124 research outputs found
Video games and learning : a scoping study of the diverse use of video games in Australian classrooms
This study investigates current uses of video games within secondary classrooms in Australia, and the ways this is impacted by teacher attitudes and experiences. First, a thorough systematic review of current literature surrounding video games in secondary classrooms was conducted. The review indicated that current research regarding video games and education is primarily concerned with short-term interventions, and often does not take into consideration the context of wider teaching activities. The review further found that research in the Australian context is limited, and primarily qualitative in nature. Second, a survey of Australian secondary teachers was conducted to explore teacher attitudes towards video game based learning, and to identify promoters and barriers to the adoption of video games. Results indicated teacher beliefs were positive regarding the ability of video games to increase student interest and engagement, and to teach real-world skills. External support for video games and the frequency of teacher video game use in their own practice significantly influenced teacher attitudes. The opportunities for building on the limited research within an Australian context means this study contributes to building a comprehensive body of research that accounts for teacher attitudes and uses of video games within Australian secondary classrooms
Hybrid renewable energy systems: the value of storage as a function of PV-wind variability
As shares of variable renewable energy (VRE) on the electric grid increase, sources of grid flexibility will become increasingly important for maintaining the reliability and affordability of electricity supply. Lithium-ion battery energy storage has been identified as an important and cost-effective source of flexibility, both by itself and when coupled with VRE technologies like solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind. In this study, we explored the current and future value of utility-scale hybrid energy systems comprising PV, wind, and lithium-ion battery technologies (PV-wind-battery systems). Using a price-taker model with simulated hourly energy and capacity prices, we simulated the revenue-maximizing dispatch of a range of PV-wind-battery configurations across Texas, from the present through 2050. Holding PV capacity and point-of-interconnection capacity constant, we modeled configurations with varying wind-to-PV capacity ratios and battery-to-PV capacity ratios. We found that coupling PV, wind, and battery technologies allows for more effective utilization of interconnection capacity by increasing capacity factors to 60%–80%+ and capacity credits to close to 100%, depending on battery capacity. We also compared the energy and capacity values of PV-wind and PV-wind-battery systems to the corresponding stability coefficient metric, which describes the location-and configuration-specific complementarity of PV and wind resources. Our results show that the stability coefficient effectively predicts the configuration-location combinations in which a smaller battery component can provide comparable economic performance in a PV-wind-battery system (compared to a PV-battery system). These PV-wind-battery hybrids can help integrate more VRE by providing smoother, more predictable generation and greater flexibility
Priorities for Californias Water: Thriving with Less
In the last decade, California—along with the rest of the world—has entered a new phase of climate change. The changes that scientists predicted have started to arrive. California's already variable climate is growing increasingly volatile and unpredictable: The dry periods are hotter and drier, and the wet periods—lately too few and far between—are warmer and often more intense.Across the state, water and land managers are being forced to respond in real time to changes that were once hard to imagine. The snowpack—that once-reliable annual source of water—is diminishing as temperatures rise. Water withdrawals during multiyear droughts are depleting the state's reservoirs and groundwater basins. Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland come out of production during droughts; further reductions will be needed to restore our groundwater basins to balance. And mammoth floods could eventually devastate our currently parched state. Warming is also intensifying water quality problems, such as harmful algal blooms. These changes are posing widespread challenges for our businesses, communities, and ecosystems—and often hitting low-income residents the hardest.This report considers the state of water in California: What changes are we seeing now, and what should we expect in the near future? Then it examines how these climate shifts will impact urban and rural communities, agriculture, and the environment. Finally, it explores wet-year strategies that will help Californians get through the dry years
Quantitative measures of health policy implementation determinants and outcomes: A systematic review
BACKGROUND: Public policy has tremendous impacts on population health. While policy development has been extensively studied, policy implementation research is newer and relies largely on qualitative methods. Quantitative measures are needed to disentangle differential impacts of policy implementation determinants (i.e., barriers and facilitators) and outcomes to ensure intended benefits are realized. Implementation outcomes include acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, compliance/fidelity, feasibility, penetration, sustainability, and costs. This systematic review identified quantitative measures that are used to assess health policy implementation determinants and outcomes and evaluated the quality of these measures.
METHODS: Three frameworks guided the review: Implementation Outcomes Framework (Proctor et al.), Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (Damschroder et al.), and Policy Implementation Determinants Framework (Bullock et al.). Six databases were searched: Medline, CINAHL Plus, PsycInfo, PAIS, ERIC, and Worldwide Political. Searches were limited to English language, peer-reviewed journal articles published January 1995 to April 2019. Search terms addressed four levels: health, public policy, implementation, and measurement. Empirical studies of public policies addressing physical or behavioral health with quantitative self-report or archival measures of policy implementation with at least two items assessing implementation outcomes or determinants were included. Consensus scoring of the Psychometric and Pragmatic Evidence Rating Scale assessed the quality of measures.
RESULTS: Database searches yielded 8417 non-duplicate studies, with 870 (10.3%) undergoing full-text screening, yielding 66 studies. From the included studies, 70 unique measures were identified to quantitatively assess implementation outcomes and/or determinants. Acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness, and compliance were the most commonly measured implementation outcomes. Common determinants in the identified measures were organizational culture, implementation climate, and readiness for implementation, each aspects of the internal setting. Pragmatic quality ranged from adequate to good, with most measures freely available, brief, and at high school reading level. Few psychometric properties were reported.
CONCLUSIONS: Well-tested quantitative measures of implementation internal settings were under-utilized in policy studies. Further development and testing of external context measures are warranted. This review is intended to stimulate measure development and high-quality assessment of health policy implementation outcomes and determinants to help practitioners and researchers spread evidence-informed policies to improve population health.
REGISTRATION: Not registered
Research trends in forensic science:A scientometric approach to analyze the content of the INTERPOL reviews
The use of forensic evidence has become indispensable in many countries and jurisdictions around the world, however the dissemination of research advancements does not necessarily directly or easily reach the forensic science community. Reports from the INTERPOL International Forensic Science Managers Symposium outline major areas that are of interest to forensic practitioners across the INTERPOL member countries. The information contained in the INTERPOL reports is extensive but can be challenging to process. The purpose of this research is to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of trends within the INTERPOL reports over an 18 year period. References relating to 10 evidence types retrieved from the 14th to 19th INTERPOL IFSMS reports (2004-2019) were processed and compared with data exports from the citation database Scopus covering the same evidence types. The results from this work are summarised by investigating the relationships between the 10 evidence types. To explore the outputs a user-friendly R-Shiny application was developed and is freely available at: https://uod.ac.uk/lrcfsinterpolreportsexplorer
Ancient Latin American objects in the archive: selections from the George and Louise Patten collection of Salem Hyde cultural artifacts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
https://scholar.utc.edu/exhibition-records/1004/thumbnail.jp
The Physical Conditions of Emission-Line Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn from JWST/NIRSpec Spectroscopy in the SMACS 0723 Early Release Observations
We present rest-frame optical emission-line flux ratio measurements for five
galaxies observed by the JWST Near-Infared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) in the
SMACS 0723 Early Release Observations. We add several quality-control and
post-processing steps to the NIRSpec pipeline reduction products in order to
ensure reliable relative flux calibration of emission lines that are closely
separated in wavelength, despite the uncertain \textit{absolute}
spectrophotometry of the current version of the reductions. Compared to
galaxies in the literature, the galaxies have similar
[OIII]5008/H ratios, similar [OIII]4364/H
ratios, and higher (0.5 dex) [NeIII]3870/[OII]3728
ratios. We compare the observations to MAPPINGS V photoionization models and
find that the measured [NeIII]3870/[OII]3728,
[OIII]4364/H, and [OIII]5008/H emission-line
ratios are consistent with an interstellar medium that has very high ionization
(, units of cm~s), low metallicity (), and very high pressure (, units of
cm). The combination of [OIII]4364/H and
[OIII](4960+5008)/H line ratios indicate very high electron
temperatures of , further implying metallicities of
with the application of low-redshift calibrations for
``-based'' metallicities. These observations represent a tantalizing new
view of the physical conditions of the interstellar medium in galaxies at
cosmic dawn.Comment: Accepted for publication in AAS Journals. 14 pages, 6 figures, 3
table
Spectroscopic confirmation of CEERS NIRCam-selected galaxies at
We present JWST/NIRSpec prism spectroscopy of seven galaxies selected from
the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS) NIRCam imaging with
photometric redshifts z_phot>8. We measure emission line redshifts of z=7.65
and 8.64 for two galaxies, and z=9.77(+0.37,-0.29) and 10.01(+0.14,-0.19) for
two others via the detection of continuum breaks consistent with Lyman-alpha
opacity from a mostly neutral intergalactic medium. The presence (absense) of
strong breaks (strong emission lines) give high confidence that these two
galaxies are at z>9.6, but the break-derived redshifts have large uncertainties
given the low spectral resolution and relatively low signal-to-noise of the
CEERS NIRSpec prism data. The two z~10 sources are relatively luminous
(M_UV<-20), with blue continua (-2.3<beta<-1.9) and low dust attenuation
(A_V=0.15(+0.3,-0.1)); and at least one of them has high stellar mass for a
galaxy at that redshift (log(M_*/M_sol)=9.3(+0.2,-0.3)). Considered together
with spectroscopic observations of other CEERS NIRCam-selected high-z galaxy
candidates in the literature, we find a high rate of redshift confirmation and
low rate of confirmed interlopers (8.3%). Ten out of 34 z>8 candidates with
CEERS NIRSpec spectroscopy do not have secure redshifts, but the absence of
emission lines in their spectra is consistent with redshifts z>9.6. We find
that z>8 photometric redshifts are generally in agreement (within
uncertainties) with the spectroscopic values. However, the photometric
redshifts tend to be slightly overestimated (average Delta(z)=0.50+/-0.12),
suggesting that current templates do not fully describe the spectra of very
high-z sources. Overall, our results solidifies photometric evidence for a high
space density of bright galaxies at z>8 compared to theoretical model
predictions, and further disfavors an accelerated decline in the integrated UV
luminosity density at z>8.Comment: Submitted to ApJL. 24 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables. File with Table 6
included in source .tar fil
DU Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Works: Abstracts
Abstracts from the DU Undergraduate Showcase
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