The medium became the message: the MEDAL project as learning space

Our contribution offers a retrospective glimpse into some perspectives on the MEDAL (Making a difference: educational development to enhance academic literacy) project, a three-year initiative that created a pedagogic network for childhood studies (CS), a new, complex and rapidly evolving area of research and undergraduate study. It aims to capture the sense of community that evolved throughout the project, because this underpinned our sense of the conceptual change and professional development that MEDAL brought about for the individuals working within it. Our narrative incorporates the core team’s perspectives and explores the ways that this group worked with others in a community that came to encompass members with a range of experiences, disciplines and backgrounds. In particular we will focus on the ways that MEDAL co-collaborators included students and emerging pedagogic writers, and highlight some of the common issues and ideas that emerged across the various electronic, physical and metaphorical spaces that the project developed. We draw on our own reflections and on data gathered by an independent researcher in interviews with staff and students, illuminating the ways in which MEDAL offered us what Savin-Baden (2007) calls “learning space”

Exploring the rules of engagement via exemplars: enhancing staff and student dialogue about assessment and learning practice

This is an ESCalate Developing Pedagogy and Practice grant awarded to Kay Sambell of Northumbria University in 2009. This project develops a bank of activities and resources to enable Education staff to use concrete exemplars of student work as a means of enabling their students to approach assessment effectively. There will be two inter-related phases, one targeted on staff, one focused on their students. Both phases seek to promote dialogue about the tacit rules of engagement surrounding assessmen

Assessment for learning: a critical review of a contested territory

The aim of this research seminar is to engage in a critical exploration of Assessment for Learning (AfL), situated within the higher education research literature. This is timely because AfL is generating significant interest as a way to improve student learning

Conceptual design study of 1985 commercial tilt rotor transports. Volume 1: VTOL design summary

Aircraft were synthesized in the 21-, 45-, and 100- passenger categories. Technological factors were considered and the 45-passenger point design, designated the D312, was selected. Variants of the D312 having sideline noise levels in hover of + or - 5 PNdB were also studied. All three 45-passenger aircraft were analyzed for performance, weights, economics, handling qualities, noise footprints, aeroelastic stability and ride comfort. Results are presented

A low profile radiating element with nearly hemispheric coverage for satellite communications on-the-move hybrid array antenna

A novel design solution of a dual-linearly polarised Ku-band low-profile radiating element for low elevation angle coverage (down to 10° above horizon) is presented. Such an element is suitable for full-duplex Satellite Communications On-The-Move (SCOTM) hybrid scanned phased array antenna applications. Standard designed radiating elements for array applications with low profile physical structure suffer poor low elevation angle coverage as the element pattern reduces by sine of the elevation angle. The element design demonstrated in this paper features unique louvered array element geometry incorporating a spatial “ray bending” lens facilitates the shaping of the element pattern to increase gain at low elevation angles. Preliminary modelling results using ray tracing analysis shows that the desired low angle coverage can be achieved. Currently in progress full 3D electromagnetic simulations which include the interaction between the basic radiator and the spatial lens indicates that using an ideal tilted element with novel louvered reflector in addition with proposed lens, low angular coverage can potentially be realised in a low profile structure

A new low profile antenna with improved performance for satellite on-the-move communications

A novel design solution for a low-profile fullduplex Satellite-On-The-Move Communications hybrid scanned phased array antenna for low elevation angle coverage (down to 10°) is described. The antenna is operated at Ku-Band. The unique louvered array element geometry in combination with a spatial filter/ “ray bending” lens facilitates the shaping of the element pattern to increase gain at low elevation angles. Preliminary modelling results using simple ray-tracing and 3D E simulation indicate that the desired low angle coverage can be achieved