Theoretical Biomimetics: A biological design-driven concept for creative problem-solving as applied to the optimal sequencing of active learning techniques in educational theory

The article introduces the author’s concept of applying principles of biological design to drive creative problem-solving. It provides a brief background of the field of Biomimetics, which serves as a context for the reader to appreciate how it began with an established field upon which he constructed and adapted his concept to apply to human-made intangibles. A discussion of Theoretical Biomimetics specifies the differences between it and its predecessor. The final section provides the opportunity to see Theoretical Biomimetics in detail applied to education theory to address a problem related to student learning in higher education and how best to establish optimized sequences to implement evidence-based active-learning techniques to fill a void in the literature demonstrating from nature what has worked. The originality lies in the author taking a multidisciplinary approach to synergize a sequence of existing active-learning techniques and apply them to a new area in a new way

A Comprehensive Definition of Technology from an Ethological Perspective

Definitions, uses, and understanding of technology have varied tremendously since Jacob Bigelow’s Elements of Technology in 1829. In addition to providing a frame of reference for understanding technology, the purpose of this study was to define or describe it conceptually. A determination of dimensions comprising technology was made by critiquing historical and contemporary examples of definition by Bigelow and Volti. An analytic-synthetic method was employed to deconstruct both definitions spanning two centuries to derive aspects of technology. Definitions relying on an anthropocentric “how humans use technology” viewpoint failed to account for different perspectives that were found when an ethological perspective inquiring “how technology is used” served as a framework. Findings support qualification of insulin as technology according to the following comprehensive definition: something inherently intelligent enough to either function, be used to function, or be interpreted as having a function that intelligent beings—human or otherwise—can appreciate, something devised, designed (by primary intention), or discovered (by secondary intention) serving particular purposes from a secular standpoint without humankind creating it, or a significant beneficiary of rationally derived knowledge that is “used for” a purpose without itself necessarily being translated into something material that “does” autonomously, or dependently when used

Establishing Cisco Academy at San Bernardino High School

The purpose of this project was to establish a CISCO program at San Bernardino High School. This program facilitates student matriculating with the program being taught at San Bernardino Valley College. Students earn certification as a Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) certification

Massive neutrinos and dark energy

We consider the impact of the Heidelberg-Moscow claim for a detection of neutrino mass on the determination of the dark energy equation of state. By combining the Heidelberg-Moscow result with the WMAP 3-years data and other cosmological datasets we constrain the equation of state to -1.67< w <-1.05 at 95% c.l., While future data are certainly needed for a confirmation of the controversial Heildelberg-Moscow claim, our result shows that future laboratory searches for neutrino masses may play a crucial role in the determination of the dark energy properties.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, Talk given by Paolo Serra at the Neutrino Oscillation Workshop NOW2006, Otranto, Italy, September 9-16 200

Choosing Change: How to Assess Grant Proposals for Their Potential to Address Structural Inequality

The COVID-19 global pandemic exacerbated longstanding disparities by race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Individuals, communities, and countries that were already vulnerable were even more at risk. The Choosing Change toolkit can help individual donors and institutional grantmakers at all levels identify proposals and teams whose work addresses the structural inequalities that prevent people from surviving, let alone thriving

Bayesian regression analysis of data with random effects covariates from nonlinear longitudinal measurements

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Joint models for a wide class of response variables and longitudinal measurements consist on a mixed-effects model to fit longitudinal trajectories whose random effects enter as covariates in a generalized linear model for the primary response. They provide a useful way to assess association between these two kinds of data, which in clinical studies are often collected jointly on a series of individuals and may help understanding, for instance, the mechanisms of recovery of a certain disease or the efficacy of a given therapy. When a nonlinear mixed-effects model is used to fit the longitudinal trajectories, the existing estimation strategies based on likelihood approximations have been shown to exhibit some computational efficiency problems (De la Cruz et al., 2011). In this article we consider a Bayesian estimation procedure for the joint model with a nonlinear mixed-effects model for the longitudinal data and a generalized linear model for the primary response. The proposed prior structure allows for the implementation of an MCMC sampler. Moreover, we consider that the errors in the longitudinal model may be correlated. We apply our method to the analysis of hormone levels measured at the early stages of pregnancy that can be used to predict normal versus abnormal pregnancy outcomes. We also conduct a simulation study to assess the importance of modelling correlated errors and quantify the consequences of model misspecification

Fundamentals of Logic, Reasoning, and Argumentation: An evidence-supported curriculum targeting scientific literacy to increase public understanding and engagement in science

The purpose of this article is to present an evidence-supported curriculum covering the fundamentals of logic, reasoning, and argumentation skills to address the emphasized basic knowledge, skills, and abilities required to be scientifically literate, which will prepare the public to understand and engage with science meaningfully. An analytic-synthetic approach toward understanding the notion of public is taken using a theoretical biomimetics framework that identifies naturally occurring objects or phenomena that descriptively captures the essence of a construct to facilitate creative problem-solving. In the present case, the problem being solved is how to reconcile what is meant by public, how it ought to be interpreted, determining the diverse levels of confidence in science that exist, and various understandings of science all with one another. The results demonstrate there is an inherent denotative-connotative inconsistency in the traditional notion of public that can be explicated through the concept of a fractal allowing for comprehension of the relationship between public confidence in, and understanding of, science

Applying Cognitive Presence to Individual Educational Experience as a Framework

In my approach to reflecting upon my entire educational experience, I have appropriated as a tool for both analysis and framing a construct that has not been previously employed to the best of my knowledge. Traditionally understood in reference to distance education, cognitive presence may be defined as "the extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry can construct meaning through sustained communication" (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2001). Furthermore, aware that within the cognitive presence framework a community of inquiry model would normally apply to an instructor and his or her students as participants all of whom are participating in a distance course or program intercommunicating to bring about meaning, I asked myself the following question: "what if for participants, in place of living students, I substituted each of the courses I have taken comprised of their respective instructor moiety acting as conduit for the content moiety and treated the course instructor-content pairings as “living” entities with which I maintained communication (via the instructor)?