6,558 research outputs found
Machine learning in solar physics
The application of machine learning in solar physics has the potential to
greatly enhance our understanding of the complex processes that take place in
the atmosphere of the Sun. By using techniques such as deep learning, we are
now in the position to analyze large amounts of data from solar observations
and identify patterns and trends that may not have been apparent using
traditional methods. This can help us improve our understanding of explosive
events like solar flares, which can have a strong effect on the Earth
environment. Predicting hazardous events on Earth becomes crucial for our
technological society. Machine learning can also improve our understanding of
the inner workings of the sun itself by allowing us to go deeper into the data
and to propose more complex models to explain them. Additionally, the use of
machine learning can help to automate the analysis of solar data, reducing the
need for manual labor and increasing the efficiency of research in this field.Comment: 100 pages, 13 figures, 286 references, accepted for publication as a
Living Review in Solar Physics (LRSP
Endogenous measures for contextualising large-scale social phenomena: a corpus-based method for mediated public discourse
This work presents an interdisciplinary methodology for developing endogenous measures of group membership through analysis of pervasive linguistic patterns in public discourse. Focusing on political discourse, this work critiques the conventional approach to the study of political participation, which is premised on decontextualised, exogenous measures to characterise groups. Considering the theoretical and empirical weaknesses of decontextualised approaches to large-scale social phenomena, this work suggests that contextualisation using endogenous measures might provide a complementary perspective to mitigate such weaknesses.
This work develops a sociomaterial perspective on political participation in mediated discourse as affiliatory action performed through language. While the affiliatory function of language is often performed consciously (such as statements of identity), this work is concerned with unconscious features (such as patterns in lexis and grammar). This work argues that pervasive patterns in such features that emerge through socialisation are resistant to change and manipulation, and thus might serve as endogenous measures of sociopolitical contexts, and thus of groups.
In terms of method, the work takes a corpus-based approach to the analysis of data from the Twitter messaging service whereby patterns in usersâ speech are examined statistically in order to trace potential community membership. The method is applied in the US state of Michigan during the second half of 2018â6 November having been the date of midterm (i.e. non-Presidential) elections in the United States. The corpus is assembled from the original posts of 5,889 users, who are nominally geolocalised to 417 municipalities. These users are clustered according to pervasive language features. Comparing the linguistic clusters according to the municipalities they represent finds that there are regular sociodemographic differentials across clusters. This is understood as an indication of social structure, suggesting that endogenous measures derived from pervasive patterns in language may indeed offer a complementary, contextualised perspective on large-scale social phenomena
Likelihood Asymptotics in Nonregular Settings: A Review with Emphasis on the Likelihood Ratio
This paper reviews the most common situations where one or more regularity
conditions which underlie classical likelihood-based parametric inference fail.
We identify three main classes of problems: boundary problems, indeterminate
parameter problems -- which include non-identifiable parameters and singular
information matrices -- and change-point problems. The review focuses on the
large-sample properties of the likelihood ratio statistic. We emphasize
analytical solutions and acknowledge software implementations where available.
We furthermore give summary insight about the possible tools to derivate the
key results. Other approaches to hypothesis testing and connections to
estimation are listed in the annotated bibliography of the Supplementary
Material
Strategies for Early Learners
Welcome to learning about how to effectively plan curriculum for young children. This textbook will address: ⢠Developing curriculum through the planning cycle ⢠Theories that inform what we know about how children learn and the best ways for teachers to support learning ⢠The three components of developmentally appropriate practice ⢠Importance and value of play and intentional teaching ⢠Different models of curriculum ⢠Process of lesson planning (documenting planned experiences for children) ⢠Physical, temporal, and social environments that set the stage for childrenâs learning ⢠Appropriate guidance techniques to support childrenâs behaviors as the self-regulation abilities mature. ⢠Planning for preschool-aged children in specific domains including o Physical development o Language and literacy o Math o Science o Creative (the visual and performing arts) o Diversity (social science and history) o Health and safety ⢠Making childrenâs learning visible through documentation and assessmenthttps://scholar.utc.edu/open-textbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp
Domain Sparsification of Discrete Distributions Using Entropic Independence
We present a framework for speeding up the time it takes to sample from discrete distributions ? defined over subsets of size k of a ground set of n elements, in the regime where k is much smaller than n. We show that if one has access to estimates of marginals P_{S? ?} {i ? S}, then the task of sampling from ? can be reduced to sampling from related distributions ? supported on size k subsets of a ground set of only n^{1-?}? poly(k) elements. Here, 1/? ? [1, k] is the parameter of entropic independence for ?. Further, our algorithm only requires sparsified distributions ? that are obtained by applying a sparse (mostly 0) external field to ?, an operation that for many distributions ? of interest, retains algorithmic tractability of sampling from ?. This phenomenon, which we dub domain sparsification, allows us to pay a one-time cost of estimating the marginals of ?, and in return reduce the amortized cost needed to produce many samples from the distribution ?, as is often needed in upstream tasks such as counting and inference.
For a wide range of distributions where ? = ?(1), our result reduces the domain size, and as a corollary, the cost-per-sample, by a poly(n) factor. Examples include monomers in a monomer-dimer system, non-symmetric determinantal point processes, and partition-constrained Strongly Rayleigh measures. Our work significantly extends the reach of prior work of Anari and Derezi?ski who obtained domain sparsification for distributions with a log-concave generating polynomial (corresponding to ? = 1). As a corollary of our new analysis techniques, we also obtain a less stringent requirement on the accuracy of marginal estimates even for the case of log-concave polynomials; roughly speaking, we show that constant-factor approximation is enough for domain sparsification, improving over O(1/k) relative error established in prior work
How to Be a God
When it comes to questions concerning the nature of Reality, Philosophers and Theologians have the answers.
Philosophers have the answers that canât be proven right. Theologians have the answers that canât be proven wrong.
Todayâs designers of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games create realities for a living. They canât spend centuries mulling over the issues: they have to face them head-on. Their practical experiences can indicate which theoretical proposals actually work in practice.
Thatâs todayâs designers. Tomorrowâs will have a whole new set of questions to answer.
The designers of virtual worlds are the literal gods of those realities. Suppose Artificial Intelligence comes through and allows us to create non-player characters as smart as us. What are our responsibilities as gods? How should we, as gods, conduct ourselves?
How should we be gods
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UTILIZATION AND EFFECT OF MULTIPLE CONTENT MODALITIES IN ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION: SHIFTING TRAJECTORIES TOWARD SUCCESS THROUGH UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING
The idea that offering multiple means of representing course content will assist students of all abilities constitutes one pillar of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework intended to address needs of students with disabilities while also holding relevance for all students. The efficacy of this UDL guideline lacks a verified empirical basis and therefore merits rigorous examination. My dissertation investigates the effect on learning outcomes of students using multiple modalities while learning course content (e.g., text, video, audio, interactive, or mixed content), targeting improving educational success for non-traditional online students.
I investigate this effect for older undergraduates from a womenâs institution who are predominantly low income and working mothers returning to school, many of whom are racial/ethnic minorities. Notably, challenges resulting from a lack of disability diagnosis and accommodation may be prevalent but hidden among these students. Traditional higher education typically does not serve such students well. Use of multiple modalities in class activities holds potential for improving their outcomes.
Results show positive effects of using multiple modalities for learning content in courses across the curriculum presented in an adaptive learning system. Using a within-subjects study design, I found a medium-large positive effect size for knowledge gained across adaptive activities. Using an instrumental variables approach, I found a very large positive effect size for weekly assignment and quiz grades, and results suggest a large positive effect on course grade as well. I illustrate how combining knowledge of this effect with other information from the adaptive learning system and online tutoring in a Bayesian network analysis can predict where students may benefit from tutoring. This can inform potential support recommendations that would be particularly relevant when implementation of UDL-based design does not yet fully address studentsâ learning needs.
These results provide the first evidence confirming an effect of UDLâs multiple modalities guideline on collegiate learning outcomes and illustrate how this information could be used to provide recommendations to students using a learning analytics perspective. Results have implications for researchers, faculty, course developers, instructional designers, analytics professionals, and institutions aiming to improve learning outcomes through a design-based approach
How we created a shelter of belonging in a developing multicultural Irish primary school through participatory action research
We are one of a disproportionately small number of schools that educate the majority of students from non-Irish backgrounds. In drawing inspiration from a heritage of Celtic thought, I appreciated that as a new school community we all, albeit in differing ways,
experienced that as our old shelter collapsed, we lost what it held and we had to enter into the beginnings of a new shelter of belonging that would slowly build around us (OâDonohue, 1998).
This belonging implies a growth, which would afford new
experiences.
In this research, I inquired into how we invoked and awakened our shelter of belonging. Hence, I viewed this as a collaborative form of inquiry, in which all involved would have the opportunity to engage in democratic dialogue as co-researchers and cosubjects, influencing our lives and our work through critical participatory action research. A boxset of three related action research narratives, presented chronologically as discrete pieces of work, allows the reader to experience the communicative spaces of this educational journey.
This thesis shows that in an affinity of thought and an openness to exploration, a community of spirit has grown and a shelter of belonging has come alive. Social and professional relationships have been nurtured, in which leadership is valued as a collective activity across members of the community. Resultingly, there is a
willingness to take risks, and to be resilient and push boundaries. Essential sustained interaction is facilitated by structures that give sufficient time for effective collaborative planning, reflection, and professional learning to take place. Democratic professional
relationships are emerging in dialogue with parents in which our complementary experience and knowledge work to enhance the education of the children in our care. An enactment of OâDonohueâs shelter of belonging is seen in our integrity, creativity and receptivity, which has invoked the creation of a forward-thinking, collaborative
culture of interdependence in the school
'Inventions and adventures': the work of the Stevenson engineering firm in Scotland, c. 1830 - c. 1890
This thesis examines the work of the nineteenth-century Stevenson civil engineering firm to argue
that civil engineering should be approached geographically both because it takes place in and is
shaped by particular spaces, but also because the result of such work reshapes space and the
relationship between places. Geographers have extensively analysed the ways in which humans
have worked to alter environments, but relatively little attention has been paid to engineering as a
socially and geographically transformative process, to the technical questions and to the engineering
professionals whose work brought about such change. This thesis analyses engineers as social and
technical agents of environmental change, rather than viewing their role as the simple
implementation of directives developed elsewhere and by others. It combines insights from the
history and historical geography of science, environmental history and the history of technology to
make a case for the relevance of an historical geography of engineering.
The thesis explores these issues through the work of the Stevenson family. The Stevensons
were an Edinburgh-based and internationally-renowned firm of engineers who specialised in the
construction of coastal infrastructure. The start and end dates of the thesis indicate, broadly, the
careers of David and Thomas Stevenson, who jointly managed the family firm under the name D. &
T. Stevenson between 1850 and 1886. The empirical basis for this thesis draws upon the detailed
analysis of the firmâs archival records: technical publications, project reports, diaries,
correspondence, maps, plans and diagrams.
The work of the Stevensonsâtheir engineering epistemologies, practices, and professional
identitiesâ are examined through four diverse projects undertaken by the firm in the nineteenth
century. These projects are: the training of new engineers; surveying and designing improvement
works for the rivers Tay and Clyde; the implementation of a coastal sound-based fog signal network;
and the failed attempt to expand Wick harbour through the construction of a breakwater. These
projects highlight the range of activities undertaken by nineteenth-century engineers and illustrate
the âmakingâ of engineers and the work they did by highlighting training and learning, surveying,
maintenance, testing, evaluation, repair and the explanation of failure. With reference to these
projects and by drawing upon relevant contextual material, the thesis examines the
conceptualisation of geographical space and natural forces in engineering, the relationship between
science and engineering, the nature of expertise and notions of engineering judgement, and the role
of family, legacy and reputation in securing professional credibility and status.
This approach challenges older historiographical traditions which portrayed engineers as
individual geniuses. The thesis instead understands engineering to be a combination of specialist
knowledge and tacit skill and situates engineers within their social and institutional networks of
power and authority. In pointing out that some engineering works failed, the thesis challenges the
tendency in histories of engineering works to focus on success. It makes the case for an historical
geography of engineering as a way of understanding engineering as an activity, a status and as
processes which changed human-environment relations
Childrenâs negotiation of meanings about geometric shapes and their properties in a New Zealand multilingual primary classroom
New Zealand is a nation of superdiversity in terms of ethnicities and languages spoken. This superdiversity is reflected in New Zealand multilingual classrooms. In the New Zealand primary school mathematics curriculum, the teaching and learning of early geometry focuses on recognising and understanding shapes, their properties, and symmetries, and on describing the position and movement of shapes. The Achievement Objectives suggest that the children at Curriculum Level 3, which roughly translates to Year 5/6 (9 to 11-year-old), are expected to identify, describe, and classify two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) shapes by spatial features. Acknowledging the multilingual context of a New Zealand classroom, this study investigated how children negotiate their meanings about 2D shapes, 3D shapes, and their properties as they engage in whole-class and/or group interactions in a New Zealand primary classroom. Accordingly, following research questions (RQ) guided this study:
1. What discursive constructions do 9 to 11-year-old children use to represent their understanding of 2D shapes, 3D shapes, and their properties in a New Zealand multilingual primary classroom?
2. How do 9 to 11-year-old children interact to construct their understanding of 2D shapes, 3D shapes, and their properties in a New Zealand multilingual primary classroom?
3. What characteristics of dialogic space influence 9 to 11-year-old childrenâs negotiation of meanings about 2D shapes, 3D shapes, and their properties in a New Zealand multilingual primary classroom?
A qualitative study informed by the Discursive Psychology perspective (Edwards & Potter, 1992) within the Critical Inquiry research paradigm was undertaken. Edwards and Potter (1992) argue that language-in-use is construed as an action in itself and, as a result, knowledge is taken as situated and constructed through language-in-use as people interact. Bakhtinâs (1981) Dialogic Theory and Garfinkelâs (1967) Ethnomethodology informed the theoretical framework of this study. Data were gathered from a Year 5/6 classroom in a New Zealand English-medium school. The participants were fifteen children (nine multilingual, six monolingual) and their mathematics teacher. Six geometry lessons on shapes and their properties were observed and audiovisually recorded. Additional data were gathered from a variety of sources, including semi-structured teacher interviews, four focus group interviews with children, a short questionnaire filled by the parents, childrenâs work samples, and teacherâs unit plan. Data from different sources allowed me to establish the reliability and validity of the findings.
Data were analysed in three phases: thematic analysis, micro-level analysis, and macro-level analysis. Five themes were identified from thematic analysis of data to explore the discursive constructions that the children used to represent their understanding of shapes and their properties (RQ1). These themes are: (i) making sense of 2D shapes, (ii) making sense of 3D shapes, (iii) relating 2D shapes with 3D shapes, (iv) mathematical construct of dimension, and (v) naming shapes in Te Reo MÄori (the Indigenous language of New Zealand). For the purpose of managing and presenting analysis, two Key Moments within each of the five themes were identified for further analysis at the micro-level and macro-level. For the micro-level analysis, I used selected Conversation Analysis (Schegloff & Sacks, 1973) techniques to explore what is said and how it is said (RQ2). Based on the micro-level analysis findings, the macro-level analysis was conducted using Bakhtinian concepts of speech genres, discourses, heteroglossia and unitary language, double-voicedness, and chronotopes to explore the characteristics of dialogic space that influence childrenâs negotiations of meanings about shapes and their properties (RQ3).
The study reveals four novel findings. First, the analogy of âflat vs fatâ may not be useful in developing childrenâs geometric understanding of dimension. Second, the study indicates that multilingual children use prosodic repertoires from their multiple languages as they engage in whole-class or group interactions, and these prosodic repertoires may be interpreted differently by monolingual English-speaking children. Third, the study reveals the presence of several speech genres available to teachers and children within the dialogic space of a multilingual classroom. Fourth, the study shows that multiple meanings could be drawn out for each utterance, and the meaning of an utterance is dependent not only upon the interaction of unitary language and heteroglossia between the discourses but within the discourse as well.
The findings of this study suggest, first, that a comprehensive definition of dimension needs to be included in the school curriculum. Second, teachers may benefit from learning about prosodic features that multilingual children may use to show their confidence or doubt about their learning, along with several speech genres available within the dialogic space. Several ideas for further research in the mathematics education field with a focus on developing an understanding of geometry concepts such as dimension are also suggested. Overall, the study highlighted the need for teachers and teacher educators to recognise subtle yet powerful aspects of language use that influence childrenâs negotiation of meanings about geometric ideas as children engage in classroom interactions
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