Simultaneous optical and radio observations of NP 0532

Simultaneous optical and radio observations of Crab Nebula pulsar NP 0532 and time delay analysi

Appreciative inquiry in management education: measuring the success of co-created learning

This paper reviews Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and its potential contribution to creating classrooms desired by all participants. It addresses the question of personal contribution to the creation of that which is identified by those responsible for its creation. A brief review of AI’s history and the fundamental ideas behind its practice is followed by a detailed step-by-step approach of how it is applied to a graduate class in Leadership and Management Development. The exercise is situated in the context of student directed learning and the positive possibilities of this exercise in students’ lives. Statistical analysis of a survey created from the identified outcomes is presented. The survey was administered on two occasions over the semester to measure the extent to which the class had accomplished the ideals, and a self-report of students’ contribution to that achievement. Results show a significant relationship between those items that are deemed high priority for the course and students’ assessment of achievement and their contribution to that achievement. Conclusions and implications are included with some questions posed for further research and practice

Generating structured music for bagana using quality metrics based on Markov models.

This research is partially supported by the project Lrn2Cre8 which acknowledges the financial support of the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Commission, under FET Grant No. 610859

The effect of pre-reading instruction on vocabulary learning: An examination of L1 and L2 readers’ eye movements

This study examines the effect of pre-reading vocabulary instruction on learners’ attention and vocabulary gains. Participants (L1 = 92; L2 = 88) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: pre-reading instruction, involving explicit instruction of six novel items and reading a text with them repeated eight times; reading-only, which only involved reading the text with the novel items; reading-baseline, in which participants read a text with the repeated items replaced by known (control) words; and instruction-only, which involved explicit instruction of the novel items and the reading of an unrelated text. Eye-tracking was used to measure amount of attention to the vocabulary during reading. Knowledge of the target vocabulary was assessed in three immediate post-tests (form recognition, meaning recall, and meaning recognition). Results showed that pre-reading instruction led to both higher vocabulary gains and a processing advantage. Cumulative reading times were a significant predictor of meaning recognition scores

Re-examining the Information Systems Security Problem from a Systems Theory Perspective

This theoretical paper discusses a recent shift in cyber attackers’ interest away from traditional network and operating systems vulnerabilities and towards application level security flaws in end user systems. The authors argue that this shift signals a strong need to re-examine the way that security is addressed during the systems development process. Most of the systems development methodologies currently used do not contain formal processes for dealing with the interconnected complexity and risks associated with today’s computing environments. Using systems theory as a theoretical lens, the fundamental processes of current systems development methodologies are analyzed and weaknesses in their ability to deal with these environmental factors are discussed. The authors then present a proposed holistic framework for integrating security into existing systems development methods. The paper concludes with a discussion of the need for more scholarly research in this area and suggestions for future research directions are offered

Scaffolding School Pupils’ Scientific Argumentation with Evidence-Based Dialogue Maps

This chapter reports pilot work investigating the potential of Evidence-based Dialogue Mapping to scaffold young teenagers’ scientific argumentation. Our research objective is to better understand pupils’ usage of dialogue maps created in Compendium to write scientific ex-planations. The participants were 20 pupils, 12-13 years old, in a summer science course for “gifted and talented” children in the UK. Through qualitative analysis of three case studies, we investigate the value of dialogue mapping as a mediating tool in the scientific reasoning process during a set of learning activities. These activities were published in an online learning envi-ronment to foster collaborative learning. Pupils mapped their discussions in pairs, shared maps via the online forum and in plenary discussions, and wrote essays based on their dialogue maps. This study draws on these multiple data sources: pupils’ maps in Compendium, writings in science and reflective comments about the uses of mapping for writing. Our analysis highlights the diversity of ways, both successful and unsuccessful, in which dialogue mapping was used by these young teenagers

Climate Change and Land Management Impact Rangeland Condition and Sage-Grouse Habitat in Southeastern Oregon

Contemporary pressures on sagebrush steppe from climate change, exotic species, wildfire, and land use change threaten rangeland species such as the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). To effectively manage sagebrush steppe landscapes for long-term goals, managers need information about the potential impacts of climate change, disturbances, and management activities. We integrated information from a dynamic global vegetation model, a sage-grouse habitat climate envelope model, and a state-and-transition simulation model to project broad-scale vegetation dynamics and potential sage-grouse habitat across 23.5 million acres in southeastern Oregon. We evaluated four climate scenarios, including continuing current climate and three scenarios of global climate change, and three management scenarios, including no management, current management and a sage-grouse habitat restoration scenario. All climate change scenarios projected expansion of moist shrub steppe and contraction of dry shrub steppe, but climate scenarios varied widely in the projected extent of xeric shrub steppe, where hot, dry summer conditions are unfavorable for sage-grouse. Wildfire increased by 26% over the century under current climate due to exotic grass encroachment, and by two- to four-fold across all climate change scenarios as extreme fire years became more frequent. Exotic grasses rapidly expanded in all scenarios as large areas of the landscape initially in semi-degraded condition converted to exotic-dominated systems. Due to the combination of exotic grass invasion, juniper encroachment, and climatic unsuitability for sage-grouse, projected sage-grouse habitat declined in the first several decades, but increased in area under the three climate change scenarios later in the century, as moist shrub steppe increased and rangeland condition improved. Management activities in the model were generally unsuccessful in controlling exotic grass invasion but were effective in slowing woodland expansion. Current levels of restoration treatments were insufficient to prevent some juniper expansion, but increased treatment rates under the restoration scenario maintained juniper near initial levels in priority treatment areas. Our simulations indicate that climate change may have both positive and negative implications for maintaining sage-grouse habitat