Evaluation of the Relationship of Learner-Centered Beliefs of Seventh Grade Mathematics Teachers and Student Achievement on the Mathematics Section of the North Carolina End-Of-Grade Assessment

This dissertation was designed to examine the personal domain in systemic reform. In an effort to improve student achievement, this study focused on accountability reform. The learner-centered model was based on what teachers believe about teaching and learning and how student motivation and achievement was influenced by those beliefs. Teacher practices, beliefs and behaviors had the greatest impact on student learning; therefore this study sought to establish identification of learner-centered teachers and their effectiveness on student achievement on the seventh grade mathematics section of the North Carolina End-of-Grade Assessment. To that end, a non-experimental quantitative study design was used to examine teacher\u27s beliefs about the learner, learning, and teaching as well as the impact of their beliefs on mathematics student achievement. The researcher collected data via the Teacher Beliefs Survey and student achievement on the mathematics section of the seventh grade 2011 North Carolina End-of-Grade Assessment. The 35-item Teacher Beliefs Survey generated Likert-scale data, which was stored and analyzed in a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Green, Salkind, & Akey, 2000). Differences in survey responses of teachers and the learner-centered beliefs of teachers using: 1) a T-test for simple differences and 2) an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to compare the differences within and between two or more means were analyzed. Differences were found in the means between and within groups, but the results failed the statistical significance threshold. Descriptive statistics including means and standard deviation were reported, as well as the Pearson Product Moment Correlational Coefficient to determine if, and to what extent, the relationship between one or more variables existed. Three different correlations were conducted to examine possible relationships between both learner-centered and non-learner-centered groups and total score and mean scale scores. Statistical significance was found to exist between the learner-centered beliefs and non-learner-centered beliefs, as well as the non-learner-centered beliefs for learners and non-learner-centered beliefs for teaching and learning with a statistical significance \u3e.35 for total score. The mean scale score correlation for learner-centered beliefs, non-learner-centered beliefs for learners, and non-learner-centered beliefs for teaching and learning each failed statistical significance. Though the findings of this study were less than dramatic, they are informative for educators interested in identifying variables influencing both student learning and achievement. Findings in this study did not support the results found by McCombs and Whisler (1997); however, it did support the assertion by Lezotte (1997) and Bowsher (2001) that educational reform has shifted from teacher-centered to learning-centered but has not yet transformed to learner-centered

Universal Robotic Gripper based on the Jamming of Granular Material

Gripping and holding of objects are key tasks for robotic manipulators. The development of universal grippers able to pick up unfamiliar objects of widely varying shape and surface properties remains, however, challenging. Most current designs are based on the multi-fingered hand, but this approach introduces hardware and software complexities. These include large numbers of controllable joints, the need for force sensing if objects are to be handled securely without crushing them, and the computational overhead to decide how much stress each finger should apply and where. Here we demonstrate a completely different approach to a universal gripper. Individual fingers are replaced by a single mass of granular material that, when pressed onto a target object, flows around it and conforms to its shape. Upon application of a vacuum the granular material contracts and hardens quickly to pinch and hold the object without requiring sensory feedback. We find that volume changes of less than 0.5% suffice to grip objects reliably and hold them with forces exceeding many times their weight. We show that the operating principle is the ability of granular materials to transition between an unjammed, deformable state and a jammed state with solid-like rigidity. We delineate three separate mechanisms, friction, suction and interlocking, that contribute to the gripping force. Using a simple model we relate each of them to the mechanical strength of the jammed state. This opens up new possibilities for the design of simple, yet highly adaptive systems that excel at fast gripping of complex objects.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Increasing Physical Activity in Inner City Youth Using Novel Interactive Gaming

The aim of this project was to assess the feasibility of participation in an afterschool physical activity program incorporating novel exercise technologies on changing physical activity level and physical fitness, compared to a nutrition education intervention alone. A second objective was to assess whether this type of intervention could modify cardiovascular risk factors and anthropometrics

S:t Sigfrids granne : en begravningsplats för alla

This paper is about cemetaries in a multireligious society. The aim of the work is to compare the physical expressions of different religions burial traditions, in order to plan a multireligious cemetary in Borås. I´ve studied the five worldreligions, Judaism, Chritstianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. I´ve also written about the Humanism, a nonreligious organization, and funerals without any religious connection. Litterature studies gave basic knowledge about the religions beliefs, and interviews with a person from each group deepend the knowledge, mainly regarding the burial traditions. Interviews with landscape architects gave information about the most important aspects of the architecture of cemetaries. By visting cemetaries, I compared the information I gained through litterature and interviews with reality. The visits also gave inspiration for my own planning of the cemetary in Borås. There are many similarities among the burial traditions in Judaism, Christanity and Islam. The burial place has greater importance to them than to the Indian religions. In Buddhism and Hinduism they belive in reincarnation and therefore the grave and burial ground is not very important. The architecture of the cemetary is not as full of symbols as I expected it to be. The most important is the border to the surroundings and the entrance. When going through the entrance to the cemetary, the visitor should get a feeling of stepping in to another world. On the cemetary the graves are central and it is important to plan with respect for the people visiting a grave. During the work I´ve come to the conclusion that it is possible for different religions to share the same burial ground, as long as each religion has it´s own small area. One reason for this is that some religions celebrate ceremonies on the cemetary and this is easier if the graves are placed close to each other. Another reason is that recognizing symbols and words on neighbouring graves gives a feeling of security and confidence when visting a grave. In Borås there is a need for places to bury people who are not christian and there are plans to establish a new cemetary. I havn´t had a formal comission in Borås, but I´ve used the site of their new cemetary as a basis for my work. My idea for the new cemetary in Borås is a place full of light and flowers. The place is dominated of birchtrees (Betula pubescens). Between the trees are glades where the graves are placed. Each religious or nonreligious group has there own glade, with wellknown traditions and symbols. At the same time they are able to see and feel a connection to people in other parts of the cemetary. The different areas are not decided in advance for a specific religion, but are planned in detail when they´re taken in use.Det här arbetet handlar om begravningsplatser i ett multireligiöst samhälle. Arbetet syftar till att jämföra de fysiska uttrycken för olika religioners begravningstraditioner och utifrån detta planera en begravningsplats som kan passa alla. Ett område i Borås, i anslutning till S:t Sigfrids griftegård är utgångspunkt i gestaltningsarbetet. Jag har valt att studera och i gestaltningen ta hänsyn till de fem världsreligionerna, judendom, kristendom, islam, hinduism och buddhism. Utöver de religiösa grupperna behandlade jag begravning utan religiös anknytning och tog i det sammanhanget upp humanisterna (tidigare human-etiska förbundet). Litteraturstudier gav baskunskap om religionerna och intervjuer med en representant från varje grupp fördjupade kunskapen, främst i avseende på begravning och begravningsplatsen. Intervjuer med landskapsarkitekter ökade min kunskap om begravningsplatsens arkitektur. Genom studiebesök jämförde jag det jag lärt mig med hur det ser ut i verkligheten. Studiebesöken gav också inspiration inför mitt eget gestaltningsarbete. Det fi nns tydliga likheter i begravningstraditioner mellan de tre abrahamitiska religionerna, judendom, kristendom och islam. Det är också bland dessa som begravningsplatsen har störst betydelse och funktion för de efterlevande. I de indiska religionerna, buddhism och hinduism, tror man på reinkarnation och därför spelar platsen man begravs på mindre roll. Begravningsplatsens arkitektur är inte så full av symbolik som jag hade väntat mig. Viktigast är platsens avgränsning mot omvärlden och att man får en känsla av att träda in i en annan värld. På begravningsplatsen är det gravarna som står i centrum och möblerar rummet. Det är viktigt att planera med respekt och vördnad för de anhöriga som besöker en grav. Under arbetets gång framkom att man överlag kan tänka sig att dela begravningsplats med andra religioner, men det fi nns en efterfrågan på egna kvarter. Det skapar en känsla av trygghet att känna igen sig i symboler på omgivande gravar. Vissa grupper håller ceremonier på begravningsplatsen och detta underlättas om gravarna ligger samlat. I Borås har man önskemål om fl er gravplatser för människor med olika religionstillhörighet och det fi nns ett område avsatt för att anlägga en ny begravningsplats. Jag har inte haft ett formellt uppdrag i Borås men jag har haft detta område som utgångspunkt i mitt gestaltningsarbete. I Borås skapar jag en ljus plats som domineras av glasbjörk. Mellan träden öppnar sig gläntor som är gravkvarteren. Besökarna ser från sitt eget kvarter till nästa och får en känsla av gemenskap samtidigt som platsen för den egna graven känns hemvan och tryggt Kvarteren är inte i förväg bestämda för en viss religion. De tas i bruk efter hand och planeras i detalj efter de behov och önskemål som gruppen som ska nyttja dem har

A geometry deformation model for braided continuum manipulators

© 2017 Sadati, Naghibi, Shiva, Noh, Gupta, Walker, Althoefer and Nanayakkara. Continuum manipulators have gained significant attention in the robotic community due to their high dexterity, deformability, and reachability. Modeling of such manipulators has been shown to be very complex and challenging. Despite many research attempts, a general and comprehensive modeling method is yet to be established. In this paper, for the first time, we introduce the bending effect in the model of a braided extensile pneumatic actuator with both stiff and bendable threads. Then, the effect of the manipulator cross-section deformation on the constant curvature and variable curvature models is investigated using simple analytical results from a novel geometry deformation method and is compared to experimental results. We achieve 38% mean reference error simulation accuracy using our constant curvature model for a braided continuum manipulator in presence of body load and 10% using our variable curvature model in presence of extensive external loads. With proper model assumptions and taking to account the cross-section deformation, a 7-13% increase in the simulation mean error accuracy is achieved compared to a fixed cross-section model. The presented models can be used for the exact modeling and design optimization of compound continuum manipulators by providing an analytical tool for the sensitivity analysis of the manipulator performance. Our main aim is the application in minimal invasive manipulation with limited workspaces and manipulators with regional tunable stiffness in their cross section.UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), European Union H2020 project FourByThre

Illustrating Women\u27s Roles in the Civil War: An Analysis of Popular Illustrated Magazines\u27 Female Propaganda and Its Impact on Northern Middle-Class Women

I argue that during the American Civil War, the popular northern magazines created and distorted both positive and negative stereotypes of middle-class women in their propaganda illustrations in order to encourage certain female behaviors that would help the Union war effort

Two Stage Growth Evolution of Hydrothermal Quartz : Impurities Tell the Story

Color poster with images and graphs.Large-scale hydrothermal fluid systems control the thermal evolution of the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals, the primary product of circulating aqueous fluids, contain chemical impurities that document their growth history in hydrous environments. This study documents the distribution of defect abundances in crystals extracted from a single vug from Le Chang City, Guangdong Provice, China, that record two distinct phases of growth.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs