A case study of case studies: producing real world learning within the business classroom

Teaching and learning about business organisations and the environment in which they operate is contained within a curriculum but context and events in which they operate is constantly changing. In responding to this context one solution is to construct and use case-studies, but these are (a) time-consuming and expensive to produce (b) need constant up-dating (c) may be unsuited for classrooms. This paper shows how these problems have been overcome by using a innovative methodology based in a continuing public-private partnership (1994-present) between H.E., schools and business organisations. The organisations pay to contribute - and distribute - the case-studies which must conform to requirements which ensure classroom materials are relevant, rigorous, up-to-date, and unbiased: cross-referenced to the curriculum; both practical and theoretical; designed to enrich classroom experiences; ethically-based, taking into account the advice of teachers. The paper argues for a way of producing curriculum materials which itself constitutes a methodological contribution to the uses of case-study in research-based learning

Deformation in Moffat Shale detachment zones in the western part of the Scottish Southern Uplands

A study of the décollement zones in the Moffat Shale Group in the Ordovician Northern Belt of the Southern Uplands of Scotland reveals a progressive sequence of deformation and increased channelization of fluid flow. The study concentrates on exposures of imbricated Moffat Shale on the western coast of the Rhins of Galloway. Initial deformation occurred in partially lithified sediments and involved stratal disruption and shearing of the shales. Deformation then became more localized in narrower fault zones characterized by polyphase hydrothermal fluid flow/veining events. Deformation continued after vein formation, resulting in the development of low-temperature crystal plastic microstructures and further veining. Late-stage deformation is recorded as a pressure solution event possibly reflecting the cessation of slip on these faults as the slice became accreted. Most deformation can be ascribed to SE-directed thrusting and incorporation of the individual sheets into the Southern Uplands thrust stack. Later sinistral shear deformation, not observed in overlying turbidites, is also localized in these fault zones. The study reveals the likely structures formed at levels of an accretionary prism deforming under diagenetic to low-grade metamorphic conditions

QUESTIONING THE ADMISSIBILITY OF NONSCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY AFTER DAUBERT: THE NEED FOR INCREASED JUDICIAL GATEKEEPING TO ENSURE THE RELIABILITY OF ALL EXPERT TESTIMONY

This article examines the difficulty of finding a proper standard for evaluating non-scientific expert testimony. It analyzes the legal standard for the admission of expert testimony as set out in the Federal Rule of Evidence and the Daubert case. It reviews a split in courts as to how to apply these standards to non-scientific expert testimony. It ends with some proposals for the application of Daubert to non-scientific expert testimony and suggests an amendment to the Federal Rules of evidence

Gromov-Monge quasi-metrics and distance distributions

Applications in data science, shape analysis and object classification frequently require maps between metric spaces which preserve geometry as faithfully as possible. In this paper, we combine the Monge formulation of optimal transport with the Gromov-Hausdorff distance construction to define a measure of the minimum amount of geometric distortion required to map one metric measure space onto another. We show that the resulting quantity, called Gromov-Monge distance, defines an extended quasi-metric on the space of isomorphism classes of metric measure spaces and that it can be promoted to a true metric on certain subclasses of mm-spaces. We also give precise comparisons between Gromov-Monge distance and several other metrics which have appeared previously, such as the Gromov-Wasserstein metric and the continuous Procrustes metric of Lipman, Al-Aifari and Daubechies. Finally, we derive polynomial-time computable lower bounds for Gromov-Monge distance. These lower bounds are expressed in terms of distance distributions, which are classical invariants of metric measure spaces summarizing the volume growth of metric balls. In the second half of the paper, which may be of independent interest, we study the discriminative power of these lower bounds for simple subclasses of metric measure spaces. We first consider the case of planar curves, where we give a counterexample to the Curve Histogram Conjecture of Brinkman and Olver. Our results on plane curves are then generalized to higher dimensional manifolds, where we prove some sphere characterization theorems for the distance distribution invariant. Finally, we consider several inverse problems on recovering a metric graph from a collection of localized versions of distance distributions. Results are derived by establishing connections with concepts from the fields of computational geometry and topological data analysis.Comment: Version 2: Added many new results and improved expositio

Breaking out from the straitjacket: an appreciation of the art of teaching in a business classroom within a scientifically-based teaching environment

Teachers might develop a wonderful feeling that many young people have understood a lesson and have not just enjoyed the experience but done so in a way that has created some 'thing' special for all of those involved ('thing' is highlighted in this instance as it is a tangible event taking place and not any attempt to represent it). Some teachers describe this as a buzz; in other words, like nature itself, as something education. The paper argues that scientific enframing not only puts a straitjacket on teachers within the UK, it also makes it difficult for them to develop and appreciate the 'art of teaching'. unquestionably unique that justifies their commitment to their teaching and their students. No matter how much we know about botany and genes, every flower is unique and blooms because it blooms. As Angelus Silesius indicates within his poetry "The rose is without why; it blooms because it blooms, It pays no attention to itself, ask not whether it is seen." (Heidegger,1991) The United Kingdom education system has existed under the hammer of transformation, with a National Curriculum (1988), a rigorous inspection regime (Woodward, 2001) and countless changes in curriculum and associated assessments (QCA, 2004), as well as a substantive apparatus that makes many assumptions about how teachers should operate within the classroom. The primary concern of this paper is to question how the 'scientific framing' of teaching through competences and other measures of accountability has influenced the work of teachers within the context of business

Uncovering the truth behind Vygotsky's cognitive apprenticeship: engaging reflective practitioners in the 'master-apprentice' relationship

In recent years theories of situated cognition sharing the idea that learning and doing are inseparable as part of a process of enculturation, largely based upon the work of Vygotsky in developing a model of ‘cognitive apprenticeship’, have received much attention in education (Vygotsky, 1978) as an insightful model underpinning forms of learning and teaching. The master-apprentice relationship using techniques of apprenticeship such as modelling, scaffolding and reflection has since been used as a base for considerable research helping researchers and practitioners to understand teacher-student action across a range of different teaching situations (Collins et al., 1989; Hennessy, 1993; Jarvela, 1995; Rojewski et al., 1994). The focus of much of this research has explored the efficacy of the model when set against the question of how to improve forms of learning and teaching in particular settings