15,841 research outputs found
Can a five minute, three question survey foretell first-year engineering student performance and retention?
This research paper examines first-year student performance and retention within engineering. A considerable body of literature has reported factors influencing performance and retention, including high school GPA and SAT scores,1,2,3 gender,4 self-efficacy,1,5 social status,2,6,7 hobbies,4 and social integration.6,7 Although these factors can help explain and even partially predict student outcomes, they can be difficult to measure; typical survey instruments are lengthy and can be invasive of student privacy. To address this limitation, the present paper examines whether a much simpler survey can be used to understand student motivations and anticipate student outcomes.
The survey was administered to 347 students in an introductory Engineering Graphics and Design course. At the beginning of the first day of class, students were given a three-question, open-ended questionnaire that asked: “In your own words, what do engineers do?”, “Why did you choose engineering?”, and “Was there any particular person or experience that influenced your decision?” Two investigators independently coded the responses, identifying dozens of codes for both motivations for pursuing engineering and understanding of what it is. Five hypotheses derived from Dweck’s mindset theory7 and others8,9 were tested to determine if particular codes were predictive of first-semester GPA or first-year retention in engineering.
Codes that were positively and significantly associated with first-semester GPA included: explaining why engineers do engineering or how they do it, stating that engineers create ideas, visions, and theories, stating that engineers use math, science, physics or analysis, and expressing enjoyment of math and science, whereas expressing interest in specific technical applications or suggesting that engineers simplify and make life easier were negatively and significantly related to first-semester GPA.
Codes positively and significantly associated with first-year retention in engineering included: stating that engineers use math or that engineers design or test things, expressing enjoyment of math, science, or problem solving, and indicating any influential person who is an engineer. Codes negatively and significantly associated with retention included: citing an extrinsic motivation for pursuing engineering, stating that they were motivated by hearing stories about engineering, and stating that parents or family pushed the student to become an engineer.
Although many prior studies have suggested that student self-efficacy is related to retention,1,5 this study found that student interests were more strongly associated with retention. This finding is supported by Dweck’s mindset theory: students with a “growth” mindset (e.g., “I enjoy math”) would be expected to perform better and thus be retained at a higher rate than those with a “fixed” mindset (e.g., “I am good at math”).7 We were surprised that few students mentioned activities expressly designed to stimulate interest in engineering, such as robotics competitions and high school engineering classes. Rather, they cited general interests in math, problem solving, and creativity, as well as family influences, all factors that are challenging for the engineering education community to address.
These findings demonstrate that relative to its ease of administration, a five minute survey can indeed help to anticipate student performance and retention. Its minimalism enables easy implementation in an introductory engineering course, where it serves not only as a research tool, but also as a pedagogical aid to help students and teacher discover student perceptions about engineering and customize the curriculum appropriately
Philosophical Aspects of Quantum Information Theory
Quantum information theory represents a rich subject of discussion for those
interested in the philosphical and foundational issues surrounding quantum
mechanics for a simple reason: one can cast its central concerns in terms of a
long-familiar question: How does the quantum world differ from the classical
one? Moreover, deployment of the concepts of information and computation in
novel contexts hints at new (or better) means of understanding quantum
mechanics, and perhaps even invites re-assessment of traditional material
conceptions of the basic nature of the physical world. In this paper I review
some of these philosophical aspects of quantum information theory, begining
with an elementary survey of the theory, seeking to highlight some of the
principles and heuristics involved. We move on to a discussion of the nature
and definition of quantum information and deploy the findings in discussing the
puzzles surrounding teleportation. The final two sections discuss,
respectively, what one might learn from the development of quantum computation
(both about the nature of quantum systems and about the nature of computation)
and consider the impact of quantum information theory on the traditional
foundational questions of quantum mechanics (treating of the views of
Zeilinger, Bub and Fuchs, amongst others).Comment: LaTeX; 55pp; 3 figs. Forthcoming in Rickles (ed.) The Ashgate
Companion to the New Philosophy of Physic
Foundations of Quantum Gravity : The Role of Principles Grounded in Empirical Reality
When attempting to assess the strengths and weaknesses of various principles
in their potential role of guiding the formulation of a theory of quantum
gravity, it is crucial to distinguish between principles which are strongly
supported by empirical data - either directly or indirectly - and principles
which instead (merely) rely heavily on theoretical arguments for their
justification. These remarks are illustrated in terms of the current standard
models of cosmology and particle physics, as well as their respective
underlying theories, viz. general relativity and quantum (field) theory. It is
argued that if history is to be of any guidance, the best chance to obtain the
key structural features of a putative quantum gravity theory is by deducing
them, in some form, from the appropriate empirical principles (analogous to the
manner in which, say, the idea that gravitation is a curved spacetime
phenomenon is arguably implied by the equivalence principle). It is
subsequently argued that the appropriate empirical principles for quantum
gravity should at least include (i) quantum nonlocality, (ii) irreducible
indeterminacy, (iii) the thermodynamic arrow of time, (iv) homogeneity and
isotropy of the observable universe on the largest scales. In each case, it is
explained - when appropriate - how the principle in question could be
implemented mathematically in a theory of quantum gravity, why it is considered
to be of fundamental significance and also why contemporary accounts of it are
insufficient.Comment: 21 pages. Some (mostly minor) corrections. Final published versio
Theoretical basis for a solution to the cosmic coincidence problem
Following a short discussion of some unresolved issues in the standard model
of cosmology (considered to be a generic CDM model with flat geometry
and an early period of inflation), an update on the current state of research
regarding the problem of negative energy is provided. Arguments are then given
to the effect that traditional assumptions concerning the behavior of negative
action matter give rise to violations of both the principle of relativity and
the principle of inertia. An alternative set of axioms is proposed that would
govern the behavior of negative action matter if it is to be considered a
viable element of physical theories upon which cosmological models are build. A
simple framework, based on general relativity and the proposed axioms, is
elaborated which enables the formulation of quantitative predictions concerning
the interaction between positive and negative action bodies. Based on those
developments, a solution is proposed to the problem of the discrepancy between
current experimental and theoretical values of vacuum energy density (in any
cosmological model), which may also constitute a solution to the problem of the
unexplained coincidence between the (model dependent) experimental values of
vacuum energy density and present day average matter energy density. It is also
shown how irreversibility naturally arises in cosmological models derived in
this context.Comment: 56 pages report with some clarifications and added comments
concerning later development
Who Bears the Cost?
Many municipalities in the United States, especially in rapidly growing areas, are considering or have adopted impact fee systems to help pay for the costs of new growth. Although such systems are a logical response to development pressures and the need for providing capital facilities, they may violate well-established planning law traditions. This timely article explores whether impact fee programs conflict with principles of planning and the due process of law, both of which have been integral to the development of modem planning law
Trying to understand the Standard Model parameters
We stress the importance of the circa 20 parameters in the Standard Model,
which are not fixed by the model but only determined experimentally, as a
window to the physics beyond the Standard Model. However, it is a tiny window
in as far as these numbers contain only the information corresponding to about
one line of text. Looking for a method to study these coupling and mass
parameters, we put forward the idea of the Multiple Point Principle as a first
step. This principle states that Nature adjusts the coupling and mass
parameters so as to make many different vacuum states exist and have
approximately the same energy densities (cosmological constants). As an
illustrative application, we put up the proposal that a small increase (maybe
only an infinitesimal one) in the value of the top quark coupling constant
could lead to a new vacuum phase; in this new phase the binding of a bound
state of 6 top quarks and 6 anti-top quarks becomes so strong as to become a
tachyon and condense in the vacuum. Assuming the existence of a third
degenerate vacuum at the fundamental energy scale, we present a solution to the
hierarchy problem of why the ratio of the fundamental scale to the electroweak
scale is so large. We also present a 5 parameter fit to the orders of magnitude
of the quark-lepton masses and mixing angles in the Family Replicated Gauge
Group Model. In this model, the Standard Model gauge group and a gauged B-L
(baryon number minus lepton number) is extended to one set of gauge fields for
each family of fermions.Comment: Institute address corrected and one reference adde
The Epistemic Significance of Valid Inference – A Model-Theoretic Approach
The problem analysed in this paper is whether we can gain knowledge by using valid inferences, and how we can explain this process from a model-theoretic perspective. According to the paradox of inference (Cohen & Nagel 1936/1998, 173), it is logically impossible for an inference to be both valid and its conclusion to possess novelty with respect to the premises. I argue in this paper that valid inference has an epistemic significance, i.e., it can be used by an agent to enlarge his knowledge, and
this significance can be accounted in model-theoretic terms. I will argue first that the paradox is based on an equivocation, namely, it arises because logical containment, i.e., logical implication, is identified with epistemological containment, i.e., the knowledge of the premises entails the knowledge of the conclusion. Second, I will argue that a truth-conditional theory of meaning has the necessary resources to explain the epistemic significance of valid inferences. I will explain this epistemic significance starting from Carnap’s semantic theory of meaning and Tarski’s notion of satisfaction. In this way I will counter (Prawitz 2012b)’s claim that a truth-conditional theory of meaning is not able to account the legitimacy of valid inferences, i.e., their epistemic significance
Reasons, Coherence, and Group Rationality
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, EarlyView
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