A CS1 Spatial Skills Intervention and the Impact on Introductory Programming Abilities

This paper discusses the results of replicating and extending a study performed by Cooper et al. examining the relationship between students’ spatial skills and their success in learning to program. Whereas Cooper et al. worked with high school students participat- ing in a summer program, we worked with college students taking an introductory computing course. Like Cooper et al.’s study, we saw a correlation between a student’s spatial skills and their success in learning computing. More significantly, we saw that after apply- ing an intervention to teach spatial skills, students demonstrated improved performance both on a standard spatial skills assessment as well as on a CS content instrument. We also saw a correlation between students’ enjoyment in computing and improved perfor- mance both on a standard spatial skills assessment and on a CS content instrument, a result not observed by Cooper et al

Practice report: six studies of spatial skills training in introductory computer science

We have been training spatial skills for Computing Science students over several years with positive results, both in terms of the students’ spatial skills and their CS outcomes. The delivery and structure of the training has been modified over time and carried out at several institutions, resulting in variations across each intervention. This article describes six distinct case studies of training deliveries, highlighting the main challenges faced and some important takeaways. Our goal is to provide useful guidance based on our varied experience for any practitioner considering the adoption of spatial skills training for their students

Integrating Al with NiO nano honeycomb to realize an energetic material on silicon substrate

Nano energetic materials offer improved performance in energy release, ignition, and mechanical properties compared to their bulk or micro counterparts. In this study, the authors propose an approach to synthesize an Al/NiO based nano energetic material which is fully compatible with a microsystem. A two-dimensional NiO nano honeycomb is first realized by thermal oxidation of a Ni thin film deposited onto a silicon substrate by thermal evaporation. Then the NiO nano honeycomb is integrated with an Al that is deposited by thermal evaporation to realize an Al/NiO based nano energetic material. This approach has several advantages over previous investigations, such as lower ignition temperature, enhanced interfacial contact area, reduced impurities and Al oxidation, tailored dimensions, and easier integration into a microsystem to realize functional devices. The synthesized Al/NiO based nano energetic material is characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry

Propagation studies of metastable intermolecular composites (MIC).

Thermite materials are attractive energetic materials because the reactions are highly exothermic, have high energy densities, and high temperatures of combustion. However, the application of thermite materials has been limited because of the relative slow release of energy compared to other energetic materials. Engineered nano-scale composite energetic materials, such as Al/MoO{sub 3}, show promise for additional energetic material applications because they can react very rapidly. The composite material studied in this work consists of tailored, ultra-fine grain (30-200 nm diameter) aluminum particles that dramatically increase energy release rates of these thermite materials. These reactant clusters of fuel and oxidizer particles are in nearly atomic scale proximity to each other but are constrained from reaction until triggered. Despite the growing importance of nano-scale energetic materials, even the most basic combustion characteristics of these materials have not been thoroughly studied. This paper reports initial studies of the ignition and combustion of metastable intermolecular composites (MIC) materials. The goals were lo obtain an improved understanding of flame propagation mechanisms and combustion behaviors associated with nano-structured energetic materials. Information on issues such as reaction rate and behavior as a function of composition (mixture ratio), initial static charge, and particle size are essential and will allow scientists to design applications incorporating the benefits of these compounds. The materials have been characterized, specifically focusing on particle size, shape, distribution and morphology

Stress relaxation in pre-stressed aluminum core–shell particles: X-ray diffraction study, modeling, and improved reactivity

Stress relaxation in aluminum micron-scale particles covered by alumina shell after pre-stressing by thermal treatment and storage was measured using X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation. Pre-stressing was produced by annealing Al particles at 573K followed by fast cooling. While averaged dilatational strain in Al core was negligible for untreated particles, it was measured at 4.40×10-5 and 2.85×10-5 after 2 and 48 days of storage. Consistently, such a treatment leads to increase in flame propagation speed for Al+CuO mixture by 37% and 25%, respectively. Analytical model for creep in alumna shell and stress relaxation in Al core-alumina shell structure is developed and activation energy and pre-exponential multiplier are estimated. The effect of storage temperature and annealing temperature on the kinetics of stress relaxation was evaluated theoretically. These results provide estimates for optimizing Al reactivity with the holding time at annealing temperature and allowable time for storage of Al particles for different environmental temperatures

Understanding and Improving Students\u27 Cognitive Navigation and Programming Abilities

Spatial skills have been shown to play an import role in most STEM field. Studies have showed that students\u27 spatial skills (primarily students\u27 mental rotation abilities) are correlated to their programming ability and that with the use of a spatial skills intervention, focused on 3D mental rotations, students\u27 spatial skills and programming abilities improve. It makes sense that a person’s ability to mentally rotate objects it correlated to their success in other STEM degrees, but it makes less sense why there is any connections to students’ programming abilities. In my research I aimed to further explore new spatial skills, primarily cognitive navigational abilities, and their role in computing. We did so by conducting a two-year study investigating the relationship between students’ navigational abilities and their programming abilities in multiple introductory computing courses. Our results showed that there is a correlation between students’ map reading ability and their programming ability. We also found that with the use of a map reading intervention using an augmented reality sandbox both students’ map reading skills and programming abilities increased compared to students who did not participate in the intervention

Solution-Gated Nanoporus Graphene Field-Effect Transistors

Atomically thin nanoporous membranes of graphene have attracted considerable investigation as solid-state sensors and molecular sieve devices. We have hypothesized that the electrostatic interactions between pi bonds in nanoporous graphene and the molecular orbital of an interacting compound will modulate carrier mobility in graphene thus producing a direct current signal detection of simple and complex molecular structures. Using voltammetry and analog signal processing we have studied the relationship between carrier mobility in nanoporous graphene and concentration, molecular weight and hybridized molecular orbital structure. We provide evidence for the potential for graphene to be further implemented as the first molecular orbital gated field-effect transistors for use in single biomolecule sensing devices.Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department ofHonors Colleg

Carbon manipulations and measurements for a changing ocean /

In this dissertation, I present several tools to assist the community in making accurate and precise manipulations and measurements of carbonate chemistry parameters, which are essential for understanding, interpreting, and predicting the anthropogenic impact on the chemistry of our oceans. As the frequency of carbonate chemistry measurements increases with interest in the ocean's response to climate change, there is a continued need for confidence in the measurements to ensure data quality and consequent data usefulness. First, I explain the results of an international inter-laboratory comparison of various carbonate chemistry measurements. The majority of the results exhibit agreement within 0.5% of the assigned value for total alkalinity and total dissolved inorganic carbon, with significantly more variability in pH measurements. In many cases there is evidence of significant loss of CO₂ from the seawater samples, a particularly alarming bias given how critical these measurements are to the understanding of increasing anthropogenic carbon in our oceans. Carbonate chemistry measurements can also be compromised when taken from environments such as coastal and estuarine seawater, as well as laboratory cultures and aquaria, containing large numbers of suspended biogenic particles. The presence of these particles in a seawater sample may alter the results of the analysis for carbonate chemistry parameters including total alkalinity, total dissolved inorganic carbon, and pH. In this dissertation, I present the verification of a filtration method using a peristaltic pump and enclosed filter housing, which does not alter the dissolved CO₂ content of the seawater sample, and thus is suitable for filtration of samples before analysis. Finally, manipulation of carbonate chemistry in the laboratory is a crucial tool for studying the impacts of increasing CO₂ on organisms and communities, however is not always straightforward. I developed a carefully controlled aquarium system capable of manipulating the carbonate chemistry, oxygen levels, and temperature of seawater. The multi-stressor nature of the control is critical, particularly regarding the investigation of coastal ocean conditions, which are unique in the magnitude of range and temporal variability possible in these parameters. The aquarium system is dynamically controlled such that variability in pH may be introduced across many time scales. The novel tools presented in this dissertation for the manipulation and measurements of carbonate chemistry will assist in ensuring greater accuracy and understanding of the impacts of changes in carbon dioxide on our ocean

Carbon manipulations and measurements for a changing ocean /

In this dissertation, I present several tools to assist the community in making accurate and precise manipulations and measurements of carbonate chemistry parameters, which are essential for understanding, interpreting, and predicting the anthropogenic impact on the chemistry of our oceans. As the frequency of carbonate chemistry measurements increases with interest in the ocean's response to climate change, there is a continued need for confidence in the measurements to ensure data quality and consequent data usefulness. First, I explain the results of an international inter-laboratory comparison of various carbonate chemistry measurements. The majority of the results exhibit agreement within 0.5% of the assigned value for total alkalinity and total dissolved inorganic carbon, with significantly more variability in pH measurements. In many cases there is evidence of significant loss of CO₂ from the seawater samples, a particularly alarming bias given how critical these measurements are to the understanding of increasing anthropogenic carbon in our oceans. Carbonate chemistry measurements can also be compromised when taken from environments such as coastal and estuarine seawater, as well as laboratory cultures and aquaria, containing large numbers of suspended biogenic particles. The presence of these particles in a seawater sample may alter the results of the analysis for carbonate chemistry parameters including total alkalinity, total dissolved inorganic carbon, and pH. In this dissertation, I present the verification of a filtration method using a peristaltic pump and enclosed filter housing, which does not alter the dissolved CO₂ content of the seawater sample, and thus is suitable for filtration of samples before analysis. Finally, manipulation of carbonate chemistry in the laboratory is a crucial tool for studying the impacts of increasing CO₂ on organisms and communities, however is not always straightforward. I developed a carefully controlled aquarium system capable of manipulating the carbonate chemistry, oxygen levels, and temperature of seawater. The multi-stressor nature of the control is critical, particularly regarding the investigation of coastal ocean conditions, which are unique in the magnitude of range and temporal variability possible in these parameters. The aquarium system is dynamically controlled such that variability in pH may be introduced across many time scales. The novel tools presented in this dissertation for the manipulation and measurements of carbonate chemistry will assist in ensuring greater accuracy and understanding of the impacts of changes in carbon dioxide on our ocean