Learning to assess in higher education: exploring the interplay of ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ learning in the academic workplace.

While there has been considerable research into HE teachers’ development and their conceptions of teaching more generally (see, for instance, Trigwell et al., 1994, Trigwell et al., 1999, Kane et al., 2002, Eley, 2006), the way in which HE staff become assessors and learn about assessment has not been widely researched. Researchers such as Knight et al. (2006) have highlighted the importance of non-/informal learning in the academic workplace, and there is conflicting evidence for the impact of more formal academic development. Research on workplace learning stresses that formal and informal dimensions of learning are intertwined, but also that formal learning opportunities have a role to play in the development of expertise (Tynjälä, 2008). This paper explores the ways in which academics learn to assess in HE. It draws on empirical data from two research projects undertaken at one UK university. The ‘assessment cultures’ project explores interrelationships between socio-cultural context and academic assessment practices. 37 interviews were conducted; 24 initial and 13 follow-up interviews. In the initial interviews lecturers described how they assess in specific modules they teach. In the follow-up interviews themes such as disciplinary and occupational background and the ways lecturers learned to assess were explored. The ‘staff learning’ project examines learning about assessment through different types of academic development: a compulsory course on assessment for new academics, a module on assessment for learning for experienced staff and a university assessment for learning network providing support and activities to its members. 31 semi-structured interviews were conducted: 17 with network members, 8 with participants of the course for new academics and 6 with participants of the course on assessment for learning. Interviewees were asked about the benefits or otherwise of the type of academic development experienced, changes in their understanding of assessment and changes in their assessment practices. Taken together, the data generated by the two projects provide insight into the complex process whereby formal and informal interact. Using data from the two projects has enabled us to extend the scope of each individual project in order to address questions which could otherwise not have been answered. It has also provided an opportunity to examine the data through the lenses of different theoretical frameworks, thus heightening our awareness for the ‘the theoretical frames of reference and methodological approaches which shape (…) [our] knowledge claims’ (Shay, p.1). The collaboration has increased our awareness for our own approaches and backgrounds and has required us to engage with each others’ theoretical and professional perspectives: that of Foucauldian post-structuralism and a focus on the discursive construction of identity with that of academic development and a focus on scholarship of teaching and learning and evaluation of academic development initiatives. It has also meant drawing on each others’ respective research backgrounds in student and teacher learning in higher education research on the one hand and workplace learning research on the other. In the critical review of student learning research which Shay refers to in her ‘think piece’, Haggis (2009) explicitly highlights the potential of the workplace learning literatures and debates for ‘thinking differently’ about higher education research. By challenging ways of knowing through collaboration, the paper intends to make a contribution to the ‘region’ (Shay, p.2). Our focus in the analysis is on the interrelationships between theoretical concepts and assessment practices. In some interviews encounters with a concept such as ‘assessment for learning’ were described as a lens which sheds light onto existing assessment practices as well as a tool which enables the development of practice. This draws attention to the importance of the discursive resources that are available to academics for talking about their practice. In addition, certain ways of learning appear to be significant both in everyday workplace practice and in academic development activities, for instance learning from and through others. Interaction with other members of staff, particularly from other disciplines, enables staff to question the taken for granted and re-think their assessment practices. The data suggest that the simple distinction between formal and informal learning in the academic workplace may be too crude and that it may therefore be difficult to evaluate or ‘prove’ the impact of formal learning opportunities. However, the findings have implications for academic development since they draws attention to the potential of specific types of ideas and learning activities to transform understandings of assessment and assessment practices. The paper will discuss the main findings as well as the benefits and challenges of working with data across two research projects with different theoretical underpinnings

Thematic Report One - Understanding Transnational Diaspora Politics: A Conceptual Discussion

This is the first of three CREST-funded Thematic Reports published by a team of researchers at City, University of London, and Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom examining political action among diaspora populations. The purpose of the report is to explore the theoretical and conceptual basis underpinning academic debates on engagement in the politics of conflict and post-conflict by communities living overseas. The research team is interested specifically in the Sri Lankan civil conflict between 1983 and 2009 and its aftermath, and understanding the attitudes towards and involvement in that conflict on the part of Tamil diaspora communities. The CREST project is exploring diaspora communities’ relationship with the changing socio-political environment in the homeland and how this influences processes of radicalisation or moderation. It recognises that the socio-political circumstances in which these processes develop are often crucial towards understanding why a community or individuals within that community abroad act in a certain way; this includes analysis of different scales and levels of engagement, both in home countries and in host countries, as well as different ‘areas’ of engagement, which can range from social to economic to political interactions. The following review is not specific to the Sri Lankan situation; it is rather concerned with how four concepts, diaspora, transnationalism, cosmopolitanism, and translocalism, have come to frame the academic discussion of diaspora or more broadly overseas politics and the potential of the concepts to shed light on the relationship between mobility and political action. It considers the extent to which these concepts are helpful in identifying the rationale behind specific methods of political participation offering critical reflections on the analytical and normative usefulness of these terms

Thematic Report Two - The Engagement of Refugees in Transnational Politics: Lessons from the Migration, Diaspora and Refugee Studies Literature

This is the second of three CREST-funded Thematic Reports published by a team of researchers at City, University of London, and Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, that cumulatively build a comprehensive picture of the state of knowledge on political action among diaspora and refugee populations. The research team is specifically interested in applying the theoretically-informed, literature and evidence grounded conclusions arising from these reports to understand the attitudes towards and involvement in the Sri Lankan civil conflict (1983-2009) and its aftermath by Tamil diaspora communities, but with a broader application. The CREST project is exploring diaspora and refugee communities’ relationship with the changing socio-political environment in the homeland and how this influences processes of radicalisation or moderation. It recognises that the socio-political circumstances in which these processes develop are often crucial to understanding why a community or individuals within that community abroad act in a certain way; this includes analysis of different scales and levels of engagement, both in home countries and in host countries, as well as different ‘areas’ of engagement, which can include social, economic and political interactions. Thematic Report One discussed how four analytical concepts, diaspora, transnationalism, cosmopolitanism, and translocalism, have come to frame the academic discussion of overseas politics and the potential of the concepts to shed light on the relationship between mobility and political action. The current paper – Thematic Report Two – complements the previous report’s broad conceptual discussion by specifically focusing on an analysis of the context and drivers of political action among diaspora and refugee populations, and engaging with the term ‘refugee politics’. It considers if the available diaspora and migration literature sheds light on whether the processes and dynamics of forced migration are likely to generate identifiable forms of political engagement

Host cell invasion by Staphylococcus aureus stimulates the shedding of microvesicles

During severe sepsis, microvesicles that are positive for tissue factor (TF) are at increased levels within blood and in pulmonary lavage. These microvesicles potentially disperse TF, the major initiator of the coagulation cascade, throughout multiple organ systems, initiating fibrin deposition and resultant ischemia. The source of these microvesicles has remained incompletely defined. Although TF+ microvesicles are shed from cells that express nascent TF transcript in response to injury, recent findings revealed that circulating, full-length TF protein is detectable prior to these nascent transcripts. This finding suggested that the protein is released from constitutive sources as an acute response. We examined whether Staphylococcus aureus, the Gram-positive bacteria that is emerging as one of the most common etiologic agents in sepsis, is capable of stimulating the release of TF+ microvesicles from a pulmonary cell line that constitutively expresses TF protein. We found that host cell invasion stimulated an acute release of TF+ microvesicles and that these microvesicles mediated the transfer of the protein to TF-negative endothelial cells. We also found that transfer was inhibited by cholesterol-lowering simvastatin. Taken together, our findings reveal that S. aureus pathogenesis extends to the acute release of TF+ microvesicles and that inhibiting dispersal by this mechanism may provide a therapeutic target

Effect of Applied Biosolids to Bahiagrass Pastures on Copper Status of Cattle

When grazing ruminants consume forages high in Mo but adequate in S, there is a risk of molybdenosis (a Mo-induced Cu deficiency). This occurs when Mo, S, and Cu join to form Cu-thiomolybdate complexes in the rumen that are not readily absorbed (Suttle, 1991). High dietary S reduces Cu absorption, possibly due to unabsorbable Cu sulphide formation, independent from its part in thiomolybdate complexes. The use of municipal sludge (biosolids) as a pasture fertiliser is of interest since some contain high Mo which may induce Cu deficiency. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and Cu status of cattle grazing pastures fertilized with biosolids

Algebraic totality, towards completeness

Finiteness spaces constitute a categorical model of Linear Logic (LL) whose objects can be seen as linearly topologised spaces, (a class of topological vector spaces introduced by Lefschetz in 1942) and morphisms as continuous linear maps. First, we recall definitions of finiteness spaces and describe their basic properties deduced from the general theory of linearly topologised spaces. Then we give an interpretation of LL based on linear algebra. Second, thanks to separation properties, we can introduce an algebraic notion of totality candidate in the framework of linearly topologised spaces: a totality candidate is a closed affine subspace which does not contain 0. We show that finiteness spaces with totality candidates constitute a model of classical LL. Finally, we give a barycentric simply typed lambda-calculus, with booleans ${\mathcal{B}}$ and a conditional operator, which can be interpreted in this model. We prove completeness at type ${\mathcal{B}}^n\to{\mathcal{B}}$ for every n by an algebraic method

Chandra Observations of Extended X-ray Emission in Arp 220

We resolve the extended X-ray emission from the prototypical ultraluminous infrared galaxy Arp 220. Extended, faint edge-brightened, soft X-ray lobes outside the optical galaxy are observed to a distance of 10 to 15 kpc on each side of the nuclear region. Bright plumes inside the optical isophotes coincide with the optical line emission and extend 11 kpc from end to end across the nucleus. The data for the plumes cannot be fit by a single temperature plasma, and display a range of temperatures from 0.2 to 1 keV. The plumes emerge from bright, diffuse circumnuclear emission in the inner 3 kpc centered on the Halpha peak, which is displaced from the radio nuclei. There is a close morphological correspondence between the Halpha and soft X-ray emission on all spatial scales. We interpret the plumes as a starburst-driven superwind, and discuss two interpretations of the emission from the lobes in the context of simulations of the merger dynamics of Arp 220.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; see also astro-ph/0208477 (Paper 1

DEM of triaxial tests on crushable sand

This paper presents simulations of high-pressure triaxial shear tests on a crushable sand. The discrete element method is used, featuring a large number of particles and avoiding the use of agglomerates. The triaxial model features a flexible membrane, therefore allowing realistic deformation, and a simple breakage mechanism is implemented using the octahedral shear stress induced in the particles. The simulations show that particle crushing is essential to replicate the realistic behaviour of sand (in particular the volumetric contraction) in high-pressure shear tests. The general effects of crushing during shear are explored, including its effects on critical states, and the influence of particle strength and confining pressure on the degree of crushing are discussed

The uncertain role of rising atmospheric CO2 on global plant transpiration

As CO2 concentration in the atmosphere rises, there is a need for improved physical understanding of its impact on global plant transpiration. This knowledge gap poses a major hurdle in robustly projecting changes in the global hydrologic cycle. For this reason, here we review the different processes by which atmospheric CO2 concentration affects plant transpiration, the several uncertainties related to the complex physiological and radiative processes involved, and the knowledge gaps which need to be filled in order to improve predictions of plant transpiration. Although there is a high degree of certainty that rising CO2 will impact plant transpiration, the exact nature of this impact remains unclear due to complex interactions between CO2 and climate, and key aspects of plant morphology and physiology. The interplay between these factors has substantial consequences not only for future climate and global vegetation, but also for water availability needed for sustaining the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. Future changes in global plant transpiration in response to enhanced CO2 are expected to be driven by water availability, atmospheric evaporative demand, plant physiological processes, emergent plant disturbances related to increasing temperatures, and the modification of plant physiology and coverage. Considering the universal sensitivity of natural and agricultural systems to terrestrial water availability we argue that reliable future projections of transpiration is an issue of the highest priority, which can only be achieved by integrating monitoring and modeling efforts to improve the representation of CO2 effects on plant transpiration in the next generation of earth system models. © 2022 The Author

Sex differences in cardiovascular morbidity associated with familial hypercholesterolaemia: A retrospective cohort study of the UK Simon Broome register linked to national hospital records

Background and aims: The UK Simon Broome (SB) familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) register previously reported 3-fold higher standardised mortality ratio for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women compared to men from 2009 to 2015. Here we examined sex differences in CVD morbidity in FH by national linkage of the SB register with Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Methods: Of 3553 FH individuals in the SB register (aged 20–79 years at registration), 2988 (52.5% women) had linked HES records. Standardised Morbidity Ratios (SMbR) compared to an age and sex-matched UK general practice population were calculated [95% confidence intervals] for first CVD hospitalisation in HES (a composite of coronary heart disease (CHD), myocardial infarction (MI), stable or unstable angina, stroke, TIA, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), heart failure, coronary revascularisation interventions). Results: At registration, men had significantly (p < 0.001) higher prevalence of previous CHD (24.8% vs 17.6%), previous MI (13.2% vs 6.3%), and were commenced on lipid-lowering treatment at a younger age than women (37.5 years vs 42.3 years). The SMbR for composite CVD was 6.83 (6.33–7.37) in men and 7.55 (6.99–8.15) in women. In individuals aged 30–50 years, SMbR in women was 50% higher than in men (15.04 [12.98–17.42] vs 10.03 [9.01–11.17]). In individuals >50 years, SMbR was 33% higher in women than men (6.11 [5.57–6.70] vs 4.59 [4.08–5.15]). Conclusions: Excess CVD morbidity due to FH remains markedly elevated in women at all ages, but especially those aged 30–50 years. This highlights the need for earlier diagnosis and optimisation of lipid-lowering risk factor management for all FH patients, with particular attention to young women with FH