Talk to Text

This thesis seeks to both examine and embrace the lack of concrete language available regarding what actually happens with students during face-to-face conversations about their wr iting. The context of “conversations” covers a broad spectrum of participants - teacher and student, student and student, student and tutor, as well as student with self - and domains - cognitive, affective, psychological and creative - that are particularly vexing to capture in words. Attempts by authors to weave together such disparate, dynamic forces breed tension. Such tension is good, and, quite often, purposeful. My research seeks to explore how such constructive tension is created in particular by Donald Murray and Peter Elbow, and how each author uses language to challenge the reader to experience a similar type of tension that one or both participants feels during the “conversations” concerning student texts. Furthermore, by closely reading each author’s work through Jacque Derrida’s lens of Differance - a theory that presumes a perpetual gap between author’s word and reader’s understanding - 1 seek to argue how the reader’s interpretive tension experientially brings her uniquely inside the uncertain substance of the “conversation” itself. Furthermore, I seek to reposition Differance as a hermeneutic — an essential skill of talk - for the teacher or tutor to effectively use in speaking with students about their work. By embracing the inherent mutability of ideas, texts, and meaning, and talking through such, instability with students, I propose a more particular kind of talk that empowers student’s metalinguistic skills. Rather than contemplating misunderstandings between participants in “conversations” as stylistic failures, my thesis considers Derrida’s theory as a pedagogy that can stimulate awareness in students as to how such instability creates rhetorical possibilities. Such heightened talk promotes enduring metalinguistic and metacognitive consciousness in the student, which endures well beyond the “conversation” itself

Bayesian Inference in Estimation of Distribution Algorithms

Metaheuristics such as Estimation of Distribution Algorithms and the Cross-Entropy method use probabilistic modelling and inference to generate candidate solutions in optimization problems. The model fitting task in this class of algorithms has largely been carried out to date based on maximum likelihood. An alternative approach that is prevalent in statistics and machine learning is to use Bayesian inference. In this paper, we provide a framework for the application of Bayesian inference techniques in probabilistic model-based optimization. Based on this framework, a simple continuous Bayesian Estimation of Distribution Algorithm is described. We evaluate and compare this algorithm experimentally with its maximum likelihood equivalent, UMDAG c

Structure of the copper tripodal Schiff base complex {tris[4-(2-thienyl)-3-aza-κN-3-butenyl]amine-κN}copper(I) tetrafluoroborate

The copper Schiff base complex {tris[4-(2-thienyl)-3- aza-~N-3-butenyl]amine-~N} copper(I) tetrafluoroborate, [Cu{N(CTHgNS)3 }]+.BF4- (I), crystallizes with the cation residing in a general position and two disordered tetrafluoroborate anions residing on twofold axes. The cation has approximate threefold symmetry and the copper(I) geometry is distorted trigonal pyramidal with coordination from the apical tertiary amine N atom and the three azomethine N atoms but not from the S atoms of the three thiophene moieties. The principal bond lengths are Cu-- Napical 2.300 (5) ,~ and mean Cu--Nequatorial 1.994 (4) A,, with a mean Cu-..S contact of 3.270 (2) A

You are the Speaker: Considerations of the Art and Science of an Effective Presentation

Effective communication is often stated as a key component to success in many aspects related to wildlife damage management. The objective of this presentation is to provide considerations of the components that can lead to an efficient and effective delivery of the desired messages. Clearly accepting the constraints of the presentation related to the audience and time available is the first step. Understanding that most effective presentations rarely have more than three “take-home messages” can be critical. Those messages must be clearly defined and refined.Observing and accounting for typical physical and environmental conditions that influence audio-visual technology should be considered. Finally, the role of the presenter in delivery of the information is critical. Factors ranging from the presenter’s appearance and recognition of the importance of explaining information are essential to an effective presentation

Probing Broad Absorption Line Quasar Outflows: X-ray Insights

Energetic outflows appear to occur in conjunction with active mass accretion onto supermassive black holes. These outflows are most readily observed in the approximately 10% of quasars with broad absorption lines, where the observer's line of sight passes through the wind. Until fairly recently, the paucity of X-ray data from these objects was notable, but now sensitive hard-band missions such as Chandra and XMM-Newton are routinely detecting broad absorption line quasars. The X-ray regime offers qualitatively new information for the understanding of these objects, and these new results must be taken into account in theoretical modeling of quasar winds.Comment: Submitted to Advances in Space Research for New X-ray Results from Clusters of Galaxies and Black Holes (Oct 2002; Houston, TX), eds. C. Done, E.M. Puchnarewicz, M.J. Ward. Requires cospar.sty (6 pgs, 5 figs

What in the World Just Happened? Students’ Self-Regulation in Asynchronous PreCalculus During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We describe students’ learning practices in an online asynchronous PreCalculus course during Fall 2020, the first complete semester of distance learning induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results were compiled using a thematic analysis of a questionnaire administered to 43 students enrolled in PreCalculus at a university in the Midwest (United States). Students were given opportunities for active learning and various synchronous Q&A sessions, yet they primarily learned through watching videos and reading worked examples, minimizing interactions with the instructor and available tutors. The questionnaire results show that students knew active learning was helpful, but they were unable to curtail unproductive learning practices. The questionnaire also showed that students struggled to stay motivated and keep to a schedule. We conclude that by developing their study techniques and self-regulatory habits, students will be able to take more control over their learning, particularly in asynchronous classes

4-Methyl-2,6-bis(phosphonomethyl)phenol dihydrate

The 4-methyl-2,6-bis(phosphomethyl)phenol molecule, which crystallizes with two water molecules per asymmetric unit, has approximate twofold symmetry and is involved in extensive three-dimensional hydrogen bonding in which every available OH group participates. The principal dimensions include P--O 1.4981 (13) and 1.5015 (14) ,~, four P--OH distances in the range 1.5395(14) to 1.5688(13) A, P--C 1.7857(17) and 1.7893 (17) ~k, and O...O intramolecular and intermolecular hydro.gen-bond distances in the range 2.458 (2) to 2.866 (2) A

The structure of triphenylgermanium hydroxide

C18H~6GeO, Mr = 320.9, triclinic, Pi, a = 15.408 (6), b = 19.974 (7), c = 23.264 (11) A, a = 107.78 (4), 13 = 1.03.54 (4), y= 101.51 (3) °, V = 6338 (5)/~3, Z = 16, Dx = 1.34 g cm -3, a(Mo Ka) = 0.71073A, /z = 19.1cm-1, F(000)=2624, T= 293 K, R = 0.055 for 6846 observed reflections. The eight independent molecules in the asymmetric unit form two independent O--H...O hydrogen-bonded tetramers with the O atoms in a flattened tetrahedral arrangement [hydrogen-bond distances in the range 2.609 (11) to 2.657 (11)A]. The Ge atoms are tetrahedrally coordinated with mean Gc O 1.791 (7) and Gc C 1.931 (8) A

Structure of the partial cone conformer of 25,26,27,28-tetrakis[(2-pyridylmethyl)oxy]calix[4]arene

The partial cone conformer of tetrakis[(2-pyridylmethyl)- oxy]pentacyclo[ 19.3.1.13'7.19'13.115,19]octacosa- 1 (25),- 3,5,7 (28),9,11,13 (27), 15,17,19(26),21,23-dodecaene, (I), adopts a conformation in which the pendant OCH2py group of the rotated aryl ring is oriented away from the calixarene cavity produced by the other three aryl rings, with its N atom exo to the calixarene cup. The orientation of the four aromatic rings is such that two rings are almost parallel to each other and the other two are at an angle of 42 ° . This conformation precludes any solvent molecule being enclathrated within the small molecular cavity

Intermolecular N-H...O=C hydrogen bonding in the crystal structure of 6-amino-1,3-dimethyluracil

The 6-amino- 1,3-dimethyluracil molecule [6-amino- 1,3- dimethyl-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione], C6H9N302 (I), lies on a crystallographic mirror plane and participates in an extensive two-dimensional hydrogen-bonding network in the solid state. Each molecule is involved in N-- H...O=C hydrogen bonding involving the amino and carbonyl gr. oups, with O...N separations of 2.894 (3) and 2.904 (3) A