417 research outputs found
Collaborative Project Brief Scorecard method : evaluating product design projects to aid design effort estimation
Designers use their tacit knowledge to estimate project design effort needs, which can be enhanced through the understanding of the factors that most influence those needs. Evaluating and assessing project briefs against these factors can assist designers when planning their projects. The Collaborative Project Brief Scorecard (CPDS) Method identifies those factors and produces a scorecard for designers to evaluate project briefs based on these factors and allows for project comparisons, aids in past project recall and provides a focal point for collaborative reflection on design activities
Rapid, 5 min, low temperature aqueous platinization for plastic substrates for dye-sensitized solar cells
This paper reports a rapid (5 min), low temperature (120 �C) method to platinize the counter electrodes
of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) devices. This new method uses aqueous solutions and is based on chemical
bath deposition of an activating Pd layer followed by Pt only using H2 gas as the reductant. This
method has been tested on flexible, plastic substrates (indium tin oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate
or polyethylene naphthalate, ITO-PET or ITO-PEN, respectively). We report device efficiencies up to
7.2% on ITO-PET which is comparable to devices made using high temperature (400 �C) processing on
rigid, fluoride-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass counter electrodes. The method is scalable and suitable for continuous
roll-to-roll production
University lecturers’ adaptability: Examining links with perceived autonomy support, organisational commitment, and psychological wellbeing
In this study, we examined associations between university lecturers’ perceived autonomy support (PAS), adaptability, organisational commitment, and psychological wellbeing. A sample of university lecturers (N = 102) from a single ex-polytechnic higher education institution in the United Kingdom completed validated scales for each construct in the spring term. Inspired by prior work in pre-tertiary education with schoolteachers, a conceptual model of predicted relations was developed and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings showed that PAS was positively associated with lecturers’ adaptability, organisational commitment, and psychological wellbeing; however, adaptability was unable to influence these outcomes independently of its association with PAS. The findings extend prior work with schoolteachers suggesting that, while adaptability is of importance, its influence may be more salient at pre-tertiary level – where there is typically heightened regulation and lower autonomy – and less salient when autonomy options are wider, as is the case in higher education
Quantitative chemical analysis of perovskite deposition using spin coating
Lead and halide ion compositions of spin coated organo-lead halide perovskite films have been quantified
using ion chromatography (IC) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) using perovskite films manufactured
by 5 different researchers (3 replicates per treatment) to monitor variability between researchers
and individual researcher reproducibility. Planar and mesoporous TiO2-coated glass substrates have
been studied along with tribromide (CH3NH3PbBr3), triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) and mixed halide
(CH3NH3PbI3�xClx) perovskite films. The data show low yields of spin coated perovskite material (ca.
1%) and preferential deposition of I� over Cl� in mixed halide films
Psychology Education in the Post-Covid World
A major aim of psychology education is to train students in psychological literacy – the
ability to apply psychological knowledge to everyday activities. In this paper we explore how
well this has been achieved in recent years. As a result of Covid-19 the focus of teaching in
recent months has inevitably been on developing online methods of teaching and attempts
to develop psychological literacy have of necessity received less attention. However, we
argue that the developments enforced by Covid-19 actually open up a range of new
possibilities and that psychological literacy can benefit from these changes. In particular, we
suggest that much of the transmission of psychological knowledge can continue to take
place online and that universities should become places where the focus is on the application
of that knowledge
Advocacy in the tail: Exploring the implications of ‘climategate’ for science journalism and public debate in the digital age
This paper explores the evolving practices of science journalism and public debate in the digital age. The vehicle for this study is the release of digitally stored email correspondence, data and documents from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the weeks immediately prior to the United Nations Copenhagen Summit (COP-15) in December 2009. Described using the journalistic shorthand of ‘climategate’, and initially promoted through socio-technical networks of bloggers, this episode became a global news story and the subject of several formal reviews. ‘Climategate’ illustrates that media literate critics of anthropogenic explanations of climate change used digital tools to support their cause, making visible selected, newsworthy aspects of scientific information and the practices of scientists. In conclusion, I argue that ‘climategate’ may have profound implications for the production and distribution of science news, and how climate science is represented and debated in the digitally-mediated public sphere
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