501 research outputs found
Investigating the learning potential of the Second Quantum Revolution: development of an approach for secondary school students
In recent years we have witnessed important changes: the Second Quantum Revolution is in the spotlight of many countries, and it is creating a new generation of technologies.
To unlock the potential of the Second Quantum Revolution, several countries have launched strategic plans and research programs that finance and set the pace of research and development of these new technologies (like the Quantum Flagship, the National Quantum Initiative Act and so on).
The increasing pace of technological changes is also challenging science education and institutional systems, requiring them to help to prepare new generations of experts.
This work is placed within physics education research and contributes to the challenge by developing an approach and a course about the Second Quantum Revolution. The aims are to promote quantum literacy and, in particular, to value from a cultural and educational perspective the Second Revolution.
The dissertation is articulated in two parts. In the first, we unpack the Second Quantum Revolution from a cultural perspective and shed light on the main revolutionary aspects that are elevated to the rank of principles implemented in the design of a course for secondary school students, prospective and in-service teachers. The design process and the educational reconstruction of the activities are presented as well as the results of a pilot study conducted to investigate the impact of the approach on students' understanding and to gather feedback to refine and improve the instructional materials.
The second part consists of the exploration of the Second Quantum Revolution as a context to introduce some basic concepts of quantum physics. We present the results of an implementation with secondary school students to investigate if and to what extent external representations could play any role to promote students’ understanding and acceptance of quantum physics as a personal reliable description of the world
How and Why do Researchers Reference Data? A Study of Rhetorical Features and Functions of Data References in Academic Articles
Data reuse is a common practice in the social sciences. While published data
play an essential role in the production of social science research, they are
not consistently cited, which makes it difficult to assess their full scholarly
impact and give credit to the original data producers. Furthermore, it can be
challenging to understand researchers' motivations for referencing data. Like
references to academic literature, data references perform various rhetorical
functions, such as paying homage, signaling disagreement, or drawing
comparisons. This paper studies how and why researchers reference social
science data in their academic writing. We develop a typology to model
relationships between the entities that anchor data references, along with
their features (access, actions, locations, styles, types) and functions
(critique, describe, illustrate, interact, legitimize). We illustrate the use
of the typology by coding multidisciplinary research articles (n=30)
referencing social science data archived at the Inter-university Consortium for
Political and Social Research (ICPSR). We show how our typology captures
researchers' interactions with data and purposes for referencing data. Our
typology provides a systematic way to document and analyze researchers'
narratives about data use, extending our ability to give credit to data that
support research.Comment: 35 pages, 2 appendices, 1 tabl
Virtuosity in Computationally Creative Musical Performance for Bass Guitar
This thesis focuses on the development and implementation of a theory for a computationally creative musical performance system aimed at producing virtuosic interpretations of musical pieces for performance on bass guitar. This theory has been developed and formalised using Wiggins’ Creative Systems Framework (CSF) and uses case-base reasoning (CBR) and an engagement-reflection cycle to adorn monophonic musical note sequences with explicit performance directions, selected to maximise the virtuosity when performed using a bass guitar. A survey of 497 bass players’ playing competences was conducted and used to develop a playing complexity rating for adorned musical pieces. Measures of musical similarity used within the case-base reasoning were assessed by a listening test of 12 participants. A study into the perceived difficulty of bass performances was also conducted and an appropriate model of perceived bass playing difficulty determined. The complexity rating and perceived playing difficulties are utilised within the heuristic used by the system to determine what performances are considered to be virtuosic. The output of the system was rendered on a digital waveguide model of an electric bass, that was updated with newly developed digital waveguide synthesis methods for advanced bass guitar playing techniques. These audio renderings were evaluated with a perceptual study of 60 participants, the results of which were used to validate the heuristic used within the system. This research makes contribution to the fields of Computational Creativity (CC), AI Music Creativity, Music Information Retrieval and Musicology. It demonstrates how the CSF can be used as a tool to aid in designing computationally creative musical performance systems, provides a method to assess musical complexity and perceived difficulty of bass guitar performances, tested a suitable musical similarity measure for use within creative systems, and made advances in bass guitar digital waveguide synthesis methods
On Making in the Digital Humanities
On Making in the Digital Humanities fills a gap in our understanding of digital humanities projects and craft by exploring the processes of making as much as the products that arise from it.
The volume draws focus to the interwoven layers of human and technological textures that constitute digital humanities scholarship. To do this, it assembles a group of well-known, experienced and emerging scholars in the digital humanities to reflect on various forms of making (we privilege here the creative and applied side of the digital humanities). The volume honours the work of John Bradley, as it is totemic of a practice of making that is deeply informed by critical perspectives. A special chapter also honours the profound contributions that this volume’s co-editor, Stéfan Sinclair, made to the creative, applied and intellectual praxis of making and the digital humanities. Stéfan Sinclair passed away on 6 August 2020.
The chapters gathered here are individually important, but together provide a very human view on what it is to do the digital humanities, in the past, present and future. This book will accordingly be of interest to researchers, teachers and students of the digital humanities; creative humanities, including maker spaces and culture; information studies; the history of computing and technology; and the history of science and the humanities
Materials of Culture: Approaches to Materials in Cultural Studies
While the so-called material turn in the humanities and the social sciences has inspired a vibrant discourse on objects, things, and the concept of materiality in general, less attention has been paid to materials, particularly in cultural studies scholarship. With each of its chapters taking a particular material as its point of departure, this volume offers a palette of fresh approaches to materials within the realm of cultural studies. The contributors call for a materials-based perspective on culture, which has become all the more pertinent in times of climate change, energy crisis, conflict, migration, and the lingering coronavirus pandemic
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Addressing Resource Variability Through Resource-Driven Adaptation
Software systems execute tasks that depend on different types of resources. However, the variability of resources may interfere with the ability of software systems to execute important tasks. Resource variability can occur due to several reasons including unexpected hardware failures, excess workloads, or lack of materials. For example, in automated warehouses, malfunctioning robots could delay product deliveries causing customer dissatisfaction and, therefore, reducing an enterprise’s sales. Moreover, the unavailability of medical materials hinders the ability of hospitals to perform medically-critical operations causing loss of life. In this thesis, we propose to address the problem of resource variability through resource-driven adaptation, using task models as input for adaptation decisions. The thesis presents the following contributions:
• SPARK: a framework for performing proactive and reactive resource-driven adaptation based on multiple task-related criteria. The framework supports different types of depletable and reusable resources that could face variability. SPARK assists with four types of adaptation, namely: (i) execution of a similar task that requires fewer resources, (ii) substitution of resources by alternative ones, (iii) execution of tasks in a different order, and (iv) cancellation of the execution of tasks.
• SERIES: a task modelling notation and editor tool that enables software practitioners to create task models that serve as input for SPARK. SERIES supports the representation of task priorities, task variants, task execution types, resource types, and properties representing users’ feedback.
SPARK was evaluated in terms of the percentage of executed critical task requests, the average criticality of the executed task requests in comparison to the non-executed ones, overhead, and scalability through two case studies concerned with a medicine consumption system and a manufacturing system. The results of the evaluation showed that SPARK increased the number of executed critical task requests during resource variability. Additionally, the results showed that the time it takes to prepare and apply adaptation plans does not add significant overhead that hinders the ability of software systems to execute tasks in a tolerable waiting time. Furthermore, SPARK was shown to be scalable since the abovementioned time increases polynomially relative to the input size (number of tasks and task variants).
SERIES was evaluated through a user study with twenty software practitioners. The results showed that software practitioners performed very well when explaining and creating task models using SERIES. These results were reflected in the task modelling activities that the participants performed as well as in their positive feedback regarding the usability of SERIES and the clarity of its semantic constructs.
Overall, we conclude that the research presented in the thesis contributes to addressing resource variability through resource-driven adaptation. We also provide suggestions for future work that can extend this research
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