Unearthing learners’ conceptions of reflection to innovate business education for the 21st century

The development of learners’ capacities for critical reflection is an important learning outcome for 21st century business education. Theories suggest that a learner holds a particular orientation to reflection, and that this perspective will be influenced by his or her underlying beliefs. This, coupled with an increased focus on the student experience, personal development, and self-regulation in higher education, offers scope for considering instructional design from a second-order perspective, or in other words, from the student’s point of view. This study sought to understand: 1) the ways that business students orientate to reflection, 2) the different conceptions they hold of reflection, and 3) whether there is a relationship between the two. Reflective learning questionnaires were completed by 112 business students studying at the University of Northampton. Survey results showed that while the research instrument was a good fit for investigating orientations to and conceptions of reflection, there did not appear to be a correlation between the two. Learning analytics such as these will be useful for considering how the University can design more meaningful business curricula. However, the disconnect between conceptions of and orientations to reflection needs to be explored through further research

Promoting reflection in asynchronous virtual learning spaces: tertiary distance tutors' conceptions

Increasingly, universities are embedding reflective activities into the curriculum. With the growth in online tertiary education, how effectively is reflection being promoted or used in online learning spaces? Based on the notion that teachers’ beliefs will influence their approaches to teaching, this research sought to understand how a group of distance tutors at the UK Open University conceptualised reflection. It was hoped that these findings would illuminate their approaches to promoting reflection as part of their online pedagogies. Phenomenographic analysis indicated that these tutors conceptualised reflection in four qualitatively different ways. Furthermore, the data suggested that these educators held a combination of two conceptions: one that understood the origin of being reflective and one that understood the purpose of reflection. Analysis of structural aspects of these conceptions offered insight into tutors’ own perspectives for what is needed to make online learning environments fertile territory for reflective learning

Becoming of being as the Ground to Technology and its Relationship to Humanityas Subjectification

The becoming of being is affiliated with the concept of change and how the latter exerts an influence on the world Although not posited with its results becoming is made manifest by means of its engagement which for modernity infers the presence of things or objects that reify the world And because technology is associated with things including its underlying matrix it is now technology that dominates the becoming of being Although humanity diminishes the importance of its being when it intensifies the being of technology this intensification reverts back to humanity whose being then is enhanced This relationship indicates that both humanity and technology are bound together in a cycle of dependency since both use the same metaphysical means for change that is derivable from being s becoming Originally utilized as an aid to well-being technology has been transformed into the meaning of being itsel

Becoming of being as the Ground to Technology and its Relationship to Humanityas Subjectification

The becoming of being is affiliated with the concept of change and how the latter exerts an influence on the world Although not posited with its results becoming is made manifest by means of its engagement which for modernity infers the presence of things or objects that reify the world And because technology is associated with things including its underlying matrix it is now technology that dominates the becoming of being Although humanity diminishes the importance of its being when it intensifies the being of technology this intensification reverts back to humanity whose being then is enhanced This relationship indicates that both humanity and technology are bound together in a cycle of dependency since both use the same metaphysical means for change that is derivable from being s becoming Originally utilized as an aid to well-being technology has been transformed into the meaning of being itsel

Volatile apocarotenoid biosynthesis and carotenoid catabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana

Carotenoids are essential for plant photosynthesis. But, the story doesn’t end there: volatile apocarotenoids, carotenoid oxidative cleavage products, are important plant fragrances and semiochemicals, and some are believed to be so-called ‘apocarotenoid signals’ (ACS), regulating plant processes. From in vitro experiments, apocarotenoids are known to be formed either by carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs) or non-enzymatic oxidation. But, in planta mechanisms are in many cases unclear. Are there volatile apocarotenoids yet to be discovered? Are volatile apocarotenoids formed via CCD or non-enzymatic processes in planta? And are some volatile apocarotenoids ACSs? To study volatile apocarotenoid metabolism in planta, a solid phase microextraction (SPME) gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) protocol for analysing volatile apocarotenoids was developed. I also detoured to examine a new MS ionisation technology, cold electron ionisation (cold-EI). This technology improves molecular mass determination via GC/MS. The ability of cold-EI to enhance GC/MS plant volatile identification (via provision of molecular mass data) was evaluated. SPME-GC/MS was then applied to analyse volatile apocarotenoid profiles from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Col-0 (wild-type) and ccd-loss-of-function single and double mutants were analysed, as were the Arabidopsis ccr2 mutant and corresponding ccr2-background ccd mutants. ccr2 accumulates linear carotenoids not typically observed in Arabidopsis, and I’ve found it also emits exotic volatile apocarotenoids. A more-targeted study of volatile apocarotenoids and CCD1 and CCD4 activity during senescence was also performed. This thesis discusses aspects of analytical method development, specifically optimisation and applications of SPME sampling and cold-EI technology. Using untargeted SPME-GC/MS volatile metabolomics, a remarkable breadth of known and putative volatile apocarotenoids was uncovered in Arabidopsis. Evidence suggests CCDs barely contribute to volatile apocarotenoid production, most likely producing non-volatile apocarotenoids instead. Volatile apocarotenoids seem to be formed mainly via carotenoid non-enzymatic oxidation. My results suggest carotenoid turnover in photosynthetic tissues is important: volatile apocarotenoid production often increases markedly when CCD function is lost. Despite previous studies’ results, no new evidences were found for CCD-derived ACS contributing to either the ccr2 phenotype or senescence retardation

A Metaphysical Approach to the Philosophy of History: An Introduction to a Universality

If history is aligned with metaphysics, it can promote universality, and until this alignment occurs, one culture, or one people, or one age has little chance of being successfully compared with another. Individual histories of isolated periods of time, such as ancient Egypt, or Aztec America, or the age of Louis XIV are important individually, but they confer little meaning when compared with others, that is, if they are comparable at all. It is the task of historians to search for humanity among all humans who lived in bygone ages. Certainly, universality indicates that the world is the result of a process of individuals pulling together and pushing apart, of support for underlying proposals and denials of the same. History signifies a process that is the result of the unknown, and a process is simply a series of steps, actions, or procedures producing a result. Whether the result is desirable is irrelevant to the process itself because the latter manifests an indifference to its outcome

The Cusp of Being: Further Studies on the Becoming of Being and Its Relationship to Technology

Technological applications must be differentiated from technological preconditions because the former are attributes thereof, but the latter are ontological as essential fundamentals. And this distinction is of the utmost importance for an explanation not only how technology originates, but why it originates. The how of technology is explainable by the relationship between non-being and being, and the why is explainable by the open relationship, expressed as a dependency, within the ontological gap that lies within us. It is this gap or this openness that enables possibilities that lie latent within technology’s non-being to appear as its being, and thereby empowering technology to come into the world, that is, the why posits the how. This understanding reveals the full and unconvoluted meaning of technology because when expressed in this way, it is the equivalent for the totality of human reality that is manifested through human culture. Because technology is fundamental to everything we do, it is by means of our humanity that technology’s non-being is empowered to become what it is

Africa and Technology in Higher Education: Trends, Challenges, and Promise

Showing that technology in higher education in African countries is lagging behind the developed world and also that Internet connectivity is on the rise in African nations, this paper describes and analyzes trends in the use of ICTs as well as the impact that the shortage in technological use and capacity has on Africa, particularly that needed to address the changing demands within the higher education sector. Challenges to the proposed widespread implementation of technology exist, particularly because most institutions of higher education have very limited technological capacity and basic resources, such as electricity, equipment, and funding; brain drain, improper use of ICT, and the colonial mindset are also factors. It is suggested that ICT be integrated into education with a purpose and within the context of postcolonial theory and a critical pedagogy perspective. Key uses of ICT in education, including mobile technology, are access, support, and communication, making learning available to anyone anywhere and enhancing learning as an interactive process, with much potential for collaboration and problem-solving. Four salient components related to incorporating ICTs into higher education are discussed: (a) teacher education; (b) curriculum; (c) distance learning; and (d) educational policy, planning, and management. Examples of technological initiatives in higher education as well as recommendations are given. Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania, representative of other African nations to varying degrees, are highlighted in regard to ICT infrastructure and its relevancy to higher education. It is concluded that African higher education has high potential for catching up in the technological race

RILDOS: A Beaconing Standard for Small Satellite Identification and Situational Awareness

The increasing launch pace of small satellites and CubeSats presents a growing challenge to identify and locate newly launched satellites. This impacts mission success primarily through the inability to consistently perform rapid and accurate determination of satellite identity and orbital location after deployment. This paper proposes an approach to resolve this issue through a simple radio and message broadcast standard providing definitive identification, location, and operational state data on a low power, very low data rate subcarrier. Called RILDOS (Radio with Identity and Location Data for Operations and SSA [Space Situational Awareness]), this would be an open standard available for use in new systems. RILDOS is a repeating, unencrypted message broadcast with a unique identifier, timestamp, spacecraft derived position / velocity / acceleration, and predefined emergency flags. The spread spectrum signal is transmitted at a low power and very low data rate and can be radiated continuously or only while in contact. Centering the signal underneath the primary radio frequency for the satellite avoids the need for additional frequency deconfliction or a secondary radio. Cycling every ten seconds, a short collection gathers enough data for an orbital determination as well as top level status about the health of the satellite