Universal design for learning : enhancing student's involvement

What is Universal design for Learning (UDL)? The underlying idea is that lectures, exercises and evaluations are designed for maximum accessibility right from the start. UDL is an educational framework stating that students assimilate what they have learned in various ways. Therefore students' learning capacities and needs differ widely. Traditional teaching methods do not always take into account students' backgrounds and previous trainings. UDL offers a scientific framework to develop an inclusive learning environment that meets a wide range of needs, strengths, backgrounds and interests of current students. It offers a method to diminish barriers in the learning process without the need to find various solutions for the individual need of each separate student. Project UDL The policy Unit Diversity and Gender (Ghent University) offers its lecturers an UDL-coaching project. The aim is to get teachers from different faculties acquainted with the concept of UDL and to help them to apply the theory to their teaching and evaluation methods. In doing so, the policy unit wants to support teachers in their educational tasks and to bring them together to investigate how to make academic lectures more accessible and effective. The outcome is to enhance the involvement of all students. Together with the coaches, the lecturers will examine the way in which their study material is currently structured and how small adaptations can be made to reach a larger group of students. The participants of the coaching sessions will learn how exercises and lectures can grip and hold the students' attention. Although the project has a central theme, each participant will be able to give UDL a highly personal interpretation, depending on his or her needs and wishes. To guarantee this personal approach the group of participants is limited to 20. Participants come together with the project coach four times a year. During these meetings the principles of UDL are explained and the progress the teachers make is monitored. This coaching project enables lecturers to motivate a large amount of students with various backgrounds. They learn how to make small adjustments to their everyday teaching and evaluation practice. Moreover, by exchanging experiences and ideas about the principles of UDL we hope to bring about an enduring dynamic between the participants

Guidelines for designing middle-school transition using universal design for learning principles

Transition from primary (elementary) to secondary school can be both an exciting and daunting prospect for young adolescents. Ensuring that students quickly settle into their new secondary school environment is the goal of transition programs employed by schools. These programs typically comprise a number of discrete and interrelated initiatives that often commence in the year prior to the move and continue during the initial months in the new school. These activities generally include specific initiatives for both the students and their parents. The needs of both groups are many and varied. It is critical that whatever transition events and strategies are planned, the needs of all students and parents are catered for. In this paper the authors propose that the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) may provide a useful basis for the development of transition programs that address the needs of all participants. UDL is based on three principles which are; multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression. Examples outlining how these principles can be applied before, during and after transition are provided. The authors conclude with the proposition that research be conducted in a variety of cultural contexts and across countries to investigate whether transition programs based on UDL principles better enable schools to meet the needs of all transitioning students and their parents

Assessment of intraspecies variability in fungal growth initiation of Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin B1 production under static and changing temperature levels using different initial conidial inoculum levels

Intraspecies variability in fungal growth and mycotoxin production has important implications for food safety. Using the Bioscreen C we have examined spectrophotometrically intraspecies variability of A. flavus using 10 isolates under different environments, including temperature shifts, in terms of growth and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production. Five high and five low AFB1 producers were examined. The study was conducted at 5 isothermal conditions (from 15 to 37 °C) and 4 dynamic scenarios (between 15 and 30 °C). The experiments were carried out in a semisolid YES medium at 0.92 aw and two inoculum levels, 102 and 103 spores/mL. The Time to Detection (TTD) of growth initiation was determined and modelled as a function of temperature through a polynomial equation and the model was used to predict TTD under temperature upshifts conditions using a novel approach. The results obtained in this study have shown that a model can be developed to describe the effect of temperature upshifts on the TTD for all the studied isolates and inoculum levels. Isolate variability increased as the growth conditions became more stressful and with a lower inoculum level. Inoculum level affected the intraspecies variability but not the repeatability of the experiments. In dynamic conditions, isolate responses depended both on the temperature shift and, predominantly, the final temperature level. AFB1 production was highly variable among the isolates and greatly depended on temperature (optimum temperature at 30-35 °C) and inoculum levels, with often higher production with lower inoculum. This suggests that, from an ecological point of view, the potential isolate variability and interaction with dynamic conditions should be taken into account in developing strategies to control growth and predicting mycotoxin risks by mycotoxigenic fungi.The authors are grateful to the Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya (AGAUR, grant 2014FI_B 00045), and to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Project AGL2014-55379-P) for funding this work. The authors also would like to thank Dr. Ronald J.W. Lambert for kindly providing the TTD calculation Excel spreadsheet

Cluster decay half lives of trans-lead nuclei within the Coulomb and proximity potential model

Within the Coulomb and proximity potential model (CPPM) the cluster decay process in {199-226}^Fr, {206-232}^Ac, {209-237}^Th, {212-238}^Pa, {217-241}^U, {225-242}^Np, {225-244}^Pu, {231-246}^Am, {202-230}^Ra and {233-249}^Cm isotopes leading to the doubly magic 208^Pb and neighbouring nuclei are studied. The computed half lives are compared with available experimental data and are in good agreement with each other. The half lives are also computed using the Universal formula for cluster decay (UNIV) of Poenaru et al, Universal decay law (UDL) and the scaling law of Horoi et al, and their comparisons with CPPM values are found to be in agreement. The calculations for the emission of 22^O, 20^O, 20^O from the parents {209-237}^Th, {202-230}^Ra and {217-240}^U respectively were the experimental values are not available are also done. It is found that most of the decay modes are favourable for measurement, and this observation will serve as a guide to the future experiments. The odd-even staggering (OES) are found to be more prominent in the emission of odd mass clusters. The Geiger - Nuttall plots of log_10(T_1/2) vs. Q^{-1/2} for various clusters ranging from 14^C to 34^Si from different isotopes of heavy parent nuclei with atomic numbers within the range 87 \leq Z \leq 96 have been studied and are found to be linear. Our study reveals the role of doubly magic 208^Pb daughter nuclei in cluster decay process and also reveal the fact that the role of neutron shell closure is crucial than proton shell closure.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figure

Scale dependence of the quark masses and mixings: leading order

We consider the Renormalization Group Equations (RGE) for the couplings of the Standard Model and its extensions. Using the hierarchy of the quark masses and of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix our argument is that a consistent approximation for the RGE should be based on the parameter $\lambda= |\hat{V}_{ud}| \approx0.22$. We consider the RGE in the approximation where we neglect all the relative terms of the order $\sim\lambda^{4}$ and higher. Within this approximation we find the exact solution of the evolution equations of the quark Yukawa couplings and of the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field. Then we derive the evolution of the observables: quark masses, CKM matrix, Jarlskog invariant, Wolfenstein parameters of the CKM matrix and the unitarity triangle. We show that the angles of the unitarity triangle remain constant. This property may restrict the possibility of new symmetries or textures at the grand unification scale.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, author of one reference adde