Flipped Classrooms in the Humanities: Findings from a Quasi-Experimental Study

This quasi-experimental study explored the effects of flipping the classroom on perceptions of students in humanities settings. This control-matched study examined the effects of the flipped classroom on seven subscales from a satisfaction inventory. Out of 130 students, n = 62 (47.7%) completed the study. Flipped classes reported a more ideal classroom environment on Innovation and Individualization (p \u3c .001). Additionally, flipping provides instructors more time to focus on deeper learning strategies than traditional courses

Noetic Sanctification: Using Critical Thinking to Facilitate Sanctification of the Mind

This literature review proposes four pillars of critical thinking (CT) that should be applied as the Christian educational discipline of noetic (or cognitive) sanctification: 1) CT is a broad term involving multiple aspects of an approach to life, 2) education brings individuals out of the classroom and into developing CT dispositions, 3) CT necessitates being conversant with multiple perspectives throughout the process of thinking and learning, and 4) CT involves a high self-awareness regarding assumptions, biases, and motivation. Based on these CT pillars, some applications are recommended for Christian educators, regardless of educational setting

Oil and Gas Well Brines for Dust Control on Unpaved Roads - Part 2: Environmental and Health Impacts

Natural gas and oil drilling have expanded rapidly in the U.S in recent years. The volume of various associated waste products has been increasing. One such waste product is the typically saline water produced from the wells along with the hydrocarbons. A variety of methods are currently being employed to dispose of this oil and gas well brine (OGB). One such practice is spreading OGB on unpaved roads for dust control and road stabilization. This investigation focused on the likely effectiveness and anticipatable risks of spreading OGB on unpaved roads. Despite decades of regulated use of OGB for dust control, there appears to be a complete lack of data indicating the practice is effective. Analysis of regulations, related literature, and original data indicated, as previously presented in Part 1 (Payne, 2018), that spreading OGB on unpaved roads is ineffective and likely counterproductive for dust control and road stabilization, and presents numerous potential and immediate environmental and health risks as discussed in this Part 2

Energy, structure, soil and self-regulation in plant/soil systems: a conceptual model

1989 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Typescript (Photocopy).A new concept is presented which suggests that in stable plant/soil systems, plants control the soil environmental factors that affect plant growth and the interactions among those factors by controlling system structure. The concept is based on the plant-control hypothesis and rhizocentric model of soil structural development. The plant-control hypothesis declares that in plant/soil systems energy is the primary resource, and structure an essential regulator of energy flows. The rhizocentric model of soil structural development in grass-dominated plant/soil systems describes the process which results in plant-control of soil structure, and, consequently, of energy and nutrient flows for such systems. In conjunction, the plant-control hypothesis and rhizocentric model form a conceptual model of control in plant/soil systems. The conceptual model may help explain the self-regulatory capabilities of stable plant/soil systems, and the causes of instability in some agricultural plant/soil systems. Examination of published data from various sources has revealed no case in which application of the conceptual control model did not result in logically consistent, reliable prediction of experimental outcomes, plausible interpretation of previously uninterpretable results, and often, formulation of testable new hypotheses. It is concluded that the control model -- and the plant-control hypothesis and rhizocentric model which it implies -- has enough credibility to merit further critical examination as a potentially useful conceptual tool for soil and agricultural science, biology, and ecology

Marine habitat use patterns of the Endangered Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus)

Seabirds face a number of threats both on land and at sea.Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus; MAMU), listed as Endangered in WA, are impacted by breeding habitat loss and multiple at-sea threats. MAMUs are important upper-trophic level predators of forage fish and zooplankton in coastal ecosystems from CA to AK, including the Salish Sea. MAMU marine distribution and habitat use, information critical for conservation planning, are poorly understood in south Puget Sound. We found that Marbled Murrelets consistently forage around Brown\u27s Point Lighthouse, most to the NW of the lighthouse. Additionally, the birds mainly foraged until late July, and did not show any signs of differing foraging behavior throughout the season

Oil and Gas Well Brines for Dust Control on Unpaved Roads – Part 1: Ineffectiveness

Natural gas and oil drilling have expanded rapidly in the U.S in recent years. The volume of various associated waste products has been increasing. One such waste product is the typically saline water produced from the wells along with the hydrocarbons. A variety of methods are currently being employed to dispose of this oil and gas well brine (OGB). One such practice is spreading OGB on unpaved roads for dust control and road stabilization. This investigation focused on the likely effectiveness and anticipatable risks of spreading OGB on unpaved roads. Despite decades of regulated use of OGB for dust control, there appears to be a complete lack of data indicating the practice is effective. Analysis of regulations, related literature, and original data indicated spreading OGB on unpaved roads is ineffective and likely counterproductive for dust control and road stabilization as reported here in Part 1, and presents numerous potential and immediate environmental, health and economic risks as reported in Part 2 (publication pending)

A Test of the Particle Paradigm in N-Body Simulations

We present results of tests of the evolution of small ``fluid elements'' in cosmological N--body simulations, to examine the validity of their treatment as particles. We find that even very small elements typically collapse along one axis while expanding along another, often to twice or more their initial comoving diameter. This represents a possible problem for high--resolution uses of such simulations.Comment: Uses aasms4.sty; accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Files available also at ftp://kusmos.phsx.ukans.edu/preprints/ates

A PROPOSED RAPID METHOD FOR MEASURING AREA METHANE EMISSIONS: AN EXPLORATORY APPLICATION IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, USA

Methane is an important greenhouse gas, but methane emissions are poorly understood, in large part due to limited atmospheric methane data on local scales. Local and regional scale methane emissions data are urgently needed to improve modeling of future climate change, and support energy plans and policies to minimize future climate impacts of socio-economically needed energy utilization. There have been numerous recent reports on local ground-level ambient air methane surveys that have provided more thorough data on methane sources in some urban areas. Such surveys generate substantial amounts of high quality ground-level methane concentration data, usually with reliable time and geo-referenced location data. We examined the potential usefulness of such data sets for generation of estimates of methane emissions for surveyed areas. Our efforts focused on development of a generally applicable, relatively simple mass-balance approach to estimate area methane emissions from mobile, ground level ambient air methane concentration and local weather data. The data examined were collected in Manhattan, New York, USA over 5 days in late 2012. Using the ratio of methane emissions (μg m-2s-1) to natural gas usage (μg m-2s-1), the resulting methane emissions estimates for Manhattan were compared to 5 other cities (emissions reported by other investigators using other methods). The emissions estimates for Manhattan derived from ground-level mobile methane surveys were within the range of the estimates for the other cities. In addition, the emissions rates reported for the cities indicate natural gas should not be considered more climate-beneficial than other fossil fuels

The creation of the Helix planetary nebula (NGC 7293) by multiple events

A deep, continuum-subtracted, image of NGC 7293 has been obtained in the light of the Halpha+[N II] emission lines. New images of two filamentary halo stuctures have been obtained and the possible detection of a collimated outflow made. Spatially resolved, longslit profiles of the Halpha+[N II] lines have been observed across several of these features with the MES combined with the SPM 2.1m telescope; these are compared with the [N II]6584, [O III]5007, HeII 6560 and Halpha profiles obtained over the nebular core. The central HeII emission is originating in a ~0.34pc diameter spherical volume expanding at <=12km/s which is surrounded, and partially coincident with an [O III] emitting inner shell expanding at 12km/s. The bright helical structure surrounding this inner region is modelled as a bi-polar nebula with lobe expansions of 25km/s whose axis is tilted at 37deg to the sight line but with a toroidal waist itself expanding at 14 km/s. These observations are compared with the expectations of the interacting two winds model for the formation of PNe. Only after the fast wind has switched off could this global velocity structure be generated. Ablated flows must complicate any interpretation. It is suggested that the clumpy nature of much of the material could play a part in creating the radial `spokes' shown here to be apparently present close to the central star. These `spokes' could in fact be the persistant tails of cometary globules whose heads have now photo-evaporated completely. A halo arc projecting from the north-east of the bright core has a conterpart to the south-east. Anomolies in the position-velocity arrays of line profiles could suggest that these are part of an expanding disc not aligned with the central helical structure though expanding bi-polar lobes along a tilted axis are not ruled out.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA