Transformative Learning in an Online Context: The Experiences of Non-Traditional Learners in a Scottish HEI

This thesis explores non-traditional learners’ retrospective experiences of transformative learning having completed an online Childhood Practice Degree one year prior to participating in this research project. The central aim was to investigate the nature of learners’ transformations and establish the potential of the online context as a space capable of fostering transformative learning. Using a purposive sampling strategy, nineteen graduates were selected to take part in the research. Adopting a qualitative approach based on a constructivist view of human knowledge, semi-structured asynchronous email interviews were used to collect the data. A total of three hundred and ten email exchanges took place. As an online method the email interview offered space to reflect and space to be silent which increased reflexivity for participants to construct, reflect upon and learn from their responses. Data was analysed using a hybrid thematic approach which recognised the inherent interplay between inductive and deductive analysis. Findings indicate that the process of interactivity is fundamental to establishing the conditions capable of fostering transformative learning in an online context. While human interactivity lies at the heart of this process the technology acts as a significant enabler which has the capacity to create a level playing field and meeting the needs of non-traditional learners more effectively. The research findings confirmed the relational, intersubjective nature of transformative learning online and the significance of establishing relationships based on mutual recognition. There is also evidence to suggest that undertaking a Childhood Practice Degree can create conditions capable of promoting all three forms of self-awareness: self-confidence, self-respect and self-esteem. Research findings also support the current impetus to build on Mezirow’s original work to develop a more unified perspective

Measuring the Charged Particle Multiplicity with ALICE

The charged particle multiplicity distribution is one of the first measurements that ALICE will be able to perform. The knowledge of this basic property at a new energy is needed to configure Monte Carlo generators correctly with the aim of understanding the background of other, especially rare, processes including new physics. It allows to study the scaling behaviour and to verify model predictions. The unfolding of the measurement is a non-trivial task due to the finite precision and acceptance of the detector. Solutions are based on chi2 minimization or iteratively using Bayes' theorem. Both approaches to unfold the spectrum are presented. Furthermore, the capabilities of the SPD fast OR trigger are shown that enable physics at very high multiplicities.Comment: Proceedings of poster presentation at Quark Matter 2008, 20th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions in Jaipur, India; to be published in Indian Journal of Physics; 4 pages, 4 figure

Star Formation in a Stellar Mass Selected Sample of Galaxies to z=3 from the GOODS NICMOS Survey (GNS)

We present a study of the star-forming properties of a stellar mass-selected sample of galaxies in the GOODS NICMOS Survey (GNS), based on deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the GOODS North and South fields. Using a stellar mass selected sample, combined with HST/ACS and Spitzer data to measure both UV and infrared derived star formation rates (SFR), we investigate the star forming properties of a complete sample of ~1300 galaxies down to log M*=9.5 at redshifts 1.5<z<3. Eight percent of the sample is made up of massive galaxies with M*>10^11 Msun. We derive optical colours, dust extinctions, and ultraviolet and infrared SFR to determine how the star formation rate changes as a function of both stellar mass and time. Our results show that SFR increases at higher stellar mass such that massive galaxies nearly double their stellar mass from star formation alone over the redshift range studied, but the average value of SFR for a given stellar mass remains constant over this 2 Gyr period. Furthermore, we find no strong evolution in the SFR for our sample as a function of mass over our redshift range of interest, in particular we do not find a decline in the SFR among massive galaxies, as is seen at z < 1. The most massive galaxies in our sample (log M*>11) have high average SFRs with values, SFR(UV,corr) = 103+/-75 Msun/yr, yet exhibit red rest-frame (U-B) colours at all redshifts. We conclude that the majority of these red high-redshift massive galaxies are red due to dust extinction. We find that A(2800) increases with stellar mass, and show that between 45% and 85% of massive galaxies harbour dusty star formation. These results show that even just a few Gyr after the first galaxies appear, there are strong relations between the global physical properties of galaxies, driven by stellar mass or another underlying feature of galaxies strongly related to the stellar mass.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Macroeconomic policies to increase social mobility and growth in Bolivia

Poverty in Bolivia continues to be among the highest in Latin America despite decades of concerted national and international efforts to reduce it. Bolivia has meticulously followed the recommendations of the Washington consensus at the same time as external aid has been generous and foreign direct investment has boomed. Nevertheless, average productivity and incomes remain at the same low level as they were 50 years ago. This paper suggests that the failure of previous development policies is due to a lack of social mobility in the country. Without social mobility, there is little incentive for people to invest in human and physical capital, and without investment there cannot be productivity growth. In addition, the lack of social mobility implies an inefficient use of human capital, and it hinders the construction of efficient social mechanisms for redistribution and consumption smoothing over the life-cycle

Full-Polarization Observations of OH Masers in Massive Star-Forming Regions: I. Data

We present full-polarization VLBA maps of the ground-state, main-line, 2 Pi 3/2, J = 3/2 OH masers in 18 Galactic massive star-forming regions. This is the first large polarization survey of interstellar hydroxyl masers at VLBI resolution. A total of 184 Zeeman pairs are identified, and the corresponding magnetic field strengths are indicated. We also present spectra of the NH3 emission or absorption in these star-forming regions. Analysis of these data will be presented in a companion paper.Comment: 111 pages, including 42 figures and 21 tables, to appear in ApJ

A Feynman-Kac Formula for Anticommuting Brownian Motion

Motivated by application to quantum physics, anticommuting analogues of Wiener measure and Brownian motion are constructed. The corresponding Ito integrals are defined and the existence and uniqueness of solutions to a class of stochastic differential equations is established. This machinery is used to provide a Feynman-Kac formula for a class of Hamiltonians. Several specific examples are considered.Comment: 21 page