Tangible Material Research Articles

Evaluation of a Classroom Support System for Programming Education Using Tangible Materials

Evaluation of a Classroom Support System for Programming Education Using Tangible Materials

Dealing with Clashes of International Law: A Microlevel Study of Climate and Trade

Abstract For years, scholars in international relations have addressed questions related to regime complexity and its effects. However, there is a lack of understanding of how individuals react to clashes of international law obligations when assessing domestic policies. In this article, we study the extent to which citizens are concerned with compliance and noncompliance with international law when their governments design domestic laws to implement international obligations. We are, in particular, interested in whether citizens’ reactions to clashes of international obligations are driven by concerns about being exposed internationally for breaching international law or concerns about tangible material costs. Our empirical analysis is based on an experiment embedded in a survey of Swiss citizens’ attitudes toward environmental issues. The experiment first shows that individuals react to both information about compliance as well as noncompliance, whereas the shifts are more notable in the case of negative information about noncompliance. Second, we find that information about the country being subject to international adjudication (what we call exposure costs) in case of noncompliance is more consequential than information about material costs (facing retaliation).

Single pair of charge-2 Dirac and charge-2Weyl phonons in GeO2

Abstract The presence of a pair of Weyl and Dirac points (WP–DP) in topological semimetal states is intriguing and sought after due to the effects associated with chiral topological charges. However, identifying these states in real materials poses a significant challenge. In this study, by means of first-principles calculations we predict the coexistence of charge-2 Dirac and charge-2 Weyl phonons at high-symmetry points within a noncentrosymmetric P41212 space group. Furthermore, we propose GeO2 as an ideal candidate for realizing these states. Notably, we observe two distinct surface arcs that connect the Dirac and Weyl points across the entire Brillouin zone, which could facilitate their detection in future experimental investigations. This study not only presents a tangible material for experimentalists to explore the topological properties of WP–DP states but also opens up new avenues in the quest for ideal platforms to study chiral particles.

“A problem shared is a problem solved:” integrating human-centered design and implementation science to optimize lay counselor supervision in Western Kenya

Implementation science and human-centered design (HCD) offer useful frameworks and methods for considering and designing for individuals' needs and preferences when implementing new interventions or technologies in global health. When used in tandem, the two approaches may blend creative and partnered research methods with a focus on the factors necessary to design, implement, and sustain interventions. However, research is needed that describes the process of blending these two approaches and explores the experiences of community partners. This study builds from a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial in Western Kenya, wherein teachers and community health volunteers have been trained to provide trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). Mobile phones emerged as a tool to supervise lay counselors from afar; however, their use was characterized by unique challenges. Informed by human-centered design and implementation science, we first engaged lay counselors (n = 24) and supervisors (n = 3) in individual semi-structured interviews then hosted an in-person participatory workshop to “co-design” solutions to optimize the use of mobile phone supervision. Lay counselors participated in focus group discussions regarding their experiences in the workshop. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. We describe our approach as well as focus group discussion results. Counselors felt the workshop was a valuable experience to learn new strategies from their colleagues, and they enjoyed the “collaborative spirit” that emerged as they worked together. Counselors felt that varying small and large group discussions fostered participation by creating opportunities for more people to engage and share their thoughts. Counselors suggested the approach be improved by providing more tangible materials (e.g., hand-outs) and more closely following a schedule of activities. It is important to also center stakeholders’ experiences as partners in the research process. Though counselors largely expressed positive sentiments, they also shared valuable suggestions for how to improve participatory research practices in the future.

Second‐Order Topological Insulator in Ferromagnetic Monolayer and Antiferromagnetic Bilayer CrSBr

Second‐order topological insulators (SOTIs) in 2D materials have attracted significant research interest. Recent theoretical predictions suggest that SOTIs can be achievable in 2D magnetic systems, especially within ferromagnetic (FM) materials. Yet, the quest for suitable 2D antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials capable of hosting magnetic SOTIs remains a challenge. Herein, utilizing first‐principles calculations and theoretical analysis, 2D CrSBr is proposed, including monolayer and bilayer forms, as a promising candidate for a magnetic high‐order topological insulator. The monolayer exhibits a FM ground state and features quantized fractional corner charge in its spin‐up channel in the absence of spin–orbital coupling (SOC), yielding fully spin‐polarized corner states. Intriguingly, the bilayer form adopts an AFM ground state while retaining the SOTI properties, with quantized corner charge in both spin channels. Remarkably, the SOTI properties in both monolayer and bilayer structures remain robust against the influence of SOC and symmetry‐breaking perturbations. The work not only identifies a tangible material for realizing 2D magnetic SOTIs, encompassing both FM and AFM phases, but also offers a path to explore the distinctive characteristics of SOTIs merged with magnetism.

Learning within fiber-crafted algorithms: Posthumanist perspectives for capturing human-material collaboration

AbstractA key commitment of computer-supported collaborative learning research is to study how people learn in collaborative settings to guide development of methods for capture and design for learning. Computer-supported collaborative learning research has a tradition of studying how the physical world plays a part in collaborative learning. Within the field, a material turn is emerging that considers how digital and tangible technologies actively contribute to collaborative learning processes. Studying how tangible materials produce collaborative learning visibly and algorithmically is particularly important at a time when advanced algorithms are integrated into educational contexts in ways that are not always transparent. However, the needed methodologies for capturing how non-human agents take part in collaborative learning remains underdeveloped. The present study builds on current CSCL research that investigates materials in collaborative learning and introduces posthumanist perspectives with the aim to decenter humans methodologically and to probe empirically whether and how these perspectives contribute to empirical understanding of collaborative learning processes. Taking fiber crafts (e.g., weaving and fabric manipulation) as a context for computational learning, the present study conducted a posthumanist analysis of differences among human and non-human participants in collaboration using video data to investigate how middle school youths and fiber craft components performed algorithms over time. The findings show how both youths and craft materials actively contributed to the performance of algorithms. In weaving, algorithms became repeated youth-material movements one dimension at a time. In fabric manipulation, algorithms became a repeated confluence of component parts. Decentering humans through an analysis of differences among human and non-human introduced human-material collaboration as a productive unit of analysis for understanding how materials and people together contribute to producing what can be recognized as computational performance. The findings of this research contribute to ongoing conversations in CSCL research on how computational materials can be considered in collaborative learning and present a new approach to capture collaborative learning as physical expansion over time. The study has implications for future research on capturing collaborative computational learning and designing physical computational learning opportunities that show technology as evolving.

Foreign Policy Orientation without Party Cues

The central issue in Taiwan’s politics revolves around the island’s relationship with China. The three major parties—the Kuomintang, Democratic Progressive Party, and Taiwan People’s Party—take different positions on this, and their supporters align with these respective positions. However, there is a scarcity of research on the foreign policy inclinations of individuals who do not align with any political party. We find empirically that self-reported independents in Taiwan exhibit a preference for bandwagoning, driven by concerns for tangible material benefits; cultural similarity, economic interests, and the power dynamics between the US and China also play substantial roles here. These findings shed light on the unique role and dynamics of independents in Taiwan’s political landscape. Our theoretical innovation lies in showing that in a democracy, different factors come into play in the formation of the foreign policy preferences of different groups.

“Enhancing Mathematical Literacy in School Students: Strategies for Effective Instruction in Basic Math Concepts”

This research project explores innovative and practical approaches to teaching fundamental mathematical concepts to school students. Recognizing the importance of a strong foundation in mathematics, the study focuses on strategies that engage students and foster a deep understanding of basic mathematical principles. The key methodologies include hands-on activities using tangible materials, the integration of visual aids to enhance comprehension, establishing real-life connections to make math relevant, incorporating interactive games and exercises for an enjoyable learning experience, creating a supportive environment that encourages questions, and implementing positive reinforcement to boost student confidence. Through the implementation of these strategies, educators can cultivate an effective and engaging learning atmosphere, promoting mathematical literacy and proficiency among school students.

The matter of math: Guiding the blind to touch the Pythagorean theorem

Science teaching relies heavily on visual illustrations and visually organized assignments as methods of teaching and proving concepts like the Pythagorean theorem. As Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs) cannot see, they derive no benefit from the use of such illustrations alone. Often, material objects are used to help VIPs understand mathematical concepts by means of tactile and haptic perception. In this paper, I will show the practices employed in the pursuit of transforming a visually available material object into something of specific scientific relevance for tactile and haptic exploration. This article thus emphasizes the matter – in the original sense of materiality – of math. Based on video-recorded data, this paper provides an in-depth interactional analysis of a single case in which a VIP engages in a mathematics learning situation with an assistant. This research is based on and contributes to ethnomethodology and conversation analysis by critically examining how objects are used to teach VIPs in math classes. The research has implications for a broadened understanding of how learning mathematics is not just a matter of logics, verbal descriptions or the visual analysis of charts and diagrams, but can also inherently involve the tangible materiality of mathematical representations.

Resisting ruination: the termites of corruption in democratic Spain

ABSTRACT This article examines the processes of ruination that are at work in democratic Spain through Xavier Artigas and Xapo Ortega’s 2014 documentary Termitas: El Observatorio DESC contra Bárcenas, which delves into the “Bárcenas case”, a political scandal involving the illegal financing of the (at the time) ruling conservative party, which showed the role that the judiciary plays in fostering corruption. The documentary argues that the ongoing ruination of democracy in Spain cannot be blamed on individual instances of corruption involving public officials and institutions, but rather that it is ingrained in the structures of the system. To give material shape to this elusive structural corruption, the documentary uses the metaphor of termite infestation, suggesting that fighting it requires more than merely scratching the surface. It demands a four-step process: detect the signs of its presence, locate the nest, be vigilant and, ultimately, exterminate it. Through the work of Ann Laura Stoler and Rob Nixon, the goal of this article is to analyze how the termite metaphor invites us to rethink – figuratively, materially and affectively – systemic corruption as an ongoing process of ruination whose material effects do not unfold instantly, but slowly across space and time. By paying attention to the time gap between the cause of ruination and the eventual manifestation of its long-delayed effects, the documentary makes visible how systemic corruption slowly fades from public memory, resulting in political and legal inaction, and consequently, impunity. The article concludes by suggesting that while the termite metaphor gives systemic corruption a tangible materiality upon which viewers can act, the documentary’s call for the extermination of the termites as the ultimate form of resistance fails to capture its political message.

Towards Eco-Organology and Paper Flute Design to Disrupt the Plastic Recorder Industry

In this article, the concept of “distributed capitalism” (Rifkin, 2011) is used to shift power among administrators, performers and audiences to problematise the homogeneity of unsustainable instrument materials. This shift involves adopting a participatory approach where musicians as key stakeholders get to choose their materials and self-construct their instruments. Instruments, society and ecosystems have intersecting and overlapping relationships that should be studied interdependently through eco-organology (Guy, 2009; Titon, 2013; Allen, 2013; Dawe, 2016), especially when mainstream culture consumption plays a crucial role in the struggle between sustainable materials for instruments and the ecosystem. As an example, mainstream production companies such as Yamaha, Aulos and Fender have standardised the industry and cornered the market for consumers in a top-down consumption model. Educators, artists, and retailers promote the consumption of mainstream instruments, further reinforcing their power of discourse in the materials field. Contesting standardisation, eco-organology involves the study of network relations between tangible materials and aesthetics from the viewpoint of culture and society. As an alternative material, this research project shared paper flutes with elementary school students and conducted over 20 workshops in Southern Taiwan where musicians of all ages self-constructed paper flutes. Paper is readily accessible, recyclable and allows end-users to follow an instruction manual, cut a template out and fold it into a playable flute. End-users participated in material selection, instrument construction and many became critically informed about current environmental issues with the plastic recorder industry. We argue that eco-organology helps decentralise mainstream instruments by educating end-users about eco-friendly materials.

Bankers and Usurers in the Early Byzantine Hagiographical Texts

The text discusses accounts from early Byzantine hagiographical texts depicting the activities of bankers and usurers in the period from the early 5th to the second decade of the 7th century. Texts by Palladius of Helenopolis, John of Ephesus, John Moschos, and Leontius of Neapolis are analysed. In the collated material we find relatively little information depicting the activities of bankers and usurers. Neither do we find any further details of the conditions under which money loans were granted. However, we note the statement that the cancellation of a loan, even if forced by circumstances (even if due to the intervention of a holy man), is charitable in nature and the ‘lost’ capital by the creditor in such a case bears the characteristics of a merciful deed. Most of the analysed accounts are presented in a somewhat fanciful way, which, however, should not question the information conveyed by the narrative. Two aspects of the analysed accounts are most significant. Firstly, the absence of any criticism of the Alexandrian Church deriving, even if not high, some profits (interest) from monetary loans. Secondly, in the accounts analysed we note a peculiar narrative, or in fact a new way of reasoning, by means of which the authors wanted to reach their audience, the potential benefactors. Thus, we become acquainted with somewhat naïve tales of how the benefits of granting a non-refundable loan to the needy, not only to the poor but also to merchants who traded on the high seas (?) would quite quickly return to the merciful benefactor, in a tangible material benefit, while he was still alive. We do not find such an argument in the patristic texts of the 4th and 5th centuries, where accounts of this kind merely refer to a prediction or even a guarantee of ‘heavenly interest’ that could tip the scales in favour of the merciful donor (creditor) at the Last Judgement.

Birds and human health: Pathways for a positive relationship and improved integration

Biodiversity, ecosystem services and human health are becoming increasingly integrated in the ‘One Health’ concept, including recognition of the impacts of biodiversity loss on human health. Birds have considerable potential to benefit human health through their contributions to ecosystem functioning, recreation, and provision of pest control and pollination services, commonly referred to as ecosystem services. To synthesize the pathways through which birds facilitate human health, a scoping review methodology was employed to search the primary literature for relevant information. Of the 125 articles containing empirical evidence that were categorized, reported benefits included tangible materials (e.g. food, income) and resiliency (e.g. supportive ecosystem services; 80%), aesthetic, cultural, recreational, socio‐economic and spiritual benefits (65%), psychological benefits (25%), regulation of transmission and prevalence of infectious diseases (11%), and physiological benefits (10%). Direct and indirect health benefits provided by birds are discussed in this review, facilitating the proposal of a new pathway categorization. The health contributions of any taxon must be given greater attention with the aim of supporting conservation and to support the sustainable use of wild species.

Personally Meaningful Design: Sound Making to Foster Engineering Practices with Artifacts from Home

Early engineering experiences can provide young people with experiences that can contribute to developing longer-term interest in the field and addressing dropout issues faced in engineering internationally. One way to engage young people with engineering is through the creation of personally meaningful sound-making projects with everyday materials and electronic kits. Sound making can make it possible for people to connect to their personal experiences and to represent these personal experiences through artistic means while also performing engineering practices, like asking questions, defining and delimiting problems, and developing and optimizing solutions with physical materials that produce sounds. Such design processes are referred to as engaging in the design of personally meaningful projects. However, it remains underspecified what personally meaningful means and, therefore, what aspects to integrate into engineering educational activity and technology designs to foster personally meaningful design opportunities. Building on constructionist perspectives on learning, this qualitative research investigated engineering practices as middle-school-aged youth used electronic construction kits and personal tangible material objects to create sounds. Iterative and thematic analysis of engineering practices of semi-structured interviews and video-recorded youth workshops showed that sound making with personal objects and electronic construction kits is a context for engineering design practices. This study also showed that integrating personal tangible projects that materialize personal histories can foster engineering practices. The findings contribute to our understanding of the theoretical idea of personally meaningful design in constructionism by presenting the importance of integrating personal histories through the design of personal projects with tangible material objects of a person’s life.

Perfect Enemies: Anti-Genderism, Racism and the Threat of Abstractness

In this paper, I conceptualise the psychic lives of anti-genderism, in both their continuities and their discontinuities with racism and anti-Semitism. At first glance, it is clear that anti-genderism, racism and anti-Semitism fulfil similar psychic needs: providing an 'Other' who can pose as obstacle to the fantasy of perfect enjoyment. The presence of this obstacle shields the white nationalist psyche from having to confront the impossibility of what it wants – an unalienated relationship with the German language and nation – and allows it to focus, instead, on the 'Other' that allegedly stands in the way of its desire. But the 'gender' in anti-genderism is also more than a useful obstacle to perfect enjoyment. It is a 'perfect enemy': an enemy who does not have a tangible material presence and can therefore signify entirely at the subject's command. By constructing a 'perfect enemy', I argue, anti-genderism paves the way for the emergence of a new kind of racialised 'Other'. This 'Other' is threatening not in the first instance because of their racialised embodiment, but because they can only appear in abstract, disembodied form.

MATERIALS ON TRADITIONAL EMBROIDERY OF THE MARI PEOPLE IN THE HANDWRITTEN HERITAGE OF T.E. EVSEEV

Timofey Evseevich Evseev (Evsevyev) is a well-known Mari ethnographer-collector, local historian, folklorist, who made a significant contribution to preserve and study the Mari traditional culture in the first third of the twentieth century. The museum collections that he collected on the material and spiritual culture of the Mari are the most valuable source for studying the ethnography and history of the Mari Region.
 
 The purpose of the study is to analyze the collection of manuscripts by T.E. Evseev on Mari traditional embroidery, collected during collecting and field activities in the 1905–1930s.
 
 Materials and methods. The research uses the methods of archival documents and museum accounting documentation analysis, the historical-comparative, historical-typological and quantitative methods. The handwritten documents of T.E. Evseev have been preserved in the fund of the National Museum of the Republic of Mari El named after T. Evseev, giving the opportunity to recreate the history of completing the museum with samples of Mari traditional embroidery in the first third of the XX century.
 
 Study results. The article provides valuable information about the collecting and field work performed by Timofey Evseevich Evseev during his pedagogical and museum activities. The main stages in his ethnographic surveys of Mari villages in order to collect handwritten and tangible material on Mari traditional embroidery are identified. The role of domestic and foreign ethnologists and museum specialists in forming the ethnographic collections of the Mari Regional Museum on the topic of embroidery is noted. On the basis of preserved manuscripts, accounting and clerical documents of T.E. Evseev, the article presents a quantitative analysis of museum collections of the first third of the XX century; the types of collected samples of traditional embroidery among various ethnoterritorial groups of meadow Mari are characterized.
 
 Conclusions. Materials on Mari traditional embroidery presented in the handwritten heritage of T.E. Evseev are the most valuable source for studying the development of traditional embroidery among various ethnoterritorial groups of the Mari and can be used to create exposition and exhibition spaces, to prepare museum catalogues and to develop museum and educational programs on the history and ethnography of the Mari people.

Minimum error adaptive RGB calibration in a context of colorimetric uncertainty for cultural heritage preservation

In this paper, two aims are sought. First, the path to a minimum-error colour calibration and its feasibility for non-invasive cultural heritage conservation is explored. Using RGB information as temporal cues of the conservation state of the pieces under monitoring, an adaptive calibration function, working in syntony with a colour calibration chart destined to general usage, has been proposed. Since the context involves citizen participation, the pictures to calibrate are crowdsourced and the cameras of origin unknown; therefore, the requirements of the work context assume images that imply a heavy colorimetric uncertainty whilst maintaining their structural content. Therefore,a differentiable, multidimensional, adaptive transfer curve that offers the best trade-off between calibration error (staying in minimum perceivable colour differences for tangible materials) and calculation requirements is refined. The conception of this system offers flexible possibilities of an effective cultural heritage conservation without heavy costs on money and human effort or relying on external solutions, while standing on par in quality with state-of-art technologies, achieving therefore a balance between generalist usage and specific solutions. Secondly, a neural network-based final process performs the final tuning of the calibration functions, and its conclusions shed light on how a calibration process works together with the colour chart on an algebraic level. The verification of this phenomenon opens possibilities of different paths on how to proceed with colour calibrations depending on the conditions of acquisition and the content of interest, so the minimum error can be always achieved regardless of the case. The ideas presented here are an expansion and conclusion of the developments and results previously published by the same authors.

Preserving the Tangible Material Culture of the Shona Traditional Music Legacy: An Applied Ethnomusicological Report

This article focuses on the preservation of the tangible material culture of the Shona traditional music legacy. It reports on how the author collected and deposited the Shona tangible materials used during both sacred and secular contexts. For this research, an applied action research methodology was employed together with ethnography. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in Hwedza, Chikomba, Bhuhera, and Gweru, and the applied action approach informed the preservation of tangible materials. The findings indicated that the paradigm shift in religious belief, rural-to-urban migration, and modern technology are threatening the sustenance of the Shona traditional materials and that there is a need to protect them before they disappear. As a mitigative measure, the author collected some musical instruments and traditional objects and deposited them in a local departmental music archive at a university in Zimbabwe. It is therefore recommended that more collections be done to safeguard the vulnerable music heritage of the Shona.

Visual construction of collective memory virtual museum in small and medium-sized towns

This article is committed to building a virtual museum suitable for small and medium-sized cities and tow8ns to preserve and inherit collective memory, and try to explore a universal path for the display, dissemination and renewal of regional culture. The project hopes to harvest a practical visual scheme of virtual museum, excavate and update the cultural role and cultural significance of tangible material heritage, through narrative setting and cultural component integration to make the public to see or understand the disappearing history again and generate a pleasant or interesting thematic virtual space experience perception, so as to create a new cultural context with inclusiveness and vitality. At the same time, the project tries to build a universal exhibition system to serve the innovative development of small and medium-sized town museums, even become an example of cross-border integration and innovation of art management in the context of artificial intelligence.

Examining the Dynamics of Teaching Algorithms of Fractions – A Case Study of Grade 3 Rural Schools in South Africa

This article emanates from a study that sought to establish teacher experiences in the effective teaching of Mathematics, especially when dealing with teaching algorithms of fractions in their schools. Fraction algorithms is a section of algebra in mathematics that deals with quantities as wholes and sub-constructs. In grade 3, learners seem to be unable to comprehend the meaning and this leads to teachers being frustrated. The authors posit that despite the teacher’s dilemmas about teaching fractions in grade 3, there still exists effective teaching in schools. The study adopted an interpretivism paradigm in which thematically analysed data was collected through interviews from 8 purposely selected participants. The researchers noticed that examining the dynamics in teaching algorithms of fractions involves significant development of the idea through prominent learner participation, handling of tangible materials by learners and learner inclusivity. The study reveals that teachers need to compatibly reflect on Mathematics Fundamental Knowledge (MFK) and Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge (MPCK) to have the option to adequately teach their learners. Overall, it was found that teachers worked very hard to strive for excellence in teaching grade 3 learners and that they did their best irrespective of overcrowding, inadequate training and resources and other challenges they faced to achieve effective teaching fraction algorithms for their grade 3 learners. Keywords: Constructivist Theory, Effective Teaching, Community, Pedagogy, Collaboration, Fractions Algorithms