1522 research outputs found
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Blogs: Supporting Staff Development (Presentation)
Get PDFThis poster aims to describe the uses of blogs from a staff development perspective and also to demonstrate how students can use blogs to fulfil learning outcomes.
A blog (or web log) is a website that contains dated entries (or posts) in reverse chronological order. Sandars (2006) summarised the three main uses of blogs in education as ‘Read, Write and Interact’. A variety of educational blogging activities that can be undertaken by staff and students are described in terms of these three main uses of blogs.
In terms of the Bologna process, blogs can be useful in allowing students to demonstrate that they have met learning outcomes. The benefit of using a blog to demonstrate fulfillment of learning outcomes, rather than ‘offline’ forms of writing, is that blogs allow for regular, formative feedback from lecturers and/or peer assessors (Wagner, 2003).
In addition to being used by students as a learning tool, blogs are frequently used by staff for personal and professional development. In the field of education teachers or lecturers often use blogs to reflect on their teaching practice (West, Wright & Graham, 2005). In addition, blogs can afford staff the opportunity to interact with a wider research community.
A number of staff development workshops on the educational uses of blogs have been conducted at WIT. These workshops have encouraged staff to use blogs for their own personal and professional development and many staff have, in turn, encouraged students to use blogs as part of their coursework. Blogs can promote a culture of reflective teaching and learning throughout an institution and also encourage more frequent interaction between students, staff and a wider research community
A Framework for In-Network Management in Heterogeneous Future Communication Networks
Get PDFFuture communication networks will be composed of a diversity of highly heterogeneous network variants, ranging from energy constrained wireless sensor networks to large-scale wide area networks. The fact that the size and complexity of such networks will experience tremendous growth will eventually render existing traditional network management paradigms unfeasible. We propose the radically new paradigm of in-network management, which targets the embedding of self-management capabilities deep inside the network nodes. In this paper, we focus on our framework for in-network management, which allows management logic to be embedded and executed within network nodes. Based on a specific use-case of bio-inspired network management, we demonstrate how our framework can be exploited in a network failure scenario using quorum sensing and chemotaxis
Sparse Multichannel Source Localization and Separation
Get PDFThe DUET and DESPRIT blind source separation algorithms attempt to recover J sources from I mixtures of these sources, in the interesting case where J > I, with minimal information about the mixing environment of underling sources statistics. We present a semi-blind generalization of the DUET-DESCRIPT approach which allows arbitary placement of the sensors and demixes the sources given the room impulse response. We learn a sparse representation of the mixtures on an over-complete spatial signatures dictionary. We localize and separate the constituent sources via binary masking of a power weighted histogram in location space or in attenuation-delay space. We demonstrate the robustness of this technique using synthetic room experiments
The utility of using customized heterochromatic flicker photometry (cHFP) to measure macular pigment in patients with age-related macular degeneration
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to assess the utility and validity of using customized heterochromatic flicker photometry (cHFP) to measure macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in patients with intermediate stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The measurement procedure was optimized to accommodate individual differences in temporal vision related to age, disease, or other factors. The validity criteria were based on the similarity of the spectral absorption curves to ex vivo curves of lutein and zeaxanthin and the similarity of spatial density profiles to those measured in subjects without retinal disease. Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) spatial profiles were measured with an LED-based macular densitometer; spectral absorption curves were measured with a 3-channel Maxwellian view system including a monochromator. All patients were characterized via clinical exams and all but 2 subjects from whom data were obtained had masked grading of color fundus photographs using the Wisconsin Age-Related Maculopathy Grading System. Most of the patients were in AREDS category 2 (27%) or 3 (57%). Patients with visual acuity as poor as 20/80 were included, and could perform the task as long as they could see the stimulus. Eighty-one percent of the patients screened were able to perform the cHFP task, and data were obtained from 30 AMD patients. Spatial profiles of MPOD were measured in 19 subjects who could see the stimulus at all tested loci. These profiles were highly similar to those that have been measured with HFP in subjects without retinal disease. The average shape of the spectral absorption curves for the AMD subjects corresponded well to an ex vivo template. These data support both the utility and validity of the cHFP method for measuring MPOD in subjects with intermediate stages of AMD. The ability to measure the retinal response to nutritional intervention is of practical importance for monitoring patients being supplemented with lutein and zeaxanthin in hopes of retarding visual loss and/or disease progression
Special Collections for beginners : A case study of Special Collections at Waterford Institute of Technology's library service
No full textPurpose – This article sets out to describe the challenges and opportunities created by the presentation of a number of special collections to the library service of Waterford Institute of Technology. It aims to focus on the work done with the collections to date and plans for the future.
Design/methodology/approach – This case study reports on the collections presented to WIT Library Service and the approach taken to their conservation and display. It also discusses the ongoing issues involved in special collections management in a modern academic library setting.
Findings – The paper concludes that there is a delicate balancing act involved in accepting and managing special collections in contemporary academic libraries. Key factors to consider are expense, staff time and skills, and potential benefits to the library and its users.
Research limitations/implications – The project is still in development. The study provides a view on one medium-sized academic library's experience of handling special collections.
Practical implications – This account is likely to be useful for organisations in a similar position, faced with similar challenges of comparable scale.
Originality/value – The paper offers practical insights for libraries in similar positions
The weed community affects yield and quality of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)
Get PDFThe relationship between the weed community and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) seed yield and quality was assessed in two soybean experiments in Illinois, USA. One field was sown with different proportions of target weeds (Ambrosia trifida L., Amaranthus rudis J. Sauer, Setaria faberi F. Herrm), and the other was naturally infested with these and other weeds. The composition of the weed communities in both fields were compared to final yield and quality (% protein, oil, and water) of the crop using NMDS ordination. Biomass and canopy cover, and seed quality (% protein, relative water content, seed weight) of the crop, were related to the multivariate structure of the weed community in both experiments. Lower quality soybeans were harvested from plots dominated by the target weeds and a suite of subordinate volunteers. Analysis restricted to the volunteer weed community was also significantly related to seed protein and seed weight. Similar results from the two experiments lend generality to the findings and indicate that soybean producers need to manage the composition of the weed community
A Note on Krawtchouk Polynomials and Riordan Arrays
Get PDFWe study links between Krawtchouk polynomials and Riordan arrays of both the ordinary kind and the exponential kind. We derive summation formulas for values of the Krawtchouk polynomials using the A-sequences of the Riordan arrays
Art and Archaeology: The Function of the Artist in Interpreting Material Culture
Get PDFFollowing recent suggestions by archaeologists that contemporary art practice may be of benefit to their understanding of the past, this study examines the potential role of art practitioners in archaeological research. In this context, the role of the artists in interpreting material culture, or archaeological evidence, is of particular interest. To contextualise the study, the literature review identifies the main texts directly related to the relationship between art and archaeology, and evaluates current sources from the field of archaeology, and anthropology for comparative purposes. The researcher's own art practice is then utilised as an exploratory method to develop some of the issues which arise in the relationship between the disciplines of art and archaeology. The concept of 'experience' and the area of theoretical archaeology are identified as the areas in which a connection with art practice may be most relevant. Both terms are then explained to provide a philosophical basis for the second part of the dissertations. A brief outline of theoretical archaeology is followed by an explication of the philosophical movement of phenomenology, which forms the basis for phenomenological archaeology, a movement concerned with sense experience and perception of archaeological sites and artefacts. In order to examine the current relationship between art practice and archaeology, the Foucauldian method of discourse analysis is employed. An analysis of the recent debate in archaeology shows that anthropologists have been engaged in direct collaborations with artists, while archaeologists have concentrated on interpreting artworks, the artefactual products of art practice, rendering the artist a passive component in the discourse. The subsequent analysis of practical statements by art practitioners, namely the Irish 'Umha Aois' experimental bronze casting group reveals that the practitioners do not insists on their disciplinary identity in the same way archaeologists do in their discourse. It further outlines the difference in attitude held by artists and archaeologists towards artefact and agency. The study argues that a relationship between art practice and archaeologists is therefore contingent on the temporary suspension of disciplinary identities in favour of common research interests
Understanding the Reality of the Work Undertaken by the Disability Officer in relation to Student Support in a Third Level Educational Institution in Ireland
Get PDFAbstract
The aim of this study is to reach an understanding of the reality of the work undertaken by the disability officer in relation to student support in a third level education institution in Ireland. To achieve the purpose the objectives set out were: to examine the ‘everyday’ work of a disability officer, describe the ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ processes of the everyday, include the student voice and the disability officer voice and use a reflective practice approach to serve as a method of inquiry that allows for a way of finding out about self as well as the research topic.
Use of accessible language in the ethnography was a priority. The choice of reflexive ethnography as methodology was primarily influenced by the ethical requirement that no burden of time or energy be placed on the cohort under study – students with disabilities. The reflexive element in the ethnography allows that the ‘turning back on oneself’ is the means by which the author is visible throughout the ethnography.
In this study the ‘field’ (an ethnographic term for the study setting) is a third level educational institution. The ‘fieldnotes’ are a written account of what happened in the field during the time of the collection of data. Through working with fieldnotes created by students and input on behalf of students by the ethnographer, the student voice is heard. From these fieldnotes an extracted statement made by a student during the data collection phase of the study is the focus of the analysis. Agar’s (1985) protocol is used in undertaking the analysis.
Interpretation of the analysis is underpinned by the use of Goleman’s work (1996, 1999, and 2006) in the area of emotional intelligence. Findings of the study are; that listening can be understood as caring and that in the unique setting of the research there is a student need to perceive the disability officer role as a caring role.
The role of the disability officer is considered to have emerged only recently. It has not been the subject of much discussion in the literature to date. The issue of whether the disability officer role is a professional one is examined, resulting in the acceptance that for now it is most likely a semi-professional role. The required undertakings to professionalise the role are currently being addressed by disability officers in Ireland.
The substantive issue and contribution of the research is the uncovering of an affective element to the disability officer’s everyday work and the acknowledgement that it is, for the main part, invisible work. The affective element centres on active listening and through such listening the disability officer’s role as a caring one has been demonstrated
An Exploration of the Psychosocial Needs of Older People in Extended Care Settings: A Qualitative Study
Get PDFRecent demographic projections indicate significant increases in the number of older people across Europe. This population shift requires appropriate responses by health and social care systems. An important challenge is to ensure that the years added to life are healthy, active and productive. Thus, research must make a concerted effort to enhance independent living through the exploration of measures which promote and maintain optimum health and quality of life among older persons in extended care settings. The purpose of this research was to explore psychosocial needs among older persons in extended care settings in Ireland. The research design was guided by a grounded theory approach based upon the principles of symbolic interactionism. The sample consists of caregivers and residents from two publicly funded extended care settings in the South of Ireland. Employing a theoretical sampling strategy, data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. A theory was then constructed from the emergent concepts within the data. Findings show that specific psychosocial determinants are acknowledged by residents and caregivers as being intrinsic to quality of life and well-being among older persons in extended care facilities. The importance of psychosocial well-being among residents of extended care facilities was highlighted by the service-users as the data demonstrate how effective coping skills, positive adaptation and an optimistic internal locus of control can promote psychosocial well-being by reducing the impact of negative life events and optimising present circumstances. Furthermore, residents and caregivers either directly or indirectly referred to the multifaceted value of social interaction to the psychosocial well-being of older persons in receipt of extended care services. However, a number of barriers exist which must be addressed to ensure the optimal quality of life and well-being of older persons in extended care facilities. Arguably, these barriers may be reduced through effective communication amongst caregivers, residents and families as findings show that communication and fundamental human interaction are the most lucrative means of assessing and subsequently fulfilling the heterogeneous psychosocial needs of older people residing in extended care settings