Co-creating learning experiences to support student employability in travel and tourism.

This research evaluates the effectiveness of a modular programme of study that aims to develop a range of employability skills in travel and tourism students. The module contents and assessment regime use an experiential approach and are collaboratively delivered by focusing on CV and cover letter writing techniques, job interview skills and other recruitment tools. To measure its impact, semi-structured interviews with students revealed that the experiential nature of the module engenders confidence when participating in job assessment centres. It also highlights the value of informing it through a range of perspectives leading to students with a distinctive competitive advantage

A model of force balance in Saturn's magnetodisc

We present calculations of magnetic potential associated with the perturbation of Saturn's magnetic field by a rotating, equatorially-situated disc of plasma. Such structures are central to the dynamics of the rapidly rotating magnetospheres of Saturn and Jupiter. They are `fed' internally by sources of plasma from moons such as Enceladus (Saturn) and Io (Jupiter). We use a scaled form of Euler potentials for the Jovian magnetodisc field (Caudal, 1986). In this formalism, the magnetic field is assumed to be azimuthally symmetric about the planet's axis of rotation, and plasma temperature is constant along a field line. We perturb the dipole potential by using simplified distributions of plasma pressure and angular velocity for both planets, based on observations by Cassini (Saturn) and Voyager (Jupiter). Our results quantify the degree of radial `stretching' exerted on the dipolar field lines through the plasma's rotational motion and pressure. A simplified version of the field model, the `homogeneous disc', can be used to easily estimate the distance of transition in the outer magnetosphere between pressure-dominated and centrifugally-dominated disc structure. We comment on the degree of equatorial confinement as represented by the scale height associated with disc ions of varying mass and temperature. For Saturn, we identify the principal forces which contribute to the magnetodisc current and make comparisons between the field structure predicted by the model and magnetic field measurements from Cassini. For Jupiter, we reproduce Caudal's original calculation in order to validate our model implementation. We also show that compared to Saturn, where plasma pressure gradient is, on average, weaker than centrifugal force, the outer plasmadisc of Jupiter is clearly a pressure-dominated structure.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in MNRA

Supporting and Developing Lecturers in Higher Education Using the Observation of Teaching

This was a study of the organisation and impact of two schemes of teaching observation in an institution of higher education. It was developed as a response to the need to evaluate these two schemes, and to improve their effectiveness

Supporting and Developing Lecturers in Higher Education Using the Observation of Teaching

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An echo canceller for DVB-T/H on-channel repeaters

This paper investigates the design and performance of an FIR echo canceller for on channel repeaters in DVB-T/H network within the framework of the PLUTO project. The possible approaches for echo cancellation are briefly reviewed and the main guidelines for the design of such systems are presented. The main system parameters are discussed. The performance of a FIR echo canceller based on an open loop approach for channel estimation is tested for different radio channel conditions and for different number of taps of the FIR filter. It is shown that a minimum number of taps is recommended to achieve a certain mean rejection ratio or isolation depending on the type of channel. The expected degradation in performance due to the use of fixed point rather than floating point arithmetic in hardware implementation is presented for different number of bits

Echo cancellation and channel estimation for on-channel repeaters in DVB-T/H networks

This paper investigates the design and performance of an echo canceller for on-channel repeaters in DVB-T/H network within the framework of the PLUTO project. The possible approaches for echo cancellation are briefly reviewed and the main guidelines for the design of such systems are presented. The main system parameters are discussed. The performance of a FIR echo canceller based on an open loop approach for channel estimation is tested for different radio channel conditions and for different number of taps of the FIR filter. It is shown that a minimum number of taps is recommended to achieve a certain mean rejection ratio or isolation depending on the type of channel. Channel estimation based on training sequences is then investigated. The performance of maximum length sequences and constant amplitude zero autocorrelation (CAZAC) sequences is compared for different channels. Recommendations are given for training sequence type, length and level for DVB-T/H on-channel repeater deployment in single frequency networks

How Minority Consumers Use Targeted Advertising as Pathways to Self-Empowerment

This paper represents an interpretivist analysis of how one group of minority consumers—gay men and lesbians—respond to targeted advertising as they encounter the oppositional forces of commercial validation in the marketplace and discrimination in the political domain. Interviews conducted with 25 self-identified gay and lesbian informants indicate how these consumers construct self-empowering interpretive strategies to cope with the stigma and negotiate the subordinated social status. The findings highlight the sociocultural role of advertising and the power of consumer myth, and illuminate disenfranchised consumers' struggles to seek public validation of their subcultural identity while evading potentially stigmatic subcultural distinctiveness