The Team Balancing Act - Enhancing Knowledge - Building Activity in On-Line Learning Communities

Online learning in the university sector is a given. Constructivist views of learning (often team based) and the notion of knowledge-building, mediated through the use of ICTs seemingly address many of the imperatives to equip individuals for emergent knowledge-age work practice. While teamwork has many perceived advantages, teams also inexplicably fail despite the apparent quality of the participants. Teams are successful when members address what is a relatively narrow range of actions. However, even within this limited range of actions individuals demonstrate definite preferences towards certain activities and roles. This paper reports on the findings from a study that investigated if knowledge-building activity can be enhanced in tertiary education CSCL environments through the use of groups balanced by Team Role Preference (Margerison & McCann, 1995, 1998). The study found that higher quality knowledge-building activity was more likely to occur in balanced groups than in random groups. The analysis of data revealed that a diversity of ideas was more likely to emerge from within balanced groups than from within random groups particularly when the random groups were heavily skewed towards one team role preference. This provided a compelling reason for explaining why balanced groups may lead to better knowledge-building activity

Connecting the dots: Why does what and who came before us matter?

A "Coloring Outside the Lines" editorial column.  A review of organizations who pioneered the involvement of persons of color in park stewardship, outdoor recreation, historic preservation, and other forms of place-based conservation.

Confucian Patriarchy and the Allure of Communism in China

Histor

Magnetron Sputtering and Corrosion of Ti-Al-C and Cr-Al-C coatings for Zr-alloy Nuclear Fuel Cladding

The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011 bought renewed focus to the issue of corrosion in nuclear fuel cladding applications. This thesis reports on the background behind these issues, the investigation strategy, and the analysis of experiments focused on mitigating oxidation of Zr-alloy fuel cladding. This thesis seeks to develop magnetron sputtered Ti-Al-C and Cr-Al-C coatings for Zr-alloy substrates and characterize the as-deposited and corroded samples. Ti-Al-C and Cr-Al-C coatings were deposited onto ZIRLO, Si, and Al2O3 [Aluminum Oxide] substrates under various sputtering conditions. A combinatorial sputtering method was employed to refine the sputtering parameters. Following each deposition, the coatings were characterized using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The crystal structures of the as deposited Ti-Al-C coatings are consistent with TiC [Titanium Carbide] with aluminum substituting onto carbon sites and TiAl3 [Titanium Aluminide]. The as deposited Cr-Al-C coatings were determined to be Cr2AlC [Chromium Aluminum Carbide] MAX phase. After characterization of the as-deposited coatings, corrosion tests in water were performed on ZIRLO coupons, in a 360 degrees Celsius autoclave. In this thesis, each of the coatings exhibited significant weight gain compared to conventional Zr-alloy claddings. Following corrosion, the samples were analyzed using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. Results of corrosion testing show the Ti-Al-C coatings of this study are not fit for the application coatings for nuclear cladding, as multiple oxide and hydroxide phases were produced. Much of the Cr-Al-C the coating spalled off the substrate during corrosion testing. Cr-Al-C coatings that survived the corrosion testing produced phases consistent with Cr2AlC MAX phase, Al2O3, and Cr2O3 [Chromium Oxide]. In addition to the corrosion study, an in-situ high temperature grazing incidence x-ray diffraction study was performed on the Cr-Al-C on Al2O3 sample. Analysis of the high temperature data suggest the Cr2AlC MAX undergoes a disordered to ordered transformation of the phases Cr and Al sites at increasing temperatures

Food habits as an ecological partitioning mechanism in the nearshore rockfishes (Sebastes) of Carmel Bay, California

In the kelp forests of Carmel Bay there are six common rockfishes (Sebastes). Three are pelagic (S. serranoides, S. mystinus, and S. melanops) and two are demersal (S. chrysomelas and S. carnatus). The sixth (S. atrovirens) is generally found a few meters above the sea floor. The pelagic rockfishes which are spatially overlapping have different feeding habits. All rockfishes except S. mystinus utilize juvenile rockfishes as their primary food source during the upwelling season. Throughout the non-upwelling season, most species consume invertebrate prey. The pelagic rockfishes have shorter maxillary bones and longer gill rakers than their demersal congeners, both specializations for taking smaller prey. They also have longer intestines, enabling them to utilize less digestable foods. S. mystinus, which has the longest intestine, may be able to use algae as a food source. Fat reserves are accumulated from July through October, when prey is most abundant. Fat is depleted throughout the rest of the year as food becomes scarce and development of sexual organs takes place. Gonad development occurs from November through February for all species except S. atrovirens

Towards 3D joint inversion of full tensor gravity, magnetotelluric and seismic refraction data

EGU2010-4184-2 Joint inversion of different datasets is emerging as an important tool to enhance resolution and decrease inversion artifacts in structurally complex areas. Performing the inversion in 3D allows us to investigate such complex structures but requires computationally efficient forward modeling and inversion methods. Furthermore we should be able to flexibly change inversion parameters, coupling approaches and forward modeling schemes in order to find a suitable approach for the given target. We present a 3D joint inversion framework for scalar and full tensor gravity, magnetotelluric and seismic data that allows us to investigate different approaches. It consists of two memory efficient gradient based optimization techniques, L-BFGS and NLCG, and optimized parallel forward solvers for the different datasets. In addition it provides the necessary flexibility in terms of model parametrization and coupling method by completely separating the inversion parameters and geometry from the parametrization of the individual method. This separation allows us to easily switch between completely different types of parameterizations and use structural coupling as well as coupling based on parameter relationships for the joint inversion. First tests on synthetic data with a fixed parameter relationship coupling show promising results and demonstrate that 3D joint inversion is becoming feasible for realistic size models

The social construction of `musician' identity in music education students in Canadian Universities

This research concerns itself with the development of a theory in the grounded tradition to account for the social construction of an identity as musician by music education students in Canadian universities. The principal data gathering techniques were semi- and unstructured interviews and participant observation, first at the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Music, University of Western Ontario with further periods of interviewing at the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia. The pilot study was conducted at Memorial University of Newfoundland where the author was, at the time of writing, an Associate Professor and Co-ordinator of Music Education in the Faculty of Education. Data collection and analysis were completed simultaneously and the interviewing became more focused on emerging categories and their properties, particularly concerning the construction of identity. The core categories discussed concern the apparent sense of isolation and the development of a symbolic community in the music school, as suggested by Cohen (1985). Further core analytic categories include the music education students' perceptions of Others as outsiders to their own insider symbolic community, and the students' perception of social action, including the notion of deviancy, which contributes to their construction of this symbolic closed community. An examination of models of social action is undertaken. The notion of making points as suggested by Goffman (1967) provides a beginning model for the identification and accumulation of status points which students appear to use in the process of identity construction and validation. Further discussion examines the nature of the music education sub-group as a stigmatized group. The nature of the category musician is examined and substantial comparison and contrasting with the position presented by Kingsbury (1984) is undertaken. The analytical categories of talent and music as in-group constructs are examined. Finally the processes of Self-Other negotiation on are explored and a theory is developed to account for the construction and maintenance of musician identity. The emerging theory borrows extensively from those analyses of the roots of social interaction recognised in the labelling tradition which are concerned with the construction of identity in negotiation with Others, and most specifically draws upon the notion of societal reaction. The research is guided by those theories and methodologies generated by symbolic interactionism developed by writers such as Blumer, Meltzer and Denzin and follows the traditions of sociological research in educational settings by such writers as Baksh, Martin and Stebbins in Canada, and Hargreaves, Woods, Ball, Hammersley and Lacey in the U.K

Language Education for Ab Initio Flight Training: A Plan Going Forward

English language proficiency for the aviation industry is a critical issue given the industry’s growth in regions of the world where English is not a first or a national language. This chapter discusses language training for ab initio flight students who will comprise much of the next generation of aviation professionals (NGAP). It describes aviation English as a form of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and the language skills required for flight school contexts where English is the Medium of Instruction (EMI). The chapter advocates for the assessment of incoming ab initio flight school students using a tool adapted from the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) language proficiency requirements (LPRs) that also accounts for flight school-related language skills. Based on the language proficiency results, the chapter recommends a training curriculum informed by ESP principles that uses a Content-Based Language Teaching (CBLT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach with materials and topics relevant to ab initio flight training

From Barbara Roberts and Alan Wheat of the Standing Committee on Credentials to Edna Saffy

A letter of congratulations on her selection as a member of the Standing Committee on Credentials for the 1992 Democratic National Convention. May 29, 1992. Box 11, folder