Improving Graduate Futures and Employability Through Embedded Industrial Experience

The financial cost to individuals of higher education is now regularly exceeding £50k before maintenance in the UK; consequently, students are more concerned than ever that their degree should offer value for money when they enter the jobs marketplace. Overshadowed by long-term debt, lack of career options and job offerings with low salary, student numbers in the arts, languages, humanities and philosophy areas have suffered compared to most STEM disciplines (Universities UK, 2018). Computer science, I.T. and computing tend to buck this trend (HESA, 2020), and, with a drive toward reskilling the workforce for a more technology-focussed future, this suits Government strategy. However, graduate employers want to hire individuals who are well rounded and have experience; businesses identify that more general workplace experience is key.The subsequent sections describe a level 7 (Master’s) capstone project module, Commercial Development Practice, dedicated to fulfilling these employer requirements by focussing on project processes rather than project products. The practicalities of running this module and considerations that have been key for the successful application of this technique over the 14 years the module has been running are discussed. The curriculum, pedagogic approaches and assessment methods are presented. The evaluation of this approach, which analyses the impact and student experience and perception of the module using data gathered since 2015, has found that participants gain valuable skills, experience and confidence which leads to more employable graduates

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: a setting for Professional and Research skills

This paper considers the use of the United Nations global goals to provide a framework for the teaching of professional and related skills. The main example and case study considered in this paper is from computing; however, much of the approach and many of the issues are applicable to a wide range of subjects, especially in science. Alongside the specific skills attached to sustainability, the paper also considers the broader development of some of the investigative and analytical skills that underpin university research and reflect the need for a research informed curriculum, and the so-called teaching-research nexus. The paper also considers other aspects of the context for graduate skills, including accreditation requirements and employers' expectations; such expectations of graduates frequently include the requirement that students are able to understand and demonstrate a range of non-technical specific issues, topics and skills and issues. This paper describes the use of global challenges to motivate the delivery and engagement with a case study

The Role of Gamification in a Software Development Lifecycle

Teaching Software Engineering students raises a number of challenges; in particular that student developers typically demonstrate behaviours that run counter to good software development. These include failing to plan properly, failing to develop their software in a structured manner, and failing to meet specified deadlines (so called "student syndrome"). Consequentially, students exhibiting these behaviours are more likely to disengage from their studies. Even where submissions are made, they tend to be lower in quality, and may not demonstrate the true capabilities of the individual. Such alienation and disengagement is amplified by the current context of learning in a pandemic, with a wall of digital communication technology coming between teachers and learners. In this paper, the authors will identify how gamification approaches can be applied to software development education, and how they can help to better motivate and educate future software developers through computer managed delivery and assessment. As motivation is a key factor, motivational properties known in computer gaming are applied within the new context of a software engineering lifecycle. The role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for developers is considere. The gamified techniques identified are further enhanced with an Agile type approach. This has been particularly critical during 2020/21 where the shift to fully online learning for previously face to face taught students has placed new pressures on students and staff.

Gribov ambiguity and non-trivial vacuum structure of gauge theories on a cylinder

Using the hamiltonian framework, we analyze the Gribov problem for U(N) and SU(N) gauge theories on a cylinder (= (1+1) dimensional spacetime with compact space S^1). The space of gauge orbits is found to be an orbifold. We show by explicit construction that a proper treatment of the Gribov ambiguity leads to a highly non-trivial structure of all physical states in these quantum field theory models. The especially interesting example of massless QCD is discussed in more detail: There, some of the special static gauge transformations which are responsible for the Gribov ambiguity also lead to a spectral flow, and this implies a chiral condensate in all physical states. We also show that the latter is closely related to the Schwinger term and the chiral anomaly.Comment: 13 pages, a few typos and signs corrected, reference adde

Asian light fabric: manufacture and wearer comfort

This paper describes an empirical investigation into the production systems and marketing strategies of a special type of textile, that of batik. The work is concerned with elements of garment manufacture, fashion, wearer comfort, and the characteristics of light fabrics. Evaluations of traditional woven fabric production and techniques, along with literature searches, were carried out. An industry profile is presented that includes aspects of traditional culture and fabric fashions. Computer measurements established precise characteristics influencing both clothing design and wear ability