E-learning and e-systems to facilitate learning from marked student work : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science at Massey University

Heinrich (2004a) first introduced the concept of 'electronic repositories of marked student work' and suggested an innovative approach of learning from marked student work. This research project further develops this e-learning approach. The learning approach was analyzed in the framework of modern educational theories, especially those relevant to formative assessment. Learning activities that mostly suit this new approach were identified. These activities show a large degree of variation in cognitive complexity and learning effectiveness, and according to their characteristics, can be associated with various learning styles. A range of factors that need to be considered in constructing learning processes based on these learning activities were investigated. The conceptualization of an e-learning environment to support the approach of learning from marked student work was developed. Three major objectives of developing such an e-learning environment were identified. Based on these objectives the general framework of e-learning from marked student work was outlined. There were very few applications of this approach in teaching practice and no study has been done on its effectiveness in the practical teaching before this research. An initial learning experiment using this approach was carried out. The effectiveness of this approach was evaluated and various aspects associated with this approach were investigated. To fully support this new learning approach, a web-based prototype system named E-Repositories of Marked Student Work, was developed. This research project developed opportunities for student learning and provided guidelines for teaching staff on how to reuse valuable learning resources in their teaching practice in the e-learning context

Board composition, monitoring and credit risk: evidence from the UK banking industry

This paper examines the effects of board composition and monitoring on the credit risk in the UK banking sector. The study finds CEO duality, pay and board independence to have a positive and significant effect on credit risk of the UK banks. However, board size and women on board have a negative and significant influence on credit risk. Further analysis using sub-samples divided into pre-financial crisis, during the financial crisis and post crisis reinforce the robustness of our findings. Overall, the paper sheds light on the effectiveness of the within-firm monitoring arrangement, particularly, the effects of CEO power and board independence on credit risk decisions thereby contributing to the agency theory

Remark on the open string pair production enhancement

Recent studies by one of the present authors along with his collaborators in [1-4] show that there exist the so-called open string pair production for a possible simplest system of two Dp branes, placed parallel at a separation and with each carrying different electric flux, in Type II superstring theories. Further this pair production can be greatly enhanced when a magnetic flux, sharing no common field strength index with the electric one, is added, implying then $p \ge 3$. Given this, one may wonder if further enhancement can be achieved by adding more magnetic flux(es) in a similar fashion. In this paper, we explore this possibility. It turns out that adding more such magnetic flux diminishes rather than enhances the pair production rate. This actually implies that the largest enhancement occurs at $p = 3$ when the same realistic electric and magnetic fluxes are applied for all $p \ge 3$. Curiously one of D3 branes may be our own world and if so, the enhancement gives a possible opportunity to detect the pair production, therefore to test the underlying string theories.Comment: 14 pages, 0 figure

Spin dependent transport in ferromagnetic/superconductor/ferromagnetic single electron transistor

Ferromagnetic single electron transistors with Al islands and orthogonal ferromagnetic leads (Co) are fabricated using ebeam lithography followed by shadow evaporation techniques. I-V characteristics exhibit typical single electron tunneling effects. Transport measurements performed in external magnetic field show that, when the two ferromagnetic leads are in antiparallel configuration, spin imbalance leads to a suppression of superconductivity.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure