“The Day That Changed My Life,Again”: The Testimonio of a Latino DACAmented Teacher

This article, based on the testimonio of a Latino DACAmented teacher, underscores the impacts and benefits of immigration policies for individuals and their communities. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has benefitted about 750,000 people; most have used the benefits to pursue higher education and to enter public service careers, including teaching and nursing. Mr. Juárez’s testimonio walks us through his educational trajectory and current role as an educator. This testimonio contributes to current debates and struggles demanding the new U.S. presidential administration to maintain DACA. As researchers, we urge students, educators, policymakers, and the incoming administration to listen to the testimonios of DACA beneficiaries prior to making hasty decisions that will have dire consequences for individuals, families, and the nation, as a whole.     

Is There Any Room for Face-To-Face Teaching in a Digital World? A Proposed Framework for Web Usage

This paper proposes an empirical framework for integrating the Web as a local resource to support teaching activity. The roadmap presented is based on the author's experience resulting from three years use of a personal homepage authored by him within the Intranet University system with outside Internet access. The potential of digital information to enhance student performance is discussed and some guidelines are presented to improve what the author calls 'live experience' of class content themes. The paper ends with a question section to promote discussion about in site teaching, its shape and functionality for the next few years. Y a-t-il encore place pour l’ enseignement frontal dans un monde digitalisé? Cadre de propositions pour une utilisation de l’Internet. Ce papier présente un cadre de propositions empiriques pour l'utilisation du Web en tant que ressource pour l'enseignement. La carte présentée est basée sur l'expérience de l'auteur résultant de trois ans d'utilisation de sa page Web, dans le cadre de l'Intranet de l'Université avec accès à Internet. L'auteur y analyse le potentiel de l'information numérique pour améliorer les performances des étudiants et présente quelques règles générales pour améliorer ce qu'il appelle \"l'expérience directe\" en classe. Une section réservée aux questions permet de promouvoir des échanges relatifs à l'enseignement prodigué mais aussi à l'aspect et à la fonctionnalité du site. Gibt es einen Raum für direktes Lehren in einer digitalen Welt? Ein Vorschlag für Webnutzung. Dieses Papier schlägt einen empirischen Rahmen für das Integrieren des Web als lokale Ressourcen zur Unterstützung von Unterricht vor. Die vorgestellte Möglichkeit beruht auf der dreijährigen Erfahrung des Autors mit einer selbstverfassten persönlichen Homepage innerhalb des Intranets der Universität mit separatem Internetzugang. Die Fähigkeit mit digitalen Informationen, die Leistungen von Studenten zu verbessern, wird erörtert, und einige Richtlinien werden vorgestellt, um zu verdeutlichen, was der Autor als \"live experience\" - Inhaltsthemen bezeichnet. Das Papier endet mit einem Frageabschnitt, um für die nächsten Jahre die Diskussion über “in site\"-Lehren, seine Form und Funktionalität, anzustoßen und zu fördern.     

Dynamic profiles using sentiment analysis and twitter data for voting advice applications

Nowadays, political campaigns combine traditional media channels with social media platforms, opening new and promising possibilities for parties and candidates looking for better political strategies and visibility. Voting advice applications (VAAs) recommend parties and candidates that are close to a citizen's political preferences and require the constrution of candidate and party profiles. Profile generation is an essential task in the development of VAAs and requires two steps: an unbiased design of political questionnaires and the collection of all candidates' answers. This paper presents an extension of a VAA, implemented in within the project Participa Inteligente (PI), a social-network platform designed for the 2017 Ecuadorian national elections. This work concentrates on the implementation of dynamic candidate profiling using Twitter data and sentiment analysis as an additional element to the static profile generation of VAAs. The implementation of a dynamic element for VAAs could help mitigate the effect of biased recommendations given during the construction of candidate and party profiles. At the end of this work, the dynamic profile is compared with the classic static elements developed within the PI project. The results show the level of similarities and differences between each of the elements in profile generation. This work provides an ideal basis for future research in the area of VAAs and their interfaces. Additionally, it opens up a broader spectrum of applications for policymakers including decision-making and collaborative working environments toward e-empowerment.     

Effects of different percentages of body weight support on spatiotemporal step characteristics during running

This study aimed to determine the effect of different percentages of body weight support (BWS) on spatiotemporal step characteristics during running. 26 endurance runners (age: 37 ± 9 years) completed a running treadmill protocol consisting of 6 different conditions (BWS combinations: 0–50%), with velocity maintained at 12 km/h. Each condition lasted 1 minute. Step angle, ground contact time (CT), flight time (FT), step length (SL) and frequency (SF), and duration of phases during stance time (phase1: initial contact; phase2: midstance; phase3: propulsion) were measured for every step during the test using a photoelectric cell system. Compared with the baseline condition (100% BW), FT was longer, CT was shorter, SL was longer, SF was lower, and the step angle was higher with each increase in BWS (p < 0.05). Also, some changes were observed in the duration of phases during stance time: phase1 did not experience changes across experimental conditions (p = 0.096), phase2 decreased and phase3 increased as BW was supported (p < 0.05). These results indicate that as BW was supported, runners showed longer FT and SL, shorter CT, lower SF, and greater step angle as well as some changes in the phases during the ground contact. Therefore, this study highlights the effect of different percentages of BWS on spatiotemporal parameters.     

Let’s Draw a Picture

In an undergraduate analysis course taught by one of the authors, three prompts are regularly given: (i) What do we know? (ii) What do we need to show? (iii) Let’s draw a picture. We focus on the third prompt and its role in helping students develop their confidence in learning how to construct proofs. Specific examples of visual models and their impact on student work are presented.