfast had a total APC spend of £138,039 which enabled 123 articles by Queen’s authors to be made open access via the gold route. This is a significant increase in both APC spend and the number of articles made open access in comparison to 2014.

C Dupré, The Age of Dignity (Hart 2015)

Bob Dylan famously searched high and low for it and left us wondering ‘what it’s gonna take’ to find it. These days, the elusive dignity – and her equally, if not more, elusive cousin human dignity – has captured the imagination of not just the poet and philosopher, but also, in light of its increasing prominence in an array of legal contexts, the legal scholar. Catherine Dupré’s The Age of Dignity comes at a high point in (human) dignity scholarship, with the publication of numerous texts in the English language emerging on the subject, and with interest in it looking unlikely to dissipate any time soon. In this review, I consider (human) dignity’s promise and pitfalls as it transpires in Dupré’s wide-ranging and ambitious monograph.