An Examination of Broadening the Engineering Curriculum in Ireland

Short Abstract: This talk will explore whether and how undergraduate engineering programs in Ireland broaden the education of students through the inclusion of non-core engineering content, such as business subjects, in their curriculum in order to develop critical thinking skills and self-knowledge of what it means to be an engineer. Full Abstract: The goal of the paper is to provide a commentary on the level of interaction between business faculty and engineering faculty, in the design and delivery of engineering programs, and the results of that interaction. To this end a taxonomy of engineering enlightenment is proposed, and this is used to discuss evidence of broadening within Irish engineering curricula. We will explore how undergraduate engineering programs in Ireland broaden the education of students through the inclusion of non-core engineering content, such as business subjects, in their curriculum in order to develop critical thinking skills and self-knowledge of what it means to be an engineer. The approach adopted reviews all relevant engineering degree programs in Ireland, based on their publicly available program information; examines the accreditation reports for these same programs; and then surveys business deans to examine whether the business school is involved in the education of engineering students in the institution or university. A number of hybrid engineering programs of study are also explored, and their apparent strengths discussed, including hybridity limits, with a focus on one particular hybrid program within DIT

New materialism, object-oriented ontology and fictive imaginaries: new directions in energy research

This paper takes up the challenge set down by the review work of Hess and Sovacool (2020) and Sovacool et al. (2020) and joins the conversation about future research agendas where STS is aligned towards humanities and social science research of energy solutions. We identified two under-representations in these review papers: 1) New materialism and object-oriented ontological (OOO) approaches and 2) how fictive imaginaries develop the link between OOO and public engagement with energy challenges. We propose that ontology of objects and non- human worlds is central to cocreation work in energy research where there exist assemblages of the Anthro- pocene. We argue that an ethical, engaged, object-oriented ontology that links with fictive imaginaries is crucial whichever direction STS takes in energy researc

Care-full data, care-less systems : making sense of self-care technologies for mental health with humanistic practitioners in the United Kingdom

Introduction: The days of dusty couches in therapists' offices behind closed doors are long gone. Now, personalized mood tracking, therapy appointments and breathing exercises are just mere clicks (or taps) away: Technologies for self-care (SCTs) that focus on mental health are both a flourishing industry and an academic field of interest. As societal, and cultural artifacts, SCTs for mental health are imbued with values, worldviews, and assumptions about these concepts by their designers and developers. Here, current SCTs tend to lean toward a more medical(ised) approach due to being shaped by dominant views of mental health as an individualized issue. However, this approach is only one of many potential pedagogies and approaches. As an alternative, we explore what SCTs for mental health could be like, from a humanistic, person-centered standpoint: We conceptualize mental health in holistic terms, as an experiential quality of everyday life. Methods: To this end, we report on two engagements with humanistic practitioners and the person-centered approach as a guiding principle: First, we ran a workshop informed by the Rogerian “encounter group”. This approach is focused on providing the space to meaningfully meet and relate to people. Inspired by this concept, we brought together humanistic practitioners to openly explore what technology for (self-)care means for them. Second, we build on the insights from the aforementioned study by organizing an asynchronous, online whiteboard for humanistic practitioners—counselors, students-in-training, therapists, and researchers—to explore their utopian, realistic and dystopian visions of SCTs. Results: Through thematic analysis and affinity-clustering these engagements, we construct an understanding that technology within a person-centered, humanistic context is a constrained, ambiguous undertaking, yet also one full of potential. Discussion: We conclude the paper by sketching out three design opportunities for how the person-centered approach, and humanistic psychology in general could be integrated into caring technologies.Peer reviewe

Leadership as Advocacy: Transformational Leadership in Action

poster abstractThis poster presents findings from a case study of a partnership between the IU School of Social Work and the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS), focusing on leadership as a form of administrative advocacy. Key findings from key informant interviews and focus groups will demonstrate how current and former MSW students have utilized transformational leadership in their administrative positions at DCS as the agency seeks to reform itself to achieve safety, permanence and well-being for Indiana children and families

Fundamental statistical limitations of future dark matter direct detection experiments

We discuss irreducible statistical limitations of future ton-scale dark matter direct detection experiments. We focus in particular on the coverage of confidence intervals, which quantifies the reliability of the statistical method used to reconstruct the dark matter parameters, and the bias of the reconstructed parameters. We study 36 benchmark dark matter models within the reach of upcoming ton-scale experiments. We find that approximate confidence intervals from a profile-likelihood analysis exactly cover or over-cover the true values of the WIMP parameters, and are hence conservative. We evaluate the probability that unavoidable statistical fluctuations in the data might lead to a biased reconstruction of the dark matter parameters, or large uncertainties on the reconstructed parameter values. We show that this probability can be surprisingly large, even for benchmark models leading to a large event rate of order a hundred counts. We find that combining data sets from two different targets leads to improved coverage properties, as well as a substantial reduction of statistical bias and uncertainty on the dark matter parameters.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figure

Does reproduction cause oxidative stress? An open question

There has been substantial recent interest in the possible role of oxidative stress as a mechanism underlying life-history trade-offs, particularly with regard to reproductive costs. Several recent papers have found no evidence that reproduction increases oxidative damage and so have questioned the basis of the hypothesis that oxidative damage mediates the reproduction–lifespan trade-off. However, we suggest here that the absence of the predicted relationships could be due to a fundamental problem in the design of all of the published empirical studies, namely a failure to manipulate reproductive effort. We conclude by suggesting experimental approaches that might provide a more conclusive test of the hypothesis

Standardising long-term eel (Anguilla anguilla) fyke net survey data reveals covariate effects and improves estimates of declining relative abundance

© 2024 Marine Institute. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).Eel recruitment and stock have been in decline since at least the mid 1980s. So far, much research has focussed on conservation objectives and estimating silver eel production in response to the EU Regulation (EC 1100/2007) and most surveys have been on waters subject to exploitation and/or stocking. The aim of this study is to examine a 35-year yellow eel survey dataset to determine relative abundance trends while accounting for survey design, and important physical and operational covariates. Chains of ten, or sometimes five, fyke nets were fished at fixed sites in four lakes on a catchment in the west of Ireland not impacted on by exploitation or stocking. Captured eels (10,474) were counted for each trap, and eel weight was recorded for each chain of nets (5515 net nights fished). Data were analysed using a generalised additive model (GAM) that included smoothed trends over time and covariates day-of-year, depth, gradient, site and net chain. Yearly trends and between-chain variability were significant for all locations with trap depth and gradient being important for some lakes. Standardised trends by number and mass declined markedly in both tidal areas − 84.7% and − 89.5% by count and − 93.5% and − 89.5% by weight; significant declines (− 39.2% by count and − 54.1% by weight) were found in one of the freshwater lakes with the other, the one farthest upstream, having had changes over time but no significant difference between the start and end. This study provides a framework for analysing long-term fyke net catch data for eel, which may be useful for the international analysis of eel survey data.Irish Governmen

Teagasc submission made in response to the Consultation Paper on Interim Review of Ireland’s Nitrates Derogation 2019

Teagasc SubmissionSubmission to governmentThis submission was made in response to the consultation process run jointly by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (DHPCLG) and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) inviting views and comments on proposals for the Interim Review of Ireland’s Nitrates Derogation Programme in 2019. It has been prepared by Teagasc’s Water Quality Working Group in consultation with the Gaseous Emissions Working Group. These working groups have members drawn from both the Knowledge Transfer and Research Directorates of Teagasc. It was prepared following consultation with colleagues across Teagasc using their collective knowledge and expertise in agri-environmental science and practice and the implementation of the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and Nitrates Derogation Regulations.https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2019/teagasc-submission-made-in-response-to-the-consultation-paper-on-interim-review-of-irelands-nitrates-derogation-2019.ph