An Exploration of High School Engagement Factors and their Relationship to College Completion Rates

Today our global economy is demanding a work force that is highly educated and skilled; yet many of our students entering college are not college ready despite all the assessments, increased requirements and state standards work this country has undertaken. The bridge between high school and post-secondary education needs to be built in order for this nation to move forward. This research investigates the predictors of college success. The findings indicate five critical components: (1) academic preparation; (2) demographic characteristics; (3) local and total scholarship amounts; (4) parent engagement; and (5) student engagement as measured by high school participation in (a) sports, (b) band or/and vocal music, (c) clubs, and (d) competitive activities. Overall findings indicate that students who took advantage of the college going culture provided by this high school and completed a higher number of dual credit courses, performed higher academically, and were actively engaged in high school along with having engaged parents were more apt to complete more years of college

Experiments and modeling of shear-driven film separation

Dynamic thin liquid films driven by an adjacent gas flow have been subject to many investigations due to the presence of such films in many engineering applications. More specifically though, the behavior of such films at a sharply expanding corner has received little attention, but can be observed in internal combustion engines, liquid atomizer systems, refrigerant flows in evaporators, and film drag over wetted surfaces. Efforts to validate computational models of the propagation and separation of films are limited by the lack of reliable non-intrusive techniques to measure and analyze dynamic film parameters. In this study, film propagation models and film separation models were validated separately using experimental film thickness and separation measurements. These experimental measurements were performed in an experimental facility that enabled controlled development of a shear-driven thin liquid film and allowed for subsequent film analysis --Abstract, page iii

Teaching Physics Using Virtual Reality

We present an investigation of game-like simulations for physics teaching. We report on the effectiveness of the interactive simulation "Real Time Relativity" for learning special relativity. We argue that the simulation not only enhances traditional learning, but also enables new types of learning that challenge the traditional curriculum. The lessons drawn from this work are being applied to the development of a simulation for enhancing the learning of quantum mechanics

Investigation of new concepts of adaptive devices Quarterly technical report, 15 Jun. - 14 Sep. 1967

Insulated gate field effect transistor with adaptive and memory characteristic

Active learning using online interactivity

Preparation for classes and interactivity are core components of active learning. Both of these components can be implemented in ways enabled by technology, using online resources and activities. This presentation will discuss a range of online strategies to support active learning, from the viewpoint of at least a decade’s work on implementing active learning in a variety of university physics courses. A particular focus has been the development and evaluation of online learning modules.  “Five Minute Physics” was originally envisaged as lecture preparation material. Its concise text, videos/animations and quizzes with instant feedback are designed to provide students with a fundamental understanding of course material, preparing them for interactive in-class activities. Once it was proven that students actually use this resource, its content was extended.  An introductory-level service course has a complete suite of Five Minute Physics modules covering the course material. These have been consistently nominated by students over many semesters (pre-COVID, at the height of the pandemic crisis, and now), as one of the best aspects of the course.  Initially, student engagement with interactive simulations that were incorporated in Five Minute Physics varied widely. We have since integrated simulations in learning tasks, for example, small-group worksheets for tutorials. Students across a number of courses have responded very positively to use of online simulations, reporting gains from simulation-based activities, and describing how simulations helped their learning. In the rapid transition to new delivery modes prompted by COVID-19, we attempted to retain advantages of active learning – supported by technology. In recent semesters, for a first-year course with hundreds of students, consisting of lectures, tutorials and practicals, most students experienced a blend of online and face-to-face teaching. Interactive lectures have been achieved online, and in simultaneous face-to-face/online mode. Tutorials on-campus and online have used the same activities, based on online interactive simulations and small-group discussion. Student attitudes to the use of online simulations in both situations have been overwhelmingly positive. Student engagement in in-person tutorials was relatively high. In online tutorial sessions, engagement was generally lower, the productive student discussion varied dramatically, but engagement improved over the semester with tutors working to encourage discussion. As we aim to address contemporary and future challenges in physics education, technology-enabled strategies will continue to offer interesting possibilities to support active learning. REFERENCE Five Minute Physics. http://teaching.smp.uq.edu.au/fiveminutephysics

VADA: A transformation-based system for variable dependence analysis

Variable dependence is an analysis problem in which the aim is to determine the set of input variables that can affect the values stored in a chosen set of intermediate program variables. This paper shows the relationship between the variable dependence analysis problem and slicing and describes VADA, a system that implements variable dependence analysis. In order to cover the full range of C constructs and features, a transformation to a core language is employed Thus, the full analysis is required only for the core language, which is relatively simple. This reduces the overall effort required for dependency analysis. The transformations used need preserve only the variable dependence relation, and therefore need not be meaning preserving in the traditional sense. The paper describes how this relaxed meaning further simplifies the transformation phase of the approach. Finally, the results of an empirical study into the performance of the system are presented

Numerical calculations of effective elastic properties of two cellular structures

Young's moduli of regular two-dimensional truss-like and eye-shape-like structures are simulated by using the finite element method. The structures are the idealizations of soft polymeric materials used in the electret applications. In the simulations size of the representative smallest units are varied, which changes the dimensions of the cell-walls in the structures. A power-law expression with a quadratic as the exponential term is proposed for the effective Young's moduli of the systems as a function of the solid volume fraction. The data is divided into three regions with respect to the volume fraction; low, intermediate and high concentrations. The parameters of the proposed power-law expression in each region are later represented as a function of the structural parameters, unit-cell dimensions. The presented expression can be used to predict structure/property relationship in materials with similar cellular structures. It is observed that the structures with volume fractions of solid higher than 0.15 exhibit the importance of the cell-wall thickness contribution in the elastic properties. The cell-wall thickness is the most significant factor to predict the effective Young's modulus of regular cellular structures at high volume fractions of solid. At lower concentrations of solid, eye-like structure yields lower Young's modulus than the truss-like structure with the similar anisotropy. Comparison of the numerical results with those of experimental data of poly(propylene) show good aggreement regarding the influence of cell-wall thickness on elastic properties of thin cellular films.Comment: 7 figures and 2 table

Time-of-flight imaging of invisibility cloaks

As invisibility cloaking has recently become experimental reality, it is interesting to explore ways to reveal remaining imperfections. In essence, the idea of most invisibility cloaks is to recover the optical path lengths without an object (to be made invisible) by a suitable arrangement around that object. Optical path length is proportional to the time of flight of a light ray or to the optical phase accumulated by a light wave. Thus, time-of-flight images provide a direct and intuitive tool for probing imperfections. Indeed, recent phase-sensitive experiments on the carpet cloak have already made early steps in this direction. In the macroscopic world, time-of-flight images could be measured directly by light detection and ranging (LIDAR). Here, we show calculated time-of-flight images of the conformal Gaussian carpet cloak, the conformal grating cloak, the cylindrical free-space cloak, and of the invisible sphere. All results are obtained by using a ray-velocity equation of motion derived from Fermat’s principle

Correlation between safety attitudes and early adoption of cognitive aids in the German culture sphere: a multicenter survey study

Background: Cognitive Aids (checklists) are a common tool to improve patient safety. But the factors for their successful implementation and continuous use are not yet fully understood. Recent publications suggest safety culture to play a key role in this context. However, the effects on the outcome of implementation measures remain unclear. Hospitals and clinics that are involved in cognitive aid development and research might have significantly different safety cultures than their counterparts, resulting in skewed assessments of proper implementation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the correlation between cognitive aid implementation and safety attitudes of staff members in early adopting and later adopting clinics. Methods: An online survey of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) was carried out in German anaesthesiology departments during the initial implementation of a new checklist for emergencies during anesthesia (“eGENA” app). Subsequently an analysis between subgroups (“eGENA” app usage and occupation), with Kruskal–Wallis- and Mann–Whitney-U-Tests was carried out for the general SAQ, as well as it six subscales. Results: Departments that introduced “eGENA” app (Median 3,74, IQR 0,90) reported a significantly higher median SAQ (U (NeGENA = 6, Nnon eGENA = 14) = 70,0, z = 2,31, p = 0,02, r = 0,516) than their counterparts (Median 2,82, IQR 0,77) with significant differences in the dimensions teamwork climate, work satisfaction, perception of management and working conditions. Conclusion: Early adopters of cognitive aids are likely to show a significantly higher perception of safety culture in the SAQ. Consequently, successful implementation steps from these settings might not be sufficient in different clinics. Therefore, further investigation of the effects of safety culture on cognitive aid implementation should be conducted