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How AI will Save the Humanities
No full textIt\u27 s hard to be a storyteller in a data-driven world of shrinking attention spans, but AI can save us! This presentation explores how AI fosters depth of thought and critical thinking in students accustomed to consuming bite-sized, scrollable information. We\u27 ll discuss strategies for structuring classes around AI-enhanced assignments that empower students to lead discussions and tackle tough questions. With AI as their guide, students embrace new perspectives and find growth in productive discomfort. While focused on the Humanities, these strategies also adapt to STEM, showcasing AI\u27 s potential to transform education across all disciplines
Back to the future? Rethinking Assessment Methods in the Age of AI
No full textThis interactive presentation will engage participants in a discussion on rethinking the assessment of student knowledge amidst the rise of generative AI. Participants and the presenter will explore both traditional and innovative assessment methods, analyzing their effectiveness in accurately assessing student knowledge while considering the potential for AI misuse. Although the presenter will share experiences in online teaching in higher education, this conversation will address issues that involve the assessment of knowledge in different educational levels and settings. Join the presenter and other educators to exchange experiences, knowledge, reflections, and resources on assessment in the evolving educational landscape affected by AI advancements
Assessing and Developing Generative AI Literacy in Instructors
No full textIn the era of generative AI, exemplified by tools like ChatGPT, AI literacy is increasingly vital for students, making it equally critical for educators to develop their competencies. While existing research focuses on students, our study shifts the lens to instructors. We developed a survey, grounded in state-of-the-art research, and refined it using pilot data from university instructors. This tool evaluates AI literacy across 11 dimensions, including skills, knowledge, ethics, and continuous learning. The survey will assess instructors before and after an AI Academy, a spring semester program featuring workshops, small-group discussions, and consultations. This initiative equips instructors to lead conversations and integrate generative AI effectively into their teaching and curricula
Creating a Human Connection in an AI World with Yellowdig
No full textThis course integrates synchronous online and in-person labs to develop speaking skills. By using Yellowdig\u27s social media-like platform, it fosters community and engagement. This innovative approach has increased participation, connected course content to real life, and empowered quieter students to actively contribute, enhancing their sense of belonging and learning experience
Disney, Copland, and Lincoln
Get PDFA tender orchestral introduction is followed by a biographical sketch of the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln; then comes a succession of quotations from Lincoln’s most famous speeches, each more impassioned than the last; finally, a soaring crescendo as the orchestra brings the proceedings to a rousing conclusion. For some, this description will call to mind Aaron Copland’s 1942 work for narrator and orchestra, Lincoln Portrait. For others, it will seem obviously to describe Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, an audio-animatronic attraction created by Walt Disney for the 1964 World’s Fair, which was installed at Disneyland the following year. In fact, Copland’s work and Disney’s attraction are so similar in their structure that it is almost hard to believe the parallels have gone unnoticed until now. In this paper, I investigate the possibility that Disney, who admired Copland’s music, may have modelled Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln on Lincoln Portrait. I document the parallels between the two and argue that they were successful because of the calming, hopeful message they delivered at moments of national crisis (the Second World War and the Cold War, respectively). Finally, I query the relevance of that message to contemporary audiences, as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln continues to play at Disneyland and Lincoln Portrait remains a fixture of the modern classical music canon, and I consider how theme parks and concert halls alike serve as sites at which middlebrow aesthetics are joined to mainstream political ideals
Playing the Parks – Music, Sound, and the Virtual Guest Experience in Theme Park Video Games
No full textThis paper explores the interdisciplinary use of music and sound in theme park video games through the lens of theme park theory and ludomusicology, examining how audio elements shape player experience, immersion, and narrative in virtual theme park environments. Drawing upon the insights presented in the 2024 Orlando conference on theme park music and sound, this study investigates the translation of real-world theme park audio strategies into digital experiences. Real-world parks are renowned for their intricate soundscapes, which blend environmental sounds, atmospheric music, and ride-specific compositions to enhance immersion. In the digital realm, games such as Theme Park (1994), the RollerCoaster Tycoon series (1999-2016), and Planet Coaster 1 and 2 (2016-24) replicate these elements, creating interactive audio landscapes that mirror the physical attractions they represent.This paper converges the worlds of theme park audio theory and ludomusicology across case-study based analyses. In Theme Park and RollerCoaster Tycoon, music functions not only to evoke a sense of nostalgia but also to guide player decisions, with looping tracks reinforcing the rhythm of game progression. Meanwhile, the more advanced Planet Coaster games leverage dynamic audio systems that respond to player actions and environmental changes, simulating the reactive soundscape of an actual theme park. By synthesising these theoretical frameworks with game examples, this paper demonstrates the importance of music and sound in creating virtual spaces that replicate the experiential design principles of theme parks, offering unique insights into their role within interactive media
Using AI to align multiple choice questions to learning outcomes
Get PDFJoin librarians as they share the results of an experiment using Microsoft Co-Pilot to align quiz questions to learning outcomes in Canvas modules. This presentation will outline the process for developing a prompt that garnered useful results, an evaluation of how effective it was to use AI for this purpose, and discussion of the publicly available information AI suggested to improve the modules. Participants will gain insight into the benefits and pitfalls of using AI to evaluate the content of course materials
More Magical Music: Epic Universe’s Ministry of Magic as an Extension of an Existing Musical Register
Get PDFThis paper engages with music and sound in the ‘Ministry of Magic’ area of Universal’s new Epic Universe, and thus this abstract is almost entirely speculative. However, all of Universal’s promotional materials regarding the park and its areas have been highly musical, with videos related to the Wizarding World being soundtracked almost entirely by cues from the film soundtracks (with some library cues thrown in), and notably not just with Williams cues but those from Desplat and Hooper, as well as James Newton Howard, in line with the area’s intrinsic relation to the Fantastic Beasts films (which he scored). This paper, then, extends work undertaken elsewhere to analyse the background music, ride music and live performed music of Ministry of Magic, here drawing on the notion of the musical register (after Farmer and Summers, 2023) to more clearly articulate how each element relates to the dominant musical register(s) of the franchise as it continues to grow. As cues from Hogwarts Legacy have seeped into television show Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking (an interesting crossover in itself) it will prove interesting to see whether the park’s sound designers and composers restrict themselves to the musical register of the film franchise(s) alone. Methodologically the paper will (through unfortunate necessity) rely entirely on virtual materials and web ethnography (YouTube walkaround videos, ride POV videos, filmed recordings of performances and engagement with fan discussion online), but this will also provide the paper with an additional interpretive angle: that of fan reception and engagement. As the park area’s first guests will likely be among the most ardent fans (and indeed richest, with only multi-day passes currently for sale), it will be interesting to see what the critical ears of these fans make of the park’s sonic environment
Florida Frontiers Radio Program #598
No full textSEGMENTS | Florida-Japan Cultural Exchange | The Hunt For Charlie Wright | Librarian Helen V. Stell
Examination Of Driving Experience, Hazard Perception & Distracted Driving: Going Beyond Individual Factors By Using A Social-Ecological Framework
No full textThis research included two studies that examined the roles of nomophobia, driving experience, distraction presence, and hazard presence on driving behavior. In Study 1, a hazard perception task was used to assess participants’ hazard perception accuracy rate and reaction time. Results showed that novice drivers displayed significantly higher levels of nomophobia and lower self-efficacy scores, divided attention, and working memory scores compared to their experienced counterparts. Furthermore, the results also showed that novice drivers reported faster reaction times to hazards, which may be associated with poor impulse control as previously reported in the literature. Study 2 was conducted to further examine these effects in a series of simulated driving scenarios. Drivers completed 4 simulated driving tasks consisting of driving in the presence or absence of distraction and hazards, where driving performance and cognitive workload were assessed. Results showed that Hazard presence significantly degraded participants’ driving performance and increased cognitive workload. Similarly, participants exhibited significantly lower levels of vehicle control when distracted, especially among novice drivers. Interestingly, nomophobia had a moderating effect on the relationship between distraction and driving performance, particularly regarding speed variability and peak steering modulation. The social-ecological framework, examined for its predictive utility on driver performance metrics and hazard perception ability, showed merit in multiple domains. Across both studies, individual-level factors emerged as the strongest predictors. At the same time, policy and social norm variables exhibited weaker and more context-dependent effects. Specifically, cognitive failures proved to be a consistent positive predictor of inhibited driving performance. Finally, these findings also highlight the need for targeted interventions that address cognitive lapses and smartphone dependency while driving, increase public awareness about the danger of distracted driving, and enhance public health and traffic safety