A comparison of staff perceptions and student experiences of issues associated with university

A significant body of research (Yorke, 1999a; 1999b; 2000a; 2000b) has examined difficulties experienced by students who withdraw from university. However, less work has been undertaken around students who experience difficulties but choose to remain in their studies. Similarly, limited work has addressed how tutors and university support staff perceive difficulties associated with the student experience and whether these are in line with student accounts. The lack of research around university staff perceptions is surprising given that tutors must have a good knowledge of the student experience in order to be able to understand and support learning. The purpose of this study was twofold. Firstly, to examine what difficulties students reported experiencing during university and secondly, to ascertain if university staff knowledge of student difficulties were in line with student accounts. Using semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire, staff and student perceptions of university difficulties were examined. Results showed that all students experienced difficulties whilst studying. It was generally found that university staff had a good knowledge of student difficulties. However, two types of difficulty were identified (related to university systems and experience of teaching) of which staff were less aware. Possible explanations for findings are offered along with recommendations as to how findings might influence a learning developer. 

Development of the ALDinHE recognition scheme: Certifying the ‘Learning Developer’ title

Over the last fifteen years, the pedagogy of learning development has become increasingly established within UK universities (Hilsdon, 2018). As such, there have never been more individuals who professionally identify with the ‘learning developer’ title. Self-identification with a professional title is always going to be problematic as there will be significant variation in background, experience, qualifications and values amongst practitioners. This will result in confusion and ambiguity around the meaning of a title (such as learning developer), which in turn can undermine practitioners’ professional status and career development opportunities. It is therefore unsurprising that over the last five years there has been a growing call amongst the learning development community to introduce greater consistency around how the learning developer title is used (Webster, 2015; Webster, 2017; Johnson, 2018). The Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) has responded to this call to action by developing a recognition scheme for learning developers. This has two levels - certified practitioner (CeP) and certified leading practitioner (CeLP). Unlike other educational development recognition schemes - for example, Higher Education Academy (HEA) fellowships or Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) fellowships) - the CeP/CeLP scheme involves evidencing core values associated with practicing learning development. As such, it provides the first bespoke recognition opportunity for the learning development community. This article outlines how the ALDinHE recognition scheme was conceived, piloted and launched at the 2018 Learning Development Conference

Moving from learning developers to learning development practitioners

Opinion pieceFifteen years ago the term ‘learning development’ was not well known within the UK higher education sector (Hilsdon, 2018). Although there remains no universal learning development definition, the term has grown in popularity and become synonymous with “look[ing] at the whole higher education learning experience from students' perspectives” (Hilsdon, 2009). Typically, such work focuses on the development of academic literacies / skills (such as writing, maths, study skills, information literacy, good academic practice and ICT) and/or transitions through university. Through adopting a learning development lens, a teacher will endeavour to provide blended, developmental and student‐centred learning opportunities (either through the curriculum, co‐curriculum or extra‐curriculum) that are contextually relevant and timely (as opposed to remedial and bolted‐on). As such, learning development relates to teaching practices per se which means that many teaching and learning professionals (such as Academic Skills Tutors, Subject Lecturers, Librarians, Learning Technologists Educational Developers and EAL/ESoL teachers) will share some affinity with learning development

Status of Kilowatt-Class Stirling Power Conversion Using a Pumped NaK Loop for Thermal Input

Free-piston Stirling power conversion has been identified as a viable option for potential Fission Surface Power (FSP) systems on the Moon and Mars. Proposed systems consist of two or more Stirling convertors, in a dual-opposed configuration, coupled to a low-temperature uranium-dioxide-fueled, liquid-metal-cooled reactor. To reduce developmental risks associated with liquid-metal loop integration, a test rig has been built to evaluate the performance of a pair of 1-kW free-piston Stirling convertors using a pumped sodium-potassium (NaK) loop for thermal energy input. Baseline performance maps have been generated at the Glenn Research Center (GRC) for these 1-kW convertors operating with an electric heat source. Each convertor was then retrofitted with a custom-made NaK heater head and integrated into a pumped NaK system at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). This paper documents baseline testing at GRC as well as the progress made in integrating the Stirling convertors into the pumped NaK loop

VLA-ANGST: A high-resolution HI Survey of Nearby Dwarf Galaxies

We present the "Very Large Array survey of Advanced Camera for Surveys Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury galaxies (VLA-ANGST)." VLA-ANGST is a National Radio Astronomy Observatory Large Program consisting of high spectral (0.6-2.6 km/s) and spatial (~6") resolution observations of neutral, atomic hydrogen (HI) emission toward 35 nearby dwarf galaxies from the ANGST survey. ANGST is a systematic HST survey to establish a legacy of uniform multi-color photometry of resolved stars for a volume-limited sample of nearby galaxies (D\lesssim4 Mpc). VLA-ANGST provides VLA HI observations of the sub-sample of ANGST galaxies with recent star formation that are observable from the northern hemisphere and that were not observed in the "The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey" (THINGS). The overarching scientific goal of VLA-ANGST is to investigate fundamental characteristics of the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) of dwarf galaxies. Here we describe the VLA observations, the data reduction, and the final VLA-ANGST data products. We present an atlas of the integrated HI maps, the intensity-weighted velocity fields, the second moment maps as a measure for the velocity dispersion of the HI, individual channel maps, and integrated HI spectra for each VLA-ANGST galaxy. We closely follow the observational setup and data reduction of THINGS to achieve comparable sensitivity and angular resolution. A major difference, however, is the high velocity resolution of the VLA-ANGST observations (0.65 and 1.3km/s for the majority of the galaxies). The VLA-ANGST data products are made publicly available at: https://science.nrao.edu/science/surveys/vla-angst. With available star formation histories from resolved stellar populations and lower resolution ancillary observations from the FIR to the UV, VLA-ANGST will enable detailed studies of the relationship between the ISM and star formation in dwarf galaxies on a ~100 pc scale.Comment: 64 figures, grouped into 32. 115 pages, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATIONS of GIANT PULSES from the CRAB PULSAR, with the MURCHISON WIDEFIELD ARRAY and PARKES RADIO TELESCOPE: IMPLICATIONS for the GIANT PULSE EMISSION MECHANISM

We report on observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar performed simultaneously with the Parkes radio telescope and the incoherent combination of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) antenna tiles. The observations were performed over a duration of approximately one hour at a center frequency of 1382 MHz with 340 MHz bandwidth at Parkes, and at a center frequency of 193 MHz with 15 MHz bandwidth at the MWA. Our analysis has led to the detection of 55 giant pulses at the MWA and 2075 at Parkes above a threshold of 3.5σ and 6.5σ, respectively. We detected 51% of the MWA giant pulses at the Parkes radio telescope, with spectral indices in the range of -3.6 > α > -4.9 (Sv ∝ vα). We present a Monte Carlo analysis supporting the conjecture that the giant pulse emission in the Crab is intrinsically broadband, the less than 100% correlation being due to the relative sensitivities of the two instruments and the width of the spectral index distribution. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the spectral index of giant pulses is drawn from normal distribution of standard deviation 0.6, but with a mean that displays an evolution with frequency from -3.00 at 1382 MHz, to -2.85 at 192 MHz

Simultaneous observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar, with the Murchison Widefield Array and Parkes radio telescope: implications for the giant pulse emission mechanism

We report on observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar performed simultaneously with the Parkes radio telescope and the incoherent combination of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) antenna tiles. The observations were performed over a duration of approximately one hour at a center frequency of 1382 MHz with 340 MHz bandwidth at Parkes, and at a center frequency of 193 MHz with 15 MHz bandwidth at the MWA. Our analysis has led to the detection of 55 giant pulses at the MWA and 2075 at Parkes above a threshold of 3.5σ and 6.5σ, respectively. We detected 51% of the MWA giant pulses at the Parkes radio telescope, with spectral indices in the range of-3.6 > α > -4.9 (Sv μ ∝ Va). We present a Monte Carlo analysis supporting the conjecture that the giant pulse emission in the Crab is intrinsically broadband, the less than 100% correlation being due to the relative sensitivities of the two instruments and the width of the spectral index distribution. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the spectral index of giant pulses is drawn from normal distribution of standard deviation 0.6, but with a mean that displays an evolution with frequency from −3.00 at 1382 MHz, to −2.85 at 192 MHz

Simultaneous observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar, with the Murchison Widefield Array and Parkes radio telescope: implications for the giant pulse emission mechanism

We report on observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar performed simultaneously with the Parkes radio telescope and the incoherent combination of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) antenna tiles. The observations were performed over a duration of approximately one hour at a center frequency of 1382 MHz with 340 MHz bandwidth at Parkes, and at a center frequency of 193 MHz with 15 MHz bandwidth at the MWA. Our analysis has led to the detection of 55 giant pulses at the MWA and 2075 at Parkes above a threshold of 3.5σ and 6.5σ, respectively. We detected 51% of the MWA giant pulses at the Parkes radio telescope, with spectral indices in the range of-3.6 > α > -4.9 (Sv μ ∝ Va). We present a Monte Carlo analysis supporting the conjecture that the giant pulse emission in the Crab is intrinsically broadband, the less than 100% correlation being due to the relative sensitivities of the two instruments and the width of the spectral index distribution. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the spectral index of giant pulses is drawn from normal distribution of standard deviation 0.6, but with a mean that displays an evolution with frequency from −3.00 at 1382 MHz, to −2.85 at 192 MHz

Low-frequency observations of the moon with the murchison widefield array

A new generation of low-frequency radio telescopes is seeking to observe the redshifted 21cm signal from the epoch of reionization (EoR), requiring innovative methods of calibration and imaging to overcome the difficulties of wide-field low-frequency radio interferometry. Precise calibration will be required to separate the expected small EoR signal from the strong foreground emission at the frequencies of interest between 80 and 300MHz. The Moon may be useful as a calibration source for detection of the EoR signature, as it should have a smooth and predictable thermal spectrum across the frequency band of interest. Initial observations of the Moon with the Murchison Widefield Array 32 tile prototype show that the Moon does exhibit a similar trend to that expected for a cool thermally emitting body in the observed frequency range, but that the spectrum is corrupted by reflected radio emission from Earth. In particular, there is an abrupt increase in the observed flux density of the Moon within the internationally recognized frequency modulated (FM) radio band. The observations have implications for future low-frequency surveys and EoR detection experiments that will need to take this reflected emission from the Moon into account. The results also allow us to estimate the equivalent isotropic power emitted by the Earth in the FM band and to determine how bright the Earth might appear at meter wavelengths to an observer beyond our own solar system