AI Supporting Student Academic Writing in Higher Education

In light of AI, we are developing a 5-stage writing and inquiry model that will help lecturers to support student academic writing and critical inquiry across multiple disciplines in higher education

Moving Modalities: An Exploration on how Switching Modes of Reader, Writer and Reviewer can Enhance Academic Writing Pedagogy.

For over a decade, the Academic Writing & Publishing (AWP) module has been delivered for academic staff and postgraduate students in the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), now part of the new Technological University Dublin. The module aims to support students to enhance their academic writing and to develop an academic paper to the standard of publication for a peer-reviewed journal of their choice. Module delivery comprises workshops and a range of supports and feedback mechanisms built in to give students opportunities to critically evaluate and develop their own work and to assist in the development of their peers’ writing. In its most recent delivery, a clearer delineation of three modes of working was introduced to the AWP module. These modes, Reader mode, Writer mode and Reviewer mode provide an organising framework for the delivery of module. They support students to engage with academic writing from distinctive standpoints building emphasis on critical reading and reviewing skills as key parts of writer development. This study sought to explore the value of this emphasis on the three modes of working to students on the module. It examined the practical use of the framework in terms of students’ understanding of the writing process and the development of their competency as an academic writer. It also sought to establish if there had been any impact on their sense of professional writer identity and confidence. Findings…(data analysis currently underway but will be completed shortly to add to abstract

A multimodal framework for supporting academic writer’s perspectives, practice and performance

Supporting writing remains an important dimension to the work of academic developers particularly for early career academics and doctoral candidates. A small qualitative case study was undertaken on an academic writing module to explore participants’ needs and evaluate a new multimodal writing framework which sought to enhance publication opportunities while supporting the development of writing practice. The framework introduced the modes of reading, writing and reviewing as distinctive dimensions of the writing process and introduced practical activities to build participants’ confidence and skills working in each mode. It also prompted participants to acknowledge, adopt and shift between the perspectives of reader, writer and reviewer to develop their writing. The framework is proposed as an effective way of supporting the writing of early career academics and doctoral students. Findings suggest that participants considered the framework helpful to understand and adopt modes to enhance their writing performance and improve their practice and confidence

Developing a guidance resource for managing delirium in patients with Covid-19

As the Covid-19 pandemic escalates worldwide it is apparent that many patients with more severe illness will also experience delirium. These patients pose a particular challenge in the application of optimal care due to issues with infectious risk, respiratory compromise and potential interactions between medications that can be used to manage delirium with antiviral and other treatments used for Covid-19. We describe a guidance resource adapted from existing guidelines for delirium management that has been tailored to the specific challenge of managing delirium in patients with Covid-19 infection. Issues around the assessment and treatment of these patients are examined and distilled into a simple (one-paged guidance resource that can assist clinicians in managing suspected delirium

Gulf of Mexico Loop Current path variability

Loop Current, LC, path variability exhibits a continuum of spatial and temporal scales, all are called meanders in this work. They arise from a variety of processes, including short and long waves, frontal eddies with or without closed cores and developing baroclinic instability. They have been extensively studied with satellite sea surface temperature SST, and height, SSH. Yet, these systems provide an incomplete view into LC meandering: SST measurements are hampered by cloud coverage and low thermal contrast in summer months and SSH measurements by altimeter temporal and spatial resolution. In an effort to resolve LC meander temporal and spatial scales, they are investigated using a mesoscale resolving in situ array deployed in the Gulf of Mexico. The array, which consisted of twenty-five inverted echo sounders with pressure gauges, PIES, and current meter moorings, was deployed April 2009 and recovered in October–November 2011. The broad extent of the array, nominally 89° W to 85° W, 25° N to 27° N, enabled quantitative mapping of the regional circulation. LC meander properties are characterized as a function of spatial distribution of energy, frequency, wavenumber, and phase speed. Dispersion characteristics and meander scales are comparable to those found in the Gulf Stream. Phase speeds increase with frequency and range from 8 to 50 km d−1. Wavelengths associated with each band are as follows: 460 km for the 100 to 40 d band, 350 km for the 40 to 20 d band, 270 km for the 20 to 10 d band and 230 km for the 10 to 3 d band. The strongest variability is in the 100 to 40 d band. Spatially the 100 to 40 d variability is concentrated to east of the Mississippi Fan, growing and propagating downstream along the eastern portion of the LC. Meanders between 40 and 20 d propagate along the full encompassed length of the LC. Their temporal amplitudes peak at the time of LC eddy detachment and separation. Meanders with shorter periods than 20 d do not always propagate along the full encompassed length of the LC, perhaps due to the location of the LC

Net Zero Stocktake 2023

The underlying dataset for the Net Zero Tracker's Net Zero Stocktake Report 2023