Transition Services for High School Students with Disabilities:Perspectives of Special Education Teachers

This qualitative study examines the perspectives of special education/resource teachers in Winnipeg on current transition services to prepare high school stu-dents with disabilities for adulthood. The data were collected by individual in-depth interviews with 6 teachers responsible for coordinating transition services. The main themes emerging from these interviews were the roles of schools and teachers; extended period of high school; student and family involvement; func-tional and comprehensive instruction; inclusive placements and experiences; and inter-personnel and interagency collaboration in the transition process in Mani-toba. Interviewees identified barriers to effective transition services including li-mited supports and information for families, teachers, and government workers for transition services; lack of agreement concerning certain roles; delayed adult services; and lack of systematic approaches for student involvement and inclusive placement

Transition Follow-up System Development for Youth with Disabilities: Stakeholders’ Perspectives

In this study I examined in depth the perspectives of stakeholders in Manitoba on the development and implementation of a transition follow-up system (TFS) for youth with disabilities. I conducted focus groups and individual interviews with a total of 76 stakeholders and obtained qualitative data. The stakeholders who participated in this study included youth with disabilities, parents of youth with disabilities, high school special education/resource teachers, student services administrators, principals, adult service providers, government representatives, university faculty members, and advocates. The key themes identified are: purpose of TFS, ensuring accurate and reliable data, utilizing existing data-collection practices, government vs. non-government as administrator, multiple data collection, target population of a TFS, ensuring confidentiality and privacy, analyzing individual and program specific information, and information of interest

The response and the lift force analysis of a cylinder oscillating in still water

An experimental study was made about an elastically mounted cylinder exposed to a periodic fluid flow field. The corresponding analysis placed emphasis on the prediction of fluid lift forces and cylinder responses normal to the deterministic, sinusoidal oscillating flow. A cylinder model was driven sinusoidally in still fluid in order to give a relative sinusoidal motion between the fluid and cylinder. This experimental arrangement was selected due to both a simple implementation of experimental apparatus and a strict control of the input variables such as cylinder driving amplitude and frequency. The corresponding fluid lift forces and the cylinder response amplitude were measured for two different size cylinder models (D = 1 inch, and D = 2 inch) for various cylinder driving frequencies and amplitudes;For a stationary cylinder in an oscillating fluid flow, it is well-known that the fluid lift force is a function of Reynolds number;(DIAGRAM, TABLE OR GRAPHIC OMITTED...PLEASE SEE DAI);and Keulegan-Carpenter number;(DIAGRAM, TABLE OR GRAPHIC OMITTED...PLEASE SEE DAI);where U(,m) is the maximum fluid oscillating velocity, D is the cylinder diameter, (nu) is the fluid kinematic viscosity and A is the fluid oscillating amplitude;On the other hand, for an elastically mounted cylinder, the vortices generated behind cylinder model can excite the cylinder model and, in turn, the vibrating cylinder can affect the vortex formation and the fluid lift forces. It is believed that the fluid force estimation based on stationary cylinder data must be in error compared to the actual situation. In this experiment, it was found that the fluid lift forces and the cylinder response amplitudes for an elastically mounted cylinder can be explained and predicted using frequency ratios such as f(,n)/f(,d), f(,r)/f(,d), and f(,v)/f(,d), where f(,n) is the cylinder natural frequency, f(,r) is the cylinder response frequency in the y-direction, f(,v) is the vortex shedding frequency, and f(,d) is the cylinder driving (fluid oscillating) frequency, rather than the Reynolds and the Keulegan-Carpenter numbers. When f(,r)/f(,d) = f(,v)/f(,d) = f(,n)/f(,d) = integer, there occurs a sharp increase of the cylinder response amplitudes and the fluid lift forces. The measured fluid lift forces at this integer relationship region were found to be far greater than those corresponding to a stationary cylinder exposed to an oscillating flow field. The locked-on phenomenon and the natural frequency variations due to the cylinder driving conditions were also closely examined

Recognition of English vowels using top-down method

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-70).Many recognizers use bottom-up methods for recognizing each phoneme or feature, and use the cues and the context to find the most appropriate words or sentences. But humans recognize words not just through bottom-up processing, but also top-down. In many cases of listening, one can usually predict what will come based on the preceding context, or one can determine what has been pronounced by listening to the following sounds. Therefore, if some cues to a word are given, it would be possible to refine the recognition by using the top-down method. This thesis deals with the improvement of the performance of recognition by using the top-down method. And most of the work will be concentrated on the problem of vowel recognition, when the adjacent consonants are known.by Park Chi-youn.S.M

Electrical Investigation of the Oblique Hanle Effect in Ferromagnet/Oxide/Semiconductor Contacts

We have investigated the electrical Hanle effect with magnetic fields applied at an oblique angle ({\theta}) to the spin direction (the oblique Hanle effect, OHE) in CoFe/MgO/semiconductor (SC) contacts by employing a three-terminal measurement scheme. The electrical oblique Hanle signals obtained in CoFe/MgO/Si and CoFe/MgO/Ge contacts show clearly different line shapes depending on the spin lifetime of the host SC. Notably, at moderate magnetic fields, the asymptotic values of the oblique Hanle signals (in both contacts) are consistently reduced by a factor of cos^2({\theta}) irrespective of the bias current and temperature. These results are in good agreement with predictions of the spin precession and relaxation model for the electrical oblique Hanle effect. At high magnetic fields where the magnetization of CoFe is significantly tilted from the film plane to the magnetic field direction, we find that the observed angular dependence of voltage signals in the CoFe/MgO/Si and CoFe/MgO/Ge contacts are well explained by the OHE, considering the misalignment angle between the external magnetic field and the magnetization of CoFe.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Taking Root: The Route of the Broadcast Journalism Curriculum at the Missouri School of Journalism

When broadcasting emerged as a new field, it ushered in a period of exploration for industry professionals as well as journalism educators. Such was the backdrop for the Missouri School of Journalism in the 1930s when journalism educators sought to incorporate broadcast journalism into the print curriculum. The proponents of the project faced a tough journey. To legitimize education for radio and then television, they needed the expertise of the industry and the approval of the university, both of which had different goals. This study examines the role that educators at Missouri assumed in persuading these two larger institutions of the creation and development of a broadcast journalism curriculum, from 1936 to 1971. Findings are evaluated using the theory of sociological institutionalism. Theoretical significance is enriched by the introduction of the parabolic model to explain how the broadcast journalism educators presented their case for the incorporation of a new medium and why their rhetoric worked