Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Vulnerability Assessment Of A Large Sized Power System Considering A New Index Based On Power System Loss, Ahmed M. Haidar, Azah Mohamed, Aini Hussain

Dr Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Haidar

The concept of power system vulnerability assessment combines information on the level of system security as well as information on a wide range of situations, events and contingencies with regards to which a system is vulnerable. This paper attempts to investigate and evaluate the effect of line outage, generation outage and amount of load disconnected on the power transmission network losses of a large size power system. These effects will be investigated and evaluated using new proposed method based on vulnerability index of power system loss. The objectives of this work is to evaluate and compare the efficiency of the …

Grounding Locations Assessment Of Practical Power System, Nadheer Shalash, Ahmed M. Haidar, Abdul Sattar

Dr Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Haidar

Grounding Points (GPs) are installed in electrical power system to drive protective devices and accomplish the person- nel safety. The general grounding problem is to find the optimal locations of these points so that the security and reli- ability of power system can be improved. This paper presents a practical approach to find the optimal location of GPs based on the ratios of zero sequence reactance with positive sequence reactance (X0/X1), zero sequence resistance with positive sequence reactance (R0/X1) and Ground Fault Factor (GFF). The optimal values of these indicators were deter- mined by considering several scenarios of fault disturbances …

Vulnerability Assessment Of Power System Using Radial Basis Function Neural Network And A New Feature Extraction Method, Ahmed M. Haidar, Azah Mohamed, Aini Hussain

Dr Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Haidar

Vulnerability assessment in power systems is important so as to determine how vulnerable a power system in case of any unforeseen catastrophic events. This paper presents the application of Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) for vulnerability assessment of power system incorporating a new proposed feature extraction method named as the Neural Network Weight Extraction (NNWE) for dimensionality reduction of input data. The performance of the RBFNN is compared with the Multi Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the RBFNN in assessing the vulnerability of a power system based on the indices, power system …

The Measure And Instruction Of Scale In Introductory Chemistry, Karrie Linn Gerlach

Theses and Dissertations

As a student, it is fundamental to comprehend how small an atom or molecule is in order to truly understand how the world works. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has determined that scale is a critical theme that pervades through all areas of science and is critical to a deep understanding. This project determined that students, which are more proficient with scale and moving between the macroscopic and particle worlds, were better performers in chemistry classes. Interviews were used to determine what the students understood and what common misconceptions were present. These lead to the development …

Rapid Knowledge Assessment (Rka): Assessing Students Content Knowledge Through Rapid, In Class Assessment Of Expertise, Erin Margaret O'Connell

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how students go about problem solving in chemistry lends many possible advantages for interventions in teaching strategies for the college classroom. The work presented here is the development of an in-classroom, real-time, formative instrument to assess student expertise in chemistry with the purpose of developing classroom interventions. The development of appropriate interventions requires the understanding of how students go about starting to solve tasks presented to them, what their mental effort (load on working memory) is, and whether or not their performance was accurate. To measure this, the Rapid Knowledge Assessment (RKA) instrument uses clickers (handheld electronic instruments for …

Conditions For The Assessment Of The Harmonic Compliance Of An Installation, Timothy J. Browne, Sarath Perera, Victor J. Gosbell

Associate Professor Sarath Perera

Methods of allocating harmonic emission limits to customer installations have evolved considerably, as evidenced by the development of harmonic guides such as IEEE-519 and IEC/TR 61000-3-6. However, there is only limited consensus on appropriate techniques validating compliance of installations with those limits. Existing techniques are reviewed and related problems are examined. Conditions which acceptable tests of compliance should meet are proposed.

Combining Outputs From The North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program By Using A Bayesian Hierarchical Model, Emily L. Kang, Noel Cressie, Stephan R. Sain

Professor Noel Cressie

We investigate the 20-year-average boreal winter temperatures generated by an ensemble of six regional climate models (RCMs) in phase I of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. We use the long-run average (20-year integration) to smooth out variability and to capture the climate properties from the RCM outputs. We find that, although the RCMs capture the large-scale climate variation from coast to coast and from south to north similarly, their outputs can differ substantially in some regions. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical model to synthesize information from the ensemble of RCMs, and we construct a consensus climate signal …

Slides: Routes To Sustainability: Natural Gas Development And Air And Water Resources In The Rocky Mountain Region, Mark Williams

Monitoring and Protecting Groundwater During Oil and Gas Development (November 26)

Presenter: Mark Williams, University of Colorado Boulder

14 slides

An Assessment Tool For E-Government System Performance: A Citizen-Centric Model, Shatha A. Al-Haddad, Peter Hyland, Geoffrey Hubona

Associate Professor Peter Hyland

Governments worldwide have, increasingly, implemented e-government initiatives for their potential significant benefits; among which, delivering better services to citizens through increasing citizens' convenience, satisfaction, and independence; and saving their time, effort, and cost. Achieving each benefit is an objective to these governments and fulfilling each objective is considered a critical success factors. Hence, governments need to assess the extent to which they were able to obtain their preset goals. This study merely focuses on the citizens' perspective of the evaluation. However, the literature seems to lack studies that propose such a sufficient evaluation tool that has been reliably validated. Therefore, …

The Dirty “S” Word: Innovative Teaching Techniques For Counselor Educators Facilitating Learning In Statistics And Research, Rebecca L. Tadlock-Marlo, Megan Michalak

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Innovative pedagogy will be presented and discussed to help make research a less painful class to both teach and learn. Foci include teaching methods, potential assignments, and suggestions for activities to help facilitate a more fluid learning process for counselors. Attendees will explore aspects of helping students overcome their fear of both statistics and research.

Mathematical Problem Posing As A Measure Of Curricular Effect On Students' Learning, Jinfa Cai, John Moyer, Ning Wang, Stephen Hwang, Bikai Nie, Tammy Garber

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

In this study, we used problem posing as a measure of the effect of middle-school curriculum on students' learning in high school. Students who had used a standards-based curriculum in middle school performed equally well or better in high school than students who had used more traditional curricula. The findings from this study not only show evidence of strengths one might expect of students who used the standards-based reform curriculum but also bolster the feasibility and validity of problem posing as a measure of curriculum effect on student learning. In addition, the findings of this study demonstrate the usefulness of …

The Gaise College Report: The American Statistical Association Meets Sound Pedagogy In Central Virginia, Beverly Wood

Publications

Research in undergraduate statistics education often centers on the introductory course required for a large percentage of college students. While acknowledging the diverse setting, audience, and purpose of introductory courses, existing research assumes that courses offered by different disciplines share the same goals and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives for student outcomes and pedagogical delivery of introductory statistics courses in various academic departments to provide explicit evidence for this assumption. The American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) are meant to apply to all introductory courses. The College …

Implementing Vertical And Horizontal Engineering Students' Integration And Assessment Of Consequence Academic Achievement, Sarim Al-Zubaidy, Nidhal Abdulaziz, Reza Dashtpour

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Recent scholarship references indicate that integration of the student body can result in an enhanced learning experience for students and also greater satisfaction. This paper reports the results of a case study whereby mechanical engineering students studying at a newly established branch campus in Dubai of a British university were exposed to vertical and horizontal integration. Different activities have been embedded to ensure that students integrated and worked together with their peers and colleagues at different levels. The implemented processes and practices led to improved academic achievements, which were better than those of a similar cohort of students where no …

The Mathematics Portfolio: An Alternative Tool To Evaluate Students’ Progress, Marla A. Sole

Publications and Research

This article describes the need for more thorough and varied forms of assessment to evaluate students’ level of understanding in mathematics. Portfolios are one type of assessment tool that, when added to a teacher’s repertoire can improve students’ comprehension and retention and enable students to monitor their own progress and to take more responsibility for their own learning. Portfolio assignments can also help students and teachers to detect and remedy weaknesses and misunderstandings and can increase students’ self-confidence in mathematics. This article discusses what a portfolio is, gives an example of a unit portfolio used in an undergraduate Finite Mathematics …

Parts Of The Whole: Learn More, Learn Better, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

Building on previous columns in Numeracy, this column analyzes various teaching techniques in terms of their ability to build cognitive schema, extend existing schema, reinforce learning, move mean understanding of a group of students, and reduce variance in understanding of a group. We offer a pedagogical cycle as an example of how to address multiple learning goals using common teaching methods.

Motivation For Achievement And Attitudes Toward Mathematics Instruction In A Required Calculus Course At The Norwegian University Of Science And Technology, Donna Sundre, Carol Barry, Vidar Gynnild, Erin Tangen Ostgard

Numeracy

This study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) examines students’ learning goals and attitudes toward mathematics in a first-year calculus course in undergraduate engineering education. Achievement motivation research using the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ) is advanced from current literature with two additions: (1) a course specific context using introductory college calculus students, and (2) participation of Norwegian students.

Pre- and posttest measures of attitudes indicate that students do change learning goals over time, unfortunately opposite to the instructors’ aspirations. A significant increase in “Mastery Avoidance” and “Work Avoidance” was accompanied with a drop in “Mastery Approach” and …

Numeracy, Financial Literacy, And Financial Decision-Making, Annamaria Lusardi

Numeracy

Financial decisions, be they related to asset building or debt management, require the capacity to do calculations, including some complex ones. But how numerate are individuals, in particular when it comes to calculations related to financial decisions? Studies and surveys implemented in both the United States and in other countries that are described in this paper show the level of numeracy among the population to be very low. Moreover, lack of numeracy is not only widespread but is particularly severe among some demographic groups, such as women, the elderly, and those with low educational attainment. This has potential consequences for …

The Dirty “S” Word: Innovative Teaching Techniques For Counselor Educators Facilitating Learning In Statistics And Research, Rebecca L. Tadlock-Marlo, Megan Michalak

Rebecca L Tadlock-Marlo

Innovative pedagogy will be presented and discussed to help make research a less painful class to both teach and learn. Foci include teaching methods, potential assignments, and suggestions for activities to help facilitate a more fluid learning process for counselors. Attendees will explore aspects of helping students overcome their fear of both statistics and research.

Combining Outputs From The North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program By Using A Bayesian Hierarchical Model, Emily L. Kang, Noel Cressie, Stephan R. Sain

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

We investigate the 20-year-average boreal winter temperatures generated by an ensemble of six regional climate models (RCMs) in phase I of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. We use the long-run average (20-year integration) to smooth out variability and to capture the climate properties from the RCM outputs. We find that, although the RCMs capture the large-scale climate variation from coast to coast and from south to north similarly, their outputs can differ substantially in some regions. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical model to synthesize information from the ensemble of RCMs, and we construct a consensus climate signal …

Grounding Locations Assessment Of Practical Power System, Nadheer Shalash, Ahmed M. Haidar, Abdul Sattar

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Grounding Points (GPs) are installed in electrical power system to drive protective devices and accomplish the person- nel safety. The general grounding problem is to find the optimal locations of these points so that the security and reli- ability of power system can be improved. This paper presents a practical approach to find the optimal location of GPs based on the ratios of zero sequence reactance with positive sequence reactance (X0/X1), zero sequence resistance with positive sequence reactance (R0/X1) and Ground Fault Factor (GFF). The optimal values of these indicators were deter- mined by considering several scenarios of fault disturbances …

Ch4, Co, And H2o Spectroscopy For The Sentinel-5 Precursor Mission: An Assessment With The Total Carbon Column Observing Network Measurements, A Galli, A Butz, R A. Scheepmaker, O Hasekamp, J Landgraf, P Tol, D Wunch, N M. Deutscher, G C. Toon, P O. Wennberg, D W. T Griffith, I Aben

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) will be part of ESA’s Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) satellite platform scheduled for launch in 2015. TROPOMI will monitor methane and carbon monoxide concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere by measuring spectra of back-scattered sunlight in the short-wave infrared (SWIR).

A Comparison Of Bushfire Fuel Hazard Assessors And Assessment Methods In Dry Sclerophyll Forest Near Sydney, Australia, Penny J. Watson, Sandra H. Penman, Ross A. Bradstock

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Over the last decade, fire managers in Australia have embraced the concept of ‘fuel hazard’, and guides for its assessment have been produced. The reliability of these new metrics, however, remains to be determined. This study compared fuel hazard ratings generated by five assessment teams using two Australian hazard assessment methods, in two dry sclerophyll forest sites on Sydney’s urban fringe. Attributes that underpin hazard scores, such as cover and height of various fuel layers, were also assessed. We found significant differences between teams on most variables, including hazard scores. These differences were more apparent when fuel hazard assessments focussed …

Performance And Use Evaluation Of An Electronic Book For Introductory Python Programming, Christine Alvarado, Briana B. Morrison, Barbara Ericson, Mark Guzdial, Brad Miller, David L. Ranum

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Electronic books (ebooks) provide the opportunity to go beyond the limitations of a physical page. These opportunities are particularly important for computing education, where dynamic information is a key characteristic of our domain. An electronic book can provide opportunities to program or conduct analyses that are impossible on the physical page, integrating instructional information with creative exploration. However, just because ebooks provide these opportunities does not mean that we know how students will actually use ebooks in the context of a class. Miller and Ranum have produced an electronic book for teaching introductory computing in Python. We explored how students …

The Dirty “S” Word: Innovative Teaching Techniques For Counselor Educators Facilitating Learning In Statistics And Research, Rebecca Tadlock-Marlo, Megan Michalak

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Innovative pedagogy will be presented and discussed to help make research a less painful class to both teach and learn. Foci include teaching methods, potential assignments, and suggestions for activities to help facilitate a more fluid learning process for counselors. Attendees will explore aspects of helping students overcome their fear of both statistics and research.