Search

The social adjustment process is a prominent factor in the literature on the transition to higher education (HE). This vast body of research, however, has predominantly focussed on academically oriented first-year higher education (FYHE) contexts, leaving professionally oriented programs (providing vocational education that prepares students for a particular occupation) rather underexamined. Therefore, this study set out to explore what first-year students in professional HE contexts perceive to be the most important social experiences associated with their adjustment process in the first semester of FYHE. Furthermore, this study examines the extent to which the uncovered key experiences associated with social adjustment are reported at different times. Hereto, drawing on the critical incidents technique, qualitative data were collected from 104 purposively selected freshmen, enrolled in a Flemish (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) university college which offers professional HE programs, such as social work and nursing. At the start of the second semester of FYHE, these respondents completed 'reflective logs' wherein they reflected on three critical social experiences during their first semester in HE. Firstly, a qualitative content analysis revealed that students report on five overarching themes: (1) dealing with the unknown; (2) establishing a first connection; (3) establishing a deeper connection; (4) support from peers and others; and (5) loneliness. Secondly, a quantitative analysis of code occurrence suggests that these five uncovered themes seem to be more significant at different times in the first semester of FYHE. Implications of the findings for the development of guidance and coaching initiatives are discussed.

A global description of the effect of the neck geometry on self-sustained oscillations of a grazing flow along a Helmholtz-like resonator has been given in a companion paper. Detailed flow measurements taken by means of hot-wire anemometry and numerical simulations based on the Euler equations for inviscid and two-dimensional compressible flows are now given. Vortex shedding is obtained in an inviscid flow simulation by considering a neck geometry with sharp edges at which the code predicts flow separation. Although two-dimensional flow calculations are attractive because of their computational efficiency, they are not able to represent the three-dimensional acoustical radiation from the resonator into free space without special frequency-dependent boundary condition treatments. Frequency-independent time-domain boundary conditions are considered. In view of the crudeness of this approximation, the agreement between theory and experiments is quite fair. The effects of changes in the geometry of the neck are qualitatively predicted by the model. The detailed flow information provides some insight into the influence of the shape of the upstream edge of the neck that could not be obtained from analytical models proposed in the companion paper.

We consider self-sustained oscillations of the grazing flow along the neck of a Helmholtz-like resonator. Such oscillations are driven by a coupling between the intrinsic instability of the shear layer, separating the main flow from the cavity, and the resonant acoustical field in the cavity. Depending on details of the shape of the neck, acoustical velocities through the neck of the resonator of the same order of magnitude as the main flow velocity can be reached. For particular neck geometries, whistling is suppressed. A nonlinear model, which assumes that the vorticity of the shear layer is concentrated in line vortices traveling at constant velocity, provides insight into the phenomenon. For rounded edges, the model predicts the pulsation amplitude of the first hydrodynamic mode surprisingly well but severely overestimates the amplitude of higher hydrodynamic modes. For sharp edges, a modification of the original model is proposed, which yields a reasonable prediction of the pulsation amplitude (within a factor of two) of the first hydrodynamic mode and does not overestimate higher hydrodynamic modes.

Small fission chambers manufactured by Photonis, Reuter-Stokes, CEA, and Centronic are routinely calibrated in standard neutron fields of the BR1 reactor at SCK CEN in Mol, Belgium. Two irradiation fields are available: fast spectrum in the MARK3 convertor and thermal spectrum in the Empty Cavity. In this work, for the first time the calibration procedure of larger fission chambers (Photonis CFUL01 and CFUM21 type) with the deposit length exceeding the length of the convertor is presented. Spatial energy correction factors taking into account the neutron flux shape beyond the convertor and radial gradient of the neutron flux were calculated with MCNP and experimentally validated. The combination of calibration (i.e., effective mass measurement) in fast and thermal irradiation fields allows for determination of the purity of 238U deposit. This is demonstrated on three CFUL01-type fission chambers with purity between 99.8% and 99.998%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note illuminates the ascent of so-called “learning pods”, a concept and phenomenon with close connections to civil society that rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic. We begin by characterizing and positioning learning pods in the diverse U.S. K-12 educational landscape. Next, participation in, and intent to form/join, learning pods are depicted by reporting on secondary data from a population poll among a national sample of U.S. adults since the start of the 2020 academic school year to December 2021. The second half of the research note discusses how learning pods can help garner useful insights to existing nonprofit research and theory.