441 research outputs found
A School Community Needs Assessment of the Albia Community School District
No full textv, 63 leaves. Advisor: Robert L. WhittThe problem. The purpose of this study was to present an assessment of the educational needs of the Albia Community School District as
viewed by parents, voters, and civic leaders in the community, thereby aiding the Board of Education, administration, and faculty in planning
the curriculum, facilities, budgets, in-service, etc.
Procedure. The opinionnaire method of research was employed to determine the reactions by the parents, voters, and civic leaders. Two methods of administering the opinionnaire were used. One, a group interview technique was used with the civic groups. Secondly, a mailing technique was used to administer the opinionnaire to parents, voters,
and the Chamber of Commerce. The results were analyzed by computing the average rating of each objective used in the study and arranging the
objectives in order of importance according to the average rating. Thirdly, the objectives were grouped under a major heading and the ratings for the objectives were averaged. That average became the average rating for the major heading. There were sixty objectives used. They were grouped under eighteen major headings. The eighteen major
objectives were ranked In order of importance according to their average ratings.
Findings. The response to the opinionnaire was good. There were 74.5 percent of the participants that returned the completed opinionnaire. The emphasis of the participants seemed to center on fine arts, use of leisure time, health and safety, and family living. The major objectives' averages ranged from 3.8 to 2.9 on a five point scale where
five was the highest possible score.
Conclusions. The immediate purpose of the study was to provide a basis for the Albia Community School District to initiate long-range planning
of philosophy, goals, and activities, facilities, etc. The study provided that basis by providing a summary of the ratings in order of importance as determined by the participants. The members of the school district feel that emphasis needs to be placed on the fine arts curriculum. In the opinion of the author of the study, the fine arts
curriculum in this particular school district needs strengthened.
Recommendations. The results of the study should be adopted by the Board of Education and the superintendent or his appointed edministrator
should assume leadership for developing an executive committee of a cross-section of the community (including students) to begin a serious
study of the curriculum of the Albia Community School District
An Analysis of the Effects of Prereferral Interventions on the Reduction of Inappropriate Classroom Behaviors
No full textv, 127 leaves. Advisor: Marion PanyanThe problem. The author identified a number of concerns with traditional special education services which suggest the need to investigate different methods of remediating student problems within the mainstream classroom environment. These included: (a) the educational community's
failure to meet the intent of P.L. 94-142, (b) an increasing number of individuals with mild disabilities, (c) the high cost of special education, (d) the lack of objectivity in
determining which students are eligible for special education, and (e) the general ineffectivenegs of special education instructional services. The purpose of this study was to determine whether consultants using the Mainstream
Assessment Team: A Handbook on Prereferral Intervention (MAT) (Fuchs, Fuchs, Reeder, Gilman, Fernstrom, Bahr, & Moore, 1989) as an operational tool, could successfully assist classroom teachers in reducing inappropriate behaviors of students being considered for special education evaluation.
Procedures. Three school psychologists (serving as
consultants) received abbreviated instruction in all phases of the MAT. Working with regular education teachers from three different elementary schools, the consultants used MAT techniques in intervening with 14 different students under
consideration for special education referral.
Findinqs. Compared to gender-matched peers, who served as comparison students, the 14 target students demonstrated a significant reduction in inappropriate behavior, indicating that the MAT can be an effective tool in reducing inappropriate behavior in the mainstream classroom environment.
Conclusions. While the MAT proved successful in
reducing inappropriate behaviors, additional efforts are necessary to validate its utility as an operational treatment methodology.Specifically, more work is needed in: (a) understanding the dynamics in selecting and training consultants, (b) identifying the types of problems treatable
by the MAT, (c) broadening sample sizes and constructing longitudinal studies to strengthen external validity, and (d) socially validating the MAT as a treatment intervention. While this study demonstrated the potential of the MAT as an effective classroom intervention method, until these issues are addressed, its overall usefulness and generalizability in remediating problems without relying on special education services is indeterminable
Britain’s Right to Roam: Redefining the Landowner's Bundle of Sticks
No full textJerry L. Anderson is the Richard M. and Anita Calkins Professor of Law, Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa.Britain recently enacted a “right to roam” in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) 2000. At first glance, CRoW appears to be a dramatic
curtailment of the landowner’s traditional right to exclude; it opens up all private land classified as “mountain, moor, heath, or down” to the public for hiking and picnicking. Yet, when viewed in the light of history, CRoW may be seen as partially restoring to the commoner rights lost during the enclosure period, when the commons system ended. CRoW also represents a return to a functional rather than spatial form of land ownership, allowing more than one party to have rights in a particular piece of land. The new law highlights some important public values regarding freedom of access that have been all but forgotten in the United States. The law calls into question U.S. Supreme Court precedent that has enshrined the right to exclude as an “essential” stick in the bundle of property rights and serves as a powerful alternative to the Court’s formalistic notion of property rights. Given the differences in its history, culture, and legal system, the
United States is unlikely to follow Britain’s lead in enacting a right to roam; nevertheless, the study of CRoW contains valuable lessons for Americans.The author wishes to thank the anonymous donor of the Drake International Research Stipend who generously enabled this research
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SuperWASP: wide angle search for planets
No full textSuperWASP is a fully robotic, ultra-wide angle survey for planetary transits. Currently under construction, it will consist of 5 cameras, each monitoring a 9.5 by 9.5 degree field of view. The Torus mount and enclosure will be fully automated and linked to a built-in weather station. We aim to begin observations at the beginning of 2003
Astrophysical False Positives Encountered in Wide-Field Transit Searches
No full textWide-field photometric transit surveys for Jupiter-sized planets are inundated by astrophysical false positives, namely systems that contain an eclipsing binary and mimic the desired photometric signature. We discuss several examples of such false alarms. These systems were initially identified as candidates by the PSST instrument at Lowell Observatory. For three of the examples, we present follow-up spectroscopy that demonstrates that these systems consist of (1) an M-dwarf in eclipse in front of a larger star, (2) two main-sequence stars presenting grazing-incidence eclipses, and (3) the blend of an eclipsing binary with the light of a third, brighter star. For an additional candidate, we present multi-color follow-up photometry during a subsequent time of eclipse, which reveals that this candidate consists of a blend of an eclipsing binary and a physically unassociated star. We discuss a couple indicators from publicly-available catalogs that can be used to identify which candidates are likely giant stars, a large source of the contaminants in such surveys
Geographic profiling in Nazi Berlin: fact and fiction
No full textGeographic profiling uses the locations of connected crime sites to make inferences about the probable location of the offender’s ‘anchor point’ (usually a home, but sometimes a workplace). We show how the basic ideas of the method were used in a Gestapo investigation that formed the basis of a classic German novel about domestic resistance to the Nazis during the Second World War. We use modern techniques to re-analyse this case, and show that these successfully locate the Berlin home address of Otto and Elise Hampel, who had distributed hundreds of anti-Nazi postcards, after analysing just 34 of the 214 incidents that took place before their arrest. Our study provides the first empirical evidence to support the suggestion that analysis of minor terrorism-related acts such as graffiti and theft could be used to help locate terrorist bases before more serious incidents occur
Illusion and reality in the atmospheres of exoplanets
No full textThe atmospheres of exoplanets reveal all their properties beyond mass, radius, and orbit. Based on bulk densities, we know that exoplanets larger than 1.5 Earth radii must have gaseous envelopes and, hence, atmospheres. We discuss contemporary techniques for characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres. The measurements are difficult, because—even in current favorable cases—the signals can be as small as 0.001% of the host star's flux. Consequently, some early results have been illusory and not confirmed by subsequent investigations. Prominent illusions to date include polarized scattered light, temperature inversions, and the existence of carbon planets. The field moves from the first tentative and often incorrect conclusions, converging to the reality of exoplanetary atmospheres. That reality is revealed using transits for close-in exoplanets and direct imaging for young or massive exoplanets in distant orbits. Several atomic and molecular constituents have now been robustly detected in exoplanets as small as Neptune. In our current observations, the effects of clouds and haze appear ubiquitous. Topics at the current frontier include the measurement of heavy element abundances in giant planets, detection of carbon-based molecules, measurement of atmospheric temperature profiles, definition of heat circulation efficiencies for tidally locked planets, and the push to detect and characterize the atmospheres of super-Earths. Future observatories for this quest include the James Webb Space Telescope and the new generation of extremely large telescopes on the ground. On a more distant horizon, NASA's study concepts for the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) and the Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) missions could extend the study of exoplanetary atmospheres to true twins of Earth
Extrasolar Planets Observed with JWST and the ELTs
No full textThe advent of cryogenic space-borne infrared observatories such as the Spitzer Space Telescope has lead to a revolution in the study of planets and planetary systems orbiting sun-like stars. Already Spitzer has characterized the emergent infrared spectra of close-in giant exoplanets using transit and eclipse techniques. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to extend these studies to superEarth exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zones of M-dwarf stars in the near solar neighborhood. The forthcoming ground-based Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) will playa key role in these studies, being especially valuable for spectroscopy at higher spectral resolving powers where large photon fluxes are needed. The culmination of this work within the next two decades will be the detection and spectral characterization of the major molecular constituents in the atmosphere of a habitable superEarth orbiting a nearby lower main sequence star
Technical training for the application of L*a*b* color space to spot color matching
No full textPlan BSpecial color matches in the printing industry have been done by subjective means ever since the first colored ink was put in a printing press. Special, or spot colors are colors that are printed individually rather than being “built” from other colors. One of the drawbacks to this subjective method of color matching is that all individuals see color differently. Therefore, it makes sense that a quantitative, or objective, method of measuring spot colors could only improve the overall matches of these types of colors. While there has been an objective means of measuring spot colors in place since the mid 1970’s, many printers have been reluctant to utilize it for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons for this reluctance is the high cost of the instrumentation required to measure color. Another reason is that the L*a*b* color mapping model appears, on the surface, to be somewhat complicated. The L*a*b* color model maps colors on a three dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. Although there are several types of color mapping systems, the L*a*b* model is generally preferred for matching spot colors. The measurements for this model are taken with an instrument called a Colorimeter. Colorimeters are designed to “see” color in much the same way that the human eye does. The purpose of the present study is to develop and implement a simple, easy to apply, pressroom training program centered on Color Theory, Color Measurement Instrumentation and Color Mapping Application. The need for this type of training is being pushed by savvy print buyers, especially those in the packaging industry. “Close enough” color matches are rapidly becoming “not good enough” matches. While many printers have been able to avoid measuring spot colors, the growing use of corporate colors and today’s demanding print buyers will fuel the need for this type of training
Attitudes to the rights and rewards for author contributions to repositories for teaching and learning
No full textIn the United Kingdom over the past few years there has been a dramatic growth of national and regional repositories to collect and disseminate resources related to teaching and learning. Most notable of these are the Joint Information Systems Committee’s Online Repository for [Learning and Teaching] Materials as well as the Higher Education Academy’s subject specific resource databases. Repositories in general can hold a range of materials not only related to teaching and learning, but more recently the term ‘institutional repository’ is being used to describe a repository that has been established to support open access to a university’s research output. This paper reports on a survey conducted to gather the views of academics, support staff and managers on their past experiences and future expectations of the use of repositories for teaching and learning. The survey explored the rights and rewards associated with the deposit of materials into such repositories. The findings suggest what could be considered to be an ‘ideal’ repository from the contributors’ perspective and also outlines many of the concerns expressed by respondents in the survey
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