Why is the Learner-Centered Paradigm So Profoundly Important for Information Systems Education?

This paper builds on the concept of the learner-centered paradigm described in the previous paper, by discussing its importance and relevance to postsecondary information systems education. Five key trends and issues for information systems educators are discussed in relation to the learner-centered paradigm. From these issues, seven propositions are presented for stimulating thought among IS educators

From Teaching to Learning: Learner-Centered Teaching and Assessment in Information Systems Education

This paper makes the case for movement from a teacher-centered educational paradigm to a learner-centered paradigm by employing a template-based approach consistent with the intent of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) (2002, 2004) attempt to bring quality standards to the systems and software development industry. The paradigm shift from the Teaching Paradigm to the Learning Paradigm is discussed and comparisons of the essential features of the two paradigms are explained. The effect of the paradigm shift on the task of assessment is posited and Weimer’s guidelines for developing learner-centered assessments are enumerated and discussed. A twelve-step template-based approach to developing learnercentered teaching and assessment strategies is then proposed and discussed (Wagner et al., 2008). It is concluded that this approach to the construction of educational activities provides for greater student learning and a more authentic student assessment. It is also concluded that the approach is important for education of IS students (Landry et al., 2008)

A Methodology to Assist Faculty in Developing Successful Approaches for Achieving Learner Centered Information Systems Curriculum Outcomes: Team Based Methods

All industries face the interrelated challenges of indentifying and training the critical skills needed to be successful in the workplace. Specifically of interest to the information systems field is that any newly trained IS professional has to be equipped to solve increasingly difficult problems with great confidence and competence. In this paper we present the case for IS curriculum implementations (Landry 2008) based on the transformational learner centered methodologies (Saulnier 2008). With this approach, student learners take responsibility for their education and are accountable for the outcomes based on a continuous feedback and self adjustment of goal. We present a methodology for learner centered outcome development by using a template approach developed within a quality process improvement environment. This approach utilizes an existing model curriculum in developing the learner centered attributes. Examples for implementing the approach utilizing team based behaviors are provided

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 10

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Handlebar hernia: a case report and literature review on traumatic abdominal wall hernia in children

A rare case of abdominal trauma, a handlebar hernia, is described, as well as a review of the pertinent literature. A 7-year-old boy presented to our emergency room after sustaining blunt force to the abdomen; he fell on the handlebar of his bicycle. Immediately after the accident, a bulge was noticeable at the point of impact. Handlebar hernia is a diagnosis that is easily missed, which can lead to strangulation and incarceration of the bowel. With this case report, we hope to augment the knowledge on traumatic abdominal wall hernia, hopefully leading to early diagnosis and treatment

Improving the sensitivity to gravitational-wave sources by modifying the input-output optics of advanced interferometers

We study frequency dependent (FD) input-output schemes for signal-recycling interferometers, the baseline design of Advanced LIGO and the current configuration of GEO 600. Complementary to a recent proposal by Harms et al. to use FD input squeezing and ordinary homodyne detection, we explore a scheme which uses ordinary squeezed vacuum, but FD readout. Both schemes, which are sub-optimal among all possible input-output schemes, provide a global noise suppression by the power squeeze factor, while being realizable by using detuned Fabry-Perot cavities as input/output filters. At high frequencies, the two schemes are shown to be equivalent, while at low frequencies our scheme gives better performance than that of Harms et al., and is nearly fully optimal. We then study the sensitivity improvement achievable by these schemes in Advanced LIGO era (with 30-m filter cavities and current estimates of filter-mirror losses and thermal noise), for neutron star binary inspirals, and for narrowband GW sources such as low-mass X-ray binaries and known radio pulsars. Optical losses are shown to be a major obstacle for the actual implementation of these techniques in Advanced LIGO. On time scales of third-generation interferometers, like EURO/LIGO-III (~2012), with kilometer-scale filter cavities, a signal-recycling interferometer with the FD readout scheme explored in this paper can have performances comparable to existing proposals. [abridged]Comment: Figs. 9 and 12 corrected; Appendix added for narrowband data analysi

Upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134

The first science run of the LIGO and GEO gravitational wave detectors presented the opportunity to test methods of searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars. Here we present new direct upper limits on the strength of waves from the pulsar PSR J1939+2134 using two independent analysis methods, one in the frequency domain using frequentist statistics and one in the time domain using Bayesian inference. Both methods show that the strain amplitude at Earth from this pulsar is less than a few times $10^{-22}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of the 5th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, Tirrenia, Pisa, Italy, 6-11 July 200

Sensory Evaluation of Pralines Containing Different Honey Products

In this study, pralines manufactured by hand were evaluated sensorially. These pralines were obtained from dark chocolate containing 60% cocoa components, filled with Apis mellifera carnica Poll drone larvae, blossom honey and a blossom honey/pollen mixture from the protected region of Stara Planina-Eastern Serbia (a specific botanical region). The objectives of this study were investigations related to the use of sensory analysis for quality assessment of new functional products with potential benefits for human health, in particular of desserts based on dark chocolate pralines filled with different bee products characterized by a specific botanical and geographic origin, as well as of their storage properties and expected shelf life. Sensory quality (appearance, texture, odor and taste were evaluated by a group of experienced panelists immediately after the production (day 0), and then after 30, 90 and 180 days of storage under ambient conditions (temperature 18–20 °C). The results were statistically analyzed by the two-factorial analysis of variance (MANOVA) and with the LSD-test. It is possible to conclude that the storage time and composition of dark chocolate pralines containing different honey-bee products have statistically highly significant (p < 0.01) influence on the sensorially evaluated properties of pralines

Controls of the molecular distribution and carbon isotopic composition of alkenones in certain haptophyte algae

[1] Although the biochemical functions and biosynthetic pathways of alkenones are still largely unknown, alkenone unsaturation ratios are now used extensively to infer ancient sea surface temperature, and their isotopic compositions have been used to reconstruct ancient atmospheric CO2 levels. The inferred relationships between alkenone unsaturation ratios, isotopic compositions, and growth conditions are based on empirical laboratory and field studies and, in the case of isotope fractionation, on simple models of carbon acquisition and fixation. Significant uncertainty still exists concerning the physiological and ecological factors affecting cellular production of alkenones, unsaturation ratios, and isotopic composition. Phytoplankton culture conditions have been shown to affect alkenone unsaturation (U37K′), cellular alkenone content, intracellular isotopic compositions (Δδ), and changes in fractionation (εP) as a function of the quotient of algal growth rate and aqueous carbon dioxide concentration (μ/CO2). Such studies imply that plant physiology can affect the interpretation of environmental signals. The factor(s) controlling cellular alkenone concentrations and unsaturation ratios are reviewed, as well as the carbon isotopic composition of the alkenone-producing algae. A new technique is presented to determine growth rates of the alkenone-containing algae in natural settings that will facilitate testing laboratory-based hypotheses concerning the carbon isotopic fractionation and its relationship to growth rate/growth status of alkenone-producing algae in the field