8,710 research outputs found
An Emergentist Account of Collective Cognition in Collaborative Problem Solving
As a first step toward an emergentist theory of collective cognition in collaborative problem solving, we present a proto-theoretical account of how one might conceive and model the intersubjective processes that organize collective cognition into one or another--convergent, divergent, or tensive--cognitive regime. To explore the sufficiency of our emergentist proposal we instantiate a minimalist model of intersubjective convergence and simulate the tuning of collective cognition using data from an empirical study of small-group, collaborative problem solving. Using the results of this empirical simulation, we test a number of preliminary hypotheses with regard to patterns of interaction, how those patterns affect a cognitive regime, and how that cognitive regime affects the efficacy of a problem-solving group
Public health and the sustainability of cities: Sydney airport's noise pollution and community wellbeing
The development of international airports is a driving force behind globalisation. But growth in air traffic is also a threat to sustainable community health in the vicinity of airports. Airports are an increasingly important dimension to the economic sustainability of cities but the health and wellbeing of its citizens must also be considered in the process of development assessment and impact mitigation
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The development of professional management in the public sector of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1925 : the case of the ordnance factories
This thesis is an exploration into the development and professionalism of management in the Ordnance Factories from 1855 to 1925. Writing in 1969, Ashworth commented that:
"Naval historians have usually been concerned much more with warfare, politics, the careers of great leaders than with the business side of the service. The technical characteristics of warships and their annament have received much attention, but the economic question (apart from the simple demand for money), which have been inseparably linked with technical advance, has attracted less study. Yet there are several ways in which the provision and running of a large and growing navy must have a peculiar significance and interest for the economic historian." (Ashworth, 1969: 491)
This is also similar to the development of the Anny from 1855.
Recent historians have focused on the Ministry of Munitions as the catalyst for management change within government departments. In particular Loft (1986, 1988, 1994) and Marriner (1980) have explored the change in government accounting procedures within the Ministry of Munitions due to the proliferation of professional accountants into the wartime government as temporary civil servants. There is a notion in history that the pre-I915 War Office was regarded as an inefficient organisation whereas the temporary and monolithic Ministry of Munitions is heralded as the organisation of change, having the services of "the men of push and go" (Lloyd- George, 1938; Adams, 1978).
The refonns of the Ordnance Factories from 1862 were mainly accounting driven and the catalyst for these changes were probably due to the logistical failures of the British Anny in the Crimean War. The refonns themselves were undertaken by civil servants although there was a nucleus of military talent, the concept of the soldier technologist was never as influential as the American experience. However, the Ordnance Factories did evolve into a factory system in the post-Crimean era, whereas the contemporary engineering industry was still dominated by the myth of the craft skill, subcontracting and a workshop ethos.
By 1915 the Ordnance Factories reflected a high degree of professionalism within its management ethos which probably was better than that experienced by the contemporary private sector
Photochemistry
Photochemistry refers to the processes by which energy is
transferred from electromagnetic radiation (in practice
mainly ultraviolet and visible light) into chemical activity
in gases, solid particles, and living matter. Photochemical
processes partly control the initial conditions for the formation
of stars and planets, they may leave traces of the
early chemical evolution of planetary systems in the abundances
of isotopes, they regulate the input of stellar energy
into atmospheres of planets, and they play important roles
in the chemistry of living organisms on Earth
Detection of Interstellar C_2 and C_3 in the Small Magellanic Cloud
We report the detection of absorption from interstellar C_2 and C_3 toward
the moderately reddened star Sk 143, located in the near 'wing' region of the
SMC, in optical spectra obtained with the ESO VLT/UVES. These detections of C_2
(rotational levels J=0-8) and C_3 (J=0-12) absorption in the SMC are the first
beyond our Galaxy. The total abundances of C_2 and C_3 (relative to H_2) are
similar to those found in diffuse Galactic molecular clouds -- as previously
found for CH and CN -- despite the significantly lower average metallicity of
the SMC. Analysis of the rotational excitation of C_2 yields an estimated
kinetic temperature T_k ~ 25 K and a moderately high total hydrogen density n_H
~ 870 cm^-3 -- compared to the T_01 ~ 45 K and n_H ~ 85-300 cm^-3 obtained from
H_2. The populations of the lower rotational levels of C_3 are consistent with
an excitation temperature of about 34 K.Comment: accepted to MNRAS; 10 pages, 6 figure
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Authenticity And The Assessment Of Modern Foreign Language Learning: The Problems Of Designing Authentic Tasks And Devising And Applying Criteria For Moderated Assessment And Evaluation In The Examinations Of The International Baccalaureate for Modern Foreign Languages
Notions of authenticity often determine aims in communicative language teaching and learning. This research describes and develops theories of authenticity in assessing and evaluating such activity. Concepts are defined for mapping and exploring the International Baccalaureate Organisation's Diploma Programme for Group 2 Languages.
The empirical focus is Language B, Standard Level, a programme for intermediate foreign-language learners. Attention is paid to formal assessment in listening and speaking, reading and writing in French. It includes the delineation of boundaries, investigation of rubrics, design of tasks and their standardisation, language use in criterion-referenced assessment, with the moderation and evaluation of results by grades.
In measuring performance, 'target' language communication is investigated, insofar as definable and assessable through reference to authenticity. Commonly-used theoretical and practical categorisations emerge as subjective, imprecise and contestable.
Three methods are employed to identify, describe and understand the programme, together with the language use it entails. They provide complementary perspectives for conceptualising authenticity.
First, samples of IBO documentation are analysed for illuminating theory. Understandings are developed and refined through observation of the programme in practice.
Alternately, constraints on learner participation in assessed language-production for authentic communication are examined. Influential in any situation, they appear particularised in 'high-stakes' evaluation.
Understandings are also derived from analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, sampled from a range of formal assessment sessions and manipulated experimentally. Responses to specific tasks are scrutinised.
Through developing criteria for identifying, analysing and evaluating
language-based authenticity from this data, the research seeks:
• to assess validity in devising standardised tasks for authentic language use within set rubrics;
• reliably to correlate qualitative, criterion-referenced assessments with quantitative evaluation;
• to determine regularity in grading significant qualities of formally-assessed language;
• better to understand authenticity as a concept for guiding these aims;
• to identify theory and practice that distinguish the programme researched as a view of pedagogy and learning, through investigation of its products.
The research offers description, analysis and critique of programme planning, administration and outcomes. Its conclusions indicate authenticity as conceptually viable for assessing language use. Without decreasing reliability, construct validity may be enhanced. Anomalies previously found 'difficult to assess', are reduced in incidence and the fit improved between programme philosophy and practice.
Through measuring task-based language for authenticity in determinate settings, evaluation verdicts may be more consistently and explicitly justified, enhancing the potential credibility of the given programme amongst its users
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