A Trialectic Framework for Large Group Processes in Educational Action Research: The Case of Academic Development for Syrian Academics in Exile

The term ‘large group process’ (LGP) refers to a range of participatory approaches to community engagement, geared towards exploring and/or identifying solutions to shared issues and problems, and planning change. Primarily used for applied purposes, they can be also used as a method of inductive inquiry in social research, particularly within action research projects. In this methodological paper I outline and critically evaluate an LGP design implemented within an action research project focused on the needs of Syrian academics in exile. The LGP elicited multi-level data from a geographically-dispersed community, while simultaneously constituting a relational learning experience and community action event for the participant population, and therefore aligned with the threefold aims of educational action research. The paper makes three significant contributions: a model for LGP design that elicits participants’ collective and individual meaning frames; a trialectic framework for ensuring that the research, action and learning aspects of educational action research projects are mutually-supporting; and an accompanying orientation to researcher-participant relationships that may help to enhance the epistemological validity, catalytic validity and ethical foundations of projects

DESIGNING PORT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SEA LEVEL CHANGE: A SURVEY OF U.S. ENGINEERS

Seaports are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their coastal location. With the potential threat of up to 2.5m in sea level rise by 2100, resilient port infrastructure is vital for the continued operation of ports. There are strong economic and social incentives for seaports to provide long-term resilience against climate conditions. For example, service disruptions can cost billions of dollars and impact the livelihoods of those who depend on the port. Engineers play a pivotal role in improving the resilience of ports, as they are responsible for designing port infrastructure that will be adequately prepared for future sea level change (SLC). However, incorporating SLC is a challenging task due to the uncertainty of SLC projections, the long service lives of port infrastructure, and the differing guidelines and recommendations for managing SLC. Through an online survey of 85 U.S. port and marine infrastructure engineers, this research explores the engineering community’s attitude and approach to planning for SLC for large-scale maritime infrastructure projects. Survey findings highlight the extent that projects incorporate SLC, the wide range of factors that drive the inclusion of SLC, and the numerous barriers that prevent engineers from incorporating SLC into design. This research emphasizes that traditional engineering practices may no longer be appropriate for dealing with climate change design variables and their associated uncertainties. Furthermore, results call for collaboration among engineers, port authorities, and policy makers to develop design standards and practical design methods for designing resilient port infrastructure

Performance-Based Seismic Design and Assessment of Bridges

Current trends in the seismic design and assessment of bridges are discussed, with emphasis on two procedures that merit some particular attention, displacement-based procedures and deformation-based procedures. The available performance-based methods for bridges are critically reviewed and a number of critical issues are identified, which arise in all procedures. Then two recently proposed methods are presented in some detail, one based on the direct displacement-based design approach, using equivalent elastic analysis and properly reduced displacement spectra, and one based on the deformation-based approach, which involves a type of partially inelastic response-history analysis for a set of ground motions and wherein pier ductility is included as a design parameter, along with displacement criteria. The current trends in seismic assessment of bridges are then summarised and the more rigorous assessment procedure, i.e. nonlinear dynamic response-history analysis, is used to assess the performance of bridges designed to the previously described procedures. Finally some comments are offered on the feasibility of including such methods in the new generation of bridge codes

A Seismic Performance Classification Framework to Provide Increased Seismic Resilience

Several performance measures are being used in modern seismic engineering applications, suggesting that seismic performance could be classified a number of ways. This paper reviews a range of performance measures currently being adopted and then proposes a new seismic performance classification framework based on expected annual losses (EAL). The motivation for an EAL-based performance framework stems from the observation that, in addition to limiting lives lost during earthquakes, changes are needed to improve the resilience of our societies, and it is proposed that increased resilience in developed countries could be achieved by limiting monetary losses. In order to set suitable preliminary values of EAL for performance classification, values of EAL reported in the literature are reviewed. Uncertainties in current EAL estimates are discussed and then an EAL-based seismic performance classification framework is proposed. The proposal is made that the EAL should be computed on a storey-by-storey basis in recognition that EAL for different storeys of a building could vary significantly and also recognizing that a single building may have multiple owners