Peter M. Ostafichuk

Calculating the ecological impacts of animal‐borne instruments on aquatic organisms

Summary 1. Animal-borne instruments provide researchers with valuable data to address important questions on wildlife ecology and conservation. However, these devices have known impacts on animal behaviour and energetics. Tags deployed on migrating animals may reduce reproductive output through increased energy demands or cause phenological mismatches of foraging and nesting events. For marine organisms, the only tagging guidelines that exist are based on lift and thrust impacts on birds – concepts that do not translate well to aquatic animals. Herein, we provide guidelines on assessing drag from animal-borne instruments and discuss the ecological impacts on marine organisms. Of particular concern is the effect of drag from instruments to the welfare of the animals and for the applicability of collected data to wild populations. 2. To help understand how drag from electronic tags affects marine animals in the wild, we used marine turtles as model aquatic organisms and conducted wind tunnel experiments to measure the fluid drag of various marine turtle body types with and without commercially available electronic tags (e.g. satellite, TDR, video cameras). We quantified the drag associated with carrying biotelemetry devices of varying frontal area and design (squared or tear drop shaped) and generated contour plots depicting percentage drag increase as a framework for evaluating tag drag by scientists and wildlife managers. Then, using concepts of fluid dynamics, we derived a universal equation estimating drag impacts from instruments across marine taxa. 3. The drag of the marine turtle casts was measured in wind speeds from 2 to 30 m s 1 (Re 30 9 10 4 – 19 9 10 6 ), equivalent to 01–1 9ms 1 in seawater. The drag coefficient (CD) of the marine turtles ranged from 011 to 022, which is typical of other large, air-breathing, marine vertebrates (008–026). The CD of tags in reference to the turtle casts was 091 018 and most tags caused minimal additional drag ( 100%). The sensitivity of aquatic animals to instrument drag is a dynamic relationship between the fluid flow patterns, or CD, and the frontal area ratio of the animal and tag. 4. In this paper, we have outlined methods for quantifying the drag costs from animal-borne instrumentation considering the instrument retention time (time to release from the animal) and the activity of the instrumented animal. With this valuable tool, researchers can quantify the drag costs from animal-borne instrumentation and choose appropriate tags for their intended study organism and question. Reducing drag will ultimately reduce the impact on the instrumented animals and lead to greater biological realism in the collected data.

Embedding Sustainability Principles into Engineering Education

Because sustainability learning is necessarily situated in local culture and “place,” engaging key communities-of-interest in planning and deployment is foundational to sustainability effort. Recently, the University Sustainability Initiative (USI), at the University of British Columbia (UBC), employed engagement techniques that reached out across the university campus to develop generic descriptions of sustainability attributes of graduating students, which propose that UBC students within all disciplines strive to develop four attributes in preparation for facing today’s challenges (i.e., holism, sustainability knowledge, awareness & integration, and acting for positive change) (USI 2015a). The USI recognizes, “that in order to find creative solutions to the ecological, economic and social challenges of our time, we must explore, advance and apply our understanding of sustainability” (USI 2015b). This paper reports on a second set of engagement processes focused on developing the first stage of Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) degree-level learning outcomes that, in turn, aim to guide course redevelopment within the engineering programs. We start by presenting examples of sustainability learning opportunities offered in undergraduate programs elsewhere in North America. Most of these opportunities involve adding several courses to an already course-heavy degree. At several schools there is an option to complete a “certificate program” encompassing a few extra courses, but these certificate programs are not necessarily directed at engineering students. We then describe UBC Applied Science Faculty engagement activities, aimed at measuring the interest of administrators, faculty members, staff, and students regarding incorporating sustainability learning opportunities within the common first year curriculum. We next relate informal first year student survey responses to the literature and we outline recommendations for advancing the development of sustainability learning within the first year curriculum.

A low interaction two-axis wind tunnel force balance designed for large off-axis loads

A novel two-axis wind tunnel force balance using air bushings for off-axis load compensation has been developed. The design offers a compact, robust, and versatile option for precisely measuring horizontal force components irrespective of vertical and moment loads. Two independent stages of cylindrical bushings support large moments and vertical force; there is low interaction due to the minimal friction along the horizontal measurement axes. The current design measures drag and side forces up to 70 N and can safely operate in the presence of vertical loads as large as 2200 N and moment loads up to 425, 750, and 425 N m in roll, pitch, and yaw, respectively. Eleven drag axis calibration trials were conducted with a variety of applied vertical forces and pitching moments. The individual linear calibration slopes for the trials agreed to within 0.18% and the largest residual from all calibrations was 0.38% of full scale. As the residuals were found to obey a normal distribution, with 99% certainty the expected drag resolution of the device is better than 0.30% of full scale, independent of off-axis loads.

Using Team-Based Learning to Improve Learning and the Student Experience in a Mechanical Design Course

In 2008, a design course on mechanical components (MECH 325) at the University of British Columbia was converted from a conventional lecture-based format to a team-based learning (TBL) format. The MECH 325 course is content-rich and covers the characteristics, uses, selection, and sizing of common mechanical components (including gears, flexible drives, bearings, and so on). With the shift in course format to TBL, student performance on exams as well as responses to teaching evaluations and course surveys all indicate an improvement in the students’ perception of the course and student learning. Specifically, performance on multiple choice exam questions from different years (remaining similar in both style and difficulty) increased by 17%. Likewise, on official University teaching evaluations over a five-year period, students rated the TBL version of the course as having a reduced workload, seeming less advanced, seeming more relevant, and being more interesting. On informal course surveys, 76% of students on average indicated they felt the various elements of TBL were effective towards the course aims. Finally, from instructor observations, the shift to TBL has resulted in increased student engagement and collaboration, and an increased emphasis on higher-level learning, such as application, synthesis, and judgment.Copyright

Measurement of Three-Dimensional Unsteady Flows Using an Inexpensive Multiple Disk Probe

Abstract A novel velocimeter consisting of multiple orthogonal disks fitted with pressure transducers has been developed. In such a velocimeter the pressure difference is measured between the center of each disk face and the center of its other face for each of the three orthogonal disks. The three components of fluid velocity can be deduced from the three measured pressure differences. While previously developed anemometers based on dynamic pressure differences (such as yawhead or five-hole probes) can only measure velocities with a small range of directions, the new disk probe can measure three components of velocity, even in highly three-dimensional flows where the approximate direction of the flow is not known. Previous work demonstrated that in steady flows the device could measure velocities to ±1.4% and angles to ±4°. In the present work, involving both field trials and wind tunnel tests, it is shown that the disk probe can measure three-dimensional unsteady flows with accuracy suitable for many me...

POWER OF PEERS: EXPERIENCES USING AN ONLINE PEER ASSESSMENT TOOL TO GRADE STUDENT WORK

This paper explores the implementation, outcomes, and student perceptions of the use of an online tool for anonymous peer assessment of student work. Peer assessment, where one student assesses the work of another, provides an opportunity for important skill development, as well as a fully-scalable strategy for rich, timely, and frequent feedback. In first and third year engineering courses at the University of British Columbia, we have begun using an online peer assessment tool (peerScholar). The tool divides the peer assessment process into three phases: a creation phase where the work is written or uploaded, an assessment phase where students are randomly assigned to assess the work of a set number of their peers, and a review phase where students review the feedback they received, with options to revise their work or assess the quality of feedback received. We have successfully used this tool in two large (n = 750) classes and one moderate-sized (n = 130) class, with a wide range of different types of student work, including letters, technical memoranda, detailed design reports, and video presentations. Through surveys, student feedback with the tool and the process has been positive. Students at both year levels overwhelmingly recognize the importance of peer assessment—over 90% identified it as an essential skill for an engineer, and over 85% felt opportunities for peer assessment should be embedded in the curriculum. Both groups indicate that they felt the process of reviewing others’ work was beneficial for their own understanding of the material; however, first year students were more likely than third year students to put more effort into their work knowing it would be peer assessed, and that they found the content of the feedback received more helpful to their learning. Student acceptance has been good. In a third year mechanical design course, three different design assignments were independently assessed by students using peerScholar and by teaching assistants. The outcomes across all measures were encouraging: for each assignment, the students and teaching assistants had similar mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum values, as well as reasonable correlation (r = 0.5 overall). Overall, we consider the adoption of peerScholar a success. Students have been receptive, challenges have been minor, and feedback is more detailed and frequent.

A MODEL TO DEVELOP PEER FEEDBACK SKILLS IN FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

Giving and receiving feedback is a necessary, but often difficult skill for young engineers to acquire. We developed and piloted the delivery of a feedback model as part of the first-year engineering experience at the University of British Columbia. The approach is based on recognizing feedback as a form of professional communication, and that it requires practice to improve. We wove different aspects of communication skill development through two large newly-designed first-year introduction to engineering courses, building towards face-to-face feedback through a staged series of communication experiences. The full feedback model highlighted the nuances of faceto-face communication, and was called the “3×3”, since it includes the three components involved in face-to-face feedback (sender, message, and receiver), each with three associated aspects. The sender uses appropriate words and body language, ensures proper interpretation, and is empathetic; the message is objective and non-judgmental, sufficiently detailed, and contains suggestions for improvement; and the receiver remains open and listening, acknowledges to the sender that they are listening, and clarifies to ensure understanding. Students applied what they had learned through an activity reviewing poster presentations from a major course design project. In the activity, they each had an opportunity to craft a feedback message before delivering the message face-to-face to a peer. Students then reflected on the feedback they received by summarizing the message, recognizing how the sender delivered the feedback, and identifying why the feedback was helpful. Student reflections were analyzed for themes from the 3×3 model. Students found feedback from peers particularly helpful when it was delivered in an appropriate and courteous manner, checked for proper interpretation, provided clear suggestions for improvement, and was coupled with praise of something that was done well. Providing students with a structured model allows them to follow a process in both providing effective face-to-face feedback, but also better appreciate why receiving feedback is beneficial in helping them improve.