Assessing understanding of complex learning outcomes and real-world skills using an authentic software tool: a study from Biomedical Sciences.

YesWe describe a study conducted during 2009-12 into innovative assessment practice, evaluating an assessed coursework task on a final year Medical Genetics module for Biomedical Science undergraduates. An authentic e-assessment coursework task was developed, integrating objectively marked online questions with an online DNA sequence analysis tool (BLAST), routinely used by NHS and research professionals. The aim was to combine the assessment of understanding of complex module learning outcomes with real-world authentic skills highly valued in the work place. This approach challenges the oft-heard accusation that online computer-marked tests can lack validity and authenticity in higher education. The study demonstrates the content and construct validity of this form of e-assessment, showing that careful question design, allied with integration with the real life BLAST tool, enables instructors to assess complex higher order understanding, and requires students to demonstrate skills relevant for the work place. A study of three years of test results and measures of internal consistency data also show the reliability of this assessment. In addition, the results of surveys of student opinion, and positive feedback from student module feedback questionnaires suggest that it is effective in terms of face validity

Black Deaf or Deaf Black? An investigation of identity in the British Black Deaf community

This thesis explores some of the life experiences of a group of Black1 Deaf2 individuals and the influences affecting their identity development. It also investigates the different attitudes to deafness within the Black hearing community. A quantitative survey was conducted with 57 respondents to explore attitudes to deafness amongst Black hearing people. The survey revealed that Black people perceived deafness as mild to moderate disability, a finding also echoed in the informants own accounts of interacting within the Black hearing community. The main study with the informants was conducted using qualitative methods. This explored the informants' childhood family experiences, education, employment, and interactions with the Black hearing and Deaf communities. The qualitative study questioned whether Black Deaf people should be referred to as Black Deaf or Deaf Black. It revealed that Black Deaf people assumed a diverse range of identities. For example, for some informants' the terms Black Deaf or Deaf Black had different meanings, but for others these terms were interchangeable. A group of informants resisted any attempts to categorize their identities. They constructed an identity, which did not prioritize race or deafness but was negotiated in different contexts. Many of the informants based their identity choices upon their personal experiences and attitudes towards the Deaf and the Black communities. Their experiences with these groups also influenced which community they felt more closely attached too. From exploring the personal identities of Black Deaf people a picture of their collective identity began to emerge. Three different groups of Black Deaf people were identified. These were labelled the Aspirers, Drifters and the Inbetweeners. These labels were chosen to encapsulate their characteristics and attitudes towards the development of the Black Deaf community. The study contested the possibility of a unified Black Deaf identity. It highlighted that the informants' identity formation was a continual process and open to constant negotiation. It indicated that other influences aside from race and deafness affected the informants' identity development, which must be considered in any further analysis of identity construction amongst Black Deaf people

RESPONS PENGELOLAAN KOLABORATIF TERUMBU KARANG DI DESA BILORO KABUPATEN BURU SELATAN

The use of the coral ecosystem causes a systemic impact on that ecosystem. There are various types of coral reef ecosystem utilization, and the management of this ecosystem, therefore, needs a collaborative approach. The objective of this study was to identify the condition of coral reef, to identify types of utilization and its impact on the coral reef ecosystem and produce a collaborative management response towards the coral reef ecosystem. The research was conducted n July 2020 at the coral reef area of Biloro Village, Sub-district of Kapala Madang, Southern Buru. Field observation uses the Line Intercept Transect method for coral reef condition assessment, while the PRA approach to identify trigger factors, stress against the environment, the impact, and strategic adaptive response management. The collaborative method is a strategic adaptive response that conveys the system concept of socio-ecology, community capacity, and institutional empowerment in management integration. The result shows that on average coral reef ecosystem was in good condition. There are five responses collaborative management proposed explicitly education advocacy in the importance of coral reef, rehabilitation of degraded coral reef, the establishment of community controlling group, village by law, and the development of Toumahu Island marine tourist.   ABSTRAK Pemanfaatan ekosistem terumbu karang memberikan dampak sistematis. Pengelolaan terumbu karang pada lokasi penelitian membutuhkan pendekatan kolaboratif. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengindentifikasi kondisi karang, mengidentifikasi bentuk-bentuk pemanfaatan dan dampaknya serta respon pengelolaan kolaboratif ekosistem terumbu karang. Penelitian dilakukan pada bulan Agustus tahun 2020, pada kawasan terumbu karang Desa Biloro, Kecamatan Kapala Madan, Kabupaten Buru Selatan. Penelitian lapangan menggunakan metode LIT untuk mengidentifikasi kondisi terumbu karang, dan pendekatan PRA untuk mengidentifikasi faktor pemicu, tekanan terhadap lingkungan, status terumbu karang, dampak yang ditimbulkan, serta respon strategis dan adaptif. Pendekatan kolaboratif merupakan respon strategis-adaptif yang mengusung konsep sistem sosial-ekologis, penguatan kapasitas masyrakat, penguatan kelembagaan dalam pengelolaan, dan integrase pengelolaan. Hasil penelitian menunjukan secara-rata-rata kondisi terumbu karang Desa Biloro tergolong baik. Lima usulan pengelolaan respon kolaboratif berupa sosialisasi pentingnya terumbu karang, rehabilitasi terumbu karang, pembentukan POKWASMAS, pembuatan aturan desa, dan pengembangan wisata bahari Pulau Toumahu.   KATA KUNCI: Terumbu karang, PRA, respon strategis-adaptif, pengelolaan kolaboratif, sistem sosial-ekolog

Structural, Magnetic and Transport Properties of B-Site Substituted Perovskite La0.7Sr0.3MnO3

In this chapter, in order to understand the structural related magnetic and transport properties of B site substituted perovskites La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO), we have systematically investigated the effects of replacing some of the Mn with nonmagnetic elements Ti, Zr, Cu, Al, Zn and magnetic elements Co, Ni, Cr, Fe. The structural, magnetic and electrical phase transitions and transport properties of these compounds were investigated by neutron diffraction, magnetization and electric resistivity measurements

Long-Ranged Correlations in Sheared Fluids

The presence of long-ranged correlations in a fluid undergoing uniform shear flow is investigated. An exact relation between the density autocorrelation function and the density-mometum correlation function implies that the former must decay more rapidly than $1/r$, in contrast to predictions of simple mode coupling theory. Analytic and numerical evaluation of a non-perturbative mode-coupling model confirms a crossover from $1/r$ behavior at ''small'' $r$ to a stronger asymptotic power-law decay. The characteristic length scale is $\ell \approx \sqrt{\lambda_{0}/a}$ where $$ is the sound damping constant and $a$ is the shear rate.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to PR

Organizational professionalism in globalizing law firms.

Are the challenges of globalization, technology and competition exercising a dramatic impact on professional practice whilst, in the process, compromising traditional notions of professionalism, autonomy and discretion? This paper engages with these debates and uses original, qualitative empirical data to highlight the vast areas of continuity that exist even the largest globalizing law firms. Whilst it is undoubted that growth in the size of firms and their globalization bring new challenges, these are resolved in ways that are sensitive to professional values and interests. In particular, a commitment to professional autonomy and discretion still characterises the way in which these firms operate and organize themselves. This situation is explained in terms of the development of an organizational model of professionalism, whereby the large organization is increasingly emerging as a primary locus of professionalization and whereby professional priorities and objectives are increasingly supported by organizational logics, systems and initiatives