Issue 9: December 2015 | ||||
In this issue:Articles
Resources
Future events
Past events
Contributions |
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The Mathematics Needs of Higher EducationEllie Darlington, Research Officer, Cambridge AssessmentResearch has recently been undertaken by Cambridge Assessment, regarding students’ mathematical preparedness for STEMM and Social Science degrees resulting from the study of A-level Maths and/or Further Maths. 30 lecturers of different subject areas were interviewed, and generally reported that they believed that A-level Maths was suitable preparation. Nonetheless, they expressed some concerns regarding some aspects of their students’ mathematical understanding. Over 4,000 current undergraduate STEMM and social scientists who had taken at least AS-level Maths completed an online questionnaire regarding the modules that they studied as part of the A-level(s), and how well they believed they were prepared by those for the mathematical demands of their degree. The majority of students of all subject disciplines believed that A-level Maths and/or Further Maths had been good preparation for the mathematical component of their university studies. However, they nonetheless made some interesting suggestions for how the content and assessment might better serve as preparation for university study. Additionally, students of different degree subjects found taking certain optional applied mathematics units more helpful than others. This will provide useful information for mathematics teachers, prospective undergraduates and admissions tutors regarding how best to prepare students for future study in different disciplines. A report on undergraduate mathematicians of A-level Further Maths is available online in the informal proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics. Comparisons between A-level Maths and Further Maths and equivalent curricula and qualifications in other high-performing countries can be found in the latest edition of Research Matters. Recommendations for prospective A-level students, Maths teachers, prospective STEMM and Social Science undergraduates and admissions tutors will be made in due course based on the findings. Those interested in receiving updates when research findings are published should contact darlington.e@cambridgeassessment.org.uk |
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Mathematics Learning Support meeting with Politicians in IrelandCiarán Mac an Bhaird, Maynooth UniversityMembers of the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network were invited to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection. The Houses of the Oireachtas contain the Dáil (Parliament) and Senate. The Oireachtas committees are composed of members of both the Irish parliament and senate. There were Presentation and Question and Answer sessions with the committee based on the 2014 IMLSN publication 'Student Evaluation of Mathematics Learning Support: insights from a large multi-institutional survey.' Video recordings of these sessions are available from http://supportcentre.maths.nuim.ie/mathsnetwork/oireachtas and further information on the publication is available from http://supportcentre.maths.nuim.ie/mathsnetwork/IMLSNReportLaunch The IMLSN members received very positive feedback from the Joint Committee on both the report and the work being done in the provision of Mathematics Learning Support (MLS). The committee asked the IMLSN to send them recommendations on how MLS can be better supported at institutional and national level so they would pass these on to both the Minister for Education and Department of Education officials. The IMLSN committee will forward recommendations based on feedback received in a recent survey from staff involved in MLS provision across the island of Ireland. The results of this survey will be available in spring 2016.
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Ciarán Mac an Bhaird (Maynooth University), Senator Mary Moran (Labour Party Senate Spokesperson on Education, Disability, Equality & Mental Health), Eabhnat Ní Fhloinn (Dublin City University) and Ciarán O'Sullivan (Institute of Technology Tallaght) outside the Houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin. |
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sigma Prize for Outstanding Contribution – Dr Christine Pereira, Brunel University LondonChristine has been recognised for her contribution to statistics education and support through the development of a wealth of video based resources, predominately focussed on SPSS support. She was presented with a sigma Prize for Outstanding Contribution at the CETL-MSOR Conference 2015. |
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Duncan Lawson, sigma Director and Christine Pereira, Brunel University |
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sigma Prize for Outstanding Contribution – Dr Ellen Marshall, University of SheffieldLike Christine, Ellen has been recognised for her contribution to statistics education and support through the development of a wide range of resources. These have included a portfolio focussed on training materials for statistics tutors. Her sigma Prize for Outstanding Contribution was presented at the CETL-MSOR Conference 2015 by sigma Director, Duncan Lawson. |
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Duncan Lawson, sigma Director and Ellen Marshall, University of Sheffield |
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David Bowers, sigma Network Chair and Leslie Fletcher, Liverpool John Moores University |
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New Maths Centre opens in DerryCiarán Mac an Bhaird, Maynooth UniversityThe official launch of the new Maths Centre in the North West Regional College (NWRC) Derry took place on October 16th 2015. NWRC boosted its STEM strategy by becoming the first ever Further Education College in Northern Ireland to provide a dedicated Mathematics Support Centre. The resources and support of the College's expert staff are now available to students across NWRC who require support to improve their skills in the application of number in order to help them with their chosen qualification, and to act as a conduit to drive mathematical innovation within the College curriculum. Launching the initiative were College students and staff, who joined a range of special guests including Leo Murphy, NWRC Principal and Chief Executive, Danny Laverty, Head of School for Science and Technology at NWRC, Jonathan Cole, Queen's University Belfast, and Ciarán Mac an Bhaird, Maynooth University (both of whom are committee members of the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network. Full details of the NWRC Maths Centre are available and the contact is Dr Terence McIvor, Curriculum Manager for Science and Mathematics. |
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Dr Terence McIvor (Curriculum Manager for Science and Mathematics, NWRC), Dr Jonathan Cole (Queen's University Belfast), Dr Ciarán Mac an Bhaird (Maynooth University) and students from NWRC |
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CETL-MSOR 2015: Sustaining Excellence - 8/9 September 2015This year’s conference was held at the University of Greenwich on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th September 2015. |
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The Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich where the Conference Dinner was held. |
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The conference was attended by 137 delegates (an increase of 32 on 2014) representing 55 institutions (44 in 2014). The programme included 4 keynote sessions, 50 30-minute sessions and 4 1-hour workshops. Due to some emergency flood work, the conference dinner was relocated at late notice to the Painted Hall, which was a real bonus. Feedback was received from 69 delegates (50.3% of the total attendance). Of the respondents, 47.3% had attended the conference for the first time. The vast majority of respondents felt that the conference was very good (34.8%) or excellent (62.3%). Comments included: The historic venue was amazing - having the conference dinner in the Painted Hall was a fantastic bonus. The talk at the Planetarium was pitched at just the right level. The standard of talks, both plenary and contributed, was extremely high. This must rate as one of the best CETL-MSOR ever. It was fantastic, and definitely made me feel inspired. I think the most difficult thing will be deciding what to focus on. It was also valuable to be updated on the changes in GCSE and A-level curriculum. Thoroughly enjoyed it; very well organised; extremely friendly conference as ever. Possibly 4 parallel sessions instead of 5 would have been better - felt like I missed a lot of interesting talks! I had not been to this conference before and did not know quite what to expect. I really enjoyed it (and the Planetarium show was superb!) Having received 20 submissions, work is underway on the publication of Conference Proceedings. It is hoped that the Proceedings will be ready for publication by the end of this calendar year. All CETL-MSOR 2015 Conference abstracts and those presentations that have been made available may be accessed from the sigma network website. See http://www.sigma-network.ac.uk/cetl-msor-2015/. |
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New statstutor and mathcentre Community resourcesA number of new resources are being added to mathcentre and statstutor following the resource funding calls and contributions to the Communities Centre projects. Recent additions are detailed below. If you have develeloped resources, either for students or staff, that you are willing to share with the mathematics and statstics support community, please contact Janette Matthews (J.Matthews@lboro.ac.uk). It may be possible to host these resources on Loughborough University servers thus enabling them to continue to be accessible in the future. |
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Short Numerical Reasoning Revision Leaflets (mathcentre)Eleanor Lingham, Sheffield Hallam UniversityI would like to thank the sigma Network for a 2014 Resource Development Fund grant that enabled me to develop a bank of 24 leaflets to help undergraduates refresh their numerical skills. In my previous role at De Montfort University (DMU), I started a numerical reasoning workshop (with Ann Baughan, Careers) to help students prepare for graduate numerical reasoning tests. While running these workshops, and in my role at the DMU Maths Learning Centre, I noticed that many students had forgotten the key numerical skills needed to do well on these tests. As a result, I began to write materials to help them quickly and effectively refresh their knowledge. When I received the sigma grant, I was able to develop a bank of 24 leaflets on the range of topics that often arise in numerical reasoning tests, such as bar charts, shares and dividends, foreign exchange. For ease of use, each leaflet is two pages long, and contains brief information and some worked examples. Where more space is needed, these bite-sized leaflets are aimed at particular skills (e.g. How to get X% of Y). While these leaflets may not contain enough detail and help for every student, I think they can be a useful revision step for the average undergraduate. The leaflets are:
I would also like to thank Dr Julie Crowley (Cork Institute of Technology) for moderating the leaflets. They can be found on www.mathcentre.ac.uk (Search by topic or 'Lingham'). Please send any comments to me at e.lingham@shu.ac.uk |
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Numeracy Leaflet 17: Turnover, Revenue, Sales |
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Facts and Formulae Leaflets for Economics and Business Studies (mathcentre)Morgiane Richard, Maths Academic Skills Adviser, Student Learning Service, University of AberdeenHonours students in Economics and Business Studies and Post-Graduate students studying an MSc in Finance, Accounting and Business Studies at the University of Aberdeen cover common Maths topics in their studies:
Some of these students have not studied maths in some years, or have National 5 / GCSE Maths qualifications, and therefore will encounter these topics either for the first time, or will not have practised them for a long time. In addition, these students need to grasp rather complex mathematical concepts quickly. Indeed, they came to study a degree in Economics or Business Studies – and Post-Graduate students only have one year – and not to study Maths. Therefore they need to concentrate on understanding and remembering exactly what they need in their own context, and no more. mathcentre contains some resources for Economics and Business Studies, however, the existing teaching resources cover arithmetic and algebra, but not the topics mentioned above. So I created four Facts and Formulae leaflets, on the model of MathCentre Facts and Formulae, on
The leaflets have been peer-reviewed by Anthony Cronin, University College Dublin, and Shazia Ahmed, University of Glasgow. Each leaflet is one A4-side only, so that all the information can be seen at a glance, and contains applications of each topic in Economics and Business Studies. |
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At-a-Glance 14: Prescription (1) |
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sigma South East Hub event: Tutor Training – 7 September 2015Dan Brawn, University of EssexTime: 10:45am to 15:30pm including a buffet lunch. Attended by myself and 12 post grads. Course Tutor: Michael Grove from the University of Birmingham. Michael Grove conducted the day and his focus was on the difference between teaching and providing learning support.
Michael offered a three point approach:
Geogebra was used over the lunch period as a means to explore concepts and pose problems. After lunch, some dos and don’ts were explored. Useful themes included centre staff knowing their limits, being open with the student and the importance of maintaining a professional relationship throughout. One suggestion was to advertise the duty times and particular expertise of centre staff such as statistics experts. In the section on providing statistics support, Michael advised that many centres cannot really manage statistics support except for basic introductory statistics concepts. He pinpointed the universities of Loughborough and Coventry as being some of the few which have support centres capable of providing good statistics support. Michael finished by emphasizing the usefulness of working in a support centre for careers and CVs. He offered some online resources:
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sigma South West & South Wales Hub event: Tutor Training - 2 October 2015Emma Cliffe, sigma South West and South Wales Hub co-ordinatorA sigma SW&SW Tutor Training event for mathematics and statistics support centre tutors was held on Friday 2nd October at Cardiff University. The training was based around the sigma guide for tutors and was delivered by Michael Grove (sigma) and Rob Wilson (Cardiff) with input from Jon Gillard (Cardiff) on statistics support.
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The day included: what mathematics support is; problem solving; principles of mathematics support sessions; considerations for statistics support and exploration of possible scenarios. There was also time for discussion, questions and answers to ensure that all tutors left feeling they had got what they needed from the day. The twenty-one attendees came from the University of Portsmouth, Cardiff University and three mathematics support centres at Swansea University. Staff tutors from Bath attended to learn more about how the training is delivered. Attendees felt that helpful things included: “confirmation that I don't need to know everything”; “dos and don'ts”; “details of resources”; “real-life examples”; “working through example scenarios with others” and “strategies to deal with complex situations”. Two attendees summarised: “Very dynamic, interactive and easy-going. Helped me get a bit more confidence as to my ability to be a good tutor” and “[...] was basically maths support support. Very helpful” |
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sigma North West & North Wales Hub event: Tutor Training - 28 October 2015Ian Jarman, sigma North West & North Wales Hub Co-ordinatorThe sigma North West & North Wales regional hub organised a training day aimed at “Supporting Postgraduates who Tutor in Mathematics Support Centres” on Wednesday 28th October hosted by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). The event was attended by 13 delegates not just from the hub region (LJMU and Chester) but we were also delighted to welcome representatives from Sheffield and Leeds Universities. Michael Grove and Tony Croft delivered an excellent programme covering Post-graduate focused topics: What is maths support, The do’s and don’ts of maths support, exploring scenarios and student needs in a maths support centre. An enjoyable session was also delivered by one of the delegates, Ellen Marshall, on offering statistics support. The delegates were enthusiastic and fully engaged in the interactive sessions making for a fun day. This was affirmed by the feedback with an overall average satisfaction mark of 4.6 out of a possible 5. The success of the day was down to everyone involved, so thank you all who participated. |
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R Day: Delivery of Statistics Support using R – 2 December 2015Dan Brawn, sigma Eastern England HubThe popular and free software termed “R” is already well used by academics across various disciplines. The R Day, to be held at the University of Essex Campus near Colchester, will focus on how R can be used to provide statistical support to students and academics or to the wider community outside academia. Learning support centres, which offer excellent Maths support, often struggle to provide the same level of service in Stats beyond only basic statistical concepts. This sigma R day will explore how to use the R software in a teaching or help desk style scenario for Statistics. The day will be led by three experienced practitioners:
Participants will not be expected to know R although some basic familiarity will be useful. Only elementary statistical knowledge will be assumed. It is envisaged that this sigma R day will be the first of a trio with Jim and Magnus hosting the other two at Swansea and Hull, thus neatly covering much of England and Wales. The meeting will be particularly helpful for those just starting in a Stats support service, for example through the sigma funding initiative, but more experienced practitioners will also find it interesting and an opportunity to network with others. To book a place, or for further information, please contact: Dan Brawn, sigma Eastern England Hub Assistant Co-ordinator: dbrawn@essex.ac.uk. |
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sigma North West & North Wales Tutor Training - 15 December 2015Ian Jarman, sigma North West and North Wales Hub Co-ordinatorA free training day is being held on Tuesday 15 December 2015 at Lancaster University for tutors who work in mathematics and statistics support centres or who otherwise support students to enhance their mathematical skills. The course will be delivered by members of sigma, based around the sigma guide “Tutoring in a Mathematics Support Centre“. The training is ideal for Post Graduate tutors new to mathematics and statistics support but is open to anyone who wishes to reflect on the ways in which mathematics and statistics support differs from traditional lecturing. This event is being hosted by Lancaster University and the sigma North West and North Wales Hub. To reserve a place at this FREE event, please email Emma Jupp e.jupp@lancaster.ac.uk |
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sigma Midlands Tutor Training - 14 January 2016Ruth Fairclough, sigma Midlands Hub co-ordinatorThe sigma Midlands Hub is holding a free new tutor training session on January 14th 2016 at the University of Wolverhampton Walsall campus. This free training day is for tutors who work in mathematics and statistics support centres or who otherwise support students to enhance their mathematical skills. The course will be delivered by members of sigma, based around the sigma guide “Tutoring in a Mathematics Support Centre“. The training is ideal for Post Graduate tutors new to mathematics and statistics support but is open to anyone who wishes to reflect on the ways in which mathematics and statistics support differs from traditional lecturing. This event is being hosted by the sigma Midlands hub. The program is available here. To reserve a place at this FREE event, please email Ruth Fairclough r.fairclough@wlv.ac.uk. |
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Preparing Students for Numerical Psychometric Tests – 15 January 2016Noel-Ann Bradshaw, sigma South East Hub co-ordinatorThe next sigma meeting organised by the South East Hub is taking place on Friday 15 January from 10:30-3pm at the University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, London, SE10. The focus is on Preparing Students for Numerical Psychometric Tests. Speakers include:
Please email Noel-Ann Bradshaw if you would like to register for this event including details of any dietary requirements. |
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Beyond mathcentre: electronic resources for maths assessment and support – 22 January 2016Emma Cliffe, sigma South West and South Wales Hub co-ordinatorThe sigma South West & South Wales Hub is hosting a meeting on ‘Beyond mathcentre: electronic resources for maths assessment and support‘ at the Treforest Campus of the University of South Wales on Friday 22 January 2016. This meeting will focus on electronic resources for maths assessment and support beyond the well known mathcentre. The aim of this meeting is for all attendees to leave with new starting points and contacts in their network to assist in exploring the wealth of electronic resources available for use in maths assessment and support. The meeting is suitable for any member of staff or postgraduate tutor involved in mathematics or statistics assessment or support in higher education. There is no charge for attending this event and refreshments and lunch will be provided. For further information about the meeting, including a full schedule of the day, and to register your attendance please see: http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/sigma-sw/events/electronic-2016.html For those working towards HEA Fellowship, attendance at and engagement with this event, and reflection on its implications for practice, could help to provide evidence towards elements of the UK Professional Standards Framework: A1, A4, A5, K2, K3, K4, V2, V3 For further information please contact Emma Cliffe, mash@bath.ac.uk. |
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Numeracy Skills for Employability and the Workplace -1 February 2016Numeracy Skills for Employability and the Workplace is a free, online course from the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University starting on 1 February on the FutureLearn platform. Registration is now open. The course, being presented for the third time, aims to prepare students for employers’ numeracy testing which is a barrier to employment for many. Over the three-weeks, students will learn about the rationale for psychometric tests, refresh the numeracy skills that they need to be successful and improve their mathematical confidence. Course components consist of video tutorials, onscreen articles, discussion forums and quizzes for lots of practice. Students may work at their own pace starting at a later date or taking longer to complete the course if needed.
To register: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/numeracy-skills Contact Janette Matthews (J.Matthews@lboro.ac.uk) for further information. |
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sigma Eastern England Tutor Training - 2 March 2016Dan Brawn, sigma Eastern England HubThe sigma Eastern England Hub is holding a free new tutor training session on 2 March 2016 at the University of East London, Docklands campus. This free training day is for tutors who work in mathematics and statistics support centres or who otherwise support students to enhance their mathematical skills. The course will be delivered by members of sigma, based around the sigma guide “Tutoring in a Mathematics Support Centre“. The training is ideal for Post Graduate tutors new to mathematics and statistics support but is open to anyone who wishes to reflect on the ways in which mathematics and statistics support differs from traditional lecturing. This event is being hosted by the sigma Eastern England hub. We thank UEL for their hospitality. To reserve a place at this FREE event, please email Dan Brawn dbrawn@essex.ac.uk. |
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2016 CETL- MSOR Conference - 6/7 September 2016The 2016 CETL-MSOR Conference will be held at Loughborough University from Tuesday 6 September - Wednesday 7 September 2016. A call for presentations and registration details will be published here in March 2016. For further information, please contact Moira Petrie (M.G.Petrie@lboro.ac.uk). |
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sigma Network Mailing list (SIGMA-NETWORK@JISCMAIL.AC.UK)The sigma Network uses the sigma Network mailing list (SIGMA-NETWORK@JISCMAIL.AC.UK) to promote events and announce funding calls. The mailing list is also used by mathematics and statistics support practitioners to seek information and discuss items of mutual interest. Archives of previous posts are accessible from the SIGMA-NETWORK JISCMAIL home page. Please encourage your mathematics and statistics support colleagues and tutors to sign up to the mailing list. It is possible to opt to receive a digest weekly instead of ad-hoc email communications. |
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Recent reports and research publicationsThis regular column lists recent publications relevant to mathematics and statistics support practitioners. If you are aware of any publications that may be of interest to this community, please will you send them to J.Matthews@lboro.ac.uk. It is our intention to compile a bibliography which will be available from the sigma Network and mathcentre websites. ReportsNo reports were submitted for this issue. Journal and Conference PublicationsCronin, AG and Breen C. (2015) Maximizing the impact of digital supports in Mathematics Learning Support in Higher Education – An Overview of the 9th Annual IMLSN Workshop. MSOR Connections 14 (1), pp11-17. https://193.60.48.124/index.php/msor/article/view/251 Nuala Curley and Maria Meehan (2015) The challenge of collecting useful qualitative data on students’ visits to a Mathematics Support Centre at a university in Ireland. In: Adams. G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 35(1) Fitzmaurice, O., Mac an Bhaird, C., Ní Fhloinn, E., & O’Sullivan, C. (2015) Adult Learners and Mathematics Learning Support. Adults Learning Mathematics: An International Journal, 10(1), 68-83 Henderson, K., Gwynllyw, R. and Summers, N. (2015) Using e-assessment to improve numeracy in pre-registration nurses and midwives. In: IATED, , ed. (2015) Edulearn15 Proceedings. IATED. ISBN 9788460682431 Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/25906 Lawson, D. and Croft T. (2015) Mathematics Support – Past, present and most importantly, future. MSOR Connections 14 (1), pp 4-10. https://193.60.48.124/index.php/msor/article/view/234 Lingham EF and Baughan A. (2015) A proactive collaborative workshop approach to supporting student preparation for graduate numerical reasoning tests. MSOR Connections 14 (1), pp 39-42. https://193.60.48.124/index.php/msor/article/view/249 Conference PresentationsCETL-MSOR 2015 Conference presentations - links to all conference abstracts and presentations that have been made available. |
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The sigma e-Newsletter is a quarterly community publication and the views expressed do not We welcome contributions on any topic that may be of interest to practitioners and academics The deadline for contributions for the next edition (March 2016) is 19 February 2016. For more information, visit http://www.sigma-network.ac.uk |
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