9,019 research outputs found
Accreditation of practice educators: An expectation too far ?
The successful completion of practice placements is essential to the education
of occupational therapists; however, ensuring quality placements is challenging
for occupational therapy educators. In 2000, Brunel University introduced a
revised system of accreditation of practice educators which involved attendance
at a course, the supervision of a student and the submission of an essay to be
assessed.
An audit revealed that a total of 314 therapists attended 15 courses between
2000 and 2003; of these, 243 (77%) subsequently supervised students and
32 (10%) became accredited. The requirement to accredit practice educators,
which is a commendable attempt to ensure quality, may paradoxically have
been detrimental in achieving quality. The College of Occupational Therapists’
apparent change of emphasis on this topic is welcome
Fluorine gas as a cleaning agent for Apollo bulk-sample containers
A technique has been developed for cleaning Apollo bulk sample containers using fluorine gas as the cleaning agent
Teaching Physics Using Virtual Reality
We present an investigation of game-like simulations for physics teaching. We
report on the effectiveness of the interactive simulation "Real Time
Relativity" for learning special relativity. We argue that the simulation not
only enhances traditional learning, but also enables new types of learning that
challenge the traditional curriculum. The lessons drawn from this work are
being applied to the development of a simulation for enhancing the learning of
quantum mechanics
Analysis of a method for precisely relating a seafloor point to a distant point on land
A study of the environmental constraints and engineering aspects of the acoustic portion of a system for making geodetic ties between undersea reference points and others on land is described. Important areas in which to make such observations initially would be from the California mainland out to oceanic points seaward of the San Andreas fault, and across the Aleutian Trench. The overall approach would be to operate a GPS receiver in a relative positioning (interferometric) mode to provide the long range element of the baseline determination (10 to 1,000 km) and an array of precision sea floor acoustic transponders to link the locally moving sea surface GPS antenna location to a fixed sea floor point. Analyses of various environmental constrants (tides, waves, currents, sound velocity variations) lead to the conclusion that, if one uses a properly designed transponder having a remotely controllable precise retransmission time delay, and is careful with regard to methods for installing these on the sea floor, one should, in many ocean locations, be able to achieve sub-decimeter overall system accuracy. Achievements of cm accuracy or better will require additional understanding of time and space scales of variation of sound velocity structure in the ocean at relevant locations
A New Pathway for the Preparation of Highly Qualified Teachers: The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)
This article reports on the development and initial implementation of a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, an accelerated graduate program that encourages and scaffolds individuals with existing disciplinary expertise in entering the teaching profession. First, the context for developing the program is outlined. Next, the unique structure of the 15-month program, which consists of three blocks, is described. Expectations about students are then shared, quality control features of the program are highlighted, and the lessons we learned about program development and implementation are detailed. Finally, thoughts about the future of this program and others of its type are shared based upon our experience
Field-Induced Magnetic and Structural Domain Alignment in PrO2
We present a neutron diffraction study of the magnetic structure of single
crystal PrO2 under applied fields of 0-6 T. As the field is increased, changes
are observed in the magnetic Bragg intensities. These changes are found to be
irreversible when the field is reduced, but the original intensities can be
recovered by heating to T > 122 K, then re-cooling in zero field. The
antiferromagnetic ordering temperature TN = 13.5 K and the magnetic periodicity
are unaffected by the applied field. We also report measurements of the
magnetic susceptibility of single crystal PrO2 under applied fields of 0-7 T.
These show strong anisotropy, as well as an anomaly at T = 122 +/- 2 K which
coincides with the temperature TD = 120 +/- 2 K at which a structural
distortion occurs. For fields applied along the [100] direction the
susceptibility increases irreversibly with field in the temperature range TN <
T < TD. However, for fields along [110] the susceptibility is independent of
field in this range. We propose structural domain alignment, which strongly
influences the formation of magnetic domains below TN, as the mechanism behind
these changes.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Minor typographical changes in v
Radio Sources in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. I. Radio Source Populations
We present the first results from a study of the radio continuum properties
of galaxies in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, based on thirty 2dF fields
covering a total area of about 100 square degrees. About 1.5% of galaxies with
b(J) < 19.4 mag are detected as radio continuum sources in the NRAO VLA Sky
Survey (NVSS). Of these, roughly 40% are star-forming galaxies and 60% are
active galaxies (mostly low-power radio galaxies and a few Seyferts). The
combination of 2dFGRS and NVSS will eventually yield a homogeneous set of
around 4000 radio-galaxy spectra, which will be a powerful tool for studying
the distriibution and evolution of both AGN and starburst galaxies out to
redshift z=0.3.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
A Laser System for the Spectroscopy of Highly-Charged Bismuth Ions
We present and characterize a laser system for the spectroscopy on
highly-charged ^209Bi^82+ ions at a wavelength of 243.87 nm. For absolute
frequency stabilization, the laser system is locked to a near-infra-red laser
stabilized to a rubidium transition line using a transfer cavity based locking
scheme. Tuning of the output frequency with high precision is achieved via a
tunable rf offset lock. A sample-and-hold technique gives an extended tuning
range of several THz in the UV. This scheme is universally applicable to the
stabilization of laser systems at wavelengths not directly accessible to atomic
or molecular resonances. We determine the frequency accuracy of the laser
system using Doppler-free absorption spectroscopy of Te_2 vapour at 488 nm.
Scaled to the target wavelength of 244 nm, we achieve a frequency uncertainty
of \sigma_{244nm} = 6.14 MHz (one standard deviation) over six days of
operation.Comment: Contribution to the special issue on "Trapped Ions" in "Applied
Physics B
The Interaction between the ISM and Star Formation in the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC 4214
We present the first interferometric study of the molecular gas in the
metal-poor dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 4214. Our map of the 12CO(1-0) emission,
obtained at the OVRO millimeter array, reveals an unexpected structural wealth.
We detected three regions of molecular emission in the north-west (NW),
south-east (SE) and centre of NGC 4214 which are in very different and distinct
evolutionary stages (total molecular mass: 5.1 x 10^6 M_sun). These differences
are apparent most dramatically when the CO morphologies are compared to optical
ground based and HST imaging: massive star formation has not started yet in the
NW region; the well-known starburst in the centre is the most evolved and star
formation in the SE complex started more recently. We derive a star formation
efficiency of 8% for the SE complex. Using high--resolution VLA observations of
neutral hydrogen HI and our CO data we generated a total gas column density map
for NGC 4214 (HI + H_2). No clear correlation is seen between the peaks of HI,
CO and the sites of ongoing star formation. This emphasizes the irregular
nature of dwarf galaxies. The HI and CO velocities agree well, so do the
H-alpha velocities. In total, we cataloged 14 molecular clumps in NGC 4214. Our
results from a virial mass analysis are compatible with a Galactic CO-to-H_2
conversion factor for NGC 4214 (lower than what is usually found in metal-poor
dwarf galaxies).Comment: accepted for publication in the AJ (February 2001), full ps file at:
ftp://ftp.astro.caltech.edu/users/fw/ngc4214/walter_prep.p
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