VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Ethics and humanity in (post-)Kantian philosophy
Keywords: anti-humanism
ethics
Judith Butler
Martin Heidegger
Post-Kantian Philosophy
political philosophy
humanism
human being
Ludwig Wittgenstein
humanity
Immanuel Kant

Bringing together work in ethics, political philosophy, and history of philosophy, the thesis examines the normative implications of the concept of humanity, arguing for a critical, egalitarian humanism that opposes hierarchies of moral standing among human beings while acknowledging our obligations to non-human animals. In the Introduction, I argue for a broad understanding of ‘humanism’ that captures a variety of different views, each with a different conception of the normative relevance of the notion of the human being. I then elucidate two problems for historically influential forms of humanism, namely that they have instituted unacceptable hierarchies among human beings and perpetuated a damaging anthropocentrism. I argue that instead of embracing anti-humanism, we should reform or rethink humanism in such a way that it avoids these difficulties. I then critically examine ethical conceptions of ‘the human’ in the work of four philosophers from apparently disparate traditions – Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, Judith Butler, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. I argue that while neither Kantian humanism nor Heidegger’s anti-humanism can convincingly overcome the two problems explained in the Introduction, resources from Butler and Wittgenstein’s work can provide a new basis for a more attractive form of humanism that gives central place to the notion of bodily vulnerability and the need to acknowledge it.
The role and impact of Knowledge Organisers in the classroom: how can history teachers best make use of Knowledge Organisers at GCSE to facilitate meaningful retrieval practice?
Keywords: MLT
MLT 2020

This project explored the usage and impact of Knowledge Organisers (KOs) in the history classroom, to support the retrieval of substantive knowledge for GCSE. The secondary history department in question had concerns that knowledge retrieved in classroom quizzes was not being effectively utilised in an applied exam setting. The study aimed to make retrieval practice using KOs more meaningful for students, in order to support them to use substantive knowledge in an exam setting and to ensure their motivation for the subject was not negatively impacted by the continued focus on substantive knowledge. Participants in the study were a mixed ability Year 10 cohort studying GCSE history, working remotely using a virtual learning platform due to school closures in March 2020. The study used a combination of online survey, task choice and teacher assessment to draw conclusions about student attitudes and preferences towards retrieval and KOs, as well as performance in exam style questions. Results showed that students found the more varied KO retrieval activities engaging and more useful for answering exam-style questions. Overall, this suggests that students would benefit from engaging in retrieval practice, using knowledge organisers, that is more varied than short-answer quizzes. Therefore, the department should instead include retrieval activities that rely not merely on the recalling of factual information, but also provide students with an opportunity to use substantive factual knowledge alongside other historical knowledge, for example to reach judgements about causation or to consider context and period.
How to engage parents in language learning in order to motivate young linguists without causing undue
workload to practitioners
Keywords: MLT
MLT 2020

The aim of this action research project was to build upon the success of a pilot study using star of the week letters sent out on a weekly basis to students. The intention was also to gain a greater understanding of the impact parental/carer1 interventions and increased engagement can have in education, and to potentially decrease disillusion with language learning in the British MFL (modern foreign languages). Whilst some may find the thought of collaborating with and pushing to further engage parents somewhat daunting, it is nonetheless an often underused, ignored or underestimated strategy in fostering and nurturing student motivation on a Secondary school level in language teaching. A language feedback diary was issued in class to two different groups, a control group and an experimental group. The diary contained sections to allow the teacher to give students feedback on a specific task, spoken or written, and for the student to make a note of the verbal feedback and to write their reflections. The experimental group had an extra section where parents would write a message to their child based on their performance, and would write related comment or question to the subject teacher such as “I see my son/daughter is struggling with present tense verbs, what websites do you recommend for further practice?.” At the end of the study, students were asked via a questionnaire if the element of parental engagement had increased their motivation as a young linguist or not to measure the impact of the intervention.
Towards the development of a departmental target language culture: what classroom-based strategies are most effective in promoting spoken target language use in an English all-boys selective secondary school 
context?
Keywords: MLT 2022
MLT

Research has established that strategies can be a useful tool for foreign/second language (L2) learners. Speaking skills of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) pupils in England are known to be poor when compared internationally. Explicit strategy-based instruction (SBI) has been successful in enhancing language skills, but less research has been conducted into its effect on speaking skills. From the limited body of SBI investigation into schoolchildren whose first language (L1) is English, there is some evidence of success among boys in particular. Addressing these gaps in the literature, the current two-cycle action research and development study, with a quasi-experimental design, investigates the impact of 12 hours of strategy intervention training on target language (TL) speaking skills in an all-boys selective secondary school in England. Participants are beginner (Y7) and intermediate (Y10) learners of French (L2) (N=268). The impact of the intervention is assessed using mixed methods through questionnaires, lesson observations, interviews and informal discussions, and analysis of pupil outcomes. In Cycle 2, pupils navigate the Strategy Island Map, an innovative tool to track their strategy use when speaking TL. Intervention is shown to have a positive impact on quantity and quality of spoken TL, confidence, and engagement among both beginner and intermediate learners. Noteworthy implications for collaborative departmental practice are discussed.
Oxford admissions and knowledge as capital: understanding undergraduate admissions inequality through field
Keywords: MLT 2020
MLT

Securing the opportunity to study at the University of Oxford remains a culturally and professionally significant symbol, opening up opportunities and facilitating social advancement. Able students from a range of backgrounds and schools compete for undergraduate admission through a highly demanding decentralised process, crowned by the idiosyncratic tutorial interview. Unsurprisingly, the socioeconomic inequality of student success in this process remains a topic of regular, and at times heated, debate with little consensus on the reasons for this inequality. Yet a widely held assumption across the spectrum of opinion is the belief that the interview is a diagnostic test, with the tutors assessing an intelligence which is emergent and/or at the apex of what is studied in school. This study, premised on the belief that intelligence and hierarchies of knowledge are far more fluid and problematic concepts, seeks to identify the hitherto undervalued epistemological factor in admissions inequality. Using History as a case-study, it identifies the dissonance between historical knowledge and thinking in the school context and more disciplinary-linked university admissions context. Students, informed by the former, can best bridge this lack of epistemological through access to specialisms and networks most available for the socioeconomically privileged, contributing to the well-publicised inequality. This study mapped the gap in understandings of the models of intelligence of students from a range of school types and individuals involved in admissions at the University of Oxford. From this an intervention for the student group was designed, appropriating a form of Socratic dialogue, to close the identified gap. The study was forced to end prematurely due to COVID-19, meaning the results and conclusions are limited. However, it finds a clear gap in epistemological hierarchies between students and individuals involved in admissions and presents a model of a potential intervention which will inform further practitioner research.
How can we think geographically? an investigation into designing reasoning tasks to promote geographical thinking at KS3
Keywords: MLT 2020
MLT

Thinking geographically; “to have a trained capacity to construct a mental map and see patterns, to recognise relationships, to see movement, to take that map and clothe it in meaning” is a key term in the Geography Education Community (Morgan, 2013, p.275). However, my Part 2 research established that despite being familiar with term, what thinking geographically consists of, or looks like in the classroom is not clear for many teachers. Where this ambiguity exists, it is much harder for teachers to target its development. Therefore, this research aims to clarify what underpins thinking geographically, from a knowledge and learning perspective, but also – and perhaps most importantly – attempts to consider practical methods to support its development in a Key Stage Three classroom. The research began by examining what skills underpin thinking geographically. Through the course of the literature review, these skills appeared very similar to skills identified as ‘reasoning’: cause and effect reasoning, argumentation, gist reasoning, for example. Therefore, thinking geographically could be understood as discipline-specific utilization of reasoning skills: when students are thinking geographically, they are synchronously employing a variety of reasoning skills to make sense of geographical processes and systems. With this understanding, the research considered practical solutions to support the development of thinking geographically by targeting reasoning skills in a variety of tasks. Three different tasks are designed; two original and one inspired by the Thinking Through Geography ‘mystery’ task (Leat, 1997) and their nature and efficacy evaluated.
To what extent does the use of authentic prompts promote participation in Key Stage 3 Modern Foreign Languages students?
Keywords: MLT 2020
MLT

This study uses action research in a mixed, comprehensive secondary school in the South East of England to investigate the extent to which the use of authentic prompts promotes participation in Key Stage 3 Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) students. The investigation comprises of three Year 8 classes using thought-provoking and authentic current affairs resources in their Spanish lessons as a conversation prompt, with the support of a speaking mat containing useful vocabulary. The data were collected via a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire alongside individual and group interviews. In order to carry out the investigation, collaboration with the two other members of the MFL department was vital and allowed for discussion and reflection in both the planning and evaluation stages of the investigation. The quantitative and qualitative data collected provides evidence that highlights many of the issues impacting upon student participation explored in the literature review. With regards to the results of the study, students highlighted that anxiety, peer pressure, teacher interaction, grades and working in pairs were all factors affecting their willingness to participate. Whilst only one of the three planned waves of the intervention was able to be carried out due to the partial closing of UK schools in March 2020 following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, students reflected positively on the intervention and indicated that the use of authentic materials had a beneficial impact on the learning experience.
An investigation into the impact of retrieval practice strategies on science teachers and students
Keywords: MLT 2020
MLT

This project describes an investigation into the effect of retrieval practice on student performance in AO1 questions. Analysis of student performance in AO1questions in chemistry showed their mean average to be lower than their performance in AO2 and AO3 questions, when compared to similar centres.
A review of the literature on retrieval practice shows how testing can improve student learning outcomes. Interviews with teachers at the start of the project revealed that knowledge of key facts was assumed to be taking place across the science department without explicit strategies to support learning. Interviews also revealed that teacher understanding and use of retrieval practice strategies was limited.
An intervention was designed to improve student performance in AO1 questions through the use of retrieval practice strategies. Weekly retrieval practice quizzes were developed using interleaved questions from different topics, focussing on AO1 questions as identified by the exam board. Analysis of student data at the end of the intervention showed an increase in performance in not only AO1 questions, but also in AO2 and AO3 questions, compared to a previous cohort.
Feedback from students post intervention suggested that the introduction of regular testing also reduced their test anxiety.
Investigating talk moves in key stage 3 mathematics classrooms
Keywords: MLT 2020
MLT

This study aims to explore whole-class discussion in Key Stage 3 mathematics classrooms. It is widely recognised that the quality of language heard and spoken by students during such discussions influences mathematical progression. Despite this recognition, literature demonstrates that achieving productive mathematical speech during whole-class discussion is difficult. American researchers Chapin, O’Connor, and Anderson (2009) advocate a five-step talk move framework which helps support teachers in such endeavours. This study uses their talk move framework as a lens to examine the speech of teachers and students during whole-class mathematical discussions in my school setting. Through use of video recordings and subsequent classroom transcripts it aims to understand which talk moves are currently used by teachers in their classrooms and then seeks to understand any changes following the teachers’ participation in focused professional development. This research also explores students’ verbal reactions to observed talk moves. Analysis of our teachers’ talk moves reveal some noteworthy themes. These themes include: how teachers use talk moves in reaction to student error; students’ verbal engagement with peers following talk moves; and how participation structures vary according to teachers’ individual use of talk moves. Classroom discussion remains on the agenda for next year’s department development meetings and has also been added as a feature in my school’s upcoming professional learning calendar. It is hoped that findings from this study will help guide the professional conversations in these settings.
To what extent can flipped learning strategies enhance the success of SRL in A Level Economics
Keywords: MLT 2020
MLT

This research looks to support the deeper learning of A-level economists through assessing the merits of flipped learning to improve the use, and success, of self-regulated learning (SRL). With a focus on autonomy, self-efficacy and self-assessment cycles, successes were expected not only through improved academic results but also by enhancing students’ wider transferable skills for use beyond 6th form education.
The research was conducted with a lower 6th form cohort of A-level economists over an initial two week intervention period. A second phase was scheduled, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted these plans due to the nationwide closure of schools in March 2020. The research not only sought to uncover whether students’ learning outcomes would improve, but also to study the behaviours and motivations which influenced their success.
The research revealed that most students used SRL successfully and experienced improved learning outcomes, however, there was a noticeable decline in usage of one element of the SRL framework as the intervention progressed. The data showed that motivational influences played a significant role in reducing the effective use of self-assessment tools, resulting in diminishing learning outcomes. This impacted all students in the sample, including those displaying mastery behaviours.
It is suggested that a full adoption of flipped learning is not advisable given the cognitive load and implicit need for independent decision making, resulting in declining use of SRL. However, a short term adoption of flipped learning within a blended approach to education should enhance both learning outcomes and wider problem-solving skills.
Exploring the effect of a chapter map intervention, with a thinking aloud model, on reading comprehension attainment and confidence, for pupils with severe learning disabilities diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder
Keywords: MLT 2020
MLT

This research and development project investigated how to support students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, categorised as having Severe Learning Disabilities, with their reading comprehension. My previous research had highlighted how students, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, at my current school who do learn to read words show a reading pattern of high decoding skills but low reading comprehension. An intervention was designed, which combined thinking-aloud techniques with a chapter map design, to build confidence and skills in reading comprehension.
Participants were selected based on their decoding skills and diagnoses. Three students were found who fitted into these criteria. Unfortunately, due to the worldwide pandemic, two students were unable to complete the intervention. For the remaining participant, the intervention had to be shortened and original timings had to be changed.
The findings showed that the intervention had little impact on reading comprehension for the student who undertook it. However, this could be partially explained by the situation caused by the pandemic, such as timings being changed and anxiety caused to the student by changes to routine.
Predicting fluoroquinolone resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Keywords: tuberculosis
antibiotic resistance
free energy calculations
fluoroquinolones
antimicrobial resistance
machine learning

Tuberculosis killed an estimated 1.5 million people in 2020 and the spread of drug-resistant strains is an increasing threat. Fluoroquinolones are among the safest and most effective drugs used to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis, but fluoroquinolone resistance has emerged. Rapid resistance diagnosis is key to provide patients with effective treatment and monitor the spread of resistant strains. Sequence-based tools, including whole genome sequencing (WGS), provide a promising solution whereby known resistance associated mutations can be quickly detected and used to infer resistance. Several catalogues of mutations with known associations have now been produced, however, these catalogues will never be exhaustive owing to the inevitable emergence of novel and rare resistant mutations.
In this thesis I explore a geographically diverse dataset of thousands of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates with WGS and phenotypic resistance measurements, to improve our understanding of patterns associated with fluoroquinolone resistance. I investigate the reliability of the assumptions of current sequence-based diagnostics and show how resistance patterns can affect the performance of predictive tools. I apply and evaluate two methods, that utilise the chemical and structural interactions resulting from genetic mutations, to predict the effects of mutations on fluoroquinolone resistance; machine learning algorithms and free energy calculation.
I find that fluoroquinolone resistance is widespread and the associations with resistance are complex; genetic and geographic background, resistance to other antitubercular drugs and minor populations with resistance associated mutations are important. I show that structure-based predictive methods, and the machine learning approach particularly, can successfully predict fluoroquinolone resistance and susceptibility. Such tools could increase the success of resistance prediction from WGS data by complimenting the catalogue-based predictive approach and predicting the effects of novel mutations. Overall, this work shows that genetics-based predictive diagnostics have the potential to provide personalised, effective treatment regimens for tuberculosis.
The role of LARP1 in communication between ovarian tumours and their immune microenvironment
Keywords: Tumour-associated macrophages
Exosomes
Extracellular vesicles
Immuno-oncology
RNAi in primary immune cells
Macrophages
Ovarian cancer
Macrophage polarisation
La-related binding protein 1 (LARP1)
Tumour microenvironment
RNA-binding protein
Macrophage metabolism
THP-1

Ovarian cancer is notoriously lethal, killing almost 60% of women within 5 years of their diagnosis. Despite advances in survival for many other cancers through the introduction of immunotherapy, the mainstay of ovarian cancer treatment remains chemotherapy. Clinical trials of immunotherapy agents have proven resolutely unsuccessful in ovarian cancer, a finding that has challenged scientists and clinicians over the last decade. Specifically, how does ovarian cancer exist in a context in which it continues to grow and metastasise without recognition by the innate or adaptive immune system? Improving our understanding of this axis will require a closer exploration of the relationship between ovarian cancer cells and the immune cells within their microenvironment.
In this thesis, we explore this relationship through the perspective of the oncogenic RNA-binding protein LARP1, based on our finding that LARP1 is present both in cancer cells and in immunosuppressive macrophages from the earliest stages of ovarian cancer formation. Macrophages are crucial regulators of the tumour microenvironment, and their polarisation state determines whether they accept or reject cancer cells. We show, for the first time, that tumour LARP1 is responsible for reprogramming macrophages to support and perpetuate tumour growth. We find that LARP1 is crucial for anti-inflammatory macrophage polarisation and show that this is enabled by LARP1-dependent metabolic activity. Tumour LARP1 expression promotes anti-inflammatory polarisation in macrophages in the vicinity, and LARP1 expression itself is upregulated in macrophages by proximity to tumour cells. LARP1 is therefore implicated in two ways in anti-inflammatory tumour-associated macrophage phenotype: intrinsically within the macrophages, and by influencing secreted factors from the tumour cells.
In this work, we introduce new roles for LARP1 in the tumour microenvironment and implicate it in ovarian tumour-immune system crosstalk. Our findings pose important questions about how this axis can be interrupted and what additional factors must work alongside LARP1 to maintain this immunosuppressive environment.