Teaching Reproducibility to First Year College Students: Reflections From an Introductory Data Science Course

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here. Modern technology threatens traditional modes of classroom assessment by providing students with automated ways to write essays and take exams. At the same time, modern technology continues to expand the accessibility of computational tools that promise to increase the potential scope and quality of class projects. This paper presents a case study where students are asked to complete a “reproducible” final project in an introductory data science course using the R programming language. A reproducible project is one where an instructor can easily regenerate the results and conclusions from the submitted materials. Experiences in two small sections of this introductory class suggest that reproducible projects are feasible to implement with only a little increase in assessment difficulty. The sample assignment presented in this paper, along with some proposed adaptations for non-data science classes, provide a pattern for directly assessing a student’s analysis, rather than just the final results

An Observational Diagnostic for Distinguishing Between Clouds and Haze in Hot Exoplanet Atmospheres

The nature of aerosols in hot exoplanet atmospheres is one of the primary vexing questions facing the exoplanet field. The complex chemistry, multiple formation pathways, and lack of easily identifiable spectral features associated with aerosols make it especially challenging to constrain their key properties. We propose a transmission spectroscopy technique to identify the primary aerosol formation mechanism for the most highly irradiated hot Jupiters (HIHJs). The technique is based on the expectation that the two key types of aerosols -- photochemically generated hazes and equilibrium condensate clouds -- are expected to form and persist in different regions of a highly irradiated planet's atmosphere. Haze can only be produced on the permanent daysides of tidally-locked hot Jupiters, and will be carried downwind by atmospheric dynamics to the evening terminator (seen as the trailing limb during transit). Clouds can only form in cooler regions on the night side and morning terminator of HIHJs (seen as the leading limb during transit). Because opposite limbs are expected to be impacted by different types of aerosols, ingress and egress spectra, which primarily probe opposing sides of the planet, will reveal the dominant aerosol formation mechanism. We show that the benchmark HIHJ, WASP-121b, has a transmission spectrum consistent with partial aerosol coverage and that ingress-egress spectroscopy would constrain the location and formation mechanism of those aerosols. In general, using this diagnostic we find that observations with JWST and potentially with HST should be able to distinguish between clouds and haze for currently known HIHJs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ Letter

Interval-Valued Kriging Models with Applications in Design Ground Snow Load Prediction

One critical consideration in the design of buildings constructed in the western United States is the weight of settled snow on the roof of the structure. Engineers are tasked with selecting a design snow load that ensures that the building is safe and reliable, without making the construction overly expensive. Western states use historical snow records at weather stations scattered throughout the region to estimate appropriate design snow loads. Various mapping techniques are then used to predict design snow loads between the weather stations. Each state uses different mapping techniques to create their snow load requirements, yet these different techniques have never been compared. In addition, none of the current mapping techniques can account for the uncertainty in the design snow load estimates. We address both issues by formally comparing the existing mapping techniques, as well as creating a new mapping technique that allows the estimated design snow loads to be represented as an interval of values, rather than a single value. In the process, we have improved upon existing methods for creating design snow load requirements and have produced a new tool capable of handling uncertain climate data

A selected study of Wesleyan Church leaders : discovering principles for minstry in the local church

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1028/thumbnail.jp