5,453 research outputs found
Evaluation of the InDUCKtion project at UCL
Executive summary: There is evidence that a good induction to university life can help with student retention; however, there is also a danger of overwhelming students during the intense period of fresher’s week. Under the auspices of a small grant from the Higher Education Academy’s ‘Changing the Learning Landscape’ funding stream, staff at two universities (University College London and Southampton Solent University) collaborated to produce an innovative and engaging induction project entitled ‘InDUCKtion’, based on the idea of an induction duck being a fun character for students to interact with. At UCL, the InDUCKtion duck existed in the form of a physical plastic duck included in international postgraduate student induction packs, and they were encouraged to take photos of themselves in and around UCL and London as part of a photo challenge using social media. It was anticipated that this would enable students to familiarise themselves with the locale, make friends and have fun at the same time. The InDUCKtion duck was also evident on flyers and posters with QR codes advertising an online tour to enable students to gain an accelerated familiarisation with the campus and its facilities. Within UCL, the project was a collaborative, cross-departmental venture instigated by members of UCL’s E-Learning Environments (ELE) working in partnership with the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) and Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW). The logistics of the project meant that the team members also had to liaise with a number of other individuals and departments around UCL, to help promote and implement the project. Despite a rapid following on Twitter in a relatively short period, a reasonable hit rate on the QR code for the main page of the online tour resource, and some engagement with the photo challenges using social media, participation in the project was lower than anticipated. Lessons learned from an evaluation perspective revealed that adding another activity to an already overwhelming fresher’s week was problematic, despite its innovative and interactive nature. The use of QR codes was problematic for a number of reasons, and the project needed more buy-in from student representatives and academics to provide institutional endorsement. Recommendations for future instances of the project include securing student representation and academic endorsement, integrating the activity with parallel induction activities – particularly with academic departments, replacing QR codes with an alternative technology-enhanced learning approach and optimising the learning design to better motivate students and promote groupwork
Evaluation of the InDUCKtion project at UCL
Executive summary: There is evidence that a good induction to university life can help with student retention; however, there is also a danger of overwhelming students during the intense period of fresher’s week. Under the auspices of a small grant from the Higher Education Academy’s ‘Changing the Learning Landscape’ funding stream, staff at two universities (University College London and Southampton Solent University) collaborated to produce an innovative and engaging induction project entitled ‘InDUCKtion’, based on the idea of an induction duck being a fun character for students to interact with. At UCL, the InDUCKtion duck existed in the form of a physical plastic duck included in international postgraduate student induction packs, and they were encouraged to take photos of themselves in and around UCL and London as part of a photo challenge using social media. It was anticipated that this would enable students to familiarise themselves with the locale, make friends and have fun at the same time. The InDUCKtion duck was also evident on flyers and posters with QR codes advertising an online tour to enable students to gain an accelerated familiarisation with the campus and its facilities. Within UCL, the project was a collaborative, cross-departmental venture instigated by members of UCL’s E-Learning Environments (ELE) working in partnership with the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) and Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW). The logistics of the project meant that the team members also had to liaise with a number of other individuals and departments around UCL, to help promote and implement the project. Despite a rapid following on Twitter in a relatively short period, a reasonable hit rate on the QR code for the main page of the online tour resource, and some engagement with the photo challenges using social media, participation in the project was lower than anticipated. Lessons learned from an evaluation perspective revealed that adding another activity to an already overwhelming fresher’s week was problematic, despite its innovative and interactive nature. The use of QR codes was problematic for a number of reasons, and the project needed more buy-in from student representatives and academics to provide institutional endorsement. Recommendations for future instances of the project include securing student representation and academic endorsement, integrating the activity with parallel induction activities – particularly with academic departments, replacing QR codes with an alternative technology-enhanced learning approach and optimising the learning design to better motivate students and promote groupwork
THE ROLE OF DENTISTRY IN FEDERAL-STATE-LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH PLANNING *
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65702/1/j.1752-7325.1968.tb01419.x.pd
Dissecting the origin of the submillimeter emission in nearby galaxies with Herschel and LABOCA
We model the infrared to submillimeter spectral energy distribution of 11
nearby galaxies of the KINGFISH sample using Spitzer and Herschel data and
compare model extrapolations at 870um (using different fitting techniques) with
LABOCA 870um observations. We investigate how the differences between
predictions and observations vary with model assumptions or environment. At
global scales, we find that modified blackbody models using realistic cold
emissivity indices (beta_c=2 or 1.5) are able to reproduce the 870um observed
emission within the uncertainties for most of the sample. Low values
(beta_c<1.3) would be required in NGC0337, NGC1512 and NGC7793. At local
scales, we observe a systematic 870um excess when using beta_=2.0. The
beta_c=1.5 or the Draine and Li (2007) models can reconcile predictions with
observations in part of the disks. Some of the remaining excesses occur towards
the centres and can be partly or fully accounted for by non-dust contributions
such as CO(3-2) or, to a lesser extent, free-free or synchrotron emission. In
three non-barred galaxies, the remaining excesses rather occur in the disk
outskirts. This could be a sign of a flattening of the submm slope (and
decrease of the effective emissivity index) with radius in these objects.Comment: 31 pages (including appendix), 7 figures, accepted for publication in
MNRA
Herschel Far-Infrared and Sub-millimeter Photometry for the KINGFISH Sample of Nearby Galaxies
New far-infrared and sub-millimeter photometry from the Herschel Space
Observatory is presented for 61 nearby galaxies from the Key Insights on Nearby
Galaxies: A Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel (KINGFISH) sample. The
spatially-integrated fluxes are largely consistent with expectations based on
Spitzer far-infrared photometry and extrapolations to longer wavelengths using
popular dust emission models. Dwarf irregular galaxies are notable exceptions,
as already noted by other authors, as their 500um emission shows evidence for a
sub-millimeter excess. In addition, the fraction of dust heating attributed to
intense radiation fields associated with photo-dissociation regions is found to
be (21+/-4)% larger when Herschel data are included in the analysis. Dust
masses obtained from the dust emission models of Draine & Li are found to be on
average nearly a factor of two higher than those based on single-temperature
modified blackbodies, as single blackbody curves do not capture the full range
of dust temperatures inherent to any galaxy. The discrepancy is largest for
galaxies exhibiting the coolest far-infrared colors.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Academic self-concept, gender and single-sex schooling
This paper assesses gender differences in academic self-concept for a cohort of children born in 1958 (the National Child Development Study). We address the question of whether attending single-sex or co-educational schools affected students’ perceptions of their own academic abilities (academic self-concept). Academic selfconcept was found to be highly gendered, even controlling for prior test scores. Boys had higher self-concepts in maths and science, and girls in English. Single-sex schooling reduced the gender gap in self-concept, while selective schooling was linked to lower academic self-concept overall
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Cool dust heating and temperature mixing in nearby star-forming galaxies
Physical conditions of the interstellar medium in galaxies are closely linked
to the ambient radiation field and the heating of dust grains. In order to
characterize dust properties in galaxies over a wide range of physical
conditions, we present here the radial surface brightness profiles of the
entire sample of 61 galaxies from Key Insights into Nearby Galaxies:
Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel (KINGFISH). The main goal of our work is the
characterization of the grain emissivities, dust temperatures, and interstellar
radiation fields responsible for heating the dust. After fitting the dust and
stellar radial profiles with exponential functions, we fit the far-infrared
spectral energy distribution (SED) in each annular region with
single-temperature modified black bodies using both variable (MBBV) and fixed
(MBBF) emissivity indices beta, as well as with physically motivated dust
models. Results show that while most SED parameters decrease with radius, the
emissivity index beta also decreases with radius in some galaxies, but in
others is increasing, or rising in the inner regions and falling in the outer
ones. Despite the fixed grain emissivity (average beta~ 2.1) of the
physically-motivated models, they are well able to accommodate flat spectral
slopes with beta<= 1. We find that flatter slopes (beta<= 1.5) are associated
with cooler temperatures, contrary to what would be expected from the usual
Tdust-beta degeneracy. This trend is related to variations in Umin since beta
and Umin are very closely linked over the entire range in Umin sampled by the
KINGFISH galaxies: low Umin is associated with flat beta<=1. Both these results
strongly suggest that the low apparent \beta values (flat slopes) in MBBV fits
are caused by temperature mixing along the line-of-sight, rather than by
intrinsic variations in grain properties. Abstract truncated for arXiv.Comment: 28 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Broadband Quasi-Periodic Radio and X-ray Pulsations in a Solar Flare
We describe microwave and hard X-ray observations of strong quasiperiodic
pulsations from the GOES X1.3 solar flare on 15 June 2003. The radio
observations were made jointly by the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA), the
Nobeyama Polarimeter (NoRP), and the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH). Hard
X-ray observations were made by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic
Imager (RHESSI). Using Fourier analysis, we study the frequency- and
energy-dependent oscillation periods, differential phase, and modulation
amplitudes of the radio and X-ray pulsations. Focusing on the more complete
radio observations, we also examine the modulation of the degree of circular
polarization and of the radio spectral index. The observed properties of the
oscillations are compared with those derived from two simple models for the
radio emission. In particular, we explicitly fit the observed modulation
amplitude data to the two competing models. The first model considers the
effects of MHD oscillations on the radio emission. The second model considers
the quasi-periodic injection of fast electrons. We demonstrate that
quasiperiodic acceleration and injection of fast electrons is the more likely
cause of the quasiperiodic oscillations observed in the radio and hard X-ray
emission, which has important implications for particle acceleration and
transport in the flaring sources.Comment: ApJ, accepte
'The Brick' is not a brick : A comprehensive study of the structure and dynamics of the Central Molecular Zone cloud G0.253+0.016
© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.In this paper we provide a comprehensive description of the internal dynamics of G0.253+0.016 (a.k.a. 'the Brick'); one of the most massive and dense molecular clouds in the Galaxy to lack signatures of widespread star formation. As a potential host to a future generation of high-mass stars, understanding largely quiescent molecular clouds like G0.253+0.016 is of critical importance. In this paper, we reanalyse Atacama Large Millimeter Array cycle 0 HNCO data at 3 mm, using two new pieces of software which we make available to the community. First, scousepy, a Python implementation of the spectral line fitting algorithm scouse. Secondly, acorns (Agglomerative Clustering for ORganising Nested Structures), a hierarchical n-dimensional clustering algorithm designed for use with discrete spectroscopic data. Together, these tools provide an unbiased measurement of the line of sight velocity dispersion in this cloud, kms, which is somewhat larger than predicted by velocity dispersion-size relations for the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). The dispersion of centroid velocities in the plane of the sky are comparable, yielding . This isotropy may indicate that the line-of-sight extent of the cloud is approximately equivalent to that in the plane of the sky. Combining our kinematic decomposition with radiative transfer modelling we conclude that G0.253+0.016 is not a single, coherent, and centrally-condensed molecular cloud; 'the Brick' is not a \emph{brick}. Instead, G0.253+0.016 is a dynamically complex and hierarchically-structured molecular cloud whose morphology is consistent with the influence of the orbital dynamics and shear in the CMZ.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
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