The Rationale for Developing Global Competence

This paper addresses three questions related to the rationale for global engineering education. These questions are, Why do engineering students need to have a new set of skills, which we will collectively refer to as “global competence?” What does it mean for students to have global competence? and, What are the most important attributes of global competence? In answer to the first question, we discuss the forces and events of the past 20 years which have driven the globalization of engineering. In answer to the second question, we present 13 dimensions of global competence. To answer the third question, we present survey results from engineering educators and leaders in industry regarding the relative importance of these dimensions. We then discuss some implications of the answers to these questions

Engineering Study Abroad Programs: Formats, Challenges, Best Practices

This paper is a report of a survey of engineering study abroad programs made in order to understand a number of questions, such as: 1) what types of programs are in existence, 2) what are the challenges associated with these programs, and 3) what constitutes a set of best practices regarding these programs

Representing the Process of Machine Tool Calibration in First-order Logic

Machine tool calibration requires a wide range of measurement techniques that can be carried out in many different sequences. Planning a machine tool calibration is typically performed by a subject expert with a great understanding of International standards and industrial best-practice guides. However, it is often the case that the planned sequence of measurements is not the optimal. Therefore, in an attempt to improve the process, intelligent computing methods can be designed for plan suggestion. As a starting point, this paper presents a way of converting expert knowledge into first-order logic that can be expressed in the PROLOG language. It then shows how queries can be executed against the logic to construct a knowledge-base of all the different measurements that can be performed during machine tool calibration

Diisopropylamide and TMP turbo-grignard reagents : a structural rationale for their contrasting reactivities

A neutral dimeric molecule in crystal form, the diisopropylamido turbo-Grignard reagent "(iPr2N)MgCl⋅LiCl" (see structure; blue N, red O, green Mg, yellow Cl, black C) separates into several charged ate species in dynamic exchange with each other in THF solution as determined by a combination of EXSY and DOSY NMR studies

Multipartite Attitudes to Enterprise : A Comparative Study of Young People and Place

The article examines young people’s attitudes towards enterprise, comparing prosperous and deprived neighbourhoods and two UK cities. Corpus linguistics analysis identified multi-layered attitudes and variations in how place prosperity and city affect attitudes. High interest in enterprise was associated with weaker place attachment and reduced social embeddedness. Young adults from prosperous neighbourhoods delegitimised other’s enterprises; the ‘deprived’ sub-corpus included more fluid notions of enterprise legitimacy. Liverpool accounts contained stronger discursive threads around self-determination; Bradford accounts included greater problematizing of entrepreneurship versus employment. An original Multipartite Model of Attitudes to Enterprise is presented consisting of four layers: attitudes to enterprise generally; attitudes legitimising particular forms of enterprise; attitudes to enterprise related to place; and attitudes to enterprise related to self. The conclusion explains why policies and research need to be fine-grained and avoid uni-dimensional conceptualisations of attitudes to enterprise or deterministic arguments relating entrepreneurship to specific types of places or backgrounds

Student perceptions of influences on their study experiences in a distance learning accounting course and implications for course design

Abstract\ud \ud This thesis is located in the arena of a distance learning accounting course of a vocational nature \ud delivered to working managers. It is concerned with identifying and exploring students' perceptions \ud of influences upon their study experiences. The influences are drawn from elements of the course \ud design, characteristics of the students, and their inter-action. Data is collected through \ud semi-structured interviews from thirty eight past students. The data are explored using the \ud techniques of content analysis, repertory grid analysis, and laddering. The exploration generates \ud findings concerning the most significant influences, suggesting indicative associations between \ud sets of student characteristics and elements of course design and course achievement measured \ud through academic scores. Typologies of groups of students are identified and linked to those \ud scores. Particularly influential, based on such associations, are domestic circumstances, nature of \ud work in relation to budget management and financial decision making, and levels of maths and PC \ud skills. Further exploration reveals a gender divide, with females performing less well than males, \ud with domestic circumstances and nature of work being of great significance. This thesis contributes \ud new insights into the student experience, with practical implications for course design.\ud \ud \ud \ud \ud \u

Experimental Studies of Interfacial Electrochemistry

Part I. Eu+2, V+2 and Co(NH3)63+ as Electrode Kinetic Probes of the Structure of the Diffuse Layer in Dilute Electrolytes The structure of the diffuse double layer at positive electrode charges in dilute perchlorate, fluoride, chloride and bromide electrolytes is inferred from the kinetics of oxidation of the Eu+2, V+2 and Co(NH3)63+ cations, Diffuse layer potentials calculated from the measured kinetics of the V+2 and Eu+2 probes disagree, both in magnitude and (in some cases) in sign with potentials calculated from electrocapillary data and Gouy-Chapman-Stern theory. A different kinetic response is observed for Co(NH3)63+ and is attributed to the formation of an ion pair with an adsorbed anion. The possible origin of these effects and their consequences in attempts to apply Frumkin double layer corrections or to detect discreteness-of-charge effects is discussed Part II. The Formation of Polymeric Surface Phases on Mercury Electrodes from Solutions Containing Thioethercarboxylates and White Metal Cations The adsorption of thioethercarboxylate ligands and complexes formed by these ligands with white metals (Pb+2 in particular) on a mercury surface is investigated, Two distinct phases are apparent in many systems one at positive potentials and the other on more negative electrodes. The large adsorption of metal cations measured in both potential regions is attributed to the formation of a monolayer of polymeric surface phase which has a structure not unlike those observed in the molecular crystals of analogous compounds.</p

Role of smartphone-driven virtual reality field trips in inquiry-based learning

A Google Expedition (GE) is a Virtual Reality approach comprising of 360 degree photospheres of a location (e.g. a museum, or a city like Rio de Janeiro, an active volcano) along with the description of location, points of interest and suggested questions for discussion. Using a Tablet and via the GEs App, a teacher can guide students. Students experience the GE through the smartphones embedded within the VR viewers called Google cardboard. Our research project’s objective is examine the potential role of Virtual Reality (VR) in science and geography in schools. In this research paper, we will discuss the results of our empirical investigations for one of the research questions: whether VR-based guided field trips via GEs can support self-directed inquiry-based learning (IBL). Our investigations on IBL have involved: conducting Geography lessons using one or more GEs at KS3 and KS4 stages; analysis of the lesson-observations; and assessment of the nature of questions that are generated by the students during these lessons. The teachers reported that the students generate more questions (than usual) in lessons that involve GEs/VR. Also, the questions are high-order and have one of more of the following features: are analytical, enquire about impact, or are evaluative