609 research outputs found
Supporting the learning of deaf students in higher education: a case study at Sheffield Hallam University
No full textThis article is an examination of the issues surrounding support for the learning of deaf students in higher education (HE). There are an increasing number of deaf students attending HE institutes, and as such provision of support mechanisms for these students is not only necessary but essential. Deaf students are similar to their hearing peers, in that they will approach their learning and require differing levels of support dependant upon the individual. They will, however, require a different kind of support, which can be technical or human resource based. This article examines the issues that surround supporting deaf students in HE with use of a case study of provision at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), during the academic year 1994-95. It is evident that by considering the needs of deaf students and making changes to our teaching practices that all students can benefit
Young children's understandings about "square" in 3D virtual reality microworlds\ud
No full textThis paper reports an investigation of primary school children’s understandings about "square". 12 students participated in a small group teaching experiment session, where they were interviewed and guided to construct a square in a 3D virtual reality learning environment (VRLE). Main findings include mixed levels of "quasi" geometrical understandings, misconceptions about length and angles, and ambiguous uses of geometrical language for location, direction, and movement. These have implications for future teaching and learning about 2D shapes with particular reference to VRLE
Use of industrial simulation to facilitate work based skills for building surveying, an introduction to the rationala for research
No full textResearch to establish pedagogy for imparting work based skills to students studying higher education courses in building surveying is being undertaken by the author at Sheffield Hallam University. An overview of the work thus far is provided. The pathway undertaken by typical building surveying industry entrants is outlined, along with the need for work based skills to be gained before employment commences. Research is based upon requirements expressed by the four stakeholders to building surveying education, (learner, education provider, employer and professional body). The rationale for provision of work based skills alongside academic learning is established. Use of a modified action research based methodology is proposed and justified, by reference to existing literature and the required research outcomes. Use of an enquiry based learning model using industrial simulation is proposed and justified. Factors influencing successful delivery of industrial simulations and enquiry based learning are identified, and the measures requiring to be addresse
Ward learning climate and student nurse response.
No full textThis research is an exploratory study concerned with student nurse learning on the ward and the related role of the ward sister. Initially three general questions were formulated:- 1) What are the general attitudes and beliefs about the 'ideal' situation of the four nurse groups in the study (student nurses, ward sisters, clinical teachers and nurse tutors)? 2) What happens on particular wards and can a ward be said to have a learning climate which differentiates it from other wards? 3) How is student nurse satisfaction related to attitudes and to ward learning climate? The attitudes and perceptions of the four groups wereinvestigated by means of a questionnaire using a Likert-type response scale. The satisfactions of student nurses were also explored using the same method.As a result of the investigation evidence was presented that ward learning climate exists as a measurable reality for student nurses. Not only did respondents display a high level of consensus regarding important elements of ward learning climate but also they discriminated between two extreme types of ward, labelled high student orientation and low student orientation. It was suggested that patient well-being and student nurse well-being were both enhanced in the high student orientation type of ward.Analysis of data indicated that ward learning climate is a determinant of student nurse satisfaction. General satisfaction with nursing was found to be associated with ward learning climate though this relationship was less close than that between satisfaction provided by a particular ward and ward learning climate.Finally, the nurse groups were compared and contrasted on the basis of their agreement and differences in response to the attitude measures
Characterisation and development of a new multi-purpose surface analytical instrument
No full textA new multi-purpose surface analytical instrument (the 'Hallam' instrument) is described, which combines the surface specific information obtained using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), with bulk information obtained using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) detection. A 15kV electron gun and an ultra high vacuum EDX detector give the instrument an EDX mapping capability. To exploit this to its full potential, spatial alignment of EDX maps acquired at various electron beam energies, E_o, was required. The misalignment of images acquired at various E_o values was investigated, and a means of describing the misalignment as a function of E_o was presented. An algorithm was developed which would allow the alignment of offline images acquired at different E_o values. This was demonstrated on images acquired on both the Hallam instrument and on a Phillips XL40 electron microscope. The small area XPS system developed by Kratos analytical gave a spatial resolution of 30#mu#m, at the centre of the field of view, although this deteriorated away from the centre. The reasons for this deterioration in spatial resolution were investigated, and two methods of improving the system were presented. The improvements were implemented on the Hallam instrument and demonstrated using a standard silver grid sample. The small area XPS was applied to a TiAlNi coated stainless steel sample to demonstrate its application to real samples, and to display the spatial alignment between the XPS and EDX maps. Finally, the instrument was calibrated for quantitative XPS studies. This involves determining the response of the instrument as a function of the photoelectron kinetic energy. From several methods presented in the literature, the most appropriate was chosen for calibration of the 'Hallam' instrument. The effectiveness of the method used was assessed by recording spectrum intensity from pure elemental standards, and comparing the results with intensity values calculated using the calibration curves. (author)In collaboration with Kratos Analytical and Oxford Instruments Micro-Analytical GroupAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN041268 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
Religion, cognition and author-function : Dyer, Southwell, Lodge and As You Like It.
No full textThe thesis incorporates the view that allegory as a mode of communication is impossible. Accordingly, religious meanings of Elizabethan literary texts usually read as "secular" works are registered herein without recourse to positing an allegorical level of meaning in those texts. In order to arrive at relatively secure readings, texts have been selected which have explicit interrelationships (for example, texts which are parodies or adaptations of earlier texts). Registering the tenor of the later texts' departures allows contemporary production of meaning from the earlier works to be traced. The aim, however, is not merely to show that Elizabethan "secular" texts are far more religious than tends to be supposed; the thesis seeks to demonstrate the extent to which theories of cognition were inseparable in the period from doctrinal issues. Early modems not only thought and read religiously, religious concepts informed their cognitive theories (and vice versa). The thesis culminates in a reading of As You Like It, arguing that the play employs facultative rhetoric (as derived from scholastic faculty psychology) in order to present human appetence as co-efficient in salvation. In doing so, the play downgrades the role of the intellectual faculty. The notion of author/dramatist as governing intellect is thereby brought into question. Accordingly, the thesis also traces the development of attitudes towards author-function in its study-texts, demonstrating the extent to which a given text's cognitive model and its rhetorical stance towards crucial doctrinal issues (relating to human participation in salvation) affect its deployment of, and attitude towards, author-function
Imparting Work Based Skills on Vocational Courses, Pedagogy of Using Industrial Simulation in Surveying Education: A Study of a Model Run at Sheffield Hallam University in 2011
No full textThe paper relates to delivering vocational higher education to prospective building surveyors. Preparing students for the workplace requires inclusion of academic knowledge, workplace skills and practical vocational experience. This is reinforced by feedback from the four stakeholders to surveying education, learner, employer, education provider and professional institution. Successful delivery of learning to distinct vocational groups requires specific pedagogy. The paper analyses a realistic industrial simulation delivered to teach knowledge and skills to undergraduate building surveying students. Initial pedagogy was proposed by CEEBL, Centre for Excellence in Enquiry Based Learning. Work based skills requirements were taken from published work including leading building surveying academics and practitioners like Professor Mike Hoxley and Professor Malcolm Hollis. Data analysis is used to evolve future simulations. These become better suited to delivering appropriate learning, valid assessment and usable vocational skills, against academic, student focused and industrial criteria. An action research approach is utilised by the author to develop specialist pedagogy through analysis of outcome data and stakeholder feedback. Action research is undertaken through an approach using trial, evaluation and development. The paper concludes, simulation can be a valid tool for delivering teaching, learning, assessment and vocational skills training to surveying students and justifies further research
Futurescan 2: Collective Voices - Author Details
No full textAuthor details for Futurescan 2: Collective Voices, Sheffield Hallam University, 10th-11th January 2013.Futurescan 2: Collective VoicesEdited by Helena Britt, Sally Wade and Kerry WaltonDecember 2013ISBN: 978 1 907382 64 2</div
Local charge trapping in conjugated polymers resolved by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy
No full textThe microstructure of conjugated polymers is heterogeneous on the length scale of individual polymer chains, but little is known about how this affects their electronic properties. Here we use scanning Kelvin probe microscopy with resolution-enhancing carbon nanotube tips to study charge transport on a 100 nm scale in a chain-extended, semicrystalline conjugated polymer. We show that the disordered grain boundaries between crystalline domains constitute preferential charge trapping sites and lead to variations on a 100 nm scale of the carrier concentration under accumulation conditions
Data mining techniques in higher education research : The example of student retention.
No full textData Mining has been used for more than a decade in a variety of differing environments. It takes an inductive approach to data analysis in that it is concerned with the extraction of patterns from the data often without preconceived ideas. Data mining is part of the field of Business Intelligence, a subject area that the author is familiar with and has taught for many years. He believes that the application of data mining techniques has much to offer within the context of higher education. However, there is little evidence that these well established techniques have previously been applied to the sphere of higher education. Student retention is a hot issue in higher education at the moment. It is for this reason that the author chose to establish the power of data mining techniques in higher education using the examination of student retention issues as a vehicle. The field of student retention has been well documented over the years. Contemporary authors such as McGivney (1996), Moxley et al (2001), Yorke (1999) and Yorke & Longden (2004) have examined strategies and derived intervention techniques aimed at assisting students to adapt to university life. As the proportion of students entering Higher Education has increased there has been an increasing awareness that universities need to adapt to the changing profile of these students. The data was collected via an online questionnaire administered to a large group of computing students at Sheffield Hallam University and similar institutions. The collected data was explored using Data Mining techniques including Decision Trees, Market Basket Analysis and Cluster Analysis.This study sought to explore interrelationships between factors that contribute to student attrition and hence establish the demographics of at-risk students. The use of data mining techniques was found to be highly effective, having found most of the primary issues established in previous research. It went on to find the strongest relationships between them, corresponding well to findings from previous research using standard statistical techniques. The author believes that he has established the power of data mining techniques in higher education and recommends further areas where it could be used profitably
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