STEM Education Centre E-Bulletin: March 2014
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STEM Education Centre E-bulletin: March 2014 Welcome to the March e-bulletin from the University of Birmingham’s STEM Education Centre. It is designed to provide you with information about STEM-related events, resources, news and updates that may be of interest to you and your colleagues. STEM Policy and Practice News Budget 2014: Alan Turing Institute to lead big data research A £42m Alan Turing Institute is to be founded to ensure that Britain leads the way in big data and algorithm research, George Osborne has announced. Drawing on the name of the British mathematician who led code-breaking work at Bletchley Park during the World War II, the institute is intended to help British companies by bringing together expertise and experience in tackling problems requiring huge computational power. Turing’s work led to the cracking of the German "Enigma" codes, which used highly compl ex encryption, is believed to have saved hundreds or even thousands of lives. He later formed a number of theories that underpin modern computing, and formalised the idea of algorithms – sequences of instructions – for a computer. This announcement marks further official rehabilitation of a scientist who many see as having been treated badly by the British government after his work during the war. Turing, who was gay, was convicted of indecency in March 1952, and lost his security clearance with GCHQ, the successor to Bletchley Park. He killed himself in June 1954. Only after a series of public campaigns was he given an official pardon by the UK government in December 2013. Public Attitudes to Science (PAS) 2014 Public Attitudes to Science (PAS) 2014 is the fifth in a series of studies looking at attitudes to science, scientists and science policy among the UK public. Ipsos MORI conducted the study in partnership with the British Science Association, on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The study shows that the UK public are as enthusiastic about science as they ever have been, with attitudes to science having come a long way over the past 25 years: - More now agree that “ it is important to know about science in my daily life ” (72% agree, versus 57% in 1988). - People are now more comfortable about the pace of change – just a third (34%, versus 49% in 1988) now agree that “ science makes people’s lives change too fast ”. - By the same token, people hold scientists and engineers in high regard. Nine-in-ten think that scientists (90%) and engineers (88%) make a valuable contribution to society and both are viewed on balance as creative, interesting and open-minded people. Ultimately, PAS 2014 strongly underlines the importance of engaging the public with science, to address people’s concerns and deal with any misconceptions. Half (51%) still say they hear and see too little about science. For further information, please visit the ipsos mori website: http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/Public-Attitudes-to-Science- 2014.aspx Reflecting on the findings Dr Ellie Cosgrave offers her perspective ‘ Engineering: For someone like me?’ in this British Science Association blog: http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/blog/engineering-someone-me As nominations open for £1m Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, there is a call for the parents of girls to look at engineering differently Whilst launching the call for nominations for the QEPrize, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation chairman, Lord Browne of Madingley, called on parents to take a fresh look at engineering, and to encourage both their sons and daughters to consider it as an exciting and rewarding profession. Lord Browne: “From large-scale infrastructure to medical technology, engineers’ achievements transform every aspect of our daily lives. Our research shows that parents are reluctant for their daughters to enter the field of engineering, believing that other subjects offer them better opportunities.” Recent research conducted by the QEPrize shows the engineering still suffers from an image problem – especially among the parents of girls. Despite the fact that the UK needs 1 million more engineers by 2020, the QEPrize survey found that parents of girls aged between 5 and 18 are still inclined to encourage their daughters to study subjects other than engineering and science. 73% of mums and dads said they believed that other subjects offer better career opportunities for girls. A summary of the research is available here: http://createthefuture.qeprize.org/Survey-Deck.pdf The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is a £1 million global awar d which celebrates the engineers responsible for a ground-breaking innovation in engineering that has been of global benefit to humanity. The closing date for nominations is Monday, 14 th July 2014. Further details are available here: http://qeprize.org/nominate/ Michael Grove joins the sigma Directorate team The Directors of the sigma maths network are delighted to announce that Michael Grove, Director of the STEM Education Centre at the University of Birmingha m, has agreed to work with sigma as an Associate Director. Michael brings with him an extensive understanding of the MSOR and wider STEM arenas. He was the Director of the National HE STEM Programme, where his responsibilities included its overall strategic direction at a national policy level. Prior to this, Michael was Assistant Director of the HEA’s MSOR Subject Centre. His role will focus on assisting with some key work packages, including the regional postgraduate tutor training workshops, as well as the preparation and implementation of a high level sector needs analysis. In addition, Michael will continue to be a proactive national champion of mathematics and statistics support activity and of sigma. sigma Director, Professor Duncan Lawson said “ We are thrilled that Michael has agreed to be involved with the latest sigma project. Alongside his experience, he brings energy, enthusiasm and dynamism to everything he does and he will help to ensure successful outcomes for sigma’s current work. ” Michael said " I am delighted to accept this role with sigma. The national sigma Network was established through the National HE STEM Programme, and seeing the network not only sustained but also continuing to develop and grow reaffirms our decision to work with sigma in the early days of the Programme. I benefitted greatly from sigma's support when developing the University of Birmingham Mathematics Support Centre and I am delighted to be able to help others in a similar way ." And finally….. Male, Mad and Muddleheaded: The portrayal of academics in children’s books is shockingly narrow Academics in children’s books tend to be elderly men called Professor SomethingDumb. Why does this matter? Melissa Terras presents the findings from her two-year research on the representation of academics and argues these portrayals should be challenged. You can read more on this LSE blog: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/02/14/academics-in-childrens- picture-books/ Call for Abstracts CETL-MSOR Conference 2014: Mathematics and Statistics Teaching, Learning and Support: Real, Virtual, Mobile 8th - 9th September 2014, Cardiff University In 2009, sigma explored the growing use of technology in mathematics support[i]. Five years on, technology has advanced and new ways of exploiting it are emerging (for instance MOOCs, mobile apps, flipped classrooms). We are entering a period of educational experiment and disruptive innovation. This year’s conference will explore ways in which learning, teaching and support in Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research (MSOR) in Higher Education are being shaped by the opportunities arising through a more connected world. The principal themes of the conference will be: - Technology-enhanced learning and teaching - Back to basics! The lasting value of face-to-face interaction - Offering mathematics and statistics support through technology - Harnessing the power of social media for improving student engagement - Whither (wither!) the traditional lecture – evolving your teaching to keep pace with a more connected world Authors are invited to submit abstracts of no more than 500 words which explore the themes of the conference. Interesting reports on issues relating to the wider teaching and learning of MSOR that do not fit directly with the themes will also be considered. The submission form is available to download from the sigma Network website: http://www.sigma-network.ac.uk/?attachment_id=1184 Completed forms should be submitted to [email protected] . The deadline for receipt of abstracts is Friday , 6th June 2014 . All abstracts submissions will be acknowledged and we aim to notify you of acceptance by Friday , 11th July 2014 . If you have any queries or experience any difficulties submitting your abstract, please contact Moira Petrie by emailing [email protected] . For conference details and updates follow @CETLMSOR2014, remembering to use the hashtag #CETLMSOR14 or sign up to the SIGMA-NETWORK JISCMAIL list: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=SIGMA-NETWORK [i] Lawson, D.A., Carpenter, S., and Croft, A.C. (2009) ‘Mathematics support: real, virtual and mobile’, International Journal of Technology in Mathematics Education 15(2). Variety in Chemistry Education & Physics Higher Education Conference 2014 28-29 August 2014, Durham University This combined conference offers an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and sharing of practice in relation to learning and teaching in chemistry and physics in higher education. It also provides a forum for the dissemination of research into pedagogy and innovative learning. The deadline for abstract submission is Friday, 20 June 2014 . Conference registration closes on Friday, 1 August 2014 . For further information, please visit the Conference website: http://community.dur.ac.uk/vice.phec/ Events Technology Enhanced Teaching & Learning: Seminar Series Wednesday Afternoons: 1300 – 1400 The development of new technologies has led to changes in the way in which universities deliver teaching and has impacted upon how students learn, their skills and their expectations of higher education study.