1,921 research outputs found
Active and passive multispectral scanner for earth resources applications: An advanced applications flight experiment
Get PDFThe development of an experimental airborne multispectral scanner to provide both active (laser illuminated) and passive (solar illuminated) data from a commonly registered surface scene is discussed. The system was constructed according to specifications derived in an initial programs design study. The system was installed in an aircraft and test flown to produce illustrative active and passive multi-spectral imagery. However, data was not collected nor analyzed for any specific application
What are the patterns of personal learning environments (PLE) for undergraduate students undertaking degrees in nursing.
Get PDFThis is the Core Paper Abstract submitted for the NET conference September 201
Understanding the ecology of the Personally Significant Learning Environment (PSLE): one year on
Get PDFBackground: Personal learning environments (PLE) have been shown to be critical in how students negotiate, manage and experience their learning. Understandings of PLEs are largely restricted by narrow definitions that focus on technology alone. The idea of a PLE is often conflated with virtual learning environments (VLEs). In this presentation, we draw on empirical findings from an international study that spanned four countries. Our findings will be of interest to students, educators, researchers and institutions and will facilitate a more in depth understanding of how to support students to create appropriate PLEs for effectively managing their own learning.
Aims: The study aim was to provide in-depth insights into how undergraduate students of nursing manage and experience learning through a range of formal and informal components that comprise the PLE. It is a longitudinal mixed-method study that incorporates two key phases. The first phase will be the focus of this presentation.
Research design: The first phase comprised a series of focus groups held at each of four institutions in Australia, England, Scotland, Hong Kong and Canada. Ethical approval was obtained at each individual study site. Recruitment at each site was through student emails, flyers and invitations on eLearning sites. Inclusion criteria were that students needed to be enrolled in an undergraduate degree leading to a nurse registration.
An important ethical consideration was that students understood that participation or non-participation would not impact relationships with their academic institutions or study outcomes. Nominal group techniques were used in the focus groups together with providing visual representations of their PLE in the form of a sketch or conceptual map. The themed sticky notes and visual representations were photographed and stored for subsequent analysis. Data were analyzed independently by researchers at each site. This initial analysis was at the broadest level of abstraction in order to identify main emerging categories. Via a series of meetings through voice over IP (VoIP) technologies, investigators were able to employ a process of triangulation to provide and reach a consensus regarding commonalities that appeared from focus groups.
Key Findings: Eight groups comprising a total of 46 students took part in focus groups across the four sites. The findings from the focus groups generated a range of different types of data that were organized into three major themes; technologies, learning modalities and influencing factors.
Technologies included physical items such as; devices; computers; books; journals; newspapers; and furniture; and virtual technology such as; software; applications; and internet resources.
PLEs are influenced by individual learning preferences and the learning contexts that students find themselves in. Participants described how the ways they were expected to learn at university, did not always suit their personal learning preferences. Understanding their own learning style was important to enable an effective PLE and customising learning to suit personal preferences was seen as important.
An individualâs PLE is impacted by external, interpersonal and intrapersonal factors. A PLE is influenced by these factors both individually, and by the interplay between the factors. External factors included the physical, built aspects of the environment and the learnerâs ambient environment.
Intrapersonal factors included attitudes, beliefs, preferences and emotions. Interpersonal factors such as how, when and where participants engaged with others also played a significant role in their PLE.
Findings suggest a broader understanding of the term personal learning environment than currently exists. Their PLE was relational and comprised a space with personal meaning and significance to the learner - in support of their educational goals.
Current definitions of PLE do not capture the broader understanding identified by this study, we therefore propose a new term: personally significant learning environment
Disability Costs and Equivalence Scales in the Older Population in Great Britain
Get PDFWe use a standard of living (SoL) approach to estimate older people's disability costs, using data on 8000 individuals from the U.K. Family Resources Survey. We extend previous research in two ways. First, by allowing for a more flexible relationship between SoL and income, the structure of the estimated disability cost and equivalence scale is not dictated by a restrictive functional form assumption. Second, we allow for the latent nature of disability and SoL, addressing measurement error in the disability and SoL indicators in surveys. We find that disability costs are strongly related to severity of disability, and vary with income in absolute and proportionate terms. Older people above the median disability level require an extra �99 per week (2007 prices) on average to reach the SoL of an otherwise similar person at the median. Costs faced by older people in the highest decile of disability average �180
Probation, credibility and justice
Get PDFThis paper explores the difficulties that arise for probation agencies or those that deliver community sanctions in developing and maintaining their credibility in prevailing âlate-modernâ social conditions. It begins by questioning the limits of the pursuit and promise of âpublic protectionâ as a source of credibility, and then proceeds to examine the emergence of an alternative strategy â based principally on reparation and âpaybackâ â in Scotland, arguing that these Scottish developments have much to say to the emerging debates in England and Wales (and elsewhere) about the ârehabilitation revolutionâ and the proper use of imprisonment. The paper provides a critical account of the development and meaning of the Scottish version of âpaybackâ, linking it to some important philosophical and empirical studies that may help to steer the development of payback away from a âmerely punitiveâ drift. In the conclusion, I argue that probation agencies and services need to engage much more deeply and urgently with their roles as justice services, rather than as âmereâ crime reduction agencies
Understanding the impact of antenatal care policies in Georgia (USA) and Scotland (UK): a textual synthesis. [Preprint]
Get PDFThis study aims to: 1) understand the role of policy in maternal health outcomes; and 2) establish any differences or similarities between health systems, providing benchmarks for future maternal and infant care policies in Georgia and Scotland. Guided by JBI methodology, a textual review of policies and public health interventions that have influenced the antenatal care process in both health systems was conducted. Inclusion criteria for this review were classified using the "PCC" mnemonic: Population (pregnant women and mothers), Concept (policies and strategies that support prenatal and maternal health) and Context (relevant to Scotland and Georgia). Published primary and secondary research, and grey literature (guidelines, reports, and legislation from authoritative sources) were included. Overall, 60 sources contributed to the report on maternal health system topics. Findings of the textual synthesis presented a regionalized system of maternity care led by physician-provided care models in Georgia compared to the nationalized health system in Scotland with an extended scope for midwife-led care models. On a secondary, organizational level, Scotland also widely operates on protocolized, standardized care informed by clinical guidelines such as NICE. The Georgia health systems also follow national guidelines for care, but extent of standardization may vary based on a mixed system of private and public insurance coverage. This is the first study to comprehensively examine maternal health policies in the distinct contexts of Georgia and Scotland, shedding light on the diverse approaches within their respective healthcare systems. These observed variations stem from historical, cultural, and policy contexts unique to each region. As the United States continue to prioritize maternal and child health through public health initiatives, our findings feature crucial considerations for maternal antenatal care policies. Specifically, there is a discernible need to increase access to antenatal care and invest in the maternity care provider workforce, revealing opportunities for targeted improvements in support of maternal health
Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral Histopathology II
Get PDFThe health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported
worldwide, only a few etiological agents have been confirmed; most pathogens remain unknown and the dynamics of disease transmission, pathogenicity and mortality are not
understood. Causal relationships have been documented for only a few of the coral diseases, while new syndromes continue to emerge. Extensive field observations by coral
biologists have provided substantial documentation of a plethora of new pathologies, but our understanding, however, has been limited to descriptions of gross lesions with names reflecting these observations (e.g., black band, white band, dark spot). To determine etiology, we must equip coral diseases scientists with basic biomedical knowledge and specialized training in areas such as histology, cell biology and pathology. Only through
combining descriptive science with mechanistic science and employing the synthesis epizootiology provides will we be able to gain insight into causation and become equipped to handle the pending crisis.
One of the critical challenges faced by coral disease researchers is to establish a framework to systematically study coral pathologies drawing from the field of diagnostic
medicine and pathology and using generally accepted nomenclature. This process began in April 2004, with a workshop titled Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Developing Diagnostic Criteria co-convened by the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC), a working group organized under the auspices of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, and the International Registry for Coral Pathology (IRCP). The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, Wisconsin and was focused on gross morphology and disease signs observed in the field. A resounding recommendation from the histopathologists participating in the workshop was the urgent need to develop diagnostic criteria that are suitable to move from gross observations to morphological diagnoses based on evaluation of microscopic anatomy. (PDF contains 92 pages
Critically introducing an online peer review CampusMoodle Audit Tool (CMAT) project.
Get PDFThis study critically introduces a CampusMoodle Audit Tool (CMAT) online peerâmentoring project. In this presentation, we share lessons and findings from research on a CMAT project for sharing best practice in Scotland. The rationale for the research was derived from student feedback during Staff Student Liaison Committee meetings. Students voiced a concern of disparity between modules delivered through the School's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) areas. A subsequent audit demonstrated that the VLE interfaces captured customary sections. However, by exploring the VLE in more detail, a few differences were noted. Primarily, that the module coordinators varied their presentations of the module interface to suit the topics and course content
Neoliberal paternalism and paradoxical subjects: Confusion and contradiction in UK activation policy
Get PDFThe twin thrusts of neoliberal paternalism have in recent decades become fused elements of diverse reform agendas across the advanced economies, yet neoliberalism and paternalism present radically divergent and even contradictory views of the subject across the four key spaces of ontology, teleology, deontology and ascetics. These internal fractures in the conceptual and resulting policy framework of neoliberal paternalism present considerable risks around unintended policy mismatch across these four spaces or, alternatively, offer significant flexibility for deliberate mismatch and âstoryingâ by policy makers. This article traces these tensions in the context of the UK Coalition governmentâs approach to the unemployed and outlines a current policy approach to employment activation that is filled with ambiguity, inconsistency and contradiction in its understanding of the subject, the âproblemâ and the policy âsolutionâ
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