‘Tick boxes are just tick boxes’: Problematising evidence-based teaching and exploring the space of the possible through a complexity lens

This article seeks to provide a new paradigm for questioning how quality and excellence in teaching practices are understood and evaluated. By combining ideas from complexity theory and Michel Foucault’s conception of polymorphous correlations, I argue that a shift away from the forms of thought that engender reductionist evaluations can become a starting point to redefine the efficacy of teaching practices. By examining teaching practices through data obtained from interviews and classroom observations at a further education college, this article justifies disrupting our current common sense by which quality is defined in the landscape of educational policies and research. It is necessary, first, to try to unsettle the so-called discourse of evidence-based teaching, resulting in the production and dissemination of universalised pedagogical forms. By exploring how ecological factors affect institutional hierarchies and influence teaching practices, I challenge the notion that power relations in education are solely one-directional and oppressive. Insights from theory and teaching practices suggest that there are new forms of power at play, drawing attention to the concept I refer to as ‘transphenomenal awareness', and offering a more profound understanding of the significance of transcending the confines of pedagogical determinism that presently guides educational policymaking

Evaluation of SLAM algorithms for Search and Rescue applications

This research investigates three SLAM algorithms on a low-cost mobile robot and finds the algorithms’ performance through a set of experiments including different types of ground surfaces

Integer Programming Formulations and Cutting Plane Algorithms for the Maximum Selective Tree Problem

This paper considers the Maximum Selective Tree Problem (MSelTP) as a generalization of the Maximum Induced Tree problem. Given an undirected graph with a partition of its vertex set into clusters, MSelTP aims to choose the maximum number of vertices such that at most one vertex per cluster is selected and the graph induced by the selected vertices is a tree. To the best of our knowledge, MSelTP has not been studied before although several related optimization problems have been investigated in the literature. We propose two mixed integer programming formulations for MSelTP; one based on connectivity constraints, the other based on cycle elimination constraints. In addition, we develop two exact cutting plane procedures to solve the problem to optimality. On graphs with up to 25 clusters, up to 250 vertices, and varying densities, we conduct computational experiments to compare the results of two solution procedures with solving a compact integer programming formulation of MSelTP. Our experiments indicate that the algorithm CPAXnY outperforms the other procedures overall except for graphs with low density and large cluster size, and that the algorithm CPAX yields better results in terms of the average time of instances optimally solved and the overall average time

Particulate pollution in urban residential built environments during winter and summer seasons in Lahore, Pakistan

Indoor air pollution in urban residential areas of developing countries is of growing public health concern. The seasonal variation in mass concentration of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10was investigated in a residential built environment in Lahore, Pakistan by two DustTrak aerosol monitor (model 8520, TSI Inc.) during the winter and summer season. The measurements were carried out in the kitchen and living room simultaneously.The 24-hr meanconcentrationsfor PM1, PM2.5 and PM10in the kitchen and living room during the winter season were 157μg/m3 (±54), 733 μg/m3(±243), 409 μg/m3(±177) and 135μg/m3 (±39), 240 μg/m3 (±87), 300 μg/m3 (±115), respectively.During the summer the 24-hr mass concentration, for the same size fraction, in the kitchen and living room fell to 37μg/m3 (±4), 74μg/m3 (±11), 100 μg/m3 (±22) and31μg/m3 (±4), 71 μg/m3 (±19), 190 μg/m3 (±21), respectively. Apart from a higher concentration in winter than summer, a vast variation in 24hr and hourly mean concentration was also observed in the latter than in the former.Moreover background concentrations (hourly minimum) were also higher in winter than summer. These clearly highlight the impact of ventilation on indoor particulate matter as the sampling spaces (kitchen and living room) were more ventilated in summer than winter. The higher concentrationof the coarse size fraction in the living room than in the kitchen during summer time also shows the contribution from outdoor sources. These findings highlightthe impact of location, use and management of a residential built environment on exposure to indoor air pollutants

Serum biochemical profile of two broiler strains supplemented with vitamin E, raw ginger (Zingiber officinale) and L-carnitine under high ambient temperatures

In this study, the authors evaluated the comparative effects of dietary supplementation of ginger (Zingiber officinale), vitamin E and L-carnitine on certain blood parameters of two strains of broilers in summer. A total of 320 broiler chicks (Hubbard and Cobb) were divided into two groups. The two groups were subdivided into four subgroups with four replicates with 10 chicks per replicate. In each strain subgroup was kept as control while other subgroups were provided with ginger (2%), L-carnitine (500 mg/kg) or vitamin E (250 mg/kg) in the basal diet up to 42 days old. Supplementation of the diet with vitamin E, ginger and L-carnitine significantly decreased mean cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), glucose, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein (LDL), and increased high density lipoprotein (HDL) and serum protein concentrations. The results of vitamin E were comparatively better than those of the other two feed additives. The blood biochemical parameters did not vary between the broiler strains. From the findings of the current study, it was concluded that high ambient temperature had a negative effect on broiler hepatic and lipid profiles, and the supplementation of diets with vitamin E, ginger and L-carnitine improved broiler blood biochemical parameters.Keywords: Cholesterol, glucose, liver health, antioxidants, heat stres

Concept development for vehicle design education projects carried out in collaboration with industry

This paper describes the concept development process of three vehicle design team projects carried out in successive years in our fourth year undergraduate studio course, in collaboration with industry. The problem areas for all three projects were unfamiliar to student teams, and our collaboration required close involvement of the firms, for their technical expertise and design feedback. Our framework and strategies for this process involved: user research conducted in the field; group discussions for analyzing the operations carried out by the users and mapping their relation to the functions of the related hardware; scenario building for describing the context within an activity based time-related process and searching for solutions at the same time; the generation of numerous ideas through the matching of alternative scenarios with the project dimensions; convergence of these ideas into alternative design proposals; and decision-making on the final project concepts. User research extended throughout the concept development process, supported with an intense 3D exploration and with class assignments that encouraged goal-oriented teamwork. Although we followed a similar design process in all three projects, the strategies used in the various stages were modified depending on the requirements of each project, and regarding the differences in the vehicle types involved, the users and the tasks. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Experiencing space without vision

Ankara : Bilkent Univ., Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design and Institute of Fine Arts, 1997.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1997.Includes bibliographical references.In this study, the human body without vision, and its relation with the surrounding space, is examined. Towards this end, firstly space and the human body are briefly discussed. the sense modalities apart from vision, and the development of spatial cognition for the blind and visually impaired are examined. The environmental factors that contribute to the understanding of the surrounding built environment, and the assistive devices for this population are briefly covered. These issues stress the importance of stimulating, thus training the human body without vision to establish body and spatial awareness, and to learn to gather information from the surrounding architectural environment to be able to perform a task. To illustrate this fact, an experiment was conducted among blind and visually impaired children from the Goreneller Primary School in Ankara. The study consists of testing a game played with an educative toy and its effects on the tactual learning performance of the children.Evyapan, Naz AGZM.S