Implications of an Iterative Design Experiment in Transcendental and Polynomial Functions Within a Flipped Classroom

This study explores an iterative design research experiment of a flipped mathematics classroom over the span of five curricular units involving big ideas of transcendental and polynomial functions. Transcendental and polynomial functions involve an algebraic, analytic, and graphical approach to the concepts and procedures of exponential, logarithmic, power, cubic, quadratic, linear, and rational functions. The Compleat design research methodology (Middleton, Gorard, Taylor, & Bannan-Ritland, 2008) was used to explore a series of instructional sequences that an instructor implemented in a flipped classroom while teaching big ideas of transcendental and polynomial functions. The experiment occurred over the course of a sixteen-week semester. Data analysis was constructed from a triangulation of relevant data from student constructions in the form of written documents, whole-group and small-group discussions from the video recordings, and the instructor’s personal reflective notes. The hypothetical learning trajectory served as the empirical basis upon which reflections occurred and meaningful modifications were made to the original prototype. Segmenting the content helped decrease the extraneous cognitive load by reducing the burden on students’ working memory in order to make instructional activities more meaningful and effective. More time was allocated in class for basic algorithmic processes prior to the implementation of the higher-order instructional tasks in phase five to account for the increasing intrinsic cognitive load in the instructional tasks. Micro-level practice-based concerns and improvements to the prototype as well as the creation of a theoretical and empirically-based instructional model were natural consequences to the design experiment

Search Unmarked Historic Graves At The Comal Cemetery Bank Stabilization Project, City Of Nee Braunfels, Comal County, Texas

This archeological project was conducted for the City of New Braunfels, and the work was coordinated with Adam Michie in Capital Programs Management and Parks and Recreation Department director Stacey Dicke. Our work was contracted through the city’s engineering consultant, Freese and Nichols, Inc., where Leslie Boyd is the project manager. Onsite mapping of our project area was coordinated by Steve Schultz and conducted by the Schultz Group, Inc., of New Braunfels. Manuel Hernandez mapped the archeological trenches and features. Kevin Mandeville for Brierley Associates, Inc., coordinated and directed the borehole drilling. The Comal Cemetery manager and sexton Larry Herrmann with Maintenance Management of San Marcos provided us with cemetery maps and shared his extensive knowledge of the changes that had occurred in our project area over the past two decades. D&M Owens, Inc., in New Braunfels provided the machines and operators for the archeological trench excavations, backfilling, and site restoration, all of which was coordinated by Jimmy Owens. Patrick Ott and Jeremy Owens did most of the trackhoe trenching. For Prewitt and Associates, Inc., Doug Boyd and Aaron Norment were co-principal investigators. The borehole monitoring was conducted by Boyd, Norment, Ross Fields, and Karl Kibler. Boyd and Norment monitored the mechanical grave search. Brian Wootan and Sandy Hannum compiled the figures in this report

Wide-bandwidth, tunable, multiple-pulse-width optical delays using slow light in cesium vapor

We demonstrate an all-optical delay line in hot cesium vapor that tunably delays 275 ps input pulses up to 6.8 ns and 740 input ps pulses up to 59 ns (group index of approximately 200) with little pulse distortion. The delay is made tunable with a fast reconfiguration time (hundreds of ns) by optically pumping out of the atomic ground states.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Archeological Investigations for the Levi Jordan Plantation House Stabilization, Brazoria County, Texas

The Levi Jordan plantation house is one of the few antebellum plantation structures to have survived in Brazoria County. It is the only standing structure associated with the plantation, which began operating in 1848 and was occupied continually up through the 1990s. The original house, built in the early 1850s using slave labor, was a 20x60-ft two-story wooden frame structure. It was altered many times during its long occupation, often due to hurricane damage. A portion of the Levi Jordan Plantation was acquired by the State of Texas in 2002 and managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department until 2008, when the Texas Historical Commission took over its management. By then, the 160-year-old plantation house had suffered greatly and was in bad condition. The Texas Historical Commission began plans to stabilize and restore the historic house. Prewitt and Associates archeologists were contracted to conduct the archeological investigations associated with this work. The stabilization project included the permanent removal of the twentieth-century additions, hydraulic lifting of the antebellum house, removal of the original foundation piers, and installation of a new concrete perimeter foundation. The two original brick chimneys were removed and reconstructed. The investigations, conducted in 2010 and 2011, documented the following features: 2 cisterns, 2 chimney footings and 39 foundation piers associated with the plantation house; a chimney footing associated with an east wing behind the house; a chimney foundation associated with a former detached kitchen behind the main house; a brick patio and walkway associated with the original house; two large brick rubble concentrations and a small brick cluster; and a possible rain barrel brick pad. Other features examined were 15 possible piers that may be associated with the original house, the original east wing, a possible west wing, a south porch, a west porch, and an east porch. The archeological investigations revealed many details about the architecture of the original plantation house and subsequent additions. The evidence provides a better understanding of the building construction sequence and insights into the complex evolution of the Levi Jordan plantation house over its ca. 160-year existence. The most significant find is an 1853 gold coin found in the brick pad at the bottom of the southeast corner pier. This is almost certainly a date coin that was placed in this location by Levi Jordan or a master builder in a cornerstone foundation rite, and it provides an accurate date for the beginning of the house construction

The Predictive Ability of Specific Questions Related to Symptoms in the Diagnosis of Endodontic Disease

The purpose of this study was to test the predictive ability of specific questions in diagnosis of pulpal and periradicular disease in a dental school population. 210 patients were recruited to fill out a questionnaire, and undergo a clinical examination for pulpal and/or periradicular disease.The Questionnaire asked if the patient had in the last 6 months: 1. a toothache that kept them up at night 2. a toothache that required pain killers 3. facial swelling caused by a tooth 4. injury to any teeth 5. a broken tooth 6. a tooth darker in color than the surrounding teeth 7. a bump, pimple, or boil on the gums. 8. a toothache after eating or drinking something hot or cold 9. repeated sharp pain in the same area while chewing 10. A toothache or facial swelling that caused them to visit an emergency room.Examiners were blinded to the responses on the questionnaire and then, based on the clinical examination and testing, determined the presence or absence of endodontic disease. The data was analyzed using univariate logistic regression models.Results: The most predictive questions were #1 and #2 (p-value Conclusion: Patients with pain that wakes them at night or that requires analgesics were greater than 3 times more likely to have endodontic disease at the time of examination

Imaging the Mott Insulator Shells using Atomic Clock Shifts

Microwave spectroscopy was used to probe the superfluid-Mott Insulator transition of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a 3D optical lattice. Using density dependent transition frequency shifts we were able to spectroscopically distinguish sites with different occupation numbers, and to directly image sites with occupation number n=1 to n=5 revealing the shell structure of the Mott Insulator phase. We use this spectroscopy to determine the onsite interaction and lifetime for individual shells

Distributed visual environment for teaching algorithms

Thesis (S.B. and M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-58).by Aaron T.T. BoydS.B.and M.Eng