A Learning-oriented Assessment Perspective on Scenario-based Assessment

Traditional high-stakes, large-scale language assessments are known for their standardized formats and stable psychometric properties; however, recently researchers have been re-conceptualizing language assessment design and development theories and methodologies to more closely reflect the knowledge, skills and abilities required of 21st century students. Attempting to confront the evolving notions of instruction, learning, and assessment, the learning-oriented assessment (LOA) framework theorizes the dynamic interactions within the classroom. Concurrently, scenario-based assessment (SBA) has emerged as a suite of assessment design and development features and guidelines directed at meeting contemporary assessment needs. This analysis will indicate the extent the theoretical framework of LOA can be used to indicate and theoretically support salient design features included in SBA, and in so doing attempt to align these two perspectives into a unified set of design and development considerations

“Savages” in the Service of Empire: Native American Soldiers in Gorham\u27s Rangers, 1744–1762

Gorham\u27s Rangers, initially an all-Indian ranger company, was instrumental in Britain\u27s conquest of Nova Scotia (Acadia) during the eighteenth century. In the process of uncovering that story, the essay assesses New England Indians’ role in shaping colonial frontier warfare as well as the impact of military service on Native American communities

The Effect of Military Service on Indian Communities in Southern New England, 1740–1763

Military sources combined with existing ethnohistorical narratives about the experience of Algonquian groups living ‘behind the frontier’ in colonial southern New England provide insight into the impact of imperial warfare on Indian peoples. Virtually every indigenous male in the region after King Philip’s War served in the colonial military. Tribes used the service of their men as leverage in negotiations with colonial governments as they attempted to advance their own agendas and protect their sovereignty. Yet Indian soldiers died in large numbers, mainly from infectious disease. Death rates for Indian soldiers were so high that it affected tribal demographics and led to increasing intermarriage and intermixing between the region’s Indian and African populations. Other issues faced by Natives in the aftermath of the wars included the long-term injury and disability of veterans, the unresolved fate of men captured during the fighting, and the psychological impact of wartime trauma on veterans

Automatic Detection of Cone Photoreceptors In Split Detector Adaptive Optics Scanning Light Ophthalmoscope Images

Quantitative analysis of the cone photoreceptor mosaic in the living retina is potentially useful for early diagnosis and prognosis of many ocular diseases. Non-confocal split detector based adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) imaging reveals the cone photoreceptor inner segment mosaics often not visualized on confocal AOSLO imaging. Despite recent advances in automated cone segmentation algorithms for confocal AOSLO imagery, quantitative analysis of split detector AOSLO images is currently a time-consuming manual process. In this paper, we present the fully automatic adaptive filtering and local detection (AFLD) method for detecting cones in split detector AOSLO images. We validated our algorithm on 80 images from 10 subjects, showing an overall mean Dice’s coefficient of 0.95 (standard deviation 0.03), when comparing our AFLD algorithm to an expert grader. This is comparable to the inter-observer Dice’s coefficient of 0.94 (standard deviation 0.04). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first validated, fully-automated segmentation method which has been applied to split detector AOSLO images

A Dose-Response Model Assessment of Recreational Water-Borne Microbes Causing Gastroenteritis

Dose-response models were developed for nineteen gastroenteritis-causing microbes. Three dose-response modeling equations were used: linear, linear two-population, and beta-Poisson. Models were fitted to experimental data from a variety of literature sources using a least sum of squares method to derive equation parameters. The deviances of each microbe's equations were calculated to identify those equations that were statistically valid. Of the fitted models, the beta-Poisson equation most frequently provided the best fit to the experimental data and was the only equation that could be fitted to data for 18 of the 19 microbes.Master of Science in Public Healt