1,046 research outputs found

    Higher rank motivic Donaldson-Thomas invariants of A3 via wall-crossing, and asymptotics

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    We compute, via motivic wall-crossing, the generating function of virtual motives of the Quot scheme of points on A(3), generalising to higher rank a result of Behrend-Bryan-Szendroi. We show that this motivic partition function converges to a Gaussian distribution, extending a result of Morrison

    Preservice Teacher Perceptions of the Role an Agriculture Teacher During Their Early Field Experience

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    School-based agriculture teachers (SBAE) hold many roles inside and outside of the school. Identifying and understanding the many roles an agriculture teacher may have in their career is an important part of an early field experience (EFE). In this study, EFE students (n = 18) submitted written reflections focused on the role of an agriculture teacher. Open coding of the preservice teacher reflections revealed five themes including work-life balance, public relations, role of an FFA advisor, student success, and school responsibilities. Codes within these five themes indicate a student-centered approach among agriculture teachers. Additionally, EFE students described many school responsibilities outside of the agriculture program that may contribute to a work-life imbalance among agriculture teachers. It is recommended that teacher education programs have current practicing teachers be engaged as part of the preparation process for pre-service students to learn about agriculture teacher roles. Consideration needs to be taken when selecting EFE sites to ensure students are receiving a quality experience, which reinforces the teacher preparation program objectives.This article is published as Smalley, S. W., & Rank, B. D. (2019). Preservice Teacher Perceptions of the Role of an Agriculture Teacher during Their Early Field Experience. Journal of Agricultural Education, 60(2), 99-108. doi: 10.5032/jae.2019.02099. Posted with permission.</p

    Ethical Awakenings: Stories of White Male Educators’ Commitment to Social Justice and the Interruption of Privilege

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    This study is an anti-racist counter-story of white male educators’ commitments to social justice and their attempts at interrupting privilege. The author uses a qualitative methodological approach to unite personal narrative essay and phenomenological interviewing to collate narratives around the exploration of whiteness and power. At the heart of the project is a deep interest in seeking an ethic that fosters a social justice praxis for educators by exposing the underlying structures of whiteness through “witness” testimony. Using Butler's (2005) theory of subject formation, the author advances a theory of social justice that focuses on relation. The author makes active the context for tensions between his white male subjectivity and social justice praxis and then interweaves the narratives from participant interviews to elucidate how white subjectivity works with and against social justice in complex ways, especially within educational contexts. A close look is given to white educators’ experiences in communities of color and the connections between the participant narratives and the author’s own. The author highlights the significance of personal rupture, in which the self is exposed to new ontological, epistemological, and ethical possibilities at critical junctures on the life journey. A case is made for the curricular value of utilizing self-study – examples of which include personal narrative essays, autoethnography, and autobiographical approaches – in shaping students’ ethical commitments to responsibility towards others as well as potentially exposing fissures at the ontological horizon that might lead authentic personal and social changes. The author draws meaningful interpretations by discussing relevant themes shared among the personal narratives and identifies key experiences that led participants to new ways of understanding and relating to others, exemplifying ethical responsibility. By drawing connections between white subjectivity and ethical commitments to social justice, the author makes a case for the curricular value in considering new and creative ways of fostering student interaction with difference and how those interactions might draw students towards responsible action. Conclusions from the interpretations suggest the importance of relation as a key component of ethical responsibility, highlighting the significance of recognizing the self’s opacity as a form of social justice activism

    Synthesis of Contemporary SAE Research 1994–2014

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    In the 1990s, a series of research syntheses were conducted regarding supervised agricultural experience. These syntheses included supervised agricultural experience (SAE) research from 1964 through 1993. With these past syntheses as the premise, contemporary SAE research was identified, synthesized, and coded into emerging themes. Inclusion criteria for this synthesis required articles to (a) be published in a peer-reviewed journal or national/regional American Association for Agricultural Education research conference proceedings, (b) include research specifically pertaining to SAE, (c) be available and accessible through the search procedures, and (d) be published between January 1994 and December 2014. An exhaustive search was conducted using library databases as well as digital journals and conference proceedings. Themes that emerged from this synthesis were (a) participation, (b) teacher education, (c) benefits, (d) professional development, (e) supervision, (f) scope/structure, (g) economic impact, (h) program quality, (i) learning theory, and (k) international settings. Similar to the previous syntheses, research conducted between 1994 and 2014 was primarily descriptive, conceptually broad, and often limited to relatively small populations such as single states. Additional multistate and national studies are recommended to describe the content and context of SAE instruction in teacher education and to refine quality indicators related to SAE practice.This article is published as Rank, B. D.* & Retallick, M. S. (2016). Synthesis of Contemporary SAE Research 1994-2014. Journal of Agricultural Education, 57(4), 132-146. doi: 10.5032/jae.2016.04132. Posted with permission.</p

    Processing Beyond Drawing: A Case Study Exploring Ideation for Teaching Design

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    Citation: Orthel, B. D., & Day, J. K. (2016). Processing Beyond Drawing: A Case Study Exploring Ideation for Teaching Design. SAGE Open, 6(3). doi:10.1177/2158244016663285Designers’ internal thought processes can be externally expressed and represented through sketching and other forms of communication. Novice designers often struggle to communicate their ideas. This article reports an analysis of student design processes during conceptual and schematic design development with the intention to inform teaching and learning activities. Interior design student teams provided sketches, written journal entries, digital drawings and models, and graphic images to illustrate their collective design processes. The work was analyzed to understand the students’ representation and development of ideas. Analysis revealed that sketching, digital media, and non-graphic process work were all valuable in the students’ design process. Significantly, the strength of the design outcomes aligned more with the overall quality of conceptual process work, rather than the way in which students represented their ideas. Ultimately, student understanding of the design process varied. Teaching and learning activities should develop direct connections with design thinking processes to improve design education. © 2016, © The Author(s) 2016

    Supervised Agricultural Experience Instruction in Agricultural Teacher Education Programs: A National Descriptive Study

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    Faculty in agricultural teacher education programs are responsible for preparing future teachers to lead effective school-based agricultural education programs. However, agriculture teachers are having difficulty implementing supervised agricultural experience (SAE), even though they value it conceptually as a program component. In an effort to improve SAE instruction in teacher education, the American Association for Agricultural Education has adopted a guiding philosophy and competencies for teacher preparation in SAE. Using these documents, the purpose of this national descriptive study was to identify where and to what extent SAE instruction was included within agricultural teacher education curriculum and describe the level of SAE instruction occurring in agricultural teacher education programs in the United States. Findings of this study indicate that there was a broad range in the level of instruction occurring for each of these competencies among teacher education programs. These results provide a snapshot of one-moment-in-time and serve as a starting point for a conversation about how supervised agricultural experience should be taught in agricultural teacher education. It is recommended that supervised agricultural experience competencies be taught using inquiry-based or problem-solving methods guided by the experiential learning process.This article is published as Rank, B. D.* & Retallick, M. S. (2017). Supervised Agricultural Experiences instruction in agricultural teacher education: A national descriptive study. Journal of Agricultural Education, 58(2), 143-165. doi: 10.5032/jae.2017.02143. Posted with permission.</p

    Students’ Perceptions of School-Based Agricultural Education Through an Initial Early Field Experience

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    The purpose of this study was to identify the perception of students enrolled in an initial early field experience (EFE) in relation to the components of the agricultural education model. The students enrolled in the initial field experience were freshmen and sophomore students. The initial field experience course consisted of four face-to-face class meetings and a 12-hour initial field experience observation. Students' photographed their perceptions of each component in the agricultural education model (classroom, SAE, FFA). The coding of reflective captions led to themes in three areas of the agricultural education model: (a) classroom themes were active learning, collaboration and facilities, (b) FFA themes were activities and opportunities, and (c) SAE themes were school based projects, awards/degrees, and the smallest circle. Overall, the EFE students used their photographs and descriptions to describe the learner-centered nature of the program. The EFE students described how the three components of the agricultural education model worked together to help school-based agricultural education (SBAE) students gain knowledge and experience. It is recommended that teacher educators incorporate photovoice in EFE programs to facilitate discussion of the initial perceptions of students.This article is published as Rank, B. D. & Smalley, S. W. (2017). Students' perceptions of school-based agricultural education through an initial early field experience. Journal of Agricultural Education, 58(3), 310-322. doi: 10.5032/jae.2017.03310. Posted with permission.</p

    Incorporation of composite defects from ultrasonic NDE into CAD and FE models

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    Fiber-reinforced composites are widely used in aerospace industry due to their combined properties of high strength and low weight. However, owing to their complex structure, it is difficult to assess the impact of manufacturing defects and service damage on their residual life. While, ultrasonic testing (UT) is the preferred NDE method to identify the presence of defects in composites, there are no reasonable ways to model the damage and evaluate the structural integrity of composites. We have developed an automated framework to incorporate flaws and known composite damage automatically into a finite element analysis (FEA) model of composites, ultimately aiding in accessing the residual life of composites and make informed decisions regarding repairs. The framework can be used to generate a layer-by-layer 3D structural CAD model of the composite laminates replicating their manufacturing process. Outlines of structural defects, such as delaminations, are automatically detected from UT of the laminate and are incorporated into the CAD model between the appropriate layers. In addition, the framework allows for direct structural analysis of the resulting 3D CAD models with defects by automatically applying the appropriate boundary conditions. In this paper, we show a working proof-of-concept for the composite model builder with capabilities of incorporating delaminations between laminate layers and automatically preparing the CAD model for structural analysis using a FEA software.This proceeding may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This proceeding appeared in Bingol, Onur Rauf, Bryan Schiefelbein, Robert J. Grandin, Stephen D. Holland, and Adarsh Krishnamurthy. "Incorporation of composite defects from ultrasonic NDE into CAD and FE models." AIP Conference Proceedings 1806, no. 1, (2017): 150004. , and may be found at DOI: 10.1063/1.4974728. Posted with permission.</p

    Risk Assessment in Economic Feasibility Analysis: The Case of Ethanol Production in Texas

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    The objective of this study is to demonstrate the benefits of quantifying the economic viability of a proposed agribusiness under risk relative to a feasibility study which ignores risk. To achieve this objective, the economic viability of a 50 MMGPY ethanol facility in Texas is analyzed over a 10-year period in two ways: with no risk and with historical risk for prices and costs.Risk and Uncertainty,

    Early Field Experience Course Students' Perceptions of School-based Agricultural Education Laboratory Environments

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    Laboratory instruction is an important component of school-based agricultural education (SBAE) programs (Phipps, Osborne, Dyer, & Ball, 2008). Early field experience (EFE) coursework can be an important component of agricultural teacher preparation programs (Retallick & Miller, 2007). Through the use of a modified photovoice technique, we sought to identify the perceptions of students (i.e., preservice teachers) enrolled in an EFE course in relation to the laboratory environment component of the SBAE model. Students enrolled in a 40-hour EFE course photographed a laboratory environment at their placement site and completed a 250-word descriptive/reflective summary of the laboratory. Through open coding of the summaries, three prominent themes emerged: 1) project-based learning is widely used for instructional purposes; 2) laboratory environments are set up and arranged in particular fashions based on needs; and 3) laboratory environments are arranged as settings for effective learning. Within the photographs, the agricultural mechanics laboratory was most commonly identified as a laboratory environment. The EFE students identified laboratory environments are not always traditional in their scope, and classrooms can serve as laboratory environments. We recommend photovoice be further used as a tool to explore students' perceptions of the realities of modern SBAE programs.This article is published as Wells, T., Smalley, S. W., & Rank, B. D. (2018). Early field experience course students' perceptions of school-based agricultural education laboratory environments. Journal of Agricultural Education, 59(3), 243-257. doi: 10.5032/jae.2018.03243. Posted with permission.</p
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