Navigating Toward Success: Black and Minority Ethnic Students in Postgraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Courses in England

This thesis aims to address a paucity in the literature of the experiences of ‘home’ Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students in postgraduate (PG) education in England, with a particular focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This is done by (1) identifying institutional barriers to access to and progression through PG study, including the role of Widening Participation (WP) policy and (2) the factors facilitating educational success of BME students. This thesis uses a multi-faceted framework of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991), Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Gillborn, 2008), Bourdieusian thinking tools (Bourdieu 1997) and Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth (CCW) capitals (aspirational, linguistic, social, navigational, familial and resistant). It argues for the addition of what is theorised as perspective capital to the CCW framework, which can be seen as a resource that allows people of colour to make contributions to the field, stemming from a perspective which is not readily available to people from dominant groups. The data includes semi-structured initial (n=15) and follow up interviews (n=10) with BME students in PG STEM courses, semi-structured interviews with university staff (n=18), student survey (n=246) and various policy and marketing documents. The data suggests that the lack of intersectional thinking in the conceptualisation of WP policy has had negative impacts on BME students. Furthermore, BME students in this research experienced othering. This stemmed from academics’ discourses marking racial difference and from how the organisational structures of the PG field relegated these students to a category of needing support. This had negative impacts on their progression and mental wellbeing. However, students in this study had a range of capitals at their disposal, which allowed them to navigate the PG field. This thesis makes a significant contribution to knowledge by developing Yosso’s work to include a new notion of perspective capital and fine-tuning the conceptualisations of linguistic and social capitals within the CCW framework

Senior Recital: Jackson Harpe, trumpet

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Mr. Harpe studies trumpet with Douglas Lindsey.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1481/thumbnail.jp

Beach Wheelchair Attachment

This document includes the problem that is under scrutiny, the background research towards finding a solution, the objectives, scope of the project, the planned overall design process, the preliminary design we have produced and analyzed, the critical design we have manufactured, the testing and results, and the final assessment of the produced design. The problem is lack of easy access and movement for wheelchair users on the beach. Other solutions and designs have been logged under background research. With this information, the scope of work was designed to meet all the needs specified and describe how the specifications will be measured. The overall process was undertaken to produce multiple designs which were then refined into a preliminary design to move forward with. A timeline for the project and analysis of the preliminary design have been specified. The critical design and manufacturing plan for the design are mentioned as well. The critical design is a wheel and lever ratchet mechanism that can be easily attached to any manual quick-release axle wheelchair. The design is a three-part assembly: the ratcheting hub and wheels are the first assembly, the second is the lever which attaches to the first assembly, and the third assembly is the separate front wheel ski mechanism to prevent sinking into the sand

Dublin Core Metadata Harvested Through OAI-PMH

The introduction in 2001 of the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) increased interest in and awareness of metadata quality issues relevant to digital library interoperability and the use of harvested metadata to build "union catalogs" of digital information resources. Practitioners have offered wide-ranging advice to metadata authors and have suggested metrics useful for measuring the quality of shareable metadata. Is there evidence of changes in metadata practice in response to such advice and/or as a result of an increased awareness of the importance of metadata interoperability? This paper looks at metadata records created over a six-year period that have been harvested by the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and reports on quantitative and qualitative analyses of changes observed over time in shareable metadata quality.IMLS National Leadership Grant LG-02-02-0281published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Mechanical Behavior of Compression Molded Polyethylene Terephthalate

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of time, temperature, and pressure on the tensile strength and elastic modulus of recycled PET. Compression molding trials were performed on shredded PET bottles to produce tensile test specimens conforming to ASTM D638-03. Aluminum molds containing the PET were mechanically fastened together at the desired pressure and heated in an electric oven. The resulting specimens were subjected to tensile testing for analysis. This screening experiment failed to generate any statistically significant data concerning the factors of interest. These preliminary results may be used to design a more systematic follow-up study

Fibre optic sensors for high speed hypervelocity impact studies and low velocity drop tests

The initial aim of this project was to develop a non-contact fibre optic based displacement sensor to operate in the harsh environment of a 'Light Gas Gun' (LGG), which can 'fire' small particles at velocities ranging from 1-8.4 km/s. The LGG is used extensively for research in aerospace to analyze the effects of high speed impacts on materials. Ideally the measurement should be made close to the centre of the impact to minimise corruption of the data from edge effects and survive the impact. A further requirement is that it should operate at a stand-off distance of ~ 8cm. For these reasons we chose to develop a pseudo con-focal intensity sensor, which demonstrated resolution comparable with conventional PVDF sensors combined with high survivability and low cost. A second sensor was developed based on 'Fibre Bragg Gratings' (FBG) which although requiring contact with the target the low weight and very small contact area had minimal effect on the dynamics of the target. The FBG was mounted either on the surface of the target or tangentially between a fixed location. The output signals from the FBG were interrogated in time by a new method. Measurements were made on composite and aluminium plates in the LGG and on low speed drop tests. The particle momentum for the drop tests was chosen to be similar to that of the particles used in the LGG

Perceptions of Agricultural Leadership Academic Programs at 1862 Land-Grant Universities

This study sought to characterize perceptions of agricultural leadership programs in colleges of agriculture, food, life, human, or environmental sciences at 1862 land-grant institutions. Twenty-six academic programs were identified with a major, minor, graduate degree, specialization, concentration, or certificate in agricultural leadership. Programs were identified through analyzing the APLU and USDA NIFA websites, searching academic college websites, and contacting deans and departments heads. Objectives included identifying programs, describing the need for programs, describing evolution that has taken place within the discipline, describing faculty recommendations for future development and growth in the field, and examining why faculty believe programs are relevant. Mixed methods were employed with a survey instrument, document analysis, and qualitative interview. Quantitative data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis, including open and axial coding. Twenty-two respondents completed the survey, while 19 completed the interview. Agricultural leadership was formed from a need in the agricultural industry but holds roots in agricultural and extension education. The discipline evolved by taking on a broad appeal, as well as experiencing growth through the expansion of community and rural leadership development. Faculty recommended collaborative efforts across the discipline through establishing a professional organization, but also indicated a unified vision was imperative for growth. Faculty were asked about the outlook of the field and foresaw growth nationwide. When referencing the relevancy of agricultural leadership’s role in academia, two themes emerged: a) agricultural leadership creates leaders through developing “human capital,” and b) graduates promote industry growth through their political, policy, and public influence. Results aligned with research indicating the discipline should be analyzed to promote a unified vision for sustainability. This vision includes collaboration to establish a set of standards and proficiencies to prepare students for roles as industry leaders. The study identified the top agricultural leadership programs at 1862 land-grant institutions, which were the University of Florida, Texas A&M University, the University of Nebraska, Oklahoma State University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Future recommendations for research included identifying perceptions of agricultural leadership beyond the scope of 1862 land-grant institutions

Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in 2D: Modeling Redshift-space Power Spectrum from Perturbation Theory

We present an improved prescription for matter power spectrum in redshift space taking a proper account of both the non-linear gravitational clustering and redshift distortion, which are of particular importance for accurately modeling baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs). Contrary to the models of redshift distortion phenomenologically introduced but frequently used in the literature, the new model includes the corrections arising from the non-linear coupling between the density and velocity fields associated with two competitive effects of redshift distortion, i.e., Kaiser and Finger-of-God effects. Based on the improved treatment of perturbation theory for gravitational clustering, we compare our model predictions with monopole and quadrupole power spectra of N-body simulations, and an excellent agreement is achieved over the scales of BAOs. Potential impacts on constraining dark energy and modified gravity from the redshift-space power spectrum are also investigated based on the Fisher-matrix formalism. We find that the existing phenomenological models of redshift distortion produce a systematic error on measurements of the angular diameter distance and Hubble parameter by 1~2%, and the growth rate parameter by ~5%, which would become non-negligible for future galaxy surveys. Correctly modeling redshift distortion is thus essential, and the new prescription of redshift-space power spectrum including the non-linear corrections can be used as an accurate theoretical template for anisotropic BAOs.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure