4,294 research outputs found
Beyond development: applying the human development paradigm to identifying children with special needs and disabilities
This paper explores two aspects of development in relation to children’s learning: cognitive developmental theories and the human development paradigm. In doing so the aim of the paper is to put forward first a critique of how developmental theories have been applied to construe what and how children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities learn; second to put forward how the human development approach, based on the capability approach, can broaden our understanding of development; and third to suggest a way in which both types of development can be brought together to foster a valuable and meaningful education for all children. In doing so the paper argues that relying on one single way to understand and measure children development is not only short sighted, but counterproductive in as much as it can serve the purpose of stigmatizing and labelling children and thus narrowing the opportunities for learning and flourishing. In relation to freedom, a notion of development which is too structured and focused on cognitive outcomes only delimits, and consequently, limits the opportunities and potential for learning of any child, but particularly children with learning difficulties
Cyber-infrastructure to Support Science and Data Management for the Dark Energy Survey
The Dark Energy Survey (DES; operations 2009-2015) will address the nature of
dark energy using four independent and complementary techniques: (1) a galaxy
cluster survey over 4000 deg2 in collaboration with the South Pole Telescope
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect mapping experiment, (2) a cosmic shear measurement
over 5000 deg2, (3) a galaxy angular clustering measurement within redshift
shells to redshift=1.35, and (4) distance measurements to 1900 supernovae Ia.
The DES will produce 200 TB of raw data in four bands, These data will be
processed into science ready images and catalogs and co-added into deeper,
higher quality images and catalogs. In total, the DES dataset will exceed 1 PB,
including a 100 TB catalog database that will serve as a key science analysis
tool for the astronomy/cosmology community. The data rate, volume, and duration
of the survey require a new type of data management (DM) system that (1) offers
a high degree of automation and robustness and (2) leverages the existing high
performance computing infrastructure to meet the project's DM targets. The DES
DM system consists of (1) a grid-enabled, flexible and scalable middleware
developed at NCSA for the broader scientific community, (2) astronomy modules
that build upon community software, and (3) a DES archive to support automated
processing and to serve DES catalogs and images to the collaboration and the
public. In the recent DES Data Challenge 1 we deployed and tested the first
version of the DES DM system, successfully reducing 700 GB of raw simulated
images into 5 TB of reduced data products and cataloguing 50 million objects
with calibrated astrometry and photometry.Comment: 12 pages, 3 color figures, 1 table. Published in SPIE vol. 627
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