Web based content and hybrid teaching: student perceptions of the effectiveness of using web based content and hyper-linked teaching units in teaching hybrid business and marketing post secondary classes /

This exploratory, descriptive action research study is based on a survey of a sample of convenience consisting of 172 college and university marketing students, and 5 professors who were experienced in teaching in an internet based environment. The students that were surveyed were studying e-commerce and international business in 3^^ and 4*'' year classes at a leading imiversity in Ontario and e-commerce in 5^ semester classes at a leading college. These classes were taught using a hybrid teaching style with the contribution of a large website that contained pertinent text and audio material. Hybrid teaching employs web based course materials (some in the form of Learning Objects) to deliver curriculimi material both during the attended lectures and also for students accessing the course web page outside of class hours. The survey was in the form on an online questionnaire. The research questions explored in this study were: 1. What factors influence the students' ability to access and learn from web based course content? 2. How likely are the students to use selected elements of internet based curriculum for learning academic content? 3. What is the preferred physical environment to facilitate learning in a hybrid environment? 4. How effective are selected teaching/learning strategies in a hybrid environment? The findings of this study suggest that students are very interested in being part of the learning process by contributing to a course web site. Specifically, students are interested in audio content being one of the formats of online course material, and have an interest in being part of the creation of small audio clips to be used in class.

XHA: eXtensible Hyper-Automation

O objetivo geral desta dissertação é estudar as possibilidades de flexibilização da função de saída do Sistema Hyper-Automaton além das rígidas possibilidades utilizadas atualmente com a utilização direta do HTML, objetivando eliminar as limitações como execução de aplicações proprietárias, caracteres incompatíveis entre browsers, excesso de tráfego na rede, padronizar aplicações, incrementar recursos didáticos, melhorar o suporte a aplicações multimídia atuais e futuras, facilitar a manutenção, implementação e reuso, alterar o layout de saída no browser de maneira dinâmica, explorar outros recursos de links, estabelecer padrões de organização do material instrucional criado pelo professor e muitas outras. Tal sistema anteriormente desenvolvido e funcionando adequadamente, é baseado no formalismo de Autômatos Finitos com Saída como modelo estrutural para organização de hiperdocumentos instrucionais, em especial em cursos na Web, tornando o material hipermídia independente do controle da aplicação. O Sistema Hyper-Automaton, tornou-se portanto, um sistema semi-automatizado para suporte a cursos na Web. Com o desdobramento da pesquisa, esta procurou ir mais além e descreveu possibilidades de não só estudar os aspectos possíveis de formatação de saída do sistema, mas reestruturá-lo totalmente sobre uma linguagem de markup padrão, buscando atualizá-lo tecnologicamente definindo outras possibilidades para que significativos trabalhos futuros possam de maneira mais clara serem alcançados. Dessa maneira, esta dissertação centra-se no estudo da aplicação de formas de flexibilização do Sistema Hyper-Automaton, tanto na parte da estruturação de documentos que são conteúdos instrucionais armazenados, bem como, na forma desse material tornar-se-á disponível através de navegadores WWW compatíveis com as tecnologias propostas, possibilitando o incremento substancial de funcionalidades necessárias para cursos onde a Web é o principal meio. Esta pesquisa dá prosseguimento a dois trabalhos anteriormente concluídos no PPGC e do Curso de Bacharelado em Ciência da Computação da UFRGS no ano de 2000, na seqüência, Hyper-Automaton: Hipertextos e Cursos na Web Utilizando Autômatos Finitos com Saída, dissertação de mestrado de Júlio Henrique de A. P. Machado e Hyper-Automaton: Implementação e Uso, trabalho de diplomação de Leonardo Penczek.

Usability of clay mixed red mud in Hungarian building material production industry

The naturally occurring radionuclide (²²⁶Ra,²³²Th and⁴⁰K) content of building Materials (NORM) contributes to the total radiation dose experienced by humans. In this survey 27 clay and 68 red mud samples were surveyed with gamma spectrometry and screened according to European Basic Safety Standards (BSS) I-index. It was found that average I-index of clays was 0.6 (0.4–0.8) less than the I-index of 1, which makes them suitable for building material production. The average I-index of red mud 2.3 (1.3–3.0). The maximal mixing ratio of red mud was calculated, varied between 12 and 39 %, with 23 % average.

Broad balmer wings in BA Hyper/Supergiants distorted by diffuse interstellar bands: five examples in the 30 Doradus Region from the VLT-Flames Tarantula Survey

Extremely broad emission wings at Hβ and Hα have been found in VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey data for five very luminous BA supergiants in or near 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The profiles of both lines are extremely asymmetrical, which we have found to be caused by very broad diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the longward wing of Hβ and the shortward wing of Hα. These DIBs are well known to interstellar but not to many stellar specialists, so that the asymmetries may be mistaken for intrinsic features. The broad emission wings are generally ascribed to electron scattering, although we note difficulties for that interpretation in some objects. Such profiles are known in some Galactic hyper/supergiants and are also seen in both active and quiescent Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs). No prior or current LBV activity is known in these 30 Dor stars, although a generic relationship to LBVs is not excluded; subject to further observational and theoretical investigation, it is possible that these very luminous supergiants are approaching the LBV stage for the first time. Their locations in the HRD and presumed evolutionary tracks are consistent with that possibility. The available evidence for spectroscopic variations of these objects is reviewed, while recent photometric monitoring does not reveal variability. A search for circumstellar nebulae has been conducted, with an indeterminate result for one of them.

Evaporative Moisture Loss from Heterogeneous Stone: Material- Environment Interactions During Drying

The complexities of evaporation from structurally and mineralogically heterogeneous sandstone (Locharbriggs Sandstone) are investigated through a laboratory-based experiment in which a variety of environmental conditions are simulated. Data reported demonstrate the significance of material-environment interactions on the spatial and temporal variability of evaporative dynamics. Evaporation from porous stone is determined by the interplay between environmental, material and solution properties, which govern the rate and mode by which water is transmitted to, and subsequently removed from, an evaporating surface. Initially evaporation is marked by high rates of moisture loss controlled by external atmospheric conditions; then, when a critical level of surface moisture content is reached, hydraulic continuity between the stone surface and subsurface is disrupted and the drying front recedes
beneath the surface, evaporation rates decrease and are controlled by the ability of the material to transport water vapour to the surface. Pore size distribution and connectivity, as well as other material properties, control the timing of each stage of evaporation and the nature of the transition.

These experimental data highlight the complexity of evaporation, demonstrating that different regions of the same stone can exhibit varying moisture dynamics during drying and that the rate and nature of evaporative loss differs under different environmental conditions. The results identify the importance of material-environment interactions during drying and that stone micro-environmental conditions cannot be inferred from ambient data alone.
These data have significance for understanding the spatial distribution of stone surface weathering-related morphologies in both the natural and built environments where mineralogical and/or structural heterogeneity creates differences in moisture flux and hence variable drying rates. Such differences may provide a clearer explanation for the initiation and subsequent development of complex weathering responses where areas of significant deterioration can be found alongside areas that exhibit little or no evidence surface breakdown.

The use of annodised aluminum as a rotational moulding tool material

This paper presents the results from investigations into the differences in moulding with a novel anodised machined aluminium mould material and a conventional machined aluminium mould material. Significant differences in terms of cycletime were observed between the moulding carried out with the anodised moulding and the conventional aluminium mould surface material with no change in the shrinkage, part appearance or mechanical properties noted between either.

Characterization of commercial double-walled carbon nanotube material : composition, structure, and heat capacity

A purified commercial double-walled carbon nanotube (DWCNT) sample was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetry (TG), and Raman spectroscopy. Moreover, the heat capacity of the DWCNT sample was determined by temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry in the range of temperature between -50 and 290 °C. The main thermo-oxidation characterized by TG occurred at 474 °C with the loss of 90 wt% of the sample. Thermo-oxidation of the sample was also investigated by high-resolution TG, which indicated that a fraction rich in carbon nanotube represents more than 80 wt% of the material. Other carbonaceous fractions rich in amorphous coating and graphitic particles were identified by the deconvolution procedure applied to the derivative of TG curve. Complementary structural data were provided by TEM and Raman studies. The information obtained allows the optimization of composites based on this nanomaterial with reliable characteristics.

Report : school survey to collect data on material performance

A survey of a number of schools in a number of different climates was carried out to determine the condition of building components of interest in the project. Schools in Melbourne, the Victorian Surf Coast, Brisbane, Townsville and the Sunshine Coast were inspected. A rating system was devised to categorise the components and the results collated in tables. Analysis of the data (where sufficient examples permitted) resulted in formulae to predict the service of the components and a database was derived.