Search

The present study examined the effects of differing intensity levels of acute exercise on preadolescent academic ability. In a repeated measures design, 18 preadolescent participants (mean age±S.D.=9.8±1.4 years: 9 male and 9 female) completed the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT 4) following 20 minutes of rest, 20‐minutes on a cycling ergometer at 50% maximal heart rate reserve (HRR), and 20‐minutes on a cycling ergometer at 75% HRR on separate days. Exercise was found to improve spelling irrespective of intensity level. Moderate levels of exercise improved reading although the effect of high levels of intensity is less clear. Both intensity levels impaired arithmetic, whilst sentence comprehension was unaffected. These findings further support the past research that indicates acute bouts of exercise can selectively improve cognition in preadolescent children. However, the present study finds no support for the notion that increasing the intensity of exercise accentuates benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rowing stroke is a leg-driven action, in which forces developed by the lower limbs provide a large proportion of power delivered to the oars. In terms of both performance and injury, it is important to initiate each stroke with powerful and symmetrical loading of the foot stretchers. The aims of this study were to assess the reliability of foot force measured by footplates developed for the Concept2 indoor ergometer and to examine the magnitude and symmetry of bilateral foot forces in different groups of rowers. Five heavyweight female scullers, six heavyweight female sweep rowers, and six lightweight male (LWM) rowers performed an incremental step test on the Concept2 ergometer. Vertical, horizontal, and resultant forces were recorded bilaterally, and asymmetries were quantified using the absolute symmetry index. Foot force was measured with high consistency (coefficient of multiple determination>0.976 ± 0.010). Relative resultant, vertical, and horizontal forces were largest in LWM rowers, whilst average foot forces significantly increased across stroke rates for all three groups of rowers. Asymmetries ranged from 5.3% for average resultant force to 28.9% for timing of peak vertical force. Asymmetries were not sensitive to stroke rate or rowing group, however, large inter-subject variability in asymmetries was evident. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Foods with low glycaemic index (LGI) are reported to suppress appetite mainly in overweight population but have not been investigated in athletic adults. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the short-term effects of LGI and high GI (HGI) meals over a day on subsequent subjective appetite sensation, energy intake, energy expenditure, energy balance and resting metabolic rate in physically active males. Methods: This cross-sectional randomized crossover study included 14 active males (mean ± SD; age 34.5 ± 8.9 years, body mass index 22.8 ± 2.1 kg m) to consume LGI and HGI meals on two separate days. On each trial day, participants consumed a breakfast in the laboratory and then left with a packed lunch, dinner and snacks. Appetite scores, energy intake and expenditure were assessed. Results: The area under the curve for appetite scores of the HGI trial was significantly smaller than that of the LGI trial during the laboratory period ( p = 0.027) and throughout the day ( p = 0.009). No significant differences in energy intake, energy expenditure, energy balance and resting metabolic rate were found between groups, between the trial days and between the corresponding post-trial days. Conclusions: These results show that frequent ingestion of the HGI meals, contrary to the previous reports, suppresses appetite more than that of LGI meals, but did not affect energy balance in physically active normal-weight males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) symptoms and mathematics ability are associated, but little is known about the genetic and environmental influences underlying this association. Methods Data came from more than 6,000 twelve-year-old twin pairs from the UK population-representative Twins Early Development Study. Parents rated each twin's behaviour using a DSM- IV-based 18-item questionnaire of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms. Mathematics tests based on the UK National Curriculum were completed by each twin. The twins also completed standardised tests of reading and general cognitive ability. Multivariate twin model fitting was applied. Results Inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms were highly heritable (67% and 73% respectively). Mathematics ability was moderately heritable (46%). Mathematics ability and inattentiveness showed a significantly greater phenotypic correlation ( rp = −.26) and genetic correlation ( rA = −.41) than mathematics ability and hyperactivity-impulsivity ( rp = −.18; rA = −.22). The genetic correlation between inattentiveness and mathematics ability was largely independent from hyperactivity-impulsivity, and was only partially accounted for by genetic influences related to reading and general cognitive ability. Conclusions Results revealed the novel finding that mathematics ability shows significantly stronger phenotypic and genetic associations with inattentiveness than with hyperactivity-impulsivity. Genetic associations between inattentiveness and mathematics ability could only partially be accounted for by hyperactivity-impulsivity, reading and general cognitive ability. Results suggest that mathematics ability is associated with ADHD symptoms largely because it shares genetic risk factors with inattentiveness, and provide further evidence for considering inattentiveness and hyperactivity-impulsivity separately. DNA markers for ADHD symptoms (especially inattentiveness) may also be candidate risk factors for mathematics ability and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Malta, mathematics is often taught through code-switching between Maltese and English, mainly due to the use of textbooks published in the UK. The mixing of the languages has been a source of discussion for several years, with some educators accepting the mixed pattern, and others arguing in favour of using English alone. Furthermore, the possibility of using Maltese itself as the language for mathematics has also been mentioned, for both spoken and written modes. In this article, I discuss a potentially standardised Maltese mathematics register and reflect on the choice of the classroom language in terms of the implications of the choice on the use and development of ‘mathematical language’. I illustrate various routes how one might move from informal to formal language, depending on which language/s is or are being used in the classroom. I hence invite educators to consider the language debate not only in terms of medium of instruction issues, but also in terms of the implications on the use and development of mathematical language. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: There is interest in expanding ART to prevent HIV transmission, but in the group with the highest levels of ART use, men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), numbers of new infections diagnosed each year have not decreased as ARTcoverage has increased for reasons which remain unclear. Methods: We analysed data on the HIV-epidemic in MSM in the UK from a range of sources using an individual-based simulation model. Model runs using parameter sets found to result in good model fit were used to infer changes in HIV-incidence and risk behaviour. Results: HIV-incidence has increased (estimated mean incidence 0.30/100 person-years 1990–1997, 0.45/100 py 1998–2010), associated with a modest (26%) rise in condomless sex. We also explored counter-factual scenarios: had ART not been introduced, but the rise in condomless sex had still occurred, then incidence 2006–2010 was 68% higher; a policy of ART initiation in all diagnosed with HIV from 2001 resulted in 32% lower incidence; had levels of HIV testing been higher (68% tested/year instead of 25%) incidence was 25% lower; a combination of higher testing and ART at diagnosis resulted in 62% lower incidence; cessation of all condom use in 2000 resulted in a 424% increase in incidence. In 2010, we estimate that undiagnosed men, the majority in primary infection, accounted for 82% of new infections. Conclusion: A rise in HIV-incidence has occurred in MSM in the UK despite an only modest increase in levels of condomless sex and high coverage of ART. ART has almost certainly exerted a limiting effect on incidence. Much higher rates of HIV testing combined with initiation of ART at diagnosis would be likely to lead to substantial reductions in HIV incidence. Increased condom use should be promoted to avoid the erosion of the benefits of ART and to prevent other serious sexually transmitted infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At Cambridge, Charles Babbage developed the mathematical foundation that helped him design and build his computing machines. Yet, his experience at college tells the story of a young man who was experimenting with his identity, exploring new ideas, and testing himself. Although something of a rebel, Babbage yearned to have a place in British society for himself and his mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on research which was conducted to investigate the effect four weeks of plyometric training had on reactive strength index and leg stiffness in male youths. Researchers evaluated 129 boys who were either nine, 12 or 15 years of age. They found that improvements in reactive strength index and leg stiffness after a plyometric training program were age dependent during childhood.

This study uses audio-recordings of naturally occurring classroom discussions to examine how adult numeracy students drew on their informal knowledge as they worked together to solve mathematical problems. Analysis of the recordings not only reveals the knowledge which the participating students contributed to their discussions, but also illuminates how they responded to, and appeared to value, each other's contributions. Although students were found frequently to share knowledge about curricular and examination requirements, they rarely shared knowledge about out-of-classroom numeracy practices, even when their learning activities gave them opportunities to do so. Drawing on Bourdieu's notions of habitus and field, it is suggested that students' reluctance to draw on their out-of-classroom practices is due to the historically constituted values which they themselves place on different types of knowledge. A typology of conformative and disruptive knowledge contributions is proposed, which attempts to reconcile transformative ideals with the constraints of the contemporary classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) is designed to increase diversity and fairness in selection to study medicine. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine if differences in: access to support and advice, in modes of preparation, type of school/college attended, level of achievement in mathematics, gender and age influence candidate performance in the UKCAT and thereby unfairly advantage some candidates over others. Methods: Confidential, self-completed, on-line questionnaire of applicants to study on an undergraduate medical degree course who had taken the UKCAT in 2010. Results: Differentials in access to support and advice, in modes of preparation, type of school/college attended, in level of achievement in mathematics, gender and age were found to be associated with candidate performance in the UKCAT. Conclusion: The findings imply that the UKCAT may disadvantage some candidate groups. This inequity would likely be improved if tutors and career advisors in schools and colleges were more informed about the UKCAT and able to offer appropriate advice on preparation for the test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Synchronised Nutrition and Activity Program for Adults (SNAPA™) was developed to address the need for accurate, reliable, feasible, inexpensive and low-burden methods for assessing specific dietary and physical activity behaviours in adults. Short-term test–retest reliability of SNAPA™ was assessed in forty-four adults (age 41·4 (sd 17·3) years) who completed SNAPA™ twice in 1 day. Concurrent validity against direct dietary observation and combined heart rate and accelerometry was assessed in seventy-seven adults (age 34·4 (sd11·1) years). Test–retest reliability revealed no substantial systematic shifts in mean values of the outcome variables: percentage of food energy from fat (% fat), number of portions of fruit and vegetables (FV) and minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). For lunchtime dietary intake, the mean match rate between food items reported using SNAPA™ and those observed was 81·7 %, with a phantom rate of 5·6 %. Pearson's correlations between SNAPA™ and the reference methods ranged from 0·27 to 0·56 for % fat, FV portions and minutes of MVPA. For % fat and FV intake, there was no fixed or proportional bias, and mean differences between the methods (SNAPA™ − reference) were 5·1 % and 0 portions, respectively. For minutes of MVPA, a fixed bias of − 28 min was revealed when compared with all minutes of MVPA measured by combined heart rate and accelerometry, whereas a proportional bias (slope 1·47) was revealed when compared with minutes carried out in bouts ≥ 10 min. SNAPA™ is a promising tool for measuring specific energy balance behaviours, though further work is required to improve accuracy for physical activity behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study related to the use of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in research of a data from the 1980 survey of the British 1970 Birth Cohort Study. It assesses the extent of influence of maternal interest in education for attaining high in mathematics in 1890 cases. The author uses the QCA method as it assumes multiple conjunctural causation at work. 2 approaches are included- the counterfactual method and the two-stage method, supporting the previous method.

Tkachev on uneven bars is a release and re-grasp skill performed using variations of preparatory longswing techniques; the reasons why different techniques are chosen remains unclear. This study examined kinematic and key release parameters specific to three distinct techniques with the aim of understanding the relative benefits of each. During two international artistic gymnastics competitions six arch, straddle and pike longswings preceding the straddle Tkachev were recorded using twin video cameras. Calibration and movement images were digitised and reconstructed using 3D DLT. Shoulder and hip angular kinematics, angular momentum and key release parameters were compared between techniques. In the arch longswing, the first and second hip functional phases began significantly earlier than the straddle or pike. No significant differences were established for release parameters although large effect sizes for horizontal release velocity and angular momenta about the mass centre and bar were reported between the arch and other two variants. Therefore, the arch variant may provide the opportunity to develop more complex combinations following the Tkachev. Providing insight into mechanical advantages of specific longswing techniques, and highlighting those that elicit desirable characteristics offers the potential to provide coaches with objective data on technique selection and ultimately skill development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over five decades, researchers have reported that deaf children lag behind their hearing peers on different educational measures. This review aims to synthesize the information on the nature and extent of this delay. A systematic search of the literature comparing deaf and hearing children's performance in mathematics was carried out. Of the 23 relevant articles, 13 employed standardized measures and 10 used un-standardized measures. The analysis demonstrates that, for children whose level of hearing loss is greater than moderate, there is a delay in mathematics in comparison with hearing children. This delay is noted in all assessments with standardized measures. Three studies (about 30%) that used un-standardized measures reported no delay; in these studies the children did not have to use conventional mathematical signs in order to solve the tasks. This may indicate that deaf children's number representation is not impaired but their learning of conventional mathematical signs is delayed. An attempt was made to quantify the level of delay, but the findings must be interpreted with caution due to possible confounding in the studies, some related to the sample (inclusion and exclusion criteria) and others related to the lack of controls (comparisons with only chronologically age-matched controls when general intelligence should have been controlled for). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical risk communication has been infrequently studied in immigrants with limited non-native language proficiency, even though they may be at greatest risk of illness. In a study, we examined to what extent Polish immigrants to the UK have difficulties in understanding treatment risk reduction expressed as ratios either in their native language or in a non-native language (English). We further investigated whether this population can be aided by using visual displays to enhance comprehension. A survey was conducted in the UK in spring, 2009, involving a sample of Polish immigrants (n = 96). Estimates of treatment risk reduction, confidence in estimates, and perceptions of treatment effectiveness. When assessing treatment risk reduction, participants often paid too much attention to the number of treated and non-treated patients who died (i.e. numerators) and insufficient attention to the overall number of treated and non-treated patients (i.e. denominators). This denominator neglect was especially noticeable when treatment risk reduction was not expressed in participants' native language. However, provision of visual aids in addition to the numerical information about risk reduction proved to be an effective method for eliminating denominator neglect. The visual aids drew participants' attention to the overall number of treated and non-treated patients and helped them to make more accurate risk estimates. When communicating risks to immigrants with limited non-native language proficiency, we should move beyond the simple, direct translation of health messages that are already being used with the indigenous population to messages that are more appropriate. The use of materials that include visual aids is an effective method of communicating medical risk information to immigrant populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the mathematical abilities of 15-year-olds in a range of countries which participated in the 2003 cycle of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED)'s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Utilizing information on the scores obtained by individual students in the mathematical part of the PISA assessment, we use a range of indicators from the literature on inequality and poverty to evaluate the 'mathematical performance' of participating countries. Since data from PISA contained a wealth of information on the circumstances of the students in terms of their home and school environment, we identify and examine the relative influence of factors which serve to enhance the mathematical performance of students in the PISA assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay explores themes of time and public arising from essays about the 1710 state lottery in England designed to provide war financing written by Richard Steele and Joseph Addison in their respective British periodicals "The Tatler" and "The Spectator." Other subjects considered include how developments in mathematics, especially in probability theory, led to changes in Britain's public finance, banking, insurance, and joint-stock investing.

Teachers in the UK and elsewhere are now expected to foster creativity in young children (NACCCE, ; Ofsted, ; DfES, ; DfES/DCMS, ). Creativity, however, is more often associated with the arts than with mathematics. The aim of the study was to explore and document pre-service (in the UK, pre-service teachers are referred to as ‘trainee’ teachers) primary teachers’ conceptions of creativity in mathematics teaching in the UK. A questionnaire probed their conceptions early in their course, and these were supplemented with data from semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the responses indicated that pre-service teachers’ conceptions were narrow, predominantly associated with the use of resources and technology and bound up with the idea of ‘teaching creatively’ rather than ‘teaching for creativity’. Conceptions became less narrow as pre-service teachers were preparing to enter schools as newly qualified, but they still had difficulty in identifying ways of encouraging and assessing creativity in the classroom. This difficulty suggests that conceptions of creativity need to be addressed and developed directly during pre-service education if teachers are to meet the expectations of government as set out in the above documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights several British Society for the History of Mathematics (BHSM) meetings. The British Mathematics Colloquium was held in York, England from March 25-28, 2008. The 50th British Applied Mathematics Colloquium was held at the University of Manchester from March 31-April 3, 2008. A meeting on the history of financial mathematics was held at Gresham College on April 25, 2008.

This article considers the role John Playfair (1748-1819) played in creating and popularizing the myth that mathematical development halted in Great Britain in the eighteenth century due to mathematicians' irrational attachment to a geometrical approach to the calculus. By the turn of the nineteenth century, Playfair had established his reputation as an energetic teacher, gifted expositor, and skilled natural philosopher. He served as joint professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh and as general secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, editing the Society's Transactions, while his written accomplishments included Elements of geometry (1795) and Illustrations of the Huttonian theory of the earth (1802). He then contributed his talents to the opinionated journal, Edinburgh Review, where his assessments of the contemporary state of mathematics reached a wide audience of intellectuals, gentlemen, and merchants, albeit anonymously. The article expands upon a section of a talk delivered to the Fourth Joint Meeting of the BSHM and CSHPM in Montreal, 27-29 July 2007 (see also Ackerberg-Hastings 2007). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the mental computation strategies used by pupils at the end of primary school. In 1998 a new strategy for teaching mathematics was introduced into British schools (the National Numeracy Strategy) that specifically focused on mental calculation. The first part of the study took place in 1999, one year after the implementation of the National Numeracy Strategy. These results were compared with those obtained in 2005, six years later. The study shows that the National Numeracy Strategy has improved pupils' performance both mentally and when given the option to use written working. But some discrepancies deserve further study; for example, the greater use of the 'rounding and adjusting; method for subtraction than for addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article expresses concern for the sloppy language that is often used by the media to describe numerical comparisons and suggests guidelines for how such comparisons should be described such that the meanings are unambiguous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) in England in September 1999 represented a very significant attempt to change the way mathematics was taught in primary schools. In Wales, where the NNS does not apply, an alternative strategy required Local Education Authorities (LEAs), in consultation with their schools, to develop locally based numeracy initiatives. This article presents and discusses results from a comparative study of the way in which headteachers viewed these contrasting attempts to raise standards of numeracy and their perception of the way in which the initiatives impacted upon pupils, teachers and teaching approaches. Whilst the data presented within the article may be of particular interest to policy makers and practitioners in England and Wales there would also appear to be some messages for those who may be concerned with similar large-scale reform efforts elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article cautions on OECD's recent educational survey or the PISA survey. The OECD's international survey of 15-year-olds' educational attainments carried out in Spring 2001 aroused surprise and even astonishment in Great Britain when its results were published because the new OECD survey put the pupils among the world's top performers in mathematics. Questions in the new PISA survey, were deliberately not directed to curricular techniques, but to the more difficult issues of the candidate's ability to choose appropriate techniques and apply them to authentic skills for life problems, making it much more difficult for teachers to know what to do in order to improve pupils' capabilities.

Recent curriculum reforms have led to a wider variety of methods of assessment in formal 'high stakes' assessment regimes in many countries. Morgan's study of mathematics coursework assessment in UK schools identified a number of positions adopted by teachers as they assessed student texts. Using Bernstein's theoretical framework, we revisit Morgan's study in order to construct a model for understanding teachers' assessment practices and positionings. The model consists of opposing forms, generated by modelling agencies, agents, practices and specialised forms of communication, to identify their principles of construction, displayed as changes in the strength of boundary. This helps to distinguish practices of assessment as different modalities of regulation, and to understand the tensions within and between discourses and practices. Thus, for example, by interpreting tensions between discourses of 'mathematical investigation' and of 'assessment' in terms of the contradictory demands made by different modes of pedagogic practice, we can reveal the social assumptions of the pedagogic discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights the history of the British Association's Mathematical Tables Committee. How the subject of mathematical tables was raised in the committee; Decline in the activity of the committee; Downfall of the committee.

Explores the development and assessment of safety and security use of computer systems in Great Britain. Assessment of security in the finance sector; Evaluation of assessment practices; Use of mathematical proof in designing a program.

The article describes meetings concerning the organization the British Society for the History of Mathematics (BSHM) including a "History of Computing in Three Parts" at Gresham College in London, England, on October 31, 2013, "A Chance Encounter': A talk by scholar Richard Simpson about 17th century mathematics" in Manchester, England, on November 12, 2013, and the BSHM Christmas meeting at the Birmingham and Midland Institute on December 7, 2013.

The article focuses on research projects that are carried out in England, and are aimed at assessing the scope of numeracy in professional nursing practice. It reports on the project titled "Medication Dosage Calculation: A Benchmark Assessment for Nursing," and mentions its goal to develop a computer-based benchmark assessment model for medicine calculation in the nursing field. It also discusses the evaluation of teaching and learning numeracy in nursing programmes by an another study titled "Numeracy for nursing," and highlights the preliminary difficulties faced during the study.

The Manchester Baby, built by F.C. Williams and Tom Kilburn and operational in June 1948, was the first stored-program electronic computer. The Williams-Kilburn tube memory, pioneered in the Baby, was subsequently adopted in many first-generation computers, including the Princeton IAS machine and the IBM 701. Part 1 of this article provides an overview of the Manchester project and its personnel and documents the origins of the Williams-Kilburn tube. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information on the works of Paul Klee, in Great Britain. He uses mathematics to explore his craft in arts by creating crystals, carvings and castles. Much of his works will be featured during the art exhibition entitled "Beyond Measure" to be held at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge, England. In the exhibition, he displayed various objects with mix aesthetic quality with functionality because he believed that these objects were created to illustrate, to teach, to decorate or to demonstrate. Some of this objects include wooden models of platonic solids, Archimedean polyhedra and geological crystals.

The article focuses on Robert Fleming and his works. It states that Fleming received his Bachelor in Science degrees in mathematics and physics from Queen's University in Belfast, North Ireland in 1958 and 1959. He also finished his masteral degrees in physics from the same university in 1962 and 1985, respectively. He was employed as an Assistant Lecturer at Queen's University from 1962 to 1964 befor he left fot the Royal Military College of Science in Shriverham, Great Britain. In 1976 Fleming he became a Senior lecturer in the Department of Physics at Monash University in Victoria, Australia. He retired in 2000 as Reader and he remains as an Honorary Senior Research Fellow and still manages a laboratory.

Editorial. Focuses on the educational system of Great Britain. Significance of inclusion of statistics in the mathematics curriculum of education; Methods suggested to evoke in interest of pupils in mathematics; Proposed changes in the education system of Great Britain.