Making Sense of Making Meaning, the Semiotic Way: Emotional Journey of a Novice Learner

I write this auto-ethnography as homage to my teachers and peers, both in the classroom and in scholarly realms, who inspired me to soar beyond the horizons of self and find meaning within the cosmic consciousness that surrounds us. As a novice learner in an introductory semiotics course, I learned about the process of meaning making. This paper is a product of my learning and understanding of a semiotic worldview. Encouraged by my professor, I delved deeply into the “thinkings” of two semiotic masterminds: Charles Sanders Peirce and Jakob von Uexküll, whose philosophies, ideologies and beliefs helped make sense of events in my own life as I saw it unfolding in new ways within my stream of consciousness. While indulging in the flavors of my auto-ethnographic inquiry, I was also privileged to have my fellow classmates share their experiences with me, through one on one-thought exchanges, captured via participation in class discussions and observations, as well as interviews and a survey, bringing my investigation into the realm of ethnography. The findings indicate that curiosity, fulfillment and hope are the critical bookends of the novice learners’ learning process. Based on the findings, I developed a new Curiosity Fulfillment Loop Model that may help explain how novice learners continue on their learning path to becoming seasoned learners, and yet always staying novice for some knowledge

Enhancing the Seismic Performance of Steel Structures Utilizing Superelastic Shape Memory Alloys

Although conventional earthquake-resisting structural systems provide the life safety level during earthquakes, they experience significant structural damage when exposed to strong ground shaking that render structural retrofitting as uneconomical. Superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) can be used in steel structures to reduce the residual deformations due to their recentering capability, which can facilitate post-seismic retrofitting. The primary aim of this thesis is to enhance the seismic performance of both regular and modular steel structures using an optimum amount of superelastic SMAs material in terms of maximum inter-storey drift, residual drift, and damage scheme. First, a simplified method based on pushover analysis is proposed to identify the severely damaged floor of a typical SMRF. It was validated with the studies by other researchers. Three and ten-storey SMRFs are considered to further validate the method. The predicted location of damage for the SMRFs using this method is compared to the results of static pushover and nonlinear dynamic analyses. The method accurately identified the severely damaged floors of SMRFs. The proposed simplified method as well as incremental dynamic analysis is then utilized to determine the best locations of SMA connections to improve the seismic performance of SMRFs. Six different SMA frames are examined using nonlinear dynamic analyses. Among all SMA frames, the frame using SMA connections at the critical first and fourth floors showed very good seismic performance compared with the steel frame. The seismic performance of modular steel braced frames (MSBFs) is significantly different from regular steel braced frames because of their unique detailing and construction procedure. An analytical model that can accurately predict the seismic behaviour of MSBFs equipped with buckling restrained SMA braces is first developed. This model is then implemented to identify the locations of SMA braces to improve the seismic performance of MSBFs. The study highlighted the need to use SMA braces at all floors. The study also examines the seismic performance of MSBFs utilizing superelastic SMA bolts at the vertical connections between the modules. It was observed that the seismic performance of a MSBF can be improved by using SMA connections at the right locations

Massively Multiplayer Online Gamers’ Language: Argument for an M-Gamer Corpus

The past few decades have seen a steady, and sometimes rapid rise in the production and consumption of Massively Multiple Online Games (MMOGs), spanning a global arena. Players from a wide variety of demographical, economic, geographical, cultural and linguistic backgrounds congregate under the banner of MMOGs and spend a considerable amount of time interacting and communicating with one another, in the context of playing and socializing through such playing. It is only logical then, to see such players become part of larger and extended socio-communal landscapes, wherein they may appropriate multiple roles in conjunction with their MMOG player roles, such as teachers, learners, family members and workplace cohorts. It is also equally logical for a curious mind to speculate the effects of the communication and language characteristics of such gamers on themselves, and the greater communities they may inhabit, investigate the realms of such possibilities, and appropriate knowledge garnered from such investigations to share. That is precisely what this study and paper is about. In this paper, I report the findings of an investigation of the communication and language characteristics of MMOG players, using 23 participants for interviews and journal writing, as well as multiple online documents. The findings suggest that MMOG players share some unique communication and language patterns, based on which they can be justifiably categorized as a sub culture with their own corpus. Additionally, researcher and practitioner implications are also discussed

How Smart is CEQA About Climate Change? An Evaluation of CEQA\u27s Greenhouse Gas Analysis

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is an emerging practice, which, if done correctly, could contribute significantly towards meeting California\u27s GHG emission reduction goals set under the Global Warming Solution Act of 2006. Whether CEQA analysis is adequate in assessing climate impacts of GHG emissions has yet to be determined. In this research, I evaluated the quality of climate change analyses in the draft environmental impact reports (DEIRs) prepared for 14 mixed-use projects in California. Results of this research indicated that CEQA analysis did not adequately include the effects of population density around the project sites, nor were project-related Vehicular Miles Traveled (VMT) accurately accounted for while estimating GHG emissions. Thus, potential GHG emission reduction benefits of mixed-use developments located in higher densities may not be realized using the current analysis methods

Self-Regulation, Co-Regulation, and Feedback in the Context of Cross-Cultural Language Acquisition in Higher Education: A Conceptual Approach

Given the exponential growth in international student populations in the United States, supporting cross cultural language learners (CCLL) in developing their self and co-regulated learning is highly important. This paper presents a conceptual framework on the value of feedback within self-regulated versus co-regulated environments, in the context of cross- cultural language learning. We use the term cross cultural language learners (CCLL) to refer to international learners, in particular from Asia. When exploring the issues of cross cultural language acquisition relating to logographic (Chinese) and alphabetic (English) languages, we examine the literature that support self and co-regulated learning within the frame of feedback. The results indicate that because CCLLs have unique motivational, behavioral and cognitive challenges, they may benefit less from the use of only one option between self and co regulation. A fusion of self and co-regulated feedback may transfer cross cultural language skills for CCLLs more efficiently

The Chameleon Characteristics: A Phenomenological Study of Instructional Designer, Faculty, and Administrator Perceptions of Collaborative Instructional Design Environments

While several professionals, organizations and departments may be a part of the instructional designing process usually faculty, instructional designers, and administrators are key stakeholders and collaborators. Although there are some studies related to the process of instructional designing, there is little by way of research that has investigated the stakeholders’ perceptions of the key characteristics of effective collaboration within instructional designing projects. Thus, there is a gap in our understanding of the phenomenon of instructional designing project collaboration. This hermeneutic phenomenological study seeks to add to the literature by sharing the perceptions of seven stakeholders in different roles, who have collaborative instructional designing experiences within Midwestern higher education institutions. Practitioner and research implications are also discussed. The data revealed nine core characteristics perceived as crucial to effective collaboration within instructional design projects. These characteristics are discussed using the metaphor and associated acronym of CHAMELEON (Communication, Humility, Adaptability, Mentorship, Empathy, Looping, Engagement, Oscillation, Networking)

Listen to Your Doppelganger! Global Cultural Empathy for Educators: A Literature Review Based Conceptual Model

Our student populations\u27 diversity now includes African Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos, as classrooms represent various cultural backgrounds. This shift in student population dynamics brings fresh challenges to educator\u27s unpreparedness to identify with the unique cultural identities of international students. The cultural dissonance that international students face compounds this challenge since the cultural unawareness and misconceptions may be generated from both educators and student groups. The Doppelganger Inspired Change Effect model or DICE discussed in this article is inspired by an extensive literature review. It elucidates a process of fostering global cultural empathy and preparedness of educators by linking such preparedness to evaluating negative attitudinal influences that may block people from changing their thinking, negatively impacting global empathy preparedness. This is a valid linkage given the influence culture has on attitudes and vice versa and is true in developing global empathy, which is crucial for training educators