Blended Learning as a Means to an End

Over the last few years the Language Centre has repeatedly had to disappoint students who wanted to learn a lesser-taught language or continue studying a more widely taught language at an advanced level. There were simply not enough participants to make it viable to run such courses. Other HE and FE institutions reported the same problem, which prompted us to investigate whether we could bring together students from a larger geographical area to boost numbers. Funded by the University of Worcester's Business Partnerships Office the Language Centre piloted two blended learning courses using a combination of face-to-face and synchronous videoconferencing sessions. Our interest in blended learning was not so much motivated by using technology for technology's sake, but as a means of bridging the geographical gap between tutors and students

Use of synchrotron tomographic techniques in the assessment of diffusion parameters for solute transport in groundwater flow

This technical note describes the use of time-resolved synchrotron radiation tomographic energy dispersive diffraction imaging (TEDDI) and tomographic X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) for examining ion diffusion in porous media. The technique is capable of tracking the diffusion of several ion species simultaneously. This is illustrated by results which compare the movement of Cs+, Ba2+ and La3+ ions from solution into a typical sample of English chalk. The results exhibited somewhat anomalous (non-Fickian) behaviour and revealed heterogeneities (in 1D) on the scale of a few millimetres

A New Standard for Comparison Research: Uncovering the Dynamic Interactive Pattern of Comparative Judgments and its Implications.

Social judgments of the self or others are often made in comparison to some standard in the environment. How these standards influence our judgments depends heavily on their relative standing on the evaluative dimension of interest compared to the target of the judgment. Despite this consequential role, researchers have often selected items and comparison standards somewhat arbitrarily, either ignoring or simplifying their influence substantially. The current dissertation will argue that this poses serious issues for the generalisability and validity of such findings, preventing strong tests of theory. Instead, it will offer a new more holistic approach to the investigation of the comparison process which takes this key variable into account. In the first chapter, a brief overview of the comparative process and the influence of comparison standards will be given to highlight these potential issues. Chapter 2 will then show that standards with the same relative distance to the target can potentially lead to opposing comparison effects simply due to item selection alone. Chapter 3 confirms this heterogeneity at the item level, and uncovers the dynamic interactive pattern of assimilation and contrast, showing that the dichotomisation of the relative distance between target and standard into ‘Moderate’ or ‘Extreme’ standards can be problematic. Chapter 4 will show how this dynamic pattern shifts in response to other moderating variables, like a comparative focus on similarities or differences. Thereby, this chapter also offers a new paradigm that can robustly test theoretical predictions, while avoiding the aforementioned pitfalls. Finally, the last chapter will offer some concluding thoughts about the implications for the literature, limitations of the current work, and offer recommendations for future research

Convergence and divergence in opera and music theatre : supporting thesis for a folio of work

This appraisal presents various musico-dramatic works through the elucidation of source impulse and places them alongside other works in the genre, i and related works by the composer. Four of the works are operatic, in a hybrid form, I 1 which is both typical of and central to the author's creative output. The author ! 1 postulates an analytical theory that transcends the historical limitations of traditional musical, literary or dramatic presentation. For this reason the author adopts a comparative generic and historical analysis, which exposes both their debts to and departures from traditional operatic forms and structures. I Several arguments are postulated to evidence the originality of the works: the use of found or specially constructed instruments; the effect of these instruments on voices through the use of relative pitch; the absence of a traditional orchestra as the basis for an opera; the use of a vocal chorus to provide the role of an orchestra; the use of obscure languages; the use of several languages simultaneously; the symbiotic nature of music and text; the influence of the sound of the languages on the music itself; the ensuing dichotomy between meaning in music and meaning in text and the consequences for the dramatic presentation of the works. Evidence is provided from each of the works to point to originality of compositional style and idiosyncrasy of word setting, and the affects of these issues on contemporary audiences and performers. One research outcome suggests that responsibility for meaning in opera lies ultimately with the performer, rather than with the creator or the score. Such an argument could hardly be more forcibly made than when, as is the case here, both author and composer are one and the same. The works which constitute the portfolio have been performed widely, internationally, commercially recorded, broadcast on radio and some televised

Owners, traders and providers of capital: the multiple faces of institutional investors

We draw on a series of in-depth interviews with senior fund managers and senior company executives to explore how different and often-contradictory conceptualizations of institutional investors, their role in the corporate governance process, and their interactions with corporate management, are reflected in the attitudes and perceptions of the actors concerned. We find that while conceptualizations in terms of agency and ownership dominate both academic and popular discourses, the actors conceptualize institutional investors more as financial traders and, from the management perspective, politically powerful resource providers.corporate governance, institutional investors, power, resource dependence,shareholder value.

Gold(I)-catalysed one-pot synthesis of chromans using allylic alcohols and phenols

A gold(I)-catalysed reaction of allylic alcohols and phenols produces chromans regioselectively via a one-pot Friedel–Crafts allylation/intramolecular hydroalkoxylation sequence. The reaction is mild, practical and tolerant of a wide variety of substituents on the phenol