Multimedia of the Mind: Digital Rhetoric and Interdisciplinary Acquisition

Multimodal digital narratives are currently in the spotlight for acquisition into the digital humanities. The narrative form is emerging with great research interest, the form having no previously established traditions. This research paper attempts to define the nature of multimodal digital narratives and their implementation into modern society. Specifically, the paper addresses the digital rhetoric appropriated by multimodal digital narratives and how it translates into modifying perceptions of society. This multimodal digital rhetoric is then explored in the context of digital activism and education, formative social discourses the augment societal perceptions. Digital rhetoric is utilized to augment a user’s reality to distort and influence societal perceptions. Audio, visuals, user interface, reading, and text all filter into digital rhetoric, compounding an author’s ideas with each added element. All aspects of a digital narrative are tended to create user immersion, creating a multi-sensory narrative. The quality of user immersion and variability in narrative navigation, provides a personalized meaning individual to every user. Digital rhetoric is a means in which the author shapes the limits of what a user retains from the narrative itself. Examining instances of multimodal digital narratives reveals the quality of societal distortion. By using my research to create the multimodal digital narrative, “Promise of Paradise,” I explored digital activism though the platform, Twine. Authors model reality through a predetermined system that allows for authorial intent. The system and elements, designed by the author, indicate motivation and display the specific intent an author has in the creation of their multimodal digital narrative. These concepts speak of immense power and capability, filtering into digital activism and modern education

Direction-dependent constriction flow in a poroelastic solid : a model of the intervertebra disc valve

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1997.Includes bibliographical references.by Dana C. Ayotte.M.S

Similarity theory and calculation of turbulent fluxes at the surface for the stably stratified atmospheric boundary layers

In this paper we revise the similarity theory for the stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), formulate analytical approximations for the wind velocity and potential temperature profiles over the entire ABL, validate them against large-eddy simulation and observational data, and develop an improved surface flux calculation technique for use in operational models.Comment: The submission to a special issue of the Boundary-Layer Meteorology devoted to the NATO advanced research workshop Atmospheric Boundary Layers: Modelling and Applications for Environmental Securit

USING GIS TO MODIFY A STRATIFIED RANDOM BLOCK SURVEY DESIGN FOR MOOSE

We modified the standard, stratified random block design used typically in aerial surveys of moose (Alces alces). We laid a grid of approximately 9 km2 cells over our study area, and GIS was then used to allocate polygons into one of 2 strata within each grid cell. The 2 strata were based upon vegetation attributes that were predicted to have either high or low moose density from previous research. We assumed that polygons of early seral forest stands (<40 yr), shrubs, and meadows would have high moose density relative to other vegetation attributes. Vegetation polygons were often <1 km2, consequently, single grid cells usually included >1 high and low density polygons. Adjacent cells were amalgamated to produce sample units with >4 km2 of high density stratum area. Real-time navigation was used and the flight track was recorded over a map of sample units, strata boundaries, and topographic features to accurately identify polygon boundaries and assign each sighted moose to the appropriate strata. We concluded that our approach was efficient and effective in fine-grained environments where the relative selection by moose for vegetation patches is well understood, and those patches are mapped in digital databases

Learning to Teach Science from a Contextualized Stance

Contextualization is a curricular approach and a learning process in which science content knowledge is intentionally situated within a context where that knowledge can be authentically applied or observed. Many recent science education reforms include contextualization as a central tenet. Our goal in this review was to examine commonalities across contextualization approaches that could inform a method for preparing teachers to lead contextualized science learning broadly. After screening, 56 journal papers were organized into five contextualization approaches: authentic science practices (ASP), culturally-responsive science (CRS), out-of-classroom experiences (OOC), socio-scientific inquiry (SSI), and context-based curriculum (CBC). The collected papers suggested that despite the approach, teachers needed to develop a deep sense of the context, a clear understanding of the science content specific to that context, and the pedagogical skills to effectively bring content and context together. It was also found that contextualization usually leads to student-centered learning, even if not a specific goal of an intervention. This review suggests that contextualization can be taught as a broad, foundational teacher skill set that can be applied to more specific approaches. Learning this skill set will require long-term, and intensive teacher development efforts