Developmental Change in Notetaking during Scientific Inquiry

This paper addresses the development in children’s and adults’ awareness of the benefits of writing through the analysis of change in notetaking while engaged in scientific inquiry over 10 weeks. Participants were given a notebook that they could choose to use. Our results indicate consistent differences between the performance of adults versus children and also across time. First, there were clear differences in the number of participants who chose to take notes. Second, not only did adults write more notes than children, but also the adults’ mean number of notes slightly increased over time, whereas children’s notes actually decreased in frequency. Third, children and adults differed in the types of notes they took. These results are interpreted in terms of participants’ awareness of what needs to be noted in a scientific task and why it needs to be noted, and they suggest implications for educational practice. First, because learners often have inaccurate representations of the task demands and their own future state of knowledge, they do not perceive the utility of notetaking. Second, because of these misperceptions, learners do not refer back to their notes and thereby miss feedback that would spur the refinement of their metacognitive (particularly metastrategic) knowledge and strategy use. Educators need to design opportunities for students to engage in activities that increase metacognitive knowledge of their own cognitive abilities and the demands of the task.     

Grading Multiple Choice Exams with Low-Cost and Portable Computer-Vision Techniques

Although technology for automatic grading of multiple choice exams has existed for several decades, it is not yet as widely available or affordable as it should be. The main reasons preventing this adoption are the cost and the complexity of the setup procedures. In this paper, Eyegrade, a system for automatic grading of multiple choice exams is presented. While most current solutions are based on expensive scanners, Eyegrade offers a truly low-cost solution requiring only a regular off-the-shelf webcam. Additionally, Eyegrade performs both mark recognition as well as optical character recognition of handwritten student identification numbers, which avoids the use of bubbles in the answer sheet. When compared with similar webcam-based systems, the user interface in Eyegrade has been designed to provide a more efficient and error-free data collection procedure. The tool has been validated with a set of experiments that show the ease of use (both setup and operation), the reduction in grading time, and an increase in the reliability of the results when compared with conventional, more expensive systems.     

Evaluating knowledge,attitudinal, and behavioral change effects from a multinational HIV/AIDS education program for youth

This project tracked the mid-term evaluation processes, practices, and products of a multinational program to reduce at-risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS among children in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti. It focused on participant and community perceptions; program effectiveness in promoting abstinence and monogamy decisions; and factors supporting ongoing resistance, decision persistence, and program sustainability. Instrumentation included focus groups and interviews with 731 participant youth, parents, community stakeholders, and staff; program documents; and expert on-site observations. Program efforts are effective in influencing informational, attitudinal, and behavioral changes across stakeholder groups. Data underscore process effects of specific program tools and features, through participant attributions. Critical relationships between internal and external factors, and collective local practices grown from program knowledge and skills, support risk reduction awareness and behaviors. Systematic evaluation, including design features, can inform similar efforts across national and cultural boundaries. Effective strategies are highlighted and linked to community perceptions and program outcomes.     

Activity profile of top-class association football referees in relation to fitness-test performance and match standard

The aim of this study was to examine the kinematic activity profiles, cardiovascular responses and physical fitness of top-class football referees (n=11) during the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005. Computerised match-analyses (n=9) were performed with a two-dimensional photogrammetric video system, and the cardiovascular demand imposed on the referees (n=12) was measured using heart rate recordings. Total distance covered was 10,218, s=643 m of which 3531, s=510 m was covered at high intensities (>3.6 m.s(-1)). Both total distance covered (r2=0.59; P=0.02) and high-intensity activities (r2=0.44; P=0.05) were related to the distance covered by the ball in the same match. The referees ran at high speed 37% further (P=0.01) in the actual tournament than during under-17 top-level officiating. After the 5-min interval during which high-speed running peaked, in the following 5 min the performance was reduced by 19% (P=0.01) in relation to the mean of the game. Mean heart rate was 161, s=9 b.min(-1) (86, s=3% of maximal heart rate (HRmax)). Mean heart rate (expressed as percentage of HRmax) was related in part (r2=0.36; P<0.01) to the number of high-intensity activities performed in the same 5-min interval. The results of this study show that: (1) kinematic activity profiles of top-class referees can be influenced by the distance covered by the ball; (2) the amount of high-speed running (>5 m.s(-1)) best describes the physical performance of referees; (3) heart rate recording can be a useful tool to determine the most intense periods of a match and (4) the new fitness tests adopted by FIFA were poor predictors of match activities.     

The Librarian's Role in Linking Patients to Their Personal Health Data and Contextual Information

The objective of this project was to make an institution's patients aware of a new patient portal with contextual links to MedlinePlus. Through partnerships with information technology personnel and LSU Health Shreveport clinics, the Health Sciences Library created and distributed promotional and educational materials and instructed patients on how to use MyChart and access reliable consumer health information via MedlinePlus Connect. Although most patients were not interested in coming to the library for demonstrations, many of them expressed interest in using MyChart. The contextual information in MedlinePlus Connect worked well for most topics. The institutional team leader for MyChart expressed gratitude for librarian involvement.     

The impact of technological convergence on the regulation of ICT industries

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to identify alternative models of regulation that address the problems and opportunities brought about by convergence. Regulatory convergence involves bringing together previously separate industry‐based regulations into a single legal and regulatory framework. Regulators need to consider different levels of and objectives for regulating sectors as well as overcome inconsistencies in regulation that result from traditional separation. These can result in regulatory arbitrage as companies try to choose the laws and bodies that most benefit them. Regulators also must deal with technological uncertainty and competition policies. There are five alternatives for regulating converging industries: status quo regulator, multi‐sector regulator, ICT regulator, coordination among regulators, and minimal regulation. Each of these represents different degrees of change that can be chosen based on circumstances including: competition, path dependency, perceptions about the environment, knowledge, and power.     

Media Plurality and the Intensity of Readers' Political Preferences

In this article, the author studied the effect of the intensity of readers' political preferences on the news firms' incentives to choose between a single- and a multi-ideology strategy (i.e., media uniformity vs. media plurality). The author shows that alternative formalizations of the intensity of readers' preferences alter the equilibrium level of media plurality, given that they affect demand for news. In particular, when the readers' disutility of consuming news that differs from their ideal variety is relatively high for politically close news, the media firms choose a multi-ideology strategy, because the increase in demand is large. On the contrary, when the readers' disutility of consuming news that differs from their ideal variety is relatively low for politically close news, media firms choose a single-ideology strategy because a multi-ideology strategy does not significantly increase demand.     

From Gatekeeping to Engagement: A Multicontextual, Mixed Method Study of Student Academic Engagement in Introductory STEM Courses

The lack of academic engagement in introductory science courses is considered by some to be a primary reason why students switch out of science majors. This study employed a sequential, explanatory mixed methods approach to provide a richer understanding of the relationship between student engagement and introductory science instruction. Quantitative survey data were drawn from 2,873 students within 73 introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses across 15 colleges and universities, and qualitative data were collected from 41 student focus groups at eight of these institutions. The findings indicate that students tended to be more engaged in courses where the instructor consistently signaled an openness to student questions and recognizes her/his role in helping students succeed. Likewise, students who reported feeling comfortable asking questions in class, seeking out tutoring, attending supplemental instruction sessions, and collaborating with other students in the course were also more likely to be engaged. Instructional implications for improving students’ levels of academic engagement are discussed.     

Optimal and robust control for linear state-delay systems

This paper presents the optimal regulator for a linear system with state delay and a quadratic criterion. The optimal regulator equations are obtained using the maximum principle. Performance of the obtained optimal regulator is verified in the illustrative example against the best linear regulator available for linear systems without delays. Simulation graphs demonstrating better performance of the obtained optimal regulator are included. The paper then presents a robustification algorithm for the obtained optimal regulator based on integral sliding mode compensation of disturbances. The general principles of the integral sliding mode compensator design are modified to yield the basic control algorithm oriented to time-delay systems, which is then applied to robustify the optimal regulator. As a result, the sliding mode compensating control leading to suppression of the disturbances from the initial time moment is designed. The obtained robust control algorithm is verified by simulations in the illustrative example.