Innovation and design change strategies for learning technologies at Warwick : towards a ‘design capabilities’ heuristic for guiding practice and evaluating change.

This report gives a narrative account of an investigation into design and design capability in teaching and learning in a research-intensive university. It begins, in the Introduction, with definitions of key concepts: design, designing, successful design (achieving fit, stick, spread and growth), design change and design capability (although this last term is only really fleshed­out in Reading the Case Studies and the Conclusion). These words are common currency, but rarely used with precision. When clearly defined they provide a lens through which we can attain more clarity and granularity in analysing attempts at enhancing practice. In the second part, on the Origins of the Investigation and Earlier Experiments, we examine the limitations of a techno­centric approach to understanding, predicting and supporting the uptake of technology enhanced learning. It is argued that a design capability approach is needed, in which the ability of all people (including students) to discover, create, adopt, adapt designs that fit, stick, spread and grow is of prime value. In part 3, the design of the investigation is explained, with its focus upon discovering, creating and using design patterns as a key facilitating aspect of design capability. In part 4, this is put to the test, with an attempt at creatively reading the 23 mini case studies produced in interviews with academics. However, design patterns do not emerge easily from the cases, and we see that design and designing in this setting is more diverse and complex than expected. It is argued that a design patterns based approach will be useful, but much more work needs to be done before design patterns can become the lingua franca of teaching and learning design and development. This leads to a more sophisticated view of design capability, presented in the Conclusion. Drawing upon the experiences of the academics interviewed in the case studies, especially experienced and confident senior academics, it is conjectured that we need to increase the intensity with which academics encounter and reflect upon design challenges, designerly approaches, suboptimal and successful designs and design patterns. An integrated combination of Design Thinking and the Higher Education Academy Fellowship framework is recommended as a way of achieving this

Flipping the classroom : a design study of the adoption and adaption of new pedagogy in a higher education context

The Flipped Classroom idea is simple: the students consume lecture content as videos or audios individually in their own time, freeing­-up lecture time for more interactive and constructive pedagogies, with the students being more engaged and active in class. Does this fit with the Higher Education context? Specifically anywhere in Warwick (a research-intensive university in the English Midlands)? This paper reports on the initial phase of a Design Thinking investigation inspired by the basic Flipped Classroom idea, looking for ways in which it may be adopted and/or adapted to fit into existing or changing HE practices, in specific well defined contexts. In doing so, important lessons are learned concerning the diversity and specificity of the disciplines that are considered (english literature, medicine, psychology, teacher training, history, chemistry). The cases presented in the 7 design studies each illustrates how an academic teacher has designed new practice to address problems encountered in teaching, by applying pedagogy that stands out from the everyday pedagogies of their disciplines. They show how designerly practitioners can reflect upon teaching, identify "threshold concepts" and areas of difficulty (or even liminality), and respond with additional design and development work

Pedagogical strategies and technologies for peer assessment in Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Peer assessment has been mooted as an effective strategy for scaling­-up higher education and its core values to the proportions envisaged in the idea of Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs). If this is to become reality, what role will academic technologies play? What technologies will we need to provide? What learning design strategies and patterns will those technologies need to enable? This paper aims to explore the potential role of peer assessment in MOOCs, so as to get an informed sense of technology requirements. However, as will be seen, three of the four elements in the title “pedagogical strategies and technologies for peer assessment in MOOCs” vary radically for both practical and philosophical reasons, with significant implications for technology requirements. Worse still, the picture is evolving in non­linear relation to new technologies and MOOC initiatives. An overview of the various trends and differences is useful, but not conclusive. At points in the text learning design strategies, patterns and technologies are mentioned as possible ways in which peer assessment in MOOCs of various kinds might be implemented. These cases are highlighted in bold so as to stand out. They are also, in some cases, developed into simple design patterns, described in Appendix A. It should be noted, however, that they should be read within the wider pedagogical contexts within which they appear in the main body of the text

A report on e-portfolios : design features, uses, benefits, examples & emerging trends

This paper gives a more sophisticated response to the rapid (re)emergence of the e­portfolio buzz­word. Starting from a basic e­portfolio design pattern, a wide range of variations are explored. The aim is to establish a body of knowledge for guiding users and technology providers, so as to achieve an ever­more appropriate and fruitful alignment of needs, designs, platforms and informed choices. The key benefits of e­portfolio approaches are discussed, with some coverage of the variations, and suggested research and development directions. Deep and persistent diversity­creating factors are highlighted. A range of mini case studies from Warwick are then examined to throw further light upon the combinations of real and perceived needs, platform affordances and design choices. Finally, this is a fast evolving field, especially given the near ­ubiquitous adoption of platforms with e­portfolio­like elements (Facebook, LinkedIn etc). Technology and academic support services must look further forwards to emerging practices and requirements just at the edge of the institutional­perceptual horizon. We must be prepared to shape these potentially disruptive developments for the benefit of students, teachers, the institution and society

Evidence for a planetary mass third body orbiting the binary star KIC 5095269

In this paper, we report the evidence for a planetary mass body orbiting the close binary star KIC 5095269. This detection arose from a search for eclipse timing variations among the more than 2,000 eclipsing binaries observed by Kepler. Light curve and periodic eclipse time variations have been analysed using Systemic and a custom Binary Eclipse Timings code based on the Transit Analysis Package which indicates a $7.70\pm0.08M_{Jup}$ object orbiting every $237.7\pm0.1d$ around a $1.2M_\odot$ primary and $0.51M_\odot$ secondary in an 18.6d orbit. A dynamical integration over $10^7$ years suggests a stable orbital configuration. Radial velocity observations are recommended to confirm the properties of the binary star components and the planetary mass of the companion.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

The development of motility in spermatozoa

Mammalian spermatozoa acquire the capacity for motility during passage through the epididymis. This study on rat spermatozoa shows that pH, cAMP and protein kinase C (PKC) all play an important role in the initiation of motility. pH has the most critical role and until the initial pH change in spermatozoa has occurred between the caput and caudal epididymal regions of the rat, second messengers are not effective in stimulating motility, but they are involved once such pH change has occurred. The spermatozoa of Fucus serratus differ from mammalian spermatozoa in that they are released into the sea prior to fertilisation and the motility of these spermatozoa is initiated upon their release into sea water. The ionic composition of sea water plays an important role in this activation and it is evident that the presence of Na+ is vital for the Initiation of motility. This study shows that a Na+/H+ exchanger, a N+-dependent bicarbonate/chloride exchanger and a Na+/K+ pump, which regulate the concentration of Na+, are present in Fucus serratus and integrated activity of these exchangers/pumps causes an increase in intracellular pH (pHi). An elevation in pHi correlates to an increase in motility, mediated through the activation of the dynein ATPase of the flagella. Motility and respiration of these spermatozoa are closely linked, probably because the ATP produced by respiration is used primarily by the dynein ATPase. Second messengers have also been Implicated in the initiation/regulation of motility and respiration. Indirect evidence shows cAMP and PKC are present and regulate motility, possibly through the phosphorylation and thereby activation of key regulatory proteins, such as the Na+/H+ exchanger. A rise in intracellular Ca2+ is also associated with the activation of Fucus serratus spermatozoa but the exact mechanism by which such a rise regulates motility remains unclear

The MultiSite Spectroscopic Telescope campaign: 2m spectroscopy of the V361 Hya variable PG1605+072

We present results and analysis for the 2m spectroscopic part of the MultiSite Spectroscopic Telescope (MSST) campaign undertaken in May/June 2002. The goal of the project was to observe the pulsating subdwarf B star PG1605+072 simultaneously in velocity and photometry and to resolve as many of the >50 known modes as possible, which will allow a detailed asteroseismological analysis. We have obtained over 150 hours of spectroscopy, leading to an unprecedented noise level of only 207m/s. We report here the detection of 20 frequencies in velocity, with two more likely just below our detection threshold. In particular, we detect 6 linear combinations, making PG1605+072 only the second star known to show such frequencies in velocity. We investigate the phases of these combinations and their parent modes and find relationships between them that cannot be easily understood based on current theory. These observations, when combined with our simultaneous photometry, should allow asteroseismology of this most complicated of sdB pulsators.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A; Figure 1 at lower resolution than accepted versio