Establishing Social Learning in an Engineering MOOC : Benefits for Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering Education

Recent Higher Education Statistics Agency data shows that only 20% of engineering students at UK Universities are female, despite the hard work being undertaken by many educational institutions to address this gender imbalance via outreach events and special interventions focussing on girls/women in STEM. It has been argued that student-centred teaching methods, together with changes in the engineering curriculum itself, which emphasise the social, creative, and human-centred aspects of the discipline, are required to effect real change in engaging with those from traditionally underrepresented groups. Through analysing quantitative data on age, gender, learner type, and commenting rates in peer-to-peer discussions, we examine the development and delivery of an engineering MOOC, before, during, and after COVID-19-related lockdowns in the UK, to identify what aspects of online learning might be harnessed to improve diversity in engineering education. The results show that the MOOC attracted a better gender balance than reported for UK-based in-person engineering programmes. In addition, we show that careful structuring of discussion prompts encouraged higher levels of social learning. We recommend the continued use of interactive and discursive elements within a blended learning environment to positively impact diversity and inclusion in engineering education specifically, and STEM education in general

Chemical spectral analysis through sonification

Presented at the 21st International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2015), July 6-10, 2015, Graz, Styria, Austria.Chemical spectra are an important part of how research chemists analyse the outcomes of experiments. However these complex spectra can be very difficult and time consuming to analyse. This paper outlines an investigation into using sonification to improve the understanding and ease of analysis of chemical spectral data. The project specifically uses sonification techniques to display Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra. Two sonification methods were designed to offer different perspectives on the data; “Spectral Audification” allows a quick overview of the data while maintaining its subtleties whereas a simple parameter mapping method allows more in-depth analysis of the spectra such as the use of rhythmic patterns to make sets of peaks easily identifiabl

Establishing Social Learning in an Engineering MOOC: Benefits for Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering Education

Recent Higher Education Statistics Agency data shows that only 20% of engineering students at UK Universities are female, despite the hard work being undertaken by many educational institutions to address this gender imbalance via outreach events and special interventions focussing on girls/women in STEM. It has been argued that student-centred teaching methods, together with changes in the engineering curriculum itself, which emphasise the social, creative, and human-centred aspects of the discipline, are required to effect real change in engaging with those from traditionally underrepresented groups. Through analysing quantitative data on age, gender, learner type, and commenting rates in peer-to-peer discussions, we examine the development and delivery of an engineering MOOC, before, during, and after COVID-19-related lockdowns in the UK, to identify what aspects of online learning might be harnessed to improve diversity in engineering education. The results show that the MOOC attracted a better gender balance than reported for UK-based in-person engineering programmes. In addition, we show that careful structuring of discussion prompts encouraged higher levels of social learning. We recommend the continued use of interactive and discursive elements within a blended learning environment to positively impact diversity and inclusion in engineering education specifically, and STEM education in general

The Spatialised Sonification of Drug-Enzyme Interactions

Presented at the 21st International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2015), July 6-10, 2015, Graz, Styria, Austria.This paper presents the preliminary work into the creation of an interactive spatial sonification system used to model the interactions between drug molecules and their target biomolecules within the human body. With the aid of sonification and a 3D soundscape, the user is able to optimize these interactions to a much greater precision than the sole use of the current visual model. This system gives a promising means to aid the rapid design of new drug molecules that can interact more strongly with the enzyme’s active site, therefore creating more effective drugs for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. This paper gives a full account of the relevant theory, the techniques used and details of preliminary user testing

Range of tuning for tones with and without vibrato

Previous studies on vibrato pitch attempted to determine the "principal pitch" of vibrato tones and not the range of tuning for such tones in a melodic context. This study investigates the range of acceptable tuning (RAT) for tones with and without vibrato, using repeating ascending and descending three-tone arpeggios. The second tone in each sequence was modulated or unmodulated with an initial pitch that was flat or sharp. With each repetition the pitch of the second tone increased or decreased by 3 cents depending upon the initial pitch condition. Participants indicated when they perceived the second tone to be in tune and out of tune. The RAT for vibrato tones was approximately 10 cents greater than for unmodulated tones. This is largely due to the lower RAT limit, indicating that the carrier frequency of vibrato tones can be 10 cents flatter than the fundamental frequency of an unmodulated tone

Eufonía : didáctica de la música

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónTítulo y resumen en español e inglésSe presenta un proyecto de innovación financiado por el AHRB, diseñado para evaluar la aplicación de una nueva tecnología visual en tiempo real en el aula de canto. La investigación fue multidisciplinar e incluyó la ciencia vocal y la acústica, la psicología del canto y la educación de la voz. Participaron en ella dos profesores trabajando con cantantes aficionados expertos y con cantantes profesionales avanzados de dos localizaciones geográficas. Los datos de la investigación-acción estuvieron integrados por diarios, observaciones y entrevistas, complementados con grabaciones multimedia (audio y vídeo) de la conducta real en el canto a lo largo del tiempo. El análisis de datos indica que la nueva tecnología puede tener un impacto positivo tanto en los comportamientos del profesor como en las experiencias de los estudiantes al proporcionar respuestas más significativas a través de una pedagogía enriquecida.Biblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]