Developing three-dimensional engineers through project-based learning

Context: The issue addressed is the need to develop engineering students' independent learning and their understanding of the range of professional engineering activities within the context of a large introductory engineering subject in a revised academic calendar with reduced teaching weeks. Thus a project was created to re-design the subject to take a structured approach to flipped and blended content delivery. This has provided a scaffolded and supportive environment to introduce students to collaborative project-based and independent learning. Purpose: The project aims to create a coherent teaching and learning narrative to develop student engineering identities within an authentic student project which gives them insights into the nature of engineering work. This is done in a subject with strong tutor support to scaffold students" learning experiences. Approach: The project uses transition pedagogies to scaffold blended and flipped learning experiences, and to make explicit the need to develop students' engineering identities. Active and interactive learning opportunities enhance students' agency to become independent learners. Data have been collected from students and tutors to measure the impact of the changes in learning and teaching practices. Student data are being analysed through the lens of developing professional identity. The effectiveness of the student learning activities are being evaluated using tutor feedback and assessment results. Results: Results indicate that due to the subject redesign, students have a stronger sense of the nature of engineering work. Furthermore, teaching and learning activities that focus on project-based learning have developed students' emergent professional identity and professional capabilities. In addition, the standardisation of teaching and learning experiences across tutorial classes have led to greater consistency in content delivery and learning outcomes. Conclusions: It is critical to introduce students to project-based learning using a structured and scaffolded approach. This foregrounds the collaborative and three-dimensional nature of engineering work and highlights the complexities of developing professional capabilities and identities. Students develop these understandings at different rates; as is evidenced in both the student and the tutor comments thus flipped learning activities can provide opportunities for students to maximise classroom and peer-to-peer learning. Even with the structured activities, not all students embrace the need to develop professional skills as part of learning to become an engineer

Evaluation of Subsurface Flow in Fissured Sediments in the Chihuahuan Desert, Texas

Fissures are surface features, or gullies, some of which are underlain by sediment-filled fractures. A previous study of subsurface flow beneath a fissure showed higher water fluxes beneath the fissure, which was attributed to infiltration of ponded water in the fissure. This study was conducted to investigate the vertical and lateral extent of increased flow associated with fissured sediments, to compare subsurface flow beneath fissures of different maturity, and to examine different techniques for evaluating flow in fissured zones. Boreholes were drilled directly beneath four fissures and at distances of 10 m and 50 m from the fissures, and soil samples were analyzed for various soil physics parameters and environmental tracer distribution. Electromagnetic induction was used to map apparent conductivity in transects perpendicular to the fissures. Fissures had higher water potentials and lower chloride concentration than surrounding sediments. Zones of high flux were restricted to the area directly beneath some fissures, whereas others also had high fluxes in the profiles 10 m distant from the fissure. Water potential and chloride fronts were found beneath two of the fissures in the upper 20-m zone, which indicates that most of the flow occurred in this zone. Water flux estimates, based on the position of the chloride front and an assumed age of the fissures of 50 yr, ranged from 28 to 48 mm yr^-1. High tritium levels were found throughout the fissured profiles (to maximum depth of 26.4 m) and in some cases in the profiles 10 m distant from the fissure, indicating post-1952 water. The occurrence of high tritium levels beneath the chloride front in one fissure indicates that some of the water is flowing preferentially. Minimum estimates of water flux based on the tritium data ranged from 28 to 120 mm yr^-1. Stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen were less enriched beneath the fissure, which is consistent with higher fluxes beneath the fissure. Plant water potentials were of limited use in delineating fissure flow. Apparent conductivities were higher across two fissures, whereas the other two fissures did not show any variation in apparent conductivity. The higher conductivity in some fissures is attributed to higher water content. Multiple independent lines of evidence indicate that subsurface water fluxes are higher beneath fissures.Bureau of Economic Geolog

On Torsion-Free Crawley Groups

The notion of a Crawley p-group is well known in Abelian group theory. In this present work, a corresponding concept is introduced for torsion-free groups. The principal result, which uses the set-theoretic notions of the diamond and Martin’s axiom, establishes an independence result for N1-free Crawley groups

Performance modeling of ultraviolet Raman lidar systems for daytime profiling of atmospheric water vapor

We describe preliminary results from a comprehensive computer model developed to guide optimization of a Raman lidar system for measuring daytime profiles of atmospheric water vapor, emphasizing an ultraviolet, solar-blind approach

Unsaturated Zone Studies at the Proposed Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, Eagle Flat Basin, Texas

Hydrologic studies were conducted to characterize unsaturated zone processes at the proposed low-level radioactive waste disposal site and surrounding area in southern Hudspeth County, Texas. The study area is in northwest Eagle Flat basin, which is within the Basin and Range Physiographic Province. Fractured Cretaceous bedrock crops out to the southeast of the site. The thickness of the basin-fill sediments at the proposed site ranges from 164 feet (50 m) to approximately 656 feet (200 m). Northwest Eagle Flat basin is an internally drained basin that drains through the ephemeral Blanca Draw into Grayton Lake playa. The climate in the study area is subtropical arid and the long-term average annual rainfall is 12.6 inches (320 mm). Unsaturated zone studies were conducted in ephemeral stream and interstream geomorphic settings. In addition to studies of areas typical of these settings, the impact of pseudofissures, an earth fissure, and borrow pits on shallow zone unsaturated processes was also investigated. To evaluate unsaturated zone processes, 57 boreholes were drilled in the various geomorphic settings for collection of soil samples and installation of monitoring equipment. Soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory for particle size, water content, water potential, and chloride concentration. Water potential data are used to evaluate the direction of the driving force for water movement. Chloride concentration data provide information on water fluxes because chloride concentrations are inversely proportional to water flux; low chloride concentrations indicate high water fluxes because chloride is flushed through the soil, whereas high chloride concentrations indicate low water fluxes because chloride is concentrated by evapotranspiration. In addition to laboratory analyses, a monitoring program was initiated by installing neutron probe access tubes in the different geomorphic settings to monitor water content. Field psychrometers were installed to a depth of 60.7 feet (18.5 m) in the interstream setting to monitor water potential and temperature. Hydraulic conductivity was also measured in the field using permeameter tests, constant-head borehole infiltration tests, and multistep constant-head borehole infiltration tests.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Peer support for discharge from inpatient to community mental health services: Study protocol clinical trial (SPIRIT Compliant).

INTRODUCTION: In the period shortly after discharge from inpatient to community mental health care, people are at increased risk of self-harm, suicide, and readmission to hospital. Discharge interventions including peer support have shown potential, and there is some evidence that community-based peer support reduces readmissions. However, systematic reviews of peer support in mental health services indicate poor trial quality and a lack of reporting of how peer support is distinctive from other mental health support. This study is designed to establish the clinical and cost effectiveness of a peer worker intervention to support discharge from inpatient to community mental health care, and to address issues of trial quality and clarity of reporting of peer support interventions. METHODS: This protocol describes an individually randomized controlled superiority trial, hypothesizing that people offered a peer worker discharge intervention in addition to usual follow-up care in the community are less likely to be readmitted in the 12 months post discharge than people receiving usual care alone. A total of 590 people will be recruited shortly before discharge from hospital and randomly allocated to care as usual plus the peer worker intervention or care as usual alone. Manualized peer support provided by trained peer workers begins in hospital and continues for 4 months in the community post discharge. Secondary psychosocial outcomes are assessed at 4 months post discharge, and service use and cost outcomes at 12 months post discharge, alongside a mixed methods process evaluation. DISCUSSION: Clearly specified procedures for sequencing participant allocation and for blinding assessors to allocation, plus full reporting of outcomes, should reduce risk of bias in trial findings and contribute to improved quality in the peer support evidence base. The involvement of members of the study team with direct experience of peer support, mental distress, and using mental health services, in coproducing the intervention and designing the trial, ensures that we theorize and clearly describe the peer worker intervention, and evaluate how peer support is related to any change in outcome. This is an important methodological contribution to the evidence base. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was prospectively registered as ISRCTN 10043328 on November 28, 2016

Electrical Conductivity and Gamma Ray Response to Clay, Water, and Chloride Content in Fissured Sediments, Trans-Pecos, Texas

Near-surface conductivity profiles determined using surface and borehole electromagnetic induction instruments were compared with each other and with variations in several important hydrological parameters, including clay content, water content, and chloride content in unsaturated sediments in fissured settings. Time-domain electromagnetic soundings were acquired at 10 boreholes in the Eagle Flat, Red Light Bolson, Hueco Bolson, and Ryan Flat areas in the arid Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. These boreholes were logged with induction and passive radiation probes to determine conductivity profiles and natural gamma ray activity. At the Red Light Bolson and Hueco Bolson fissures, the gamma logs were sensitive to clay content and followed the conventional trend of increasing count rates with increasing clay content. At Eagle Flat, gamma count rates were not much higher in the clay fraction than they were in the silt and sand fraction; thus, the gamma log underestimated the variability in clay content. At the Ryan Flat fissure, gamma count rates were higher than for the other fissure sites and were higher for the sand and silt fraction than for the clay fraction. This suggests that the sedimentary grains making up these deposits are volcanogenic and that the coarse fraction contains a larger percentage of K-bearing minerals than the clay fraction.Bureau of Economic Geolog