Operations with the special purpose dextrous manipulator on Space Station Freedom

SPAR Canada is actively participating in the Space Station Freedom Program by contributing the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) which will be involved in assembly, maintenance and servicing of both the Space Station and the MSS itself. Part of the MSS is the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM), a two armed dextrous robot with advanced vision and manipulative capabilities. In addition to Space Station and payload servicing activities the SPDM will be designed to perform self maintenance on the MSS itself. The majority of Space Station equipment will be on orbit for the anticipated 30 year lifespan and the maintenance philosophy will be to repair by the exchange of Orbit Replacement Units or ORUs. The present concept, configuration, and operation of the SPDM and the detailed simulations associated with the maintenance of part of the MSS are described. The Design Reference Mission is the replacement of a Joint Drive Module on the Canadian large payload manipulator, the Space Station Remote Manipulator System. Other Design Reference Missions that were investigated are briefly described, and future operations activity to support the definition of SPDM requirements are discussed

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Techniques for Decreasing Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescents

Nearly 32% of adolescents demonstrate a lifetime prevalence of an anxiety disorder, making it the most common mental disorder among adolescents (Merikangas et al., 2010). Mindfulness-based interventions have shown success in reducing anxiety symptoms in adults. This study focused on the effects of an 8-session mindfulness group on the moderate to severe anxiety levels of middle and high school students. The objectives of the small-group intervention were to educate adolescents about mindfulness techniques and to practice ways in which they could make mindfulness part of their daily lives. The aim of this study was to highlight the impact of a small-group mindfulness intervention on experienced anxiety of middle school and high school students

Political Culture and School Choice: The Influence of Constitutions, Case Law and Public Officials in Louisiana and Virginia

This dissertation focused on the State of Louisiana and the Commonwealth of Virginia, which provides a limited perspective on what directly and indirectly influences school choice programs. Louisiana is a state and has a legal system predicated on French or Napoleonic Law, and Virginia is a Commonwealth and has a legal system predicated on English or Common Law. In order to remedy or minimize constitutional conflicts related to an education system, U.S. political parties have relied on the judicial system and the developing of case law to provide direction that in turn provides fodder for future legislation and education policy. The purpose of this study is to review the Constitution of the United States, amendments and case law; review Louisiana and Virginia constitutions, the legislature, judiciary and education structures, political culture and case law to determine if there is a relationship between the constitutions, amendments, structures, political culture and case law that influence and/or shape K-12 school choice programs enacted in Louisiana and Virginia. Interviews with elected and appointed public officials were conducted

Recruitment in Social Networking Sites: A Theoretical Model of Jobseekers\u27 Intentions

We propose a risk-benefit model for studying jobseekers’ behavioral intentions to apply for a job in the context of social networking sites (SNSs). Our model integrates classic technology adoption/utilization theories with salient factors such as privacy concerns that have increased in significance with the growing use of SNSs as a recruitment source. We hypothesize that jobseekers’ outcome expectancy (degree of optimism with respect to finding a job) and perceived usefulness of SNSs are both impacted by the availability of information about social connections to potential employers and by perceptions of justice in the job candidate selection process. Further, perceived usefulness of SNSs is influenced by outcome expectancy. This model also suggests that perceived risks (in terms of uncertainty and possible adverse consequences) are affected by online information privacy concerns. Finally, outcome expectancy, perceived usefulness of SNSs and perceived risks directly predict intentions to use SNSs to apply for a job

Going With The Flow: The Evolution of Menstrual Education in England, 1850 to 1930

The history of menstrual education has typically been overshadowed by other aspects of Victorian sexuality and female reproductive history. This thesis seeks to shine a light on menstrual education in the mid-nineteenth and early-twentieth century in England. More specifically, it examines the role that male and female physicians played producing and disseminating information on menstrual management. Despite a scarcity of documented experiences outlining the reality of menstrual education and menstrual management, an analysis of surviving literary materials, including health advice literature, periodicals and magazines, medical studies, new letters and pamphlets, help indicate cultural conceptions of menstruation. It becomes clear that there is a correlation between menstruation being promoted as an illness with females seeking employment and educational opportunities. Male physicians used educational resources on menstruation to attempt to keep women within the domestic sphere. It was not until the early twentieth century and the rise of female physicians that menstruation began to be viewed as a natural physiological process

Scaffolding Discourse in Asynchronous Learning Networks

Discourse, a form of collaborative learning, is fundamentally a communications process. This in-progress study adapts Clark and Brennan’s grounding in communications principles to investigate how to “scaffold” asynchronous discourse. Scaffolding is defined as providing support for the learner at his or her level until the support is no longer needed. This paper presents early results from an experimental study measuring learning effectiveness. In the experiment, content and process scaffolding are manipulated based on pedagogic principles. A major contribution of the study is building and testing a technologymediated, discourse-centered, teaching and learning model called the Asynchronous Learning Networks Cognitive Discourse Model (ALNCDM). As discourse is one of the most widely used online methods of teaching and learning, the results of the study are expected to add to the body of knowledge on how to structure asynchronous online discourse assignments for more effective student learning

Exploring Students’ Reactions to Virtual Worlds

Our research explores multi-user virtual environments for teaching university-level courses. This paper focuses on undergraduate students’ reactions to five virtual worlds explored as part of a Computers and Ethics course. Written reports from twenty-five students were qualitatively analyzed with respect to perceived ease of use, user satisfaction, and user concerns. Our preliminary findings indicate that students’ perceptions and attitudes were mixed. Some students perceived virtual worlds as relatively easy to use regarding object interactions, communication and user interaction. However, there were some instances of difficulty in navigation and in completing some tutorials. Furthermore, students expressed concerns beyond usability issues, such as user misbehavior and cheating. These issues could become significant barriers to using virtual worlds for college courses. We present suggestions for reducing such barriers

Teaching upper level computer science courses via virtual classroom and video : course reports by faculty

New Jersey Institute of Technology is the grateful recipient of a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which has enabled it to explore the use of asynchronous learning networks to create and deliver an entire undergraduate degree program in computer and information science. Each of these courses uses some amount of lecture-type material delivered via videotape. These materials are usually available to students in three different ways: by viewing broadcasts on a New Jersey cable station, by renting the set of videotapes, or by viewing in a special room in the library. Videotapes for distance learning are not new and are not, in themselves, a very effective means of delivery. The innovative part of this project is the Virtual Classroom™ which is a specially tailored set of features embedded in New Jersey Institute of Technology\u27s computer conferencing system, EIES (Electronic Information Exchange System). This makes possible a rich interchange and collaboration among students and faculty as they discuss and work through the problems and concepts in a course. As of the spring of 1995, both the B.A.I.S and the B.S.C.S. are available to distance and oncampus students. Teaching in a Virtual Classroom mixed with other media (such as video or CD ROM) is not simple however. The purpose of the enclosed descriptions of experiences by faculty members is to familiarize prospective teachers using this media mix in the future with both some ideas for how to organize their online activities, and knowledge of problems that have been encountered. The faculty members were given a suggested outline of topics to include in their reports, but otherwise were free to include whatever they thought would be of most use to other faculty members in the future, teaching the same or similar courses. Those who are interested in learning more about teaching and learning in ALN environments are referred to two book-length treatments: Starr Roxanne Hiltz, The Virtual Classroom: Learning Without Limits via Computer Networks (Ablex, Norwood NJ, 1994); and Linda Harasim, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Lucio Teles and Murray Turoff, Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning Online (MIT Press, 1995