500 research outputs found
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Potentials of Reflection for Better Practice
No full textThis chapter describes how adult learners in competency-based degree programs learn to reflect actively on their learning and performance. Vignettes of adult learners portray what they perceive as the benefits of reflective practice for their personal and professional lives. The author, an adult educator, shares her experience facilitating reflection in two different contexts: reflection that focuses on the individual and reflection that is done in collaboration with others. In the context of competency-based programs, many of the adult learners emphasize reflection on self that includes movement to social action. The chapter concludes with a discussion of reflective practice with regard to frameworks of experiential learning and brain-aware learning
A Bayesian Probability Model Can Simulate the Knowledge of Soybean Rust Researchers to Optimize the Application of Fungicides
No full textAsian rust is the main soybean disease in Brazil, causing up to 80% of yield reduction. The use of fungicides is the main form of control; however, due to farmer's concern with outbreaks many unnecessary applications are performed. The present study aims to verify the usefulness of a probability model to estimate the timing and the number of fungicides sprays required to control Asian soybean rust, using Bayesian networks and knowledge engineering. The model was developed through interviews with rust researchers and a literature review. The Bayesian network was constructed with the GeNIe 2.0 software. The validation process was performed by 42 farmers and 10 rust researchers, using 28 test cases. Among the 28 tested cases, generated by the system, the agreement with the model was 47.5% for the farmers and 89.3% for the rust researchers. In general, the farmers overestimate the number. The results showed that the Bayesian network has accurately represented the knowledge of the expert, and also could help the farmers to avoid the unnecessary applications
Creating a Scale for Service: The Volunteer UCF Continuum
No full textThis article presents a model that is based on Eyler and Giles' Five Elements of Citizenship, where students learn about Volunteer UCF through marketing strategies, participate in one-time service or educational events, and then pursue continuous involvement based on their positive experiences. Students transition to leadership roles by serving on a social topic committee and move up to social topic director managing their own committee. Some students aspire to be an administrative student leader and incorporate large-scale institutional projects and events. The final stage for students is committing to lifelong community engagement opportunities post-graduation. The results will inform where the touch points are at the higher education institution, so administrators can apprise bureaucracy and cultural barriers to help students progress through the scale for service within the continuum
Ensuring Core Competencies for Cybersecurity Specialists
No full textWithin an organization, it is critical that all employees possess a security awareness and thus play a part in the protection of said organization's information assets. Some employees will have key roles and responsibilities and require specific skills to support them. However, organizations can face challenges in regard to recognizing the required specialized skills as well as where to obtain them. For this reason, whether an organization chooses to hire new staff, developing existing staff, or outsource the activities altogether, it is necessary to know the type and level of expertise required. To this end, this chapter discusses the need for organizations to understand and identify the essential skills related to cybersecurity in order for their employees to develop core competencies in these areas
A Study on Effective Measurement of Search Results from Search Engines
No full textThis article describes how as internet technology continues to change and improve lives and societies worldwide, effective global information management becomes increasingly critical, and effective Internet information retrieval systems become more and more significant in providing Internet users worldwide with accurate and complete information. Search engine evaluation is an important research field as search engines directly determine the quality of information users' Internet searches. Relevance-decrease pattern/model plays an important role in search engine result evaluation. This research studies effective measurement of search results through investigating relevance-decrease patterns of search results from two popular search engines: Google and Bing. The findings can be applied to relevance-evaluation of search results from other information retrieval systems such as OPAC, can help make search engine evaluations more accurate and sound, and can provide global information management personnel with valuable insights
Asymmetric Distortion Function for JPEG Steganography Using Block Artifact Compensation
No full textThis article describes how the existing distortion functions for JPEG steganography allot same cost for ±1 embedding changes. Because of the correlation of natural image, however, changes with different polarities make different influences on image. Therefore, the embedding costs for ±1 embedding changes should not be equivalent. This article proposes a general method to distinguish the embedding costs for different polarities of embedding changes for JPEG images with the help of reference images constructed by block artifact compensation. The original JPEG image is decompressed into spatial domain firstly, and then the block artifact is compensated by smoothing filtering implemented on border pixels of each 8 × 8 block. After that, the compensated image which is more similar to the original uncompressed image is recompressed into DCT domain and adopted as side information to guide the adjusting of the given distortion function. Experiment results show that after the proposed method is employed, the security performance of current popular JPEG steganographic methods is observably increased
A Comparative Study of Infomax, Extended Infomax and Multi-User Kurtosis Algorithms for Blind Source Separation
No full textIn this article for the separation of Super Gaussian and Sub-Gaussian signals, we have considered the Multi-User Kurtosis(MUK), Infomax (Information Maximization) and Extended Infomax algorithms. For Extended Infomax we have taken two different non-linear functions and new coefficients and for Infomax we have taken a single non-linear function. We have derived MUK algorithm with stochastic gradient update iteratively using MUK cost function abided by a Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization to project on to the criterion constraint. Amongst the various standards available for measuring blind source separation, Cross-correlation coefficient and Kurtosis are considered to analyze the performance of the algorithms. An important finding of this study, as is evident from the performance table, is that the Kurtosis and Correlation coefficient values are the most favorable for the Extended Infomax algorithm, when compared with the others
Supporting Teacher Candidates' Development of Critical Thinking Skills Through Dialogue and Reflection
No full textThis chapter employs a dialogic, sociocultural perspective to describe ways teacher educators can support teacher candidates as they develop the critical thinking skills needed to make the transition from student to teacher in contemporary classrooms in the United States. Data from a longitudinal qualitative study are used to examine the utility of problem-posing seminars and subsequent reflection as tools that can help English teacher candidates embrace the tension they encounter as competing ideologies both complicate and nurture their efforts to enact a student-centered framework for teaching. Specifically, participants' reflections on their efforts to employ dialogic approaches to teaching are explored in the context of standardized curricula and classroom settings. Data suggest that making dialogue and reflection key facets of teacher education programs creates conditions for critical thinking and creativity to flourish
Optimal Design and Fabrication of Shoe Lasts for Ankle Foot Orthotics for Patients With Diabetes
No full textPatients with diabetes often desperately need ankle foot orthotics (AFO) to perform daily activities. In Indonesia, experienced shoemakers employ manual procedures and follow the prescriptions given by a doctor or orthopaedic technician. This process remains traditional in that each pair of AFO is handmade, not precise, and is time consuming. This article describes the development of the design process and fabrication of a new AFO product for patients with diabetes based on a computer aided reverse engineering system (CARESystem). The reverse innovative design approach method discussed in this paper sought to achieve the best shoe last. The results also shows a functional test with highly satisfactory results. The shape of the shoe fit the standard AFO and the first patient experienced comfort for the 4-week long testing period. This article proves that the CARESystem technology successfully reduced the time for both the design and fabrication of the AFOs by 64%
“Solve the Big Problems”: Leading Through Strategic Innovation in Blended Teaching and Learning
No full textBlended learning remains at the top of higher education/technology issues lists despite having been in practice on college and university campuses for 20 years. However, a review of blended learning research literature suggests that innovation in blended learning models has been lacking. This chapter positions innovation in blended learning as a leadership challenge, not merely for the niche concerns of learning technology professionals but as a strategy to fulfill the higher education mission of student success. The chapter authors assert that, while blended learning's very flexibility often curtails its systemic implementation, when undertaken as an institutional leadership challenge, new configurations of blended learning implemented through cross-institutional partnerships hold great promise