1,058,379 research outputs found
Student perspectives on study abroad: the case of Louisiana State University\u27s summer internships in the French Alps
While many studies have been conducted on study abroad programs, few have sought to examine the inner workings of a short-term, non-traditional (non-classroom based) program, particularly from the participants’ point-of-view. This in-depth case study explores a short-term (4-week) cultural and linguistic internship program, “LSU in the French Alps,” as well as the perspectives of four program participants. This research was conducted during four phases of the study abroad experience: the pre-departure orientation (4 days on LSU’s main campus), the in-country stay (4 weeks in the French Alps), re-entry into the United States (first 10 days upon return), and post study (6 months after re-entry). Extensive participant observation was essential to gaining an “emic,” or “insider,” view of the program, its surroundings and its participants. Data sources included individual interviews with participants, numerous questionnaires about their experiences, participants’ reflective papers and their final video project. The fieldwork conducted in this study uncovered details about the immigration history among the Ubaye Valley, parts of Mexico, and southern Louisiana. The development of this program abroad and its founding principles and goals were also unearthed. Findings revealed that the lack of structure and organization of the pre-departure orientation left the participants anxious and unprepared for the program’s internships. The participants suggested ways to improve the pre-departure orientation and the program in general. They experienced minimal culture shock in France. However, some stress within the group was reported, as the participants grew frustrated with the constant interaction with one another. They perceived numerous benefits and positive effects from studying abroad, including in all areas of development which were investigated in the study (academic, personal, career, cultural and linguistic). Every participant believed the most substantial growth occurred in his or her cultural acquisition, followed by personal development. They also revealed what and how they learned from their experiences during the program’s internships and their outside-the-classroom contacts with host nationals and the French culture. The results have opened up new possibilities for inquiry into non-traditional programs and their connections to experiential learning
Replicode: A Constructivist Programming Paradigm and Language
Replicode is a language designed to encode short parallel programs and executable models, and is centered on the notions of extensive pattern-matching and dynamic code production.
The language is domain independent and has been designed to build systems that are modelbased and model-driven, as production systems that can modify their own code. More over, Replicode supports the distribution of knowledge and computation across clusters of computing nodes.
This document describes Replicode and its executive, i.e. the system that executes Replicode constructions. The Replicode executive is meant to run on Linux 64 bits and Windows 7 32/64 bits platforms and interoperate with custom C++ code.
The motivations for the Replicode language, the constructivist paradigm it rests on, and the higher-level AI goals targeted by its construction, are described by ThĂłrisson (2012), Nivel and ThĂłrisson (2009), and ThĂłrisson and Nivel (2009a, 2009b).
An overview presents the main concepts of the language. Section 3 describes the general structure of Replicode objects and describes pattern matching. Section 4 describes the execution model of Replicode and section 5 describes how computation and knowledge are structured and controlled. Section 6 describes the high-level reasoning facilities offered by the system. Finally, section 7 describes how the computation is distributed over a cluster of computing nodes.
Consult Annex 1 for a formal definition of Replicode, Annex 2 for a specification of the executive, Annex 3 for the specification of the executable code format (r-code) and its C++ API, and Annex 4 for the definition of the Replicode Extension C++ API
Evolving database systems : a persistent view
Submitted to POS7 This work was supported in St Andrews by EPSRC Grant GR/J67611 "Delivering the Benefits of Persistence"Orthogonal persistence ensures that information will exist for as long as it is useful, for which it must have the ability to evolve with the growing needs of the application systems that use it. This may involve evolution of the data, meta-data, programs and applications, as well as the users' perception of what the information models. The need for evolution has been well recognised in the traditional (data processing) database community and the cost of failing to evolve can be gauged by the resources being invested in interfacing with legacy systems. Zdonik has identified new classes of application, such as scientific, financial and hypermedia, that require new approaches to evolution. These applications are characterised by their need to store large amounts of data whose structure must evolve as it is discovered by the applications that use it. This requires that the data be mapped dynamically to an evolving schema. Here, we discuss the problems of evolution in these new classes of application within an orthogonally persistent environment and outline some approaches to these problems.Postprin
Kolmogorov Complexity in perspective. Part II: Classification, Information Processing and Duality
We survey diverse approaches to the notion of information: from Shannon
entropy to Kolmogorov complexity. Two of the main applications of Kolmogorov
complexity are presented: randomness and classification. The survey is divided
in two parts published in a same volume. Part II is dedicated to the relation
between logic and information system, within the scope of Kolmogorov
algorithmic information theory. We present a recent application of Kolmogorov
complexity: classification using compression, an idea with provocative
implementation by authors such as Bennett, Vitanyi and Cilibrasi. This stresses
how Kolmogorov complexity, besides being a foundation to randomness, is also
related to classification. Another approach to classification is also
considered: the so-called "Google classification". It uses another original and
attractive idea which is connected to the classification using compression and
to Kolmogorov complexity from a conceptual point of view. We present and unify
these different approaches to classification in terms of Bottom-Up versus
Top-Down operational modes, of which we point the fundamental principles and
the underlying duality. We look at the way these two dual modes are used in
different approaches to information system, particularly the relational model
for database introduced by Codd in the 70's. This allows to point out diverse
forms of a fundamental duality. These operational modes are also reinterpreted
in the context of the comprehension schema of axiomatic set theory ZF. This
leads us to develop how Kolmogorov's complexity is linked to intensionality,
abstraction, classification and information system.Comment: 43 page
String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity and Eternalism
Eternalism, the view that what we regard locally as being located in the past, the present and the future equally exists, is the best ontological account of temporal existence in line with special and general relativity. However, special and general relativity are not fundamental theories and several research programs aim at finding a more fundamental theory of quantum gravity weaving together all we know from relativistic physics and quantum physics. Interestingly, some of these approaches assert that time is not fundamental. If time is not fundamental, what does it entail for eternalism and the standard debate over existence in time? First, I will argue that the non-fundamentality of time to be found in string theory entails standard eternalism. Second, I will argue that the non-fundamentality of time to be found in loop quantum gravity entails atemporal eternalism, namely a novel position in the spirit of standard eternalism
Synchronous Online Philosophy Courses: An Experiment in Progress
There are two main ways to teach a course online: synchronously or asynchronously. In an asynchronous course, students can log on at their convenience and do the course work. In a synchronous course, there is a requirement that all students be online at specific times, to allow for a shared course environment. In this article, the author discusses the strengths and weaknesses of synchronous online learning for the teaching of undergraduate philosophy courses. The author discusses specific strategies and technologies he uses in the teaching of online philosophy courses. In particular, the author discusses how he uses videoconferencing to create a classroom-like environment in an online class
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