While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice... more While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice on the Geomatics honours Bachelor of Science degree programme at the Department of Spatial Information Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Ireland, few attempts have been made to date to harness technological developments and merge them with new approaches to teaching. However, the recent conceptual change in authoring and usage of the World Wide Web from relatively static to fully interactive (Read-Write Web) provided an opportunity to embrace a change in technology as a means of modifying teaching practice to create a more student-centred environment. This paper describes a project currently running at the DIT, with 2nd year students on the aforementioned four-year honours degree programme in Geomatics, where the students are required to use Web 2.0 sites for social bookmarking (www.delicious.com) and wiki creation (www.pbwiki.com) to enable collaborative research and writing, in the context of a module on introductory level remote sensing. No prior knowledge of wikis or social bookmarking sites is expected and instruction in the usage of these tools is an integral part of the task. The students have been divided into small groups of four or five, given specific and independent tasks to accomplish, and given full autonomy in how elements of the task were subdivided. This particular arrangement has resulted in the emergence of a number of interesting organisational strategies within the groups, the practical details of which will be discussed during this paper. Through appropriate weighting of this task within the overall module students have been given the opportunity to become accustomed to the new form of teaching and learning, with its potential for confusion or misinterpretation caused by unfamiliarity, without needing to worry about potentially significant assessment penalties. The usage of online sites, which are accessible to the students only through unique logins or identifiers, has made individual assessment within groups significantly easier and more successful than was previously possible. Initial student feedback has been very positive, indicating that this method of learning is seen as interesting, challenging and effective, and that it is very fair in ensuring that non-contributing group members are not carried; a matter which is of significant concern to many hard-working students.
Airborne laser scanning is a fast, cost-effective technique for the acquisition of 2.5D data, mai... more Airborne laser scanning is a fast, cost-effective technique for the acquisition of 2.5D data, mainly for use in topographic and mapping operations. In recent years, however, the range of applications in which laser scanning can be used has greatly broadened and this has made higher data quality a necessity.
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote …, Jan 1, 2000
For certain applications irregularly distributed scanning laser altimeter data need to be rasteri... more For certain applications irregularly distributed scanning laser altimeter data need to be rasterised -such as for use in GIS systems and for creating DEMs. Also, least squares matching on a raster grid can enable the measurement of planimetric and height shifts between overlapping strips of laser data. The shifts are a manifestation of errors in the laser altimeter, most of which are caused by the positioning elements of the system (GPS and/or INS). These translations form the input into a block adjustment to correct for relative and absolute errors. Here a discussion of the issues related to deriving a regular grid of 2.5D points from the original data is presented, with particular reference to the interpolation method, grid size, and quantisation level. An interpolation method based on a TIN of the original points with a grid size that relates as closely as possible to the point density at acquisition is found to give the best results. 8-bit quantisation is found to be sufficient for height differences of up to 100m.
The growing spatial information needs of society, the rapid development of new surveying technolo... more The growing spatial information needs of society, the rapid development of new surveying technologies, and the global demand for appropriately qualified surveyors, have triggered a radical re-evaluation of Geomatics education in Europe. Although significant enhancements to DIT's educational programmes have been made during the last decade, the provision of new opportunities for learners and innovative changes to existing paradigms of training and education are required. This paper addresses some of the issues confronting educators in DIT, and presents some of the strategies for their enhancement and implementation.
While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice... more While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice on the Geomatics honours Bachelor of Science degree programme at the Department of Spatial Information Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Ireland, few attempts have been made to date to harness technological developments and merge them with new approaches to teaching. However, the recent conceptual change in authoring and usage of the World Wide Web from relatively static to fully interactive (Read-Write Web) provided an opportunity to embrace a change in technology as a means of modifying teaching practice to create a more student-centred environment. This paper describes a project currently running at the DIT, with 2nd year students on the aforementioned four-year honours degree programme in Geomatics, where the students are required to use Web 2.0 sites for social bookmarking (www.delicious.com) and wiki creation (www.pbwiki.com) to enable collaborative research and writing, in the context of a module on introductory level remote sensing. No prior knowledge of wikis or social bookmarking sites is expected and instruction in the usage of these tools is an integral part of the task. The students have been divided into small groups of four or five, given specific and independent tasks to accomplish, and given full autonomy in how elements of the task were subdivided. This particular arrangement has resulted in the emergence of a number of interesting organisational strategies within the groups, the practical details of which will be discussed during this paper. Through appropriate weighting of this task within the overall module students have been given the opportunity to become accustomed to the new form of teaching and learning, with its potential for confusion or misinterpretation caused by unfamiliarity, without needing to worry about potentially significant assessment penalties. The usage of online sites, which are accessible to the students only through unique logins or identifiers, has made individual assessment within groups significantly easier and more successful than was previously possible. Initial student feedback has been very positive, indicating that this method of learning is seen as interesting, challenging and effective, and that it is very fair in ensuring that non-contributing group members are not carried; a matter which is of significant concern to many hard-working students.
Imaging synthetic aperture radar polarimetry is one of the most exciting recent developments in h... more Imaging synthetic aperture radar polarimetry is one of the most exciting recent developments in high resolution remote sensing. This paper outlines the usage of this technique with reference to forest mapping and management. The methodology will be outlined and a description will be made of an application using airborne polarimetric SAR data from a Swedish coniferous forest. Results from this study are presented.
In line with increasing global efforts to improve the first year experience of 3rd level educatio... more In line with increasing global efforts to improve the first year experience of 3rd level education Dublin
The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which detailed empirical analysis of the metrol... more The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which detailed empirical analysis of the metrology and proportional systems used in the design of Irish ecclesiastical architecture can be analysed to provide historical information not otherwise available. Focussing on a relatively limited sample of window tracery designs as a case study, it will first set out to establish what, if any, systems were in use, and then what light these might shed on the background, training and work practices of the masons, and, by association, the patrons responsible for employing them.
While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice... more While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice on the Geomatics honours Bachelor of Science degree programme at the Department of Spatial Information Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Ireland, few attempts have been made to date to harness technological developments and merge them with new approaches to teaching. However, the recent conceptual change in authoring and usage of the World Wide Web from relatively static to fully interactive (Read-Write Web) provided an opportunity to embrace a change in technology as a means of modifying teaching practice to create a more student-centred environment. This paper describes a project currently running at the DIT, with 2nd year students on the aforementioned four-year honours degree programme in Geomatics, where the students are required to use Web 2.0 sites for social bookmarking (www.delicious.com) and wiki creation (www.pbwiki.com) to enable collaborative research and writing, in the context of a module on introductory level remote sensing. No prior knowledge of wikis or social bookmarking sites is expected and instruction in the usage of these tools is an integral part of the task. The students have been divided into small groups of four or five, given specific and independent tasks to accomplish, and given full autonomy in how elements of the task were subdivided. This particular arrangement has resulted in the emergence of a number of interesting organisational strategies within the groups, the practical details of which will be discussed during this paper. Through appropriate weighting of this task within the overall module students have been given the opportunity to become accustomed to the new form of teaching and learning, with its potential for confusion or misinterpretation caused by unfamiliarity, without needing to worry about potentially significant assessment penalties. The usage of online sites, which are accessible to the students only through unique logins or identifiers, has made individual assessment within groups significantly easier and more successful than was previously possible. Initial student feedback has been very positive, indicating that this method of learning is seen as interesting, challenging and effective, and that it is very fair in ensuring that non-contributing group members are not carried; a matter which is of significant concern to many hard-working students.
Airborne laser scanning is a fast, cost-effective technique for the acquisition of 2.5D data, mai... more Airborne laser scanning is a fast, cost-effective technique for the acquisition of 2.5D data, mainly for use in topographic and mapping operations. In recent years, however, the range of applications in which laser scanning can be used has greatly broadened and this has made higher data quality a necessity.
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote …, Jan 1, 2000
For certain applications irregularly distributed scanning laser altimeter data need to be rasteri... more For certain applications irregularly distributed scanning laser altimeter data need to be rasterised -such as for use in GIS systems and for creating DEMs. Also, least squares matching on a raster grid can enable the measurement of planimetric and height shifts between overlapping strips of laser data. The shifts are a manifestation of errors in the laser altimeter, most of which are caused by the positioning elements of the system (GPS and/or INS). These translations form the input into a block adjustment to correct for relative and absolute errors. Here a discussion of the issues related to deriving a regular grid of 2.5D points from the original data is presented, with particular reference to the interpolation method, grid size, and quantisation level. An interpolation method based on a TIN of the original points with a grid size that relates as closely as possible to the point density at acquisition is found to give the best results. 8-bit quantisation is found to be sufficient for height differences of up to 100m.
The growing spatial information needs of society, the rapid development of new surveying technolo... more The growing spatial information needs of society, the rapid development of new surveying technologies, and the global demand for appropriately qualified surveyors, have triggered a radical re-evaluation of Geomatics education in Europe. Although significant enhancements to DIT's educational programmes have been made during the last decade, the provision of new opportunities for learners and innovative changes to existing paradigms of training and education are required. This paper addresses some of the issues confronting educators in DIT, and presents some of the strategies for their enhancement and implementation.
While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice... more While innovations such as Problem-Based Learning and elearning have informed pedagogical practice on the Geomatics honours Bachelor of Science degree programme at the Department of Spatial Information Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Ireland, few attempts have been made to date to harness technological developments and merge them with new approaches to teaching. However, the recent conceptual change in authoring and usage of the World Wide Web from relatively static to fully interactive (Read-Write Web) provided an opportunity to embrace a change in technology as a means of modifying teaching practice to create a more student-centred environment. This paper describes a project currently running at the DIT, with 2nd year students on the aforementioned four-year honours degree programme in Geomatics, where the students are required to use Web 2.0 sites for social bookmarking (www.delicious.com) and wiki creation (www.pbwiki.com) to enable collaborative research and writing, in the context of a module on introductory level remote sensing. No prior knowledge of wikis or social bookmarking sites is expected and instruction in the usage of these tools is an integral part of the task. The students have been divided into small groups of four or five, given specific and independent tasks to accomplish, and given full autonomy in how elements of the task were subdivided. This particular arrangement has resulted in the emergence of a number of interesting organisational strategies within the groups, the practical details of which will be discussed during this paper. Through appropriate weighting of this task within the overall module students have been given the opportunity to become accustomed to the new form of teaching and learning, with its potential for confusion or misinterpretation caused by unfamiliarity, without needing to worry about potentially significant assessment penalties. The usage of online sites, which are accessible to the students only through unique logins or identifiers, has made individual assessment within groups significantly easier and more successful than was previously possible. Initial student feedback has been very positive, indicating that this method of learning is seen as interesting, challenging and effective, and that it is very fair in ensuring that non-contributing group members are not carried; a matter which is of significant concern to many hard-working students.
Imaging synthetic aperture radar polarimetry is one of the most exciting recent developments in h... more Imaging synthetic aperture radar polarimetry is one of the most exciting recent developments in high resolution remote sensing. This paper outlines the usage of this technique with reference to forest mapping and management. The methodology will be outlined and a description will be made of an application using airborne polarimetric SAR data from a Swedish coniferous forest. Results from this study are presented.
In line with increasing global efforts to improve the first year experience of 3rd level educatio... more In line with increasing global efforts to improve the first year experience of 3rd level education Dublin
The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which detailed empirical analysis of the metrol... more The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which detailed empirical analysis of the metrology and proportional systems used in the design of Irish ecclesiastical architecture can be analysed to provide historical information not otherwise available. Focussing on a relatively limited sample of window tracery designs as a case study, it will first set out to establish what, if any, systems were in use, and then what light these might shed on the background, training and work practices of the masons, and, by association, the patrons responsible for employing them.
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Papers by Avril Behan