Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Personal Responders In The Elementary Reading Classroom, Mitzi B. Helms

Instructional Technology Education Specialist Research Papers

This quasi-experimental study utilized a pretest-posttest design to determine if personal responders increased students’ comprehension level in a first grade classroom. The control group was the group that was taught reading comprehension strategies using traditional teaching methods. The experimental group was taught reading comprehension strategies using personal responders. This group was instructed using the same strategies as the control group except the experimental group used personal responders in the place of pencils and worksheets. The researcher was the instructor for the experimental group, and another first grade teacher at the school was the instructor for the control group. Each group …

Near Optimal Boundary Control Of Distributed Parameter Systems Modeled As Parabolic Pdes By Using Finite Difference Neural Network Approximation, Behzad Talaei, Hao Xu, S. Jagannathan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper develops a novel neural network (NN) based near optimal boundary control scheme for distributed parameter systems (DPS) governed by semi linear parabolic partial differential equations (PDE) in the presence of control constraints and unknown system dynamics. First, finite difference method (FDM) is utilized to develop a reduced order system which represents the discretized dynamics of PDE system. Subsequently, a near optimal control scheme is proposed for the discretized system by using NN based approximate dynamic programming (ADP). To relax the requirement of system dynamics, a NN identifier is utilized. Moreover, a second NN is proposed to estimate a …

Extremum-Seeking For Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems With Application To Hcci Engines, H. Zargarzadeh, S. Jagannathan, J. A. Drallmeier

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For many control applications, identifying an optimal operating point by maximizing/minimizing a performance function is important. This paper applies the extremum-seeking method to nonaffine, nonlinear discrete-time systems stabilized by an optimal adaptive controller. First, a novel averaging method is used for the nonlinear discrete-time systems to show that their output unique extrema are stable equilibrium points. Then, a singular perturbation method in discrete time is employed to show that the overall closed loop system will dynamically converge to the extremum. The applicability of this scheme is numerically verified on a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) model validated experimentally and expressed …

A Model-Based Fault Detection And Prognostics Scheme For Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Systems, Balaje T. Thumati, Miles A. Feinstein, S. Jagannathan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a novel model-based fault detection (FD) and prediction scheme is developed for a class of Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems. Unlike other FD schemes, in the proposed design, an FD observer with online fault learning capability is utilized to generate a residual which is obtained by comparing the system output with respect to the observer output. A fault is declared active if the generated residual exceeds an a priori chosen threshold. Subsequently, the fault magnitude is estimated online by using a suitable parameter update law. Upon detection, the online estimate of the fault magnitude is used in a …

Optimization Of Transmission Conditions In Waveform Relaxation Techniques For Rc Circuits, Mohammad D. Al-Khaleel, Martin J. Gander, Albert E. Ruehli

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Waveform relaxation techniques have become increasingly important with the wide availability of parallel computers with a large number of processors. A limiting factor for classical waveform relaxation, however, is the convergence speed for an important class of problems, especially if long time windows are considered. In contrast, the optimized waveform relaxation algorithm discussed in this paper is well suited to address this problem. Today several numerical analyses have shown that optimized waveform relaxation algorithms can overcome slow convergence over long time windows. However, the optimized waveform relaxation techniques require the determination of optimized parameters. In this paper, we present a …

Adaptive Neural Network-Based Optimal Control Of Nonlinear Continuous-Time Systems In Strict-Feedback Form, H. Zargarzadeh, T. Dierks, S. Jagannathan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper focuses on neural network (NN) based optimal control of nonlinear continuous-time systems in strict-feedback form when the system dynamics are known by using an adaptive backstepping approach. A single NN-based adaptive approach is designed to learn the solution of the infinite horizon continuous-time Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation while the corresponding optimal control input that minimizes the HJB equation is calculated in a forward-in-time manner without using value and policy iterations. First, the optimal control problem is solved for a generic multi-input and multi-output nonlinear system with a state feedback approach. Then the approach is extended to a single-input and …

The Dual-Porosity Vertical-Well Model For Transient Pressure Analysis Of Naturally Fractured Shale Gas Reservoirs, Yi Jiang, Rui Xu, Meng Chen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

During the process of development for shale gas reservoirs, the permeability of fractures will decrease due to stress-sensitive effect. Adsorption is also an important mechanism which determines the production of shale gas reservoirs. Therefore, the effect of stress sensitivity and adsorption must be considered in the numerical model for pressure transient analysis. In this paper, a dual-porosity model was established considering both mechanisms, and finite-difference method was used for discretizing fluid equations. Then Newton method was applied for solving the resulting algebraic equations, and the typical curves in terms of dimensionless pseudo pressure and time were drawn with different sets …

An Online Outlier Identification And Removal Scheme For Improving Fault Detection Performance, Hasan Ferdowsi, Sarangapani Jagannathan, Maciej Jan Zawodniok

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Measured data or states for a nonlinear dynamic system is usually contaminated by outliers. Identifying and removing outliers will make the data (or system states) more trustworthy and reliable since outliers in the measured data (or states) can cause missed or false alarms during fault diagnosis. In addition, faults can make the system states nonstationary needing a novel analytical model-based fault detection (FD) framework. In this paper, an online outlier identification and removal (OIR) scheme is proposed for a nonlinear dynamic system. Since the dynamics of the system can experience unknown changes due to faults, traditional observer-based techniques cannot be …

Neural Network-Based Finite-Horizon Approximately Optimal Control Of Uncertain Affine Nonlinear Continuous-Time Systems, Hao Xu, Qiming Zhao, Travis Dierks, S. Jagannathan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper develops a novel neural network (NN) based finite-horizon approximate optimal control of nonlinear continuous-time systems in affine form when the system dynamics are complete unknown. First an online NN identifier is proposed to learn the dynamics of the nonlinear continuous-time system. Subsequently, a second NN is utilized to learn the time-varying solution, or referred to as value function, of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation in an online and forward in time manner. Then, by using the estimated time-varying value function from the second NN and control coefficient matrix from the NN identifier, an approximate optimal control input is computed. …

A Kalman Filter With Individual Control Factors For Echo Cancellation, Constantin Paleologu, Jacob Benesty, Silviu Ciochinǎ, Steven L. Grant

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In echo cancellation, the main goal is to recover the near-end signal from the error signal of the adaptive filter, which identifies the echo path. In this context, the Kalman filter represents a very appealing choice, since its basic criterion follows the minimization of the system misalignment (instead of the usual error-based cost function). In this paper, we propose a Kalman filter with individual control factors, in terms of using a different level of uncertainty for each coefficient of the filter. As compared to the basic Kalman filter (which imposes the same uncertainty for all the coefficients of the impulse …

On The Deployment Of On-Chip Noise Sensors, Tao Wang, Chun Zhang, Jinjun Xiong, Yiyu Shi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Runtime noise management systems can enforce power integrity without significantly increasing design margins. These systems typically respond to on-chip noise sensors to accurately capture voltage emergencies. Unfortunately, it remains an open problem in the literature how to optimally place a given number of noise sensors for best voltage emergency detection, or how to best set the threshold voltage for these sensors. In this paper, we formally define the problem of noise sensor placement along with a novel sensing quality metric to be maximized. We then put forward an efficient algorithm to solve it, which is proven to attain the best …

Critical Path Monitor Enabled Dynamic Voltage Scaling For Graceful Degradation In Sub-Threshold Designs, Yu Guang Chen, Tao Wang, Kuan Yu Lai, Wan Yu Wen, Yiyu Shi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Sub-threshold designs play an important role in energy constrained applications. In those designs, path delays depend exponentially on threshold voltage/temperature. As such, dynamic configurations at runtime are desired for best trade-off between operating power and performance. Unfortunately, most existing works only consider either process or temperature variations but not both, resulting in sub-optimal configurations or even functional failures. Moreover, little study has been performed on the graceful degradation of sub-threshold designs, which is important in the presence of drastic delay variations. Towards this, we present a novel critical path monitor based dynamic voltage scaling scheme. Considering both process and temperature …

Aerogels As Diverse Nanomaterials, Abhishek N. Bang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Aerogels are 3-D light-weight nanoporous materials pursued for their low thermal conductivity, low dielectric constant and high acoustic attenuation. Those exceptional macroscopic properties of aerogels are dependent on the chemical nature of nanoparticles, complex hierarchical solid skeletal framework and porosity. Also, the free space can become host for functional guests such as pharmaceuticals. In chapter I, we investigated randomly mesoporous bio-compatible polymer-crosslinked dysprosia aerogels as drug delivery vehicles and demonstrated storage and release of drugs under physiological conditions. Comparative study with ordered and randomly mesoporous silica showed high drug uptake and slower release rate for random nanostructures (silica or dysprosia) …

Education For Sustainability Through A Photography Competition, Rowena Scott

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article describes the development and history of a sustainability photography competition. From its simple beginnings as an environmental officer's idea, an environmental sustainability photography competition began in just one university. Now hosted by Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS), finalist entries are viewed on a public website gaining international attention. A purpose of this article is to demonstrate the diversity of views of sustainability by displaying the winning entries from 2013 and 2012. It is anticipated that readers may replicate these ideas in creative arts and across disciplines throughout primary, secondary and other higher education institutions, community groups and diverse …

A Static Voltage Security Region For Centralized Wind Power Integration-Part I: Concept And Method, Tao Ding, Qinglai Guo, Rui Bo, Hongbin Sun, Boming Zhang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

When large wind farms are centrally integrated in a power grid, cascading tripping faults induced by voltage issues are becoming a great challenge. This paper therefore proposes a concept of static voltage security region to guarantee that the voltage will remain within operation limits under both base conditions and N-1 contingencies. For large wind farms, significant computational effort is required to calculate the exact boundary of the proposed security region. To reduce this computational burden and facilitate the overall analysis, the characteristics of the security region are first analyzed, and its boundary components are shown to be strictly convex. Approximate …

Communication Engagements In The Planning And Implementation Of Community Service Among The Youth: The Case Of Student Organization Leaders In The University Of The Philippines Los Baños, Mark Lester Del Mundo Chico

Journal Article

In a dynamic, ever-changing landscape of communication engagements between and among people, the youth is an interesting sector to explore. This study analyzed how student organization leaders in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) engaged in communication in the planning and implementation of their community service.

This descriptive case study involved a series of focus group discussions (FGD) among 16 selected student leaders who were either organization or community service activity heads. Guided by the premises of Cybernetics and basic management functions, this study determined the different community service activities undertaken by UPLB student organizations and analyzed the …

Bay Area Student Involvement In The Environmental And Food Justice Movements: A Narrative Of Motivations, Experiences, And Community Impact, Laura E. Solof

Doctoral Dissertations

Many California public school students lack exposure to any formal, academic curriculum that emphasizes environmental awareness and activism. This may result in a population of adults who believe they know more about the environment than they actually do, lack the skills to compete in an expanding green job market, lack creativity and the ability to problem-solve, suffer from obesity, depression, anxiety, and attention disorders, and unknowingly contribute to the ever-increasing problems of air and water pollution, land and habitat destruction, and other environmental injustices. Community organizations and university programs are filling this much-needed gap in student environmental education, as they …

The Effects Of Explicit Listening Strategy Instruction On The Listening Comprehension Of English As Second Language (Esl) Community College Students, Yi Guan

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored the effects of explicit listening strategy instruction on the beginning-level ESL learner's listening comprehension at a community college in Northern California. Most previous studies measured the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction by comparing students' test scores, but little research explored the students' listening strategy development and their perceptions of the strategy instruction. Furthermore, no prior research exists on the effects of listening strategy instruction among community college students.

The researcher employed the concurrent triangulation approach, collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Data sources included interviews, a listening test, background surveys, and classroom …

The Effects Of The Read 180 Program On Oral Reading Fluency, Linguistic Comprehension, And Reading Comprehension With Secondary Special Education Students, David Lyon Teja

Doctoral Dissertations

There is great concern about secondary special education students reading achievement in decoding, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. The READ 180 Program is an evidence and scientific based reading program that includes direct instruction, computer aided instruction, and reading materials that are high interest and implement the common core. The purpose of this study was to see the differences in oral reading fluency, linguistic comprehension, and reading comprehension in a pretest posttest model over a fourteen-week testing period. Ten ninth grade secondary students who were reading below the 25th percentile were instructed with the READ 180 Program with fidelity (90 …

Four Preservice Teachers' Use Of Mathematical Knowledge During Lesson Planning And Instruction In The Field Experience, Margaret Swearingen

Doctoral Dissertations

The field experience of a teacher education program offers the opportunity for authentic practice in lesson planning and instruction for preservice teachers prior to their transition into their teaching career. However, preservice teachers often struggle applying their developing knowledge and skills because of the multifaceted nature of the field experience context. This complexity is particularly true in mathematics instruction since it includes simultaneously understanding mathematical concepts and mathematical procedure standards during instruction.

This study used mini-case studies to examine how four preservice teachers used their developing mathematical knowledge learned in the teacher education program while lesson planning and teaching within …

Ready To Write: Exploring The Student Perspective On The Transition To College, Julie Sullivan

Doctoral Dissertations

Written communication is a cornerstone of college and career success, yet many students arrive at college underprepared for the writing demands of the academic discourse community. The potential reasons for the perceived gap in writing ability point to the ongoing challenges of education in the United States. As the population pursuing college degrees becomes more diverse, expectations differ between high school and college, equity in education issues persist and standardization focuses on academic skills, overlooking the potential role that nonacademic or "soft" skills play in student success. When decisions are made to address these concerns, the student perspective is frequently …

An Investigation Of Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of A Systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop For Increasing Social Skills, Natalie Christina Nussli

Doctoral Dissertations

This study describes how a systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop promoting inquiry, experiential learning, and sociocultural theory guided the enculturation of 18 special education teachers into three-dimensional virtual worlds. The main purpose was to enable these teachers to make informed decisions about the usability of virtual worlds for students with social skills challenges, such as students with autism. Mixed-methods data analysis and triangulation were based on the analysis of seven instruments. Six of the seven steps of the intervention received high ratings indicating its viability for teachers' professional development opportunities

Rehearsal And Enactment For Teaching In Urban School Settings: A Qualitative Study Investigating The Connections Between A Math Methods Course And Fieldwork, Rajeev Virmani

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I studied teacher education reform efforts aimed at improving the preparation of preservice teachers through the use of rehearsals in a math methods class. As many experts in the field of teacher education call for curricula in which preservice teachers learn from and in practice, I investigated a type of pedagogy called rehearsals within a practice-based teacher education setting that may afford preservice teachers with the initial preparation needed to become effective teachers.

In this qualitative study, I examined how three preservice teachers and math methods instructors rehearse the high leverage practice of leading a whole-class discussion. …

Unsatisfying Wars: Degrees Of Risk And The Jus Ex Bello, Gabriella Blum, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Self-defensive war uses violence to transfer risks from one’s own people to others. We argue that central questions in just war theory may fruitfully be analyzed as issues about the morality of risk transfer. That includes the jus ex bello question of when states are required to accept a ceasefire in an otherwise-just war. In particular, a “war on terror” that ups the risks to outsiders cannot continue until the risk of terrorism has been reduced to zero or near zero. Some degree of security risk is inevitable when coexisting with others in the international community, just as citizens within …

Written Corrective Feedback In The L2 Writing Classroom, Daniel Ducken

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

In 1996, a highly influential essay entitled “The Case against Grammar Correction in L2 Writing Class”, by John Truscott of National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, appeared in the June edition of Language Learning. In his essay, Truscott argued that empirical research, second language acquisition (SLA) theory, and practical concerns show written grammar correction (WCF) in the L2 writing classroom to be both “ineffective” and “harmful,” and that, therefore, it “should be abandoned” (p. 327). Since the time that Truscott originally expressed his concerns, much recent SLA theory and empirical research have indicated the potential efficacy of written corrective feedback …

Modelling The Subsurface Geomorphology Or An Active Landslide Using Lidar, Norbert H. Maerz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

State Involvement In Limiting Textbook Choice By School Districts, Michelle Phillips

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Who gets to decide what textbooks are used in America's public-school classrooms varies by state. States can let each school district decide, provide standards that must be followed and make available an incomplete listing of books meeting those standards, or allow schools to choose books only from a list provided by the state. I present a model that provides an explanation for state limits on textbook selection by school districts. I examine the roles played by decision making costs, effectiveness of voters, religious composition, power of teachers, and propensity of state governments to interfere with or to help districts in …

Geospatial Data Pre-Processing On Watershed Datasets: A Gis Approach, Sreedhar Nallan, Leisa Armstrong, Barry Croke, Amiya K. Tripathy

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Spatial data mining helps to identify interesting patterns from the spatial data sets. However, geo spatial data requires substantial data pre-processing before data can be interrogated further using data mining techniques. Multi-dimensional spatial data has been used to explain the spatial analysis and SOLAP for pre-processing data. This paper examines some of the methods for pre-processing of the data using Arc GIS 10.2 and Spatial Analyst with a case study dataset of a watershed.

Decision Support System Data For Farmer Decision Making, Pornchai Taechatanasat, Leisa Armstrong

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The capacity of farmers and agricultural scientists to be able to make in-season decisions is dependent on accurate climate, soil and plant data. This paper will provide a review of the types of environmental and crop data that can be collected by sensors which can used for decision support systems (DSS) or be further interrogated for real time data mining and analysis. This paper also presents a review of the data requirements for agricultural decision making by firstly reviewing decision support frameworks and agricultural DSSs, data acquisition, sensors for data acquisition and examples of data incorporation for agricultural DSSs.

Advance (Fall 2014), Georgia Southern Division Of Continuing And Professional Education

Division of Continuing & Professional Education

No abstract provided.