What do learners want from computer mediated communication systems?

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) in education has both benefits and problems. The benefits could be increased and the problems alleviated by improved design of CMC systems. Following a user-centred design approach, interviews were therefore carried out with distance learners who use CMC systems. The aim was to elicit ideas for improvements, and to discover which features students find helpful and unhelpful. Ten students of the UK Open University, which uses the FirstClass computer conferencing system, were interviewed individually or in a focus group. Observations of students using the system were also carried out. The study revealed three major areas where enhancements are needed: dealing with information overload; increasing social presence; and providing tools for synchronous communication. The importance of a personalised interface and a high degree of user control were also highlighted

Flavor coupled with chiral oscillations in the presence of an external magnetic field

By reporting to the Dirac wave-packet prescription where it is formally assumed the {\em fermionic} nature of the particles, we shall demonstrate that chiral oscillations implicitly aggregated to the interference between positive and negative frequency components of mass-eigenstate wave-packets introduce some small modifications to the standard neutrino flavor conversion formula. Assuming the correspondent spinorial solutions of a ``modified'' Dirac equation, we are specifically interested in quantifying flavor coupled with chiral oscillations for a {\em fermionic} Dirac-{\em type} particle (neutrino) non-minimally coupling with an external magnetic field {\boldmath$B$}. The viability of the intermediate wave-packet treatment becomes clear when we assume {\boldmath$B$} orthogonal/parallel to the direction of the propagating particle.Comment: 21 page

Positive psychology and romantic scientism: Reply to comments on Brown, Sokal, & Friedman (2013)

This is a response to five comments [American Psychologist 69, 626-629 and 632-635 (2014)] on our article arXiv:1307.7006.Comment: PDF, 9 page

Encouraging the perceptual underdog: positive affective priming of nonpreferred local–global processes

Two experiments examined affective priming of global and local perception. Participants attempted to detect a target that might be present as either a global or a local shape. Verbal primes were used in 1 experiment, and pictorial primes were used in the other. In both experiments, positive primes led to improved performance on the nonpreferred dimension. For participants exhibiting global precedence, detection of local targets was significantly improved, whereas for participants exhibiting local precedence, detection of global targets was significantly improved. The results provide support for an interpretation of the effects of positive affective priming in terms of increased perceptual flexibility

Guardian angels and teachers from hell: using metaphor as a measure of schools' experiences and expectations of General National Vocational Qualifications

In this paper the author examines some claims about the nature of metaphor, its possible significance in illuminating cultural, institutional, and personal constructs, and some ways in which this has been applied in educational research. To illustrate the application of metaphor analysis, the paper describes an examination of the figurative language used by teachers and headteachers in six English secondary schools when speaking about their new vocational curriculum and its students. Transcripts of interviews were scrutinized for metaphorical and other figurative modes of expression, and instances were identified of recurring patterns and themes. This paper argues that the metaphorical language employed within each of the schools reflects a lower level of esteem for the vocational qualification and the pupils taking it than that which is overtly expressed, and suggests that the negative metaphors employed by the headteacher may be instrumental in determining the status of such qualifications within the school

Effective Assessment in Art and Design : writing learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design

This document has been written to help teachers in art and design who are writing project briefs or unit outlines in learning outcomes form for the first time. It is not meant to be prescriptive but rather a general guide that attempts to clarify the purposes of outcome-led learning and identify some of the pitfalls you might encounter. You will find that the most successful examples of outcome-led learning come from competency-based learning where it is relatively straightforward for students to provide evidence of their learning because the outcomes are almost always skills oriented. Increasingly, universities are adopting the learning outcomes approach (student-centred) in preference to the aims and objectives approach (teacher-centred). Many examples now exist of text-based subjects working with learning outcomes. One of the major challenges for them is to take the term 'understanding' and redefine it in terms of more specific measurable cognitive (thinking) outcomes. In art and design our challenge is greater because we work with rather more ambiguous terms such as 'creativity', 'imagination', 'originality' etc as well as 'understanding'. A significant challenge for you then will be to articulate learning outcomes in a way which promotes these important cognitive attributes but at the same time provides some useful methods of measuring their achievement

Applying project management concepts and tools to built environment research projects

This paper concerns the issue of Built Environment research students utilising a formal approach for designing and conducting research projects. The authors draw upon their experience of supervising and examining Built Environment research projects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to critically reflect upon issues faced by researchers. Furthermore, student feedback has been obtained via semi formal interviews. Within the paper a case is presented for research students in built environment disciplines to adopt and use Project Management concepts and tools in order to exercise better management control of research projects and increase the possibility of bringing the research to a successful conclusion. The works of Phillips and Pugh (2005), Rudestam and Newton (2001) and Delamont et al (1997) support the authors’ observations and conclusions that research students would benefit from having a more formalised approach when conducting their research in order to better control and succeed in their research activities

Molecular analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA from a family of 18th century Hungarians

The naturally mummified remains of a mother and two daughters found in an 18th century Hungarian crypt were analysed, using multiple molecular genetic techniques to examine the epidemiology and evolution of tuberculosis. DNA was amplified from a number of targets on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome, including DNA from IS6110, gyrA, katG codon 463, oxyR, dnaA–dnaN, mtp40, plcD and the direct repeat (DR) region. The strains present in the mummified remains were identified as M. tuberculosis and not Mycobacterium bovis, from katG and gyrA genotyping, PCR from the oxyR and mtp40 loci, and spoligotyping. Spoligotyping divided the samples into two strain types, and screening for a deletion in the MT1801–plcD region initially divided the strains into three types. Further investigation showed, however, that an apparent deletion was due to poor DNA preservation. By comparing the effect of PCR target size on the yield of amplicon, a clear difference was shown between 18th century and modern M. tuberculosis DNA. A two-centre system was used to confirm the findings of this study, which clearly demonstrate the value of using molecular genetic techniques to study historical cases of tuberculosis and the care required in drawing conclusions. The genotyping and spoligotyping results are consistent with the most recent theory of the evolution and spread of the modern tuberculosis epidemic

Waxing Revolutionary: Reflections on a Raid on a Waxworks at the Outbreak of the French Revolution

[First paragraph] Parisians from all walks of life were already accustomed to watching heads roll before the Revolution of 1789. This is not a reference to public executions of the time (beheadings were reserved for the nobility and were rare events) but to another cultural spectacle of late eighteenth-century Paris, one which was sufficiently well-known to become the object of a satirical print in 1787. Entitled ‘Avis au public: Têtes à changer’, the print by P. D. Viviez lampoons the unceremonious updating of fashionable or celebrated waxwork figures displayed in the popular entertainments district of the Boulevard du Temple [See Figure 1]. It shows wax heads being handed down from shelves; heads being replaced on models; one head about to be struck off with a chisel; another head lies discarded on the ground, being sniffed at by a little cat. All of this takes place in front of a crowd of curious, chatty onlookers