Maria Knutson Wedel

The role of oxygen in powder processing of FeAl

Abstract The aim of this study is to highlight the role of oxygen and oxides, present in elemental powders or formed during processing, and its effects on consolidated FeAl (40 at.% Al). The subject is tackled by a traditional powder metallurgy route. Both powder and the consolidated material have been characterised by electron microscopy for microstructure, chemical analysis of oxygen content and surface sensitive spectroscopy methods for the chemical state and oxide thickness. The material, produced by mechanical alloying and hot isostatic pressing, HIP, has a fine grained microstructure, 1–5 μm, and contains Al2O3-precipitates corresponding to 770 ppm oxygen. The milled powder is covered both by both A12O3 (80%) and Fe-oxide after air exposure. The nature and thinness of the oxide scale explain the successful use of HIP to consolidate FeAl, both with powder produced in protective argon atmosphere or after air exposure.

Activating deep approach to learning in large classes through quizzes

Large classes are challenging when designing learning activities suitable from a perspective of constructive alignment and at the same time being restricted to large class lectures due to external factors. In the present study a learning activity was desired to increase reflection and active repetition in a large class (75-100 students) of engineering students in a basic course in Materials Science and Engineering. Current repetition by lecturing was not satisfying from a learning perspective. Well known techniques such as mud cards and concept questions were not feasible, mainly for reasons of time to manage feedback or design proper concept questions. The aim of this paper is to describe a newly designed learning activity called Reflection quizzes, the process of design and also to analyse how student learning was affected. The result of the Reflection quizzes was overwhelming. The students were all actively engaged but took on different approaches; some discussed together (peer learning), some competed against each other (increasing motivation), some wanted to sit on their own using their notes (reflecting). The student survey showed that students appreciated to test themselves without it being assessed, many stated that the best was to find out why wrong was wrong and it was clear that they took on a more deep approach towards learning.

Sustainable Production Research - a Proposed Method to design the Sustainability Measures

This paper describes a process to develop and apply measures in Sustainable Production Research. Specifically we have: A) Conducted workshops with researchers and industry on sustainability measures and monitored sustainability awareness of the participants through concept maps. B) Developed a proposal for measures based on literature reviews, results from workshops and interviews with researchers. C) Developed a generic method for evaluating sustainability measures related to production over time. 16 sustainability measures were defined as a starting set for the continuous monitoring. Concept mapping showed that participant have an uneven view on sustainability with emphasis on technology.

CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT (CA) FOR DEGREE PROJECTS - INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES, TEACHING & ASSESSMENT

Degree projects (DP) are currently intensively focused in Sweden: The future national model for evaluation of higher education will place a major emphasis on the quality of degree projects as an indicator of the quality of the entire education, and their quality will influence the funding of a university. Moreover, DP:s are actively used in program development as a vehicle to develop not only in-depth subject matter knowledge but also professional skills such as planning and communication. Simultaneously, Constructive alignment (CA) is being widely applied as a general approach for improving educational quality. Potentially, CA might also contribute to improving the quality of degree projects. In this paper, we examine how CA can be applied to degree projects. We conclude that CA is indeed applicable to degree projects in the sense that intended learning outcomes as well as teaching and assessment activities can be identified and aligned. But objectives, activities and assessment are less crisp than for a course, and the perspective of objectives or criteria found in the current investigation tends to be suitable for a program manager rather than an individual teacher. If CA is to provide a similar “aha” experience for a teacher as it can do when applied to a course, the intended learning outcomes need to be specialized for the particular degree project. We further identify areas where CA for degree projects can contribute to higher quality, including: supporting the planning of professional skills development in degree projects, guiding a dialogue between teacher and student on what constitutes high/low quality of a thesis, and encouraging students to take more responsibility for their learning, by forcing them to develop contextualized learning outcomes for their project.