Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sndo Hector's Helpers Youth Engaging The Community Through Social Media: Annual Progress Report, Period Covering June 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

The Hector’s Helpers Youth Engaging the Community through Social Media project was designed to develop civic and environmental stewardship skills as students receive training in administering social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, twitter, Youtube). The project is an extension of the Hector’s Helpers program developed through a cooperative agreement and run under the branding of Don’t Trash Nevada. Participants in the project are known as the Social Media Squad (SMS). The following activities were completed:

• Supervision of youth completing the pilot program initiated in an earlier cooperative agreement
• Recruitment of youth to apply for the Social Media Squad
• Training of Social …

An Assessment Of The Effects Of Desertification In Yobe State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Desertification is one of the most serious environmental and socio-economic problems of our time. Desertification describes circumstances of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from the climatic variation and human activities. The fundamental goal of this thesis was to assess the effects of desertification in Yobe State, Nigeria. The present threat of desertification in the sahel has reached an alarming stage where crops cultivation and animal rearing/grazing are no more productive, soil has lost its nutrient/fertility, various infrastructure had given way because of windstorm from the neighbouring Niger Republic and sand dunes had taken over. The …

The Convergence Of Two Algorithms For Compressed Sensing Based Tomography, Xiezhang Li, Jiehua Zhu

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

The constrained total variation minimization has been developed successfully for image reconstruction in computed tomography. In this paper, the block component averaging and diagonally-relaxed orthogonal projection methods are proposed to incorporate with the total variation minimization in the compressed sensing framework. The convergence of the algorithms under a certain condition is derived. Examples are given to illustrate their convergence behavior and noise performance.

Using Remote Sensing Data To Improve Rice Production In Kutigi, Niger State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd, M B. Yunusa

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This research work looked in the used of Remote Sensing to improve Agricultural production in Kutigi, Niger State. The aim of the study is to use remote sensing to improve rice farming activities in Kutigi, Niger State. It is very important to identify such methods to improve Agricultural production because experts are always interested in new researches and findings to better the standard of living in any environment. In view of this, Remotely-sensed data could be used or employed to elevate most of these agricultural problems in Kutigi through the following objectives: Using Landsat imagery to assess the present landuse …

An Estate Dilemma - Inaccessible Assets Hiding Behind Passwords And Encryption, Douglas J. Henderson

DOUGLAS J HENDERSON

Every person living in the modern world holds valuable assets, data, or information in digital mediums. Digital mediums include not only digital hardware storage mediums in personal possession (like external hard drives and internal hard drives within laptop and desktop computers, personal digital assistants, cell phones, and the like), but also those only accessible through a network. Because so much is held in digital mediums, when an individual dies or becomes incapacitated, another person must know how to access the incapacitated person’s digital assets and other important information (this person is known herein as the ‘Responsible Party’). There are potential …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2012, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Senior Design Experience

Part of every UNLV engineering student's academic experience, the Senior Design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. Working in teams, the senior design project encourages students to use everything learned in the engineering and computer design programs to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

Beyond the classroom ...

Because of the requirement to work in teams, students also build good communication skills, presentation skills and even business writing skills. They also have to …

Minerva 2012, The Honors College

Minerva

This issue of Minerva includes a celebration of the life and impact of former Honors Dean, Charlie Slavin; a discussion of the Honors College's role in the University of Maine Blue Sky Strategic Plan; and profiles of student Kyle Franklin and alumni Heidi Crosby and Richard Becker.

Required Features Of A Virtual Classroom Tool For Use In Higher Education, Arnold Hensman

Articles

The integration of virtual-classroom systems into the arsenal of e-learning tools represents a major evolution in the landscape of modern distance education. For many courses, standard virtual learning environments (VLEs) provide only a foundation upon which to base a distance learning programme. However, synchronous live online-teaching software such as Microsoft Office Communicator and Adobe Connect allow educators to simulate a real-time classroom environment over the internet like never before. Since these tools are being used more and more within higher education, questions must be asked about how effective they ultimately can be in meeting student learning requirements. More importantly, what …

The Update, December 2012, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:
-- Having a Field Day: UNI Students Attend Geology Camp in Wyoming
--Contents December 2012
-- Department News
-- Art Students Present Research Papers at Midwest Humanities Conference
-- School of Music Events
-- Challenging Bullying Through Art
-- Alumni Spotlight: James Arns: Physics
-- UNI Forensics Team

Mathematics Educators And The “Math Wars”: Who Controls The Discourse?, David W. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this editorial, the author expresses support of a colleague, Professor Jo Boaler of Stanford University, in her actions of going public with the harassment that she has experienced through professional and personal attacks by James Milgram of Stanford University and Wayne Bishop of California State University, Los Angeles.

Progression Magazine, 2012-2013, Coastal Carolina University

Progression Magazine

Magazine of the College of Science at Coastal Carolina University.

Physics Faculty Use Of Example Solutions In Teaching Introductory Physics, William O. Mamudi

Masters Theses

This study investigates how physics faculty perceive and use features of example problem solutions. Thirty physics instructors from diverse institutions participated in semi-structured interviews. In addition to open-ended questions, three example problem solution artifacts were used to focus on specific solution features. Data were analyzed to identify instructors’ goals for the use of example solutions and whether their goals were consistent with the solution features that they valued and used. The study concludes that many faculty have three major goals: keeping students cognitively involved, helping students become better problem solvers, and supporting students in learning physics. The study also found …

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 …

Effective Computer Programming Instruction For Pre-University Albanian Students, Robert Mccloud, Ardiana Sula

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

The relationship between pre-university students and technology is frequently overrated. While we receive glowing reports about how young people are knowledgeable about computers, the truth is that their knowledge is typically about computer content and the manipulation of applications. Young students too often treat the actual programming and understanding of computers as a sort of magical mystery.

In this paper we look at a new Albanian initiative to identify and nurture the most talented of our pre-university students. In particular we look at contributions to the goal of making Albanians the most talented programmers in this area of Europe.

The …

Controlling Nanoparticle Dispersion For Nanoscopic Self-Assembly, Nathan S. Starkweather

Master's Theses

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter and devices on the nanometer scale. Below the critical dimension length of 100nm, materials begin to display vastly different properties than their macro- or micro- scale counterparts. The exotic properties of nanomaterials may trigger the start of a new technological revolution, similar to the electronics revolution of the late 20^th century. Current applications of nanotechnology primarily make use of nanoparticles in bulk, often being made into composites or mixtures. While these materials have fantastic properties, organization of nano and microstructures of nanoparticles may allow the development of novel devices with many unique properties. …

Color Models As Tools In Teaching Mathematics, Ma. Louise Antonette N. De Las Peñas

Mathematics Faculty Publications

In this paper we discuss various situations how color models and patterns can be used to simplify the study of abstract mathematics and serve as tools in understanding mathematical ideas. We illustrate the realization of such models through the development of advanced computer technology. In particular, we present how a computer algebra software such as Mathematica, or a dynamic geometry environment, can be utilized to facilitate the study of transformation geometry and group theory.

Towards A Resilient Sydney: Research Into The Role Of Emergency Management In Climate Change Adaptation (Research Summary), Neil Dufty, Tim Morrison

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Community Flood Education And Awareness In Fairfield City (Report), Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Using The Taylor Center To Teach Odes, Alexander Gofen

CODEE Journal

This article introduces a powerful ODE solver called the Taylor Center for PCs (http://taylorcenter.org/Gofen/) as a tool for teaching and performing numeric experiments with ODEs. The Taylor Center is an All-in-One GUI-style application for integrating ODEs by applying the modern Taylor Method (Automatic Differentiation). The Taylor Center also offers dynamic graphics (including 3D stereo vision). After a brief review of the features of the Taylor Center, we consider instructive examples of ODEs in various applications and also several particular examples illustrating intricacies of numeric integration. The article therefore continues the thesis of Borrelli and Coleman (CODEE Journal, http://www.codee.org/ref/CJ09-0157) that awareness …

Big Data Education: 3 Steps Universities Must Take, Jennifer Priestley

Jennifer L. Priestley

By now, we all know that the "sexiest job of the 21st century" is the data scientist. A scan of articles and blogs describing data scientists and their raw material -- big data -- reveals several "sexy" themes. First, data is ubiquitous, big and coming at us with increasing velocity. Second, traditional tools that have been used to extract and analyze 20th century data don't work with big data. Third, incredibly few people have the skills necessary to translate this tsunami of data into meaningful information -- making them the hotshots in the job market.

Geosciences Newsletter - 2012, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 5, No. 1

• Faculty Updates
• Faculty Updates
• Deanna Romanosky
• Publications
• MGRRE
• Alumni Award
• Gifts
• Grants
• Endowments

The Update, November 2012, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- Reconrobotics: An Interview with Robotics Engineer Andrew Drenner
-- Department News
--Karen Mitchell to Receive Distinguished Performance Award
-- School of Music Events
-- Student Spotlight: Department of Languages and Literatures: Steff McGraw
-- Geoscientist in the Field: Drew Kreman
-- UNI Gallery of Art Presents: Fritz Hirschberger Exhibition
-- UNI Forensics Team Update
-- American Chemical Society (ACS) Student Affiliate Group
-- "Sons of Jacob Synagogue" Premier
-- T.E.A.M. Teaching Educators about Mathematics
-- Save the Date: UNI Promotions Assistant to Host Variety Show
-- UNI Named a Top Pick in 2012 Study Abroad Rankings …

Smu Launches Livelabs To Enhance Singapore’S Capability In Consumer & Social Analytics, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases

Officiated by Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security, Minister for Home Affairs and Chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF), and witnessed by over 300 guests comprising the academia, industry partners and senior representatives from private and public sector organisations, SMU and StarHub jointly launched two Interactive Digital Media (IDM) initiatives - LiveLabs Urban Lifestyle Innovation Platform (LiveLabs) and SmartHub, on 5 November 2012. Both city-scale test-beds aim to strengthen Singapore’s standing as a preferred location for innovation and research, particularly in the area of consumer and social analytics. LiveLabs is SMU’s newest research …

Sea No Evil, Hear No Evil - Community Engagement On Adaptation To Sea Level Change, Neil Dufty, Heather Stevens, Stuart Waters, Greg Giles

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Let's Come Together On Data Science, Jennifer Priestley

Jennifer L. Priestley

We've all read the articles and blogs. Many of us have experienced the issues directly -- the demand for deep analytical skills is outpacing the supply. As evidence of this, in a period of economic slowdown, where we read that 50 percent of college graduates can't get a job, college graduates with degrees remotely aligned with applied analytics have multiple offers in advance of graduation. Academic training in applied (versus theoretical) statistics is helpful -- and mitigates some of this talent gap at the entry level. Nonetheless, we all know it's insufficient to meet the growing demand for what we …

Variations In Climatic Parameters And Food Crop Yields: Implications On Food Security In Benue State, Nigeria., Emmanuel Adamgbe, Fanan Ujoh

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Agricultural production in Nigeria like in other developing countries is highly vulnerable to variations in climatic parameters which may have inverse or direct effect on the performance of food crops. This paper examines the patterns and trends of the variations in the climatic parameters and the implications of such variations on efficient yield rates of some food crops in Benue State using data on climatic variables (rainfall, temperature, sunshine) and the yield of some crops per hectare for 25 years (1986-2010). Data on the climatic variables were collected from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, AirForce Base, Makurdi while the data on …

Nevada's Top Energy Industry Representatives Call For More Collaboration And Education, Nevada Institute For Renewable Energy Commercialization (Nirec)

Nevada Newsflash

More than 75 representatives from every sector of Nevada’s energy industry gathered at Reno’s Desert Research Institute last week to discuss energy challenges facing the Silver State, opportunities available and actions needed to lead the West and the nation in renewable energy generation, transmission and delivery.

Best Practices In Teaching Information Technology Development, Amber Settle, Deborah Labelle, Hazem Said, Sheila S. Sicilia

Amber Settle

Turning The Tables: Learning From Students About Teaching Cs1, Amber Settle

Amber Settle