Digital Commons Network^™

Convolutional Auto Encoders For Sentence Representation Generation, Ali̇ Mert Ceylan, Vecdi̇ Aytaç

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this study, we have proposed an alternative approach for sentence modeling problem. The difficulty of the choice of answer, the semantically related questions and the lack of syntactic closeness of the answers give rise to the difficulty of selecting the answer. The deep learning field has recently achieved a pivotal success in semantic analysis, machine translation, and text summaries. The essence of this work, inspired by the human orthographic processing mechanism and using multiple convolution filters with pre-rendered 2-Dimension (2D) representations of sentences, input or output size is to learn the basic features of the language without concerns. For …

The Impact Of Text Preprocessing On The Prediction Of Review Ratings, Muhi̇tti̇n Işik, Hasan Dağ

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

With the increase of e-commerce platforms and online applications, businessmen are looking to have a rating and review system through which they can easily reveal the feelings of customers related to their products and services. It is undeniable from the statistics that online ratings and reviews attract new customers as well as increase sales by means of providing confidence, ratification, opinions, comparisons, merchant credibility, etc. Although considerable research has been devoted to the sentiment analysis for review classification, rather less attention has been paid to the text preprocessing which is a crucial step in opinion mining especially if convenient preprocessing …

Implicit Relation-Based Question Answering To Answer Simple Questions Overdbpedia, Maryam Jamehshourani, Afsaneh Fatemi, Mohammadali Nematbakhsh

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

RDF-based question answering systems give users the capability of natural language querying over RDF data. In order to respond to natural language questions, it is necessary that the main concept of the question be interpreted correctly, and then it is mapped to RDF data. A natural language question includes entities, classes, and implicit and explicit relationships. In this article, by focusing on identification and mapping of implicit relationships in the question (in addition to the explicit relationships), the mapping step has been improved. In the proposed solution (IRQA), entities and implicit/explicit relationships are identified by means of the provided rules …

Net-Lda: A Novel Topic Modeling Method Based On Semantic Document Similarity, Eki̇n Eki̇nci̇, Sevi̇nç İlhan Omurca

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Topic models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), allow us to categorize each document based on the topics. It builds a document as a mixture of topics and a topic is modeled as a probability distribution over words. However, the key drawback of the traditional topic model is that it cannot handle the semantic knowledge hidden in the documents. Therefore, semantically related, coherent and meaningful topics cannot be obtained. However, semantic inference plays a significant role in topic modeling as well as in other text mining tasks. In this paper, in order to tackle this problem, a novel NET-LDA model …

Nebraska School Violence Prevention Toolkit For K-12 School Threat Assessment Teams, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Denise Bulling

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Introduction

This toolkit provides guidance for school threat assessment teams to encourage the reporting of concerning behavior that may threaten safety and security of schools. Part I (“Reporting School Violence Before it Happens”) provides an overview of the importance of reporting school violence, and outlines specific barriers to reporting among youth, school staff, and parents/guardians. Part II (“Developing and Implementing a Reporting Process”) provides guidance on important features of a reporting process for potential or actual violence and other safety concerns. Part III (“Special Considerations”) discusses three particular problems affecting school youth: suicide, bullying/cyberbullying, and dating- related violence and abusive …

The Perceptions Of Aac Professionals On Supporting The Clinical Translation Of Brain-Computer Interface Technology, Kevin Pitt, Miechelle L. Mckelvey, Kristy Weissling, Brynley Klein

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) provide access to augmentative and alternative communication devices by decoding an individual’s neurological activity. However, while BCI developments are progressing in the research setting, barriers still exist in the clinical setting. These must be overcome to support the successful translation of BCI technology into clinical practice which improves patient outcomes. Therefore, to help facilitate the clinical integration of BCI-AAC, our study sought to identify the perspectives of AAC professionals regarding their

Internationalizing Honors, Kim Klein, Mary Kay Mulvaney

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

This monograph takes a “holistic approach to internationalization. [It] highlights how honors programs and colleges have gone beyond providing often one-time, short-term international experiences for their students and made global issues and experiences central features of their honors curricular and co-curricular programming. It presents case studies that can serve as models for honors programs and colleges seeking to initiate and further their internationalization efforts and highlights the latest research on the impact of internationalization on our students, campuses, and communities.” * * * “Our hope is that this monograph will serve multiple audiences: faculty wishing to develop new globally focused …

Chapter 4: How To Conduct Effective Interviewer Training: A Meta-Analysis And Systematic Review Appendix 4, Jessica Daikeler, Michael Bosnjak

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Appendix 4A Appendix Table A4A.1: Overview of the literature on interviewer tasks addressed in interviewer training experiments

Appendix 4B The meta-analytical process

Appendix 4C Random effects model and meta regression summary statistics

Appendix 4D List of missing studies in the paper

References

Writing For The Social Sciences, Shana Creaney

Open Educational Resources

A zero textbook cost class syllabus for Writing for the Social Sciences

Using Ai To Analyze Patent Claim Indefiniteness, Dean Alderucci, Kevin Ashley

IP Theory

We describe how to use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to partially automate a type of legal analysis, determining whether a patent claim satisfies the definiteness requirement. Although fully automating such a high-level cognitive task is well beyond state-of-the-art AI, we show that AI can nevertheless assist the decision maker in making this determination. Specifically, the use of custom AI technology can aid the decision maker by (1) mining patent text to rapidly bring relevant information to the decision maker’s attention, and (2) suggesting simple inferences that can be drawn from that information.

We begin by summarizing the law related to …

Southeast Asian American Students’ Perspectives On Influences That Lead To High School Dropout, Elizabeth D. Kuo

CGU Theses & Dissertations

High school dropouts continue to happen in the U.S. without a clear solution. Southeast Asian American (SEAA) is a population with significantly disproportionate high school dropout rates and one of the lowest enrollment rates in higher education. This study seeks to challenge the notion that “all” Asians are high-achieving by analyzing the reasons why a surprising number do not do well, i.e., drop out of school. A better understanding of the perspectives of Southeast Asian American students on the factors and influences that lead to their decision or cause to drop out of high school is the focus of this …

Ethnographic Narrative Project- My Journey To Teaching, Linda Melendez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Abstract

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.

Alexander Den Heijer

This is one of my favorite quotes because the message it portrays is very powerful. This is the motto that I have abided by in the past and will continue to abide by in the future as an educator. Like the quote states, I feel that educators, are the environment and it is up to us to build an environment where students are given diverse opportunities to feel empowered and acquire the tools to succeed. Being a first year …

A Failure Of Policy: How U.S. Leaders Neglected To Shape, Lead, And Leverage Intelligence Concerning Japan During The Interwar Period, 1918-1941, Sean-Patrick Lane

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores the perspective and performance of U.S. intelligence professionals and the intelligence organizations in which they served concerning Japan during the interwar period, the timespan ranging approximately from the conclusion of World War I in November 1918 through the entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941. Research for this dissertation focused predominantly on official and other primary documents, including U.S. intelligence reports and memoranda; intercepted, decrypted, and translated Japanese cablegrams; personal letters by and concerning U.S. intelligence professionals; and other primary source materials related to intelligence professionals and services available via the U.S. …

The Triumvirate Woman: Reconceptualizing Academic Career Messages For African American Women In Engineering, Latrice Diane Bonner

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the importance of access, equity, inclusion, and diversity in engineering by intentionally focusing on academic career messages for African American women who are tenured and tenure-track in engineering through the lens of Critical Race Theory, Black feminist thought, and intersectionality. This study illuminates within-group differences at the intersection of race, gender, field, and rank, while incorporating a conceptual framework that examines both the macro and micro perception of higher education. There was also a need to transform simultaneous forms of oppression into sources of empowerment. Therefore, this study utilized empirical research to …

Secondary English As A Foreign Language Teachers And Teaching: Cultural Practices, Products, And Perspectives, Tammy Johnson

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Learning English is a global phenomenon, if not a necessity, for economic and political reasons in the world today. However, effective instruction of English as a foreign language (EFL) has differing views on how culture and language should be taught. Developed by the author, the study uses the Cultural Teaching Model, which emphasizes that effective cultural instruction should incorporate practices, products, and perspectives. Based on 35 interviews with secondary English foreign language teachers from 19 different developing countries, the study explored the importance of culture, teachers’ beliefs, and effective instructional practices in teaching English in diverse classrooms. This study’s findings …

An Examination Of Readiness For Response To Intervention Implementation In A Rural School District In North Carolina, Carla Murray

Doctor of Education Dissertations

In 2015, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Exceptional Children Division proposed policy changes, effective July 1, 2020, on how students with specific learning disabilities are defined, evaluated, and identified. A student in North Carolina is now identified for special education through the use of how they respond to high-quality core instruction and research-based instruction. This study examined this process in a rural school district in North Carolina to determine how schools can support educators who do not have the appropriate background knowledge and skills to sustain MTSS, how educator perceptions influence the sustainability of MTSS, and what can …

The Influence Of Grammatical Gender On Russian And Thai Speakers' Cognition, Kusuma Thongniam, Amara Prasithrathsint

Manusya, Journal of Humanities

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of grammatical gender on Russian speakers' cognition, compared with Thai speakers' cognition by means of object categorization. The key materials in the experiment are black-and-white pictures represented by nouns that are selected based on gender and appearance similarity. The hypothesis is that Russian speakers group two pictures that belong to the same grammatical gender class together, while Thai speakers generally rely on the size or shape of objects in the pictures. The result of the experiment statistically showed that Russian speakers categorized things on the basis of grammatical gender, while …

"Directly Adverse" Means Directly Adverse: How Courts Have Misread Rule 1.7(A)(1) And Why It Matters, Stephen Gillers

Faculty Articles

The Model Rules do not define “directly adverse.” These words limit a lawyer’s freedom to accept clients and a client’s ability to hire counsel of choice—this prohibition derives from the lawyer’s duty of loyalty. When, then, is a matter directly adverse to a nonparty client simply because the outcome could harm its interests? The answer to that question, the subject of this Article, is where the boundaries of Rule 1.7(a)(1) have been blurred, leaving the courts and the bar without adequate guidance. By confusing Rule 1.9(a)’s protection of a former client’s “interests” with Rule 1.7(a)(1)’s prohibition of direct adversity to …

Beyond Microaggression: Overlapping Identities In Simulated Legal Practice, Peggy C. Davis, Danielle Davenport, Brence Pernell

Faculty Articles

The authors’ in-depth analyses of interactions within a simulated lawyering course expose interactive pitfalls—both in practice and in teaching—and suggest means of improving law students’ and professors’ professional competence.

Complex Morphology In Romani Can Resolve The Ambiguity Of Multiple Possessives, Jill De Villiers, Huseyin Kyuchuk, Tyler Poisson

Psychology: Faculty Publications

From the 44th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, held November 7-10, 2019

Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe And The Jamestown Festival Of 1957, Woodie L. Walker Ii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employs the interdisciplinary methodologies of ethnohistory and oral history to examine the legacy of the 1957 Jamestown Festival through the experiences and memories of Rappahannock people. “Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe and the Jamestown Festival of 1957” adds to the historiography of Virginia Natives by revealing that Rappahannock participation in the Jamestown Festival was the culmination of centuries of cultural preservation, greatly influenced and made immediate by their experiences in “Jim Crow” Virginia during the twentieth century. This research establishes that the enduring legacy of the Festival for the Rappahannock Tribe was political influence, culminating in state …

Summer Research Fellowship Project Descriptions 2020, Clark Science Center's Summer Research Fellows Program

SURF Abstracts (Women in Science)

A summary of research done by Smith College’s 2020 Summer Research Fellowship (SURF) Program participants. Ever since its 1967 start, SURF has been a cornerstone of Smith’s science education. Supervised by faculty mentor-advisors drawn from the Clark Science Center and connected to its eighteen science, mathematics, and engineering departments and programs and associated centers and units. At summer’s end, SURF participants were asked to summarize their research experiences for this publication.

Just Post It: A Critical Discourse Analysis On Nike’S Instagram, Jillian Cataldo

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Adam And The Early Mesopotamian Creation Mythology, Saad D. Abulhab

Publications and Research

The first monotheist human, Adam, was likely a god, in the Mesopotamian mythology, just as the Hebrew Genesis reluctantly revealed, and the assertive Quran slightly hinted. Specifically, he was the pre-monotheist, Sumerian god, Idim, who was also called GodEa and many other nicknames over the millenniums. The names Idim and Adam are even linguistically related, according to early Arabic root words analysis. As a Mesopotamian god, Idim was the creator of the first human, and the father of his immediate generations, as he was sometimes referred to in the ancient literature. He was the preserver of life on earth, and …

World Englishes Approaches To The Teaching Of Writing: A Survey Of Afghan University English Teachers, Abdul Khaliq Sahibzada

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Although the worldwide spread of English language and the relationship between non-dominant (local) varieties of English language and standardized English have been widely debated (e.g., Canagarajah, 2006; Jenkins, 2014; Kachru, 1992; Saraceni, 2015), the voices of Afghan EFL university teachers have not been reported, especially regarding the teaching of writing through the lens of World Englishes. Drawing data from 18 university teachers from three universities in Afghanistan, this study sought to address the issue using a mixed method design. The findings show that the teachers who took part in the research understand the concept of WEs. The study also found …

Engaging Secondary Math Teachers In Breaking Down Barriers For English Learners, Julie M. Kane

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This study used mixed methods to examine middle school mathematics teachers’ beliefs about English Learners’ ability to participate in rigorous, grade-level math instruction as well as beliefs about their own capacity for teaching English Learners. Additionally, the study investigated the influence of teachers’ beliefs on their instructional practices and identified the types of support teachers need to develop as culturally and linguistically responsive educators. Findings revealed some dissonance between teachers’ explicit beliefs about teaching English Learners and their implicit beliefs illustrated through instructional decisions made, as well as previously unrecognized gaps in teachers’ ability to identify and differentiate the needs …

Humanity’S Best Friend: A Dog-Centric Approach To Addressing Global Challenges, Naomi Sykes, Piers Beirne, Alexandra Horowitz, Ione Jones, Linda Kalof, Elinor Karlsson, Tammie King, Howard Litwak, Robbie A. Mcdonald, Luke John Murphy, Neil Pemberton, Daniel Promislow, Andrew Rowan, Peter W. Stahl, Jamshid Tehrani, Clive D. L. Wynne, Eric G. Strauss, Greger Larson

Center for Urban Resilience Scholarship

No other animal has a closer mutualistic relationship with humans than the dog (Canis familiaris). Domesticated from the Eurasian grey wolf (Canis lupus), dogs have evolved alongside humans over millennia in a relationship that has transformed dogs and the environments in which humans and dogs have co-inhabited. The story of the dog is the story of recent humanity, in all its biological and cultural complexity. By exploring human-dog-environment interactions throughout time and space, it is possible not only to understand vital elements of global history, but also to critically assess our present-day relationship with the natural world, and to begin …

Museums As Realms Of (Dis)Enchantment, Amy Buono

Art Faculty Articles and Research

"On the night of September 2, 2018, a blaze swept through Brazil's national museum, Museu Nacional, in Rio de Janeiro, destroying not only the colonial building, portions of which dated to the sixteenth century, but roughly 92 percent of the 20 million objects in its holdings. This was Brazil's greatest encyclopedic museum, incorporating (among many others) collections of natural history, anthropology, archaeology, and art, thus forming the most comprehensive museum collection in the nation. Along with its many unique and irreplaceable collections, the Museu Nacional was also home to the country's oldest Indigenous Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian materials (fig. 1)."

Learning Strategies And Metacognition In Adults With Dyslexia, Bradley W. Bergey

Publications and Research

In this chapter, we review the literature on learning and study strategies of university students with reading disabilities. Increasing numbers of students with reading disabilities attend post-secondary education, and while there, many experience academic challenges related to their remaining reading problems. We propose that learning and study strategies are important compensatory mechanisms for these students, but conclude not much is currently known about the learning and study strategies that students with reading disabilities employ in post-secondary education. As a way forward, we identify measurement and sampling issues in existing studies as potentially responsible for the varied results and discuss the …

"Good Job, But Bulgarian": Identifying "Bulgarian-Ness" Through Cultural Discourse Analysis, Nadezhda Sotirova

Communication, Media, and Rhetoric Publications

By using cultural discourse analysis and ethnography, naturally occurring talk and interviews were examined for local constructions of “Bulgarian-ness” in order to formulate explicit and implicit cultural propositions about being “Bulgarian,” and cultural premises about being (“Bulgarian-ness” as problematic) and emotion (anger, frustration) as connected. This article illustrates the notion of the phrase as a local cultural symbol within Bulgarian discourse that evokes deep cultural meanings for a way of being (“Bulgarian-ness” and the West/East dichotomy), emotions (frustration, hopelessness), and a social world (the “Bulgarian situation”) as continuously negotiated in relation to conceptualizations of “Balkanism.”