21st Century Skills and Pre-Service Teacher Education

The phrase “21st century skills” has been a buzzword among librarians for some time now, but is still working its way into the vocabulary of educators and education administrators. 21st century skills (critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, creativity, communication, and innovation) are an integral part of ensuring a successful transition into college. It has become clear that efforts to ease this transition are to be a collaborative effort among librarians, educators, and administrators. Academic librarians in particular hold a great responsibility in this effort because well-prepared college freshman increase the likelihood of retention and student success. This session will outline the content of a library workshop given in conjunction with Ohio Wesleyan University’s Teaching Workshop (a companion course to student teaching). In the workshop, pre-service teachers learn how to effectively use library resources, web applications, and school librarians in the classroom. The workshop also instructs students how to complete a Technology Assignment wherein they are asked to create a lesson plan that responsibly and effectively engages technology in the classroom. In addition to the workshop content outline, session attendees will receive a link to the workshop\u27s LibGuide. Time will be allotted to share other successful collaborations and brainstorm plans for future workshops

On the Dynamical Propagation of Subvolumes and on the Geometry and Variational Principles of Nonholonomic Systems.

Their are two main themes of this thesis. The first is the theory and application of the propagation of subvolumes in dynamical systems. We discuss the integral invariants of Poincare-Cartan and introduce a new and closely related set of integral invariants, those of Wirtinger type, and relate these new invariants to a minimum obtainable symplectic volume. We will then consider the application of this approach to the orbit determination and correlation problem for tracking particles of space debris. The second theme is on the geometry of nonholonomic systems. In particular we will focus on the precise geometric understanding of quasi-velocity techniques and its relation to the formulation of variational principles for these systems. We will relate the Euler-Poincar'e equations for Lie groups to the Boltzmann-Hamel equations and further extend both these equations to a higher order form that is applicable to optimal dynamical control problems on manifolds.Ph.D.Applied and Interdisciplinary MathematicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58444/1/jmaruski_1.pd

Some applications of quasi-velocities in optimal control

In this paper we study optimal control problems for nonholonomic systems defined on Lie algebroids by using quasi-velocities. We consider both kinematic, i.e. systems whose cost functional depends only on position and velocities, and dynamic optimal control problems, i.e. systems whose cost functional depends also on accelerations. The formulation of the problem directly at the level of Lie algebroids turns out to be the correct framework to explain in detail similar results appeared recently (Maruskin and Bloch, 2007). We also provide several examples to illustrate our construction.Comment: Revtex 4.1, 20 pages. To appear in Int. J. Geom. Meth. Modern Physic

National Leadership Index 2009: A National Study of Confidence in Leadership

The National Study of Confidence in Leadership is a social science research program examining the attitudes of the American public toward the nation’s leadership. The study includes the National Leadership Index 2009, a multidimensional measure of the public’s confidence in leadership within different sectors of society.Center for Public Leadershi

Orbit determination of space objects based on sparse optical data

While building up a catalog of Earth orbiting objects, if the available optical observations are sparse, not deliberate follow ups of specific objects, no orbit determination is possible without previous correlation of observations obtained at different times. This correlation step is the most computationally intensive, and becomes more and more difficult as the number of objects to be discovered increases. In this paper we tested two different algorithms (and the related prototype software) recently developed to solve the correlation problem for objects in geostationary orbit (GEO), including the accurate orbit determination by full least squares solutions with all six orbital elements. Because of the presence in the GEO region of a significant subpopulation of high area to mass objects, strongly affected by non-gravitational perturbations, it was actually necessary to solve also for dynamical parameters describing these effects, that is to fit between 6 and 8 free parameters for each orbit. The validation was based upon a set of real data, acquired from the ESA Space Debris Telescope (ESASDT) at the Teide observatory (Canary Islands). We proved that it is possible to assemble a set of sparse observations into a set of objects with orbits, starting from a sparse time distribution of observations, which would be compatible with a survey capable of covering the region of interest in the sky just once per night. This could result in a significant reduction of the requirements for a future telescope network, with respect to what would have been required with the previously known algorithm for correlation and orbit determination.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure

National Leadership Index 2008: A National Study of Confidence in Leadership

The National Study of Confidence in Leadership is a social science research program examining the attitudes of the American public toward the nation’s leadership. The study includes the National Leadership Index 2008, a multidimensional measure of the public’s confidence in leadership within different sectors of society. The study was pioneered in 2005 by the Center’s Research Director, Professor Todd L. Pittinsky.Center for Public Leadershi

Coexistence in Israel: A National Study

Survey data were obtained through telephone interviews with 1,000 adult Jewish citizens and face-to-face interviews with 721 adult Arab citizens. Each survey included approximately 150 items. For each of the two populations, six versions of the survey were created to counterbalance the items and control for any ordering effects. Because of our use of multiple versions, different questions have different sample sizes. Due to rounding and/or non-responses, percentages reported in bar graphs may not sum to 100.0%. The survey of Jews was conducted by phone from mid November to the end of December 2007. The survey of Arabs was conducted face-to-face from mid October to the end of December 2007. The surveys were created in English at the Center for Public Leadership and then translated into Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian. Professor Sammy Smooha of the University of Haifa aided us in the refinement of the survey and coordinated the translations and data collection.This national study was conducted in an effort to directly examine the relations between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens. According to Israel’s 2007 census, the country has a Jewish majority of almost 80 percent and an Arab minority of approximately 20 percent (including Arabs in East Jerusalem). As in any pluralistic society, the quality of the relations between these ethnic and religious groups directly influences the well- being and vibrancy of the country and its global reputation as a democracy. We aimed to understand the feelings and attitudes of Jewish and Arab citizens in Israel toward key aspects of coexistence, such as support, opportunity, language policy, integration, responsibility, and urgency. We hope that these study findings will provide insight and guidance not only for policymakers, but also for the Israeli public.Alan B. Slifka Foundatio

Bayesian Linking of Geosynchronous Orbital Debris Tracks as seen by the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

We describe a Bayesian sampling model for linking and constraining orbit models from angular observations of "streaks" in optical telescope images. Our algorithm is particularly suited to situations where the observation times are small fractions of the orbital periods of the observed objects or when there is significant confusion of objects in the observation field. We use Markov Chain Monte Carlo to sample from the joint posterior distribution of the parameters of multiple orbit models (up to the number of observed tracks) and parameters describing which tracks are linked with which orbit models. Using this algorithm, we forecast the constraints on geosynchronous (GEO) debris orbits achievable with the planned Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Because of the short 15 second exposure times, preliminary orbit determinations of GEO objects from LSST will have large and degenerate errors on the orbital elements. Combined with the expected crowded fields of GEO debris it will be challenging to reliably link orbital tracks in LSST observations given the currently planned observing cadence.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Advances in Space Researc