A Black Swan in a Sea of White Noise: Using Technology-Enhanced Learning to Afford Educational Inclusivity for Learners with Asperger’s Syndrome

Against a backdrop of increasingly vocation-focussed course provision within higher education, of widening participation initiatives intended to promote greater inclusion for learners affected by learning difficulties, and of moves towards greater use of social and collaborative forms of learning, this paper discusses the case of an undergraduate Computing student affected by Asperger’s Syndrome (AS).While there is recognition in the literature of problems associated with face-to-face dialogue for persons affected by AS, there is a paucity of research both into the experience of students in higher education, and around the issue of participation in group-work activities increasingly found in creative aspects of computing. This paper highlights a tension between moves towards collaborative learning and UK disabilities legislation in relation to learners with AS. Employing a qualitative case-study methodology, the investigation revealed how a technology-enhanced learning intervention afforded an AS-diagnosed learner greater opportunities to participate in group-work in a higher education context. The findings suggest that not only can computer-mediated communications afford AS-diagnosed learners opportunities to participate meaningfully in group-work, but also that the learner demonstrated higher levels of collective-inclusive versus individual-exclusive phraseology than neurotypical peers, thereby challenging assumptions around participation in collaborative learning activities and assimilation of peer-feedback

Exploring the Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Financial Egocentrism, and Fraud Susceptibility in Cyber-Enabled Fraud Schemes Involving Crypto Assets

The propensity to exploit others for one’s own benefit is continuously exhibited by bad actors. Unfortunately, this sentiment holds true in emerging asset classes, such as crypto assets. As a result, it is surprising that current research on fraud susceptibility is approached in a binary way. Researchers examine either what makes an individual predisposed to victimization by bad actors or what factors influence one’s propensity to perpetrate fraudulent schemes. This study bridged this substantial gap in current research by investigating if specific psychological factors influence when, or if, an individual shifts between these two outcomes. The psychological factors incorporated into this analysis included self-esteem, financial egocentrism, and fraud susceptibility. These variables were measured through self-reported assessments. Secondary analysis additionally explored the efficacy of the threat of punishment as a deterrent for the perpetration of cyber-enabled fraud schemes. The evidence indicated that higher levels of financial egocentrism were linked to higher fraud susceptibility. The study also identified that the threat of punishment did not have a statistically significant impact on the decision to perpetrate a cyber-enabled fraud scheme involving crypto assets

Design-based research as a methodological approach to support participatory engagement of learners in the development of learning technologies

Following the origination of the design experiment as a mechanism to introduce learning interventions into the messy conditions of the classroom (Brown, 1992; Collins, 1992), design-based research (DBR) faced criticism from opposing paradigmatic camps before its acknowledgement as a promising methodology in which “formative evaluation plays a significant role” (Dede, Ketelhut, Whitehouse, Breit & McCloskey, 2009, p.16). This session presents a case study of a researcher-practitioner investigation at a north of England HEI into the influence of asynchronous video on the learner experience of assessment and feedback. Employing a design-based methodological approach informed by both cognitive and social theories of learning (e.g. Mayer, 2001; Laurillard, 2002), three DBR cycles explored the effectiveness of a range of video-enhanced learning, assessment and feedback interventions, while a responsive approach to the integration of learner evaluation within iterative cycles of design, implementation, evaluation and refinement led to the emergence of design exemplars in each area. With learning scaffolded through the provision of instructional tutorial videos, undergraduate students in the computing discipline produced screencasts to demonstrate their work, while engaging in learner-tutor dialogue around feedback using asynchronous video. Iterative phases of learner evaluation resulted in the introduction of regular video-diaries while also directing refinements to the frequency of video-feedback, with their effectiveness critiqued through ongoing dialogic interviewing (Knight & Saunders, 1999). Underpinned by a grounded theory approach in which research follows the data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), and mirroring software engineering principles where end-users influence the development and evolution of electronic artefacts or systems (e.g. Boehm, 1988), the direct participation of learners in the design and refinement of interventions led to the formation of an integrated model of video-enhanced learning, assessment and feedback

A Comparative Study of Slide Technique for the Trombone

Professional trombonists and teachers of the instrument do not agree on the various aspects of slide technique. The purpose of this paper is to compare slide techniques for the trombone. Therefore, basic concepts of holding the instrument will be examined, as well as concepts about the manipulation of the slide

Douglas and James Collection - Accession 1139

The Douglas and James Collection consists of diplomas, yearbooks, photographs, correspondence, and programs relating to the Winthrop College experience of Katherine McDowell Douglas (Class of 1891) and her daughter Grace Douglas James (Class of 1923). The photograph file provides a visual record of S.C. college life in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The correspondence relates to Grace Douglas James’ graduation ceremony invitations of 1923 and 1924 and a personal letter and to Katherine McDowell Douglas’ travels with the women’s club to Davidson, NC. Photos relate to the various points in Katherine and Grace’s life in South Carolina and their graduation from Winthrop College. Both the diplomas of Katherine McDowell Douglas and Grace Douglas James are enclosed in the diploma folder. The Miscellaneous relates to a program from April 22, 1922 of a high school girls track meet, the program of Mabel Garrison of the Metropolitan Opera Company performing at the Winthrop Auditorium, the Baccalaureate Sermon given by Reverend Collins Denny on June 3, 1923, and the Class Day Exercises of Winthrop College on June 4, 1923. Four volumes of Winthrop’s yearbook the Tatler are included from 1920-1923 documenting the experiences of Grace Douglas James’ while she attended Winthrop College Volume 17 is dated for 1920, 1921 has no volume given, 1922 is volume 19, and 1923 is volume 23.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/2480/thumbnail.jp

AN INTRODUCTION TO VIRGINIA ISSUES: INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS: SPECIAL REPORT FOR VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use,

Range Extension of Bull Trout, Salvelinus confluentus, to the Central Northwest Territories, with Notes on Identification and Distribution of Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma, in the Western Canadian Arctic

The presence of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) is reported from four locations in the Sahtu Settlement Area of the Northwest Territories centered about 64°30'N and 125°00'W. These reports extend the geographical range of this species approximately 500 km north of the previous northernmost published localities in the southern Northwest Territories (~61°N, 125°W, Prairie Creek, Liard River drainage). The identity of these char is confirmed using quantitative criteria in a linear discriminant function from the literature shown to be 100% effective in distinguishing bull trout from Dolly Varden (S. malma). Regular captures of these fish at one location over several years indicate that these records likely represent established populations and not extralimital occurrences. We hypothesize that bull trout are more extensively distributed in high-gradient streams and rivers of the south-central Mackenzie River valley and likely also occur north of this area. Only limited scientific work has been done in the area, and data on taxonomy and distributions of species are generally lacking. In much of the previous literature, reports of char (other than lake trout, S. namaycush) have identified the fish as Dolly Varden or arctic char (S. alpinus). These identifications are suspect, and care must be taken when interpreting such literature. The presence and vulnerability of bull trout present significant challenges for their conservation and management in this area.On a rapporté la présence de l'omble à tête plate (Salvelinus confluentus) à quatre endroits de l'établissement du Sahtu (Territoires du Nord-Ouest), dont la position est environ 64° 30' de lat. N. et 125° 00' de long. O. Ces rapports prolongent l'habitat de cette espèce d'environ 500 km au nord des lieux les plus septentrionaux mentionnés précédemment dans la documentation, lieux situés dans la partie sud des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (~ 61° de lat. N., 125° de long. O., bassin de la Liard). L'identité de ces ombles est confirmée grâce à l'utilisation de critères quantitatifs dans une fonction discriminante linéaire qui a été prouvée 100 p. cent efficace pour établir la distinction entre omble à tête plate et Dolly Varden (S. malma). Les prises régulières de ce poisson à un endroit au cours de plusieurs années révèlent que ces données représentent probablement des populations établies et non des occurrences hors limites. Nous émettons l'hypothèse que la distribution de l'omble à tête plate est plus large dans les ruisseaux et rivières ayant une pente à forte déclivité situés dans le centre-sud de la vallée du Mackenzie, et qu'on le trouve probablement aussi au nord de cette région. Les travaux scientifiques effectués dans la région sont d'une envergure limitée, et les données sur la classification et la distribution des espèces sont dans l'ensemble inexistantes. Dans un grand nombre de documents publiés, les rapports concernant les ombles (autres que le touladi, S. namaycush) ont identifié le poisson comme étant le Dolly Varden ou l'omble chevalier (S. alpinus). Ces identifications sont douteuses et il faut interpréter cette documentation avec prudence. La présence et la vulnérabilité de l'omble à tête plate présentent d'importants défis quant à la préservation et à la gestion de l'espèce à l'intérieur de cette zone

Use of microwave remote sensors for determination of water in sub-soils

Student supported: 1 Graduate AssistantThe development of instruments for rapidly measuring the water content of subsoils is important in many areas of water resources research. For example, knowing the excess or lack of subsoil water can improve crops. The marked dielectric contrast, which exists between water and other common soil constituents (Fig. 1 and Table I) at microwave frequencies, provides a valuable means of sensing water content in soil.Project # A-070-MO Agreement # 14-31-0001-402

Troubling Breath: Tuberculosis, care and subjectivity at the margins of Rajasthan.

"Troubling Breath," the product of fourteen months of fieldwork, examines the experience of tuberculosis sufferers in rural Rajasthan, India. In it, I engage the Indian national tuberculosis control program, local health institutions, informal biomedical providers, non-biomedical healers and sufferers to consider how global tuberculosis control initiatives interact with social life and subjectivity among the rural poor. I ask how tuberculosis affliction and healing builds and reveals the diversity and limit of relationships between state and citizen, individual and kin, body and social, global and local, and formal and informal healthcare.Anthropolog