Digital Commons Network^™

Analyzing The Pisa Tests Results (2018) In Terms Of The Revised Bloom’S Taxonomy For The Spanish Reading-Comprehension Area Of Dominican Students., Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr., Fransheska Arias Reyes Lic.

FDLA Journal

This work aims to analyze the Results of the PISA Tests for the year 2018 in the Dominican Republic as subministered every three year by the OECD presided over by Dr. Andreas Schleicher, and that it is long awaited both for the Ministry of Education-MINERD-, and as well as for the non-governmental society and the opposition parties, among others. This scenario which is not exclusively of our country puts on the table many questioning as that of, if the country shall continue as part of that program on the light that such testings have been hardly criticized in more developed …

Sociolinguistics Approaches In Efl Teaching Methods For Dominican College Students, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr., Fransheska Arias Reyes Lic.

FDLA Journal

This work is concerned with the effects or pedagogical influences of the so-called Sociolinguistics Approaches on Dominican College education, specifically at three groups of advanced EFL Classes at the State College, that is to say the Universidad Autonoma of Santo Domingo-UASD-, during the last virtual and first semester of this year (2021-1), as a part of the Core Curriculum of the said institution. The emphasis was placed in determining how certain currents of the like had have a considerable influence in both the teacher’s population as well as that of the students, resulting with not a new discovery, that Constructivism …

A Case Study On The Use Of Spelling As A Determining Factor In Teaching English Grammar In Dominican Schools, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr., Fransheska Arias Reyes Lic.

FDLA Journal

English spelling has always been described by many language researchers and teachers as a daunting task especially for learners whose first language is not English. This monograph presents the report of an investigation on the use of spelling, which includes the determining factor of grammar in the teaching of English, in it we will develop a program for observing students and teachers as an initial assessment, (pretest) and the design of the development of said observation as a final evaluation (posttest). This observation was made with the total of 28 students of the sixth grade of Primary School Nuestra Señora …

Language Immersion Programs For Dominican College Students/From The Russian Experience To The Mescyt Experience, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

The following work consists of a comparative research of two of the most outstanding immersion programs for foreign languages (Russian/English) that Dominican college students have ever undergone. The first one, happened decades ago in the cold distant Union of Soviet Socialist Republic where thousands of our students were sent as scholarship’s recipient to study in different Russian universities, after being selected by the Dominican Communist Party, and sponsored by the Soviet Government. The second one, is still happening in our country with the offering of the so-called English Immersion Program sponsored since 2005 by the Ministry of Higher Education-MESCyT- The …

Translanguaging Within The Context Of Dominican College Pedagogy, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr., Fransheska Arias Reyes Lic.

FDLA Journal

Since the democratic opening of the country (the Dominican Republic), in past decades and the subsequent phenomena of Worldalization, Globalization and the Influences of the Knowledge Society and Computerization, our society and with it the national educational system at all levels has been undergoing a series of changes and influences not ignored in the order for the teachings of foreign languages in our institutions of higher education and specifically at the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo-UASD- In addition to the social, economic and political phenomena mentioned above, there are also the migrations of millions of Dominicans to mostly to the …

Globalization, Foreign Languages And National Identity In The Dominican Republic, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

Due to the fact of the transformation of the Dominican economy, jumping from a rural, sugar cane exporting-country to a more diverse economy, based in four pillars: The Remittance of US Dollars of Dominicans living in America, the Tourism Industry, the Duty-free Industrial Parks and the Major League Base-ball Players and Academies, it is not difficult to imagine that English has been the language par excellence behind those advancements. Those socio-political facts besides the phenomenon of globalization have had a tremendous impact in popularizing this language with the correspondent academic impact of modernizing and reforming our national curriculum, for both …

Methodological Discrepancies In The Teaching/Assessment Process Of Efl At The High School Level In The Dominican Public System, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

Discrepancies between the processes of Teaching and Assessment of English of the Middle Level. Dr. Pedro Tavárez DaCosta: 2016. Freelance Researcher, for the Regional Office of Education 11-02 in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Teacher's Evaluation / Evaluation Criteria / Summative and Formative Evaluation / Program for Evaluation Improvement in Language Teaching. This research work consisted in the implementation of a plan in which, by way of treatment, it was possible to improve the levels of assessment competences of the foreign language, of the non-qualified teachers of English of the middle level, Districts 11-01 and 11-02 of the Regional of Education …

Of Standardized Student Measurements And Tests In The Dominican Republic, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr., Fransheska Arias Reyes Lic.

FDLA Journal

The present work seeks to establish a comparison between two different and distant evaluation tools applied to the Dominican student population in order to measure the efficiency of our educational system in the recent years, one of them measured the quality of Dominican education in three areas (the PISA Test), whereas the other tested the quality of the proficiency of the English language (EF English Proficiency Index), both for the pre-college levels. Although one of our cherished ideas was our having analyzed such tests of extreme relevance for us, the EFL Teachers and Professors at many different levels, as the …

Methodological Discrepancies In The Teaching/Assessment Process Of Efl At The High School Level In The Dominican Public System, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

Discrepancies between the processes of Teaching and Assessment of English of the Middle Level. Dr. Pedro Tavárez DaCosta: 2016. Freelance Researcher, for the Regional Office of Education 11-02 in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Teacher's Evaluation / Evaluation Criteria / Summative and Formative Evaluation / Program for Evaluation Improvement in Language Teaching. This research work consisted in the implementation of a plan in which, by way of treatment, it was possible to improve the levels of assessment competences of the foreign language, of the non-qualified teachers of English of the middle level, Districts 11-01 and 11-02 of the Regional of Education …

Effectiveness Of The G-T Method In Efl Monolingual Adult Classes At Private Institutes In The City Of Puerto Plata, D.R, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

The goal of this research is to determine the effectiveness of Grammar -Translation Method on EFL adult learners. The sample of this investigation was based on 30 graduated students as a universe and a sample of 15 which represent the 50% in which 9 of them were female who represent the 60% and 6 male who represent the 40% from Impact Languages Institute. The research used random sampling process to lead this investigation. The findings of this research indicated that there is a positive Correlation between the usage of Grammar Translation Method and both female and male EFL learners. This …

Effectiveness Of The G-T Method In Efl Monolingual Adult Classes At Private Institutes In The City Of Puerto Plata, D.R., Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

The goal of this research is to determine the effectiveness of Grammar -Translation Method on EFL adult learners. The sample of this investigation was based on 30 graduated students as a universe and a sample of 15 which represent the 50% in which 9 of them were female who represent the 60% and 6 male who represent the 40% from Impact Languages Institute. The research used random sampling process to lead this investigation. The findings of this research indicated that there is a positive Correlation between the usage of Grammar Translation Method and both female and male EFL learners. This …

Personality Features And Efl Learning Process Within The Dominican Society Context, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

Through this work we are focusing on discussing the relationship between the Traits of Personality and the performance of Students in EFL Learning (introversion/extroversion and other determining factors of the educational Process) within the Dominican´s Society context as largely perceived by Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. There have been a great number of international studies already published which had tried to explain the effects of such features of the student's personality, mostly introversion/ extroversion on the student‘s performance in foreign language learning, something , which from the teacher‘s perception have always been presumed as an unquestionable fact. Although …

Efl Programs For People With Special Needs In The In Different National Settings, Pedro J. Tavarez-Dacosta Dr.

FDLA Journal

The present work attracted our attention motivated by the need of seeking ways of helping people learning EFL, with certain disabilities than undertaking a research project by itself. The needs for implementing those special program in our country is out of the question, since to the extent that our society and country has been developing in economic, social and political terms, to that extent we have realized the need to become a more inclusive society, more open to sectors with special needs, not only in terms of urban planning, but also in the design of their own educational policies towards …

A Modular Pipeline For Flatbed Content Detection And Localization With Accurate Deskew, Hp Inc

Defensive Publications Series

We present an end-to-end pipeline for localizing and deskewing one or multiple foreground objects (documents, photos, cards, receipts) placed on a flatbed scanner with a white to near-white background. The method integrates iterative morphological contrast shaping (white / black top-hats), gamma-driven diffusion, statistical region merging (SRM), distance-transform based consolidation, and Voronoi-like label propagation. A unified skew estimation interface produces deskewed, refined crops per object. This document mirrors the structural flow of a companion skew orientation disclosure while remaining self-contained and focused on the flatbed multi-object extension.

Proximity-Based Vector Database Sharing For Enhanced Rag Systems, Hp Inc

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure proposal introduces a system for enhancing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems by enabling proximity-based sharing of vector databases among devices. Leveraging Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for device discovery and Wi-Fi Direct for high-speed data transfer, this system eliminates the limitations of isolated local vector stores and the privacy risks associated with cloud-based solutions. Key features include local library generation, secure proximity-based discovery, and dynamic integration of shared libraries. The decentralized and privacy-preserving architecture ensures secure collaboration in dynamic environments, transforming the scope of information retrieval in workplaces, classrooms, and beyond.

Wearable Docking Station For Head-Mounted Display, Karen Jean Kwan, Jasmine Soria Sears, Atieh Taghavinia, Rebecca Spiegel

Defensive Publications Series

As disclosed herein, a wearable docking station for a head-mounted display is provided. The wearable docking station may include a first arm of a neckband conforming to a neck of a user. The wearable docking station may include a second arm of the neckband conforming to the neck of the user. The wearable docking station may include a central portion of the neckband connecting the first arm and the second arm. The wearable docking station may include at least one interface for docking a head-mounted display (HMD) when the HMD is removed from a head of the user. A system …

Outdoor Optical Distribution Frame, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

The technology described in this publication relates to a high-density, weather-proof optical distribution frame (“ODF”) that enables network setup outdoors in parallel with data center construction, designed to accelerate machine learning (ML) data center capacity delivery. This frame eliminates the need to wait for lengthy building completion before initiating network deployment. By enabling earlier network readiness, this frame has the potential to shorten overall data center delivery timelines by 3 to 6 months.

Device Power And User Connectivity Optimization For Terrestrial And Non-Terrestrial Network Selection, Dang Tu Nguyen, Sooraj Sasindran, Karthick Musuvathi Janakan, Soumyadeep Paul

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes techniques to optimize device power and user connectivity for terrestrial or non-terrestrial, e.g., low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, network selection by a device modem. Per the techniques, the modem is configured to not perform a scan for Terrestrial networks (TNs) during Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) signal emission gaps; instead, the modem is configured to wait for the next NTN signal availability and connect to the NTN accordingly. To do this, the telephony framework is implemented to provide the signal emission gap information at the device location to the modem such that the modem can initiate the rescan for NTN …

Private Set Intersection For Offline, Privacy-Preserving, Contact-Based Nearby Device Discovery, Kevin Yeo, Darren Krahn, Joon Young Seo, Dave Mccloskey

Defensive Publications Series

To support offline, privacy-preserving, contact-based discovery (that does not reveal the user’s contacts to nearby devices), a cryptographic protocol is needed that allows sending and receiving devices to share their encrypted identifiers and/or address books without revealing private information. This sharing needs to be implemented in a manner that avoids various types of attacks. Sharing the identifiers in a specific order is critical to avoiding certain types of attacks that may compromise user privacy. This disclosure describes a cryptographic protocol developed using signatures and private set intersection (PSI) that enables privacy-preserving, contact-based discovery. The cryptographic techniques utilize a federated identity …

Probabilistic Identity Filter For Offline, Privacy-Preserving, Contact-Based Nearby Device Discovery, Dave Mccloskey, Darren Krahn, Joon Young Seo, Kevin Yeo

Defensive Publications Series

A core component of offline, private, contact-based discovery is requiring the two devices to perform a cryptographic protocol known as private set intersection (PSI) between a list of identifiers stored at a first device and the address book of known contacts stored at a second device. However, PSI is computationally expensive. This disclosure describes a probabilistic identity filter for devices. A device can encode a set of identities using this filter that enables other devices to check if their identity belongs in this filter with no false negatives and only small false positive probabilities, while ensuring that other devices cannot …

Techniques For Dynamic Switching Between Non-Terrestrial And Terrestrial Networks, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

Maintaining a continuous satellite connection from a mobile device can be power-intensive, leading to power drain and reduced battery life. Such a connection is unnecessary when more efficient connectivity options are available. This disclosure provides techniques for intelligent management of satellite connectivity. Per the techniques, a mobile device continually monitors the availability of Wi-Fi networks. If the mobile device is currently connected to a satellite network and a Wi-Fi network becomes available, the device proactively detaches from the satellite network and connects to the Wi-Fi network. If the Wi-Fi connection is subsequently lost, the device automatically initiates re-attachment to the …

Using Key Batches To Optimize Issuance Of Device Credentials, Darren Krahn, Dave Mccloskey

Defensive Publications Series

When resolving known contacts device-to-device, a credential and its corresponding key can be tracked if it is used multiple times. While using each credential or key only once addresses the privacy issues, providing single-use credentials or keys requires an efficient way to issue many credentials to many keys for individual devices without straining on-device cryptographic hardware or server-side identity services. This disclosure describes the use of key batches to construct an efficient mechanism for certifying many keys with a single request to device cryptographic hardware and a single request to an identity server. In an example implementation, device attestation is …

“Processes For Preparation Of 1-Perfluorohexyl Octane”, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

The present invention relates to a process for preparation and purification of 1-Perfluorohexyloctane.

Leveraging Large Language Models For The Analysis Of Network Security, Claudio Criscione

Defensive Publications Series

Developing security scanners to identify vulnerable software within the network of an organization can be expensive and error prone: for each new software or version thereof, a security engineer deploys a live instance and determines fingerprintable properties that can be automatically identified. This disclosure describes techniques that leverage large language models (LLMs) to perform attack surface management functions such as the discovery of software that is exposed to attackers and the vulnerabilities of such software. A reconnaissance scan of the network perimeter determines HTTP endpoints within the network. The HTTP endpoints are fed to the LLM alongside a prompt instructing …

On-Demand Generation Of Searchable Ephemeral Web Addresses Via Agentic Browser Actuation, Tal Snir

Defensive Publications Series

Traditional web crawlers may face challenges indexing certain types of dynamic, ephemeral web content, such as customized product comparisons or filtered lists, as this content can be generated on-the-fly and may not have a persistent, static uniform resource locator (URL). This situation can lead to search results that do not include certain types of user-customized information. A disclosed system can be configured to capture user intent from a query and deploy an agentic technology, for instance, a browser actuation agent. The agent can programmatically simulate user navigation on a target website to dynamically generate an ad-hoc URL corresponding to content …

Python 4.0 — A Gated, Forward-Safe Evolution, Joseph Jm Walker

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure proposes a gated upgrade model for the Python programming language that allows developers to adopt new runtime semantics, safer defaults, and modern concurrency primitives without breaking existing code. The design introduces an opt-in feature gate (from __future__ import python4_strict) on Python 3.x that enables UTC-aware datetimes, strict UTF-8 I/O, structured concurrency, and type-safe defaults at the module level. In Python 4.0, these semantics become the default, with a one-release rollback option for compatibility.

The proposal also includes tools for migration (refactor4 codemod framework), standardized packaging (pyproject.lock.json), and concurrency enhancements (TaskGroups, cancellation scopes, optional GIL-free mode). A governance model …

Decoupled Image Retrieval To Augment Large Language Model Output, Pulkit Jain, Josh Ain, Sowmya Vijayaraghavan, Daniel Hirsch, Jason Fund

Defensive Publications Series

Augmenting textual responses from large language models (LLMs) with relevant images can present challenges at scale, for example, due to computational resources and latency that may be associated with some integrated multimodal models or co-embedding techniques. The disclosed method can address this by classifying a user query, for instance, to determine if it is "image-seeking." If a query is identified as image-seeking, the system can forward the query and associated metadata to multiple systems that can operate in parallel. For example, the query can be sent to an LLM for generating a text response and also to a separate image …

Research On Play-Based Learning In Mathematics, Natalia Do Prado Leite Ribeiro Cleto

Transformations

This paper addresses the importance of using a play-based learning (PBL) approach when teaching mathematics in elementary schools, reinforcing its benefits such as the acquisition and development of concepts, the enhancement of students’ problem-solving skills, and the increase of students’ motivation to learn (Russo, Bragg and Russo, 2020). It explores one of the main causes for math learning difficulties in early learning and explores a possible solution using a play-based approach. This paper also provides a few strategies that can be used by teachers to implement a successful play-based approach in the classroom.

Ethical And Responsible Use Of Generative Ai In K-12 Math Education, Martha Snyder

Transformations

Generative AI (GenAI) tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot have rapidly expanded into both K-12 and higher education, transforming the way students engage with writing and problem-solving tasks. In mathematics, AI is used not only to solve practice problems but also to explain complex concepts and serve as a digital tutor. While these tools offer educational benefits, they also introduce ethical concerns, such as student over-reliance, bias in AI-generated solutions, and transparency in problem-solving processes.

Drawing from the research literature and best practices in education, practical strategies are explored to help educators and students understand how …

Anticipating The Unexpected: Preservice Teachers Learn Through An Unbalanced Scale Task, Christine J. Picot, Josip Slisko

Transformations

This article examines how an unbalance scale task prompted seven preservice teachers (PSTs) to confront and revise their assumptions about student thinking. Tasked with predicting how early elementary students (K-2) might make an unbalanced scale equal, teacher candidates largely anticipated additive or subtractive solutions and less frequently redistributive solutions. However, several students proposed creative strategies including one who removed all the cubes creating an equal 0 = 0 scenario. This moment sparked deep reflection and a broader reconsideration of what it means to anticipate diverse students reasoning. We discuss implications for teacher preparation and curriculum design that supports flexible relational …