Introduction to section 4

The nature and extent of the implementation of digital technology in mathematics curricula along with issues of access and equity were the issues considered by one working group of this ICMI study. A summary of the discussion conducted by the working group and the findings reported in the following chapters on this theme are presented. It is clear that widespread and sustained use of digital technology is not common and that where digital technology is used there are complex and confounding equity issues.

Technology for mathematics education : equity, access and agency

In this chapter, issues of equity – including gender, access, and agency – with respect to the learning of mathematics with technology are examined. Research findings are not equivocal. Compared to late developing countries, where issues of access to technology can be complicated by educational and cultural values and beliefs, there seems to be greater access to technology to be used for the learning of mathematics in developed nations. There also appears to be some disparity in findings on the relationship between technology use and gender differences in mathematics achievement; in some countries the gender gap favoring males may be closing, while in other countries, where there have been little or no gender differences in the past, the gap may be widening. Areas in which more research is needed have been identified.

Control of partial coalescence of self-assembled metal nano-particles across lyotropic liquid crystals templates towards long range meso-porous metal frameworks design

The formation of purely metallic meso-porous metal thin films by partial interface coalescence of self-assembled metal nano-particles across aqueous solutions of Pluronics triblock lyotropic liquid crystals is demonstrated for the first time. Small angle X-ray scattering was used to study the influence of the thin film composition and processing conditions on the ordered structures. The structural characteristics of the meso-structures formed demonstrated to primarily rely on the lyotropic liquid crystal properties while the nature of the metal nano-particles used as well as the their diameters were found to affect the ordered structure formation. The impact of the annealing temperature on the nano-particle coalescence and efficiency at removing the templating lyotropic liquid crystals was also analysed. It is demonstrated that the lyotropic liquid crystal is rendered slightly less thermally stable, upon mixing with metal nano-particles and that low annealing temperatures are sufficient to form purely metallic frameworks with average pore size distributions smaller than 500 nm and porosity around 45% with potential application in sensing, catalysis, nanoscale heat exchange, and molecular separation.