Exploring creativity and progression in transition through assessment is for learning

This paper provides an overview of the aims, methods and findings of the Capability and Progression in Transition through Assessment for Learning in Design and Technology (CAPITTAL-DT) project. This project, funded by Determined to Succeed Scotland, aimed to identify useful approaches to aid progression in creativity through the current initiative entitled 'Assessment is for learning' (AifL, SEED, 2002). AifL encourages learners and teachers to engage with assessment for, as, and of learning and adopt a range of strategies and ideas. The project team gathered baseline and follow up data from teachers and learners using questionnaires to gauge attitudes towards creativity, structured conceptual design activities to assess performance, learner evaluations and teacher interviews. The team concludes that there is scope for adopting the tools explored to support formative and sustainable assessment strategies and approaches to gathering meaningful indicators that can be embedded into enterprising teaching and learning for Design and Technology Education

The Effect of Garden Plant Diversity on Mosquito Species that Act as Infectious Disease Vectors in Central Illinois

Urban landscaping plants provide many ecosystem benefits including increased biodiversity and habitat for many organisms including mosquitoes. However, the impact of urban landscaping plants on the behavior/ecology of mosquitoes that may transmit pathogenic diseases is relatively understudied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of mosquito disease vector species (e.g., West Nile virus-transmitting Culex pipiens & Culex restuans) and other local mosquito species in gardens with high versus low plant diversity in Champaign-Urbana. From August to October 2015, two types of mosquito traps (light and gravid) were placed weekly at twelve local garden sites; six sites were selected as Master Garden sites, chosen for their high plant diversity, and six were paired control sites selected for low plant species diversity. Traps were placed at each site for 24 hours and after collection, mosquitoes were identified and quantified in the lab. A plant list was generated for each site to characterize plant species richness. In total, 25 mosquito species were observed, with the most abundant occurrences being Aedes albopictus, Aedes japonicus, Aedes vexans, Culex pipiens, and Culex spp. A significant difference was found for the total number of mosquitoes collected using light versus gravid traps after accounting for site diversity, but not between master garden sites (with high plant diversity and abundance) versus low diversity control sites. Significant differences were found at the genus level with both Aedes and Anopheles mosquitoes having higher abundance at sites with low plant diversity. However, at the species level non-significant differences were found for mosquito abundance between high and low plant species diversity sites. Lastly, it was found that two Anopheles species are significantly correlated with trap collection date. The findings of this study suggest that local gardens with high plant diversity do not provide additional resources that result in a higher quantity of mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus and other diseases.LAS Preble Research Grant fall 2015Ope

Simulation of an Extrarenal Mass by a Superficial Simple Renal Cyst

A patient with a subcapsular simple cyst of the kidney which was sufficiently superficial to be mistaken for an extrarenal mass at arteriography is reported. The implications of this error and the means of avoiding similar errors are discussed.S. Afr. Med. J. 45(12), 1378 (1971

Researching performance based assessment: authenticity in assessment activities and processes to support the development of learner capabilities

Introduction for the 2015 DATA Special Edition This paper was originally presented as a Keynote address at the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 21st International Conference, held at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, in January 2013. I was asked to present a Keynote that focused on assessment and, mindful of the conference theme of making Mathematics, Science and Technology Education socially and culturally relevant in Africa, the paper took the concept of authenticity as a major thread. The presentation drew on a number of TERU research projects, including one that Richard and I had conducted in South Africa in 1999. Using the projects as case studies, issues of authenticity were explored in relation to summative and formative assessment practices and related pedagogic approaches. Through an exploration using validity, reliability and manageability as lenses, the presentation offered some concluding comments on possible challenges and the potential of drawing on the research presented in a Southern African context. The paper here, that documents the keynote, has not previously been published

Turn Out the Lights

Ope

Exploring Mystery Products to Develop Design and Technology Skills: Case Studies from the Design Museum's Outreach Project

This article presents three case studies that illustrate the value to teachers and learners of using handling collections in design and technology. It briefly outlines an initiative by the Design Museum to create an Outreach Project to support teachers in this aspect of design and technology and then provides examples of classroom practise from a primary teacher, secondary teacher and from two teachers in an MLD special school. The article illustrates how the approach to using handling collections for product analysis activities promotes enthusiastic responses in both teachers and learners and not only develops understandings of how products work, what they are made from and so on, but also develops a broader range of skills such as problem solving, observation and coll

The Elusive Keys of Imagination and Play: unlocking creativity and innovation in design and technology education - DATA International Research Conference: UK Keynote

In the John Eggleston Memorial Keynote in 2002, Richard Kimbell identified the specific problem caused by a mismatch between “qualities at the heart of innovation” and current assessment criteria. At the core of this he identified two particularly problematic qualities: “the terrible two - the intractable two - the tantalising two ... the ability to be playful in restructuring the world and the ability to spark ideas”. (Kimbell 2002: 25)This paper will take these “terrible two” as a starting point and explore in greater depth the relationship between these qualities and the concepts of imagination, play, fantasy and reality. It will identify the significance of these concepts for creativity and innovation and the potential they provide as a foundation for the development of creativity and innovation in humans. The paper will then tackle the knotty problem of utilising these concepts in levering open the historic problems of the “gridlocked” design and technology (D&T) curriculum, by drawing on evidence and insights gained from research from within and beyond D&T, including illustrations of how a current research project Assessing Innovation* is exploring ways in which play and imagination can be promoted such that they spark, enkindle and sustain creative responses within D&T experience.Key Words creativity, innovation, play, playfulness, fantasy, imagination

Proportional-integral-plus control applications of state-dependent parameter models

This paper considers proportional-integral-plus (PIP) control of non-linear systems defined by state-dependent parameter models, with particular emphasis on three practical demonstrators: a microclimate test chamber, a 1/5th-scale laboratory representation of an intelligent excavator, and a full-scale (commercial) vibrolance system used for ground improvement on a construction site. In each case, the system is represented using a quasi-linear state-dependent parameter (SDP) model structure, in which the parameters are functionally dependent on other variables in the system. The approach yields novel SDP-PIP control algorithms with improved performance and robustness in comparison with conventional linear PIP control. In particular, the new approach better handles the large disturbances and other non-linearities typical in the application areas considered