Formality and informality in the summative assessment of motor vehicle apprentices: a case study

This article explores the interaction of formal and informal attributes of competence‐based assessment. Specifically, it presents evidence from a small qualitative case study of summative assessment practices for competence‐based qualifications within apprenticeships in the motor industry in England. The data are analysed through applying an adaptation of a framework for exploring the interplay of formality and informality in learning. This analysis reveals informal mentoring as a significant element which influences not only the process of assessment, but also its outcomes. We offer different possible interpretations of the data and their analysis, and conclude that, whichever interpretation is adopted, there appears to be a need for greater capacity‐building for assessors at a local level. This could acknowledge a more holistic role for assessors; recognise the importance of assessors’ informal practices in the formal retention and achievement of apprentices; and enhance awareness of inequalities that may be reinforced by both informal and formal attributes of assessment practices

Discretization of variational regularization in Banach spaces

Consider a nonlinear ill-posed operator equation $F(u)=y$ where $F$ is defined on a Banach space $X$. In general, for solving this equation numerically, a finite dimensional approximation of $X$ and an approximation of $F$ are required. Moreover, in general the given data \yd of $y$ are noisy. In this paper we analyze finite dimensional variational regularization, which takes into account operator approximations and noisy data: We show (semi-)convergence of the regularized solution of the finite dimensional problems and establish convergence rates in terms of Bregman distances under appropriate sourcewise representation of a solution of the equation. The more involved case of regularization in nonseparable Banach spaces is discussed in detail. In particular we consider the space of finite total variation functions, the space of functions of finite bounded deformation, and the $L^\infty$--space

A holistic review of the medical school admission process: examining correlates of academic underperformance

Background: Despite medical school admission committees’ best efforts, a handful of seemingly capable students invariably struggle during their first year of study. Yet, even as entrance criteria continue to broaden beyond cognitive qualifications, attention inevitably reverts back to such factors when seeking to understand these phenomena. Using a host of applicant, admission, and post-admission variables, the purpose of this inductive study, then, was to identify a constellation of student characteristics that, taken collectively, would be predictive of students at-risk of underperforming during the first year of medical school. In it, we hypothesize that a wider range of factors than previously recognized could conceivably play roles in understanding why students experience academic problems early in the medical educational continuum. Methods: The study sample consisted of the five most recent matriculant cohorts from a large, southeastern medical school (n=537). Independent variables reflected: 1) the personal demographics of applicants (e.g., age, gender); 2) academic criteria (e.g., undergraduate grade point averages [GPA], medical college admission test); 3) selection processes (e.g., entrance track, interview scores, committee votes); and 4) other indicators of personality and professionalism (e.g., Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test™ emotional intelligence scores, NEO PI-R™ personality profiles, and appearances before the Professional Code Committee [PCC]). The dependent variable, first-year underperformance, was defined as ANY action (repeat, conditionally advance, or dismiss) by the college's Student Progress and Promotions Committee (SPPC) in response to predefined academic criteria. This study protocol was approved by the local medical institutional review board (IRB). Results: Of the 537 students comprising the study sample, 61 (11.4%) met the specified criterion for academic underperformance. Significantly increased academic risks were identified among students who 1) had lower mean undergraduate science GPAs (OR=0.24, p=0.001); 2) entered medical school via an accelerated BS/MD track (OR=16.15, p=0.002); 3) were 31 years of age or older (OR=14.76, p=0.005); and 4) were non-unanimous admission committee admits (OR=0.53, p=0.042). Two dimensions of the NEO PI-R™ personality inventory, openness (+) and conscientiousness (−), were modestly but significantly correlated with academic underperformance. Only for the latter, however, were mean scores found to differ significantly between academic performers and underperformers. Finally, appearing before the college's PCC (OR=4.21, p=0.056) fell just short of statistical significance. Conclusions: Our review of various correlates across the matriculation process highlights the heterogeneity of factors underlying students’ underperformance during the first year of medical school and challenges medical educators to understand the complexity of predicting who, among admitted matriculants, may be at future academic risk

Thermal behaviour of Cu and Au nanoparticles grown on CeO2 thin films

RM and FG acknowledge funding from EPSRC grants (RM: EP/506631/1; FG: EP/M029077/1). JAvdB and AKR acknowledge the EPSRC funding for the use of the MEIS facility at the University of Huddersfield within grant EP/M029077/1. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior -Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001, by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and PRONEX-FAPERGS16/2551-0000479-0.Bimetallic catalysts are often more active and/or selective than their monometallic counterparts. The behaviour of such catalysts is frequently strongly dependent on the molar ratio of the two elements as well as nanoparticle size and the interaction with the support material. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is an excellent surface analytical technique for probing the electronic properties of catalytic systems. When a mixture of pure and alloyed particles is present, it is more difficult to extract information from XPS given that it is a spatial averaging technique. Recently, the technique of medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) has been exploited to investigate the depth-dependent composition of nanoparticles on planar surfaces. Herein, we combine the two techniques to investigate the nature of Cu and Au nanoparticles deposited onto ultrathin CeO2 films on Si(111) examining their morphology and chemical composition as a function of annealing temperature for samples that have been maintained in an ultrahigh vacuum environment and exposed to air. The Cu/Au/CeO2/Si(111) is chosen as a model system in order to provide insight into how the catalytic properties of Cu/Au/CeO2 depend on the presence of discrete Cu and Au particles versus fully intermixed Cu/Au systems.PostprintPeer reviewe

The writing on the wall: the concealed communities of the East Yorkshire horselads

This paper examines the graffiti found within late nineteenth and early-twentieth century farm buildings in the Wolds of East Yorkshire. It suggests that the graffiti were created by a group of young men at the bottom of the social hierarchy - the horselads – and was one of the ways in which they constructed a distinctive sense of communal identity, at a particular stage in their lives. Whilst it tells us much about changing agricultural regimes and social structures, it also informs us about experiences and attitudes often hidden from official histories and biographies. In this way, the graffiti are argued to inform our understanding, not only of a concealed community, but also about their hidden histor

The price of rapid exit in venture capital-backed IPOs

This paper proposes an explanation for two empirical puzzles surrounding initial public offerings (IPOs). Firstly, it is well documented that IPO underpricing increases during “hot issue” periods. Secondly, venture capital (VC) backed IPOs are less underpriced than non-venture capital backed IPOs during normal periods of activity, but the reverse is true during hot issue periods: VC backed IPOs are more underpriced than non-VC backed ones. This paper shows that when IPOs are driven by the initial investor’s desire to exit from an existing investment in order to finance a new venture, both the value of the new venture and the value of the existing firm to be sold in the IPO drive the investor’s choice of price and fraction of shares sold in the IPO. When this is the case, the availability of attractive new ventures increases equilibrium underpricing, which is what we observe during hot issue periods. Moreover, I show that underpricing is affected by the severity of the moral hazard problem between an investor and the firm’s manager. In the presence of a moral hazard problem the degree of equilibrium underpricing is more sensitive to changes in the value of the new venture. This can explain why venture capitalists, who often finance firms with more severe moral hazard problems, underprice IPOs less in normal periods, but underprice more strongly during hot issue periods. Further empirical implications relating the fraction of shares sold and the degree of underpricing are presented

The Cesàro operator in growth Banach spaces of analytic functions

[EN] The CesA ro operator C, when acting in the classical growth Banach spaces and , for , of analytic functions on , is investigated. Based on a detailed knowledge of their spectra (due to A. Aleman and A.-M. Persson) we are able to determine the norms of these operators precisely. It is then possible to characterize the mean ergodic and related properties of C acting in these spaces. In addition, we determine the largest Banach space of analytic functions on which C maps into (resp. into ); this optimal domain space always contains (resp. ) as a proper subspace.The research of the first two authors was partially supported by the projects MTM2013-43540-P and GVA Prometeo II/2013/013.Albanese, A.; Bonet Solves, JA.; Ricker, WJ. (2016). The Cesàro operator in growth Banach spaces of analytic functions. Integral Equations and Operator Theory. 86(1):97-112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00020-016-2316-zS97112861Albanese A.A., Bonet J., Ricker W.J.: Convergence of arithmetic means of operators in Fréchet spaces. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 401, 160–173 (2013)Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J.,Ricker, W.J.: The Cesàro operator on power series spaces. Preprint (2016)Albrecht E., Miller T.L., Neumann M.M.: Spectral properties of generalized Cesàro operators on Hardy and weighted Bergman spaces. Archiv Math. 85, 446–459 (2005)Aleman A.: A class of integral operators on spaces of analytic functions. In: Proc. of the Winter School in Operator Theory and Complex Analysis, Univ. Málaga Secr. Publ., Málaga, pp. 3–30 (2007)Aleman A., Constantin O.: Spectra of integration operators on weighted Bergman spaces. J. Anal. Math. 109, 199–231 (2009)Aleman A., Persson A.-M.: Resolvent estimates and decomposable extensions of generalized Cesàro operators. J. Funct. Anal. 258, 67–98 (2010)Aleman A., Siskakis A.G.: An integral operator on H p . Complex Var. Theory Appl. 28, 149–158 (1995)Aleman A., Siskakis A.G.: Integration operators on Bergman spaces. Indiana Univ. Math. J. 46, 337–356 (1997)Bayart F., Matheron E.: Dynamics of Linear Operators. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2009)Bierstedt K.D., Bonet J., Galbis A.: Weighted spaces of holomorphic functions on balanced domains. Michigan Math. J. 40, 271–297 (1993)Bierstedt K.D., Bonet J., Taskinen J.: Associated weights and spaces of holomorphic functions. Studia Math. 127, 137–168 (1998)Bierstedt, K.D., Summers, W.H.: Biduals of weighted Banach spaces of analytic functions. J. Aust. Math. Soc. 54, 70–79 (1993)Bonet J., Domanski P., Lindström M.: Essential norm and weak compactness on weighted Banach spaces of analytic functions. Can. Math. Bull. 42, 139–148 (1999)Curbera G.P., Ricker W.J.: Extensions of the classical Cesàro operator on Hardy spaces. Math. Scand. 108, 279–290 (2011)Danikas N., Siskakis A.: The Cesàro operator on bounded analytic functions. Analysis 13, 295–299 (1993)Duren P.: Theory of H p Spaces. Academic Press, New York (1970)Dunford N., Schwartz J.T.:Linear Operators I: General Theory, 2nd Printing. Wiley Interscience Publ., New York (1964)Grosse-Erdmann K., Peris A.: Linear Chaos. Springer, London (2011)Harutyunyan A., Lusky W.: On the boundedness of the differentiation operator between weighted spaces of holomorphic functions. Studia Math. 184, 233–247 (2008)Hedenmalm H., Korenblum B., Zhu K.: Theory of Bergman Spaces. Grad. Texts in Math., vol. 199. Springer, New York (2000)Katzelson Y., Tzafriri L.: On power bounded operators. J. Funct. Anal. 68, 313–328 (1968)Krengel U.: Ergodic Theorems. de Gruyter Studies in Mathematics, vol. 6. Walter de Gruyter Co., Berlin (1985)Lin M.: On the uniform ergodic theorem. Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 43, 337–340 (1974)Lusky W.: On the isomorphism classes of weighted spaces of harmonic and holomorphic functions. Studia Math. 175(1), 19–40 (2006)Megginson R.E.: An Introduction to Banach Space Theory. Springer, New York (1998)Meise R., Vogt D.: Introduction to Functional Analysis. Clarendon Press, Oxford (1997)Persson A.-M.: On the spectrum of the Cesàro operator on spaces of analytic functions. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 340, 1180–1203 (2008)Rubel L.A., Shields A.L.: The second dual of certain spaces of analytic functions. J. Aust. Math. Soc. 11, 276–280 (1970)Shields A.L., Williams D.L.: Bounded projections, duality and multipliers in spaces of analytic functions. Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 162, 287–302 (1971)Siskakis A.: Volterra operators on spaces of analytic functions—a survey. In: Proc. of the First Advanced Course in Operator Theory and Complex Analysis, Univ. Sevilla Serc. Publ., Seville, pp. 51–68 (2006

Reducing recurrent care proceedings: initial evidence from new interventions

The English family justice system faces a crisis of recurrence. As many as one in four birth mothers involved in public law care proceedings in English family courts are likely to reappear in a subsequent set of proceedings within seven years. These mothers are involved in up to one-third of total care applications, as they are – by definition – linked to more than one child . Few birth mothers experiencing the removal of a child to care are offered any follow-up support, despite often facing multiple challenges including poverty, addiction, domestic violence and mental health problems. Since 2011, however, a number of new services have been established to begin to address their unmet needs. This article summarises the findings of the first academic-led evaluation of two of these initiatives. Presenting evidence from a mixed-methods evaluative study, it concludes that the new services were able to foster relationships that ‘worked’ in reducing recurrent proceedings. None of the women engaging with the services went on to experience what could be described as a ‘rapid repeat pregnancy’ within the evaluation window. Just as significantly, a number of clients reported some improvement in their psychological functioning, and the practitioners involved reported positively on their experience of delivering and managing innovative services. The article closes with a discussion of the challenges of evaluating personalised, strengths-based interventions and the possibilities of evidencing empowerment in these cases