The introduction and refinement of the assessment of digitally recorded audio presentations

This case study critically evaluates benefits and challenges of a form of assessment included in a final year undergraduate Religious Studies Open University module, which combines a written essay task with a digital audio recording of a short oral presentation. Based on the analysis of student and tutor feedback and sample assignments, this study critically examines how teaching and learning practices linked to this novel form of assessment have been iteratively developed in light of the project findings over a period of two years. It concludes that while this form of assessment poses a number of challenges, it can create valuable opportunities for the development of transferable twenty-first-century graduate employability skills as well as deep, effective learning experiences, particularly – though not exclusively – in distance learning settings

Sex variation in patellar tendon kinetics during running

Purpose. The aim of the current investigation was to determine whether female recreational runners exhibit distinct patellar tendon loading patterns in relation to their male counterparts. Methods. Twelve male (age 26.55 ± 4.11 years, height 1.78 ± 0.11 m, mass 77.11 ± 5.06 kg) and twelve female (age 26.67 ± 5.34 years, height 1.67 ± 0.12 m, mass 63.28 ± 9.75 kg) runners ran over a force platform at 4.0 m · s –1. Lower limb kinematics were collected using an eight-camera optoelectric motion capture system which operated at 250 Hz. Patellar tendon loads were examined using a predictive algorithm. Sex differences in limb, knee and ankle joint stiffness were examined statistically using independent samples t tests. Results. The results indicate that patellar tendon force (male = 6.49 ± 2.28, female = 7.03 ± 1.35) and patelllar tendon loading rate (male = 92.41 ± 32.51, female = 111.05 ± 48.58) were significantly higher in female runners. Conclusions. Excessive tendon loading in female runners indicates that female runners may be at increased risk of patellar tendon pathologies

Keeping a reflective journal : reflections of a mature student

Reflective journals are used increasingly in Higher Education. Examples from an unstructured journal kept by the author in her role as a new Mechanical Engineering student raise issue of what 'ought' to be in journals, how emotional effects should be dealt with and how the subjective nature of reflection may cause problems for assessment

Why we should see international law as a structure: Unpicking international law’s ontology and agency

This article identifies how three dominant ideas of international law (as a process, an institution and a practice) see its agency, concluding that all three share a reluctance to see international law as doing anything more than enabling the operation of other actors, forces or structures. This article argues that we should see international law as a structure because it possesses both the surface structure of rules, principles, processes, personnel and material elements of the international legal system and a deep structure of values that sits deep within our subconscious. As Shklar’s idea of legalism shows us, legalism plays a powerful role in shaping all our understandings of ourselves and the world that surrounds us. Seeing international law as a structure enables us to see how it locates actors within a social hierarchy and how it behaves in similar ways to recognised structures like capitalism and racism

Noriega v. Activision/Blizzard: The First Amendment Right to Use a Historical Figure\u27s Likeness in Video Games

Panama’s former dictator, Manuel Noriega, recently sued Activision Blizzard in the California Superior Court for using his likeness and image in the popular video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops II.” In his complaint, Noriega alleged that the use of his likeness violated his right of publicity. Former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, came to Activision’s defense, and filed a motion to dismiss, which was granted. In granting Activision’s motion, the court held that Activision’s use of Noriega’s likeness was transformative and did not violate his right of publicity. This Issue Brief argues that the California Superior Court should not have applied the transformative use test but should have held that Manuel Noriega did not have a right of publicity for his place in Panama’s history

Digital literacy in religious studies

This article considers the relevance of the concept of ‘digital literacy’ within the context of the discipline of religious studies in higher education and reflects on its potential impact on notions of ‘graduateness’. It contemplates how digital technology can be integrated most effectively in learning design and reflects on the skills students need to be equipped with to recognise the challenges and opportunities of digital technology and understand its impact and role within the study of religions

Immediately algebraically closed fields

We consider two overlapping classes of fields, IAC and VAC, which are defined using valuation theory but which do not involve a distinguished valuation. Rather, each class is defined by a condition that quantifies over all possible valuations on the field. In his thesis, Hong asked whether these two classes are equal (Hong, 2013, Question 5.6.8). In this paper, we give an example that negatively answers Hong's question. We also explore several situations in which the equivalence does hold with an additional assumption, including the case where every $K'\equiv K$ is IAC.Comment: 12 pages, based on results from a chapter of the author's thesis, under the supervision of Professor Deirdre Haskel

Materials to Meet Special Needs

published or submitted for publicatio

The effect of low temperatures on the sensitivity of radiometers

The behavior of radiometers at low temperatures, besides being of some interest to the theoretical physicist,(2) is of considerable importance to one desiring to carry radiant energy measurements to an extreme limit. Various workers have already pushed the sensitivity of such instruments as the thermocouple, radio micrometer, and radiometer into the region in which Brownian movement begins to mask observations so that any great gain in the sensitivity of existing instruments must come from some change in technique rather than from mere refinement of our instruments