What is there to be learnt from the 1950s and 1960s for contemporary trainee teachers in Further Education?

In this paper, some stories of staff who became Further Education (FE) lecturers during the 1950s and 1960s are reported upon. What emerges is that this period when FE was being established was heavily reliant on the imagination of the actors in their community settings. Moreover, these pioneers in the sector, often from strong occupational backgrounds but with limited formal qualifications, were employed because it was considered that they would be able to use their creative wisdom to forge the necessary links with local industry and other relevant stakeholders, so as to give the FE brand a high profile in its respective local communities. It is contended that in the current, most likely prolonged, period of austerity there is much to be drawn from these experiences of yesteryear, in that what is revealed in the following is very much a perspective that funding was not necessarily the be-all and end-all when these practitioners were endeavouring to deliver excellence. In particular, it is argued that lessons can be learnt from former times and thus, by recalling these and other such narratives and including them in FE lecturers’ Initial Teacher Training(ITT) and ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes, we may stimulate our imaginations in relation to how FE can be further integrated into the local setting, despite the aforementioned contemporary financial constraints

The effect of public understanding on kerbside recycling scheme performance

Kerbside recycling performance depends on a combination of factors including scheme design, operation, householder participation and the quality of that participation. The level of public understanding of what kerbside recycling schemes expect from them can have a significant effect on the quality of participation and on overall scheme performance. This is because even when participation rates are high, scheme performance can be reduced by poor separation efficiency of targeted materials and the putting out of non-targeted materials for collection. This paper examines research conducted in two regional recycling initiatives within the UK which demonstrate the need for measurement of public understanding and awareness to be taken into account along side other aspects of scheme performance. Only when attitudinal data are fully integrated with observational measures of participation and scheme yield can scheme improvements and promotional activity be effectively planned

Magnetic compliant suspension concept for space robotics

This paper proposes a Dual-Magnet Magnetic Compliance Unit (DMCU) for use in medium sized space rover platforms to enhance terrain handling capabilities and speed of traversal. An explanation of magnetic compliance and how it can be applied to space robotics is shown, along with an initial mathematical model for this system. A design for the DMCU is proposed along with a 4-wheeled DMCU Testing Rig

Understanding The Reputation Of Further Education (FE): Some Historical Comparisons

The website ‘FE histories and time line’ was developed from a research study entitled The reputation of English FE – understanding the evolution of the sector (1944-1996) supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the University of Exeter. This paper is an opportunity to elaborate further on the phenomenon of reputation with respect to FE colleges during the 1950s and 1960s. Reputation is considered to be a dynamic concept that emerges from the everyday images that individuals form, based on their experiences with an organisation as well as the communications and symbolic messages from the organisation itself (Gosti and Wilson, 2001). Narratives gathered from former college staff members and archival evidence are deployed to show that the reputation of FE colleges was far more firmly and widely established in this previous era than in subsequent decades. This shift is discussed in the light of significant challenges to the connectivity of colleges within local constituencies

An empirical analysis of lean six sigma implementation in SMEs – A migratory perspective

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the migratory nature of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation in manufacturing based SMEs in the UK. The companies were surveyed at two points over a five year period. These periods were before and after the 2008 recession point and were identified in order to assess the level of LSS implementation as a result of the tougher economic climate that has prevailed in the manufacturing industry since 2008. Analysis is carried out on a sample of 96 manufacturing SMEs from a range of manufacturing sectors in the UK. Data was gathered from company CEOs via a triangulated method of questionnaire, direct observation and interviews. The findings show the dynamic nature of LSS implementation in SMEs. Further work will be required to extend the LSS categorisation system to provide a wider category set that further defines the dynamical nature of LSS implementation

Mechanisms of nonstoichiometry in HfN_1-<i>x</i>

Density functional theory is used to calculate defect structures that can accommodate nonstoichiometry in hafnium nitride: HfN1-x, 0 ≤ X ≤ 0.25. It is predicted that a mechanism assuming simple distributions of nitrogen vacancies can accurately describe the variation in the experimentally observed lattice parameter with respect to the nitrogen nonstoichiometry. Although the lattice parameter changes are remarkably small across the whole nonstoichiometry range, the variations in the bulk modulus are much greater

Anisotropic oxygen diffusion in tetragonal La₂NiO_4+δ: molecular dynamics calculations

Molecular dynamics simulations, used in conjunction with a set of Born model potentials, have been employed to study oxygen transport in tetragonal La2NiO4+δ. We predict an interstitialcy mechanism with an activation energy of migration of 0.51 eV in the temperature range 800-1100 K. The simulations are consistent with the most recent experiments. The prevalence of oxygen diffusion in the a-b plane accounts for the anisotropy observed in measurements of diffusivity in tetragonal La2NiO4+δ