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"learning"

A handbook on recent advancements and the state of the art in array processing and sensor Networks Handbook on Array Processing and Sensor Networks provides readers with a collection of tutorial articles contributed by world-renowned experts on recent advancements and the state of the art in array processing and sensor networks. Focusing on fundamental principles as well as applications, the handbook provides exhaustive coverage of: wavelets; spatial spectrum estimation; MIMO radio propagation; robustness issues in sensor array processing; wireless communications and sensing in multi-path environments using multi-antenna transceivers; implicit training and array processing for digital communications systems; unitary design of radar waveform diversity sets; acoustic array processing for speech enhancement; acoustic beamforming for hearing aid applications; undetermined blind source separation using acoustic arrays; array processing in astronomy; digital 3D/4D ultrasound imaging technology; self-localization of sensor networks; multi-target tracking and classification in collaborative sensor networks via sequential Monte Carlo; energy-efficient decentralized estimation; sensor data fusion with application to multi-target tracking; distributed algorithms in sensor networks; cooperative communications; distributed source coding; network coding for sensor networks; information-theoretic studies of wireless networks; distributed adaptive learning mechanisms; routing for statistical inference in sensor networks; spectrum estimation in cognitive radios; nonparametric techniques for pedestrian tracking in wireless local area networks; signal processing and networking via the theory of global games; biochemical transport modeling, estimation, and detection in realistic environments; and security and privacy for sensor networks. Handbook on Array Processing and Sensor Networks is the first book of its kind and will appeal to researchers, professors, and graduate students in array processing, sensor networks, advanced signal processing, and networking. © 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Purpose - In the UK there is currently a national consultation on the structure/adoption of an academic credit framework for higher education. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the principles underlying such a framework, when applied in the context of a workplace research project, can facilitate debate between the academic disciplines and work-based learning practitioners. Design/methodology/approach - This paper argues that the workplace project, when designed and structured according to credit principles, offers a valuable point at which to interact with academic colleagues from the disciplines, and to engage them in debate regarding the academic validity of work-based learning. The case made here is that workplace research projects (which will have an element of familiarity to colleagues) and academic credit practice (where learning recognition is not contextualised but level of achievement is fundamental) can offer a way to engender that debate. Findings - The lack of academic confidence in work-based learning has been consistently experienced by academics introducing work-based learning in the UK and Australia, and they are very much aware of the need to overcome it. There is a challenge to the structure and basis of higher education is taking place in a sector which, until recently, was functioning effectively in an élite tradition. Originality/value - The paper indicates a way to address the academic issues raised by full recognition of workplace learning and engage with them by using the "language" of credit practice, which can accommodate both new and established academic practice.

This article argues in favour of a situated approach to understanding learning in practice at trade vocational school and at trade in vocational education. Boundary crossing is regarded as contributing to expansive situated learning by apprentices across trade vocational school and the trade. The purpose of the article is to show that the relationship between strangeness and legitimacy is central to situated learning across different contexts such as at trade and at trade vocational schools. The article draws on examples from a recent qualitative field study of learning among apprentices in the Danish vocational education sector.

Background: There has been concern that trainees are seldom observed, assessed, and given feedback during their workplace-based education. This has led to an increasing interest in a variety of formative assessment methods that require observation and offer the opportunity for feedback. Aims: To review some of the literature on the efficacy and prevalence of formative feedback, describe the common formative assessment methods, characterize the nature of feedback, examine the effect of faculty development on its quality, and summarize the challenges still faced. Results: The research literature on formative assessment and feedback suggests that it is a powerful means for changing the behaviour of trainees. Several methods for assessing it have been developed and there is preliminary evidence of their reliability and validity. A variety of factors enhance the efficacy of workplace-based assessment including the provision of feedback that is consistent with the needs of the learner and focused on important aspects of the performance. Faculty plays a critical role and successful implementation requires that they receive training. Conclusions: There is a need for formative assessment which offers trainees the opportunity for feedback. Several good methods exist and feedback has been shown to have a major influence on learning. The critical role of faculty is highlighted, as is the need for strategies to enhance their participation and training.

This paper presents a review and assessment of existing theoretical accounts to explain differentials in access to education and training in advanced economies. These theories tend to focus on the analysis of the influence of a set of economic, sociological and political variables on access to education. Existing theories are criticized on two grounds. Firstly, they seldom take into consideration the crucial role of political-institutional factors, and in particular, welfare states' actions through direct investment and regulation in shaping access levels. Secondly, they focus narrowly on the analysis of different stages of education and training, and this does not reflect the current policy emphasis on lifelong learning. The paper concludes with an outline of a future research agenda to address these gaps, and also calls for a more rigorous analysis of the weight of the different factors affecting access.

Context: Graduate medical education is currently facing major educational reforms. There is a lack of empirical evidence in the literature about the learning processes of residents in the clinical workplace. This qualitative study uses a 'grounded theory' approach to continue the development of a theoretical framework of learning in the clinical workplace by adding the perspective of attending doctors. Methods: A total of 21 Dutch attending doctors involved in the training of residents in obstetrics and gynaecology participated in 1 of 3 focus group sessions. They discussed their perceptions of how residents learn and what factors influence residents' learning. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the transcribed discussions. Results: Three related themes emerged. The first concerned the central role of participation in work-related activities: according to attending doctors, residents learn by tackling the everyday challenges of clinical work. The second involved the ways in which attending doctors influence what residents learn from work-related activities. The final theme focused on attending doctors' views of the essential characteristics of residents and their development during residency. Conclusions: Attending doctors' perspectives complement current insights derived from similar research among residents and from related literature. As part of an ongoing effort to further develop understanding of how residents learn, this study adds several ways in which attending doctors strive to combine guidance in both patient care and resident training. Furthermore, attending doctors' perspectives draw attention to other aspects of learning in the clinical workplace, such as the role of confidence and the balance between supervision and independence. © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

This article aims to clarify some of our pre-conceived assumptions when we address issues of learning in practice. It argues that we need to develop an understanding of practice based on its own premises. For this purpose the German philosopher Martin Heidegger's (1889-1976) understanding of practice and learning is introduced. Heidegger emphasises the use of equipment as crucial for a practical understanding. This perspective is contrasted with an intellectualistic approach to learning in practice exemplified by the work of Donald Schön. Heidegger and Schön's perspectives on learning in practice are evaluated and discussed throughout the article. Examples from studies of apprenticeship are used to illustrate Heidegger's comprehension of learning in practice. Especially learning through the use of tools and equipment, learning in context, learning as a consequence of making mistakes and learning as a matter of developing a sense of familiarity are types of learning emphasised in this article.

The TLRP project reported on in this article attempts to understand how the learning and Skills sector functions. It traces how education and training policy percolates down through many levels in the English system and how these levels interact, or fail to interact. The authors first focus upon how policy impacts upon the interests of three groups of learners: unemployed people in adult and community learning centres, adult employees in work-based learning and younger learners on Level 1 and Level 2 courses in further education. They focus next upon how professionals in these three settings struggle to cope with two sets of pressures upon them: those exerted by government and a broader set of professional, institutional and local factors. They describe in particular how managers and tutors mediate national policy and translate it (and sometimes mistranslate it) into local plans and practices. Finally, the authors criticise the new government model of public service reform for failing to harness the knowledge, good will and energy of staff working in the sector, and for ignoring what constitutes the main finding of the research: the central importance of the relationship between tutor and students.

As e-learning and technologies advanced significantly, practitioners and academics must find new ways to make the most of this rapid development. In the past, research development in this area was mainly focused solely on technological aspects and more recently, on e-leaming and technologies for individualized learning. Much work has been done in this area to enhance e-learning systems. In this research, we proposed that an ecological and holistic approach is required for an improved learning environment. To do this, the concept of ecosystem will be explained, followed by a rationalization of this application to learning and e-learning. A definition to learning ecosystem (LES) is provided and this generalized definition is further applied to the e-learning ecosystem (ELES). Hereafter an identification and examination of the e-learning ecosystem will be presented in detail. Finally, an application of the e-learning ecosystem in small-and-medium sized organisations (SMEs) will be discussed. Prior to this, an overview on the usage of e-learning in SMEs will also be given. We conclude by highlighting the need to emphasize on the ecological and holistic approach for the development of more effective learning environments. © 2007 IEEE.

This article addresses the challenges that Garnett suggests face higher education through the lens of Bourdieu. In taking up the challenge set by Garnett for higher education in the knowledge economy and responding to its powerful and primary artefact - intellectual capital - the article reviews and uses the analytical tool of Bourdieu's practice in the context of work-based learning in higher education. The article suggests that the rivalry between the fields of higher education and employment weakens both in their attempt to appropriate values in a social field where intellectual capital is the main form of exchangeable capital. [U]niversity professors are situated rather on the side of the subordinate pole of the field of power and are clearly opposed in this respect to the managers of industry and business. (Bourdieu, 1988, p. 36).