1,720,968 research outputs found
Assessing the impact of undergraduate research on graduate attributes development : a case study of DUT Civil Engineering Students
Get PDFEngineering graduates are expected to demonstrate competence after their engineering programmes in the form of graduate attributes (GAs) prescribed by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). It has, however, been challenging to develop and assess these attributes, especially using conventional assessment or examination methods, just as on the global scale. Nevertheless, studies have demonstrated that undergraduate research enables students to develop independent critical skills, as they do in graduate studies, by identifying a problem that needs to be solved. Undergraduate research has not been widely explored as a tool in developing and accessing GAs in engineering students. This study examined the impact of undergraduate research in engineering student ECSA GAs development and assessment using a case study of civil engineering diploma students. Therefore, using purposeful quantitative sampling methods, first-year and second-year diploma students were interviewed on their experience with newly introduced undergraduate research. Observations of the students' responses indicated that students' understanding, and views of GAs do improve from the first year to the second year due to continuous exposure to research. A conceptual model for assessing and developing GAs among engineering students is proposed in this study. This conceptual framework can assist in the further development of strategies in the implementation of undergraduate research at universities of technology
SIMULATION OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT UTILIZING FLY ASH AS ALTERNATIVE STABILIZER
Get PDFPublished ThesisThe stabilization process in pavement construction is not a new process, but hitherto this process has not been fully implemented in the design methods for pavement structure. Its partial implementation in design has contributed to the failures experienced in pavement structure, which result in such pavement needing excessive maintenance and rehabilitation, thereby increasing the operational cost of the roads. Additionally, the use of an empirical design method for pavement structure has led to the over-design of pavement, resulting in wasteful design and construction of pavement structure. Nevertheless, Mechanistic-Empirical seems to be the way out. Consecutively, with the advent of powerful design software based on different methods such as the Finite Element (FE), Discrete Element, Finite Difference, Boundary Element Methods, the possibility of design and construction of quality pavement structures are enhanced. Therefore, the main focus of this study is to provide a modelling tool for using fly ash as alternative stabilizer for base layers of flexible pavement. To achieve the aim of the study, various objectives were set in place based on literature reviews which are documented in this study.Considering the fact that FE is the method most adopted in pavement analysis and with the ability to obtain stresses and strains at the bottom of the surface layer, and compressive stress/strain within the base layer and at the top of sub-grade, it was considered in this study. Validations of a 3D FE model over 2D were conducted for fly ash stabilized base layer. Thereafter, the importance of an asphalt layer on a stabilized base layer was checked, and the efficiency of non-linear model for material characterization was also checked. Overall, a comparative analysis of FE modelling and an empirical method of pavement design was conducted. The results show that the use of 3D FE models is more efficient than 2D axisymmetric models; use of a non-linear material characterization model is more efficient than linear material characterization, and the use of empirical design methods results in the over-designing of pavement structure. Thus, the overall results suggest the use of 3D FE models, coupled with a non-linear material characterization model are suitable for the design of flexible pavement with a stabilized base layer
Modelling of Fly Ash Stabilized Base Layers
No full textPublished Conference ProceedingsIn South Africa and developing countries, the base or sub-base layer serves as the main structural element or bearing capacity of the pavement. As a result, more focus is placed on the base or sub-base for accurate designing of pavement structure. Yet, flexible pavement still experience failures; these failures are generally caused by various factors, such as: soil expansion, inadequate soil stabilization, inappropriate use of materials in the base courses and inadequacy in design. Consequently, the roads need regular maintenance and rehabilitation which increases the operational cost of the roads. However, with appropriate method of soil stabilization and the use of finite element based software, the design and construction of flexible pavement can be enhanced. This paper attempts to validate the optimization of Cement enhanced Class-F Fly ash usage, as the base layer stabilizer in South African flexible pavement, using ABAQUS model. The validation results are discussed in this paper
Modeling of tree-roots effects on pavement stresses and strains
No full textPublished Conference Proceeding
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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