Doing it differently

Purpose: Work-based learning is increasingly viewed as important in students’ higher education experiences. Drawing from the process of re-validating a Joint Honours in Education (JHE) programme, we highlight challenges involved in ensuring a meaningful placement experience for students that is fully embedded within their course. Primary challenges included the disparate number of subject strand combinations and concomitant career aspirations, wider university requisites on developing Graduate Attributes and student expectations of their placement opportunities. In broadening the scope and number of placement opportunities, we simultaneously increased our partnership links with employers to attract increased student buy-in to the opportunities available to them. Design/methodology/approach: This case study utilises staff reflections, stakeholder contributions and student evaluations to illuminate the process involved in re-validating a JHE programme to incorporate increased placement opportunities. A particular focus is placed on consideration of the tensions inherent within work based learning opportunities and the ways in which such experiences can be successfully embedded within a Higher Education (HE) degree programme. Whilst we are able to report on successful integration of placement opportunities in Year 1, we utilise student perspectives to gain understanding of the importance, or otherwise, they place on placements through the duration of their degree. Findings: Whilst placements are widely accepted as a positive feature of HE, inherent tensions emerged from some students who questioned the value and purpose of placements and time away from university. Conversely, employers saw placement and particularly the assessment of students whilst on placement as critical in students’ development into professional workers. The inclusion of placements in HE is therefore problematic, particularly in light of increased tuition fees. This case study however, suggests that meaningful and disparate placement opportunities can be successfully embedded within each year of an HE degree programme and can be viewed as enhancing the student academic experience. Research limitations/implications: The paper is located within a body of research that focuses positively on placement/work-based learning opportunities for undergraduate students, but does raise some emerging tensions linked to the marketization of HE and resulting student perspectives on ‘value’. Although generic themes can be applied to curriculum design elsewhere, outcomes may be different and linked to differing institutional habituses that influence practice. In addition, this paper reports solely on a single case that has developed a degree course to support the unique needs of its students within a particular context. Practical implications: The work-based learning model presented here facilitates student empowerment in tailoring their degree to their interests and career aspirations. It requires effective internal and external partnerships to inform curriculum design and the organization of placements. This paper will therefore be of interest to HE practitioners who are faced with the challenges of providing a broad range of placement opportunities for large and diverse groups of students with differing career aspirations. In addition, it will also be attractive to employers that have strong links with universities and are in the position to influence curriculum design. Social implications: The focus on employability and the development of key generic skills is interconnected with structures influencing social mobility. The range of students entering higher education and the concomitant expectations on their degree to have ‘value’ in the employment ‘market’ on graduation is becoming increasingly important - particularly for students categorized as widening participation. Offering increased opportunities for placements and linking assessment to work-based competencies can therefore be viewed as an integral part of HE’s responsibilities to students. Originality/value: This case study highlights the versatility of work-based learning that on one hand, requires the academy to embrace alternatives ways of learning, but on the other hand, creates new and innovative ways of engaging students. In addition and critically, it illuminates an approach to embedding work-based learning into an overarching degree structure that enables students to tailor their degree to their interests and career aspirations

Violence in Peace: Understanding Increased Violence in Early Post-Conflict Transitions and Its Implications for Development

conflict, peace agreements, institution building, development

Examining Analogue Film's Viability as A Preservation Method for Film Archives

The purpose of this project is to examine film stock’s viability as a method of preservation for film archives in the current climate of later-stage practice transition. It seeks to identify the impact of the film stock production decrease upon archival practice and assess and compare analogue and digital practice. It also seeks to determine the viability of a film stock production increase, and in turn film stock’s viability, and propose potential future uses for film stock outside the archival sector. The methods used include conceptual and historical analyses of literature in the field, and a selective critical literature review of 4 film stock producers’ and 33 European and American film archives’ websites, supported by a film archive curator interview. The analyses of literature support that there is viable infrastructure and practice supporting film stock as a preservation method in film archives when compared to digital preservation. However, the selective critical literature review shows that due to the production decrease and corresponding costs, film stock is not a viable active preservation method. The research shows that film archives are currently in transition to digital practice without defined terminology, affordable digital infrastructure or practice, or an equivalent digital preservation method to rival film stock’s abilities, creating a risk of information loss. The research shows a need for either a longer transition period between film stock and digital media, which is unviable, or the development of archive-specific digital preservation technology

Short term missions as discipleship : best practices for real life impact

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/2114/thumbnail.jp

Electrically Conductive Polymers and their Use as Novel Pigments in Advanced Coatings

With the push to more environmentally friendly materials to solve some of the biggest challenges in the coatings industry, electrically conductive polymers (ECPs) are seen as a flexible solution due to their unique properties. ECPs are seen as an attractive substitute to the current metallic materials used in applications such as printable electronics, anti-static protection, and corrosion mitigation. Polypyrrole (PPy) is seen as a popular class of ECPs due to its inherent high electrical conductivity, resistance to environmental degradation, and ease of synthesis. The first part of this work was to study the ability of polypyrrole to be synthesized through a novel photochemical process. This method eliminated the need to stabilize particles in a suspension and deposit an electrically conductive film onto a variety of substrates. The second part of this work was to synthesize functional versions of PPy that could further be crosslinked into the coating matrix to improve bulk physical properties through better interaction between the functional filler and the organic coating matrix. The last part of this work is based off prior work at NDSU on AL-flake/PPy composites. This study took the development of these pigments further by incorporating organic anions known to inhibit corrosion and study their efficacy. Advanced analytical methods such as Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy was used to study the electrical properties of PPy. In addition, advanced electrochemical tests such as Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), Scanning Vibrating Electrode Technique (SVET), Linear Polarization (LP), and Galvanic Coupling (GP) were conducted alongside traditional accelerated weathering techniques such as ASTM B117 and GM 9540 to determine the corrosion resistance of the synthesized coatings.Army Research Laborator

Adult Illiteracy: A Survey of the Material and Teaching Preferences of Local Tutors

An overview of adult illiteracy in the United States from an historical and current perspective is presented. Regarding current efforts at improving reading ability, a study was conducted of local tutors whose names were supplied by the Midland Need to Read program. A survey form was used to indicate 1) the experience level of the tutor, 2) the preference of tutors as to the ability of students they preferred to instruct, 3) the reading series they found most effective, and 4) interesting and effective supplemental materials. Findings indicate that tutors with prior teaching experience have more confidence in instructing students with wider ranges of reading level ability and use supplemental materials to a greater advantage