The Collegian (2009-10-05)

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/collegian/1022/thumbnail.jp

Hooking the big idea: Working titles in creative problem solving by young Latino adolescents

Problem representation/problem finding skills are frequently the catalyst facilitating adroit knowledge base access and subsequent positive creative outcomes in adult populations. To determine whether judged creativity is similarly enhanced through young adolescents\u27 use of a working title representation strategy within a curriculum knowledge base, 40 Latino partyicipants at two Southern California middle schools received brief written interactive directions for one of two different types of problem representation or a third, non-representational control group

Machine Learning for handwriting text recognition in historical documents

Olmos ABSTRACT In this thesis, we focus on the handwriting text recognition task over historical documents that are difficult to read for any person that is not an expert in ancient languages and writing style. We aim to take advantage and improve the neural networks architectures and techniques that other authors are proposing for handwriting text recognition in modern handwritten documents. These models perform this task very precisely when a large amount of data is available. However, the low availability of labeled data is a widespread problem in historical documents. The type of writing is singular, and it is pretty expensive to hire an expert to transcribe a large number of pages. After investigating and analyzing the state-of-the-art, we propose the efficient application of methods such as transfer learning and data augmentation. We also contribute an algorithm for purging mislabeled samples that affect the learning of models. Finally, we develop a variational auto encoder method for generating synthetic samples of handwritten text images for data augmentation. Experiments are performed on various historical handwritten text databases to validate the performance of the proposed algorithms. The various included analyses focus on the evolution of the character and word error rate (CER and WER) as we increase the training dataset. One of the most important results is the participation in a contest for transcription of historical handwritten text. The organizers provided us with a dataset of documents to train the model, then just a few labeled pages of 5 new documents were handled to adjust the solution further. Finally, the transcription of nonlabeled images was requested to evaluate the algorithm. Our method raked second in this contest

Holy path of the Ovcar. Kablar Gorge: transmitting one landscape´s spirit of place

O Caminho Sagrado do desfiladeiro Ovcar - Kablar: transmitindo espírito do lugar de uma paisagem Situada na encruzilhada de estudos do património e da paisagem, esta tese investiga o conceito do espírito do lugar no desfiladeiro de Ovcar – Kablar, uma área de património religioso e natural no sudoeste da Sérvia. Popularmente conhecido como Montanha Sagrada, o desfiladeiro está classificado e protegido como uma paisagem de beleza e características notáveis, com elementos significativos do património geológico e de biodiversidade. É também um local histórico e cultural único, com dez mosteiros ortodoxos medievais e duas igrejas construidas dentro de cavernas que preservam cerca de cinco séculos de vida e prática religiosas. A pesquisa visa analisar os elementos que contribuem para o espírito desta paisagem sagrada, bem como os meios para a sua transmissão e os seus instrumentos de representação. Aplicando o conceito de um itinerário que liga os lugares sagrados da região, o estudo investiga a interrelação existente entre as pessoas e a paisagem. Fundamentada na abordagem fenomenológica, a metodologia utilizada aliou a análise histórica com a pesquisa narrativa, usando o diálogo estabelecido com residentes da comunidade local, para documentar uma narrativa de paisagem viva que é ao mesmo tempo um lugar da adoração e um indicador de poder. Ecoando a compreensão da "experiência vivida" entre "interioridade" e "exterioridade", a pesquisa tem a sua base na prática, introduzindo o desenho como forma de examinar como o espírito do lugar surge a partir do encontro íntimo de si proprio com a paisagem. Seguindo a orientação da narrativa e do sentido de lugar, a pesquisa teceu uma história da paisagem do desfiladeiro de Ovcar - Kablar como um local cujo espírito se revela como uma emoção insondável sentida por todo o ambiente que o rodeia, uma metamorfose entre o passado e o presente e entre o material e o imaterial; RÉSUMÉ: Situé au carrefour des études du patrimoine et du paysage, ce mémoire étudie le concept de l'esprit du lieu dans la gorge Ovcar - Kablar, territoire où se mêlent patrimoine religieux et naturel, dans le sud-ouest de la Serbie. Surnommée "Montagne Sacrée", la gorge est protégée parce qu'elle est un paysage à la beauté et aux caractéristiques remarquables, avec des éléments significatifs du patrimoine géologique et de la biodiversité. Elle est également un site culturel et historique unique avec dix monastères médiévaux orthodoxes et deux églises troglodytes qui témoignent d'environ cinq siècles de vie quotidienne religieuse. La recherche vise à examiner les éléments qui contribuent à l'esprit de ce paysage sacré, ainsi que les moyens de sa transmission et les instruments de représentation. En proposant un itinéraire reliant les lieux sacrés de la région, l'étude se penche sur la relation entrelacée qui existe entre l'homme et le paysage. Ancrée dans l'approche phénoménologique, la méthodologie a épousé une analyse historique par la recherche narrative. Un dialogue avec les résidents de la communauté locale a documenté un récit du paysage vivant qui est en même temps un lieu de culte et un témoin des pouvoirs. Compte tenu de la compréhension de «l'expérience vécue» entre «intériorité» et «extériorité», la recherche basée sur la pratique a pour but d'examiner comment l'esprit du lieu se construit dans la rencontre intime de soi avec le paysage. Conformément aux orientations du récit et au sens du lieu, la recherche a tissé une histoire du paysage de la gorge Ovcar–Kablar. Son esprit s'y révèle être une émotion insaisissable ressentie dans tous les environs, entre passé et présent, matériel et immatériel; ABSTRACT: Set at the crossroads of heritage and landscape studies, this thesis investigates the concept of the spirit of place in the Ovcar – Kablar Gorge, an area of religious and natural heritage in southwestern Serbia. Popularly known as “Holy Mountain’’, the gorge is protected as a landscape of outstanding beauty and features, with significant elements of geological heritage and biodiversity. It is also a unique cultural and historic site with ten medieval Orthodox monasteries and two church caves that preserve around five centuries of living religious practice. The research seeks to examine the elements that contribute to the spirit of this sacred landscape, as well as the means of its transmission and the instruments of representation. Applying a concept of an itinerary that connects the sacred places in the area, the study delves into the intertwined relationship that exists between people and the landscape. Grounded in phenomenological approach, the methodology married historical analysis with narrative research, using a dialogue with residents of the local community, to document a narrative of living landscape that is at the same time a place of worship and a telltale of power. Echoing understanding of the “lived experience” between “insideness” and “outsideness”, practice based research introduced drawing to examine how a spirit of place arises in the intimate encounter of self and the landscape. Following the guidance of the narrative and sense of place, the research wove a story of the landscape of the Ovcar – Kablar Gorge as the one in which its spirit reveals itself as an unfathomable emotion felt throughout the environs, shapeshifting between the past and the present, and between tangible and intangible