scholarly journals Promoting Engineering Research Early – A Case Study of Research Question Formulation in a First-year Engineering Course

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Dera ◽  
Ashish Borgaonkar ◽  
Davida Scharf ◽  
Jaskirat Sodhi
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henna Lahti ◽  
Päivi Fernström

Our aim in this article is to introduce the idea of ‘crafticulation’ as a part of scientific method and to present a case study related to it. A novel course, Materializing in Craft Science, was offered in the first year of the craft teacher master’s degree at the University of Helsinki. The aim of the course was to pilot a method of crafticulation by materializing theoretical mind maps. Crafticulation consists of the words, ‘craft’ and ‘articulation’ and further, crafticulation is seen as a part of practice-led research in which craft plays a key role in eliciting a wide spectrum of knowledge. Our research question is how crafticulation emerged in students’ inquiry processes. The research data included twenty individual mind maps, materializations and reflections of the course. Based on theory-driven data analysis, the results indicated that many students used crafticulation for demonstration purposes. For example, they tested the connection between their craft-making process and well-being. Another approach was to convey a certain experience by way of crafticulation. In some cases, crafticulation was linked to analogies and metaphors in learning theoretical concepts. Furthermore, the students found new avenues in which to reflect research topics and to deepen their inquiry processes.


Author(s):  
Etika Rachmawati ◽  
Rita Apollonia ◽  
Imelda Ratna Meila

This study was aimed to investigate the students’ perception and the teacher’s way to teach popular song to improve students’ vocabulary mastery. The sample of the study was 32 first year students in Vocasional higt school.A qualitative case study was employed, the data were obtained through the observation and questionnaire. Then, the data from the observations were analyzed by transcribing the whole of the activity in classroom and data from questionnaire were presented into percentage. The researcher described the data of the observation qualitatively. In the present study, the researcher proposed three research questions: (1) How does the teacher use popular song to improve students’ vocabulary mastery at English club? (2) What are male students’ perceptions on the use of popular song to improve students’ vocabulary mastery? And (3) What are female students’ perceptions on the use of popular song to improve students’ vocabulary mastery?  In responding to the first research question, it was found that the teacher  used audio technique such as music in teaching vocabulary. Furthermore, the result of second and third research question found that male and female students agreed that popular song could improve students’ vocabulary mastery, it can be seen from the questionnaire. It showed that students got new vocabularies after listening,  learning and reading popular song because it had many new vocabularies and easy to understand. Based on the conclusion, this study suggests that the teachers who teach English, teaching English need various technique, method, and approach that have to apply in teaching learning process in order to give new atmosphere for the students. Using popular song as one of the solution to solve that problem has to be developed by the teachers because there are some activities that could make teaching learning English more fun and enjoyable especially in improving students’ vocabulary mastery because it is rich with vocabularies. Furthermore, the students have to learn deeply about the component of English and learning vocabulary in order to make them mastering English.


Author(s):  
Albert Saló ◽  
Laia López

Research Question: This analysis arises from the decision of the current local council of Barcelona regarding the postponement of the sporting mega-event ‘World Roller Games’, due to a lack of a social and sportive implication in this event. This research tries to shed some light on the matter and give evidence to the local council to become the world capital of skating. The research question is to analyse whether non-economic impacts could be relevant enough to organise a mega-event.Research Methods: The methodology is based on the perception and experience of spectators and participants on four main impacts (social, economic, sports city image and sports practice) using a survey from a National Roller Skating Championship in Spain, considering that this profile of respondents have a better knowledge of the current situation of this sport.Results and Findings: There are positive expected future consequences of this mega-event to be held in Barcelona in social and sportive terms. We can also conclude that the local council must still introduce some social and sportive policies in the city in order to improve the chances of success in social, sports practice and sportive brand image development.Implications: It is demonstrated that a mega-event should not be seen purely from a perspective of business generation, especially with minority sports like roller skating. There is a clear opportunity to develop social and sportive practice initiatives that can push social cohesion throughout the city thanks to a mega-event such as this one.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deogratius Joseph Mhella

Prior to the advent of mobile money, the banking sector in most of the developing countries excluded certain segments of the population. The excluded populations were deemed as a risk to the banking sector. The banking sector did not work with cash stripped and the financially disenfranchised people. Financial exclusion persisted to incredibly higher levels. Those excluded did not have: bank accounts, savings in financial institutions, access to credit, loan and insurance services. The advent of mobile money moderated the very factors of financial exclusion that the banks failed to resolve. This paper explains how mobile money moderates the factors of financial exclusion that the banks and microfinance institutions have always failed to moderate. The paper seeks to answer the following research question: 'How has mobile money moderated the factors of financial exclusion that other financial institutions failed to resolve between 1960 and 2008? Tanzania has been chosen as a case study to show how mobile has succeeded in moderating financial exclusion in the period after 2008.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 161-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Einfeldt

A process, called Bio-Denipho, for combined biological phosphorus and nitrogen removal in a combination of an anaerobic tank and two oxidation ditches is described. In this process the anaerobic tank consisting of three sections working in series is followed by two oxidation ditches. These too are working in series, but with both inlet to and outlet from the tanks changing in a cycle. The Bio-Denipho process is described specifically for the process itself and as a case study for the implementation of the process on a 265,000 pe wastewater treatment plant for the city of Aalborg in Denmark. The plant was designed and erected in two stages and the last stage was inaugurated October 31,1989. Lay-out and functions for the plant is described and design loads, plan lay-out and tank volumes are given in this paper together with performance data for the first year in operation.


Author(s):  
David Roy Anderson ◽  
Sarah Blissett ◽  
Patricia O’Sullivan ◽  
Atif Qasim

Abstract Background Trainees learn transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) interpretation through independently completing and reviewing selected portions of the study with experts. The diagnostic accuracy of novice TTE interpretation is known to be low and schema for reading TTEs systematically are lacking. The purpose of our study is to identify techniques experts use while reading TTEs which could be used to more effectively teach novice readers. Methods We performed a prospective qualitative case study to observe how experts and trainees interpret TTEs in an academic institution using a concurrent think aloud (CTA) method. Three TTEs of intermediate complexity were given to 3 advanced imaging fellows, 3 first year fellows and 3 expert TTE readers Participants filled out a report while reading and described aloud their thought processes. Sessions were video and audiotaped for analysis. Results Experts and advanced fellows used specific techniques that novices did not including: previewing studies, reviewing multiple images simultaneously, having flexibility in image review order and disease coding, and saving hardest elements to code for the end. Direct observation of TTE reading informed trainee inefficiencies and was a well-received educational tool. Conclusions In this single centered study we identified several unique approaches experts use to interpret TTEs which may be teachable to novices. Although limited in generalizability the findings of this study suggests that a more systematic approach to TTE interpretation, using techniques found in experts, might be of significant value for trainees. Further study is needed to evaluate teaching practices at other institutions and to assess whether implementation of these techniques by novices improves can improve their diagnostic accuracy and efficiency of reading at an earlier stage in their training.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Christine Price

This paper problematises the dominance of global north perspectives in landscape architectural education, in South Africa where there are urgent calls to decolonise education and make visible indigenous and vernacular meaning-making practices. In grappling with these concerns, this research finds resonance with a multimodal social semiotic approach that acknowledges the interest, agency and resourcefulness of students as meaning-makers in both accessing and challenging dominant educational discourses. This research involves a case study of a design project in a first-year landscape architectural studio. The project requires students to choose a narrative and to represent it as a spatial model: a scaled, 3D maquette of a spatial experience that could be installed in a public park. This practitioner reflection closely analyses the spatial model of one student, Malibongwe, focusing on his interest in meaning-making; the innovative meaning-making practices and diverse resources he draws on; and his expression of spatial signifiers of the Black experiences portrayed in his narrative. This reflection shows how Malibongwe’s narrative is not only reproduced in the spatial model, it is remade: the transformation of resources into three-dimensional spatial form results in new understandings and the production of new meanings.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1862
Author(s):  
Alexandros-Georgios Chronis ◽  
Foivos Palaiogiannis ◽  
Iasonas Kouveliotis-Lysikatos ◽  
Panos Kotsampopoulos ◽  
Nikos Hatziargyriou

In this paper, we investigate the economic benefits of an energy community investing in small-scale photovoltaics (PVs) when local energy trading is operated amongst the community members. The motivation stems from the open research question on whether a community-operated local energy market can enhance the investment feasibility of behind-the-meter small-scale PVs installed by energy community members. Firstly, a review of the models, mechanisms and concepts required for framing the relevant concepts is conducted, while a clarification of nuances at important terms is attempted. Next, a tool for the investigation of the economic benefits of operating a local energy market in the context of an energy community is developed. We design the local energy market using state-of-the-art formulations, modified according to the requirements of the case study. The model is applied to an energy community that is currently under formation in a Greek municipality. From the various simulations that were conducted, a series of generalizable conclusions are extracted.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003452372198937
Author(s):  
Caroline Elbra-Ramsay

This paper reports the findings of a small-scale study seeking to investigate how student teachers, within a three-year undergraduate programme, understand feedback. Feedback has been central to debates and discussion in the assessment literature in recent years. Hence, in this paper, feedback is positioned within the often-contradictory discourses of assessment, including perspectives on student and teacher feedback. The study focused on two first year undergraduate student teachers at a small university in England and considered the relationships between their understanding of feedback as a student, their understanding of feedback as an emerging teacher, and the key influences shaping these understandings. A phenomenological case study methodology was employed with interviews as the prime method of data collection. Themes emerged as part of an Nvivo analysis, including emotional responses, relationships and dialogue, all of which appear to have impacted on the students’ conceptual understanding of feedback as indelibly shaped by its interpersonal and affective, rather than purely cognitive or ideational, dimensions. The paper therefore seeks to contribute to the wider feedback discourse by offering an analysis of empirical data. Although situated within English teacher education, there are tentative conclusions that are applicable to international teacher education and as well as higher education more generally.


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