Transforming identity through arts-informed, collaborative learning and reflection: case study of a Masters programme in innovation, creativity and leadership

This paper and the associate conference presentation review the initial findings of a PhD study in Professional Education, a mixed method, interdisciplinary project which aims to contribute to research on interdisciplinary pedagogy related to both teaching and enabling creativity. The research focuses on Creativity and the Creative Industries, the final module of City University London’s Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership (MICL), an interdisciplinary Higher Education (HE) Masters designed for mature students with managerial experience. The module’s teaching includes collaborative, experiential arts workshops (eg drama, classical music, improvisation and art) to support the students’ group and individual artistic projects and final reflective journal and report. The paper outlines these theoretical propositions which inform the study’s data analysis (Yin, 2008, p.18): 1) That the module’s learning processes are artistic, unfamiliar, disruptive, embodied experiences 2) That the students create an applied understanding of their learning through reflection and personal narrative 3) That critical incidents in the students’ personal narratives will be expressed through metaphors of personal and professional identity 4) That both narrative (eg James and Brookfield, 2014, p.106, citing Kűbler-Ross’s (1997) Change Curve) and personal change models (eg Heron, 1992, p. 122) will usefully inform the analysis. The study’s primary analytical methodologies include content analysis (eg Charmaz, 2006), narrative analysis (Gregerson, 2013), thematic analysis (Van Manen, 2014) and critical incident analysis (Shiu, 2014) (Argyris, 1982; Bolton, 2014; Dewey, 1933; Downey & Clandinin, 2010; Dreyfus, 1996; James & Brookfield, 2014; King & Kitchener, 1994; McEwen et al., 2009; Merleau-Ponty, 1962/2002; Ricoeur, 2007; Schön, 1983, 1987). The research approach is consistent with work on threshold concepts (Meyer & Land, 2003), theory which links identity and narrative (eg Bruner, 2002; Boyd, 2009; Downey& Clandinin, 2010; Gottschall, 2012; Herman, 2013; McGilchrist, 2009) and arts-based and creativity research (eg Amabile, 1983; Bateson & Martin, 2015; Gregerson et al., 2013; Shiu, 2014; Sayer, 2012). The paper acknowledges the need for a reflexive approach, especially in HE and artistic contexts (eg Brookfield, 2010; Fleming, 2012; Foucault, 1980; Freire, 1970; Mezirow, 1998, 2000), as well as the risks of drawing broader lessons from a case study (Cohen, 2010; Yin, 2013). Consistent with this Track’s theme of ‘rattling’ HE and organisational development through the application of arts-based initiatives, I conclude by discussing whether shifts in the students’ narratives through the MICL programme and this might can be related to their personal and professional identities; and the degree to which these might in turn promote sustained impacts on their inter- and intrapersonal competence and self-efficacy

Accelerating movement across the intentional arc – developing the strategic sensographer

Our research question relates to those who need to be activists in strategic sensography as described in the call for papers. We call these activists “strategic sensographers”. Our own definition of sensuous is characterised by a pseudo-formula, namely 5S+3D (5 senses plus 3 dimensions), which we contrast with the 2S+2D world which dominates the modern office and even university.We take strategists to include both senior executives themselves and those who explicitly support them in the strategy process, whether in a line or staff role. Our model of the intuitive qualities required for strategists has in part been derived from the recruitment criteria of leading organisations, as well as from analyses of the qualities needed to support creativity and innovation (Lucas, Claxton and Spencer, 2012).We examined the routes through which strategists are currently educated or shaped, and conclude as have others (Mintzberg, 2005), that their education is biased in favour of rational-logical thinking. It is in part the tension and interplay between the rational and the intuitive that contributes to sensography, a term that has in part spun off from “stratography” (Cummings and Angwin, 2011)

A New Look At Neutrino Limits From Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

We take a fresh look at the limits on the number of neutrino flavors derived from big bang nucleosynthesis. In particular, recent measurements of the \he4 abundance enable one to estimate the primordial \he4 mass fraction at $Y_p = 0.232 \pm .003(stat) \pm .005(syst)$. For a baryon to photon ratio, $\eta$, consistent with the other light elements, this leads to a best fit for the number of neutrino flavors $N_\nu < 3$ (the precise number depends on $\eta$) indicating a very strong upper limit to $N_\nu$. Here, we derive new upper limits on $N_\nu$, paying special attention to the fact that the best estimate may lie in an unphysical region ($N_\nu < 3$ if all three neutrino flavors are light or massless; the lower bound to $N_\nu$ may even be as low as 2, if the small window for a $\nu_\tau$ mass is exploited.) Our resulting upper limits therefore depend on whether $N_\nu \ge 2$ or 3 is assumed. We also explore the sensitivity of our results to the adopted value of $\eta$ and the assumed systematic errors in $Y_p$.Comment: 11 pages, latex, four uuencoded ps figures include

Three Dimensional Printing of Tungsten Carbide-Cobalt Using a Cobalt Oxide Precursor

Tungsten Carbide 10 wt% Cobalt parts were formed by Slurry-based Three Dimensional Printing (3DPTM). The slurry contained a mixture of Tungsten Carbide and Cobalt Oxide powders, as well as dispersing and redispersing agents. The cobalt oxide is fully reduced to cobalt metal during the early stages of the sintering process. A new binder system, polyethylenimine, is described for use with powders with acidic surfaces, such as WC. Sintered densities approach the theoretical values for WC-10% Co, and the microstructures produced are similar to those of conventionally processed (press and sinter) materials. Up to four parts were produced in a single print run using a layer thickness of 25 Pm, with good dimensional agreement between them, and within the range of target dimensions after sintering.Mechanical Engineerin

Model Independent Predictions of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis from \he4 and \li7: Consistency and Implications

We examine in detail how BBN theory is constrained, and what predictions it can make, when using only the most model-independent observational constraints. We avoid the uncertainties and model-dependencies that necessarily arise when solar neighborhood D and \he3 abundances are used to infer primordial D and \he3 via chemical and stellar evolution models. Instead, we use \he4 and \li7, thoroughly examining the effects of possible systematic errors in each. Via a likelihood analysis, we find near perfect agreement between BBN theory and the most model-independent data. Given this agreement, we then {\it assume} the correctness of BBN to set limits on the single parameter of standard BBN, the baryon-to-photon ratio, and to predict the primordial D and \he3 abundances. We also repeat our analysis including recent measurements of D/H from quasar absorption systems and find that the near perfect agreement between theory and observation of the three isotopes, D, \he4 and \li7 is maintained. These results have strong implications for the chemical and stellar evolution of the light elements, in particular for \he3. In addition, our results (especially if the D/H measurements are confirmed) have implications for the stellar depletion of \li7. Finally, we set limits on the number \nnu\ of neutrino flavors, using an analysis which carefully and systematically includes all available experimental constraints. The value \nnu = 3.0 fits best with BBN and a 95\% CL upper limit of \nnu \la 4 is established.Comment: 28 pages, latex, 10 ps figure

Magnetic fields in the early universe in the string approach to MHD

There is a reformulation of magnetohydrodynamics in which the fundamental dynamical quantities are the positions and velocities of the lines of magnetic flux in the plasma, which turn out to obey equations of motion very much like ideal strings. We use this approach to study the evolution of a primordial magnetic field generated during the radiation-dominated era in the early Universe. Causality dictates that the field lines form a tangled random network, and the string-like equations of motion, plus the assumption of perfect reconnection, inevitably lead to a self-similar solution for the magnetic field power spectrum. We present the predicted form of the power spectrum, and discuss insights gained from the string approximation, in particular the implications for the existence or not of an inverse cascade.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Spin-Flavour Oscillations and Neutrinos from SN1987A

The neutrino signal from SN1987A is analysed with respect to spin-flavour oscillations between electron antineutrinos, $\bar{\nu}_{e}$, and muon neutrinos, $\nu_{\mu}$, by means of a maximum likelihood analysis. Following Jegerlehner et al. best fit values for the total energy released in neutrinos, $E_t$, and the temperature of the electron antineutrino, $T_{\bar{\nu}_{e}}$, for a range of mixing parameters and progenitor models are calculated. In particular the dependence of the inferred quantities on the metallicity of the supernova is investigated and the uncertainties involved in using the neutrino signal to determine the neutrino magnetic moment are pointed out.Comment: 14 pages, RevTeX, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review

The Age Of Globular Clusters In Light Of Hipparcos: Resolving the Age Problem?

We review five independent techniques which are used to set the distance scale to globular clusters, including subdwarf main sequence fitting utilizing the recent Hipparcos parallax catalogue. These data together all indicate that globular clusters are farther away than previously believed, implying a reduction in age estimates. This new distance scale estimate is combined with a detailed numerical Monte Carlo study designed to assess the uncertainty associated with the theoretical age-turnoff luminosity relationship in order to estimate both the absolute age and uncertainty in age of the oldest globular clusters. Our best estimate for the mean age of the oldest globular clusters is now $11.5\pm 1.3$Gyr, with a one-sided, 95% confidence level lower limit of 9.5 Gyr. This represents a systematic shift of over 2 $\sigma$ compared to our earlier estimate, due completely to the new distance scale---which we emphasize is not just due to the Hipparcos data. This now provides a lower limit on the age of the universe which is consistent with either an open universe, or a flat, matter dominated universe (the latter requiring H_0 \le 67 \kmsmpc). Our new study also explicitly quantifies how remaining uncertainties in the distance scale and stellar evolution models translate into uncertainties in the derived globular cluster ages. Simple formulae are provided which can be used to update our age estimate as improved determinations for various quantities become available.Comment: 41 pages, including 10 eps figs, uses aaspp4.sty and flushrt.sty, submitted to Ap.J., revised to incorporate FULL Hipparcos catalogue dat