A. Hernández, Ch. Pinto, J. Albizuri and O. Altuzarra
This paper focuses on the study of finite element (FE) analysis reliability of non‐linear planar structural problems (large strains and plasticity). In this first part, some error…
Abstract
This paper focuses on the study of finite element (FE) analysis reliability of non‐linear planar structural problems (large strains and plasticity). In this first part, some error estimators of the flux projection type have been developed over the strain power density concept. Spatial, temporal and global error estimators are proposed. From this point, the authors analyse the behaviour of different discretization error components as a function of parameters such as load step or the number of degrees of freedom of the FE model. In the second part of this work, several properties of these estimators are checked with the application to some numerical examples.
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Ch. Pinto, R. Avilés, J. Albizuri and A. Hernández
In this second part of the paper, some properties of the discretization error estimators are presented, although their theoretical background was already developed in the first…
Abstract
In this second part of the paper, some properties of the discretization error estimators are presented, although their theoretical background was already developed in the first part. Two numerical examples have been selected and will be used to check some properties of these error estimators. In addition to this, some practical conclusions will be addressed from the results and graphical output of the implemented procedure.
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A. Hernández, J. Albizuri, M.B.G. Ajuria and M.V. Hormaza
Proposes an automatic adaptive meshing scheme. Error in strain energy is directly obtained through strain energy density function (SED). Versatility of this function, in…
Abstract
Proposes an automatic adaptive meshing scheme. Error in strain energy is directly obtained through strain energy density function (SED). Versatility of this function, in comparison with that of others, is looked at in detail. Mesh enrichment method consists of a series of h‐refinement steps and concludes with a single p‐refinement step. Adds that an examination of the accuracy of the element used in the refinement procedure is made. This scheme has been implemented in ZATILAN, a FE code developed in the Department of the Mechanical Engineering of the University of the Basque Country.
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A. Hernández, J. Albizuri, R. Avilés and E. Amezua
The present paper proposes a procedure for the resolution of non‐linear structural problems. It includes a study of the reliability of the results and the adaptive meshing. The…
Abstract
The present paper proposes a procedure for the resolution of non‐linear structural problems. It includes a study of the reliability of the results and the adaptive meshing. The iterative phase of the solution of the equilibrium equations entails an adaptive strategy for updating the tangent stiffness matrix, with a control of the load step. This results in a higher rate of convergence for the iterative process. The mechanical deformation processes here considered may give rise to considerable geometric distortion in the finite elements of the mesh. If they do, the consequence will be not only that the FE analysis fails to yield precise results, but also, owing to problems deriving from the numerical ill‐conditioning, that continuation may be impractical. To facilitate the study of these results, we developed an error estimator of the flux projection type, which is based on the mechanical deformation power. It is also used as a refinement criterion for the FE mesh. Distorted meshes can be fully or partially submitted to a process of regularization based on the aspect ratio of their elements. The mesh contour may be affected by the refinement and regularization processes, for which reason we developed a procedure for its updating. This procedure is of more importance in the case of contact problems, its primary object being to avoid interpenetration. The work was done in the ZATILAN code, developed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of the Basque Country.
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Soheil Mohajerani, Duruo Huang, Gang Wang, Seyed-Mohammad Esmaeil Jalali and Seyed Rahman Torabi
This study aims to develop an efficient algorithm for generation of conforming mesh for seepage analysis through 3D discrete fracture networks (DFN).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop an efficient algorithm for generation of conforming mesh for seepage analysis through 3D discrete fracture networks (DFN).
Design/methodology/approach
The algorithm is developed based on a refined conforming Delaunay triangulation scheme, which is then validated using analytical solutions. The algorithm is well able to meet the challenge of meshing complex geometry of DFNs.
Findings
A series of sensitivity analysis have been performed to evaluate the effect of meshing parameters on steady state solution of Darcy flow using a finite element scheme. The results show that an optimized minimum internal angle of meshing elements should be predetermined to guarantee termination of the algorithm.
Originality/value
The developed algorithm is computationally efficient, fast and is of low cost. Furthermore, it never changes the geometrical structure and connectivity pattern of the DFN.
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Olga Khokhotva and Iciar Elexpuru Albizuri
The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from a case study of an action research project in the context of a secondary school in Kazakhstan where, for the first time in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from a case study of an action research project in the context of a secondary school in Kazakhstan where, for the first time in their teaching practice, three English as a Foreign Language teachers introduced student voice (Flutter and Rudduck, 2004) into their practice within the Lesson Study (LS) framework. The research aimed at conceptualizing Student Voice Space in LS as one of the valuable factors capable of triggering situations of disjuncture (disorienting dilemma, disruption) for teachers which could potentially lead to teacher’s transformative learning, educational beliefs change and improved practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts the qualitative research design and follows narrative inquiry methodology (Lyons and LaBoskey, 2002) with a series of narrative interviews (Bauer, 1996) as the main method of data collection within a single case study (Bassey, 1999) of an action research project. The data were analyzed as text following a general inductive approach (Thomas, 2003) where emerging themes were identified by means of data reduction.
Findings
The findings suggest that listening to student voice triggers teachers’ going through certain stages of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory including critical assessment of own assumptions, testing new options for behavior and reflecting critically on the teaching practice. Therefore, the authors suggest that Student Voice Space in LS is one of the important factors capable of triggering the teacher’s transformative learning. Moreover, it has an enormous potential not only to bring about positive changes in teachers’ practice but also challenge the ossified teachers’ educational beliefs, and thus, potentially, pave the way for a gradual change from “inappropriate beliefs” (Mayrhofer, 2019), or subconscious assumptions that lie in the core of teachers’ folk pedagogies (Torff, 1999), or taken-for-granted frames of reference (Mezirow, 2000) into true, justified or informed educational beliefs.
Research limitations/implications
Further analysis of teachers’ narratives is required to elicit and categorize reported changes (shifts, transformations) concerning specific teachers’ educational beliefs, and draw a more clear line between student voice and its impact on the research lesson planning and its modification in LS. Finally, a supplementary study utilizing classroom observation methods is needed to explore if student voice intervention results in tangible (actual) changes in teachers’ classroom practice and educational beliefs, rather than potential transformations that are mainly reported in this study.
Originality/value
Carried out in the largely overlooked by the academic literature context of the Reform at Scale (Wilson et al., 2013) in Kazakhstan and building on the original combination of theoretical lenses, the research contributes to the academic literature aiming at illuminating “the black box of teachers’ learning” in Lesson Study (in Widjaja et al., 2017, p.358) since it is one of the rare studies attempting to connect teacher learning, student voice and Lesson Study (Warwick et al., 2019). Additionally, approaching teacher learning in Lesson Study from the transformative learning perspective combined with the literature on teachers’ educational beliefs and student voice, this study contributes to the further development of a shared vocabulary for discussing teacher learning in Lesson Study.
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Olga Khokhotva and Iciar Elexpuru Albizuri
The study aims at exploring the perspective of three English as a Foreign Language teachers after their year-long involvement in the Lesson Study project in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims at exploring the perspective of three English as a Foreign Language teachers after their year-long involvement in the Lesson Study project in the context of Kazakhstan in order to capture and list any perceived changes in teachers’ educational beliefs over the period of the Lesson Study intervention. The main argument of the study suggests that the school-based Lesson Study initiative is conducive to triggering changes in teachers’ educational beliefs, and thus, might lead to positive changes in school culture in Kazakhstani schools. Shaped following Hill et al., (1982) in Swales, 1990 hour-glass model of a research project (Swales, 1990), the article reflects the third concluding part of the Ph.D. thesis focusing on the implementation of the Lesson Study methodology in Kazakhstan.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts the qualitative research design and follows the narrative inquiry methodology. The three narrative interviews (Bauer, 1996) are utilized as the main method of data collection. The data were analyzed as text following a general inductive approach (Thomas, 2003), where emerging themes were identified employing data reduction and further sub-categorized through the conceptual and theoretical lenses of the study. The emerged categories reflecting the perceived shifts in teachers’ educational beliefs were dialectically linked to implications for school culture in Kazakhstani schools.
Findings
As data suggest, the respondents’ active engagement in the Lesson Study professional learning community and exercising leadership through implementing changes in their classroom practice has made a positive impact on teachers’ rethinking their teaching practice, attitudes to students and their learning, collegiality, and professional self-identification. We conclude that, if organized properly, Lesson Study has enormous potential to facilitate changes of teachers’ educational beliefs: from direct transmission beliefs toward constructivist beliefs, from restricted professionals’ beliefs toward reflective practitioner beliefs and attitudes, toward beliefs in the power of student’s voice, and collaboration. Those shifts are linked to establishing a more positive, child-friendly and rights-based school culture with teachers’ shared visions and capacity for innovation.
Research limitations/implications
We acknowledge that the abundance of the reported positive changes or perceived shifts in teachers’ thinking might not be the indicators of actual changes in their beliefs. We emphasize that the study was carried in a controlled context, i.e. the three ELF teachers were constantly supported, and the teacher talk was systematically guided by a trained facilitator. Warned by Giroux et al. (1999), we are aware of the major challenge of the fundamental assumption of critical pedagogy that teachers are willing and able to undertake “the practice of analyzing their practice” (p. 27) voluntarily. Thus, the question remains open: if the facilitator’s support is eliminated, will the results point to the occurrence of the disruption and disorientation as a necessary condition for the beliefs change?
Originality/value
Carried out in the largely overlooked by the academic literature context of the Reform at Scale (Wilson et al., 2013) in Kazakhstan and building on the original combination of conceptual and theoretical lenses, the research contributes to the academic literature by connecting teachers’ educational beliefs, Lesson Study and school culture. The findings might be of value for the school leaders, educators, teacher trainers, and policymakers to advocate Lesson Study as a systematic approach to the whole-school improvement, as a tool to facilitate positive changes in school culture, as well as give impetus to studies employing the school culture perspective in developing Lesson Study impact evaluation tools.
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Edgar Muñiz-Avila, Geraldina Silveyra-Leon and Laura Alheli Segarra-Perez
It is well known that entrepreneurship is a complex phenomenon, which takes place under great uncertainty. Much of the existing research that explores the venture creation process…
Abstract
It is well known that entrepreneurship is a complex phenomenon, which takes place under great uncertainty. Much of the existing research that explores the venture creation process has assumed a linear, unitary process. The proposal presented in this chapter involves the venture creation process viewed as an iterative, non-linear, feedback-driven system called the Startup Path – a framework that brings together the entrepreneur as an individual, with its journey on the venture creation process.
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Luana Ferreira-Lopes, Iciar Elexpuru-Albizuri and María José Bezanilla
Allowing for interaction with foreign cultures without the need to travel, intercultural virtual collaboration represents a potential tool to develop business students’…
Abstract
Purpose
Allowing for interaction with foreign cultures without the need to travel, intercultural virtual collaboration represents a potential tool to develop business students’ intercultural competence. This study aims to explore students’ perceptions towards the implementation of a research-based task sequence in a project in which undergraduate Business students from Spain collaborated virtually with undergraduate business students from The Netherlands during a semester. More specifically, this paper investigates what intercultural competence indicators were mostly developed by the sequence implemented; how much each task from the sequence in question developed different intercultural competence indicators; and how much students enjoyed participating in each task.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through after-task reflection questionnaires. A quantitative analysis of Likert-type questions was carried out and open-ended responses were used to illustrate findings.
Findings
Results reveal that the task sequence developed different dimensions of students’ intercultural competence and, particularly, fostered a positive attitude towards intercultural relationships, increased students’ cultural knowledge and awareness and equipped students with skills to work in diverse teams. It also showed that as complexity grew along the sequence, the average students’ perception of their intercultural competence development tended to decrease. The majority of students’ very much liked participating in the different tasks.
Originality/value
Designing telecollaborative projects can be very challenging and understanding the learning potential of different pedagogical strategies for virtual collaborative environments can help teachers to take better-informed decisions.
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Olga Khokhotva and Iciar Elexpuru-Albizuri
The paper describes two reflective instruments: a reflective diary (RD) and a joint learning protocol (JLP) for teachers' knowledge creation in lesson study (LS), reflects on…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper describes two reflective instruments: a reflective diary (RD) and a joint learning protocol (JLP) for teachers' knowledge creation in lesson study (LS), reflects on teachers' reactions and encountered challenges and draws inferences on how teachers' learning and knowledge creation could be facilitated more effectively in LS through “learning keeping.”
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative case study of an action research project utilizes the data collected through the narrative inquiry within an LS initiative with four English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in a school in Spain.
Findings
The study suggests that the incorporation of reflective writing in LS as a method of keeping records of teachers' individual and collective reflections should be considered “a good practice” and yet another important mechanism facilitating teachers' learning in LS.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited by its scope since the applied LS model suggests carrying out three consecutive cycles rather than two.
Originality/value
Firstly, the two proposed instruments could be of practical value to educators and facilitators employing LS as an approach to teachers' professional learning. Secondly, the study adds to the discussion on the mechanisms fostering teachers' learning in LS by emphasizing “learning keeping” as a form of record-keeping through reflective writing. Thirdly, the study is set in the new for the LS community context, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, Spain.