Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Impact Of Pedagogical Agents On Students Learning Experience In Virtual Worlds, Foteini Grivokostopoulou, Michael Paraskevas, Isidoros Perikos, Sasha Nikolic, Konstantinos Kovas, Ioannis Hatzilygeroudis

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Virtual worlds constitute an important part of the educational landscape that possesses unique learning capabilities and opens up new horizons in education. A vital part of 3D virtual worlds concerns the intelligent pedagogical agents that are integrated in the environments and aim to improve the interaction with the users and enhance their learning experience. The main purpose of this study is to assess the impact that the pedagogical agents have on students' engagement and learning experiences during training activities in virtual worlds. Specifically, we examine how students perceive the role of pedagogical agents as learning companions during specific exercises and …

Microstructure And Properties Of Spot Welded Joints Of Hot-Stamped Ultra-High Strength Steel Used For Automotive Body Structures, Zhixia Qiao, Hui Jun Li, Lianjin Li, Xiaoyu Ran, Liwen Feng

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Hot-stamped ultra-high strength steels have been widely used in automobile structural parts. Considering the high splash tendency in resistance spot welding due to their extremely high hardness, in this work, microstructural characteristics and mechanical performance of the resistance spot welded ultra-high strength steels are investigated. The results indicate that the interface between the nugget and heat-affected zone (HAZ) is the weakest zone where fractures initiate. In tensile shearing tests, a qualified spot welding joint failed with a button-shaped fracture. Welding defects would significantly decrease the load-carrying capacity and lead to interfacial fracture, except for a button-shaped fracture. In spot welding, …

Performance Evaluation Of Intermittently Cfrp Wrapped Square And Circularised Square Reinforced Concrete Columns Under Different Loading Conditions, Anh Duc Mai, M Neaz Sheikh, Muhammad N. S Hadi

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on square and circularised square rein-forced concrete (RC) columns intermittently wrapped with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP)under different loading conditions. Twelve RC specimens consisting of eight square RC specimenswith 150mm150mm cross-section and 800mm height and four circularised square RC specimenswith 212mm diameter and 800 mm height were tested under concentric axial load, eccentric axialload and four-point flexural load. The test results showed that intermittent wrapping increased thestrength and ductility of square RC specimens. The test results also showed that circularisation com-bined with intermittent wrapping significantly improved the strength and ductility of …

Strong Tunable Photomixing In Semi-Dirac Materials In The Terahertz Regime, Sunchao Huang, My Hanh Tran, Jack Zuber, Qian Wang, Yiming Zhu, C Zhang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

We demonstrate a strong and anisotropic photomixing effect in an electronic system whose energy–momentum dispersion is parabolic in the 𝑥 direction and linear in the 𝑦 direction, such as a TiO₂/VO₂ multilayered structure. The third-order photoresponses along the linear and parabolic directions have been analyzed and determined quantitatively. We have found a remarkable tunability of the mixing efficiency along the parabolic direction by a small electric field in the linear direction, up to two orders of magnitude. In the terahertz (THz) regime, the third-order response is comparable to the linear response under an applied field of 10 …

High-Throughput Production Of Uniformly Sized Liquid Metal Microdroplets Using Submerged Electrodispersion, Yuxin Zhang, Shiyang Tang, Qianbin Zhao, Guolin Yun, Dan Yuan, Weihua Li

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Microdroplets of gallium-based liquid metal alloys have enabled various applications in the fields of biomedicine, electronics, and chemistry. However, due to the high surface tension of liquid metal, high-throughput production of uniformly sized liquid metal microdroplets is challenging using conventional acoustic or microfluidic methods. Here, adapting the submerged electrodispersion technique that has conventionally been used for generating water-based microdroplets, we develop a simple and straightforward platform for the high-throughput production of near-monodisperse (coefficient of variation less than 5%) liquid metal microdroplets in oil without using microfluidic devices. We demonstrate the capabilities of this method for producing liquid metal microdroplets (diameters …

Performance Evaluation Of Non-Gps Based Localization Techniques Under Shadowing Effects, Ngoc M. Nguyen, Le Chung Tran, Farzad Safaei, Son Lam Phung, Peter James Vial, Nam N. Huynh, Anne N. Cox, Theresa Harada, Johan Barthelemy

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Non-GPS localization has gained much interest from researchers and industries recently because GPS might fail to meet the accuracy requirements in shadowing environments. The two most common range-based non-GPS localization methods, namely Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Angle-of-Arrival (AOA), have been intensively mentioned in the literature over the last decade. However, an in-depth analysis of the weighted combination methods of AOA and RSSI in shadowing environments is still missing in the state-of-the-art. This paper proposes several weighted combinations of the two RSSI and AOA components in the form of pAOA + qRSSI, devises the mathematical model for analyzing shadowing …

Thread Effects On The Stiffness Of Bolted Shear Connections, Aziz Ahmed, Lip H. Teh

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This paper investigates the effects of bolt threads on the initial and final stiffnesses of double-shear bolted connections through laboratory tests and finite element (FE) analyses. Nineteen specimens composed of 4.7 mm and 8.0 mm thick structural steel plates with bolt diameters of 20 mm and 30 mm having varying end distances are studied. The investigation, which involves shank and thread bolted connections, has found that the threads reduce the initial stiffness but increase the final stiffness. The FE analysis shows that the reduction in the initial stiffness is due to the bolt threads cutting into the connected plate, increasing …

Contradictions In Information Technology Mediated Work In Long-Term Care: An Activity Theoretic Ethnographic Study, Siyu Qian, Ping Yu, Anol Bhattacherjee

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Background: The growing demand for aged care services coupled with a global shortage of skilled nursing staff has hindered long-term care facilities' ability to provide necessary services to their residents. Healthcare information technology is expected to mitigate this challenge by streamlining nursing work, while also improving quality of care and productivity.

Objectives: This study set out to examine how nurses and care workers work, the role of information technology (IT) in their work and what contradictions they face in their IT mediated work.

Design: Ethnographic study informed by six components of activity theory: subject, object, tool, rule, …

Characterisations Of A Fibre Optic Dosimetry System For Source Tracking During Hdr Brachytherapy, Mohammed Al Towairqi, Dean L. Cutajar, Terry Braddock, Enbang Li, S Wadi-Ramahi, Belal Moftah, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Brachytherapy is a complex treatment procedure where radioactive sources are inserted in or close to the tumours to destroy the cancerous cells. Due to the unique properties of scintillation plastic detectors, this study was aimed to characterise an innovative fibre optic dosimetry system as a quality assurance tool during HDR Brachytherapy. Scintillating plastic fibres with different scintillation lengths were prepared and then optically coupled to non-scintillating fibres for light transmission. A transimpedance photodiode amplifier was used to detect positional sensitivities of different fibre probes placed within a solid-water phantom at varying distances above an 192-Ir brachytherapy source located within the …

Creep In Primary Consolidation With Rate Of Loading Approach, Gang Bi, Shua Ni, Dong Wang, Yeqiang Chen, Jianfei Wei, Wenzong Gong

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

The debate on creep in primary consolidation is analysed with a power law model following an approach in which creep is considered as rate of loading. According to this approach, primary consolidation is one type of rate of loading. To verify this approach, two types of tests, standard oedometer test and oedometer test with drainage prevented, are conducted on three types of soils (two from NGES and the other from Port of Guangzhou). The result: creep exponents obtained from two kinds of tests agree well with each other. Moreover, the approach is further validated by tracking, for over 80 years, …

The Economy Of Modern Sindh: Opportunities Lost And Lessons For The Future, Ishrat Husain, Aijaz A. Qureshi, Nadeem Hussain

Faculty Research - Books

The Economy of Modern Sindh delves into the different aspects of Sindh’s economy—from geography, topography, climate, administrative history, and demographics, to the political landscape, education, health, labour force and employment, poverty and inequality, agriculture and water issues, infrastructure, industries, energy resources, and public finances—each is covered in a separate chapter. The book highlights the socioeconomic problems that have beset Sindh, arresting the province’s economic potential, and proposes a multi-pronged strategy to address these challenges. It offers an incisive and objective assessment of the various policies enacted and pursued by the Sindh government over the years. It also attempts to identify …

A Tolerance For Ambiguity Or The American Dream: Using Anzaldúa To Disrupt And Reclaim Latina Lives From Multicultural Feminism, Sara Baugh-Harris, Bernadette Marie Calafell

Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Coffee-An Mpi-Parallelized Python Package For The Numerical Evolution Of Differential Equations, George Doulis, Jorg Frauendiener, Chris Stevens, Benjamin E. Whale

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

COFFEE (Conformal Field Equation Evolver) is a Python package primarily developed to numerically evolve systems of partial differential equations over time using the method of lines. It includes a variety of time integrators and finite differencing stencils with the summation-by-parts property, as well as pseudo-spectral functionality for angular derivatives of spin-weighted functions. Some additional capabilities include being MPI-parallelisable on a variety of different geometries, HDF data output and post processing scripts to visualize data, and an actions class that allows users to create code for analysis after each timestep.

Fire-Resistance Of Eccentrically Loaded Rectangular Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular Slender Columns Incorporating Interaction Of Local And Global Buckling, Ghanim Mohammed Kamil, Qing Quan Liang, Muhammad N. S Hadi

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

A mathematical model using the fiber approach is presented in this paper for quantifying the strength and fire-resistance of eccentrically loaded slender concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns with rectangular sections incorporating the interaction of local and global buckling. The model utilizes the thermal simulator to ascertain the temperature distribution in cross-sections, and the nonlinear global buckling analysis to predict the interaction responses of local and global buckling of loaded CFST slender columns to fire effects. The initial geometric imperfection, air gap between the concrete and steel tube, tensile concrete strength, deformations caused by preloads, and temperature-dependent material behavior are included …

Boundaries, Spectral Triples And K-Homology, Iain G. Forsyth, Magnus Goffeng, Bram Mesland, Adam C. Rennie

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This paper extends the notion of a spectral triple to a relative spectral triple, an unbounded analogue of a relative Fredholm module for an ideal J◃A. Examples include manifolds with boundary, manifolds with conical singularities, dimension drop algebras, θ-deformations and Cuntz–Pimsner algebras of vector bundles.

The bounded transform of a relative spectral triple is a relative Fredholm module, making the image of a relative spectral triple under the boundary mapping in K-homology easy to compute. We introduce an additional operator called a Clifford normal with which a relative spectral triple can be doubled into a spectral triple.

The Clifford normal …

Influences Of Load And Microstructure On Tribocorrosion Behaviour Of High Strength Hull Steel In Saline Solution, Hui Wu, Yan Li, Zhou Li, Xiawei Cheng, Mahadi Hasan, Hongmei Zhang, Zhengyi Jiang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

The tribocorrosion behaviour of two diferent hull steels (namely, EH36 and EH47) was investigated using a ball-on-disk tribometer under varying normal loads from 10 to 100 N in a 3.5 wt% NaCl saline solution. Sliding in pure water was also performed for a comparison purpose. The results indicate that the corrosion products mainly consist of lath lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH) with residual NaCl crystals when sliding against both steels EH36 and EH47 in the saline solution. Tribocorrosion on EH36 (pearlitic steel) shows lower coefcient of friction (COF) values than those obtained in water, while tribocorrosion on EH47 (bainitic steel) leads to higher …

Theoretical Study On Positron Scattering By Benzene Over A Broad Energy Range, Alessandra Souza Barbosa, Francisco Blanco, Gustavo Garcia, Marcio H. F. Bettega

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

In this paper two theoretical methodologies, the Schwinger multichannel (SMC) method and the independent atom model with the screening corrected additivity rule (IAM-SCAR), were employed to study positron scattering by benzene over a broad impact energy range. The SMC calculations were carried out in the static plus polarization approximation, accounting for the elastic channel, for impact energies up to 20 eV. The IAM-SCAR method covered energies up to 1000 eV to provide total, elastic, ionization, excitation, and positronium formation cross sections. In the low-energy region we discuss how the description of the polarization effects affects the cross sections. In particular, …

Effects Of Grain Boundary On Wear Of Graphene At The Nanoscale: A Molecular Dynamics Study, Jie Zhang, Xinchun Chen, Qiang Xu, Tianbao Ma, Yuanzhong Hu, Hui Wang, Anh Kiet Tieu, Jianbin Luo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Graphene has shown excellent tribological behaviors, enabling its potential applications as lubricating and anti-wear coatings, however, the grain boundaries (GBs) formed during the preparation process may deteriorate the performance of graphene. Using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we study the wear mechanism of graphene GBs with various misorientation angles between two grains. Compared with pure nanoindentation at the GBs, the critical load of wear failure upon nanoscratching across the GBs is much lower due to the synergetic actions of interlocking and pushing between the tip and graphene atoms. The misorientation angle between the adjacent grains significantly effects the onset and fashion …

Artificial Intelligence To Enhance Learning Design In Uow Online, A Unified Approach To Fully Online Learning, Rory L. Sie, Janine Delahunty, Kenton Bell, Alisa J. Percy, Bart Rienties, Trinh Cao, Maarten F. De Laat

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The current article presents a framework for the design and support of UOW Online, an entirely new unified university strategy for fully online learning. To aid teachers in the learning design process, we aim to create more awareness for teachers by determining the underlying learning design of their subject. To ensure the approach can be scaled up to cater for potentially hundreds of subjects, the manual labeling serves as input for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm that will train a model to label intended learning activities automatically. In addition to student demographics and behavior, the learning design and subject content …

Facilitating Social Learning In Teacher Education: A Case Study, Emmy Vrieling, A Van Den Beemt, Maarten F. De Laat

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

It is increasingly recognised that social learning by teachers can stimulate professional development. In this study, we search for the social behaviour patterns which can act as a catalyst for professional development, with an explicit focus on student teachers' learning. Based on the 'Dimensions of Social Learning (DSL) Framework', including 4 dimensions and 11 indicators of social learning, the present study explores the social configuration of one network of primary teachers (n = 12), student teachers (n = 12) and teacher educators (n = 2). Two research questions guide this exploration: (1) What patterns of social behaviour in teacher networks …

Institutional Technology Adoption And Integration: A Holistic Grass Roots Approach To Inform Institutional Transformation, David Bruce Porter, Kristy Newton, Susan R. Downie, Dave Rigter

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The capability to integrate educational technologies has become increasingly important for higher education institutions to be scalable and competitive. Addressing the barriers and enablers for the adoption of educational technologies can potentially catalyse institutional technology initiatives. To address one university’s technology adoption challenges, an ad hoc group of academic and professional staff, representing information technology, the library, educational design, and faculty units engaged in a collaborative reflection and institutional scan to identify the barriers to adoption and potential solutions.Methods: Beginning in April 2018, the group met fortnightly over three months to map the issues related to supporting technology integration across …

Beyond Time And Space: Using Ai To Solve Client Service Challenges Now And Into The Future, Rory L.L. Sie, Debra Nolan

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

One of the biggest challenges for libraries today is fulfilling client service requests 24/7. We have skilled staff in the Library during the day and evening, and LiveChat for those not able to visit in person, but what happens after hours? Who is there to help those who work shifts, have children, live on the other side of the planet or just prefer studying at 2am? Artificial intelligence (AI) promises an affordable solution, but will it provide the quality, flexibility and authenticity needed to ensure client satisfaction? Importantly, can the accuracy and veracity of responses be assured? At the University …

Flipped: The Lives Of Those With Mental Disorders, Teresa K. Hoskins

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This collection of four short stories focus on how society perceives those with mental disorders, the stigma associated with those disorders, and how both of these affect the people who have mental disorders. The stories are designed to give a general audience insight into the lives of those with various mental disorders. In everyday settings, these stories revolve around ordinary actions of the characters, with and without mental disorders. Each story will contain two parts, the first part is a record of the incident from the perspective of a person without a mental health diagnosis and who is unrelated to …

Sport Momsumers: A Modern Reexamination Of The Role That Mothers Play In Their Families’ Professional Sport Consumption, Jessica R. Braunstein-Minkove, Jennifer L. Metz

Journal of Applied Sport Management

As the role of women and, therefore, mothers has changed, so too, has their place in their families’ professional sport consumption experience. This qualitative assessment, including a demographic and consumption snapshot, provides insight into the perspective of mothers in their families’ professional sport consumption habits and intentions. Primary findings fall under the themes of Personal Priorities and Constraints. While Constraints drove the conversation, this group of women was interested in maintaining and sharing the role of sport in their lives. As such, minimal- investment recommendations are made to address the concerns that mothers have with many of these items. Subscribe …

Spectator Age And Periodic Changes In Game Viewership: An Application Of Positivity And Life-Span Theory In The National Football League, Scott Tainsky, Jie Xu

Journal of Applied Sport Management

This study examines the factors that influence sport broadcast viewership, exploring the relationship between spectator age, time remaining in the season, and team success. We identify the determinants of demand for two different age groups— youth and older adults—and analyze differences in the impact of team quality and playoff probability on viewership during midseason games and those during the stretch run of the season. Ordinary least squares models are used to estimate the effects and Wald tests to establish differences between groups. Our models show local team quality increased viewership by a greater margin for youth than older adults for …

Are Vaccines The Key To Alzheimer’S Treatment? (2019-2020), Myia Tyler

Research Inquiry

In this research inquiry, Tyler uses a metacognitive style of reflection walking the reader through her personal connections to topic selection and research process before presenting what she discovered in medical journal articles on the topic of using vaccines for Alzheimer’s treatment and prevention. In closely reviewing journal articles and their findings, Tyler is able to make comments about the challenges of developing a vaccine appropriate to humans (as opposed to the mice trials she reads about,) and the complexity of high failure rates in the past. Finally, Tyler comments on the financial issues involved in this treatment plan and …

Perceptions And Expected Immediate Reactions To Severe Storm Displays, Ihnji Jon, Shih-Kai Huang, Michael K. Lindell

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The National Weather Service has adopted warning polygons that more specifically indicate the risk area than its previous county-wide warnings. However, these polygons are not defined in terms of numerical strike probabilities (p_s). To better understand people’s interpretations of warning polygons, 167 participants were shown 23 hypothetical scenarios in one of three information conditions—polygon-only (Condition A), polygon + tornadic storm cell (Condition B), and polygon + tornadic storm cell + flanking nontornadic storm cells (Condition C). Participants judged each polygon’s p_s and reported the likelihood of taking nine different response actions. The polygon-only condition replicated the …

Stronger Together: Nonsummativity And The Grand Valley State University Knowledge Market, Carl J. Brown, Jennifer Torreano, Jeannine Lane, Skye Gregory-Hatch

Knowledge Market

This article discusses the history, purpose, and services that make up the Grand Valley State University Knowledge Market. The Knowledge Market is made up of faculty and staff directors leading four unique groups of specialized student-consultants who collaborate with their peers. While each service has a unique specialty, The Knowledge Market unites to guide students through the collective academic processes of researching, writing, speaking, and developing visual aids. The Knowledge Market is partnered with the university library in mission, service, and location. It provides a unique and replicable model that can be applied at a variety of campuses who have …

Masked By Trust: Bias In Library Discovery, Matthew Reidsma

Books and Contributions to Books

The rise of Google and its integration into nearly every aspect of our lives has pushed libraries to adopt similar "Google-like" search tools, called discovery systems. Because these tools are provided by libraries and search scholarly materials rather than the open web, we often assume they are more "accurate" or "reliable" than their general-purpose peers like Google or Bing. But discovery systems are still software written by people with prejudices and biases, library software vendors are subject to strong commercial pressures that are often hidden behind diffuse collection-development contracts and layers of administration, and they struggle to integrate content from …

"I'D Rather Beg For Forgiveness Than Ask For Permission": Sexuality Education Teachers' Mediated Agency And Resistance, Marilyn Preston

Funded Articles

This study explores sexuality education teachers' identities and examines the ways in which teachers' experiences mediate their agency and resistance in classrooms. Using grounded theory methodology, the study explores the identities and experiences of school-based sexuality education teachers throughout the United States. Findings suggest that the teachers rely on a unique sense of identity in order to justify challenging the regulatory and policy limitations to their curricula. The study illustrates how agency is mediated by individual social location and experience.