The impact of anxiety on college students\u27 academic lives

Anxiety appears to be a problem facing many college students. The literature on anxiety in college students is expansive, but there is very little research on how students are able to balance their anxiety with academics. The researches in this study conducted semi-structured interviews with five students, four males and one female, at James Madison University on how their anxiety impacts their academics and what they do to succeed. The students came from a limited sample size but were varied in their mental health diagnoses. The results of the study showed many different techniques that students used to combat anxiety. The most common tactics involved talking or hanging out with their friends and roommates, running or other forms of exercising, and techniques that resembled cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). These activities and other distractions mentioned are cited by students as being helpful and could be used to help other students with anxiety in the future

Evolution in the Clustering of Galaxies for Z < 1

Measuring the evolution in the clustering of galaxies over a large redshift range is a challenging problem. For a two-dimensional galaxy catalog, however, we can measure the galaxy-galaxy angular correlation function which provides information on the density distribution of galaxies. By utilizing photometric redshifts, we can measure the angular correlation function in redshift shells (Brunner 1997, Connolly et al. 1998) which minimizes the galaxy projection effect, and allows for a measurement of the evolution in the correlation strength with redshift. In this proceedings, we present some preliminary results which extend our previous work using more accurate photometric redshifts, and also incorporate absolute magnitudes, so that we can measure the evolution of clustering with either redshift or intrinsic luminosity.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures requires paspconf.sty. To be published in "Photometric Redshifts and High Redshift Galaxies", eds. R. Weymann, L. Storrie-Lombardi, M. Sawicki & R. Brunner, (San Francisco: ASP Conference Series

Fast Algorithms and Efficient Statistics: N-point Correlation Functions

We present here a new algorithm for the fast computation of N-point correlation functions in large astronomical data sets. The algorithm is based on kdtrees which are decorated with cached sufficient statistics thus allowing for orders of magnitude speed-ups over the naive non-tree-based implementation of correlation functions. We further discuss the use of controlled approximations within the computation which allows for further acceleration. In summary, our algorithm now makes it possible to compute exact, all-pairs, measurements of the 2, 3 and 4-point correlation functions for cosmological data sets like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS; York et al. 2000) and the next generation of Cosmic Microwave Background experiments (see Szapudi et al. 2000).Comment: To appear in Proceedings of MPA/MPE/ESO Conference "Mining the Sky", July 31 - August 4, 2000, Garching, German

Spectral Decomposition of Broad-Line AGNs and Host Galaxies

Using an eigenspectrum decomposition technique, we separate the host galaxy from the broad line active galactic nucleus (AGN) in a set of 4666 spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), from redshifts near zero up to about 0.75. The decomposition technique uses separate sets of galaxy and quasar eigenspectra to efficiently and reliably separate the AGN and host spectroscopic components. The technique accurately reproduces the host galaxy spectrum, its contributing fraction, and its classification. We show how the accuracy of the decomposition depends upon S/N, host galaxy fraction, and the galaxy class. Based on the eigencoefficients, the sample of SDSS broad-line AGN host galaxies spans a wide range of spectral types, but the distribution differs significantly from inactive galaxies. In particular, post-starburst activity appears to be much more common among AGN host galaxies. The luminosities of the hosts are much higher than expected for normal early-type galaxies, and their colors become increasingly bluer than early-type galaxies with increasing host luminosity. Most of the AGNs with detected hosts are emitting at between 1% and 10% of their estimated Eddington luminosities, but the sensitivity of the technique usually does not extend to the Eddington limit. There are mild correlations among the AGN and host galaxy eigencoefficients, possibly indicating a link between recent star formation and the onset of AGN activity. The catalog of spectral reconstruction parameters is available as an electronic table.Comment: 18 pages; accepted for publication in A

The Open Networking Lab: an open online course for experiential learning of computer networking

The Open Networking Lab project (https://onl.kmi.open.ac.uk/) aims to provide open online resources to enable anyone to learn the basics of computer networking. The project is hosted at The UK Open University and is supported by funding from UfI (www.ufi.co.uk) as part of their ‘VocTech Impact 2017’ funding initiative for vocational learning using digital technologies. Central to the project is the PT Anywhere network simulation software (Mikroyannidis et al. 2017) based on Cisco’s powerful Packet Tracer simulator. Learners can use PT Anywhere to develop their skills in solving computer networking problems. The ultimate aim is to enable as many learners as possible, regardless of prior educational background, to access employment in computer networking - an area which is in high demand from industry. The Open Networking Lab project is developing a Badged Open Course, which will be hosted on the Open University’s OpenLearn platform, where it will be accessible without cost to any learner or educator worldwide. Initial development is being carried out using the ‘sister’ platform OpenLearn Create so that the learning resources can be iteratively developed, piloted and improved prior to launch on OpenLearn itself. The Open Networking Lab course and resources will be evaluated with learners and teachers from Further Education colleges within the Cisco Networking Academy (www.netacad.com). The evaluation will involve hundreds of learners at different colleges within the UK. Data will be gathered from learners using surveys and observation, and from teachers via interviews. PT Anywhere and OpenLearn also provide various kinds of learning analytics. This data, with appropriate ethical considerations, will form a key part of the evaluation. Using PT Anywhere enables an experiential and practical approach to learning (Kolb, 1984; Brown et al., 1989). Learners will be shown, primarily via videos, screencasts and animations, how computer networks are set up and configured. They will then try out these ideas for themselves using the PT Anywhere simulator. Quizzes and other forms of assessment will enable learners to demonstrate that they have gained specific skills; they will then be able to claim corresponding digital badges. This package of activity-based learning should help learners feel motivated and engaged, and enable them to gain a sense of achievement as they progress through the online course. References: Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18 (1), 32-42. Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Mikroyannidis, A., Gomez-Goiri, A.; Smith, A. and Domingue, J. (2017). Online experimentation and interactive learning resources for teaching network engineering. In: 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 25-28 Apr 2017, Athens, Greece, IEEE, pp. 181–188