Annals of Scientific Society for Assembly, Handling and Industrial Robotics 2021

This Open Access proceedings presents a good overview of the current research landscape of assembly, handling and industrial robotics. The objective of MHI Colloquium is the successful networking at both academic and management level. Thereby, the colloquium focuses an academic exchange at a high level in order to distribute the obtained research results, to determine synergy effects and trends, to connect the actors in person and in conclusion, to strengthen the research field as well as the MHI community. In addition, there is the possibility to become acquatined with the organizing institute. Primary audience is formed by members of the scientific society for assembly, handling and industrial robotics (WGMHI)

Annals of Scientific Society for Assembly, Handling and Industrial Robotics 2021

This Open Access proceedings presents a good overview of the current research landscape of assembly, handling and industrial robotics. The objective of MHI Colloquium is the successful networking at both academic and management level. Thereby, the colloquium focuses an academic exchange at a high level in order to distribute the obtained research results, to determine synergy effects and trends, to connect the actors in person and in conclusion, to strengthen the research field as well as the MHI community. In addition, there is the possibility to become acquatined with the organizing institute. Primary audience is formed by members of the scientific society for assembly, handling and industrial robotics (WGMHI)

Annals of Scientific Society for Assembly, Handling and Industrial Robotics 2021

This Open Access proceedings presents a good overview of the current research landscape of assembly, handling and industrial robotics. The objective of MHI Colloquium is the successful networking at both academic and management level. Thereby, the colloquium focuses an academic exchange at a high level in order to distribute the obtained research results, to determine synergy effects and trends, to connect the actors in person and in conclusion, to strengthen the research field as well as the MHI community. In addition, there is the possibility to become acquatined with the organizing institute. Primary audience is formed by members of the scientific society for assembly, handling and industrial robotics (WGMHI)

‘Reporting without fear, or favour’: HMI 2000-2010, and oral history

This thesis contends that the methodological approaches taken in exploring education inspections in the last twenty years are largely unhistorical and result in a particular view that contrasts current school inspections unfavourably with previous approaches, as a result of the particular methodoligical stances adopted, often analysing teachers’ experiences of inspections using Foucauldian and performativity theoretical frameworks. Even studies with a more-historical bent tend to present Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) as belonging more to a less-destructive golden age of ‘professional relationships’. The evidence bases for the hypotheses tend to omit, to treat as incidental, or to dismiss as misguided the views of inspectors, particularly the experiences of HMIs. The literature suggests also that the office of HMI effectively ceased to exist by the year 2000. This research set out to locate previously unavailable evidence about the work of HMIs after 2000 and to consider what that evidence revealed about the nature of the role at that time, using the method of oral history. The research looked at the experiences of a small group of former HMIs, who were active in the period 2000- 2010, through semi-structured, recorded interviews, subsequently transcribed and analysed thematically, to see what the HMIs’ recollections reveal about the prevailing debates, and to contribute to the growing body of literature about the value of oral history as a distinctive branch of historical method. The study argues that, throughout the period, HMIs operated as independently minded individuals, who sought to transcend their particular circumstances, in order to sustain a sense of the purpose and values which they considered underpinned the office. It demonstrates also that oral history evidence is as valid and useful as any other historical source, notwithstanding some distinctive contigencies and limitations associated with it

Driver Training for Future Automated Vehicles: Introducing CHAT (CHeck, Assess, Takeover)

Automated vehicles are expected to offer many benefits, including improvements in road safety, increased mobility, enhanced driver comfort, and reductions in road congestion. However, fully automated, autonomous vehicles that require no input from a human driver are not likely to populate our roads in the foreseeable future. In the meantime, there is an expectation that we will see greater availability of vehicles offering lower levels of automated control, or those that possess the ability to operate autonomously in certain situations only (Kyriakidis et al., 2019). So-called partially or conditionally automated vehicles (i.e. those in which aspects of the driving task are shared between the human driver and the vehicle) are likely to retain the form factor of current vehicles, looking the same and providing the same primary input controls (e.g. steering wheel, foot pedals and so on). These new vehicles represent a radical change in ideology, completely redefining the role of, and expectations placed upon, the driver; and yet, there appears to be a tacit assumption that current, passive modes of training will suffice, such as providing a user manual

Using Computers to Develop Phonemic Awareness in the Early Primary Classroom

The aim of this project is to determine whether a computer application can be used to develop phonemic awareness in the early primary classroom, which is a key component of phonics. This thesis explores the evolution of the strategy for teaching literacy in the UK which shows phonics to be a key component of that strategy. However, government reports which inform the direction of the literacy strategy call for more empirical study in all areas of literacy teaching; this thesis documents such an empirical study. This research project creates a phonics based computer application designed specifically for young children aged 5 to 6 years (year 1 in UK primary schools). The timing and level of content presented by the computer application activities are grounded in appropriate academic theory. A significant component of the work is the development of interface design guidelines for children’s applications. These guidelines are then used to inform the development of the phonics-based computer application. A Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) is designed to determine the application’s effectiveness in developing the phonemic awareness skills of young children in a classroom setting. In order to control experimental bias resulting from problems with the usability of the computer interface, the usability of the application’s interface is evaluated in the classroom by year 1 children before the application is used in a pragmatic RCT. The results of the final usability evaluation found no usability issues and the application was wholly intuitive to the children in the evaluation groups. The results from the RCT (N=266) show no statistically significant improvement in the learning rate of phonemic awareness by the intervention group using the computer program compared to the traditional teacher-delivered paper-based method used with the control group, even though the computer program was designed carefully for this age range. The results did suggest however, that the intervention group developed at the same rate as the control group which implies that the computer program could be used to support teachers by reducing the amount of resource-intensive phonics tuition required by children in this age range

An investigation into the contribution made by primary art coordinators to the development of the teaching of art: the evolution of identities, understanding and practice

The study is situated within a feminist paradigm to consider the identity, experience, practice and understanding of art and design coordinators (also known as subject leaders) in primary schools across the South East of England. A postal survey was sent to the 550 primary schools involved in partnership work with a single university and yielded a return rate of 40.7% (n = 224). The survey included elements of common practice by coordinators of all curriculum subjects as identified by Fletcher and Bell (1999) to allow comparison. These were analysed using the Chi-Square Test to establish statistical differences in the recorded responses. The emergent themes were explored through individual interviews with 32 teachers, allowing deeper probing. A number of the interviewees took part in a further interview discussion which explored their understanding and attitudes towards artworks (n = 25) by looking at images based on the work of Downing and Watson (2004). Of these, 17 coordinators allowed close scrutiny of their paper files, folders and records for analysis. Additionally, 9 advisory personnel (including inspectors, advisors, ITE tutors and an author responsible for publishing a practical developmental guide for coordinators) were interviewed to provide a wider context for the study. The qualitative and quantitative data collected from these opportunities revealed issues which clearly link to factors of power, gender and knowledge within patriarchal structures. These are considered in some detail in an attempt to faithfully present the individuals and the situations encountered in the study. There is a strong sense that the primary teachers leading art and design have not been adequately heard before and that earlier attempts to record their views have been subdued, edited or even deleted by those with the power to make such choices. The research study concludes with a series of recommendations for further developing the role, particularly for those based in schools; the art coordinators themselves and the professionals involved in ITE/CPD work demonstrating how the understanding and application of the model of empowered leadership proposed by Thurber and Zimmerman (2002) might facilitate improvement