‘Let's go outside’: Icelandic teachers' views of using the outdoors

This article discusses the views of 25 Icelandic preschool and compulsory school teachers who were interviewed on the role of the outdoor environment in children's learning. The teachers reported not being afraid to take children outside. These teachers valued the learning potentials of the outdoors more than they feared the possible risks. They believed that the outdoors could provide opportunities for (a) enhancing children's play and learning (b) promoting children's health, well-being, and courage, and (c) affecting children's views, knowledge, and actions towards sustainability.     

Robust sensorless observer-based adaptive sliding modes control of synchronous motors

Using a nonlinear complete order model of a synchronous motor, a robust second order sliding mode observer based control scheme is proposed. For that, a generalized super-twisting 3rd order observer is proposed for nonlinear systems. Based on the proposed observer scheme, a robust rotor flux observer is designed, then, a stator current observer is proposed using a classical super-twisting algorithm for extracting information of the rotor speed by means of the equivalent control method. The control design for the output tracking of a desired reference signal for the rotor speed is carried out with a classical super-twisting sliding mode algorithm and adaptive backstepping techniques. Due to the number of inputs, the flux in the excitation winding, and the direct component of the stator currents are also regulated. Numeric simulations predict a good performance of the closed-loop synchronous motor with parameter variations.     

Preservation of a two-wing Lorenz-like attractor with stable equilibria

In this paper, we present the preservation of a two-wing Lorenz-like attractor when in the Lorenz system a feedback control is applied, making two of its equilibria a sink. The forced system is capable of generating bistability and the trajectory settles down at one stable equilibrium point depending on the initial condition when the forced signal is zero. Due to a variation in the coupling strength of the control signal the symmetric equilibria of the Lorenz system move causing the basins of attraction to be the dynamic bounded regions that change accordingly. Thus, the preservation of a two-wing Lorenz-like attractor is possible using a switched control law between these dynamic basins of attraction. The forced switched systems also preserve multistability regarding the coupling strength and present multivalued synchronization according to the basin of attraction in which they were initialized. Bifurcations of the controlled system are used to exemplify the different basins generated by the forcing. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the approach proposed.     

Exploratory factor analysis to construct a model of university teaching evaluation indicators / Un análisis factorial exploratorio para la construcción de un modelo de indicadores de evaluación docente universitaria

Abstract

This article is a practical application of the technique of factor analysis. Its uniqueness lies in the nature of the variables we set out to study (determinants of the quality of university teaching), the data collection instrument designed for the study (scale assessment questionnaire) and the basic goal of this study, which is simply to seek the views of a representative sample of university students on the elements that form a system of indicators for assessing teaching skills in order to establish a profile of the role of university professor.     

Detection of Catabacter hongkongensis in polluted European water samples

The Catabacteriaceae is a new bacterial family with a unique member: Catabacter hongkongensis is a strictly anaerobic, non-sporulating, Gram-positive coccobacillus that is phylogenetically related to some clostridial clusters. Little is known of its epidemiology and environmental distribution, but the inclusion of its 16S rRNA gene sequence in GenBank has allowed it to be detected qualitatively. As a first approach for prospective surveys, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure to identify C. hongkongensis has been developed. The presence of Catabacteriaceae in 29 water bodies subjected to possible human or animal impact has been investigated. Four of them were positive. The results confirm that highly polluted water can contain C. hongkongensis.     

What happened to the Open University : Briefly

This paper provides an external, international assessment of The Open University, United Kingdom. It questions whether The Open University of the early 1970s is dead and perhaps — in the context of the current emphasis on open learning — invites staff of other open universities throughout the world to anticipate their future five or ten years hence.     

Teacher educators' perspectives on the implementation of beginning teacher standards for physical education in Ireland: developing and regulating the profession?

The physical education teacher education community in Ireland has developed Beginning Teacher Standards for Physical Education (BTSfPE) at the post-primary (secondary) level. This study explored teacher educators' perspectives on how the BTSfPE could be implemented and considered the possible impact on the profession within the discourses of power. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with teacher educators in physical education (n = 13). Data were analysed inductively and trustworthiness issues were considered. Participants suggested that the teaching standards could serve as a developmental tool to guide individual teacher education programmes and beginning teachers as well as an assessment function to support quality assurance and to hold programmes accountable. The teacher educators were committed to addressing issues of quality and status in physical education in Ireland. However, an agreed vision of how the teaching standards would be used to develop and regulate the profession is necessary to ensure that the intended benefits emerge.     

An Alternative Method for Anatomy Training: Immersive Virtual Reality

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of immersive three-dimensional (3D) interactive virtual reality (VR) on anatomy training in undergraduate physical therapy students. A total of 72 students were included in the study. The students were randomized into control (n = 36) and VR (n = 36) group according to the Kolb Learning Style Inventory, sex, and Purdue Spatial Visualization Test Rotations (PSVT-R). Each student completed a pre-intervention and post-intervention test, consisting of 15 multiple-choice questions. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, sex, Kolb Learning Style Inventory distribution, and the PSVT-R (P > 0.05). The post-test scores were significantly higher compared to pre-test scores in both the VR group (P < 0.001) and the control group (P < 0.001). The difference between the pre-test and post-test results was found to be significantly higher in favor of the VR group (P < 0.001). In this study, anatomy training with a 3D immersive VR system was found to be beneficial. These results suggest that VR systems can be used as an alternative method to the conventional anatomy training approach for health students.     

Sensitivity of instrumental responses to an upshift in water deprivation

The role of incentive learning in instrumental performance following an upshift in the degree of water deprivation was analyzed in three experiments. In Experiments 1A and 1B, rats trained to perform an instrumental action reinforced by either sucrose or maltodextrin solutions when in a low-deprivation state were shifted to a high-deprivation state and tested in extinction. This shift in water deprivation increased performance only if the animals had been exposed to the reinforcer in the high-deprivation state prior to testing. In Experiment 2, the role of the instrumental contingency in mediating the preexposure effect observed in the first two studies was examined by training rats to make two instrumental actions for different outcomes. The preexposure experience with the outcomes produced a relative increase in performance of the action reinforced with the incentive preexposed in the high-deprivation state when a choice between the two response alternatives was conducted in that state. These experiments support the conclusion that instrumental performance following revaluation of the reinforcer by an upshift in the level of thirst depends on a process of incentive learning.