2,065 research outputs found
Moving outside the box: Researching e-learning in disruptive times
Indexación: Scopus.The rise of technology’s influence in a cross-section of fields within formal education, not to mention in the broader social world, has given rise to new forms in the way we view learning, i.e. what constitutes valid knowledge and how we arrive at that knowledge. Some scholars have claimed that technology is but a tool to support the meaning-making that lies at the root of knowledge production while others argue that technology is increasingly and inextricably intertwined not just with knowledge construction but with changes to knowledge makers themselves. Regardless which side one stands in this growing debate, it is difficult to deny that the processes we use to research learning supported by technology in order to understand these growing intricacies, have profound implications. In this paper, my aim is to argue and defend a call in the research on ICT for a critical reflective approach to researching technology use. Using examples from qualitative research in e-learning I have conducted on three continents over 15 years, and in diverse educational contexts, I seek to unravel the means and justification for research approaches that can lead to closing the gap between research and practice. These studies combined with those from a cross-disciplinary array of fields support the promotion of a research paradigm that examines the socio-cultural contexts of learning with ICT, at a time that coincides with technology becoming a social networking facilitator. Beyond the examples and justification of the merits and power of qualitative research to uncover the stories that matter in these socially embodied e-learning contexts, I discuss the methodologically and ethically charged decisions using emerging affordances of technology for analyzing and representing results, including visual ethnography. The implications both for the consumers and producers of research of moving outside the box of established research practices are yet unfathomable but excitinghttp://www.ejel.org/volume15/issue1/p5
Gas-solid coexistence of adhesive spheres
In this note we investigate using basic free energy considerations the
location of the gas-liquid critical point with respect to solidification for
narrow attractive interactions down to the Baxter limit. Possible experimental
and simulation realizations leading to a stable critical point are briefly
discussed.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, submitte
Dynamical Heterogeneity and Nonlinear Susceptibility in Short-Ranged Attractive Supercooled Liquids
Recent work has demonstrated the strong qualitative differences between the
dynamics near a glass transition driven by short-ranged repulsion and one
governed by short-ranged attraction. Here, we study in detail the behavior of
non-linear, higher-order correlation functions that measure the growth of
length scales associated with dynamical heterogeneity in both types of systems.
We find that this measure is qualitatively different in the repulsive and
attractive cases with regards to the wave vector dependence as well as the time
dependence of the standard non-linear four-point dynamical susceptibility. We
discuss the implications of these results for the general understanding of
dynamical heterogeneity in glass-forming liquids.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Ground-based NIR emission spectroscopy of HD189733b
We investigate the K and L band dayside emission of the hot-Jupiter HD
189733b with three nights of secondary eclipse data obtained with the SpeX
instrument on the NASA IRTF. The observations for each of these three nights
use equivalent instrument settings and the data from one of the nights has
previously reported by Swain et al (2010). We describe an improved data
analysis method that, in conjunction with the multi-night data set, allows
increased spectral resolution (R~175) leading to high-confidence identification
of spectral features. We confirm the previously reported strong emission at
~3.3 microns and, by assuming a 5% vibrational temperature excess for methane,
we show that non-LTE emission from the methane nu3 branch is a physically
plausible source of this emission. We consider two possible energy sources that
could power non-LTE emission and additional modelling is needed to obtain a
detailed understanding of the physics of the emission mechanism. The validity
of the data analysis method and the presence of strong 3.3 microns emission is
independently confirmed by simultaneous, long-slit, L band spectroscopy of HD
189733b and a comparison star.Comment: ApJ accepte
Preliminary Constraints on 12C(alpha,gamma)16O from White Dwarf Seismology
For many years, astronomers have promised that the study of pulsating white
dwarfs would ultimately lead to useful information about the physics of matter
under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure. In this paper we finally
make good on that promise. Using observational data from the Whole Earth
Telescope and a new analysis method employing a genetic algorithm, we
empirically determine that the central oxygen abundance in the
helium-atmosphere variable white dwarf GD 358 is 84+/-3 percent. We use this
value to place preliminary constraints on the 12C(alpha,gamma)16O nuclear
reaction cross-section. More precise constraints will be possible with
additional detailed simulations. We also show that the pulsation modes of our
best-fit model probe down to the inner few percent of the stellar mass. We
demonstrate the feasibility of reconstructing the internal chemical profiles of
white dwarfs from asteroseismological data, and find an oxygen profile for GD
358 that is qualitatively similar to recent theoretical calculations.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 7 pages, 6
figures, 2 tables, uses emulateapj5.st
Phase behavior and far-from-equilibrium gelation of charged attractive colloids
In this Rapid Communication we demonstrate the applicability of an augmented
Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo approach for the phase behavior determination of
model colloidal systems with short-ranged depletion attraction and long-ranged
repulsion. This technique allows for a quantitative determination of the phase
boundaries and ground states in such systems. We demonstrate that gelation may
occur in systems of this type as the result of arrested microphase separation,
even when the equilibrium state of the system is characterized by compact
microphase structures.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, final versio
Brave Forms of Mentoring Supported by Technology in Teacher Education
Indexación: Web of ScienceQuality education is undoubtedly a global concern, tied closely to preoccupations with economic and social development. Increasingly, the adoption and effective use of current technology tools are being recognized as visible signs of that quality. Scholars are providing increasing evidence of the kinds of empowered teacher identities that will adopt the effective use of technology tools in teaching. Less is being discussed about how technology can support the processes needed to mediate such identities. The context of Teacher Education is a strategic place to begin to initiate such processes. Our aim in this article is twofold: 1) to describe two recent examples of innovative, technology - supported mentoring processes that were conducted in the context of an EFL Teacher Education program in Chile; 2) to revisit the findings of these studies in light of new evidence from participants who have moved on in their careers. This evidence is viewed in the framework of recent scholarship on the responsibilities that Teacher Education plays in their development. The first 16-month study examined the influences of a guided reading program involving e-readers on the identities and literacy skills of pre-service teachers. The second was a student-conceived study. That inquiry sought to determine the influence of upper year students' peer mentoring, made available partly through a social media site (SMS), on the identities and investment in learning of 12 firs-year students in the pedagogy program. The initial evidence from ethnographic tools used in both studies indicated that the participants were struggling with confidence and doubting themselves as knowledgeable, effective future teachers - not predictive of a potential for quality teaching. Positive signs at the end of both studies and more recent reports from participants suggest that the mentoring had longitudinal benefits for some, although not uniformly. The potential of apprenticeship and mentoring in a technology-supported environment requires rethinking Teacher Education mandates if we are to empower emerging teachers to be quality teachers.http://www.ejel.org/issue/download.html?idArticle=48
Jamming Criticality Revealed by Removing Localized Buckling Excitations
Recent theoretical advances offer an exact, first-principle theory of jamming
criticality in infinite dimension as well as universal scaling relations
between critical exponents in all dimensions. For packings of frictionless
spheres near the jamming transition, these advances predict that nontrivial
power-law exponents characterize the critical distribution of (i) small
inter-particle gaps and (ii) weak contact forces, both of which are crucial for
mechanical stability. The scaling of the inter-particle gaps is known to be
constant in all spatial dimensions -- including the physically relevant
and 3, but the value of the weak force exponent remains the object of
debate and confusion. Here, we resolve this ambiguity by numerical simulations.
We construct isostatic jammed packings with extremely high accuracy, and
introduce a simple criterion to separate the contribution of particles that
give rise to localized buckling excitations, i.e., bucklers, from the others.
This analysis reveals the remarkable dimensional robustness of mean-field
marginality and its associated criticality.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
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