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An investigative analysis of e-book adoption in the GMIT library, as reflective of global trends.
Full text linkThe history of e-book adoption is documented in the literature. Initially, a lack of e-book content was a major stumbling block, and it wasn’t until 2003, when Amazon scanned 120,000 e-books, that content began to increase. Profit-making organisations, such as Amazon, introduced new business models and formats that significantly changed the market. Part of the fallout of these developments was a lack of standardisation and interoperability issues that hindered the popularity of e-books. However, gradually, more content came on stream, and new reading devices such as the Amazon Kindle and the Apple iPad acted as enablers of e-books.\ud
The aim of this paper is to determine if the GMIT library is in line with e-book global trends, and the challenges and benefits associated with these. The research methodology consists of a triangular method of qualitative research to prove its findings, namely, a literature review, a case study and a focus group of GMIT library acquisition staff.\ud
The findings suggest that GMIT library is in line with global trends. The ubiquity of mobile devices, new technologies and greater content have all contributed to an increase in the number of e-books worldwide. Challenges remain, particularly with regard to complex business models and formats. Conclusions are that complexity, in both the technological and business sphere, hindered the early adoption of e-books. Multiple formats and devices that do not talk to each other establish barriers to growth. Print will co-exist with e-books, as they are both used for different purposes. Recommendations suggest the removal of all complexity, with more streamlined business models standardised across the publishing industry, as well as the provision of multiple formats that can be read across all platforms and devices. From the end user perspective, the removal of restrictive Digital Rights Management (DRM) will increase e-book usage and the VAT rate should be removed in line with print books
An improvement strategy for the defects and rework management process within an SME: an action research approach
Full text linkIrish construction reported strong growth towards the end of 2013, after years of industry recession. Following a property led economic collapse which started in 2007 construction output fell by circa eighty percent. Many construction companies went out of business; those remaining are strongly focused on their bottom line and increasing efficiency to ensure survival. Defects and rework, common in construction, are both wasteful and a cost that can be avoided, thus presenting an obvious target for improvement. A regional SME main contractor collaborated on a project to improve the efficiency of their current processes for the identification, management and elimination of defects and rework in their supply chain. An action research strategy was employed on several field projects, to investigate the problems faced by the company in this area and to develop an improvement plan. Action research involves a five stage problem solving cycle (1) problem diagnosing; (2) action planning; (3) action taking; (4) evaluation of results; (5) specification of learning. Action planning elements emerging from the cycle (at stage 2) are presented here. They are very wide ranging and include; process standardisation; sign off procedures; use of ICT as a collaborative platform; freeware information repository; cost modelling; benchmarks for improvement; planning workshops; root cause analysis of defects and subsequent development of learning materials. Preliminary results indicate a sophisticated understanding of the defects and rework process across the supply-chain, but a general lack of forum and opportunity to contribute to improvement. The results indicate a wide diversity of abilities and resources in SMEs, including human, capital and technological, meaning one size fits all solutions to efficiency improvements are difficult to attain. Prescriptions thus need to be both simple to implement and flexible. The results here offer detailed reflective insight into best practice in designing improvement plans of this nature
Coding theory, group automorphisms and units of finite group algebras
Full text linkGroup Algebras can be used to construct Low Density Parity Check Codes (LDPC) and Convolution Codes. These codes have applications within digital communication and storage, such as to improve the performance of digital radio, digital video, mobile phones, satellite and deep space communications,\ud
as well as bluetooth implementations.\ud
In this Masters Thesis, theoretical mathematical techniques are used to construct an atlas of finite group algebras. In particular, we find and list the\ud
automorphism group of abelian groups and the unit group of finite commutative group algebras. The aim of this atlas is to improve our understanding of group algebras and their applications to Coding Theory. Firstly, the basic\ud
concepts of coding theory are introduced.\ud
The next section of this thesis (Chapter 2- Automorphisms of Finite Abelian Groups) deals with various techniques for finding the automorphism group of different categories of abelian groups. In particular, where the group\ud
is an abelian p-group with 2 distinct direct factors, use is made of recent techniques by Bidwell and Curran (2010). Hillar and Rhea (2007) give a technique involving endomorphism rings which allows the calculation of the order of Aut(G) where G is abelian. Using these techniques and others a table is presented giving the structure and order of the automorphism group for many abelian groups.\ud
Chapter 3 (Automorphisms of Non-Abelian Groups) looks beyond abelian groups. Recent methods by Curran (2008) using crossed homomorphisms are used where G is a semidirect product. Dihedral groups and general\ud
linear groups are also examined. At the end of this section there are some conjectures relating to the automorphisms of groups in general and a table is presented showing the automorphism tower of small groups.\ud
The next section of the thesis (Chapter 4 - Finite Commutative Group Algebras) introduces the concepts of group algebras and unit groups. This\ud
Chapter contains many specific example of group algebras. In these examples the structure and order of the unit groups are examined.\ud
In Chapter 5 (U(FG) where F has char p and G is a p - group), a technique is presented for finding the structure of the unit group for non-Maschke cases. This technique involves counting the number of elements in the normalised unit group which have order dividing a particular power of\ud
p for group algebras of the form FG where G is a p - group and F is a field of characteristic p. This Chapter concludes with a Theorem which gives\ud
the unit group of all group algebras of the above form. There are also some examples illustrating this.\ud
Chapter 6 (Idempotents and the decomposition of FG) then looks at ways of finding the Artin Wedderburn decomposition where applicable. Here, recent techniques by Broche and Del Rio (2007) are used to find the decomposition and also to find the primitive central idempotents.\ud
Finally, in Chapter 7, The Perlis Walker Theorem (1950) is used and adapted to give more general results for all possible group algebras for abelian\ud
groups. This leads to a general table giving the decomposition and unit groups of the group algebras for all abelian groups of order up to 15. In doing this, we get a further insight into the isomorphism problem for group\ud
algebras. This includes the result that given two non-isomorphic abelian groups G and H each with order n, and a field F of order q such that q= 1(mod n), then FG~FH. Thus there is a whole class of isomorphic group algebras of this type and in each of these instances the decomposition\ud
is the direct product of n copies of the field F. We show that the minimal isomorphic pair of group algebras FG and FH with G and H not isomorphic\ud
which is not of this type is F5C12 and F5(C2 X C6). We also show that there is yet another class of isomorphic group algebras. Given two non-isomorphic abelian groups G and H each with order n and each containing m elements\ud
of order 2, and a field F of order q such that q= -1(mod e) where e is the exponent of the group, then FG~FH. In this case, FG~FH~Omi=1 FqoOmi [n-(m)]/2 i=1 Fq2 . An example of this is F7(C2 X C4 X C8) ~ F7(C3/4 )
The effect of organic fibres on the undrained shear strength of soil
No full textAccurate determination of soil’s undrained shear strength is essential to make informed decisions regarding construction or maintenance problems. Reduced scale modelling can achieve accurate predictions of in-situ field conditions without intensive field investigations. Geotechnical centrifuge modelling replicates in-situ conditions by accelerating a reduced 1/n scale model to a multiple n of earth’s gravity, thereby replicating the stress level of a 1:1 prototype. In this study bearing capacity testing and penetrometer profiling were carried out on normally and over consolidated kaolin clay models, with various fibre contents. Construction of fibrous models in the drum centrifuge ensured a homogenous soil and a random orientation of fibres during the consolidation process. Bearing capacity testing was carried out in flight with different size and shaped foundations. The undrained shear strength was back calculated from the foundation bearing capacity at two locations; at maximum resistance and at the resistance corresponding to depths of 0.5 times the width (B) or diameter (D) of the foundation; cone and piezoball penetrometers were also conducted in flight. Shear vane testing and soil characterisation was performed on samples retrieved from the centrifuge models.\ud
Analysis of the fibrous models determined that with increased fibre content the undrained shear strength increased; no optimum fibre content was determined in the testing undertaken. Undrained shear strength increased once 4 % and 2-3% fibre content was reached in normally and over consolidated models respectively. Maximum resistance of the models occurred within the initial 5-10 mm of the model surface. Determination of the undrained shear strengths at depths corresponding to 0.5 B/D of the foundation showed that shear strength increased with increasing depth in the majority of cases. Back calculations of undrained shear strength from bearing capacity testing in normally consolidated and over consolidated models corresponded well with that of the penetrometers; while the shear vane results produced a poor correlation. On average piezoball results gave higher undrained shear strength, with reduced scatter, compared to CPT results. Over consolidated models produced greater undrained shear strengths than normally consolidated models. Atterberg limits and plasticity index was found to increase with increased fibre content; models were seen to change from clays of intermediate plasticity at 0 % fibre content to clays of high plasticity at 4 % fibre content
Predicting SMEs use of business related social media
Full text linkBackground: There has been dramatic growth in the use of social media over the past number of years. This has influenced not just individuals, but importantly the way in which business now carry out their daily day-to-day business activities. Marketing and advertising strategies are now using social media to promote products, services and brand awareness. However, Small-Medium-Enterprises may not be adopting social media fully and thus missing out of gaining new customers, market share, sales and competitive advantage.\ud
Aim: The overall aim of this research is to understand the impact of each key attitudes, perceptions and abilities of SME owner/mangers around using and adopting social media within their business activities, through an application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour model. An expanded model measuring the role of online trust, security and privacy drivers was conceptualised.\ud
Methodology: A mix-methodology employing cross-sectional qualitative (in-depth interview) and quantitative (online survey) approaches was formulated based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour model. In total six professionals took part in the interviews while 89 SMEs completed the survey.\ud
Findings & Conclusion: Analysis identified specific advantages and disadvantages in regards to using business related social media. Additionally, social pressures, barriers and facilitators experienced by owner/mangers were also identified. Statistically, the TPB had a significant impact on owner/mangers decision making processes around using social media; however trust, security and privacy had no significant impact. Importantly, owner/mangers social media usage was influence by their own decisions solely and not their personal abilities. . Overall, most SMEs used social media, however few were able to measure its return-on-investment for the business. The study identified a need for further research within this area and specific training around measuring return-on-investment. All findings were discussed in light of current research and literature
The initial teacher e-portfolio: towards a streamlined platform
Full text linkThe Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) is a provider of Teacher Education (TE) for second level teachers in the technical subjects Construction Studies and Design and Communication Graphics. In line with the requirements of the Teaching Council, Ireland, GMIT facilitates student teachers to develop a professional teaching and learning portfolio. Since 2011, GMIT has researched and pioneered innovative approaches to the development of an electronic Teaching and Learning Portfolio (ePortfolio) in the contexts of e-Assessment; initiatives that have been commended by theTeaching Council in their report of the programme in January 2014. The e-Portfolio has a threefold purpose: to showcase teaching philosophies, innovations and resources, to act as a live teaching tool in the classroom, and to facilitate e assessment, by peers and staff. The Institute currently uses Weebly and Excel tools for these purposes. The former provides a professional showcase of learning outputs and thelatter acts as a repository management system for students teaching resources and a platform for eAssessment. This current action research critically examines the effectiveness of these tools, from both student and staff perspectives. Research methodologies include: individual online (Moodle) critical reflections, questionnaire surveys, and focus groups. The research finds high levels of satisfaction with both tools, on the part of staff and students alike, from the perspectives of construction, accessibility, easy navigation, showcase potential, cost, and effective use in the classroom. The initial feedback related to a critique of using two independent tools. However, further research suggests that students would prefer one comprehensive platform that should have two distinct functions; 1)an open access area that presents a selection from their teaching and 2)a secure repository for teaching resources. Examining secure cloud based options that will act as both a showcase for work and as a resource repository will constitute the next phase/cycle of action research
The first year experience of a peer assisted learning program in two institutes of technology in Ireland
Full text linkThis paper describes a collaborative action research study in which peer assisted learning was deployed simultaneously across a range of disciplines in two institutes of technology in Ireland. The aim of the research was to determine if peer assisted learning enhances the learning experience of first year participants. An action research approach was selected and involved three phases between 2009 and 2011. The implementation of each phase was informed by a review of the previous phase. The third phase also incorporated the rollout and evaluation of a new peer assisted learning student leadership module (an elective 5 ECTs European Credit and Accumulation Transfer System) in both institutes. This paper focuses on both quantitative and qualitative data from the first year experience student survey, which was designed and deployed in phase one and repeated in phase two. The survey is supplemented by data from focus groups with student leaders and session reviews. Qualitative data was analysed using both the constant comparison method and text analysis. Our findings illustrate the challenges associated with implementing and embedding a long-term peer assisted learning program as part of the first year student experience. In addition, we found wide ranging benefits for the two institutes of technology that collaborated on the development, rollout, and evaluation of the program. An evidence based model emerged, which involved a partnership between management, academic staff, student services, and learning and teaching advocates. These partners continue to work together to sustain the program
To Wireless Fidelity and Beyond - CAPTURE, Extending Indoor Positioning Systems
Full text linkThe benefits of context aware computing and\ud
specifically the context that location can provide to applications\ud
and systems has been heavily documented in recent times.\ud
Moreover the move from traditional outdoor localization\ud
solutions to the indoor arena has seen a dramatic increase in\ud
research into this area. Most of this research has surrounded the\ud
problem of positioning accuracy, with attempts to solve this using\ud
a myriad of technologies and algorithms. One of the problems\ud
that seems to be somewhat overlooked is the issue of coverage in\ud
an indoor localization solution. The mostly unobstructed views of\ud
the Global Positioning System (GPS) which requires a mere 30\ud
satellites to provide global coverage never had these problems.\ud
The dearth of literature around this issue in the outdoor arena is\ud
testament to this fact. Unfortunately unobstructed views are not\ud
something that can be achieved in most indoor environments and\ud
economical as well as physical barriers can prevent the\ud
installation of an infrastructure to achieve total coverage. In this\ud
paper we propose a solution to this issue of indoor coverage by\ud
deploying a solution to extend the range of a positioning system -\ud
Cooperatively Applied Positioning Techniques Utilizing Range\ud
Extension (CAPTURE). CAPTURE provides a system to locate\ud
devices that cannot be reached by an in-house location based\ud
system. It presents a unique contribution to research in this field\ud
by offering the ability to utilize devices that currently know their\ud
location within a Location Based Solution (LBS), to help evaluate\ud
the position of unknown devices beyond the range capacity of the\ud
LBS. Effectively extending the locating distances of an Indoor\ud
LBS by utilizing the existing mobile infrastructure without the\ud
requirement for additional hardware. CAPTURE uses the\ud
Bluetooth radios on mobile devices to estimate the distance\ud
between devices, before inserting these range estimates into a\ud
trilateration algorithm to ascertain position. CAPTURE has been\ud
tested through experiments carried out in a real world\ud
environment, proving the capacity to provide a solution to the\ud
ranging issue
Negotiating legitimacy : reflections as a social act : reflection processes of primary school teachers on rituals and ritualisations
Full text linkThis thesis presents the findings of a study on the reflection processes on rituals/ritualisations in\ud
German and Irish primary schools. The main idea that comes out of this research is that the\ud
concepts of reflection as used currently in educational science do not do justice to the essentially social character of reflection processes.\ud
The text presented here holds new insights even for readers with a great knowledge in the field of\ud
institutional education. In it aspects are brought together that have not yet been considered in this\ud
way in educational science, both in Ireland and internationally. The focus of attention lies on\ud
reflection processes of teachers in which they engage with such practices in schools that are\ud
understood to be rituals or ritualisations. The theorems put forward in the thesis are grounded in an extensive literature review, but first and foremost in the analysis of empirical material gathered in\ud
the professional field.\ud
In an Irish context the perspective of looking at educational practice in terms of ritual is a novelty.\ud
No contribution has been made so far to the relevant debates from within Irish educational science.\ud
My presentation at the annual conference of ESAI in Cork 2012 (Hamm 2012a) was a first step to raise awareness of the potential of ritual analysis. This thesis then has to be seen as another crucial step for Irish educational science in that it provides an overview of the range of possible approaches for ritual analysis to be used in investigating the field of professional education.\ud
The complex of rituals in school provides the platform to enter into the topic. Internationally school practice has been discussed in terms of ritual by a number of authors in the past. There is a\ud
comprehensive overview presented in the thesis about the respective contributions, thus allowing\ud
the reader to gain a substantial understanding of the discussions of rituals in school in educational\ud
science to date. I open an avenue for widening the scope of these discussions by transferring the\ud
suggestion of Catherine Bell to consider ritual practice in terms of ritualisation into the realm of\ud
institutional education.\ud
As for reflective practice in the field of education there is in fact a large amount of literature\ud
available. A lot of this material is yet rather repetitive and in a specific way it is actually detached from the concrete experience of professional educators. The character of reflection as a social act is not adequately addressed in the popular concepts of reflection as will be shown in an overview on such concepts.\ud
By systematically taking into account in my thesis the character of reflection as a social act I am going to demonstrate how this leads to the identification of professional reflection processes of teachers as negotiations of defining, articulating and shaping reality. Such a view comprises a\ud
decisive shift. It significantly widens the knowledge base in relation to the analysis of reflective practices that is available in scholarship and in applied science of education alike. I am employing this innovative concept extensively in the sections dealing with the concrete results of the research on which my thesis is based.\ud
\ud
This research was conducted as a comparative study of three different school types: Irish national\ud
schools, German mainstream schools and German free alternative schools. The rationale for choosing those three school types as well as the choice of methods is explained in the text below.\ud
As a result of the research I found that national discourses have an impact on the understanding and use of the term ritual. For the three school types I could identify different ritual cultures, representing rather coherent normative systems in the case of Irish primary schools and free\ud
alternative schools, but more contradictory norms, value systems and beliefs in the case of German mainstream schools.\ud
I found that teachers in free alternative schools spend significantly more time in formal reflection\ud
settings than their colleagues in the other school types. I relate this scenario to the background of\ud
varying decision making structures, and varying educational concepts, in the three school types.\ud
In their professional context, teachers engage in reflection processes almost exclusively amongst\ud
themselves. In just one single strand of free alternative schools teachers were found to also engage with children in these processes. Critical reflection on rituals in school, which is understood as externalising and investigating power relations and uncovering hegemonic assumptions, is found to be largely absent from the current practice of teachers, this despite the connection of rituals to social order, norms and value systems.\ud
By stringently applying the idea of reflection as a social act this absence is contextualised. Teachers' engagement, or non-engagement as the case may be, in critical reflection is explained by the\ud
anchoring of reflection processes in the material reality of institutional practice in which a strategy\ud
of 'making allies' seems indispensible.\ud
The documentation of a memory-work seminar conducted as part of this study shows that memorywork can be used to effectively arrive at critical reflection on rituals in school. Memory-work is a\ud
method of collective inquiry that was developed by feminist researchers in the 1980's. In an Irish\ud
context it has not featured yet. I have highlighted the scope of memory-work as a research method\ud
in my presentation at the conference on “New Agendas in Social Movement Studies” in Maynooth in 2011. The report on the processes within two memory-work groups which is included in this\ud
thesis extends this contribution by supplying expansive coverage of the application of the method in a group reflecting on rituals in school.\ud
The critical dialogue that resulted from the various presentations of parts of my work at the\ud
conferences in Maynooth, Cork, but also in Berlin (Hamm 2011c) and Freiburg (Hamm 2012b) was\ud
an instrumental element in my research process. Extending my search for contributions on the\ud
topics beyond the published material proved similarly helpful. Discussions with authors of literature on ritual analysis of school (Franz Wellendorf, Hauke Pieper), and with Frigga Haug, Frauke\ud
Schwarting, Dirk Mescher on the complex of memory work added to the overall quality of my\ud
thesis.\ud
What is provided here are new and challenging perspectives and arguments for educational science and practice. As a result the proposals put forward in this thesis pave a way out of a certain\ud
speechlessness in relation to the complex of professional reflection processes of teachers.\ud
Before the main body of my thesis, I am going to sketch the context from which the topic was\ud
originally derived. An overview on the content of the chapters will provide a map to enable the\ud
reader to access the thesis in an assured manner
Antifungal properties of nanosized ZnS particles synthesised by sonochemical precipitation
Full text linkZinc Sulphide (ZnS) nanoparticles, synthesised by sono-chemical route employing zinc chloride and sodium sulphide, displayed significant anti-fungal property against the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans (MTCC 227) at a minimum fungicidal concentration of 300 g/ml. The antifungal property of zinc sulphide particles is attributed to the generation of reactive oxygen species due to the interaction of nanoparticles with water. Additionally, the presence of Zn and S in the zone of inhibition area and the absence of antifungal effects for large micron sized particles of ZnS suggests size induced effects leading to perturbation of fungi cell membranes resulting in growth inhibition