Making Music Speak: The Role of the “Tuning In” Music Program in Developing Preschool Children’s Oral Language Skills

Evidence shows oral language development in early childhood plays a critical role in social, behavioural and academic development and Australian research indicates that speech development difficulties are relatively common. Research suggests that participating in high quality music education from early childhood not only helps develop musical skills but also induces benefits in aspects of oral language skills, including phonological abilities. Researchers have suggested that music might be a useful and engaging form of intervention for preschool-aged children with oral language delays or disorders, however, to date little research has been conducted to test this. Underpinned by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design, consisting of a quasi-experimental study and multiple case study, was used to learn about the effects of the “Tuning In” (TI) music program upon the phonological abilities and use of oral language of four and five-year-old children. TI is the music education program of the Shoalhaven Youth Orchestra, which is based in regional NSW. A five-month intervention was conducted involving 45 children attending four early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres. Children at two centres received a 30-minute weekly TI session taught by a specialist teacher, while children at the other centres received the music programs offered at their centres. Data collected included a pre-intervention parent survey, and pre- and post-testing of the children’s phonological awareness (PA) and phonological memory (PM). Each TI centre formed a case in the multiple case study and data collection included a researcher journal, educator interviews and an attendance and participation record. The TI Group made significantly greater improvements than the Comparison Group in Sound Matching (an aspect of PA) (p \u3c.05), and strong trends were also found across PM tests. These results were supported by the multiple case study, which found that the quality and quantity of children’s speech improved, particularly in children with language disorders. Children were found to engage strongly with the TI sessions. Warm and responsive relationships between the music teacher and children contributed to the children’s engagement in music and to their motivation to communicate. Several music- specific “active ingredients” were identified, including providing a variety of music experiences to develop beat and rhythm skills, which supported children’s engagement and learning. Providing children with choice to participate in different ways was also found to lead to increased participation rates over time. This thesis provides an important contribution to literature on how music in ECEC settings could be used to support children’s oral language development, particularly for those with language difficulties; a thus far under-researched field. The TI program demonstrated positive effects upon the development of the phonological skills and children’s use of speech for a range of purposes, and highlighted the critical role that social relationships play in children’s development. This thesis also demonstrated that group music sessions conducted in ECEC settings could be used to complement traditional interventions for language development problems

COBE's search for structure in the Big Bang

The launch of Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) and the definition of Earth Observing System (EOS) are two of the major events at NASA-Goddard. The three experiments contained in COBE (Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR), Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS), and Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE)) are very important in measuring the big bang. DMR measures the isotropy of the cosmic background (direction of the radiation). FIRAS looks at the spectrum over the whole sky, searching for deviations, and DIRBE operates in the infrared part of the spectrum gathering evidence of the earliest galaxy formation. By special techniques, the radiation coming from the solar system will be distinguished from that of extragalactic origin. Unique graphics will be used to represent the temperature of the emitting material. A cosmic event will be modeled of such importance that it will affect cosmological theory for generations to come. EOS will monitor changes in the Earth's geophysics during a whole solar color cycle

Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Application and Planning Meeting

Thirty eight papers are presented addressing various aspects of precise time and time interval applications. Areas discussed include: past accomplishments; state of the art systems; new and useful applications, procedures, and techniques; and fruitful directions for research efforts

Self-tuning of game scenarios through self-adaptative multi-agent systems

Les jeux vidéo modernes deviennent de plus en plus complexes, tant par le nombre de règles qui les composent, que par le nombre d'entités artificielles qui y interagissent. D'un point de vue purement ludique, mais également en ayant des ambitions pédagogiques, les jeux doivent proposer aux joueurs des expériences qui correspondent à leurs niveaux de compétences et à leurs capacités. La diversité au sein de la population de joueurs rend difficile, voire impossible, de proposer une expérience qui aille à tout un chacun. Différents niveaux et différentes capacités de progression font que différents joueurs ont des besoins distincts. L'adaptation des jeux est proposée comme une solution pour palier ces difficultés. Cette thèse propose un ensemble de concepts afin que des concepteurs de jeux, ou des experts de différents domaines, puissent exprimer des objectifs pédagogiques ou ludiques, ainsi que des contraintes sur les expériences de jeu. La généricité de ces concepts les rend compatible avec une grande varieté d'application, potentiellement hors du domaine du jeu vidéo. Conjointement à ces concepts, nous proposons un système multi-agent conçu pour modifier dynamiquement les paramètres d'un moteur de jeu, afin que celui-ci satisfasse les objectifs définis par les experts ou les concepteurs. Le système est composé d'un ensemble d'agents autonomes, qui représentent les concepts du domaine. Ils n'ont qu'une vue locale de leur environnement et ne connaissent pas la fonction globale du système. Ils ne cherchent qu'a résoudre coopérativement les problème locaux qu'ils rencontrent. De l'organisation des agents émerge la fonctionnalité du système : l'adaptation de l'expérience de jeu menant à la satisfaction des objectifs ainsi qu'au respect des contraintes. Nous avons conduit plusieurs expériences pour démontrer que le système passe l'échelle, et qu'il est résistant au bruit. Le paradigme avec lequel les objectifs doivent être définis est utilisé dans des contextes variés pour démontrer sa généricité. D'autres applications démontrent que le système est capable d'adapter une expérience du joueur même quand les conditions de jeu évoluent significativement au cours du temps.Modern video games are getting more and more complex, by exhibiting more and more rules, as well as a growing number of co-existing artificial entities. Whether they only have entertainment objectives, or pedagogical ambitions, they need to provide a game experience that matches the skills and abilities of players. The diversity among the player population makes it difficult, if not impossible, to propose a single game that may suit everyone needs. Different skills, preferences, and progression abilities make players need different game experiences at different times. Adaptation of the game experience is advocated as a solution to keep it adequate. This thesis proposes a set a simple concepts in order for domain experts, games designers or others to express pedagogical or entertainment related objectives, as well as constraints on game experiences. By using only elementary concepts, such as measures and parameters, we remain compliant with a large diversity of domains, even outside of the field of video game. Along with the expression of game requirements, we propose a multi-agent system designed to dynamically modify the various parameters of a game engine, so that the game experience satisfies objectives expressed by experts or designers. The system is composed of a set of autonomous agents representing the domain concepts, that only have a local perception of their environment. They are not aware of the global function of the system, and they only seek to cooperatively solve their local problems. From the organization of these agents, the functionality of the system as a whole emerges: dynamic adaptation of a game experience to satisfy objectives and constraints. We conducted several experiments to demonstrate that the proposed system is scalable and noise resilient. The introduced paradigm with which the requirements must be expressed is used in various context to demonstrate its versatility. Other experiments demonstrate that this system is able to effectively adapt the game experience even when the conditions in which the game takes place significantly change over time

Computational intelligence approaches to robotics, automation, and control [Volume guest editors]

No abstract available

Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995)

The files on this record represent the various databases that originally composed the CD-ROM issue of "Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding" database, which is now part of the Dudley Knox Library's Abstracts and Selected Full Text Documents on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995) Collection. (See Calhoun record https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/57364 for further information on this collection and the bibliography). Due to issues of technological obsolescence preventing current and future audiences from accessing the bibliography, DKL exported and converted into the three files on this record the various databases contained in the CD-ROM. The contents of these files are: 1) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_xls.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.xls: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format; RDFA_Glossary.xls: Glossary of terms, in Excel 97-2003 Workbookformat; RDFA_Biographies.xls: Biographies of leading figures, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format]; 2) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_csv.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.TXT: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in CSV format; RDFA_Glossary.TXT: Glossary of terms, in CSV format; RDFA_Biographies.TXT: Biographies of leading figures, in CSV format]; 3) RDFA_CompleteBibliography.pdf: A human readable display of the bibliographic data, as a means of double-checking any possible deviations due to conversion

Library Publishing Toolkit

Both public and academic libraries are invested in the creation and distribution of information and digital content. They have morphed from keepers of content into content creators and curators, and seek best practices and efficient workflows with emerging publishing platforms and services. The Library Publishing Toolkit looks at the broad and varied landscape of library publishing through discussions, case studies, and shared resources. From supporting writers and authors in the public library setting to hosting open access journals and books, this collection examines opportunities for libraries to leverage their position and resources to create and provide access to content.The Library Publishing Toolkit is a project funded partially by Bibliographic Databases and Interlibrary Resources Sharing Program funds which are administered and supported by the Rochester Regional Library Council. The toolkit is a united effort between Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo and the Monroe County Library System to identify trends in library publishing, seek out best practices to implement and support such programs, and share the best tools and resources. Our goals include to: Develop strategies libraries can use to identify types of publishing services and content that can be created and curated by libraries. Assess trends in digital content creation and publishing that can be useful in libraries and suggesting potential future projects. Identify efficient workflows for distributing content for free online and with potential for some cost-recovery in print on demand markets. A list of chapters is available in the full record.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/idsproject-press/1002/thumbnail.jp

The University Library System, University of Pittsburgh: How & Why We Publish

The University Library System (ULS), University of Pittsburgh began its e-journal publishing program in 2007 and in five years has quickly grown to publish 34 peer-reviewed scholarly research journals. In this chapter, we will describe the rationale for and the genesis of this program to publish new original content, explain how the program evolved, and give insight into what direction it is likely to take in the future. The ULS has built an extensive digital publishing program over the past two decades. Beginning with digitization projects to reformat the ULS’ unique collections, the program now includes well over 100,000 digital objects in over 100 thematic digital collections including photographs, manuscripts, maps, books, journal articles, electronic theses and dissertations, government documents, and other gray literature such as working papers, white papers, and technical reports. The development of the ULS publishing program was driven by a strong and enduring institutional commitment to Open Access to scholarly information. The organization has placed strategic emphasis on leadership in transforming the patterns of scholarly communication and supporting researchers not only in discovering and accessing scholarly information, but in the production and sharing of new knowledge and the creation of original scholarly research. In pursuit of these goals, the ULS has developed a suite of specific tools and techniques to build a highly cost-efficient e-journal publishing program. The ULS provides its publishing partners with a hardware and software platform and associated electronic publishing services using the open source Open Journal Systems (OJS) software developed by the Public Knowledge Project. This platform allows for richly customizable management of all stages of editorial workflow. In addition, OJS sports a number of reader tools to enhance content discovery and use, including multilingual support for both online interfaces and content in many languages, persistent URLs, RSS feeds, tools for bookmarking and sharing articles through social networking sites, full-text searching, and compliance with the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. Additional services offered by the ULS include consultation on editorial workflow management, software configuration, graphic design services, initial training, online usage statistics, review of all new published issues for metadata quality, and ongoing systems support. The ULS also provides ISSN registration, assigns DOIs, and assists in promotional efforts to establish the journal. Digital preservation is facilitated through LOCKSS. Steps to start up a new scholarly journal are covered. We will also describe common pitfalls to avoid and techniques that help with clear communications and management of mutual expectations between publisher and publishing partners. Quality control is discussed, including careful selection of partners, conducting peer reviews, maintaining academic quality, advising on publishing best practices, and measuring impact. With each passing year and each acquisitions budget cycle, research libraries have more to gain by becoming publishers. By publishing new Open Access content, libraries can not only help meet the most fundamental needs of the researchers they support, but they can simultaneously help transform today’s inflationary cost model for serials. The publication model described in this paper can serve as a guide for libraries wishing to implement similar programs

MATLAB

This excellent book represents the final part of three-volumes regarding MATLAB-based applications in almost every branch of science. The book consists of 19 excellent, insightful articles and the readers will find the results very useful to their work. In particular, the book consists of three parts, the first one is devoted to mathematical methods in the applied sciences by using MATLAB, the second is devoted to MATLAB applications of general interest and the third one discusses MATLAB for educational purposes. This collection of high quality articles, refers to a large range of professional fields and can be used for science as well as for various educational purposes

Media Infrastructures and the Politics of Digital Time

Digital media everyday inscribe new patterns of time, promising instant communication, synchronous collaboration, intricate time management, and profound new advantages in speed. The essays in this volume reconsider these outward interfaces of convenience by calling attention to their supporting infrastructures, the networks of digital time that exert pressures of conformity and standardization on the temporalities of lived experience and have important ramifications for social relations, stratifications of power, practices of cooperation, and ways of life. Interdisciplinary in method and international in scope, the volume draws together insights from media and communication studies, cultural studies, and science and technology studies while staging an important encounter between two distinct approaches to the temporal patterning of media infrastructures, a North American strain emphasizing the social and cultural experiences of lived time and a European tradition, prominent especially in Germany, focusing on technological time and time-critical processes