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Undertaking an institutional ‘stock-take’ of SoTL: New Zealand university case studies
Get PDFA working group was established at AUT University in 2005 with a brief to identify initiatives that might be taken to promote and support staff engagement in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The working group recognized that a ‘stock-taking’ exercise would need to be undertaken before appropriate initiatives could be identified, trialled and evaluated. In this article the methodology and specific methods used for the stock-take, which included bench-marking with other New Zealand universities, are outlined and key findings are presented and discussed. These findings provide a helpful snapshot of the presence of SoTL within New Zealand universities and within the everyday lives of New Zealand university teachers. They highlight the complexity of those lives and tertiary institution environments that can make it challenging for teachers to become more scholarly and to engage in SoTL. They also point to ways in which those environments may be made more conducive to the realization of these goals. In this article, the methodology and specific methods used for the stock-take, which included bench-marking with other New Zealand universities, are outlined and key findings are presented and discussed
Apostolic Networks and Mission
Get PDFThis paper provides an account of an alternative model of Christian mission developed by post-1970 networks in Britain. The model contrasts with the model originally developed by denominations during the Victorian era
Development of a microwave calorimeter for simultaneous thermal analysis,
Get PDFAn instrument has been developed for monitoring cure processes under microwave heating conditions. The main function of the instrument was a calorimeter for performing microwave thermal analysis. A single model resonant cavity was used as the heating cell in the microwave calorimeter.
Thermal analysis measurements were obtained by monitoring the variation in the microwave power that was required to maintain controlled heating of the sample. The microwave thermal analysis data were analogous to conventional differential scanning calorimetry measurements. The dielectric properties of the sample, as a function of the extent of cure, have been obtained using perturbation theory from the changes in resonant frequency and quality factor of the microwave cavity during heating. Additionally, remote sensing fibre-optic probes have been employed to measure real time in situ infrared spectra of the sample during the cure reaction. In this paper, we describe the design and operation of the microwave calorimeter. Examples of experimental results are also presented
Approach of a UML Profile for Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC)
No full textDespite the current enormous hype and popularity of Grid Computing environments like Amazons EC2 or Microsoft’s Windows Azure, there exist open-source and free of cost software frameworks which allow to create high performance computing installation by means of Public Resource Computing (PRC). One PRC framework is BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) for solving large scale and complex computational problems. Each computer works on its own workunits independently from each other and sends back its result to a project server. Installing, configuring, and maintaining a BOINC based project however is a highly sophisticated task.
Scientists and developers need a lot of experience regarding the underlying communication and operating system technologies, even if only a handful of BOINC related functions are actually needed for most applications. In this paper we present a Unified Modeling Language (UML) profile for BOINC called Visu@lGrid profile (VGP). A BOINC project installation for one or more hosts, a role-based access control, and modeling of scientific application is feasible by use of VGP. Based on our approach we provide a specification that allows the creation of BOINC projects with less development and implementation effort
Using complex adaptive systems and technology to analyse the strength of processes and cultural indicators: a method to improve sustained competitive advantage
Get PDFThis paper generalises and strengthens the investigation of capturing intangible data for the benefit of organisations encouraging learning environments and self-organisation practices. It suggests current technological and algorithmic analysis may aid an organisation’s quest for sustained competitive advantage through the identification of previously unobservable data including cultural nuances. However, the implementation of such an approach presents challenges of which we summarise in our conclusion
Instructional laboratory for practical investigation of electric drive control
Get PDFThe study discusses the design principles of instructional laboratory equipment applied for practical investigations of electric drive control. The laboratory workstations comprise of two-motor hardware systems where each motor is controlled by a real-time DSP board. A control structure under test is assembled at the software level using a number of control elements, which is then compiled into a control algorithm for the microcontroller. In order to provide safe test execution, the control algorithm operates under the supervision of a real-time core software ensuring protection of the motors and the power converters. Due to the improvement in the reliability of hardware operation, the rated power of the motors and converters is increased to >1 kW to provide a proper characterisation of electric drives similar to industrial installations. The study also describes the laboratory hardware and software details using an example of the control system for an induction motor based on flux-vector control strategy. The example demonstrates configuring the control systems, compiling it into the execution code, the test procedure and result analysis
A Propensity to Thrive: Occupational Therapy Students in Role-Emerging Placements through Understanding of Personality, Resilience and Entrepreneurship
Get PDFIn addition to academic study, occupational therapy students require 1000 hours of practice-based learning to register as an allied health professional. Placements occur in traditional settings or in contemporary areas of practice. The third-sector with emerging and marginal settings is increasingly complimenting statutory services, shaping the profession through diversification and occupationally-focused practice. Unlike traditional placements, role-emerging settings do not have an on-site occupational therapist to supervise the student. This creates a more challenging experience, as students do not have a role-model to guide practice.
This study explores the practice of one University, where a personal approach to placement allocation allows for selection of undergraduate students with a natural propensity for undertaking these more challenging experiences. The aim of the study, to elucidate if and how the constructs of resilience, entrepreneurship and personality determine a student’s propensity to thrive in role-emerging placements and how these impact on the experience and its outcome.
A mixed-methods, convergent approach was adopted, using self-rating questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather data from two cohorts of students placed in either traditional or role-emerging placements.The qualitative data was analysed by employing an interpretative, inductive approach through a thematic analysis and the quantitative data underwent statistical analysis.
Combining the qualitative and quantitative results generated in-depth understanding, with findings indicating the students placed in role-emerging placements scored more highly in resilience and developed greater resilience as a consequence of their placement. These students scored higher in personality trait of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness and were more emotionally stable compared to the students in traditional placements. Agreeableness was positively correlated with greater resilience in these students.
This study concludes that role-emerging placements provide a platform to develop resilience and professional identity that all students should experience. With the diversification agenda these placements will become absorbed into the norm of placement opportunities typically experienced without the need to differentiate. Curricula design and personal development should embed opportunities for students to nurture an openness to new experiences, with positive risk taking and building an ability to thrive. Allocation processes need to consider alignment of students to all placements regardless of their nature, optimising the outcome for student and the setting
Aunty Betty and the sunny day
Get PDFRodriguez (2002, p4) argues that no narrative is meant to be kept to oneself, it is for sharing with others and with this sharing comes a social infrastructure that bonds and binds each of us to others in a inimitable way, and furthermore, a concept which allows individuals to critically examine the repercussions and outcomes of their actions. If it is accepted that narratives are a means for the individual to address and share these issues, what are the underlying processes that may effect the reflection of these issues to form a narrative. It is the intention here to question what may be one of the underpinning requirements of an individual to work within a narrative framework, the concept of self awareness, and in particular the ability to communicate this awareness to others. Carson (2001, p199) states that ‘all situations can be described in a number of ways which reflect not just an author’s values, but also, more crucially, an authors’ identity’. This paper will question whether there is a singular unified ‘self’, or as James (1892) maintains, the individual is a highly complex social entity and that we display ‘as many different selves as people we interact with’ The concept of self awareness will be explored through relevant historical and contemporary literature in order to attempt to discover who in essence is writing the stories recounted in a narrative
Nursing the clinic vs. nursing the patient: nurses' experience of a day hospital chemotherapy service
No full textAims and objectives. This study sought to explore the nurses' experience of a day hospital chemotherapy service in an acute general hospital in Northern Ireland and how this compared with their experience of working in an inpatient setting.
Background. Despite the many changes taking place in cancer care delivery, little research has been conducted on nurses' experience of working in more acute cancer treatment settings. Research conducted to date has tended to focus on the role of nurses in wards, hospices and palliative care settings.
Design. This Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological study explored nurses' lived experience of day hospital chemotherapy service.
Method. Face-to-face focused in-depth interviews were conducted with the total population of nurses who worked in the day hospital at the time of data collection (n = 10). Data analysis involved a two-staged approach, the analysis of narratives and narrative analysis, based on the work of Polkinghorne (1995).
Conclusions. The nurses' viewed their experience of the chemotherapy day hospital as having both positive and negative dimensions. The positive dimensions included an increased sense of autonomy and the challenge of developing new skills, while the negative dimension included a perceived decrease in their caring role:
(i) The individual characteristics of the nurse were seen to have a key influence on caring experience;
(ii) Role changes led to a perceived dichotomy between their actual and aspired role and their caring and clinical role.
Relevance to clinical practice. There is a need to achieve a balance between delivering a clinical role (administering chemotherapy) while maintaining the centrality of the nurse–patient relationship. This can be likened to achieving a balance between 'nursing the clinic' alongside 'nursing the patient'. These findings have implications for the discourse on caring within other outpatient type clinics and discourse on cancer nursing as therapy and the culture of the cancer clinic
Dietetic helpers in the community: the Bolton Community Nutrition Assistants Project
Get PDFStudy objective: To explore the role of 'Community Nutrition Assistants' (CNAs) in helping to increase coverage, by increasing access to local community dietetic services, and to bring about positive changes in the determinants of healthy eating, within low income areas of Bolton, England. Study design: A descriptive evaluation of programme development and field-testing (1995-1997) in the community. Non-experimental design. Setting: community, less affluent neighbourhoods in Bolton, North West England. Subjects: 1272 people in total, individuals and members of community groups, recorded as CNA contacts during 2 discreet monitoring periods; an opportunistic or purposive sampling strategy was used; subjects were randomly selected for group interview (n=8) and telephone interviews (n=41) out of a traceable sample of contacts (n=94) over a randomly selected 1month collection period. Findings: compared with professional only service, CNAs efforts resulted in a fourfold increase in coverage of community nutrition services in the local community. CNAs demonstrated unique attributes, which positively influence their ability to work well with local people, but particularly those considered hard to reach. At least half the subjects interviewed reported positive behaviour changes such as changes to foods bought, cooking methods or foods eaten in the home. Conclusions: This study has shown some benefits in training local people to work alongside existing community dietitians. This may help to reduce inequalities in health, address barriers to healthy eating experienced by low income families, and improve cost effectiveness. Before expansion continues on an ad hoc basis further research is needed to test generalisability, to assess health outcomes, and to quantify the value of using local people. The findings here are useful in guiding further developments