Determination of the content of a construct "volunteer activity" in educational practice: the experience of theoretical comprehension and empirical reconstruction

Introduction. Volunteering is becoming more and more important in the life of civil society and for the formation of human capital, but at the same time there is a lack of comprehensive scientific practice-oriented psychological-pedagogical research on the concept of "volunteer activity". The purpose of this work is to determine the actual effectiveness of an interdisciplinary study of the psychological-pedagogical concept of “volunteer activity” in the educational space. Methods. Empirical data were obtained using the methods of psychosemantics and psycholinguistics (verbal self-descriptions "My volunteer activity" (schoolchildren and students) and "I am an organizer of volunteer activities" (teachers-organizers, leaders of volunteer centers/teams) were used; compilation of an associative dictionary, a "Personal Differential" technique. The data underwent the procedure of content analysis with the extraction of semantic units. To process the results obtained, an iterative method of cluster analysis – k-means clustering – was used; a comparative analysis of fields was implemented. The empirical study involved schoolchildren (N = 44, aged 14-17) and university students (N = 432, aged 18-20) engaged in volunteering and organizers of volunteer activities (N = 37, aged 35-40) from the Altai Territory. The total sample consisted of 910 people. Research results. The scheme of the interdisciplinary study has been tested, which makes it possible to construct the semantic space of a psychological-pedagogical concept of "volunteer activity". For each sample of respondents, two clusters were obtained: schoolchildren and university students (p≤0.01) – the measure of proximity varies from 4.59 to 9.52 for the first cluster and from 4.19 to 7.57 – for the second one; teachers-organizers (p≤0.05) – the measure of proximity varies from 2.67 to 4.89 for the first cluster and from 1.72 to 3.36 – for the second one; volunteer leaders (p≤0.05) – the measure of proximity varies from 2.67 to 4.33 for the first cluster and from 2.35 to 4.73 – for the second one. Significant differences and points of contact of semantic fields were revealed. The average values of the scales according to the "Personal differential" technique are as follows: for schoolchildren – 5, for university students – 16. Conclusion. The prospects for the implementation of this study are outlined, which consist in the empirical generalization of the continuity of implementation of volunteer practices; the structural analysis of psychological-pedagogical technologies and interactive forms of education, the development of a set of tools for assessing the effectiveness of the results of implementation of volunteer programs, the creation of an electronic database of the most effective and adequate practices.

Referencing technique for phase detection in eddy current evaluation

This paper presents an eddy current testing (ECT) method with a different type of referencing technique for crack detection in carbon steel plate by using two Anisotropic Magnet Resistance (AMR) sensors to detect and evaluate the artificial cracks and to study the output signal's characteristics of each technique. The experiment setup of the magnetic scanning device and the measurement mode is included. Based on these three techniques that have been used, it shown that differential technique with the condition of the required reference signal must be dynamic from one point to one point was the best way to implement in the ECT method. The line scanning results indicate that performing these three techniques can be used to estimate the position of the slits, however, for 2-D mapping, it is shown that the differential technique is a preferable technique where it can remove the noise response, and at the same time, it generates a clear image of the crack. It is predicted that the developed ECT probe using a differential technique can be used as a technique to estimate the characteristic of defects in a metal plate.

An optimized laser ultrasonic synthetic aperture imaging method using differential technique

Laser ultrasonic synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) is susceptible to multiple modes of ultrasonic generated by laser pulse. In this work, we propose an optimized synthetic aperture imaging method based on the differential technique, resulting in the effective detection of internal defects. The laser ultrasonic SAFT finite element model is established, and the models are calculated in the case of existing internal defect or not. Thereby, the original ultrasonic data containing the defect reflected waves and the differential data are obtained, and the internal defects are reconstructed by the delay superposition algorithm. The results show that the defect imaging is submerged in the high-amplitude background noise superimposed by the surface acoustic wave; when only the original data are used. However, the optimized SAFT imaging based on the differential technique can not only reduce the interference of other mode waves on the imaging area significantly, but also retain the defect reflected waves effectively. Moreover, the imaging and precise locating of multiple defects are realized, which pave the way for enhancing the internal defects detection ability of laser ultrasonic.

Monitoring the Vector Error Between a Reference Station and a GNSS on-Board Receiver in the GBAS System in the Polish Air Transport

The article presents research results concerning the determination of the vector error between a reference station and the GNSS on-board receiver in the GPS satellite measurements for GBAS system, taking into account the ZTD troposphere delay parameter. Based on the conducted studies, it was found that the highest value of the vector error between a reference station and the GNSS on-board receiver can exceed 0.18 m, for a distance of over 40 km and the ZTD value equalling to 2428.1 mm. The error results of vector measurement can be used in the RTK-OFT differential technique in the GBAS system.

Aircraft positioning using DGNSS technique for GPS and GLONASS data

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the problem of implementation of the differential global navigation satellite system (DGNSS) differential technique for aircraft accuracy positioning. The paper particularly focuses on identification and an analysis of the accuracy of aircraft positioning for the DGNSS measuring technique. Design/methodology/approach The investigation uses the DGNSS method of positioning, which is based on using the model of single code differences for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations. In the research experiment, the authors used single-frequency code observations in the global positioning system (GPS)/global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) system from the on-board receiver Topcon HiperPro and the reference station REF1 (reference station for the airport military EPDE in Deblin in south-eastern Poland). The geodetic Topcon HiperPro receiver was installed in Cessna 172 plane in the aviation test. The paper presents the new methodology in the DGNSS solution in air navigation. The aircraft position was estimated using a “weighted mean” scheme for differential global positioning system and differential global navigation satellite system solution, respectively. The final resultant position of aircraft was compared with precise real-time kinematic – on the fly solution. Findings In the investigations it was specified that the average accuracy of positioning the aircraft Cessna 172 in the geocentric coordinates XYZ equals approximately: +0.03 ÷ +0.33 m along the x-axis, −0.02 ÷ +0.14 m along the y-axis and approximately +0.02 ÷ −0.15 m along the z-axis. Moreover, the root mean square errors determining the measure of the accuracy of positioning of the Cessna 172 for the DGNSS differential technique in the geocentric coordinates XYZ, are below 1.2 m. Research limitations/implications In research, the data from GNSS onboard receiver and also GNSS reference receiver are needed. In addition, the pseudo-range corrections from the base stations were applied in the observation model of the DGNSS solution. Practical implications The presented research method can be used in a ground based augmentation system (GBAS) augmentation system, whereas the GBAS system is still not applied in Polish aviation. Social implications The paper is destined for people who work in the area of aviation and air transport. Originality/value The study presents the DGNSS differential technique as a precise method for recovery of aircraft position in civil aviation and this method can be also used in the positioning of aircraft based on GPS and GLONASS code observations.

Influence of the Ionospheric Delay on Designation of an Aircraft Position

The article presents and describes research results concerning determination of an impact of the ionospheric correction upon the positioning accuracy of an aircraft. The main objective of examinations was to verify three ionospheric models (the Klobuchar model, SBAS model and IONEX model) in determining aircraft coordinates. In the framework of the conducted simulations, the authors determined the aircraft coordinates by means of the SPP code method in the GPS system. The article presents a comparison of the determined aircraft coordinates in the SPP code method in relation to an accurate solution in the RTK-OTF differential technique. Based on the obtained results, it was found that e use of the SBAS and IONEX model is exploited to improve the positioning accuracy of an aircraft in relation to the Klobuchar model, from 20% to 72%, in the geocentric XYZ frame. The obtained findings of a simulation indicate that the ionospheric correction in the SBAS and IONEX models may be used to improve the performance of aircraft coordinates in air navigation.

Text Creolization as the Way to Change the Text Perception

The article presents the findings of the psycholinguistic experiments based on the semantic differential technique. The experiments’ objective was to identify the effect of illustration on a verbal text perception. We compared the respondents’ assessment of verbal texts and illustrated texts (with illustrations in major and minor color schemes). The data analysis reveals seven factors: Assessment , Naturalness , Strength , Imagery , Romanticism , Dynamism , Commonality . We identified the illustrations parameters affecting the assessment of creolized texts: adding any illustration, the illustration color scheme matching the verbal text content, the color scheme naturalness, the illustration color scheme matching the text emotional and semantic dominant, the use of minor color scheme. The most pragmatic potential was identified in the parameter “(non)matching the color scheme with the semantic dominant of the text” (it is important for the assessment of five out of seven factors). We found that both conformity ( Strength factor assessment) and inconsistency (for Dynamism , Imagery , Romance , Evaluation factors assessment) can be significant. The text creolization increases its Imagery and changes Romanticism factors. The color scheme matching the image content increases the text Naturalness assessment, and an unnatural color scheme decreases it. There was a decrease in Assessment if a minor color scheme was used.