In search of the feeling of ‘belonging’ in Higher Education: undergraduate students transition into Higher Education

Meehan and Howells (2017) in the evaluation of first year students’ transition into university found that the values of ‘being, belonging and becoming’ were important in particular within the first few months and within the first year of university. From our previous work, we reported that three things matter to students: the academic staff they work with, the nature of their academic study and the feeling of belonging. This paper provides a further illumination to our work by reporting on the qualitative data collected in the same study. The study included 530 students from five cohorts over a five-year period. As part of the Student Experience Evaluation instrument, open-ended questions probed students about their early experiences of belonging and transition into university. This original research uses rich data to illuminate the scales and items from previous quantitative data analysis to explore ‘belonging’, triangulated with research from the field. This paper is timely due to increased emphasis placed on learning and teaching with the introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework. Student satisfaction is not a simplistic measure and this study articulates the complexity of student belonging in Higher Education

Walking the talk? Teachers’ and early years’ practitioners’ perceptions and confidence in delivering the UK Physical Activity Guidelines within the curriculum for young children

This study explored early years’ practitioners’ and teachers’ attitudes and confidence in delivering the UK Physical Activity guidelines [National Health Service (NHS). (2013). Physical activity guidelines for children and young people. Retrieved July 15, 2015, from www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/physical-activity-guidelines-for-young-peopole.aspx] within the curriculum for young children [Department for Education (DfE). (2013 Department for Education (DfE). (2013). The national curriculum in England. Key stages 1 and 2 framework document. London: Department for Education, Crown. [Google Scholar] ). The national curriculum in England. Key stages 1 and 2 framework document. London: Department for Education, Crown; Department for Education (DfE). (2014 Department for Education (DfE). (2014). Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. London: Department for Education, Crown. [Google Scholar] ). Statutory framework for the early years’ foundation stage. Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. London: Department for Education, Crown]. Using an online questionnaire, data were analysed using thematic framework and statistically. Fifty-nine respondents came from early years’ settings, including nurseries, pre-schools and primary schools. The findings suggest that there is a lack of confidence in knowing what to do to support and sustain physical activity. Further research is needed to identify if this is a national trend; this is the next steps of our research, as is the development of resources to help support confidence and the delivery of physical activity for young children

What really matters to freshers? An evaluation of first year student experience of transition into university

Measuring student experience in terms of satisfaction is a national measure used by prospective students when considering their higher education choices. Increasingly league tables are used as a means to rank universities with a limited interrogation of the reality of students’ experiences. This study explored the question “What really matters to freshers?” during their transition into higher education through to completion. Students on an academic undergraduate Early Childhood Studies degree (n=530) over a five year period completed a Student Experience Evaluation in their first term and this data was correlated with the National Student Survey data collected about their cohorts in the final term of their degree. During the five year period, a number of interventions were undertaken by the academic staff to develop a learning community, based on the values linked to ‘being, belonging, and becoming.’ The results of this study suggest that three things matter to students about their experience, that is, the academic staff they work with, the nature of their academic study and feeling like they belong. A model is proposed which aims to demonstrate the impact of academic staff, studies and the learning community that develops through social and academic experiences at University

Multipath noise reduction spread spectrum signals

The concepts of early-prompt delay tracking, multipath correction of early-prompt delay tracking from correlation shape, and carrier phase multipath correction are addressed. In early-prompt delay tracking, since multipath is always delayed with respect to the direct signals, the system derives phase and pseudorange observables from earlier correlation lags. In multipath correction of early-prompt delay tracking from correlation shape, the system looks for relative variations of amplitude across the code correlation function that do not match the predicted multipath-free code cross-correlation shape. The system then uses deviations from the multipath-free shape to infer the magnitude of multipath, and to generate corrections pseudorange observables. In carrier phase multipath correction, the system looks for variations of phase among plural early and prompt lags. The system uses the measured phase variations, along with the general principle that the multipath errors are larger for later lags, to infer the presence of multipath, and to generate corrections for carrier-phase observables

From Ruhlmann to Rohde: How French Art Deco Became American

The American art deco designers of the 1930s were truly innovators, inventors and artists. They were not, however, the only ones creating “a modern world” during this time. In fact, America was one of the last countries to embrace the art deco style which was thriving in Germany, Austria, and France. There was a strong connection between the French art décoratifs movement and early 20th century American industrial designs. This paper investigates how the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts held in Paris in 1925 heavily influenced the start of the American art deco movement

Joint demodulation of low-entropy narrowband cochannel signals

Introducation to cochannel signals: many receivers today operate in an interference-limited environment. In a dense signal environment, the performance of a receiver is limited by interference from multiple signals at the receiver rather than signal-to-noise ratio. In the interference-limited environment, there is a diminishing return from investing additional resources into improving traditional receiver parameters such as noise figure. Advanced processing techniques exist that can help recover information that would otherwise be lost using a single-channel receiver. This work investigates some of these techniques. Interference may originate from many sources, such as users on the same or adjacent frequency band, unintended emissions, and intermodulation. This work investigates interference from cochannel information bearing signals. Cochannel interference is commonly defined as the reception of two or more signals at the receiver overlapping in frequency and in time.USA

Verbal working memory modulates afferent circuits in motor cortex

Verbal instruction and strategies informed by declarative memory are key to performance and acquisition of skilled actions. We previously demonstrated that anatomically distinct sensory–motor inputs converging on the corticospinal neurons of motor cortex are differentially sensitive to visual attention load. However, how loading of working memory shapes afferent input to motor cortex is unknown. This study used short‐latency afferent inhibition (SAI) to probe the effect of verbal working memory upon anatomically distinct afferent circuits converging on corticospinal neurons in the motor cortex. SAI was elicited by preceding a suprathreshold transcranial magnetic stimulus (TMS) with electrical stimulation of the median nerve at the wrist while participants mentally rehearsed a two‐ or six‐digit numeric memory set. To isolate different afferent intracortical circuits in motor cortex SAI was elicited, using TMS involving posterior–anterior (PA) or anterior–posterior (AP) monophasic current. Both PA and AP SAI were significantly reduced during maintenance of the six‐digit compared to two‐digit memory set. The generalized effect of working memory across anatomically distinct circuits converging upon corticospinal neurons in motor cortex is in contrast to the specific sensitivity of AP SAI to increased attention load. The common response across the PA and AP SAI circuits to increased working memory load may reflect an indiscriminate perisomatic mechanism involved in the voluntary facilitation of desired and/or suppression of unwanted actions during action selection or response conflict.Increasing the set size of digits to be maintained in working memory significantly reduced short‐latency afferent inhibition (SAI) in anatomically distinct circuits recruited by posterior–anterior (PA) and anterior–posterior (AP) transcranial magnetic stimulating (TMS) current. Loading of working memory decreases sensory afferent input across multiple intracortical circuits that converge upon corticospinal neurons in motor cortex.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146615/1/ejn14154.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146615/2/ejn14154_am.pd