Effectiveness of High-Fidelity Simulation in Changing Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Police

The use of deadly force is the most serious decision a police officer has to make. Recent highly-publicized law enforcement lethal encounters have led to a growing need for police to proactively engage in educational discussions with community members in hopes of improving the perceptions of their work

The Effectiveness of Computer-Based Game Show Formats in Survey Courses: A Quasi-Experiment

The confluence of computers and integrated projection systems in the classroom has opened new avenues for course content delivery in an active learning format. This paper first discusses the concepts of active learning and play in a pedagogical context. Next, the implementation and subjective results of a generic computer-based game show for delivering course content in introductory survey courses is presented. This paper then describes the employed methodology and statistically tests certain aspects of the course related to the effectiveness of this implementation. The results of this quasi-experiment using five sections of an upper-division MIS (Management Information Systems) survey course spanning three academic terms strongly support the research hypotheses that the game show format increases student learning and improves student perceptions of the overall quality of the course. The implications of this research for educators are discussed. The game show application was developed by the authors and is available for download as freeware

Real-Time Aural and Visual Feedback for Improving Violin Intonation

Playing with correct intonation is one of the major challenges for a string player. A player must learn how to physically reproduce a target pitch, but before that, the player must learn what correct intonation is. This requires audiation- the aural equivalent of visualization- of every note along with self-assessment whether the pitch played matches the target, and if not, what action should be taken to correct it. A challenge for successful learning is that much of it occurs during practice, typically without outside supervision. A student who has not yet learned to hear correct intonation may repeatedly practice out of tune, blithely normalizing bad habits and bad intonation. The real-time reflective nature of intonation and its consistent demand on attention make it a ripe target for technological intervention. Using a violin augmented to combine fingerboard sensors with audio analysis for real-time pitch detection, we examine the efficacy of three methods of real-time feedback for improving intonation and pitch learning. The first, aural feedback in the form of an in-tune guide pitch following the student in real-time, is inspired by the tradition of students playing along with teachers. The second is visual feedback on intonation correctness using an algorithm optimized for use throughout normal practice. The third is a combination of the two methods, simultaneously providing aural and visual feedback. Twelve beginning violinists, including children and adults, were given four in-situ 20–30 min lessons. Each lesson used one of the intonation feedback methods, along with a control lesson using no feedback. We collected data on intonation accuracy and conducted interviews on student experience and preference. The results varied by player, with evidence of some players being helped by the feedback methods but also cases where the feedback was distracting and intonation suffered. However interviews suggested a high level of interest and potential in having such tools to help during practice, and results also suggested that it takes time to learn to use the real-time aural and visual feedback. Both methods of feedback demonstrate potential for assisting self-reflection during individual practice

Three flavors of extremal Betti tables

We discuss extremal Betti tables of resolutions in three different contexts. We begin over the graded polynomial ring, where extremal Betti tables correspond to pure resolutions. We then contrast this behavior with that of extremal Betti tables over regular local rings and over a bigraded ring.Comment: 20 page

Increasing the biosafety of analytical systems in the clinical laboratory

Biosafety is an important part of the know-how of all clinical laboratory professionals. Biosafely must have high priority in the design and use of analytical systems. Attention should be focused on reducing the handling of biological specimens, reducing biohazards to laboratory personnel, and on improving the labelling and containment of biohazardous materials. In this paper, biosafety issues are discussed in relation to the design of analytical systems, their use and maintenance

Night stories: urban narratives of migrant lives in Europe

NWOHERA 2.060Modern and Contemporary Studie