Bricolage--The Fine Art of Online Course Design, (or Playing with a Full Deck)

Bricolage is an engaging and effective design strategy, ideally suited for online courses. We know that information sets surround us: students, instructors, course content and now, web content. Online instructors and designers alike are advised to connect their students with as many information sets as they can. Bricolage can make that happen. A paradigmatic course design is presented

My Take on Connectivism: An Underlying Theory of Online Learning and Course Design

Connectivism contends that “Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing” (Siemens 2004). A summary of Siemens’ theory is presented, along with a paradigmatic course design

Wind Farm Power Prediction in Complex Terrain

There has been increasing interest in predicting the velocity field within wind farms in complex terrain for resource assessment, turbine siting, and power forecasting. These capabilities are made possible by advancements in computational speed from a new generation of computing hardware and numerical methods. The current thesis research focuses on two technical components to advance the current state in wind power forecasting. The first component is improved prediction of wind flow over complex terrain using the versatile immersed boundary method to represent surface boundary conditions on a fixed Cartesian mesh. The proposed approach embodies the law-of-the-wall for rough surfaces and produces good results for benchmark wind data for complex terrain. The second component is the implementation and validation of wind turbine wake models and a first-principle based method to predict available wind power. Actuator disk models with and without rotation are considered. The wake models are validated against data from a published wind tunnel experiment and full-scale field data from an operational wind farm. The power prediction method is compared against normalized power data from operational wind farms and other computational studies available in literature. The actuator disk model with rotation simulates wake velocity deficits with better accuracy than the non-rotational model. The proposed power prediction method shows agreement with standard energy assessment methods without any ad-hoc decisions. Finally, the computational capability is applied to a hypothetical wind farm in Southern Idaho to demonstrate its versatility

Hugh Walpole : a cathedral novelist

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Kansas, English, 1928

Fabrication of thermoplastic polymer composite ribbon

The goal of this research was to develop a controllable process to convert a thermoplastic powder-coated carbon-fiber towpreg into uniform and consolidated ribbon. The approach comprised four primary activities. (1) The patent and processing literature was studied to evaluate the state of the art. (2) A functional ribbon fabrication technique was developed by scaling-up, in a novel configuration, hardware components found in the literature. (3) The ex parte ribbonizing process was characterized by calibrating equipment, determining steady state and studying cause and effect between process parameters and ribbon quality. (4) Process design and control methods were derived from heat transfer and pulling force analyses. The ex parte ribbonizer process comprises a material handling system, a preheat region, a heated stationary bar assembly, and a cooled nip roller assembly. Appropriate timing of important contacts is key to fabricating quality ribbon. Process characterization and analyses revealed key flow mechanisms. Ribbon microstructure changes most at the bars. Ribbon macrostructure changes most at the nip. An isothermal bar contact is a practical processing constraint for ensuring uniform squeeze flow bar spreading. All bar drag force is attributed to shear stress in the interfacial viscous boundary layer between the towpreg and the stationary bar surface. Continually sensing pulling force is a good indication of process control. The research goal was achieved because the ex parte ribbonizer can be used to convert polymer powder towpreg into uniform and fully-consolidated ribbon in a controllable manner

Individual Resistance to Change

This thesis examines individual resistance to change and concludes that it is a constantly evolving process with many contributing factors. Defining resistance to change is a challenge within its own right. To account for the actions involved in change resistance is an even more complex undertaking. In this research, resistance to change is examined and explained using the influences of goals, participation, leadership effectiveness, and communication. These factors are expressed as the composition of what makes an individual resist or accept a change. Each of the four elements of resistance to change are examined independently and then synthesized into a model