Engaging with the research methods curriculum

Training in research methods has always been an important part of postgraduate courses; however, in recent years, what constitutes an "appropriate" kind of training for postgraduate students in Education has been shaped by national policy in addition to disciplinary traditions. Such debates became a live issue during the process of developing an online research methods module for three related MA programmes. In this paper, a critique is developed of approaches to teaching research methods. This is achieved by exploring three different approaches to the teaching and assessment of an online research methods module. The differences between these are examined, drawing on the theoretical framework and the idea of the 'engaged curriculum' developed by Barnett & Coate (2005). The paper concludes by contrasting the diversity in this case with the position currently being advocated by the UK's funding councils

Numerical solution of two dimensional harmonic boundary problems containing singularities by conformal transformation methods

Numerical solutions to a class of two dimensional harmonic mixed boundary value problems defined on rectangular domains and containing singularities are obtained using conformal transformation methods. These map the original problems into similar ones containing no singularities, and to which analytic solutions are known. Although the mapping technique produces analytic solutions to the original problems, these involve elliptic functions and integrals which have to be evaluated numerically, so that in practice only approximations can be obtained. Results calculated in this manner for model problems compare favourably with those obtained previously by other methods. On this evidence, and because of the ease with which the method can be adapted to different individual problems, we strongly recommend the transformation technique for solving problems of this class. W

Lower atmospheric temperature profile measurements using a Raman lidar

A Raman lidar system was used to measure the temperature profile of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The system consists of a tripled Nd-YAG laser and a 1.5 meter diameter telescope. Two photomultipliers are used at the output of the telescope to allow for measurements at both the laser wavelength and at the Raman shifted wavelength due to atmospheric nitrogen. The signal from the photomultipliers is recorded as photon counts in 1 microsec bins. The results of a number of laser shots are summed together to provide atmospheric returns which have acceptable signal to noise characteristics. Measurements of the Raman nitrogen return were acquired up to an altitude in excess of 20 km. Temperature profiles were retrieved from the attenuation corrected Raman nitrogen return assuming the atmosphere to be in hydrostatic equilibrium and using the ideal gas law. Retrieved temperature profiles are shown compared with independent temperature measurements

Herbivory increases diversification across insect clades.

Insects contain more than half of all living species, but the causes of their remarkable diversity remain poorly understood. Many authors have suggested that herbivory has accelerated diversification in many insect clades. However, others have questioned the role of herbivory in insect diversification. Here, we test the relationships between herbivory and insect diversification across multiple scales. We find a strong, positive relationship between herbivory and diversification among insect orders. However, herbivory explains less variation in diversification within some orders (Diptera, Hemiptera) or shows no significant relationship with diversification in others (Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera). Thus, we support the overall importance of herbivory for insect diversification, but also show that its impacts can vary across scales and clades. In summary, our results illuminate the causes of species richness patterns in a group containing most living species, and show the importance of ecological impacts on diversification in explaining the diversity of life

Impact of along-valley orographic variations on the dispersion of passive tracers in a stable atmosphere

© 2019 by the authors.A numerical model is used to investigate the transport of passive tracers in an idealized Alpine valley during stable wintertime conditions after the evening transition. The valley is composed of an upstream-valley section, which opens on a narrower downstream valley section, which opens onto a plain. The ratio between the valley-floor widths of the upstream and downstream sections is either 4 (simulation P1) or 11.5 (P2). The change in the thermal structure of the atmosphere in the along-valley direction and over the plain leads to the development of an along-valley flow. This flow is up-valley in the upstream section during the first three hours of the P1 simulation, reversing to the down-valley direction afterwards, but remains up-valley during the six hours of the P2 simulation. The effect of wind dynamics on the dispersion of passive scalars is identified by tracking areas prone to stagnation, recirculation, and ventilation using the methodology developed by Allwine and Whiteman (1994). Zones identified as prone to stagnation are consistent with those of high tracer concentration in both simulations. The narrowing of the valley is found to significantly reduce ventilation in the upstream section, an observation quantified by a ventilation efficiency.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio