This thesis is concerned with the use of zone plate interferometers for the precise location of position. The thesis begins by discussing the use of the zone plate as an optical component and examines the wavefront aberrations that can occur in higher orders of diffraction. Interferometers applicable to the measurement of position are then reviewed, including interferometers that incorporate optical zone plates as beam dividers and beam combiners. A zone plate interferometer for defining and locating multiple positions in three-dimensions is reported. Here, a three-dimensional array of positions is defined by a two-dimensional array of reflective zone plates. An optical probe containing two zone plates completes the interferometer, and is used to locate the positions. The displacement sensitivity of the probe can be controlled at the optical design stage. The variation of sensitivity with wavefront geometry is explored and expressions are derived for the transverse and axial sensitivity in terms of the conjugates of the illuminating wavefronts. Various wave front configurations were experimented with and the resulting position location patterns recorded. The measured values of sensitivity to displacement are compared to theory. A version of this interferometer was designed and developed by the author, for checking the performance of three-coordinate measuring machines used in engineering metrology. The results of trials with the interferometer, comparing the performance of measuring machines in several government laboratories, are reported. The averaged repeatability of setting, on one optically defined position, was found to be 1 μm in the transverse directions and 6 μm in the axial direction. Resulting from this work, two simple devices for pointing are described. Each uses a pair of zone plates to define an optical axis. In one case, the axis is precisely located by positioning a coherent light source and observing the interference bands generated by the device. In the other, moire bands are observed in incoherent illumination.

Creature from the Unconscious is a reflexive genre hybrid film that follows the process of the director's journey of navigating the process of self-acceptance and self-love in the wake of trauma.

This report addresses how leaders at the Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) can respond to changes in administration, staff, and funding to promote awareness and recognition of the UWC and increase funding to both preserve and enhance UWC programs and services that will address the needs of UT’s dynamic student population. In doing so, I apply reflective and deliberative practitioner theories to writing center work, analyzing my work at the UWC from the perspective of a reflective practitioner and participatory planner. I first provide an overview of the UWC. I then explore theories related to writing pedagogy and practice and serving as a reflective and deliberative practitioner. Next, I discuss trends in the university climate in general and UT in particular, using them to contextualize the challenges affecting the UWC as an organization working with the university system as it enters into the transition period. Finally, I propose responses to these challenges as well as future directions for UWC leaders. / text

No / Reflecting thoughtfully on your work is vital for improving your own self-awareness, effectiveness and professional development. This newly updated fifth edition of Gillie Bolton’s bestselling book explores reflective writing as a creative and dynamic process for this critical enquiry. New to this edition: An expanded range of exercises and activities A new emphasis on using e-portfolios Further guidance on reflective writing assignments Enhanced discussion of reflection as a key employability skill Additional online resources This popular book has been used worldwide in various disciplines including education, social work, business and management, medicine and healthcare and is essential reading for students and professionals seeking to enhance their reflective writing skills and to examine their own practice in greater critical depth.

Published Article / Reflection and reflective practice as a method to inform facilitators' teaching and learning practices has been in use for a long time. It was first introduced by Dewy in 1933. The methodology consisted of a qualitative approach supported by a quantitative analysis and was prompted by a number of questions pertaining to reflective teaching. This article communicates how reflective teaching was embedded in the Radiographic Pathology module for undergraduates in 2007 as well as the outcomes of the process.

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This thesis is a practitioner based inquiry into how I can support the development of reflective dispositions within Early Childhood Studies (ECS) undergraduate students. The students involved in this research were all level 4 (first year, new entrants) who started their studies at an English University in September 2009. The study takes a Social Constructivist approach through pedagogical action research and was informed by a Reflective Methodology. My own beliefs regarding ontology lie in the notion that there is no one truth; that is multifaceted and that truths are ‘socially constructed multiple realities’ (Patton, 2002, p. 134). This is what Denzin and Lincoln (2008, p. 32) refer to as ‘relativist ontology’. It used qualitative methods to explore my own experiences and the experiences of students in establishing an understanding of expectations to use reflective practice to inform their developing professionalism. My own reflective journey has been a central part of this project and has enabled me to identify how my practice can be improved to enhance the development of a reflective culture within the Centre for Early Childhood in my institution. Reflective lenses of self, colleagues, students and literature have been used to create an understanding of the existing landscape of reflective practice within this particular context. Focus Group Discussion Forums (FGDF); reflective accounts; peer observation and Post-it Note response were all methods used to collect the data. A grounded theory approach to the data analysis was used which was both an inductive and deductive process. The findings of this research have been both enlightening and confirmatory. The pedagogical cultural differences between most new ECS students’ previous educational experiences, and those introduced when they start their programme in HE, entails a shift from a predominantly transmission approach to one of transformative learning. This requires an understanding of the tutor team to create an environment that is conducive to supporting students through this transition that is underpinned by Social Constructivist concepts. The data highlights that strategies already used within the ECS programme are complementary to this transition; however, it also highlights that tutors’ assumptions about students’ capabilities to demonstrate reflective practice is sometimes unreasonable. This research journey and the findings from the data of this project have enabled me to identify some key considerations when supporting the development of reflective dispositions within ECS students and in enabling a ‘Reflective Community of Early Childhood Practice’. These considerations include: • Transitional needs of students • Becoming professionally self-aware and developing a professional artistry • The significance of practical experience and its relationship to theoretical perspectives • Opportunities for collaboration within a community of practice The other significant finding from this inquiry is that of self-discovery and identifying that my own reflective limitations require consideration. My adaptation of Brookfield’s (1995) four lens theory, which includes a new ‘fifth dimension’ that uses a ‘peripheral socio-cultural lens’ to widen and enrich the critical reflective process, has been created. Post viva voce examination has prompted an additional section to this thesis (Section 6). This post script is a critically reflective piece from my perspective as a researcher. Applying my own theory of a wider perspective through a Socio Cultural peripheral lens (Figure 7) which has allowed me to explicitly communicate the significance of this project and demonstrate the relationships between the arguments I make and the impact of these within the early childhood sector and within extended fields of professional practice.

How to manage a dynamic environment and how to provide task partitioning are two key concerns when developing distributed computing applications. The emergence of Grid computing environments extends these problems. Conventional resource management systems are based on a relatively static resource model and a centralized scheduler that assigns computing resources to users. Distributed management introduces resource heterogeneity: not only the set of available resources, but even the set of resource types is constantly changing. Obviously this is unsuitable for the present Grid. In addition, the Grid provides users with the physical infrastructure to run parallel programs. Because of this increasing availability, there are more requirements for parallelization technologies. Therefore, based on problems outlined above, this thesis provides a novel scheduler which not only enables dynamic management but also provides skeleton library to support the task partition. Dynamic management is derived from the concept of reflectiveness, which allows the Grid to perform like an efficient market with some limited government controls. To supplement the reflective mechanism, this thesis integrates a statistical forecasting approach to predict the environment of the Grid in the next period. The task partitioning support is extended from the skeleton library in the parallel computing and cluster computing areas. The thesis shows how this idea can be applied in the Grid environment to simplify the user’s programming works. Later in this PhD thesis, a Petri-net based simulation methodology is introduced to examine the performance of the reflective scheduler. Moreover, a real testing environment is set up by using a reflective scheduler to run a geometry optimization application. In summary, by combining knowledge from economics, statistics, mathematics and computer science, this newly invented scheduler not only provides a convenient and efficient way to parallelize users’ tasks, but also significantly improves the performance of the Grid.