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An investigation of the relationships between the teaching climate, students’ perceived life skills development and well-being within physical education
No full textBackground: Both education policies and curriculum documents identify the personal development of students as a key objective of modern education. Physical education in particular has been cited as a subject that can promote students’ life skills development and psychological well-being. However, little research has investigated the processes by which physical education may be related to students’ development of life skills and their psychological well-being. Purpose: Using Benson and Saito’s (2001) framework for youth development theory and research, this study explored the relationships between the teaching climate, students’ perceived life skills development within physical education, and their psychological well-being. Participants and setting: Participants were 294 British physical education students (Mage = 13.70, range = 11–18 years) attending six secondary schools in Scotland and England. On average, these male (n = 204) and female (n = 90) students took part in physical education classes for 2.35 hours per week. Data collection: The data were collected via a survey which assessed perceived teacher autonomy support, participants’ perceived life skills development within physical education (teamwork, goal setting, time management, emotional skills, interpersonal communication, social skills, leadership, and problem solving and decision making), and their psychological well-being (self-esteem, positive affect, and satisfaction with life). Data analyses: The preliminary analysis used descriptive statistics to assess how participants scored on each of the study variables and correlations to assess the relationships between all variables. The main analysis sought to test Benson and Saito’s (2001) framework using a series of mediation models which were tested via non-parametric bootstrapping analysis. Findings: This study demonstrated that students perceived they were developing the following life skills through physical education: teamwork, goal setting, time management, emotional skills, interpersonal communication, social skills, leadership, and problem solving and decision making. Overall, the results supported Benson and Saito’s (2001) framework for youth development theory and research. In all analyses, perceived teacher autonomy support was positively related to participants’ perceived life skills development within physical education and their psychological well-being. Participants’ total life skills development was related to all three psychological well-being indicators – providing support for the ‘pile-up’ effect (Benson 2006). Total life skills development also mediated the relationships between perceived teacher autonomy support and participants’ psychological well-being. Conclusion: The findings suggest that perceived teacher autonomy support, along with total life skills development, are related to participants’ psychological well-being. Interpretation of the results suggest that physical education teachers should integrate autonomy supportive behaviors into their teaching (e.g., provide choice in activities and encourage students to ask questions) as they are associated with young people’s development of multiple life skills and their psychological well-being
Interaction between closely packed array antenna elements using metasurface for applications such as MIMO systems and Synthetic Aperture Radars
No full textThe paper presents a technique to enhance the isolation between adjacent radiating elements which is common in densely packed antenna arrays. Such antennas provide frequency beam-scanning capability needed in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems and Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs). The method proposed here uses a metamaterial decoupling slab (MTMDS), which is located between radiating elements, to suppress mutual-coupling between the elements that would otherwise degrade the antenna efficiency and performance in both the transmit and receive mode. The proposed MTM-DS consists of mirror imaged Eshaped slits engraved on a microstrip patch with inductive stub. Measured results confirm over 9–11 GHz with no MTM-DS the average isolation (S12) is -27 dB; however, with MTM-DS the average isolation improves to -38 dB. With this technique the separation between the radiating element can be reduced to 0.66λo, where λ0 is free space wavelength at 10 GHz. In addition, with this technique there is 15% improvement in operating bandwidth. At frequencies of high impedance match of 9.95 GHz and 10.63 GHz the gain is 4.52 dBi and 5.40 dBi, respectively. Furthermore, the technique eliminates poor front-to-back ratio encountered in other decoupling methods. MTM-DS is also relatively simple to implement. Assuming adequate space is available between adjacent radiators the MTM-DS can be fixed retrospectively on existing antenna arrays, which makes the proposed method versatile
Introductory software exercises using Matlab for the visualisation, analysis and processing of signals acquired from racecar sensors
No full textExploring engagement levels of females aged 13-18 in physical activity
No full textThe plethora of research surrounding female participation in physical activity, has increased significantly over the years (Flintoff and Scratton, 2001; Penney, 2002; Hargreaves, 2004; O’Sullivan & MacPhail, 2010). Globally, low physical activity levels are acknowledged as the fourth most common cause of mortality (Hallallet al., 2012).This study observes female participants aged 13-18 who attend schools and colleges in Greater Manchester. Furthermore it gains an insight into physical activity preferences and the challenges encountered in respect to self-reporting questionnaires (SRQ). Participant’s interpretation and understanding of questions on the SRQ, could influence a varied or none response therefore alternative qualitative methods are experimented within this study
An overview of Smart manufacturing for competitive and digital global supply chains
No full textThis research study aims to examine and review the key advantages of smart manufacturing to achieve and improve performance within global supply chain environments. In recent years supply chain has been arisen as one of the major areas to gain a competitive edge in manufacturing industries. The current business methodologies of short product life cycle, increased outsourcing, expanding product variety, improved customer focus and improved technologies has led supply chain to be some challenging and complex tasks. Smart Manufacturing has been considered as a successful advancement in industrial revolution featuring resource efficiency, adaptability, agitability with wide application of internet and other innovative engineering technologies integrating of customers and business value processes creating a better manufacturing environment. The research is at its preliminary stages and will aim to examine and evaluate existing literature within the areas of smart and digital manufacturing and compare examples of best practices and methods towards creating a detailed comprehensive and systematic finding of the key research studies. This paper is a literature review which aims to review the benefits of smart manufacturing and its influence to achieve an improved performance in supply chain
Student writing and academic literacy development at university
No full textThis paper considers the role of student academic writing in subject learning at university.It makes the case for embedding student writing and academic literacy pedagogy in curricula in the contemporary context of higher education in the UK. It begins with a critical review of discourses and practices in the last two decades and how student writing, as a vehicle for learning and acculturation into higher education practices and values, has been largely marginalised. It outlines the salient features of an alternative framing - the academic literacies approach – and the potential that it affords research into the student experience with writing and assessment. Evidence from the literature indicates that in the present context the need to integrate academic literacy pedagogy into mainstream curricula is more important than ever if higher education institutions are going to address their concerns with student retention, academic performance and learning gain. Practical approaches to integrating academic literacy pedagogy gleaned from the literature are critically discussed. A consensus which advocates the embedding of student writing and academic literacy as the most effective method is identified. Finally, the case is strengthened by considering current contextual challenges facing universities in the UK
Antenna mutual coupling suppression over wideband using embedded periphery slot for antenna arrays
No full textThis paper presents a new approach to suppress interference between neighbouring radiating elements resulting from surface wave currents. The proposed technique will enable the realization of low-profile implementation of highly dense antenna configuration necessary in SAR and MIMO communication systems. Unlike other conventional techniques of mutual coupling suppression where decoupling slab is located between the radiating antennas the proposed technique is simpler and only requires embedding linear slots near the periphery of the patch. Attributes of this technique are (i) significant improvement in the maximum isolation between the adjacent antennas by 26.7 dB in X-band, & >15 dB in Ku and K-bands; (ii) reduction in edge-to-edge gap between antennas to 10 mm (0.37λ); and (iii) improvement in gain by >40% over certain angular directions, which varies between 4.5 dBi to 8.2 dBi. The proposed technique is simple to implement at low-cost
Happiness as a predictor of resilience in students at a further education college
No full textWhile the positive relationship between happiness and resilience amongst students is established, diversity in further education (FE) students warrants investigation into potential differences in the strength of this relationship. In respect of the multifaceted definition of the concept, two happiness measures were completed by respondents. This allowed investigation into the potential for the two measures to reflect differing features of happiness and allowed a more specific insight into the role happiness plays in the resilience of FE students. In this study, the predictive relationships of happiness with resilience among three level 3 populations – A-Level, BTEC and Access to HE at a further education college in the UK (N = 443) – are examined by means of self-report. Multiple regression analysis showed that happiness measures correlate with resilience, making independent contributions. Relative importance of happiness measures in predicting resilience also differs across pathways. Findings are discussed in terms of diversity of FE students and diversity of happiness within these populations. This research highlights a variation in significance of different facets of happiness on resilience, with implications for pastoral care in FE
Recovery heroes from the past: Charles Dickens(1859:2003): "it was the best of times it was the worst of times"
No full textPurpose :The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of the novelist Charles Dickens.Design/methodology/approach :Several biographies and articles about the life of Charles Dickens were examined, to see if there was evidence that he experienced mental health problems.Findings :While Dickens has been acclaimed for his ability to authentically portray the living conditions of the poor in the nineteenth-century Britain, there is comparatively little historical record of the fact that he may have experienced bipolar disorder. This paper suggests that he displayed many of the characteristic symptoms of bipolar.Research limitations/implications :The story of Dickens’ own childhood is an amazing example of personal resilience. It no doubt enhanced the quality of his writing, but it may also have “sown the seeds” of a later mental illness.Practical implications :So much attention has been focused on the colourful characters from Dickens’ novels, but little on the problems of the man himself.Social implications :The story of Charles Dickens is as fascinating as any of the fictional characters he created, if not even more intriguing. His story confirms the link between writers, creativity and mood disorders.Originality/value :Given the huge attention and worldwide acclaim paid to the books of Charles Dickens, which have inspired numerous films as well as musicals, it is surprising how little attention has been paid to the author himself and his struggles with mental illnes
Editorial Introduction to the Journal of Learning and Student Experience
No full textThe past few years has witnessed a proliferation of new journals in the fields of educational research. This is due to the fact that enhancing student learning experiences has become very important in Higher Education (HE) due to increased student enrolment and diversification (Newman et al., 2004; Barber et al., 2013; Chowdry et al., 2013; Hornsby and Osman, 2014). Therefore, the publication of the first volume of still another Journal focusing on those areas deserves some introductory comments