500 research outputs found
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Emerging Technologies: Perspectives from Metacognitive Teachers
No full textEmerging technologies enhance student learning through the explicit intentional educational design such as Active Learning Classrooms, Flipped Classrooms, Problem Based Learning, and Project Based Learning to empower students. Throughout this article, we will describe several emerging technologies that support learning for the 21st century using student-centered learning models. By means of vignettes, we model how a Metacognitive Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework (M-TPACK) supports the use of emerging technologies for active learning (Wilson, Zygouris-Coe, Cardullo, & Fong, 2013). Throughout all of the vignettes, we draw connections to the various emerging technologies and the level of integration using both Blooms Taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956) and the SAMR Model: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (Puentedura, 2006)
The Design of Disciplinarily-Integrated Games as Multirepresentational Systems
No full textDisciplinarily-integrated games represent a generalizable genre and template for designing games to support science learning with a focus on bridging across formal and phenomenological representations of core science relationships (Clark, Sengupta, Brady, Martinez-Garza, and Killingsworth, 2015; Clark, Sengupta, & Virk, 2016; Sengupta & Clark, 2016). By definition, disciplinarily-integrated games (DIGs) are therefore multirepresentational systems with the affordances and challenges associated with that medium. The current paper analyzes the DIG structure through the focal parameters framed by the DeFT framework (Ainsworth, 2006) to synthesize effective design considerations for DIGs in terms of the specific design and intended functions of the representations themselves as well as the overarching environment and activity structures. The authors leverage the literatures on embodied cognition, adaptive scaffolding, representations in science education, and learning from dynamic visualizations to address the challenges, tradeoffs, and questions highlighted by the framework. They apply these research-derived design considerations to an existing DIG (SURGE Symbolic) and to hypothetical examples of other DIGs in other domains to explore generalizability of the design considerations and the genre
Full Field Imaging Ellipsometry (FFIE) Platform Using CCD Camera and Advanced Software for Simultaneous Spots' Sensing and Measurement
No full textThis article describes a new approach for performing full field imaging ellipsometry. In this new technique, the objective lens of a high numerical aperture microscope is used to illuminate the surface of a 2D object. The light reflected from each point of the surface is gathered by the same lens and projected onto a 2D CCD detectors array; thus, enabling the measurement of numerous surface points simultaneously. Using this simple method, areas of up to 0.9 cm2 can be measured with high accuracy. Since the nanotechnology domain is rapidly growing, such a technique can bring benefits to the scientific community, facing the need to analyze large surfaces of thin films
Viewing Alone or Together: Linking the Viewing Context for Sexually Explicit Internet Materials to Sex-Related Attitudes
No full textOnline sexually explicit materials (SEM) may be viewed in various viewing contexts (e.g., alone, with friends, with a partner). However, research has not yet determined whether the viewing context can have an impact upon sexual attitudes and perceptions. To this end, data were collected from 303 college students who view SEM and analyzed to determine the relationships. When controlling for gender, findings indicate that individuals who more frequently view SEM alone also report a heightened sexual interest and favorable view toward casual sex. In contrast, the frequency with which SEM was viewed with friends was associated with a decreased sexual interest. Finally, the frequency with which individuals view SEM with a partner is negatively associated with beliefs about the importance of condom use. The paper concludes with discussion of these findings as well as directions for future research
Learning, Adults, and Competency-Based Education
No full textBecause competency-based education (CBE) programs ask students to demonstrate what they know and can do and because CBE students often work at their own pace, competence-based learners need to be able to articulate and to manage their own learning. Drawing upon our research and experience developing, teaching in and consulting to competency-based programs for adults in domestic and international higher education contexts as well as workplace and community settings, the authors demonstrate the necessity and give examples of how to teach CBE students to be competence-based learners
Crowdsourcing the Disaster Management Cycle
No full textCrowdsourcing is a communication platform that can be used during and after a disastrous event. Previous research in crisis crowdsourcing demonstrates its wide adoption for aiding response efforts by non-government organizations and public citizens. There is a gap in understanding the government use of crowdsourcing for emergency management, and in the use of crowdsourcing for mitigation and preparedness. This research aims to characterize crowdsourcing in all phases of the disaster management cycle by government agencies in Canada and the USA. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 22 government officials from both countries reveal that crisis crowdsourced information is used in all phases of the disaster management cycle, though direct crowdsourcing is yet to be applied in the pre-disaster phases. Emergency management officials and scholars have an opportunity to discover new ways to directly use crowdsourcing for mitigation and preparedness
Quasi-SMILES for Nano-QSAR Prediction of Toxic Effect of Al2O3 Nanoparticles
No full textThe level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in wet tissue of different organs is utilized as a measure of toxic effect. The numerical data on the concentration of MDA in wet tissue of liver, kidneys, brain, and heart of rat is examined as the endpoint which are impacted by different dose (mg/kg), exposure time (3 and 14 days) and single oral treatment of aluminium nano-oxide (Al2O3) with 30 nm or 40 nm. An attempt to develop predictive model for this endpoint has been carried out in this work. SMILES is a traditional tool to represent molecular structure for QSPRs/QSARs. In contrast to traditional SMILES, so-called quasi-SMILES can be a tool to build up quantitative features – property / activity relationships (QFPRs/QFARs) for endpoints which are not defined by solely molecular structure, but by a group of physicochemical and/or biochemical conditions. The quasi-SMILES is the representation of the above eclectic conditions whereas the QFPR/QFAR are models of endpoints which are modified under impacts of these eclectic conditions
Communicating with Citizens on the Ground: A Practical Study
No full textAvailability and access to information is critical for a highly effective response to an ongoing event however, information reported by citizens is based on their context, bias and subjective interpretation, and the channel of communication may be too narrow to provide clear, accurate reporting. This can often lead to inadequate response to an emergency, which can in turn result in loss of property or even lives. Excessive response to an emergency can also result in a waste of highly resources. The authors' solution to address this problem is to make the citizen act as a camera for the control room by exploiting the user's mobile camera. The system is designed to provide a live view of the citizen's immediate surroundings, while control room personnel can provide instructions. In this paper, the authors introduce their approach and share initial insights from a focus group validation session and then four evaluations with users within a separate but closely related domain. They discuss their observations, evaluation results and provide a set of recommendations for the Emergency Response domain
A Model for Selecting Viticultural Sites in the Piedmont Triad Region of North Carolina
No full textThe North Carolina wine industry is growing at a fast pace. Many new vineyards are being planted with European varieties. Vitis vinifera varieties in general are the most challenging species of grape grown, requiring considerable effort to consistently produce yields of appropriate volume and good quality. The model produced in this research was designed to help guide site selection for V. vinifera vineyards in the North Carolina Piedmont. This is accomplished using a site suitability model and predictive geophysical parameters. The area of interest is Rockingham County, North Carolina. The model consists of four sets of factors each weighted and combined into sub-model composites. These sub-model composites represent the capability/suitability of: topography, soil, land use/land cover, and climate. The four sub-model composites were weighted and combined to produce the final output that summarizes the viticultural site suitability for the study area
How Marketers Conduct Mixed Methods Research: Incorporating the Exploratory Sequential Design with the Hierarchy of Effects Model
No full textThe complimentary nature of qualitative and quantitative research methods are examined with respect to a study assessing the market's view of a training and development institute in the Middle East. The qualitative portion consisted of focus groups conducted with seven distinct market segments served by the institute. The results proved insightful with respect to uncovering and understanding differences of opinion among the seven groups; however, taken alone, the qualitative research would have been very misleading with respect to the institute's standing in the Middle East