Innovation and failure in mechatronics design education

Innovative engineering design always has associated with it the risk of failure, and it is the role of the design engineer to mitigate the possibilities of failure in the final system. Education should however provide a safe space for students to both innovate and to learn about and from failures. However, pressures on course designers and students can result in their adopting a conservative, and risk averse, approach to problem solving. The paper therefore considers the nature of both innovation and failure, and looks at how these might be effectively combined within mechatronics design education

Failure is an option:an innovative engineering curriculum

PurposeAdvancements and innovation in engineering design are based on learning from previous failures but students are encouraged to ‘succeed’ first time and hence can avoid learning from failure in practice. The purpose of the study was to design and evaluate a curriculum to help engineering design students to learn from failure.Design/Methodology/ApproachA new curriculum design provided a case study for evaluating the effects of incorporating learning from failure within a civil engineering course. An analysis of the changes in course output was undertaken in relation to graduate destination data covering 2006 to 2016 and student satisfaction from 2012 to 2017 and a number of challenges and solutions for curriculum designers were identified.FindingsThe design and delivery of an innovative curriculum, within typical constraints, can provide opportunities for students to develop resilience to failure as an integral part of their learning in order to think creatively and develop novel engineering solutions. The key issues identified were: the selection of appropriate teaching methods, creating an environment for exploratory learning, group and team assessments with competitive elements where practicable, and providing students with many different pedagogical approaches to produce a quality learning experience.OriginalityThis case study demonstrates how to design and implement an innovative curriculum that can produce positive benefits of learning from failure. This model can be applied to other disciplines such as building surveying and construction management. This approach underpins the development of skills necessary in the educational experience to develop as a professional building pathologist

More Man Than a Horse? BoJack Horseman and its Subversion of Sitcom Conventions in Search of Realism

As the television market diversifies and fragments, TV show creators in the postmodern era have been pushed to subvert the conventions of various genres to stay relevant. This research uses a combination of genre analysis and close content analysis of the Netflix original series BoJack Horseman to identify several conventions of the situation comedy genre that the show subverts. Through an unconventional handling of irony, tone, unique form, and subject matter, BoJack Horseman manages to transcend generic expectations by portraying a dark, realistic worldview. Contrary to the traditional view of the situation comedy as a media oriented towards escapism, BoJack Horseman\u27s realistic outlook serves as a way for viewers to confront painful emotions and better understand how to deal with them

Counselor Supervisors\u27 Perceptions of the Importance of Social Justice Competence in Novice Counselors

This study explores counselor supervisors’ perceptions of social justice competence (SJC) in novice counselors during the hiring process through the use of the Social Justice Competence Desirability Inventory (SJCDI). A total of 109 counselor supervisors completed the SJCDI, an instrument developed for the purpose of this study, and responses were evaluated through principal axis factoring. A series of one-way multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) explored whether perceptions of the importance of SJC differed among demographic and professional characteristics. The results of this study show that counselor supervisors perceive empathy & self-awareness, social action, and the development of critical consciousness as important areas of competence for novice counselors to possess. Information presented can be used by educators, administrators, and supervisors in the development of counselor education curriculum and training that includes social justice principles

Negative translanguaging space : mobility and immobility in inner-city Leeds

In this chapter we aim to provide an understanding of how multilingual individuals navigate institutional and policy discourses, in our case discourses around social entrepreneurship. We do so through a study which follows the production of a business plan for a social enterprise, or community interest company, the aim of which is to secure funding for heritage-related activities in Leeds, UK, for Eastern and Central European communities, in particular those who identify as Roma

Translanguaging Across Space and Place: Concept and Context

This book analyses research methods and theoretical concepts for exploring multilingualism in the context of contemporary superdiversity, in environments dramatically transformed by transnational migration and movement of peoples

The challenge of complexity:the role of design tools in establishing & managing functional outcomes

Systems of all types are becoming increasingly complex and depend for their operation on the integration of a wide range of technologies, often with differing development lead times. This leads to particular issues and complications in relation to the design, development and implementation of large scale military systems where the time from the initial concept to entry into service may extend over one or more decades. This means that concept development and planning must inevitably be based on predictions, themselves based on a range of assumptions, as to the nature of the in service role.Not only does this place a particular emphasis on the requirements capture to get things right, and hence be able to do things right, it also brings into question a project management structure in which individuals are, for reasons of career progression, rotated into and out of roles over what are relatively short time periods in relation to the overall project timeframe‡.This paper therefore has its origins in a series of discussions as to the role formalisation of the design process might have in relation to the procurement of military systems. This led to questioning whether it would be the case that a better use of resources could be achieved if the design process; its role, operation, methods, procedures and limitations, was better understood, particularly in ensuring that user needs are properly, and fully, expressed and understood by all parties. Such an understanding is essential if the resulting systems are to match and conform to real user needs, rather than those needs as imagined by the designer and manufacturer, issues which involve not only technical considerations but issues of diplomacy, empathy and, in particular, trust.The paper therefore sets out to set out and describe the main features of the early stages of the design process and their impact on that process. Particular consideration and emphasis is given to the approach to requirements capture and the elicitation of actual, as opposed to perceived, user need, and the integration of these within an overall system structure which includes issues of maintenance, refurbishment, replacement and upgrading over the service life of a system. This to include the use of formal methods in support of the design process along with a consideration of the costs associated with remediation and change and the role of gatekeepers in managing technological progression and innovation in the context of the project.Other design oriented factors included in the discussion are the need to future proof designs by ensuring that a programme of refurbishment, upgrade and replacement is integrated within the design, and that that is supported by mechanisms for evaluating and supporting the introduction of new technologies such as those based around the concepts of Cloud computing and the Digital Twin.It is also the case that whatever approach is adopted it must of necessity involve a consideration of the career pathways of service personnel, balancing these with the need for a continuity of oversight across the entirety of service life of the systems

The First Right? Self-determination and International History

Streaming video requires Flash Player, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player to view.Simpson researches twentieth century U.S. foreign relations and international history, and has an interest in U.S.-south​east relations, political economy, human rights and development. He focuses on a global history of self-determination, exploring its political, cultural and legal descent through post-1945 U.S. foreign relations and international politics. His goal is to use the contested history of self-determination claims to re-think contemporary notions of human rights, sovereignty and international order as they intersected with the processes of decolonization, Cold War conflict and globalization.Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security StudiesEvent Web page, streaming video, event photo