An evaluation of the first year experience from the mature students' perspective; a multi-institutional comparison

This study investigates the experiences of mature students across three higher education institutions in the UK. The issues arising are of relevance to academics who are involved in widening participation and in evaluating support in their own programmes for the diversity of students. The sample includes mature students from programmes in Health, where mature students form a majority, and in Business, where mature students formed a minority. Focus groups were used to gain access to student perspectives on expectations, motivations, sacrifices, transitions, induction, programmes and assessment. The findings include misleading information that did not acknowledge the particular concerns and needs of mature students, induction processes that were not experienced as inclusive by mature students, and varying experiences of support but overall the institutional context was significant

Multi-Array 5G V2V Relative Positioning: Performance Bounds

We study the performance bounds of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) relative positioning for vehicles with multiple antenna arrays. The Cram\'{e}r-Rao bound for the estimation of the relative position and the orientation of the Tx vehicle is derived, when angle of arrival (AOA) measurements with or without time-difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements are used. In addition, geometrically intuitive expressions for the corresponding Fisher information are provided. The derived bounds are numerically evaluated for different carrier frequencies, bandwidths and array configurations under different V2V scenarios, i.e. overtaking and platooning. The significance of the AOA and TDOA measurements for position estimation is investigated. The achievable positioning accuracy is then compared with the present requirements of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) vehicle-to-everything (V2X) standardization

Transforming e-assessment for learning: developing an institution wide scaffold

The aim of the workshop is to discuss the lessons learned from the institution wide approach to e-assessment currently adopted by Middlesex University. Specifically the workshop will engage participants to: • Explore and consider a variety of factors and needs in implementation of institution wide e assessment practices and processes from the perspective of the HEI, the staff and the students. • Discuss the implications of such change on strategy, regulation and policy. • Introduce the resources developed to aid institutional change (e-pedagogic tool (Epdt), institutional priorities map and an institutional framework (toolkit

Learning through research: the first year experience from the mature students perspective

This collaborative work from St Martin’s College, Salford and Middlesex Universities brings together experiences of mature students, (21+ years of age on entry), in a phenomenological piece of research identifying the different ways in which they feel supported in their undergraduate studies. There is particular value to the collaborative aspect of this research as it pulls together the differences in management and structures from a higher education college, a pre-1992 and post-1992 institutions. This paper aims to highlight the findings of the research at a point in time to feature the concerns of mature students on entering and the transition into HE, to demonstrate what mature students attribute to encouraging them to succeed and persist in their studies, learning ‘what works’ type strategies from the three institutions and devising new strategies to support not only this particular group of students, but all during their undergraduate studies

Mid-infrared intersubband absorption from p-Ge quantum wells grown on Si substrates

Mid-infrared intersubband absorption from p-Ge quantum wells with Si0.5Ge0.5 barriers grown on a Si substrate is demonstrated from 6 to 9 μm wavelength at room temperature and can be tuned by adjusting the quantum well thickness. Fourier transform infra-red transmission and photoluminescence measurements demonstrate clear absorption peaks corresponding to intersubband transitions among confined hole states. The work indicates an approach that will allow quantum well intersubband photodetectors to be realized on Si substrates in the important atmospheric transmission window of 8–13 μm

Mid-Infrared Intersubband Absorption from P-Ge Quantum Wells on Si

Mid-infrared intersubband absorption from p-Ge quantum wells with Si0.5Ge0.5 barriers grown on a Si substrate is demonstrated from 6 to 9 μm wavelength at room temperature and can be tuned by adjusting the quantum well thickness. Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy measurements demonstrate clear absorption peaks corresponding to intersubband transitions among confined hole states. The work indicates an approach that will allow quantum well intersubband photodetectors to be realized on Si substrates in the important atmospheric transmission window of 8–13 μm