Using Technology to Overcome Barriers to the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)

There is an extensive range of positive rhetoric concerning the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) and its many benefits for awarding credit in recognition of one’s experience. However, it still remains very much a marginal activity within many institutions. This study investigates the nature of any existing barriers to the greater take-up of APEL and explores whether technology could play some part in overcoming them. The existence and nature of barriers to wider APEL take-up is under-represented in the literature. This action research study uses qualitative methods to develop a case study within a single UK college of further and higher education. The research design included a focus group for student feedback, semi-structured interviews for staff feedback and the development and testing of a technology solution comprising a website and software application. The study found clear evidence of the existence of a range of barriers affecting the wider uptake of APEL and established several ways in which the technology used did help or could help overcome these barriers. The role of the tutor within the APEL process is of great importance, whether the system used is paper-based or technology based, and further training and support were found to be necessary to ensure that all staff were consistent in the application of the APEL process. Although this is a small-scale study in a single institution, it is typical of other institutions. Further research into the wider range of barriers identified and further development of appropriate technology solutions could help a larger proportion of people in employment to gain credit for the skills and knowledge they have developed through their work, as they seek to complement their practical experience with formal education and gain recognition for this experience though an institution’s APEL process

Some Effects of Stator Cone Angle and Blade-tip Leakage on 40 Percent Reaction Turbine Having Rotor-blade Caps

An investigation of the effects of stator cone angle and tip leakage on turbine performance

Foraging behaviour alters with social environment in a juvenile songbird

Early independence from parents is a critical period where social information acquired vertically may become outdated, or conflict with new information. However, across natural populations, it is unclear if newly independent young persist in using information from parents, or if group-level effects of conformity override previous behaviours. Here, we test if wild juvenile hihi (Notiomystis cincta, a New Zealand passerine) retain a foraging behaviour from parents, or if they change in response to the behaviour of peers. We provided feeding stations to parents during chick-rearing to seed alternative access routes, and then tracked their offspring's behaviour. Once independent, juveniles formed mixed-treatment social groups, where they did not retain preferences from their time with parents. Instead, juvenile groups converged over time to use one access route­ per group, and juveniles that moved between groups switched to copy the locally favoured option. Juvenile hihi did not copy specific individuals, even if they were more familiar with the preceding bird. Our study shows that early social experiences with parents affect initial foraging decisions, but social environments encountered later on can update transmission of arbitrary behaviours. This suggests that conformity may be widespread in animal groups, with potential cultural, ecological and evolutionary consequences.Peer reviewe

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