Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Effect Of Domain Knowledge On Elementary School Children's Search Behavior On An Information Retrieval System: The Science Library Catalog, Sandra Hirsh May 1995

The Effect Of Domain Knowledge On Elementary School Children's Search Behavior On An Information Retrieval System: The Science Library Catalog, Sandra Hirsh

Faculty Publications

Few information retrieval systems are designed with children’s special needs and capabilities in mind. We need to learn more about children’s information-seeking behavior in order to provide them with information-based tools which support exploratory learning. This dissertation examines children’s search behavior on a hypertext-based automated library catalog designed for elementary school children. The focus of this research is on the effect of domain knowledge on children’s search performance, search behavior, and learning as they look for science books on this system. Reseaxch has shown that level of domain knowledge in~luences the way people search for information. Data was collected through …


Comment On 'Simulation Of A Two-Dimensional Rayleigh-Bénard System Using The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method, Alejandro Garcia, F. Baras, M. Malek Mansour Jan 1995

Comment On 'Simulation Of A Two-Dimensional Rayleigh-Bénard System Using The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method, Alejandro Garcia, F. Baras, M. Malek Mansour

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Student Evaluations Of Teaching Effectiveness: The Interpretation Of Observational Data And The Principle Of Faute De Mieux, B. Burt Gerstman Jan 1995

Student Evaluations Of Teaching Effectiveness: The Interpretation Of Observational Data And The Principle Of Faute De Mieux, B. Burt Gerstman

Faculty Publications

Student opinion surveys are important but widely misunderstood tools for evaluating teaching effectiveness. In this brief review, an analogy is drawn between the use and interpretation of observational data for public health and biomedical research and the use of student opinion data in evaluating teach ing effectiveness. Sources of systematic error in the form of selection bias, information bias, and confounding are defined and illustrated. Original data concerning intermittent "quid pro quo" confounding (i.e., the effect of expected grades on student evaluations of teaching) are presented. Finally, the principle of faute de mieux ("lack of anything better") and the interpretation …


A Consistent Boltzmann Algorithm, Alejandro Garcia, F. Alexander, B. Alder Jan 1995

A Consistent Boltzmann Algorithm, Alejandro Garcia, F. Alexander, B. Alder

Faculty Publications

The direct simulation Monte Carlo method for the Boltzmann equation is modified by an additional displacement in the advection process and an enhanced collision rate in order to obtain the exact hard sphere equation of state at all densities. This leads to consistent thermodynamic and transport properties in the low density (Boltzmann) regime. At higher densities transport properties are comparable to the predictions of the Enskog model. The algorithm is faster than molecular dynamics at low and moderate densities and readily run on a parallel architecture