Putting theory into practice: The creation of REALs in the context of today's universities

Rich Environments for Active Learning (REALs), as described by R. Scott Grabinger and Joanna Dunlap, are comprehensive educational systems based on constructivist principles that present an intellectual and practical challenge to university lecturers. As teachers and researchers, academics are concerned with improving the learning potential of teaching strategies and, to this end, the theory of the REAL provides inspiration and ideas based on sound theoretical principles. Yet in the context of the current pressured climate, having the time and resources to put such an extensive, theory into practice can seem little more than a pipe‐dream. It is argued that using a computer‐based application such as the Hypermedia Learning Tutorials (HLTs) as the heart of a REAL allows lecturers to take positive steps towards the creation of comprehensive, flexible, integrated learning environments. The concept of the HLT is discussed and a practical application in the field of advanced second‐language acquisition is described. Based on conceptual analysis and the results of preliminary student evaluation, it is argued that the HLT encompasses both in theory and in practice the chief qualities of REALs and can form the basis for their creation in a wide variety of disciplines

Dynamic Control of Mobile Multirobot Systems: The Cluster Space Formulation

The formation control technique called cluster space control promotes simplified specification and monitoring of the motion of mobile multirobot systems of limited size. Previous paper has established the conceptual foundation of this approach and has experimentally verified and validated its use for various systems implementing kinematic controllers. In this paper, we briefly review the definition of the cluster space framework and introduce a new cluster space dynamic model. This model represents the dynamics of the formation as a whole as a function of the dynamics of the member robots. Given this model, generalized cluster space forces can be applied to the formation, and a Jacobian transpose controller can be implemented to transform cluster space compensation forces into robot-level forces to be applied to the robots in the formation. Then, a nonlinear model-based partition controller is proposed. This controller cancels out the formation dynamics and effectively decouples the cluster space variables. Computer simulations and experimental results using three autonomous surface vessels and four land rovers show the effectiveness of the approach. Finally, sensitivity to errors in the estimation of cluster model parameters is analyzed.Fil: Mas, Ignacio Agustin. Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Kitts, Christopher. Santa Clara University; Estados Unido

Cryogenic connector for vacuum use Patent

Leakproof soft metal seal for use in very high vacuum systems operating at cryogenic temperature

Health Applications of Social Network Analysis and Computational Social Science

Social network analysis has proliferated across the social and behavioral sciences, shifting our analytical focus from individuals to the patterns of social ties that connect them. This perspective has enriched our understanding of a great variety of health-related phenomena, including the spread of STDs on contact networks, the spread of health care practices on physicians’ professional networks, the dynamics of patient transfers on networks of clinics, and the spread of weight-related behaviors among adolescents at risk for obesity. The advent of the era of computational social science has augmented the contributions of this perspective, by moving beyond expensive and laborious methods of questionnaires and direct observation to incorporate new techniques of data collection and analysis. For example, these include analysis of electronic health records or other time-stamped communication traces among healthcare practitioners; streams of behavioral data from wearable sensors, location-aware devices, or electronic calendars; automated analysis of text in documents; and mapping networks of interaction by citations and collaboration in clinical research literatures. Whereas much of computational social science has offered new ways of monitoring health behavior and healthcare behavior, or for analyzing those data, a further contribution has been to directly analyze these social processes in system dynamics models, microsimulation, and agent-based models. These approaches allow for computational experiments that assist in predicting and interpreting outcomes from health interventions. This poster will highlight some of my recent and pending work in this domain, aiming to identify potential collaborators in UMCCTS for projects that involve social networks or computational social science

Exploratory Analysis of the Umea Data at IIASA

The Demographic Data Base at Umea University, Sweden, has been in existence for over ten years now. A file dedicated to the study of individuals over time has recently been made available for research; a copy of this data is now at IIASA. The file consists of individual life event histories for women in seven different parishes in Sweden in the nineteenth century. Here, the author merely presents some very elementary analyses of the data concerning migration, and fertility, as a guide for future research. He also suggests that the data will be of considerable value in the study of heterogeneity in fecundability, a topic generating widespread publicity

Ritual scenes in the Iliad : Rote, hallowed, or encrypted as ancient art?

To analyze ritual scenes in the Iliad, one first must contend with the myriad scenes scholars have deemed ritualistic. These include not only prayer, supplication, sacrifice, and oathmaking, 1 but also gift exchanges and hospitality,2 speechmaking and taunting,3 grieving and funeral ceremonies,4 and dressings and armings.5 Indeed, the whole performance of the Iliad has been described as a ritualized feature of Totenkult (Seaford 1994; Derderian 2001) or, less comprehensively, a performance of Todesdichtung permeated with themes of lament, lament itself being identified as a micro-ritual with discernible performance features (Tsagalis 2004). Expressly or not, Homerists have attuned their ears to rituals in the poem ever since Parry and Lord discovered the performance-contexts for bards in the Balkans (for example, Lord 1960:13-29). By analogy with those performances, the Iliad represents an artifact of an extensive tradition of ritual performance: the ritual performed was the poem.Not

WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE AND BIDS IN A FISHING VESSEL BUYOUT PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF NEW ENGLAND GROUNDFISH

An experimental fishing vessel buyout program was initiated in 1995 to remove vessels from the Northeast United States groundfish fishery. Information provided by the applicants to this program was used to evaluate the likely participation and potential cost of an expanded buyout initiative. This paper describes the pilot buyout program and the econometric procedures used to forecast participation and bids at various levels of program spending. Program participation and bid levels were modeled in two stages using participation and bid functions. The expanded buyout program, completed in April 1998, provided a unique opportunity to evaluate initial participation and cost forecasts. Methods used in this study are also applicable to modeling other fishery related economic decisions, such as the trading of individual transferable quota shares.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The imagist movement in American poetry

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1936. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Neither Liberal nor Conservative: The Theoretical and Political Nuance of Critical Pedagogy in a Sectarian Climate

This article, acknowledging the variety of interpretations and applications of critical pedagogy, delves into the thought and politics of Paulo Freire to review theoretical and political foundations, along with a consideration of common criticisms and responses from critical theorists. Informed by recent literature, I highlight the theory of critical pedagogy as dialectic, and examine the inherent political nature of critical pedagogy as non-sectarian, anti-neoliberal, radical-progressive, democratic, and humanist.  After reviewing the theoretical and political foundations of critical pedagogy, I consider criticisms in the literature related to its emphasis on theory as abstract, potential inherent sexism and cultural invasiveness.  As I aim to show, these criticisms, while not without some merit, are based primarily on a strawman portrayal of critical pedagogy as inherently liberating without serious interrogation of the intentions of the teacher.  Noteworthy criticisms which may help the field of critical pedagogy to evolve beyond a myopic view of democracy originate from Indigenous scholars’ approach to integration and critique of critical pedagogy.  The significance of this article pertains to clarification and reconsideration of critical principles in an era where schooling serves as a battleground between liberal and conservative forces.  In an era of polarization, critical pedagogy contributes an underrepresented perspective in this debate, as it critiques both Right and Left, offering a critically nuanced rather than a sectarian assessment