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Classroom behaviour: perspectives on learning over 30 years in the Education and Training sector.
No full textThis abstract provides a brief synopsis of my submission for a doctorate by retrospective practice. The issues that have been central to my practice over the last thirty years have involved supporting student, trainee and teacher learning in a variety of Education and Training Sector (ETS) institutional contexts. The central issue associated with much of the material posited within these documents is that of learning taking place or not in many different circumstances within the ETS. My interventions into the discourse within this sector have been through a wide variety of vehicles, such as newspaper and academic articles, peer-reviewed research-based studies, a peer-reviewed book, moderated assessment and inter alia student-based research and its impact on ETS classrooms.My approaches have been critical responses to a wide range of teaching and learning situations, mostly qualitative research impacting on individuals, classes, institutions and the sector at large. The overall findings could be said to demonstrate a complex understanding of many teaching and learning situations where learning is embraced and/or rejected in many ETS contexts.Recommendations are multifarious and embedded into the texts of my book, articles and my own and student research, generally showing ways in which learning can be supported in many different ETS contexts. However, three specific strategies for dealing with violence in the sector are recommended at the end of this commentary.This doctorate by practice offers a retrospective ascription of interventions regarding learning, suggesting changes and insights as evidenced in my portfolio and this critical commentary
Incidental learning in storytelling
No full textThis article analyses trainee teachers’ experiences of incidental learning using storytelling in the English as a Second Language (ESOL) classroom in the Further Education and Skills sector. It comments on the reflections of trainee ESOL teachers using story activities in their practice and it explores their experiences of incidental learning within language teaching.The research focuses on the responses, evaluations and perceptions of trainee teachers on the effectiveness of storytelling as a pedagogic tool to enhance language and literacy skills development and explores the impact of incidental learning on trainee teachers’ professional development.The findings indicate that trainees experienced incidental learning whilst implementing storytelling in a wide range of contexts with various groups of learners from Entry Level 1 (beginners) to Level 2 (upper intermediate). Storytelling as a pedagogical tool was used in various forms, such as unplanned impromptu uses when demonstrating a grammatical or lexical point. The trainee teachers’ reflective accounts of incidental learning demonstrated a positive impact on their professional progress, which is mainly reflected in the components of attitudinal and intellectual change with some evidence of behavioural change too.The key findings of the study indicate that storytelling provides creative opportunities for teachers to develop their practice incidentally. It highlights the importance of unplanned and spontaneous anecdotal stories in engaging ESOL learners in language practice and suggests that stories can be used as an effective pedagogic tool in teaching and learning
Eliciting Expert Practitioner Knowledge Through Pedagogy and Infographics
No full textQualitative research routinely requires expert practitioner knowledge to be elicited. However, effectively eliciting tacit or implicit knowledge can be problematic. This chapter presents a method in which pedagogy and infographics were combined to elicit the knowledge of expert professionals. During interlocutions, using a progressive series of infographics accompanied by explanations, research participants were quickly taught new topics. Then as the learning occurred, they were asked to reflect on their experience using their new knowledge as a lens. Deployed with Information Systems practitioners, the approach was effective, bringing forth 130,000 words of relevant and advanced discourse. Although details of the Information Systems research are presented in the chapter as an illustration, the chapter’s foci are the method’s underpinning principles and deployment. It is believed that this approach could be easily transferred into a range of qualitative research domains. Given the ambiguity surrounding the term, the concepts of expert and expertise are also discussed along with the challenge of establishing definitions for a given domain
Pressure to provide a solution: one-to-one support with an elite junior gymnast
No full textThis article presents a reflective case study, from the perspective of a trainee sport and exercise psychologist, of an applied consultancy experience with a 14-year-old gymnast. The case study highlights a number of applied challenges such as working with a client in an unfamiliar sport, questioning who the client is throughout the consultancy process, adopting a philosophy of practice different from the expectations of the parents, and further difficulties when including parents in the consultancy process. The case study also highlights how challenges to a practitioner’s philosophy of practice can be deeply uncomfortable and lead the practitioner to question his or her approach to service delivery. Although the intervention only lasted 3 sessions, there are a number of observations and lessons to be learned from an applied perspective, such as being aware of countertransference when building relationships with a client and understanding how the dynamics of the consultancy process might change when involving parents
Towards optimal control of fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles
No full textGlobal warming, the decline of natural resources as well as the strengthening of emission regulations have led to a research focus in new drive technologies. Within the group of alternative propulsion systems, fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle (FHEV) are considered especially promising.Since system efficiency as well as the operation characteristics are determined by the chosen energy management system (EMS) scheme, an optimal approach is a key aspect to guarantee optimal system operation in terms of power and energy efficiency, as well as component lifetime and costs. Existing research efforts mostly focus on the optimisation of the hydrogen consumption, while neglecting component degradation as additional important part of total system and operation cost. Furthermore, almost no published work considers the thermal management of a FHEV.Therefore, the presented work propose a novel model predictive control based energy management approach with a special focus on preventing fuel cell (FC) and battery (BAT) degradation and the vehicle’s thermal management. In order to minimise component ageing and degradation, the objective function which is used in the developed method, includes cost which account for both decreasing BAT state of health as well as FC operation conditions which accelerate the degradation of the FC. To be able to test the developed EMS, a model and a hardware based test environment were developed. Since there are no thermal management systems for FHEV presented in literature, a new concept with a hierarchical control scheme was designed. Because the newly developed energy management shall be tested based on real world data, a method to generate test cases representing typical driving scenarios based on real world driving data was developed and implemented. Finally, the hardware system was used to validate the simulation model and vice versa, the model based approach was validated on real hardware
Ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete as strengthening material
No full textThe safety of structures is of high importance affecting people’s lives. Structural evaluation, and possibly intervention, is considered necessary for old structures, structures which have been affected by accidental actions and also for structures in high seismic risk areas. Research should now focus on the development of new sustainable techniques which increase the safety of existing structures, and at the same time minimize the necessary to build new structures and to consume new materials and resources. The present research investigates the effectiveness of an advanced material, such as Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC), for the strengthening of existing Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. For this reason, an extensive experimental study on the properties of the material and the application for strengthening of RC beams has been conducted. More specifically, parameters such the effect of fiber content on the performance, the workability and the cost of the material have been investigated first. Based on the analysis, an optimum mixture design has been selected and has been applied for strengthening of RC beams using different configurations. The results indicated that the strengthening with UHPFRC is a well promising technique and the performance of the strengthened elements has been increased in all the examined cases
The reception of Plato’s Phaedrus from Antiquity to the Renaissance
No full textIt is often claimed in the scholarly literature that Plotinus departs from Plato in mostly dispensing with the concept of anamnēsis (recollection). The essay is aimed at disproving such a claim. The supportive argument will proceed in five stages. First, a brief outline will be given of the role that recollection plays in the Phaedrus, a dialogue to which Plotinus returns time and again. Second, a critical reading will be offered of the most salient passages in the Enneads where Plotinus makes use of the notion. Third, the function of anamnēsis, in Plotinus’ understanding of the term, will be shown to enable the embodied human soul to become aware of the presence in herself of riches she had previously been unaware of possessing, namely logoi of a reality higher than herself. Fourth, in building a normative element into the concept of anamnēsis, Plotinus, it will be argued, made it a key factor in the inward process through which human souls can reverse the self-forgetfulness that had led them to become alienated from their ontological source in Intellect. Fifth, despite having profoundly modified Plato’s concept of anamnēsis, Plotinus, it will be concluded, remained at one with him in presenting the apprehension of beauty as the stimulus most likely to lead the human soul back to her true self in Intellect
Waist-wearable wireless respiration sensor based on triboelectric effect
No full textObstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OASA) is a respiratory disease caused by upper airway obstruction that is harmful to sleep quality and human health. Real-time monitoring of the respiration status may help to detect the symptoms of apnea and provide accordance to early warning, diagnosis, and proper treatment. As a solution, we here propose a waist-wearable wireless respiration monitoring device based on triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that is designed to monitor the breathing status by sensing the variation of the abdomen circumference. The breathing information is transmitted to a mobile phone via a wireless transmission chip. A theoretical electromechanical analysis is performed to predict the output performance of the TENG with two different sizes. The results agree very well with measured data, thus addressing the feasibility of the TENG sensor for monitoring respiration of different modes (thoracic and abdominal respiration) and various daily activities (lying, standing and sitting). A series of real-time tests on two volunteers with different waistlines and various breathing rhythms have been carried out. It is demonstrated that the current TENG sensor have high accuracy and sensitivity in real-time monitoring of respiratory status. The results may provide a new alternative for real-time monitoring respiration related diseases especially the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
A waist-wearable wireless respiration sensor based on contact mode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is proposed to monitor the real-time respiratory rates by detecting the variation of use's abdominal cavity and display the electric signals on a mobile phone via a wireless transmission system. The continuous testing results of the sensor exhibite its mirets of widespread applicability and high sensitivity in monitoring different respiratory rates for preventing the risk of the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). [Display omitted]
•A waist-wearable wireless respiration sensor based on TENG is proposed.•Feasibility of the device is verified by mechanical tests and theoretical analyses.•Practicability for real-time monitoring in different daily activities is validate
Remarkable Lives : John McManus in conversation with Jerome Carson
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of John McManus.John provides a short life history and is then interviewed by Jerome.John tells us about the insidious development of his illness and how for many years it was masked by substance abuse.As Patricia Deegan has stated, “Each person’s journey of recovery is unique,” (Deegan, 1996). That is why we can learn so much from case studies like Johns.John’s account shows the value of Early Intervention Teams. The service he received from his local team was “second to none.” John talks about the value of volunteering and how it helped him believe that he could once more play a constructive role in life.There is no doubt that John benefitted from support from professionals, experts by experience and his family. Equally he was also open to all these sources of support
A mixed method approach on policy, legal and regulations of non-Shariah compliant income in the Islamic banking Industry: the case study of Malaysia
No full textChannelling funds to charity by Islamic banks has become a popular approach to de-recognise non-Shariah income derived from non-Shariah compliant transactions. Unlike conventional banks, this distinctive feature occurs within Islamic banking environments due to nonconformance with Shariah (Islamic law), which is a basic principle of the Islamic banking system. For instance, the first stand-alone Islamic bank established in Malaysia has reported in its 2011 audited annual report that an amount of MYR181,791.91 was received from nonShariah compliant transactions. Thus, this research aims to study the issues and occurrences of non-Shariah compliant transactions in Islamic banks and to identify resolutions, particularly in Malaysia, by highlighting four main areas. These are: incidents of non-Shariah compliance, Shariah and corporate governance, a legal and regulatory framework, and financial disclosure.The research focuses on a mixed method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods to identify gaps and the lacuna in dealing with non-Shariah income. Due to the limited access of internal reporting of non-Shariah compliant transactions within Islamic banks and the central bank of Malaysia, self-administered questionnaires were generated and filled in by Shariah officers of Islamic banks as primary data. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with members of Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of the central bank of Malaysia to understand and explore their perceptions and views on non-Shariah compliant issues. Furthermore, content analysis of audited annual report of Islamic banks was used to extract statutory information regarding financial disclosures, specifically on non-Shariah compliant transactions for specific accounting periods.The findings in the study have discovered that there are shortcomings in existing practises of dealing with non-Shariah compliant transactions and income. Based on the empirical analysis, the study constructively proposes a comprehensive model and policy recommendations to enhance and further overcome the existing shortcomings in the main areas mentioned abov