http://hdl.handle.net/11343/159 2019-12-07T01:41:20Z http://hdl.handle.net/11343/233438 A beliefs centred professional development program to support the use of educational technology Conde Hernandez, Lis Maria Out of the many professional development (PD) models described in the literature to support technology integration practices in higher education, only a small number report visible influences on enhanced uses of technology for teaching (Kane, Sandretton, and Heath, 2002; Lawless and Pellegrino, 2007). This is often attributed to the lack of resources, time, competencies or to teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and attitudes which may present a barrier to PD outcomes (Ertmer, 2005). This study set out to design and implement a PD program based on reflective practice, which aimed to enhance the use of educational technology in higher education. The influence of the PD program on teachers’ beliefs, Pedagogical Technological Content Knowledge (TPACK) and use of educational technology was investigated. The program of research began with a thorough literature review from which six critical elements were identified that informed the design of the beliefs centred PD program. TPACK was then used as the conceptual framework to understand and guide the investigation into the technology integration practices of university teachers. The overarching goal of this PD program is to create awareness about the beliefs that inform the pedagogical decisions of university teachers, so they could identify improvement areas, and subsequently motivate them to enhance their teaching practice and uses of technology. The PD program was implemented over three iterations following a Design-Based Research approach and mixed methods were employed to assess the outcomes of the PD program. Nine case studies were examined and the findings of each case study were integrated into a comprehensive narrative to determine the alignment between what teachers think, what they know and what they do in their individual teaching practice. The findings of the cross-case analysis, suggest a positive influence of the PD program in teaching practice towards more student-centred approaches, an increase in self-efficacy of participants regarding their own teaching abilities, and an improved quality of technology integration in curriculum designs. It was also revealed that beliefs and knowledge have distinct influences on teaching practice. Because teacher beliefs can act as tacit and often unconscious filters of information (Ertmer, 2005; Pajares, 1992), teacher beliefs may have a greater influence on teaching practice than knowledge alone. It is, therefore, argued that an oversight of teacher beliefs in the design of PD programs to support the use of educational technology, may have detrimental effects to successful PD outcomes to be sustained in the long term. © 2019 Lis Maria Conde Hernandez 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11343/233435 Head control and infant plagiocephaly: towards prevention Williams, Elizabeth Nicole The thesis investigated infant head control development for a new approach to prevention of deformational plagiocephaly associated with infants sleeping in supine (Back-to-Sleep) and reduced rates of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Standard prevention advice is counter positioning and prone play or tummy time but has limited evidence. Reports of delayed development associated with plagiocephaly led to examination of infant head control as there had been no previous studies for this within a dynamical systems framework. The objective was to explore infant plagiocephaly aetiology and prevention strategies in relation to head control development in infants and develop more effective prevention advice. Mixed methods were used, including reviews, a survey of plagiocephaly awareness in community health professionals and an audit of specialist plagiocephaly clinics. Observational studies investigated the pull to sit test in three cohorts of infants: 1) infants with plagiocephaly; 2) 4-month-old infants; and 3) infants aged 1-4 months. A fact sheet for infants aged 2-8 weeks was developed and evaluated by an expert focus group. Reviews confirmed that the aetiology unclear, but the environment was a factor and tummy time promotes only prone related motor skills. The survey of community Maternal Child Health (MCH) nurses (n=183) and paediatric physiotherapists (n=16) confirmed a gap in plagiocephaly prevention advice. MCH nurses’ primary strategy was referral, thus delaying intervention at a critical age. A 3-year audit of specialist plagiocephaly clinics (n=4000 reviews, n=1990 individuals) revealed delays in consultation. Infants with plagiocephaly, aged 7 SD2.5 months (n=24) showed that they had poor antigravity head control and adopted an extended posture in supine for the pull to sit. A cross-sectional study of normal infants aged 4-months (n=53) showed variation in pull to sit. Over half had poor chin tuck (51%), early head lag (66%) and extended posture (57%). (3) An investigation of head control development over time of infants in the community aged 1-4 months (n=32) including some with plagiocephaly (n=5), all achieved antigravity head flexion control with chin tuck and flexed posture for pull to sit by 3-4 months. The variations observed in the ability of infants to flex their head and neck against gravity or engage associated arms, trunk and hip flexion posture for pull to sit enabled a new operational definition of head control. The 1 to 4-month normal group achieved head control with postural adjustments, chin tuck and flexion, due to the early experience and modelling by a physiotherapist. A new Baby’s Head Shape Fact Sheet: face time plus tummy time equals head control, approved by an expert focus group at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), is to counter infants spending awake time in supine and not developing competent antigravity head control. It is designed for use by Maternal Child Health (MCH) Nurses and physiotherapists in for infants 2 to 8 weeks, the aim being to encourage parents to interact with their baby, encourage early volitional head rotation and development of antigravity neck strength for postural transitions. The implementation of the Baby’s Head Shape Fact Sheet forms a starting point for research to reduce rates of plagiocephaly. © 2019 Elizabeth Nicole Williams 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11343/233434 Optimisations of a seasonal solar thermal energy storage system for space heating in cold climate Shah, Sheikh Khaleduzzaman A number of seasonal solar thermal energy storage (SSTES) systems have been investigated for heating in cold climate locations due to the utilisation of solar energy. The system overcomes the drawback on the intermittency of solar energy and contributes to storing heat from summer to be used in winter. Heat pump and solar collectors with lower temperature thermal storage are the influencing factors to improve the system performance. A double U-tube borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) system integrated with ground coupled heat pump (GCHP) and evacuated tube solar collectors (ETSCs) is proposed for residential space heating in selected cold climate locations. Experimental data were collected from a double U-tube borehole heat exchanger (BHE) test rig; the data were used to validate the TRNSYS Type 257, which models double U-tube BHE. The performance of the proposed double U-tube BTES-GCHP-ETSC system was evaluated by computer simulations. A cluster of 30 residential houses in six selected cold climate locations: Lukla (Nepal), Dras (India), Sivas (Turkey), Harbin (China), Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) and Verkhoyansk (Russia) were investigated. The design variables of the proposed system were optimised to minimise total life cycle cost (TLCC) and total life cycle greenhouse gas emissions (TLCG). The initial investigation was to provide a detailed review of various parameters (options) of SSTES systems. The BTES system has better energy performance with relatively low cost compare with other thermal storage systems. The lower temperature SSTES system may be more suitable for the cold climate conditions. However, the lower temperature stored heat cannot be directly used for space heating, and a heat pump needs to be coupled to upgrade the temperature of the delivered heat. The SSTES system is a promising technique for cold climate locations with adequate solar radiations. It was found that the annual average heating coefficient of performance (COP) of the heat pump, COP of the system, and the ground temperature are increased by adding solar collectors to a conventional heat pump (HP) system. In contrast, the required borehole depth, heat pump energy consumption and extracted energy from the ground are decreased due to the inclusion of solar collectors in the system. The highest COP of a heat pump is found at a system with ETSC compared to other solar collectors. Furthermore, double U-tube BHE has lower LCC and higher heat transfer rate than single U-tube BHE configuration. An experimental study was conducted to validate the TRNSYS Type 257. All system components, pipe network, data acquisition systems, operation procedures and schedules, weather station and measuring instrument were described. The experiments were conducted for heat charging and space heating operations. The measured undisturbed ground temperature (UGT) at the experiment site was presented. The UGT were found to be 17.64 degree celsius and 17.68 degree celsius at 21 m and 40 m depth respectively. The validation of the double U-tube BHE model was presented. The simulated and measured temperatures were compared. Statistical parameters: mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (CC) were used to quantify the agreements between the simulated and measured data. Both heat charging mode and space heating mode models were validated. The duration for the comparison was one-week for both operation modes. The CC of double U-tube BHE model was found to be 0.99 and 0.91 for heat charging mode and space heating mode respectively. The MBE were found to be 0.15 and -0.07 for heat charging mode and space heating mode respectively. The RMSE were 0.37 and 0.51 for heat charging mode and space heating mode respectively. A TRNSYS model was developed to simulate the proposed BTES-GCHP-ETSC system for a cluster of residential houses in selected six cold climate locations. The residential house model for each location was developed based on the typical local dwelling. It was found that the annual heating loads per unit floor area (in GJ m-2) are: 1.71, 1.79, 0.71, 1.19, 1.45 and 2.59 for, Lukla, Sivas, Dras, Harbin, Ulaanbaatar and Verkhoyansk respectively. The system was investigated for heat charging and space heating (heat discharging) modes where the ground temperature and heat losses were analysed. The results of the simulation over 20 years period showed that the average ground temperatures were stable in each location with solar charging option. The energy balance of the system at the 20th year was analysed. The highest seasonal compressor heating coefficient of performance (SHCOP) was found to be 6.65 at Lukla and lowest was 6.03 at Sivas. On the other hand, the highest COPsys (4.39) was found at Verkhoyansk and lowest (2.68) at the Sivas. It was found that the proposed system fulfils the 95%, 92%, 93%, 93%, 96% and 100% of space heating demand for Lukla, Sivas, Dras, Harbin, Ulaanbaatar and Verkhoyansk respectively. The TRNSYS simulation model coupled with multi-objective building optimisation (MOBO) software was used to optimise system variables. There are three separate optimisation investigations: two single objective and one multi objectives for the system. The first investigation is to minimise total life cycle greenhouse gas emissions (TLCG, t), and the second investigation is to minimise total life cycle cost (TLCC, $) included cost of GHGE. The third investigation is to minimise both life cycle cost (LCCRsysR) of system and cost of greenhouse gas emissions (Cghge) (multi objectives). The optimum proposed system configuration (total solar collector area, number of boreholes and total borehole length were determined. The annual life cycle cost (ALCC), the unit heating cost (UHC), net energy ratio (NER), simple payback time (SPBT), carbon payback time (CPBT), and energy payback time (EPBT) were determined to analyse the proposed SSTES system. The proposed SSTES system was optimised for minimising TLCG, where total amount of embodied and operational GHGE were considered for 20 years project life. The maximum GHGE was found at Dras and the minimum at Lukla. The maximum ALCC was found at Verkhoyansk and the minimum at Sivas. The maximum UHC was found at Sivas and the minimum at Verkhoyansk because the size of the heating system is larger at Verkhoyansk than other location. The maximum CPBT and SPBT were found at Sivas and the minimum at Lukla. The EPBT was found highest at Sivas where NER was found lowest. On the other hand, the EPBT was found lowest at Ulaanbaatar where NER was found highest. The maximum SHCOP and COPsys were found at Lukla and Dras respectively. In addition, the proposed BTES-GCHP-ETSC system was optimised for minimising TLCC for 20 years project life, where the system cost and cost of GHGE were considered. The maximum total life cycle cost (TLCC) (cost of system and GHGE) was found at Verkhoyansk and the minimum at Sivas. The operational cost was found highest at Verkhoyansk than other locations because the pumps operate longer to meet the heating demand. The cost of GHGE was the height at Dras and the lowest at Lukla. The ALCC was maximum at Verkhoyansk and minimum at Sivas. The maximum UHC was found at Sivas and the minimum at Verkhoyansk. The NER was found to be the height at Verkhoyansk and the lowest at Sivas. The maximum SPBT was found at Sivas and the minimum at Lukla. The minimum EPBT was found at Verkhoyansk and maximum at Sivas. The SHCOP were found to be 7.00, 6.03, 6.72, 6.22, 6.12 and 6.45 for Lukla, Sivas, Dras, Harbin, Ulaanbaatar and Verkhoyansk respectively. The COPsys were found to be 3.23 (Lukla), 3.57 (Dras), 2.68 (Sivas), 3.53 (Harbin), 3.52 (Ulaanbaatar) and 4.39 (Verkhoyansk). Further, multi-objectives optimisation of SSTES system for space heating in cold climate locations was investigated. Multi-objective functions were applied to determine the Pareto front of variables. The LCCsys and the Cghge were the two objective functions. The minimum LCCsys and the minimum Cghge points as the Pareto fronts were determined. However, minimum TLCC points have 53% (Lukla), 37% (Dras) and 42% (Ulaanbaatar) shorter borehole length than minimum TLCG points. © 2019 Sheikh Khaleduzzaman Shah 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11343/233427 Estimating global sea level variations and resulting inundation exposure Demirci, E; Young, I 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z