Students\u27 Performance, Satisfaction and Retention in a Hybrid and Traditional Face-To-Face Science Course, Principles of Biology I, in a Community College

Hybrid teaching, comprised of both in-class and online teaching, is rapidly becoming a favorite mode of teaching and learning. Online and hybrid courses on have become more and more appealing to both higher education institutions and the students they serve. In particular, hybrid teaching has an increase appeal to community colleges as they serve a diverse student population with varied academic levels, cultural background, and personal responsibilities. Hybrid courses promotes flexibility in course scheduling options for students and enables institutions to accept more students without worrying about physical classroom space concerns. This study explored and compared students’ learning outcomes, satisfaction, and retentions for students enrolled in a hybrid versus a traditional face-to-face lab science course in an urban community college. The same instructor taught all sections of the course under both delivery modes and the same course syllabi and grading scale were used. The first research question assessed students’ learning outcomes utilizing standard assessment tools such as assignments, laboratory reports, laboratory exams, quizzes, midterm and final exams. No significant differences were observed in scores between the two modes for assignments, laboratory exams, and midterm exams. Traditional face-to-face students scored higher than the hybrid students in laboratory reports and final exams where the students in hybrid mode did better in quizzes than students in face to face. The second research question assessed students’ satisfaction via a questionnaire. Traditional students revealed a positive satisfaction with their course where hybrid students presented more neutral and/or negative satisfaction. The third research question evaluated students’ retention. Data revealed that traditional face-to-face students’ retention was higher than students enrolled in the hybrid sections

Study of parameters dominating electromechanical and sensing response in ionic electroactive polymer (IEAP) transducers

Ionic electroactive polymer (IEAP) transducers are a class of smart structures based on polymers that can be designed as soft actuators or sensors. IEAP actuators exhibit a high mechanical response to an external electrical stimulus. Conversely, they produce electrical signals when subjected to mechanical force. IEAP transducers are mainly composed of four different components: The ionomeric membrane (usually Nafion) is an ion permeable polymer that acts as the backbone of the transducer. Two conductive network composite (CNC) layer on both sides of the ionomeric membrane that enhance the surface conductivity and serve as an extra reservoir to the electrolytes. The electrolytes, (usually ionic liquids (IL)), which provides the mobile ions. And two outer electrodes on both sides of the transducer to either provide a distributed applied potential across the actuators (usually gold leaves) or to collect the generated signals from the sensors (usually copper electrodes). Any variation in any of these components or the operating conditions will directly affect the performance of the IEAP transduces. In this dissertation, we studied some of the parameters dominating the performance of the IEAP transducers by varying some of the transducers components or the transducers operating conditions in order to enhance their performance. The first study was conducted to understand the influence of ionic liquid concentration on the electromechanical performance of IEAP actuators. The IL weight percentage (wt%) was varied from 10% to 30% and both the electromechanical (induced strain) and the electrochemical (the current flow across the actuators) were studied. The results from this study showed an enhanced electrochemical performance (current flow is higher for higher IL wt%) and a maximum electromechanical strain of approximately 1.4% at 22 wt% IL content. A lower induced strain was noticed for IL wt% lower or higher than 22%. The second study was to investigate the effect of changing the morphology of the CNC on the sensing performance of IEAP stress sensors. In this study, small salt molecules were added to the CNC layers. Salt molecules directly affected the morphology of the CNC layers resulting in a thicker, more porous, and high conductive CNCs. As a result, the ionic conductivity increased through the CNC layers and sensing performance was enhanced significantly. In the third study, a non-linear angular deformation (limb-like motion) was achieved by varying the CNC layers of the IEAP actuators by adding some conjugated polymers (CP) patterns during the fabrication of the actuators. It was found that the segments with the CP layers will only expand and never contract during the actuation process. Depending on the direction of motion and the location of the CP layers, different actuation shapes such as square or triangular shapes were achieved rather than the typical circular bending. In the fourth study, the influence of temperature on the electromechanical properties of the IEAP actuators was examined. In this study, both electromechanical and electrochemical studies were conducted for actuators that were operated at temperatures ranging from 25 ðC to 90 ðC. The electromechanical results showed a lower cationic curvature with increasing temperature up to 70 ðC. On the other hand, a maximum anionic curvature was achieved at 50 ðC with a sudden decrease after 50 ðC. Actuators started to lose functionality and showed unpredictable performance at temperatures higher than 70 ðC. Electrochemically, an enhancement of the ionic conductivity was resulted from increasing temperature up to 80 ðC. A sudden increase in current flow was recorded at 90 ðC indicating a shorted circuit and actuator failure. Finally, in the fifth study, protons in Nafion membranes were exchanged with other counterions of different Van der Waals volumes. The ionic conductivity was measured for IEAP membranes with different counterions at different temperatures. The results showed higher ionic conductivities across membranes with larger Van der Waals volume counterions and higher temperatures. A different ionic conductivity behavior was also noticed for temperatures ranging from 30 úC to 55 úC than temperatures between 55 úC and 70 úC after fitting the data with the Arrhenius conductivity equation

The Translation Of Metaphors In Selected Political Speeches (1988 – 1999) Of King Hussein Of Jordan From Arabic Into English

Peranan penting bahasa Arab di dunia telah mewujudkan permintaan yang signifikan bagi terjemahan daripada bahasa Arab kepada bahasa Inggeris. Metafora (isticarah) dalam retorik Arab merumus tahap pengetahuan dalam konteks gaya bahasa Arab dan ia merupakan elemen perbandingan penting yang mampu membangkitkan emosi yang kuat dan pemikiran yang mendalam pada manusia The growing role of Arabic language in the world affairs has created a significant demand for translation from Arabic to English. The metaphor (isticarah) in Arabic rhetoric, formulates the levels of knowledge within the context of styles of Arabic language and it is an essential comparative element that is capable of evoking strong emotions and deep thoughts in human being

Web-Based New Literacies and EFL Curriculum Design in Teacher Education: A Design Study for Expanding EFL Student Teachers’ Language-Related Literacy Practices in an Egyptian Pre-service Teacher Education Programme

With the dominance of the Web in education and English language learning, new literacies have emerged. This thesis is motivated by the assumption that these literacies need to be integrated into the Egyptian pre-service EFL teacher education programmes so that EFL student teachers can cope with the new reality of language teaching/learning. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to develop a theoretical understanding of the relationship between Web-based new literacies and the teaching of TESOL in a way that supports the possibility of expanding Egyptian pre-service EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices by integrating some Web-based new literacies into their education programme, with specific reference to the context of Assiut University College of Education (AUCOE). This requires accomplishing minor objectives represented in: (1) identifying the range of those Web-based new literacies that Egyptian EFL student teachers need in this ICT-dominated age; (2) identifying those Web-based facilities beneficial to them, and why and how they can be beneficial; and (3) generating framework for EFL curriculum design based on both literature and empirical data. To accomplish this, a design-based research (DBR) methodology drawing on a pragmatic epistemology is developed and employed as the main research paradigm informing this design study. Thus, the research design involves a flexible three-stage research framework: (1) the preliminary phase, which acts as a theoretical and empirical foundation for the whole study, and informs a preliminary design framework; it involves reviewing relevant literature and obtaining empirical data through documentary analysis (100 documents), online questionnaire (n=50), and semi-structured interviews (n=19); (2) the prototyping phase that involves two iterations (36 participants in the first iteration, and 30 in the second) conducted in the Egyptian context to test the proposed design framework. Each iteration acts as a micro-cycle of the whole design study, and thus involves its own objectives, learning design, research methodology and procedures (in line with the main DBR methodology), and results; (3) the assessment/reflective phase which, based on the prototyping phase results, presents a final design framework for expanding EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices. This has implications for the EFL curriculum design process within the Egyptian context in general, and AUCOE in particular. Results indicate that throughout the two iterations, it has become evident that the process of expanding EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices by integrating some Web-based new literacies into the AUCOE pre-service programme is quite feasible once some design principles are considered. Some significant conclusions and educational implications are provided, along with some main contributions to knowledge in TESOL/TEFL, language-learning theory, research methodology, and educational practice as far as the Egyptian context of pre-service EFL teacher education is concerned.Egyptian government Ministry of Higher Education represented by the Egyptian Culture & Educational Bureau in Londo

The relationship between board of director's characteristics and industrial firms financial performance listed at Amman Stock Exchange

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the relationship between board size, CEO duality, independence of the board of director’s, frequency of board meeting and firm financial performance. About, 64 industrial listed firms are chosen from Amman Stock Exchange for the year 2013. Multiple regressions analysis is utilised in this study in order to achieve the research objectives. The findings show that board size, CEO duality, independence of the board of director's and frequency of board meeting have a relationship with firm financial performance. The findings also show that board size has a positive relationship with firm financial performance, and CEO duality has a negative relationship with firm financial performance. Moreover, independence of the board of directors has a positive relationship with firm financial performance. Eventually, the frequency of board meeting has no relationship with firm financial performance. It should be noted that the findings established in this study could be useful to regulators, especially the industrial firms listed in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), Jordanian Securities Commission (JSC) and Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) to improve Corporate Governance (CG) practices. This study proposes that listed firm should put more emphasis on enhancing the role and the quality of the board of directors, as they are involved in the decisions that improve firm financial performance

UUM Research Topic Guide

Currently, e-learning can be considered as one of the most popular learning environments. This study seeks to design and develop an e-learning system which is called Research Topic Guide System (RTG) at University Utara Malaysia (UUM). Research topic can be as critical issue for student during starting their research. Therefore, lecturers or experts will be able to provide student by suggestion research topic to be as a pointer to start their research. Furthermore, UUM as a research-oriented university does not have in the existing e-learning system any platform that can be considered as research guide to meet students' needs. The existing e-learning system is generally deficient in constructing an open research environment; although it is more important to a research-oriented university. Hence, development research environment which it can be used as guide for student might help them to satisfy the suitable topic that is consistent with their interests. Mixed methodology and integrated general research methodology within research methodology are used to achieve the objectives of this study. The implementation is carried out with Java script and Mysql in order to develop the functions of RTG system. The result of usability testing shows that 65% of the participants found the system usable

A Weighted Grid for Measuring Program Robustness

Robustness is a key issue for all the programs, especially safety critical ones. In the literature, Program Robustness is defined as “the degree to which a system or component can function correctly in the presence of invalid input or stressful environment” (IEEE 1990). Robustness measurement is the value that reflects the Robustness Degree of the program. In this thesis, a new Robustness measurement technique; the Robustness Grid, is introduced. The Robustness Grid measures the Robustness Degree for programs, C programs in this instance, using a relative scale. It allows programmers to find the program’s vulnerable points, repair them, and avoid similar mistakes in the future. The Robustness Grid is a table that contains Language rules, which is classified into categories with respect to the program’s function names, and calculates the robustness degree. The Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) C language rules with the Clause Program Slicing technique will be the basis for the robustness measurement mechanism. In the Robustness Grid, for every MISRA rule, a score will be given to a function every time it satisfies or violates a rule. Furthermore, Clause program slicing will be used to weight every MISRA rule to illustrate its importance in the program. The Robustness Grid shows how much each part of the program is robust and effective, and assists developers to measure and evaluate the robustness degree for each part of a program. Overall, the Robustness Grid is a new technique that measures the robustness of C programs using MISRA C rules and Clause program slicing. The Robustness Grid shows the program robustness degree and the importance of each part of the program. An evaluation of the Robustness Grid is performed to show that it offers new measurements that were not provided before

Advancing Water Resources Systems Modeling Cyberinfrastructure to Enable Systematic Data Analysis, Modeling, and Comparisons

Water resources systems models aid in managing water resources holistically considering water, economic, energy, and environmental needs, among others. Developing such models require data that represent a water system’s physical and operational characteristics such as inflows, demands, reservoir storage, and release rules. However, such data is stored and described in different formats, metadata, and terminology. Therefore, Existing tools to store, query, and visualize modeling data are model, location, and dataset-specific, and developing such tools is time-consuming and requires programming experience. This dissertation presents an architecture and three software tools to enable researchers to more readily and consistently prepare and reuse data to develop, compare, and synthesize results from multiple models in a study area: (1) a generalized database design for consistent organization and storage of water resources datasets independent of study area or model, (2) software to extract data out of and populate data for any study area into the Water Evaluation and Planning system, and (3) software tools to visualize online, compare, and publish water management networks and their data for many models and study areas. The software tools are demonstrated using dozens of example and diverse local, regional, and national datasets from three watersheds for four models; the Bear and Weber Rivers in the USA and the Monterrey River in Mexico