The Ontario Universities’ Teaching Evaluation Toolkit: Feasibility Study

This feasibility study (the first of three phases) sought to develop a framework for improvement-oriented formative and summative assessment of teaching in Ontario. It is intended to inform future developments in teaching evaluation in the Province, and to offer a well-contextualized understanding of what the goals of teaching evaluation ought to be, what the challenges are, and the kinds of initiatives and infrastructure that would best promote the evolution of a data- informed and inquiry-inspiring approach to evaluating and improving teaching. Our institutionally-based project teams identified and examined leading teaching evaluation practices in use internationally, compared to those in use in the Ontario context, and identified a range of aggregate data and technical tool elements to be considered when moving forward.https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ctlreports/1003/thumbnail.jp

Shared Modular Course Development: A Feasibility Study

This project evaluated the viability of shared course development (SCD) and identified the necessary baseline mechanisms, principles, policies, and procedures for future joint course development collaborations. Although collaborative course design is still relatively new in Ontario, our institutionally-based project teams identified and researched a number of successful examples from Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These successful models demonstrated the transformative possibilities of blended learning, expanded course variety, maintained or enhanced the breadth of course offerings, and reduced institution-specific development costs while maintaining delivery autonomy. They also focused on enhancing student learning and produced momentum for instructional improvement and course re-design among collaborating institutions. This report concludes that there is considerable value to the development of collaborative institutional cultures in and of itself, and that collaborative capacity will become an increasingly important core competency in the more differentiated and change-oriented university sector that is emerginghttps://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ctlreports/1000/thumbnail.jp

CHF Enhancement by Vessel Coating for External Reactor Vessel Cooling

In-vessel retention (IVR) is a key severe accident management (SAM) strategy that has been adopted by some operating nuclear power plants and advanced light water reactors (ALWRs). One viable means for IVR is the method of external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) by flooding of the reactor cavity during a severe accident. As part of a joint Korean – United States International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (K-INERI), an experimental study has been conducted to investigate the viability of using an appropriate vessel coating to enhance the critical heat flux (CHF) limits during ERVC. Toward this end, transient quenching and steady-state boiling experiments were performed in the SBLB (Subscale Boundary Layer Boiling) facility at Penn State using test vessels with micro-porous aluminum coatings. Local boiling curves and CHF limits were obtained in these experiments. When compared to the corresponding data without coatings, substantial enhancement in the local CHF limits for the case with surface coatings was observed. Results of the steady state boiling experiments showed that micro-porous aluminum coatings were very durable. Even after many cycles of steady state boiling, the vessel coatings remained rather intact, with no apparent changes in color or structure. Moreover, the heat transfer performance of the coatings was found to be highly desirable with an appreciable CHF enhancement in all locations on the vessel outer surface but with very little effect of aging

Montana's Crucial Areas and Connectivity Assessment: An Update and Demonstration of the Crucial Areas Mapping Service

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) completed the Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CFWCS) in October 2005 as a landscape level plan to identify aquatic and terrestrial focus areas important to species and habitats of "Greatest Conservation Need." As implementation of the CFWCS began, FWP saw a need to refine the conservation scale and include terrestrial game and sport fish, FWP lands, and other recreational values into a Comprehensive Plan for Conservation. The "Crucial Areas and Connectivity Assessment" is an attempt to refine the conservation scale and identify important game and nongame fish and wildlife habitats, critical corridors, and valued recreational areas using a combination of empirical data, modeling based on these data, and expert opinion. The goal of this project is to identify and display critical and important habitats for fish and wildlife. Multiple benefits are perceived through achievement of this goal: increased efficiency in planning and commenting on development proposals, effective targeting and planning for the conservation of valued habitats, and increased opportunity for coordination with other agencies states. FWP spent the past year developing data layers, vetting the layers both internally and within the scientific community. Layers available to date include: game quality, game fish life history, watershed integrity, species of concern, aquatic connectivity, angler use, terrestrial species richness, and core area index. In parallel, FWP has developed an interactive Crucial Areas Mapping Service (CAMS) that depicts these resource values and allows users to relate each resource value to risk factors including energy development, urbanization, and subdivision. As the project develops and nears completion, best management practices and policy related to critical habitats will be produced. In mid-March, we plan to release CAMS to the public as a preplanning tool and comprehensive decision support system

Digital Libraries, Personalisation, and Network Effects - Unpicking the Paradoxes

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Oklahoma soil fertility handbook

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Film Boiling on Downward Quenching Hemisphere of Varying Sizes

Film boiling heat transfer coefficients for a downward-facing hemispherical surface are measured from the quenching tests in DELTA (Downward-boiling Experimental Laminar Transition Apparatus). Two test sections are made of copper to maintain low Biot numbers. The outer diameters of the hemispheres are 120 mm and 294 mm, respectively. The thickness of all the test sections is 30 mm. The effect of diameter on film boiling heat transfer is quantified utilizing results obtained from the test sections. The measured data are compared with the numerical predictions from laminar film boiling analysis. The measured heat transfer coefficients are found to be greater than those predicted by the conventional laminar flow theory on account of the interfacial wavy motion incurred by the Helmholtz instability. Incorporation of the wavy motion model considerably improves the agreement between the experimental and numerical results in terms of heat transfer coefficient. In addition, the interfacial wavy motion and the quenching process are visualized through a digital camera

Prandtl Number Dependent Natural Convection with Internal Heat Sources

Natural convection plays an important role in determining the thermal load from debris accumulated in the reactor vessel lower head during a severe accident. Recently, attention is being paid to the feasibility of external vessel flooding as a severe accident management strategy and to the phenomena affecting the success path for retaining the molten core material inside the vessel. The heat transfer inside the molten core material can be characterized by the strong buoyancy-induced flows resulting from internal heating due to decay of fission products. The thermo-fluid dynamic characteristics of such flow depend strongly on the thermal boundary conditions. The spatial and temporal variation of heat flux on the pool wall boundaries and the pool superheat are mainly characterized by the natural convection flow inside the molten pool. In general, the natural convection heat transfer phenomena involving the internal heat generation are represented by the modified Rayleigh number (Ra’), which quantifies the internal heat source and hence the strength of the buoyancy force. In this study, tests were conducted in a rectangular section 250 mm high, 500 mm long and 160 mm wide. Twenty-four T-type thermocouples were installed in the test section to measure temperatures. Four T-type thermocouples were used to measure the boundary temperatures. The thermocouples were placed in designated locations after calibration. A direct heating method was adopted in this test to simulate the uniform heat generation. The experiments covered a range of Ra' between 1.5x106 and 7.42x1015 and the Prandtl number (Pr) between 0.7 and 6.5. Tests were conducted with water and air as simulant. The upper and lower boundary conditions were maintained uniform. The results demonstrated feasibility of the direct heating method to simulate uniform volumetric heat generation. Particular attentions were paid to the effect of Pr on natural convection heat transfer within the rectangular pool

Partners in the Parks: Field Guide to an Experiential Program in the National Parks (1st edition)

When Joan Digby first proposed taking collegiate honors students into our national parks, I jumped at the chance. Within minutes of reading her email, I not only responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!” but went so far as to volunteer the resources of the Southern Utah University Honors Program to get things started. Nestled among 5 national parks in southwestern Utah, I felt our campus would be a natural focal point for the kind of program Joan envisioned. Within weeks we had laid the groundwork for a proof-of-concept pilot project at nearby Bryce Canyon National Park. Little did I know at the time, but I was taking the first steps on a nationwide journey that would introduce me to 11 amazing national parks, some 47 park rangers, and over 100 outstanding college students—with the prospect of these numbers growing annually. The aim of Partners in the Parks (PITP) from its inception has been to introduce, or reintroduce, collegiate honors students to this country: not the transformed environment that we have constructed on its surface but the bedrock world upon which it rests. Like de Toqueville, Jefferson, Thoreau, Emerson, and so many others, we recognized that the unique place that is America cannot be separated from the land upon which it was built. One valuable way to study and understand it, then, is to visit places where the bones of America lie exposed, often without the veneer of civilization, cultivation, or modernization: places protected by the people to preserve for this and future generations, original American landscapes, and important historical landmarks that illustrate and define what America was, is, and can be. PITP takes students deep into America’s national parks. PITP is a see-America-first program. While we recognize the importance of a global perspective in an overall honors education, our goal is to help students see and understand America before or in addition to going abroad. Indeed, for students without the desire or resources to leave the country, PITP offers many of the same kinds of personal development that make study abroad so valuable. In the Field Notes to Chapter 2, “Growing from Within,” Bill Atwill and Kathleen King, share their experience in Acadia National Park, observing how their students demonstrated valuable growth in the same four key areas that researchers of study abroad programs have identified in their alumni: personal discovery, academic commitment, cultural development, and career development. The student writings in this volume, such as Andy Grube’s “soul expanding” talk with Juste Gatari on the rocky coast of Mount Desert Island, aptly illustrate this important facet of the PITP experience. (See the Field Notes to Chapter 5, “Sitting There in Silence.”