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Considering AI for the Classroom to Boost Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement
No full textArtificial Intelligence (AI) poses significant risks to society generally and higher education specifically. However, it offers potential benefits in terms of students’ civic learning and democratic engagement. By equipping students with the skills to use AI for the common good and fostering their awareness of the potential dangers of AI, we can bolster democracy. In this article, we explore the status quo along with expectations and near-term predictions for AI. Next, we explore some of the most significant and common concerns related to AI. Finally, we draw upon a variety of resources, identify “best practices,” analyze the strengths and weaknesses of AI, and discuss class-tested teaching techniques to put forth an AI-based pedagogical approach that can maximizes AI’s positive potential while side-stepping areas of concern
Co-Evolving Multi-Agent Transfer Reinforcement Learning via Scenario Independent Representation
No full textMulti-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) addresses complex tasks involving cooperation and competition among agents, training them to develop optimal policies for collective goals. However, facilitating simultaneous learning for multiple agents is challenging because the complexity increases rapidly with the number of agents. Current methods encompass a variety of centralized, decentralized, semi-centralized, and hybrid approaches to balance the trade-offs between computational efficiency, scalability, and coordination in MARL. In this study, I employed a centralized training with semi-centralized execution (CTSCE) framework, utilize both local observations from agents and abstracted global observations to effectively train agents in cooperative environments. Additionally, earning complex, domain-specific tasks from scratch in multi-agent systems is computationally expensive and time-consuming. Utilizing prior experiences can speed up the multi-agent reinforcement learning process. Previous work in our research lab has enhanced transfer learning for MARL by merging different state spaces into fixed-size inputs, enabling a single unified deep-learning policy to be applied across multiple scenarios within the popular MARL research platform, StarCraft Multi-Agent Challenge (SMAC). In this research, I enhance SMAC to Multi-Player enabled SMAC (MP-SMAC) by enabling the dynamic selection of training opponents. Utilizing MP-SMAC, I developed a co-evolving MARL framework, that establishes a co-evolutionary arena where multiple policies learn simultaneously. The arena involved the concurrent training of multiple policies across various scenarios, where they were tested against both static AI opponents and other policies within MP-SMAC. Additionally, I incorporated co-evolution with curriculum transfer learning into Co-MACTRL framework, enabling the MARL policies to systematically acquire knowledge and skills across organized scenarios of increasing difficulty, including adaptive opponents. The results showed significant improvements in MARL learning performance, highlighting the benefits of using co-evolving opponents and skills developed from diverse scenarios. Furthermore, Co-MACTRL learners consistently achieved high performance across a variety of SMAC scenarios, demonstrating the robustness and adaptability of the framework
Parents\u27 Understanding of Children\u27s Mental States: Emotion Regulation in Young Children and the Role of Mindful Parenting, Parental Reflective Functioning, and Parental Emotion Regulation
No full textParenting is a demanding and stressful responsibility that leads to increased feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression among caregivers, which research has found to be significantly related to social incompetence and behavioral problems in children during early childhood. However, certain parenting practices such as parental emotion regulation, mindful parenting, and parental reflective functioning have been found to support children’s socioemotional development, and in particular emotion regulation. This study utilized a cross-sectional design to explore the relationship between the parenting practices of parental emotion regulation, mindful parenting, and parental reflective functioning in relation to children’s emotion regulation using simple linear regression analysis and hierarchical linear regression analysis. This study found all parenting practices to significantly influence children’s emotion regulation with parental reflective functioning being the most significantly related to children’s emotion regulation, over and above mindful parenting and parental emotion regulation. These findings highlight the importance of parents’ attempts to understand their child’s mental states and emotions with interest and curiosity. Additionally, this study advocates for parenting intervention programs that concentrate on parental reflective functioning to support young children’s emotion regulation development
Nohbody Goes to Nashville
No full textThe following collection of poetry, preceded by a critical introduction examining craft elements implemented in some important poems, presents a view of my poetic development in the past few years. These works depend on a manipulation of nothing, introduced into poetic discourse by W. H. Auden, explored in the critical introduction as it pertains to poetic craft. The introduction explores poetry’s limitations in language through the lens of literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of language as dialogue. The introduction also discusses Denise Levertov’s “Some Notes on Organic Form” influences on my view of form, in which form as “revelation” determines meaning. A number of poems in this collection also reference poets such as Stevie Smith and Robert Wood Lynn, whose works have influenced the direction of my poetics. The following collection of poems examines pivotal moments of my personal history with forms widely ranging from narrative, semi-narrative, and lyrical to prose poetry, sonnet, and experimental, through themes of trauma from violence, memories changing over time, and the cyclical process of grief and healing
Beach Erosion and Recovery Since Hurricane Ivan in 2004 Along a Headland-Bay Coast in Treasure Beach, Jamaica
No full textAnthropogenic climate change is causing sea-level rise and shoreline changes that threaten the environment and economy of coastal communities in Caribbean Island nations. To assess this risk, this study quantifies shoreline changes at Treasure Beach in St. Elizabeth Parish on the south coast of Jamaica from 2001 to 2023. The effects of storm events on erosion were also assessed. Over 10 km of shoreline are assessed with about half being sandy pocket beaches ranging from 300 to 900 m in length, separated by rocky headlands and beach rock outcrops. Sand beach erosion trends since 2001 are assessed for seven sandy beaches including Great Bay, Old Wharf, Calabash Bay, Frenchman’s Bay, Billy’s Bay, Mahoe Bay and Black Bay. Seven years of satellite imagery as well as field surveys are used to evaluate beach erosion rates at annual scales. Average shoreline erosion rates ranged from 0.1 to 1.3 m/yr from 2001 to 2023. Beach widths ranged from 0 to 77 m from 2001 to 2023. Local shoreline changes from 2001 to 2023 ranged from 38 m seawards (deposition) and 51 m landward (erosion). Both sand deposition and erosion occurred during storm events. Overall, Treasure Beach lost about 38% of its beach area due to the passage of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 which was one of the most damaging storms in the Caribbean over the past century. Beach recovery has occurred locally, and the sandy beach area increased with 6% from 2005 to 2021. However, Treasure Beach lost a total of 29% of its sandy beach area from 2001 to 2023
Structura Lux
No full textIn the evocative realm of installation art, my creative research
navigates the nuanced interplay between light and space, with the
ambitious goal of transforming the viewer’s perceptions through
immersive environments. This venture is more than a creative journey;
it is a phenomenological exploration that emphasizes the primacy
of lived experience in artistic expression. My installations, through
manipulation of light and form, evolve into conversations between my
intentions as an artist and the experiences of the audience, crafting
moments that intentionally elicit a wide spectrum of responses and
challenge the traditional confines of visual storytelling
Geology of the Bishop 7.5-Minute Quadrangle and Geophysical Modeling to Constrain Syndepositional Deformation of the Black Warrior Foreland Basin
No full textThe Black Warrior basin is a foreland basin formed by the Ouachita–Appalachian orogeny during the late Paleozoic Era. Mississippian strata record the transition from the carbonate platform within the Tuscumbia Limestone to the clastic-rich units within the overlying Pride Mountain Formation and Hartselle Sandstone. The western and southern-most fringes of the Black Warrior basin are covered by thin, post orogenic Cretaceous sediments of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. Geological mapping of the Bishop 7.5-Minute quadrangle revealed subtle deformation in Mississippian strata in the form of gentle folds
Evaluation of Pulsed Laser Deposited LiCoO2 Cathodes in Lithium Ion Thin Film Batteries
No full textHigh energy density materials have evolved energy storage systems to cope with rising demand for environmental friendly power. On this ground, quartz and stainless substrates were utilized to prepare LiCoO2 thin films on quartz and stainless steel (SS) substrates at the temperatures of 400, 650°C, and 700°C using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The oxygen (O2) partial pressure was maintained at 10 mTorr and 100 mTorr during the deposition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study confirmed the rhombohedral structure with the R3m space group of the prepared LiCoO2 films. Using Raman spectroscopy, the vibrational modes were recognized and the films\u27 multi-phase nature was confirmed, yielding the structural hallmark of the deposited films. UV-VIS investigation determined that the optical bandgap of films grown on quartz substrates spans between 2.27 eV and 2.52 eV. Electrical analysis of the films produced on quartz substrates demonstrated that films grown under increased O2 pressure have a greater DC electrical conductivity, with the electrical conductivity ranging from 4.5×10-8 S cm-1 to 4.1×10-3 S cm-1. The highest discharge capacity of 30.10 µA.h/cm².µm was measured for Sample-2_SS_650°C_10 mTorr. Over the duration of ten cycles, the cell\u27s discharge capacity stayed constant
Navigating the Future of Global Challenges: Analyzing U.S. Foreign Policy in the 21st Century
No full textIn recent years, traditional American foreign policy norms have been rocked by dissent and challenges to the status quo. The rise of American populism, the 2016 election, and the admiration of ‘America First’ policies have contributed to the shift of modern American internationalism and statecraft to a retreat towards isolationism and a wariness to theinternational order. More so, questions regarding the United States’ role in NATO, approach to Ukrainian aid, and the ever-evolving Israel-Hamas War have all but exacerbated the issue of the American approach to foreign policy. Members of Congress, both from the left and the right, are deeply divided on America’s place in the world. The questions remain - Where does America belong in the international space, how should the United States approach foreign policy, and what does the world look like if America is not at the forefront as the liberal superpower? With U.S. adversaries on the rise and becoming increasingly more aggressive, the United States must come to a consensus on its foreign policy principles. A 2024 Presidential Election is fast approaching, and a divergent view of American foreign policy is on full display between the sitting President and the leading candidate of the opposition party. This thesis attempts to examine America’s historical foreign policy roots, evaluate three specific competing ideological differences, and ultimately, identify key recommendations of the United States’ approach towards foreign policy
Russian Chemical and Biological Weapons: Limiting the Effects of Russian CBW Programs on NATO Security Through 2035
No full textThis thesis uses qualitative research methods to: (1) assess the extent and capabilities of Russia’s modern chemical and biological weapons programs, (2) assess Russian compliance with arms control agreements, (3) determine the threats Russian chemical and biological weapons pose to NATO security, (4) assess NATO’s existing strategy against the modern chemical and biological threat, and (5) provide recommendations for U.S. and NATO policies and programs to mitigate the threat of these programs in the short and medium term. This project demonstrates that Russian chemical and biological weapons programs have remained consistently in violation of international arms control agreements since the fall of the Soviet Union, that they hold the potential to cause damage to NATO member states, and that they are used in ways that affect both civil society and military formations. This study concludes that increased information exchange between allies, understanding the change in Russia’s use of chemical weapons, regular reviews of NATO’s CBRN Defense Policy, enhancing civil-military cooperation within NATO, and exploiting weaknesses in Russia’s biotechnology sector can blunt the impact of Russian chemical and biological weapons programs on NATO’s security in the medium term