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Hearing silent voices: talk and silence as data in 'Skills for Life' classrooms
No full textThis paper examines how innovative social-constructivist pedagogies in adult numeracy education are generating new types of naturalistic linguistic data which enable students? previously silent voices to be heard. However, it also argues that some students' voices are still silent, and that these silences can be regarded as data which is as illuminating as episodes of talk.The new pedagogies, recently extended from school mathematics to adult numeracy, provide opportunities for adult students to work together to solve mathematical problems in classrooms formerly characterised by individualised learning in near silence. Audio-data collected in such classrooms is used to demonstrate how students' discussions offer previously unavailable insights into their experiences of learning. Informal numeracy practices, usually carried out 'invisibly' in one's head, are rendered audible as students 'think aloud', and their hitherto unheard voices give glimpses of their relationships with each other, with learning, and with the wider social structures of curriculum and accreditation. In particular, the rich and diverse linguistic repertoire through which they reflect and maintain these relationships offers a challenge to the discourses of deficit which predominate in this sector.Conversely, however, the voices of some participating students are absent from the data, and their silence is key to revealing new forms of inequality that may emerge from social-constructivist pedagogies. Thus the paper concludes by arguing that silence should not be regarded as an absence of data, but as data in itself. This is illustrated by a reflective account of the author's research journey in learning to 'hear' these silences, and contrasts perceptions of participants who might be expected to be silent (in this case a deaf student) with those whose silences were unanticipated. The limitations and affordances of collecting audio-data versus video-data are discussed in relation to this aspect of the study
Review of control techniques for inverters parallel operation
No full textThis paper presents state-of-the-art review of control methods applied currently to parallel power electronic inverters. Different system architectures, their modes of operation, management and control strategies will be analyzed; advantages and disadvantages will be discussed. Though, it is not easy to give a general view at the state of the art for the research area since it is rapid and going in different directions, this paper will focus on the main streams.
This paper will start by briefly reviewing the current trends in power supply systems and the increasing importance for including power electronic devices. Next, the different techniques to parallel inverters suggested in the literature will be checked. These can be categorized to the following main approaches: master/slave control techniques, current/power sharing control techniques, and frequency/voltage droop control techniques. Finally, based on the reviewed state of the art, the study concludes by comparing the different approaches reported. In addition, their weaknesses and strengths are strained
The neurobiology of play
No full textA large volume of neurobiological research has been conducted in recent years, almost all of which has been considered solely from the perspective of biology. However, most of the insights gained through this research are also valuable for the game research field. This paper discusses the implications of existing research in neurobiology to the play of games (including, but not restricted to digital games), and connects neurobiological perspectives with models of play aiming to construct superior player satisfaction models built upon biological foundations. Connections are presented between already recognized patterns of play and recent research on the brain (in particular, the limbic system). By providing a framework for understanding how the brain responds to recurrent patterns inherent to play, we aim to provide a platform for future experimental player-game interaction research (for which possible directions are briefly explored), and a propaedeutic to biologically-grounded player satisfaction models
'Egg-box' panel for commercial vehicle front - compressive loading tests
No full textThe numbers of serious accidents and fatalities from accidents between commercial vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRUs) are still high and show no sign of declining. For pedestrians, this is traumatic due to high incompatibility of vehicle fronts. Hence, decisions have been made to implement countermeasures that have the potential for casualty reduction. This paper proposes an 'egg-box' energy-absorbing panel to be incorporated in a commercial vehicle's cab front and sides. As a consequence it is expected to reduce the load between vehicle and pedestrians, while at the same time eliminating the risk of serious injuries and fatalities. The egg-box panel herein has been compressed under quasi-static conditions in order to study the collapse mechanism of the structure and quantify the corresponding load regimes for various stages of collapse. An attempt has been made to understand the structure's energy-absorption capability from the resulting load-deflection curves. Also, a simple assessment of the structure's crashworthiness is discussed and comparison made to existing energy absorbers. The maximum load that a 30 mm high panel structure can withstand is approximately 18 kN. Unlike in a concertina tube where a sudden drop in load is observed after the formation of the first plastic hinge, there is no drastic fall in this load after the collapse has started. A steady load is observed with the progressing deformation. With the height reduced to 20 mm, the maximum load capacity increases by 20% approximately along with increase in the stiffness
The Future of Interoperability Standards in Education – System and Process. A White Paper
No full textIn January 2010, JISC CETIS organised a working meeting to bring together participants across a range of standards organisations and communities to look at the future of interoperability standards in the education sector. This paper summarises the views expressed by delegates at the meeting and presents relevant background information on present and future models for collaboration between open and informal communities and the formal standardisation system with particular reference to the current issues and barriers in specification and standard development and adoption processes. This summary also presents a series of suggestions on the possible directions of future interoperability standards in education
A preliminary experiment to assess the fear value of preselected sound parameters in a survival horror game
No full textThis paper presents an experiment testing which sound parameters, in a survival horror game context, most warrant further investigation as a means to control the level of fear in such games. The experiment is part of a long-term study ultimately designed to support the development of a biofeedback procedural audio engine for computer games. By this means, it is hoped to provide an enhanced gaming experience whereby sound synthesis and audio processing is conducted in real-time according to the player's affect responses and emotional state. Results indicate that coarse manipulation of audio parameters has the potential to influence the intensity of the player?s fear response whilst playing a survival horror game. Evidence is also presented that supports the integration of event logging and realtime participant vocal response into an experimental design to gather unbiased, quantitative data that can be associated with qualitative emotional response