The abstraction transition taxonomy: developing desired learning outcomes through the lens of situated cognition

We report on a post-hoc analysis of introductory programming lecture materials. The purpose of this analysis is to identify what knowledge and skills we are asking students to acquire, as situated in the activity, tools, and culture of what programmers do and how they think. The specific materials analyzed are the 133 Peer Instruction questions used in lecture to support cognitive apprenticeship -- honoring the situated nature of knowledge. We propose an Abstraction Transition Taxonomy for classifying the kinds of knowing and practices we engage students in as we seek to apprentice them into the programming world. We find students are asked to answer questions expressed using three levels of abstraction: English, CS Speak, and Code. Moreover, many questions involve asking students to transition between levels of abstraction within the context of a computational problem. Finally, by applying our taxonomy in classifying a range of introductory programming exams, we find that summative assessments (including our own) tend to emphasize a small range of the skills fostered in students during the formative/apprenticeship phase

Visual Management in Brazilian Construction Companies: Taxonomy and Guidelines for Implementation

Visual management (VM) is the managerial strategy of consciously integrating visual tools in workspaces with the aim of increasing transparency on construction sites. Several VM tools and approaches that had been originally developed in the manufacturing context were implemented in construction. However, research on the application of VM in construction as a managerial strategy is scarce. This paper aims to investigate and classify the types of visual devices that can be used in construction sites through multiple case studies carried out in nine construction companies actively implementing VM. It also discusses strategies for the implementation of VM in construction. The main contributions of this investigation are: (1) a VM tools taxonomy that can be used to identify VM application opportunities, providing a basis for evaluating the level of VM implementation in construction; and (2) identification of critical factors for the implementation and various features of the VM strategy in construction

Do you see what I mean?

Visualizers, like logicians, have long been concerned with meaning. Generalizing from MacEachren's overview of cartography, visualizers have to think about how people extract meaning from pictures (psychophysics), what people understand from a picture (cognition), how pictures are imbued with meaning (semiotics), and how in some cases that meaning arises within a social and/or cultural context. If we think of the communication acts carried out in the visualization process further levels of meaning are suggested. Visualization begins when someone has data that they wish to explore and interpret; the data are encoded as input to a visualization system, which may in its turn interact with other systems to produce a representation. This is communicated back to the user(s), who have to assess this against their goals and knowledge, possibly leading to further cycles of activity. Each phase of this process involves communication between two parties. For this to succeed, those parties must share a common language with an agreed meaning. We offer the following three steps, in increasing order of formality: terminology (jargon), taxonomy (vocabulary), and ontology. Our argument in this article is that it's time to begin synthesizing the fragments and views into a level 3 model, an ontology of visualization. We also address why this should happen, what is already in place, how such an ontology might be constructed, and why now

Using molecular tools to differentiate closely related blackfly species of the genus Simulium

Biodiversity data are the foundation for conservation and managemet and taxonomy provides the reference system, skills and tools used to identify organisms. Species level data such as species richness, composition and diversity are common metrics. However, species level identification of organisms tends to be neglected within ecological work, especially within monitoring programmes, but also in conservation biology (Giangrande, 2003). This is because collection of species level data is time consuming, with identification of species-specific characteristics traditionally involving lengthy examination of samples using microscopy. In addition it is costly and species level data is almost impossible to collect if the taxa involved are species rich and difficult to identify (Báldi 1999). Other reasons why species level identification is neglected include the fact that sample collection can damage organisms, so diagnostic morphological features are lost, or that individuals may be in a life history stage or of a sex that does not have diagnostic morphological characteristics. Furthermore, the numbers of available expert taxonomists needed for species identification are in decline and have been for several decades. Species identification using molecular taxonomy where DNA is used as a marker is championed as a tool for resolving a range of morphological problems, such as the association of all life history stages, correlating male and female specimens to the same species and identifying partial specimens. Traditional taxonomy is built around morphological variations between species, with systematic inferences based upon shared physical characters. In molecular taxonomy on the other hand, proteins and genes are used to determine evolutionary relationships. ’DNA barcoding’ aims to provide an efficient method for species-level identification and it is thought that it will provide a powerful tool for taxonomic and biodiversity research (Hajibabaei et al. 2007). Cited strengths of a molecular based approach to species identification include the potential universality and objective nature of DNA data as taxonomic information, the usefulness of molecular data in animal groups characterized by morphological cryptic characters and the use of DNA sequence information to determine otherwise ‘unidentifiable’ biological material (such as incomplete specimens or immature specimens). Its aim is to increase the speed, precision and efficiency of field studies involving diverse and difficult to identify taxa and it has the potential to be automated to provide a rapid and consistently accurate supplementary identification system to traditional taxonomy. This project was a proof-of-concept study that investigated the feasibility of using DNA barcodes to differentiate closely related blackfly species of the genus Simulium. The longer term objective would be to apply such molecular approaches to organisms used in water quality monitoring and to biodiversity studies to provide a quick, robust but practical and cost effective tool for species identification. Great Britain is currently home to 33 morphospecies of blackfly many of which are morphologically close to other species and have been the cause of much systematic revision. In addition to evaluating the use of DNA barcodes in species identification, a non-destructive DNA extraction method was developed to preserve voucher pecimens that will allow a complete morphological classification to be carried after DNA extraction. Using molecular tools to differentiate closely related blackfly species of the genus Simulium v Finding an effective DNA barcode for an individual species involves accurate taxonomic identification and the retention of voucher specimens for future morphological studies. A rapid non-destructive method for DNA extraction from small insects was developed where no clean-up step was required prior to amplification and it was possible to extract DNA of sufficient quality in minutes retaining diagnostic morphological characteristics. For any molecular tool used for species discrimination, an important consideration is defining the specific genetic loci (e.g. the position of genes on a chromosome) to be monitored. All blackfly species in this study were successfully amplified with the standard barcoding coxI gene primer pair LCO1490 5'-GGT CAA CAA ATC ATA AAG ATA TTG G-3' and HCO2198 5'-TAA ACT TCA GGG TGA CCA AAA AAT CA-3' (Folmer et al. 1994) and we did not need to optimise or redesign the primer sequence

ranacapa: An R package and Shiny web app to explore environmental DNA data with exploratory statistics and interactive visualizations.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is becoming a core tool in ecology and conservation biology, and is being used in a growing number of education, biodiversity monitoring, and public outreach programs in which professional research scientists engage community partners in primary research. Results from eDNA analyses can engage and educate natural resource managers, students, community scientists, and naturalists, but without significant training in bioinformatics, it can be difficult for this diverse audience to interact with eDNA results. Here we present the R package ranacapa, at the core of which is a Shiny web app that helps perform exploratory biodiversity analyses and visualizations of eDNA results. The app requires a taxonomy-by-sample matrix and a simple metadata file with descriptive information about each sample. The app enables users to explore the data with interactive figures and presents results from simple community ecology analyses. We demonstrate the value of ranacapa to two groups of community partners engaging with eDNA metabarcoding results

Cloud computing services: taxonomy and comparison

Cloud computing is a highly discussed topic in the technical and economic world, and many of the big players of the software industry have entered the development of cloud services. Several companies what to explore the possibilities and benefits of incorporating such cloud computing services in their business, as well as the possibilities to offer own cloud services. However, with the amount of cloud computing services increasing quickly, the need for a taxonomy framework rises. This paper examines the available cloud computing services and identifies and explains their main characteristics. Next, this paper organizes these characteristics and proposes a tree-structured taxonomy. This taxonomy allows quick classifications of the different cloud computing services and makes it easier to compare them. Based on existing taxonomies, this taxonomy provides more detailed characteristics and hierarchies. Additionally, the taxonomy offers a common terminology and baseline information for easy communication. Finally, the taxonomy is explained and verified using existing cloud services as examples

Assessing Creativity: A Test for Drawing Production using Digital Art Tools The concept, application and assessment of digital art teaching as a means of enhancing creative proficiency

This paper describes the Test for Creative Thinking - Drawing Production (TCT-DP), including its design, concept and mode of assessment, and the practical consequences of its application in a specific context. The test was used to evaluate the performance of groups of students as part of a case study exploring the use of digital art tools for drawing in a junior school. The students used specific digital art software via both computers and tablets, and also drew manually using a variety of devices. TCP-DP evaluates drawing production by means of a set of 14 criteria. At the same time, this study used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory to assess the ease of use and usefulness of the digital tools. The test was trialled with students aged 9-10 years in different ability groups. There were no significant differences in performance between male and female participants. Details of various related studies, together with data concerning the reliability and validity of the TCT-DP test, are also provided. The study finds that motivation is an important factor in improving young people’s artistic ability

Applying A Methodology For Educating Students With Special Needs: A Case Study

The introduction of innovative educational technologies opens up new ways of interacting with students. We propose to exploit this potential to help in the education of children with special needs. We analyze the state of the art of tools supporting the teaching process, focusing on the omissions of existing research. We propose a new framework to help throughout the whole teaching process and describe its application to Proyecto Aprender (Learn Project), an educational resource targeting children with learning difficulties. Finally, we outline some conclusions and current/future research lines