Enacting educational partnership: collective identity, decision-making (and the importance of muffin chat)

The rhetoric of partnership is ubiquitous in the current policy context. In education, partnerships take a number of forms among which is ‘interorganizational collaboration’ (IOC), defined as a partnership between institutions/organizations aimed at developing synergistic solutions to complex problems. But policy has a tendency to veneer, obscuring its enactment. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine what such partnerships look like on the ground. Here we present an empirical analysis which aims to produce knowledge about the working of such collaborative groups and to provide insights into leadership within such partnerships. Drawing on communicative constitution of organizations (CCO) operationalised within a schema for understanding the emergence of collective identity in IOC, we undertake an analysis of meetings held by a working group comprising academics and local authority staff set up to develop masters level work-based professional learning for teachers. We ask, how do professionals working within different contexts create a collective identity that supports decision making, and what are the implications for leadership

Small data, online learning and assessment practices in higher education: a case study of failure?

In this paper we present an in-depth case study of a single student who failed an online module which formed part of a masters programme in Professional Education and Leadership. We use this case study to examine assessment practices in higher education in the online environment. In taking this approach we go against the current predilection for Big Data which has given rise to ‘learning analytics’, a data-intensive approach to monitoring learning. In particular we draw attention to the model of the learner produced by learning analytics and to issues of ‘dataveillance’ in online learning. We also use the case to examine assessment in higher education more broadly, exploring the tensions between the requirements for certification and the need for learning. We conclude that assessment practices in higher education may have more to do with ‘quality assurance’ and regulatory frameworks than with ‘enhancing the student experience’ and inculcating the qualities that mark out higher education as an ethical project

Criticality and the exercise of politeness in online spaces for professional learning

This research examines masters-accredited online professional learning aimed at fostering criticality and a disposition to collective professional autonomy. Drawing on a model of online learning conceived as a nexus of cognitive, social and teaching presence, we focus principally on the interaction between cognitive and social presence, and the ways in which written language mediates social presence in fostering a critical disposition to professional learning. A key concept for analysing this ispoliteness, predicated on Goffman's construct of ‘face’, i.e. the work individuals do in presenting themselves to others. We conclude that the ‘collective face wants’ of the online community led to the creation of an online space in which participants were supported by their peers to do ‘being critical’. The purpose of the analysis presented here is to contribute to theory around ‘social presence’ in order to further the understanding of collaborative learning in online spaces and hence to support the development of pedagogical practices aimed at facilitating this

Cell-Free DNA and CXCL10 Derived from Bronchoalveolar Lavage Predict Lung Transplant Survival.

Standard methods for detecting chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and rejection have poor sensitivity and specificity and have conventionally required bronchoscopies and biopsies. Plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been shown to be increased in various types of allograft injury in transplant recipients and CXCL10 has been reported to be increased in the lung tissue of patients undergoing CLAD. This study used a novel cfDNA and CXCL10 assay to evaluate the noninvasive assessment of CLAD phenotype and prediction of survival from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. A total of 60 BAL samples (20 with bronchiolitis obliterans (BOS), 20 with restrictive allograft syndrome (RAS), and 20 with stable allografts (STA)) were collected from 60 unique lung transplant patients; cfDNA and CXCL10 were measured by the ELISA-based KIT assay. Median cfDNA was significantly higher in BOS patients (6739 genomic equivalents (GE)/mL) versus STA (2920 GE/mL) and RAS (4174 GE/mL) (p < 0.01 all comparisons). Likelihood ratio tests revealed a significant association of overall survival with cfDNA (p = 0.0083), CXCL10 (p = 0.0146), and the interaction of cfDNA and CXCL10 (p = 0.023) based on multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression. Dichotomizing patients based on the median cfDNA level controlled for the mean level of CXCL10 revealed an over two-fold longer median overall survival time in patients with low levels of cfDNA. The KIT assay could predict allograft survival with superior performance compared with traditional biomarkers. These data support the pursuit of larger prospective studies to evaluate the predictive performance of cfDNA and CXCL10 prior to lung allograft failure

Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission Space Suit and EVA System Architecture Trade Study

The Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission (ARCM) requires a Launch/Entry/Abort (LEA) suit capability and short duration Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) capability from the Orion spacecraft. For this mission, the pressure garment selected for both functions is the Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit (MACES) with EVA enhancements and the life support option that was selected is the Exploration Portable Life Support System (PLSS) currently under development for Advanced Exploration Systems (AES). The proposed architecture meets the ARCM constraints, but much more work is required to determine the details of the suit upgrades, the integration with the PLSS, and the tools and equipment necessary to accomplish the mission. This work has continued over the last year to better define the operations and hardware maturation of these systems. EVA simulations were completed in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) and interfacing options were prototyped and analyzed with testing planned for late 2014. This paper discusses the work done over the last year on the MACES enhancements, the use of tools while using the suit, and the integration of the PLSS with the MACES

The masses of the cataclysmic variables AC Cancri and V363 Aurigae

We present time-resolved spectroscopy and photometry of the double-lined eclipsing cataclysmic variables AC Cnc and V363 Aur (= Lanning 10). There is evidence of irradiation on the inner hemisphere of the secondary star in both systems, which we correct for using a model that reproduces the observations remarkably well. We find the radial velocity of the secondary star in AC Cnc to be KR= 176 ± 3 km s−1 and its rotational velocity to be v sin i= 135 ± 3 km s−1. From these parameters we obtain masses of M1= 0.76 ± 0.03 M⊙ for the white-dwarf primary and M2= 0.77 ± 0.05 M⊙ for the K2 ± 1V secondary star, giving a mass ratio of q= 1.02 ± 0.04. We measure the radial and rotational velocities of the G7 ± 2V secondary star in V363 Aur to be KR= 168 ± 5 km s−1 and v sin i= 143 ± 5 km s−1, respectively. The component masses of V363 Aur are M1= 0.90 ± 0.06 M⊙ and M2= 1.06 ± 0.11 M⊙, giving a mass ratio of q= 1.17 ± 0.07. The mass ratios for AC Cnc and V363 Aur fall within the theoretical limits for dynamically and thermally stable mass transfer. Both systems are similar to the SW Sex stars, exhibiting single-peaked emission lines with transient absorption features, high-velocity S-wave components and phase-offsets in their radial-velocity curves. The Balmer lines in V363 Aur show a rapid increase in flux around phase 0 followed by a rapid decrease, which we attribute to the eclipse of an optically thick region at the centre of the disc. This model could also account for the behaviour of other SW Sex stars where the Balmer lines show only a shallow eclipse compared to the continuum

Concert recording 2018-04-26

[Track 1]. Concerto no. 1 / Alexander Lebedev -- [Track 2]. Andante et allegro / Joseph Edouard Barat -- [Track 3]. Sonata for trombone and piano. III. Allegro ritmico e vigoroso / George McKay -- [Track 4]. Sonata in F minor, TWV 41:1. I. Andante cantabile [Track 5]. II. Allegro / Georg Philipp Telemann -- [Track 6]. Grand concerto / Friedebald Gräfe -- [Track 7]. Concerto for trombone. I. Andante maestoso - allegro molto - andante maestoso / Gordon Jacob -- [Track 8]. Concerto in one movement / Alexander Lebedev