COMM 260-01: Public Speaking

After more than two thousand years, public speaking remains a central topic in a myriad of cultures. In order to understand the process of public speaking as well as to improve one’s public speaking skills in the 21st century, two steps prove fundamental. Firstly, behind every instance of public speaking, a complex intersection of factors takes place. Therefore, it becomes essential to critically examine these factors as well as to analyze the fluid relationship between speaker, audience, and context (at the micro and macro levels). Moreover, it is necessary to examine the role of public speaking in a democracy. Secondly, the theoretical dimension aims to enhance the personal application of critical public speaking skills in synchronous and asynchronous interactions, as speakers, listeners, and members of society at large. For that purpose, COMM 260 emphasizes the theory of speech composition, presentation, and evaluation and its relationship to public discourse, civic engagement, and the ethics of persuasion. This course provides a critical application of theory through the online presentation of several formal and impromptu speeches. Requirements include frequent online speaking assignments and related practices, including written analyses of speeches. Thus, active online participation and critical engagement prove essential in this course. This course is fully online; students will not be required to be physically present for any component of the class.https://scholarworks.umass.edu/communication_ed_materials/1000/thumbnail.jp

THE COYOLXAUHQUI PROCESS OF A SCHOLAR UNBECOMING AN ENEMY OF YOUTH: A PERFORMATIVE, EMBODIED, SELF-DECOLONIZING STORY OF TRANSFORMATION AND HOPE

Scholarly work may be used to foster colonizing processes upon people of color whether scholars are aware of it or not. That is the case of the study of youth bullying in the United States, an old issue that, however, became a central social concern in the United States in the late 1990s. Building upon scholars’ framing of youth bullying, a combination of moral panics on youth unfolded, fostering a law-and-order regime in schools that expanded the application of zero-tolerance policies. These policies fed the school-to-prison pipeline that funnels youth into the criminal justice system, a form of internal colonization that polices, incarcerates, and exploits youth of color in the United States. As a researcher on youth bullying, I was oblivious to this harmful outcome. I was becoming an enemy of youth of color and I committed to unbecoming one, using this dissertation for that purpose. First, by tracing the genealogy of the study of youth bullying and how academic premises became Gramscian common sense. Second, by reflecting upon and redressing my complicity with (neo)colonialism. I use performance x autoethnography and Anzaldúa’s Coyolxauhqui imperative as methods to unfold a self decolonizing process as a Canary Islander and queer diasporic nepantlera who is a colonize(d)(r) scholar. The new conocimiento that I obtain in this process allows me to look at the study of youth bullying with a different gaze. As a result, I offer an alternative onto-epistemological and methodological approach to the study of youth bullying in the United States. I advocate for a collective decolonizing reframing of youth bullying based upon centering youth’s agency, challenging adult researchers’ standpoint, suggesting other onto-epistemological and conceptual approaches, as well as promoting other values and tactics in the study of youth peer abuse and violence. This dissertation, in sum, is an onto-epistemo-methodological embodied reflection that offers a methodological contribution on how to study youth bullying in less colonizing ways. Likewise, it contributes to methodological conversations on how to use performance autoethnography to self-decolonize as well as how to decolonize performance autoethnography. Moreover, this text contributes to better understanding diasporic experience and expands the literature on the Canarian diaspora. Fundamentally, this dissertation contributes to decolonizing academia

I\u27m Sorry My Hair is Blocking Your Smile : A Performative Assemblage and Intercultural Dialogue on the Politics of Hair and Place

This performative essay is an instance of embodied writing, an assemblage by seven individuals responding to a shared moment from different perspectives on the politics of hair. In the process we engage the sociological imagination as we turn private troubles into public issues, or better yet, we collectively show how public issues are our private troubles

Estrategias de formación permanente direccionada al flujo comunicativo en ámbitos educativos

Introduccion: That are developed in the context of higher education. Objective: The objective of the article is to expose the design of a permanent training model focused on strengthening the communicational flow in teachers and students of business administration in public universities of the Colombian Caribbean. Methodology: The research is developed under the positivist paradigm, typified as projective whose design is non-experimental, transectional, field. The sample is made up of 27 teachers and 82 students of the referred academic program. The data were collected by means of surveys, using a 36-item questionnaire. The analysis of the data is done through inferential statistics, by calculating ANOVA of one factor. Results and discussion: the permanent training processes focused on strengthening the communicational flow are insufficient because the strategies that lead to an effective exchange of information and knowledge among the different actors and university instances should be strengthened. Conclusions: It is important that teachers and students consolidate their commitment to the processes aimed at university participation, generating entrepreneurial strategies in their permanent training, and increasing the appropriation of communication processes within the organization. Introducción: La formación direccionada a los procesos comunicativos permite optimizar los flujos informacionales que se desarrollan en el contexto de la educación superior. Objetivo: El objetivo del artículo es exponer el diseño de un modelo permanente de formación que se centre en fortalecer el flujo comunicacional en docentes y estudiantes de administración de empresas en universidades públicas del caribe colombiano. Metodología: La investigación se desarrolla bajo el paradigma positivista, tipificada como proyectiva cuyo diseño es no experimental, transeccional, de campo. La muestra está conformada por 27 docentes y 82 estudiantes del referido programa académico. Los datos fueron recolectados mediante encuestas, utilizándose un cuestionario de 36 ítems. El análisis de los datos se hace a través de la estadística inferencial, mediante el cálculo de ANOVA de un Factor. Resultado­s y discusión: los procesos de formación permanente centrados en fortalecer el flujo comunicacional son insuficientes por cuanto deben fortalecerse las estrategias que conlleven a un intercambio efectivo de información y conocimiento entre los diferentes actores e instancias universitarias. Conclusiones: Es importante que los docentes y estudiantes consoliden su compromiso con los procesos encaminados a la participación universitaria, generando estrategias de emprendimiento en su formación permanente e incrementando la apropiación de los procesos de comunicación hacia el interior de la organización.

A new method for nocturnal aerosol measurements with a lunar photometer prototype

This paper presents the preliminary results of nocturnal Aerosol Optical Depth (τa) and Angström Exponent (α) obtained from a new lunar photometer prototype, trade name Cimel CE-318U. Due to the variation of the moon's illumination inherent to the lunar cycle, the typical Langley-plot Method used in solar photometry to calibrate these instruments cannot be applied. In this paper, we propose three different methods to carry out the lunar-photometer calibration. In order to validate the results, we have selected three events which encompass seven nights and ten days under different atmospheric conditions, including several saharan dust intrusions episodes. Method#1 is introduced in this work as a modification of the usual Langley Method.The Aeronet sunphotometer at Izana has been calibrated within ˜ AERONET-EUROPE TNA supported by the European Community – Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” specific programme for Integrating Activities, ACTRIS Grant Agreement no. 262254

Neocortical tissue recovery in severe congenital obstructive hydrocephalus after intraventricular administration of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

BACKGROUND: In obstructive congenital hydrocephalus, cerebrospinal fluid accumulation is associated with high intracranial pressure and the presence of periventricular edema, ischemia/hypoxia, damage of the white matter, and glial reactions in the neocortex. The viability and short time effects of a therapy based on bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) have been evaluated in such pathological conditions in the hyh mouse model. METHODS: BM-MSC obtained from mice expressing fluorescent mRFP1 protein were injected into the lateral ventricle of hydrocephalic hyh mice at the moment they present a very severe form of the disease. The effect of transplantation in the neocortex was compared with hydrocephalic hyh mice injected with the vehicle and non-hydrocephalic littermates. Neural cell populations and the possibility of transdifferentiation were analyzed. The possibility of a tissue recovering was investigated using 1H High-Resolution Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H HR-MAS NMR) spectroscopy, thus allowing the detection of metabolites/osmolytes related with hydrocephalus severity and outcome in the neocortex. An in vitro assay to simulate the periventricular astrocyte reaction conditions was performed using BM-MSC under high TNFα level condition. The secretome in the culture medium was analyzed in this assay. RESULTS: Four days after transplantation, BM-MSC were found undifferentiated and scattered into the astrocyte reaction present in the damaged neocortex white matter. Tissue rejection to the integrated BM-MSC was not detected 4 days after transplantation. Hyh mice transplanted with BM-MSC showed a reduction in the apoptosis in the periventricular neocortex walls, suggesting a neuroprotector effect of the BM-MSC in these conditions. A decrease in the levels of metabolites/osmolytes in the neocortex, such as taurine and neuroexcytotoxic glutamate, also indicated a tissue recovering. Under high TNFα level condition in vitro, BM-MSC showed an upregulation of cytokine and protein secretion that may explain homing, immunomodulation, and vascular permeability, and therefore the tissue recovering. CONCLUSIONS: BM-MSC treatment in severe congenital hydrocephalus is viable and leads to the recovery of the severe neurodegenerative conditions in the neocortex. NMR spectroscopy allows to follow-up the effects of stem cell therapy in hydrocephalus.España Instituto Carlos III , PI15/00619 (to AJJ), PI19/00778 (to AJJ and PPG), PI15/00796, and PI18/01557España Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FPU13/02906España, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad RYC-2014-16980España, FEDER Andalucía y Universidad de Málaga UMA18-FEDERJA-27

Synergetic monitoring of Saharan dust plumes and potential impact on surface: a case study of dust transport from Canary Islands to Iberian Peninsula

The synergetic use of meteorological information, remote sensing both ground-based active (lidar) and passive (sun-photometry) techniques together with backtrajectory analysis and in-situ measurements is devoted to the characterization of dust intrusions. A case study of air masses advected from the Saharan region to the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula, located relatively close and far away from the dust sources, respectively, was considered for this purpose. The observations were performed over three Spanish geographically strategic stations within the dust-influenced area along a common dust plume pathway monitored from 11 to 19 of March 2008. A 4-day long dust event (13–16 March) over the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Observatory (SCO), and a linked short 1-day dust episode (14 March) in the Southern Iberian Peninsula over the Atmospheric Sounding Station "El Arenosillo" (ARN) and the Granada station (GRA) were detected.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (MICINN) under the Complementary Actions CGL2008-01330-E (2009) in the frame of the Spanish and Portuguese Aerosol LIdar NETwork (SPALINET), and CGL2010-10012-E (Evaluation of lidar observations in the frame of CIEMAT/EARLINET intercomparison by airborne in-situ measurements of trace gases and aerosols, MISPA-LIDAR, 2010); projects CGL2008-05939-C03-03/CLI, CGL2007-66477-C02-01, CSD2007-00067 and CGL2010-18782 of the Spanish Ministry of Education; projects P08-RNM-3568 and P10-RNM-6299 of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia; and the EARLINET-ASOS project (EU Coordination Action, contract no. 025991 (RICA)). JLG-R thanks the Spanish Ministry of Education and the Portuguese Fundaçao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia for supporting under grants EX2009-0700 and SFRH/BPD/63090/2009, respectively

AUDITORÍA DE GESTIÓN DEL CONOCIMIENTO. RETROSPECTIVA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN DEL CONCEPTO

RESUMEN El conocimiento representa un activo intangible y estratégico que genera ventajas competitivas en las organizaciones, de ahí la importancia de auditar su gestión. El objetivo del presente trabajo es construir una definición de auditoría de gestión del conocimiento (AGC) a partir del análisis crítico de 50 conceptos y las variables para el estudio de la AGC (adaptadas de Shahmoradi et al. (2015)). Se analiza la frecuencia de aparición de las variables en las definiciones, la relación de los autores con las variables definidas con el software UCINET 6.0. Se construye la definición de AGC con el uso de un mapa conceptual de AGC y el empleo del software Cmaps Tools, versión 5.03 Lite. PALABRAS CLAVE: auditoría de gestión del conocimiento, definiciones, variables. REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS (estilo APA de citas) Alexandru, G. (2011). Above and beyond knowledge auditing. Sibiu Alma Mater University Journals, 4(2). Antonova, A., & Gourova, E. (2009). Business patterns for knowledge audit implementation within SMEs. http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-566/C2_KnowledgeAudit.pdf Burnet, S., Illingworth, L., & Webster, L. (2004). Knowledge Auditing and Mapping: A pragmatic Approach. Knowledge and Process Management, 11(1), 25-37. Dalkir, K. (2005). Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. Oxford: Elsevier

IMPACTO DEL USO DE SOFTWARE GEOGEBRA EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL CÁLCULO DIFERENCIAL EN DOS INSTITUTOS TECNOLÓGICOS.

Resumen Este estudio es la culminación de la investigación realizada acerca del uso del software GeoGebra en la enseñanza del cálculo diferencial en el Instituto Tecnológico de Roque (ITR) y en el Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya (ITCelaya); de la cual se hizo una publicación parcial en junio de 2017(Villalobos et. al. (2017). Los resultados mostraron que los alumnos de la carrera de Mecatrónica tuvieron los puntajes más altos en la prueba diagnóstica, que en uno de los grupos de la carrera de Sistemas se presentó la mejora significativa más alta en el desempeño del grupo, al pasar de un promedio en el examen diagnóstico de 50.2 a un 65 en el promedio de los instrumentos. También se encontró una relación directa entre los puntajes obtenidos por los alumnos en los instrumentos y la calificación final. La comparación estadística de los grupos experimentales versus los grupos de control, usando la prueba diagnóstica como covariable, no mostró una diferencia a nivel de significancia del 0.05, Sin embargo, se observaron otras variables que inciden en el desempeño académico de los estudiantes.Palabra(s) Clave(s): Cálculo diferencial, enseñanza con software, GeoGebra, matemáticas. IMPACT OF THE USE OF GEOGEBRA SOFTWARE IN THE TEACHING OF DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS IN TWO TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTESAbstract This study is the culmination of the research carried out on the use of GeoGebra software in the teaching of differential calculus at the Technological Institute of Roque (ITR) and the Technological Institute of Celaya (ITCelaya); of which a partial publication was made in June 2017 (Villalobos et al. (2017). Results showed that Mechatronic students obtained the highest scores in the diagnostic test; and one of the experimental Computer Science group obtained the highest improvement starting in the diagnostic test with 50.2 points and finishing with an average of 65 in the partial evaluations. In addition, the mean scores on the partial instruments for the experimental groups were higher than the means of the control groups and the nonparticipating groups (60.8, 52.1 and 53.9, respectively). Furthermore, a direct relationship was found between the scores obtained by the students in the instruments and the final grade. The statistical comparison between experimental and control groups, using the diagnostic tests as covariable, did not show any difference at a 0.05 significance level.Keywords: differential calculus, teaching with software, GeoGebra, mathematics, math skills