Design Simulation for Solar Energy Research and Education

Solar research is primarily conducted in regions with consistent sunlight, severely limiting research opportunities in many areas. Unfortunately, the unreliable weather in Lewisburg, PA, can prove difficult for such testing to be conducted. As such, a solar simulator was developed for educational purposes for the Mechanical Engineering department at Bucknell University. The objective of this work was to first develop a geometric model to evaluate a one sun solar simulator. This was intended to provide a simplified model that could be used without the necessity of expensive software. This model was originally intended to be validated experimentally, but instead was done using a proven ray tracing program, TracePro. Analyses with the geometrical model and TracePro demonstrated the influence the geometrical properties had results, specifically the reflector (aperture) diameter and the rim angle. Subsequently, the two were approaches were consistent with one another for aperture diameters 0.5 m and larger, and for rim angles larger than 45°. The constructed prototype, that is currently untested, was designed from information provided by the geometric model, includes a metal halide lamp with a 9.5 mm arc diameter and parabolic reflector with an aperture diameter of 0.631 meters. The maximum angular divergence from the geometrical model was predicted to be 30 mRadians. The average angular divergence in TraceProof the system was 19.5 mRadians, compared to the sun’s divergence of 9.2 mRadians. Flux mapping in TracePro showed an intensity of 1000 W/m2 over the target plane located 40 meters from the lamp. The error between spectrum of the metal halide lamp and the solar spectrum was 10.9%, which was found by comparing their respective Plank radiation distributions. The project did not satisfy the original goal of matching the angular divergence of sunlight, although the system could still to be used for optical testing. The geometric model indicated performance in this area could be improved by increasing the diameter of the reflector, as well as decreasing the source diameter. Although ray tracing software provides more information to analyze the simulator system, the geometrical model is adequate to provide enough information to design a system.

AAC&U's Integrative Liberal Learning and the CAS Standards: Advising for a 21st Century Liberal Education

The Association of American Colleges and Universities presented and promoted integrative liberal learning as a collaborative goal that all institutions of higher education must strive to achieve. The similarities between the goals of integrative liberal learning and the Standards for Academic Advising by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education are discussed with emphasis placed on the critical role that academic advising plays in support of an integrative liberal learning education, and in turn, future success for all students.

The Politics of Accountability and Teacher Preparation: A Case Study from Pennsylvania

In an effort to understand some of the ways that accountability-based reform efforts have influenced teacher education, this article details the politics of accountability in Pennsylvania that motivated sweeping changes in the policies governing teacher preparation in 2006. This case study provides a poignant example of the kind of complex accountability systems now being constructed across the United States in an effort to change teacher preparation. By analyzing primary documents including the legal statutes governing teacher preparation in Pennsylvania, correspondence from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, related newsletters, memos, reports, transcripts of meetings, and testimony before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the complex nature of the conflicts underlying the development and implementation of teacher education reform is brought into focus. The study's findings suggest that a deep and uncritical acceptance of accountability-based teacher education reform on the part of educational policy makers is likely to do more harm than good. The article concludes by outlining a framework for developing more intelligent measures of accountability that might preserve professional autonomy and judgment.

The Politics of Accountability and Teacher Preparation

In an effort to understand some of the ways that accountability-based reform efforts have influenced teacher education, this article details the politics of accountability in Pennsylvania that motivated sweeping changes in the policies governing teacher preparation in 2006. This case study provides a poignant example of the kind of complex accountability systems now being constructed across the United States in an effort to change teacher preparation. By analyzing primary documents including the legal statutes governing teacher preparation in Pennsylvania, correspondence from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, related newsletters, memos, reports, transcripts of meetings, and testimony before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the complex nature of the conflicts underlying the development and implementation of teacher education reform is brought into focus. The study's findings suggest that a deep and uncritical acceptance of accountability-based teacher education reform on the part of educational policy makers is likely to do more harm than good. The article concludes by outlining a framework for developing more intelligent measures of accountability that might preserve professional autonomy and judgment.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTING STYLES, LEARNING AUTONOMY, AND SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT IN UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE STUDENTS

Throughout the years, the role that parents play with regard to a child’s academic achievement has been the source of considerable research. The type of parenting style employed by parents, whether it is authoritarian, authoritative, or permissive, has and continues to be a major theme in these studies. One area of particular interest that has been overlooked in these studies, however, is the influence that parents may have on a student’s learning autonomy. Learning autonomy is the idea that a student has internal motivation to learn or achieve. The purpose of this study was to investigate therelationship among the three styles of parenting, learning autonomy, perceived parental autonomy support, and scholastic achievement in undergraduate college students. Sixty-one participants were recruited at a small liberal arts college in the northeastern United States to complete questionnaires, which measured perceived parental authority of the participants’ parents, perceived parental autonomy support, and students’ own learning autonomy. The participants were also asked to list their grade point average. The results revealed positive and negative correlations between many of the variables in the study;however, simple regression analyses did not yield any statistically significant relationships between parental authority, learning autonomy, perceived autonomy support, and scholastic achievement.