Traditional, Online, and Flipped: A Preliminary Analysis of Instructional Approaches on Student Performance in a C# Programming Course

Although various approaches to course redesign have been proposed over the years “flipping” the classroom is quite popular across many disciplines, information systems notwithstanding. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the instructional approach (i.e., traditional, online, and flipped) has an impact on student performance on specific course requirements in an undergraduate C# programming course. Data from several semesters were collected and analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H Test. Results indicated interesting but few statistically significant findings. A bright spot revealed that the median score for the flipped instructional approach for Course Average was within striking range of the online instructional approach and was approaching statistical significance in relation to the traditional instructional approach. This is encouraging given the time and effort put into the design of the flipped classroom. In sum, the study suggests that performance is approach-neutral. Future research will involve more students in the flipped classroom

Community College Students’ Perceptions of Law Enforcement

The purpose of this study was to extend our understanding of public perception towards law enforcement. Students from three different Kansas community colleges were surveyed about their perceptions of law enforcement effectiveness and professionalism, and what might impact those perceptions. A total of 159 community college students responded to the survey. The majority of the respondents were female (78%), and Caucasian (77.4%). Respondent’s age represented the following percentage breakdowns: 29.6% being 18-19 years old, 27.7% being 20-24 years old, and 30.8% being 25-34. Resulting in 88% of respondents being between the ages of 18-34 years old. Mean and standard deviation statistical procedures were calculated to determine the overall perception of law enforcement effectiveness (M = 3.60, SD = 0.800) and professionalism (M = 2.76, SD = 0.708). The categories of race and gender were further examined using mean and standard deviation procedures. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) procedure was used to analyze the data, with no significant differences in mean perceptions of law enforcement effectiveness by gender and race (F (1, 150) = 0.52, P=0.4712) or in mean perceptions of law enforcement professionalism (F (1, 149) = 2.40, P=0.1231). A Chi-Square test was used to determine there was no relationship difference between media consumption and gender (χ2 (3, N = 158) = 2.7478, p = 0.4322) or media consumption and race (χ2 (3, N = 155) = 2.5875, p = 0.4597). However, results did indicate a significant difference related to the total number of hours of media consumption and the perception of whether it was positive towards police (χ2 (15, N = 159) = 70.86, p \u3c .0001)

Preliminary Report on the Behavior of U-Pb Zircon and K-Ar Systems in Polymetamorphosed Ophiolitic Rocks and Batholithic Rocks, Southwestern Sierra Nevada Foothills, California

Ophiolitic rocks of the southwest Sierra Nevada foothills form part of the western metamorphic wall of the Sierra Nevada batholith (fig. 1). Geochronological studies were undertaken to determine: (1) The igneous petrogenetic age of the ophiolite; (2) The age of a prebatholith dynamic greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic event experienced by the ophiolite; and (3) The emplacement ages of the batholithic rocks. Geochronological work was interfaced with detailed structural and petrologic studies. A summary of the geochronological data is given in figure 2

Agile in Teaching and Learning: Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda

Agile software development methods are widespread in industry, and there is a wealth of academic research and practitioner publications currently available from this perspective. With the rise of Agile within companies worldwide, it is increasingly important for information systems education to keep up with this trend to ensure curriculum and courses are up-to-date. Students in the computing disciplines must be prepared to enter a job market where Agile is commonplace. As such, the topic of Agile in teaching and learning is critically important. The current special issue includes a rich collection of articles providing information systems educators with research-based, practical approaches for both teaching Agile (“the what”) and using Agile as a pedagogical approach (“the how”). In an effort to assist information systems educators categorize the growing amount of literature related to Agile in teaching and learning, a conceptual framework is provided which places the literature along the two axes of pedagogy (“the how”) and the content (“the what”) ranging from other, non-Agile to Agile. Finally, the authors present a call for future research integrating Agile on a meta-level in the course development process. We hope that this special issue inspires educators and researchers to consider integrating Agile into their teaching and learning

Agile Teaching and Learning in Information Systems Education: An Analysis and Categorization of Literature

In this paper, we analyze and categorize research related to Agile teaching and learning in Information Systems education using an existing conceptual framework. To this end, a systematic literature review beginning with 642 papers led to the identification of 30 relevant papers written in English and published through 2018 in academic IS outlets. Our analysis reveals three ways in which Information Systems educators incorporate Agile into their courses: 1) using Agile as a pedagogical approach to teach non-Agile content, 2) using Agile as a pedagogical approach to teach Agile content, and 3) using non-Agile pedagogical approaches to teach Agile content. The majority of relevant papers were published between 2016 and 2018. We present an analysis of the three instructional approaches to serve as a resource for interested individuals and recommend directions for future studies related to Agile teaching and learning in IS education

Infrared Camera Characterization of Bi-Propellant Reaction Control Engines during Auxiliary Propulsion Systems Tests at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico

This paper describes the application of a FUR Systems A40M infrared (IR) digital camera for thermal monitoring of a Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Ethanol bi-propellant Reaction Control Engine (RCE) during Auxiliary Propulsion System (APS) testing at the National Aeronautics & Space Administration's (NASA) White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Typically, NASA has relied mostly on the use of ThermoCouples (TC) for this type of thermal monitoring due to the variability of constraints required to accurately map rapidly changing temperatures from ambient to glowing hot chamber material. Obtaining accurate real-time temperatures in the JR spectrum is made even more elusive by the changing emissivity of the chamber material as it begins to glow. The parameters evaluated prior to APS testing included: (1) remote operation of the A40M camera using fiber optic Firewire signal sender and receiver units; (2) operation of the camera inside a Pelco explosion proof enclosure with a germanium window; (3) remote analog signal display for real-time monitoring; (4) remote digital data acquisition of the A40M's sensor information using FUR's ThermaCAM Researcher Pro 2.8 software; and (5) overall reliability of the system. An initial characterization report was prepared after the A40M characterization tests at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to document controlled heat source comparisons to calibrated TCs. Summary IR digital data recorded from WSTF's APS testing is included within this document along with findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for further usage as a monitoring tool for the development of rocket engines

Facebook’s Use in Higher Education

Social networking sites have experienced explosive growth and they have been integrated into the daily lives of many people. While the majority of college-aged students interact on Facebook every day, both research and implementation of Facebook as a pedagogical tool in the higher education classroom is lacking. This research-in-progress study investigates the question, “How can Facebook can be used to enhance educational experiences beyond that of the traditional classroom?” To do so, students from a southwestern university will participate in a multi-round Delphi study. By generating and ranking ideas directly from students, the results will have content validity and may uncover interesting and state-of-the-art ideas. The results will be available for presentation at the conference