Assessment for learning in architectural design programmes

This paper compares the learning and teaching strategies practised in the programmes of the Architectural Subject Group at the University of Northumbria with best practices of assessment (‘Assessment for Learning’) as promoted by the Centre for Excellence in Learning in the same University. These best practices are grouped under the umbrella concepts of ‘Assessment for Learning’ and comprise six key criteria which can be paraphrased as; authenticity and complexity in methods of assessment; use of summative assessment as the main driver for learning; extensive opportunities to develop and demonstrate learning; rich in formal feedback; rich in informal feedback; developing students’ abilities to direct their own learning, evaluate their own progress, and support the learning of others

The Professional Doctorate by Portfolio: Alternative Assessment for Advanced Practitioner-Led Scholarship?

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) offers a bottom-up, locally situated and contextualized approach to enhancing educational practice. It has been championed for several years, yet remains curiously undervalued within the academy, despite clear benefits for curricular development and staff engagement. This paper reflects upon the production of an auto-ethnographic reflective evaluation of SoTL activities relating to architectural education, forming part of the first author’s portfolio-based assessment for a Professional Doctorate in Education (Ed D). The paper evaluates the challenges and potential of undertaking this doctoral assessment path, which appears to be seldom employed, at least in the UK. Particular attention is placed on negotiated assessment by portfolio as a key driver for practical value, and the flexibility that this route affords for academics to shape their professional development through SoTL activities. Affordances and challenges of this pathway for practitioner-led scholarship and doctoral recognition are illuminated.Keywords: portfolio assessment; doctoral assessment; scholarship of teaching and learning; professional doctorate, pragmatis

Developing a curriculum for engagement: Architectural education at Northumbria University

This document collates examples of the author’s practice, initiatives, inquiries, and scholarship in the five year period from 2010 to 2015. In conjunction with the critical commentary, ‘Developing a Curriculum for Engagement for Architectural Education at Northumbria University’ it serves to satisfy the requirements of Northumbria University’s regulations for the submission of a Professional Doctorate by Portfolio. The individual components within this portfolio seek to underpin the author’s claim towards developing a ‘curriculum for engagement’ in support of the student’s holistic educational experience of architectural education at Northumbria. The majority of the components have resulted from collaborations with colleagues in the course of the author’s practice. These have included fellow academics, academic managers, colleagues from other institutions and disciplines, as well as students of the programmes of architecture. In support of developing a ‘curriculum for engagement’, these collaborative works embody the notion of ‘communicative action’ (Habermas, 1981) in seeking consensual, iterative and beneficial initiatives for the benefit of student learning and experience. All inquiries have been supported by ethical permissions from relevant schools and faculties in the institution. All components have also been made available in the public domain, through a variety of outlets relevant to the particular output and audience. Permissions have been sought and granted for their reproduction in this portfolio. The individual components have been re-formatted for the purpose of this portfolio in order to comply with Northumbria University regulations for doctoral submissions. Font sizes and type, line-spaces and layouts have been standardised, and Harvard Northumbria has been used throughout for the purposes of citations and in-text referencing. References have been collated alphabetically. Word counts have omitted references

Optimisation of cat neutering anaesthesia protocols for use in the community

The aim of this study was to compare the two opioids methadone and buprenorphine in sedative combinations administered to cats undergoing castration in a high-volume neutering setting. Both combinations were used prior to orchidectomy in cats (Routine Cat Castrations) as part of a ‘drop-in clinic’ with no prior appointments required. The overall outcome was to determine a combination to best enable a safe, quick, effective turnover of neuters with limited financial, infrastructure and staffing resources. A total of 166 cats were recruited as part of this clinical trial. This included 15 cases as part of a pilot study. The aim was to gain two equal numbers for each group over a set period of time. Quantitative planning of the total study was not known as this was incorporated as part of a working teaching unit in conjunction with Nottingham university. The drop-in clinic took place every Friday which allowed an open appointment system from different demographics such as vet triage, owned patients, multi-cat household, stray and ferals as part of an TNR programme. Cats received one of two possible combinations, medetomidine 600mcg/m² with buprenorphine 180mcg/m² (MB) or medetomidine 500mcg/m² with methadone 5mg/m² (MM) administered intramuscularly (IM). Sedation was scored using a modified simple descriptive score (SDS) 10 minutes after administering the initial injection. Anaesthesia was induced using isoflurane administered in 100% oxygen via a tight-fitting face mask connected to an Ayres T piece with Jackson Rees modification. Parameters were recorded at 5-minute intervals intraoperatively. At the end of surgery isoflurane was discontinued and one minute later atipamezole was administered IM. The recovery stage was monitored and timing to sternal recumbency followed by portal exploration were recorded. Data collection was recorded on anaesthetic record sheets and transposed to an Excel spreadsheet at a later date. The medetomidine and methadone combination had significantly higher sedation scores using the SDS modified system. This result included an element of mask induction assessment when compared to the use of the medetomidine and buprenorphine combination, which consistently scored low on the SDS system. Methadone provided superior sedation to buprenorphine prior to anaesthesia maintenance using mask induction as part of the protocol. The recovery data showed both sternal and portal times were significantly shorter with medetomidine and methadone compared to medetomidine and buprenorphine. Both combinations proved suitable for cat castration anaesthesia. Using the methadone combination can increase the turnover of patients contributing to improved welfare and optimising resources

Optimisation of cat neutering anaesthesia protocols for use in the community

The aim of this study was to compare the two opioids methadone and buprenorphine in sedative combinations administered to cats undergoing castration in a high-volume neutering setting. Both combinations were used prior to orchidectomy in cats (Routine Cat Castrations) as part of a ‘drop-in clinic’ with no prior appointments required. The overall outcome was to determine a combination to best enable a safe, quick, effective turnover of neuters with limited financial, infrastructure and staffing resources. A total of 166 cats were recruited as part of this clinical trial. This included 15 cases as part of a pilot study. The aim was to gain two equal numbers for each group over a set period of time. Quantitative planning of the total study was not known as this was incorporated as part of a working teaching unit in conjunction with Nottingham university. The drop-in clinic took place every Friday which allowed an open appointment system from different demographics such as vet triage, owned patients, multi-cat household, stray and ferals as part of an TNR programme. Cats received one of two possible combinations, medetomidine 600mcg/m² with buprenorphine 180mcg/m² (MB) or medetomidine 500mcg/m² with methadone 5mg/m² (MM) administered intramuscularly (IM). Sedation was scored using a modified simple descriptive score (SDS) 10 minutes after administering the initial injection. Anaesthesia was induced using isoflurane administered in 100% oxygen via a tight-fitting face mask connected to an Ayres T piece with Jackson Rees modification. Parameters were recorded at 5-minute intervals intraoperatively. At the end of surgery isoflurane was discontinued and one minute later atipamezole was administered IM. The recovery stage was monitored and timing to sternal recumbency followed by portal exploration were recorded. Data collection was recorded on anaesthetic record sheets and transposed to an Excel spreadsheet at a later date. The medetomidine and methadone combination had significantly higher sedation scores using the SDS modified system. This result included an element of mask induction assessment when compared to the use of the medetomidine and buprenorphine combination, which consistently scored low on the SDS system. Methadone provided superior sedation to buprenorphine prior to anaesthesia maintenance using mask induction as part of the protocol. The recovery data showed both sternal and portal times were significantly shorter with medetomidine and methadone compared to medetomidine and buprenorphine. Both combinations proved suitable for cat castration anaesthesia. Using the methadone combination can increase the turnover of patients contributing to improved welfare and optimising resources

Transforming growth factor-beta promotes rhinovirus replication in bronchial epithelial cells by suppressing the innate immune response

Rhinovirus (RV) infection is a major cause of asthma exacerbations which may be due to a deficient innate immune response in the bronchial epithelium. We hypothesized that the pleiotropic cytokine, TGF-?, influences interferon (IFN) production by primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBECs) following RV infection. Exogenous TGF-?(2) increased RV replication and decreased IFN protein secretion in response to RV or double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Conversely, neutralizing TGF-? antibodies decreased RV replication and increased IFN expression in response to RV or dsRNA. Endogenous TGF-?(2) levels were higher in conditioned media of PBECs from asthmatic donors and the suppressive effect of anti-TGF-? on RV replication was significantly greater in these cells. Basal SMAD-2 activation was reduced when asthmatic PBECs were treated with anti-TGF-? and this was accompanied by suppression of SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 expression. Our results suggest that endogenous TGF-? contributes to a suppressed IFN response to RV infection possibly via SOCS-1 and SOCS-3

Mechanical strain causes adaptive change in bronchial fibroblasts enhancing profibrotic and inflammatory responses

Asthma is characterized by periodic episodes of bronchoconstriction and reversible airway obstruction; these symptoms are attributable to a number of factors including increased mass and reactivity of bronchial smooth muscle and extracellular matrix (ECM) in asthmatic airways. Literature has suggested changes in cell responses and signaling can be elicited via modulation of mechanical stress acting upon them, potentially affecting the microenvironment of the cell. In this study, we hypothesized that mechanical strain directly affects the (myo)fibroblast phenotype in asthma. Therefore, we characterized responses of bronchial fibroblasts, from 6 normal and 11 asthmatic non-smoking volunteers, exposed to cyclical mechanical strain using flexible silastic membranes. Samples were analyzed for proteoglycans, ?-smooth muscle actin (?SMA), collagens I and III, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 2 &amp; 9 and interleukin-8 (IL-8) by qRT-PCR, Western blot, zymography and ELISA. Mechanical strain caused a decrease in ?SMA mRNA but no change in either ?SMA protein or proteoglycan expression. In contrast the inflammatory mediator IL-8, MMPs and interstitial collagens were increased at both the transcriptional and protein level. The results demonstrate an adaptive response of bronchial fibroblasts to mechanical strain, irrespective of donor. The adaptation involves cytoskeletal rearrangement, matrix remodelling and inflammatory cytokine release. These results suggest that mechanical strain could contribute to disease progression in asthma by promoting inflammation and remodelling responses.<br/

Expression of CD44 and integrins in bronchial mucosa of normal and mildly asthmatic subjects

We have investigated the expression of cell surface markers and leucocyte cell adhesion molecules by immunohistochemistry in bronchial biopsies from 10 mild atopic asthmatics and 8 normal, nonatopic subjects. Significantly increased numbers of eosinophils (p<0.01) were evident in the bronchial submucosa of asthmatic subjects. In epithelium there were more CD44+ (p<0.02) and lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1)+ (p<0.06) leucocytes in asthmatics than in normal subjects. Bronchial epithelial cells stained positively with anti-CD44 monoclonal antibodies (moAb) in both groups; however, when the staining was expressed as percentage of the total basement membrane, a considerable and highly significant increase was observed in the asthmatics (median 80 vs 22%, p=0.003). Few leucocytes were positive for very late activation antigen (VLA)-1, VLA-2 and VLA-4. The moAb for VLA-6 stained the basement membrane of the bronchial epithelium; while intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) were constitutively expressed in endothelium. A positive correlation was found between LFA-1+ cells and activated eosinophils (EG2+) in the submucosa (p<0.005; r(s)=0.80). We conclude that even in mild asthma there is evidence of increased expression of cell surface ligands, and suggest that adhesive mechanisms play a role both in cell recruitment and disease activity.peer-reviewe

Soluble ADAM33 initiates airway remodeling to promote susceptibility for allergic asthma in early life

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airways disease that usually begins in early life and involves gene-environment interactions. Although most asthma exhibits allergic inflammation, many allergic individuals do not have asthma. Here, we report how the asthma gene A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease (ADAM)33, acts as local tissue susceptibility gene that promotes allergic asthma. We show that enzymatically active soluble (s)ADAM33 is increased in asthmatic airways and plays a role in airway remodeling, independent of inflammation. Furthermore, remodeling and inflammation are both suppressed in Adam33 null mice after allergen challenge. When induced in utero or added ex vivo, sADAM33 causes structural remodeling of the airways, which enhances post-natal airway eosinophilia and bronchial hyperresponsiveness following sub-threshold challenge with an aeroallergen. This substantial gene-environment interaction helps to explain the end-organ expression of allergic asthma in genetically susceptible individuals. Finally, we show that sADAM33-induced airway remodeling is reversible, highlighting the therapeutic potential of targeting ADAM33 in asthma