Parton Distribution Function sensitivity studies using electroweak processes at LHCb

We describe parton density function sensitivity studies, using muon final states produced through the Drell-Yan process via W, Z or $\gamma^*$ down to a Q^2 of 10 GeV^2. This makes use of LHCb's unique ability to trigger on low transverse momentum objects. Due to the forward acceptance of LHCb, x values down to 2 10^{-6} can be probed, where with just 100 pb-1 of data, the gluon PDF can improved up to 70%

A dialogical approach to developing professional competence in assessment

Improving the students learning experience is closely connected with the promotion an implementation of an assessment strategy whose effectiveness relies on the quality of the formative aspect. Assessment can promote or hinder learning and it is therefore a powerful force to be reckoned within Education. The literature on assessment makes it quite clear that assessment shapes and drives learning in powerful, though not always helpful, ways (Ramsden, 1997). If we assume that assessment should maximise the opportunities for those assessed to learn and develop, the tendency to reduce assessment purely to a classification device should be counteracted. The demonstration of knowledge should reflect deeper forms of learning rather that regurgitation and parroting of undigested information. Furthermore while traditional forms of assessment such as essays and end of term examinations -which are still predominantly used in higher education in Ireland as the sole assessment methods- may be valid and reliable methods for collecting evidence of acquisition of theoretical knowledge, they rarely afford students the opportunity to apply knowledge to key professional scenarios. Recent studies (Hyatt, 2005; Juwah & al., 2004; Bryan & Clegg; 2006; (Swinthenby, Brown, Glover, Mills, Stevens & Hughes, 2005; Nicol, 2010; Torrance & Prior 2001) have advocated the encouragement of dialogue around learning and assessment as a means to enhance the formative aspect of assessment. Pedagogical dialogue and formative assessment share common principles such as the emphasis on the process (MacDonald, 1991); the need for negotiation of meaning and shared understanding of assessment criteria (Boud, 1992; Chanok 2000; Harrington & Elander, 2003; Harrington & al., 2005; Sambell & McDowell ;1998; Higgins Hatley& Skelton, 2001; Norton, 2004; Price & Rust, 1999; O’Donovan, Price & Rust 2000; Rust, Price & O’Donovan, 2003) and the development of reciprocal commitment between assessors and assesses (Hyland 1998; Taras, 2001). This chapter describes the introduction of an assessment portfolio for module “Curriculum Assessment” informed by the above principles. The key outcomes from the three implementation and evaluation phases of the portfolio suggest that the format adopted promoted a shift of emphasis from assessment product to assessment process, the development of a shared understanding of assessment criteria, the establishment of a mutual relationship between assessors and assesses based on commitment and trust and heightened students and teachers’ self-awareness both in personal (efficacy) and professional (competence) terms. The research also highlights how multiple voices within the reflective evaluation process can contribute significantly to the restructuring and development of the future curriculum and assessment method that closely meets the need of learners

Learning from the past and looking at the future. Closing the evaluation-revision-implementation cycle in an elearning module

This paper will outline the importance of implementing an instructional design model which incorporates a continuous cycle of evaluation, revision and implementation. The context is a case study of a distance learning module which was first presented in 1993 as an introductory module for students taking an Oscail BA programme. As the majority of Oscail students are adults returning to education after a long period of absence from formal education, providing learners with a supportive learning environment which would ease re-entering the educational world has always been one of Oscail’s key goals. Between 1993 and 2002, the Introductory Module was offered in the traditional distance education format and was subject to regular evaluation and revision (Lorenzi, MacKeogh and Fox, 2004; MacKeogh and Lorenzi, 2005). By early 2000, the wider accessibility of technology encouraged Oscail to combine the need to prepare students for university study with the development of e-learning skills. In 2002 the Introductory Module was reconstituted as the SPEL (Student Passport for E-learning) module and was presented for three years. A review of the module in 2006 indicated shortfalls in what is described in the literature as the bolt-on ‘skills approach’ which makes use of ‘a set of atomized skills – removed from subject specific domains’ (Lea & Street, 1998: 158). This prompted a rethink of the overall approach to preparing students for study, and resulted in a decision to adopt an embedded approach to e-skills development. It was hoped that a task-based approach to applying skills to subject specific activities would improve the quality of the learning experience and ultimately result in better retention rates. A review of the implementation of the embedded approach in the first year reveals that while students reported an increase in skills development over the module, and identified a number of positive features, the approach did not succeed in increasing retention. Detailed evaluation including surveys of tutors and students as well as online focus groups have identified a number of factors which militated against the achievement of some of the goals of the module. These included the scheduling of activities, workload, a shorter than usual academic year, insufficient tutor training and student induction, and administrative support. This paper will start with a brief overview of instructional design systems and the models used by Oscail in developing its elearning programmes. We will then outline the way in which through a cycle of implementation, evaluation and revision, the original introductory module evolved into a full year-long module comprising an embedded portfolio of study skills tasks. We will describe the outcomes of the embedded SPEL programme and will outline the evaluation process that has led to further revisions. We will discuss the specific issues that have emerged from the evaluations and will show what measures have been put in place to overcome the difficulties encountered. We will conclude with some observations on the changing roles of stakeholders in the context of new elearning approaches

On improvement of summability properties in nonautonomous Kolmogorov equations

Under suitable conditions, we obtain some characterization of supercontractivity, ultraboundedness and ultracontractivity of the evolution operator $G(t,s)$ associated to a class of nonautonomous second order parabolic equations with unbounded coefficients defined in $I\times\R^d$, where $I$ is a right-halfline. For this purpose, we establish an Harnack type estimate for $G(t,s)$ and a family of logarithmic Sobolev inequalities with respect to the unique tight evolution system of measures $\{\mu_t: t \in I\}$ associated to $G(t,s)$. Sufficient conditions for the supercontractivity, ultraboundedness and ultracontractivity to hold are also provided

Non autonomous parabolic problems with unbounded coefficients in unbounded domains

Given a class of nonautonomous elliptic operators \A(t) with unbounded coefficients, defined in \overline{I \times \Om} (where $I$ is a right-halfline or $I=\R$ and \Om\subset \Rd is possibly unbounded), we prove existence and uniqueness of the evolution operator associated to \A(t) in the space of bounded and continuous functions, under Dirichlet and first order, non tangential homogeneous boundary conditions. Some qualitative properties of the solutions, the compactness of the evolution operator and some uniform gradient estimates are then proved