Easing the transition from paper to screen: an evaluatory framework for CAA migration

Computer assisted assessment is becoming more and more common through further and higher education. There is some debate about how easy it will be to migrate current assessment practice to a computer enhanced format and how items which are currently re-used for formative purposes may be adapted to be presented online. This paper proposes an evaluatory framework to assess and enhance the practicability of large-scale CAA migration for existing items and assessments. The framework can also be used as a tool for exposing compromises between delivery mechanism and validity-exposing the limits of validity of modified paper based assessments and highlighting the crucial areas for transformative assessments

Don\u27t Abandon the Water Cooler Yet: Flexible Work Arrangements and the Unique Effect of Face-to-Face Informal Communication on Idea Generation and Innovation

[Excerpt] Flexible work arrangements (FWAs), especially those offering employees a degree of control over when and where they work, have become increasingly prevalent in recent years.Research has shown that these arrangements generally lead to higher levels of job satisfaction as well as lower levels of stress, work-family conflict, absenteeism, and turnover among employees.At the same time, however, some suggest that FWAs may not be appropriate in all situations, particularly in the context of creative teamwork (i.e., in the prototypical 21st century organization). It is important, in this view, to have all team members face to face in the office to encourage informal interactions that spark insights and innovations. Surprisingly, this supposition has yet to be rigorously tested. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs), especially those offering employees a degree of control over when and where they work, have become increasingly prevalent in recent years.Research has shown that these arrangements generally lead to higher levels of job satisfaction as well as lower levels of stress, work-family conflict, absenteeism, and turnover among employees.At the same time, however, some suggest that FWAs may not be appropriate in all situations, particularly in the context of creative teamwork (i.e., in the prototypical 21st century organization). It is important, in this view, to have all team members face to face in the office to encourage informal interactions that spark insights and innovations. Surprisingly, this supposition has yet to be rigorously tested. The present study was designed to fill this void, first by examining the effects of remote work (i.e., percent of time team members work outside the office) on the frequency, spontaneity, content, and mode of their communication and, then, by assessing the extent to which variations in team communication patterns influence the level of team creativity (i.e., the degree to which teams generate novel ideas that lead to improvements in work processes and/or to new and innovative products and services). As Figure 1 on page 5 shows, the study primarily distinguished between two types of team communication: (1) formal face-to-face communication (e.g., planned meetings about work-related matters) and (2) informal face-to-face communication. Within informal face-to-face communication, two forms were examined: (2a) spontaneous communication about work-related matters and (2b) non-work-related communication. Further, in examining the efficacy of both forms of informal communication for team idea generation and innovation, the study compared electronic modes (e.g., email, instant message, audio/visual) to face-to-face interactions

BitBox!:A case study interface for teaching real-time adaptive music composition for video games

Real-time adaptive music is now well-established as a popular medium, largely through its use in video game soundtracks. Commercial packages, such as fmod, make freely available the underlying technical methods for use in educational contexts, making adaptive music technologies accessible to students. Writing adaptive music, however, presents a significant learning challenge, not least because it requires a different mode of thought, and tutor and learner may have few mutual points of connection in discovering and understanding the musical drivers, relationships and structures in these works. This article discusses the creation of ‘BitBox!’, a gestural music interface designed to deconstruct and explain the component elements of adaptive composition through interactive play. The interface was displayed at the Dare Protoplay games exposition in Dundee in August 2014. The initial proof-of- concept study proved successful, suggesting possible refinements in design and a broader range of applications

Musica ex machina:a history of video game music

The history of video game music is a subject area that has received little attention by musicologists, and yet the form presents fascinating case studies both of musical minimalism, and the role of technology in influencing and shaping both musical form and aesthetics. This presentation shows how video game music evolved from simple tones, co-opted from sync circuits in early hardware to a sophisticated form of adaptive expression

Sampling the past:a tactile approach to interactive musical instrument exhibits in the heritage sector

In the last decade, the heritage sector has had to adapt to a shifting cultural landscape of public expectations and attitudes towards ownership and intellectual property. One way it has done this is to focus on each visitor’s encounter and provide them with a sense of experiential authenticity.There is a clear desire by the public to engage with music collections in this way, and a sound museological rationale for providing such access, but the approach raises particular curatorial problems, specifically how do we meaningfully balance access with the duty to preserve objects for future generations?This paper charts the development of one such project. Based at Fenton House in Hampstead, and running since 2008, the project seeks to model digitally the keyboard instruments in the Benton Fletcher Collection and provide a dedicated interactive exhibit, which allows visitors to view all of the instruments in situ, and then play them through a custom-built two-manual MIDI controller with touch-screen interface.We discuss the approach to modelling, which uses high-definition sampling, and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the exhibit as it currently stands, with particular focus on its key shortcoming: at present, there is no way to effectively model the key feel of a historic keyboard instrument.This issue is of profound importance, since the feel of any instrument is fundamental to its character, and shapes the way performers relate to it. The issue is further compounded if we are to consider a single dedicated keyboard as being the primary mode of interface for several instrument models of different classes, each with its own characteristic feel.We conclude by proposing an outline solution to this problem, detailing early work on a real-time adaptive haptic keyboard interface that changes its action in response to sampled resistance curves, measured on a key-by-key basis from the original instruments

Editorial - Academic Practice - how is it changing?

This special issue grew out of a Government-funded initiative in the UK, the formation of a number of five-year Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. One of these, focused on Preparation for Academic Practice, is directed at better understanding and supporting the development of doctoral students and contract research staff for academic careers . This Centre, located at the University of Oxford, held its first conference in April 2007, and this special issue consists of papers contributed by conference participants

Aspects of the neuropsychological development and assessment of New Zealand children : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Material (Chapter Nine) removed from thesis for copyright reasons: Ross-McAlpine, K.S., Leathem, J.M., & Flett, R.A. (2018). A survey of psychologists administering cognitive and neuropsychological assessments with New Zealand children, New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 47(1), 13-22. www.psychology.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/A-survey-of-psychologists.pdfTypical neuropsychological development in school age children is an under-researched area. There is insufficient research on age effects on performance, relationships between multiple cognitive abilities and between these abilities and academic achievement. In addition to this, there has been no research conducted on neuropsychological assessment practices with children in New Zealand (NZ). This thesis explored patterns of neuropsychological development in typically developing children and provides clarity on the current practices of psychologists conducting neuropsychological assessment with children in NZ. Study 1 explored the age effects on neuropsychological measures for typically developing children aged 6 to 11 years. Firstly, the scaled scores of NZ children were compared with overseas normative groups and found to be within ±0.4 of a standard deviation for all tests except for finger tapping and animal sorting (NEPSY-II). Secondly, age effects were found for all measures of cognitive abilities which is consistent with previous research. Post-hoc findings identified that the most significant improvement occurred between ages 6 and 9 years. The existence of differences between NZ and USA samples, specifically found for animal sorting and finger tapping (NEPSY-II), indicates that New Zealand normative data would be beneficial for some subtests used in neuropsychological assessments. Study 2 investigated the relationships between cognitive domains and school achievement in typically developing New Zealand children. Correlational analyses found that the majority of the relationships between the cognitive domains were moderate to weak, which is consistent with overseas literature. The findings were mixed in regards to the relationships between neuropsychological ability and school achievement. Most significant relationships with overall school achievement were found in the domains of social perception and working memory, followed by processing speed, executive functioning and language. While this was congruent with the hypothesis of the study and with the literature, the finding of a non-significant relationship between motor skills and academic achievement was incongruent. Investigating these relationships across age groups revealed that age 6, 10 and 11 years are the periods of middle childhood with the strongest relationships between neuropsychological ability and achievement. Study 3 was a survey of psychologists who routinely undertook cognitive and neuropsychological assessments with New Zealand children. The WISC-IV was the most commonly used comprehensive measure to assess cognitive and neuropsychological function of New Zealand children and the most commonly used rating scales are the ABAS, CBCL and CCBRS. The results of the survey indicated that test selection appears to be based on familiarity and access. The focus on the diversity of New Zealand culture in the literature was reflected in the finding that the majority of the survey respondents considered it important to obtain normative data for New Zealand children (80.3%). In summary, these findings provide clarity around patterns of performance of typically developing children and informs the practice of neuropsychological assessment with New Zealand children

GABAergic inhibition controls neural gain in inferior colliculus neurons sensitive to interaural time differences

We investigated the role of GABAergic inhibition on the responses of inferior colliculus (IC) neurons sensitive to interaural time differences (ITDs) in anesthetized guinea pigs. Responses to static and dynamic ITDs were obtained before, during, and after recovery from ionotophoretic application of GABA, or antagonists to the GABA(A) receptor gabazine and bicuculline. For most neurons, a linear relationship was observed between discharge rates evoked by a particular ITD during drug application and control discharge rates. Blocking GABAergic inhibition, or adding exogenous GABA, scaled IC discharge rates in a multiplicative (divisive) and/or additive (subtractive) manner. When the influence of iontophoresed GABA antagonists or exogenous GABA on discharge rates was accounted for, GABAergic inhibition was found to have no effect on the ITD tuning properties of IC neurons. The tuning sharpness of ITD functions, the ITD that evoked 50% response magnitude, and the relative symmetry of ITD functions around their peak response were unaffected by blockade of inhibition or addition of tonic inhibition. However, the ability of neurons to discriminate between ITDs by virtue of differences in their discharge rate was altered by blocking or adding GABA. We propose that inhibition in the IC is involved in the control of the neural gain of the output of IC neurons rather than the regulation of ITD tuning. This gain control appears to arise from a combination of additive and multiplicative processes, and may involve mechanisms such as shunting inhibition or changes in the efficacy of inhibitory and excitatory inputs

A weak-scattering model for turbine-tone haystacking outside the cone of silence

We consider the scattering of sound by turbulence in a jet shear layer. The turbulent, time-varying inhomogeneities in the flow scatter tonal sound fields in such a way as to give spectral broadening, which decreases the level of the incident tone, but increases the broadband level around the frequency of the tone. The scattering process is modelled for observers outside the cone of silence of the jet, using high-frequency asymptotic methods and a weak-scattering assumption. An analytical model for the far-field power spectral density of the scattered field is derived, and the result is compared to experimental data. The model correctly predicts the behaviour of the scattered field as a function of jet velocity and tone frequency<br/