published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Computational design has become a predominant element of various engineering tasks. However, the ever increasing complexity of numerical models creates the need for efficient methodologies. Specifically, computational design under uncertainties remains sparsely used in engineering settings due to its computational cost. This dissertation proposes a coherent framework for various branches of computational design under uncertainties, including model update, reliability assessment and reliability-based design optimization. Through the use of machine learning techniques, computationally inexpensive approximations of the constraints, limit states, and objective functions are constructed. Specifically, a novel adaptive sampling strategy allowing for the refinement of any approximation only in relevant regions has been developed, referred to as generalized max-min. This technique presents various computational advantages such as ease of parallelization and applicability to any metamodel. Three approaches tailored for computational design under uncertainties are derived from the previous approximation technique. An algorithm for reliability assessment is proposed and its efficiency is demonstrated for different probabilistic settings including dependent variables using copulas. Additionally, the notion of fidelity map is introduced for model update settings with large number of dependent responses to be matched. Finally, a new reliability-based design optimization method with local refinement has been developed. A derivation of sampling-based probability of failure derivatives is also provided along with a discussion on numerical estimates. This derivation brings additional flexibility to the field of computational design. The knowledge acquired and techniques developed during this Ph.D. have been synthesized in an object-oriented MATLAB toolbox. The help and ergonomics of the toolbox have been designed so as to be accessible by a large audience.

As universities transition from instructor-driven to student-centered learning environments, the institutional learning structure is being redesigned to emphasize active learning. Instructional technologies, employing active learning models, have been a critical component in the redesign. The active learning model suggests that the student engages in various activities, and uses various strategies, to gather information and achieve understanding. Technology-driven learning environments therefore often instill activities that direct the student's learning. Use of on-line technologies, such as the Internet, is one method for creating active learning activities that direct the student's learning. This experiment explores how active learning activities, specifically how a student engages in research by accessing on-line information, affects their understanding of the material. The experiment is a 2 (Task Complexity) x 2 (Data Resource) design testing a student's (N=194) ability to synthesize information as they traversed through a specified set of resources. The findings indicate that students who access topic-specific resources engage in more research activities than students who access broad-topic resources. Furthermore, the findings indicate that students who access topic-specific resources will synthesize the relevant material into a more clear and concise response than students who access broad-topic resources. Suggestions and further research are posited to further understand how instructors can engage use of on-line resources, specifically the Internet, and instructional technologies, such as Distance Learning, to facilitate student learning.

A journey in metaxis explores the facilitation of drama workshops using an adaptation of Theatre of the Oppressed, a participatory drama process used with high school students, teachers and others in the community. New possibilities of engagement open up as knowing emerges through a variety o f forms of dramatic action which are simultaneously the medium, subject and re-presentation of research. As a theatre pedagogue I explore how knowing and meaning emerge through theatre and in the interplay between my life and my work. Writing, then reading, narratives of my practice engages me in a conversation that helps me draw attention to my practice. Diverse roles and points of view of the drama facilitator begin to become apparent as these narratives speak through a spiralling process of shared experiences. Commentaries on these experiences lead to discussions of the implications of this inquiry for other forms of reflective leadership practice in drama and in education. Particular attention is placed on the role of the body and mind (bodymind) of facilitator and participants as they journey into an increasing awareness of senses, histories, the landscapes worked in, and the relationships that intertwine through the constant ebb and flow of the drama workshop. Using a framework that parallels the drama workshop I facilitate, I play with forms of texts, languages and styles to enter into the text(ure) of the worlds of facilitation so that we may come face to face with kinaesthetic and discursive experiences remembered and reconsidered. Writing my body into this exploration enables me to become mindfully aware of, and extends and transforms, my practice. I re-awaken the memory of my senses and re-connect with them in the moments of "performing" my teaching. Such poetic and expressive writing enables an evocation of the world of drama. Writing from and through a sensing body means that reflection on practice becomes not merely reporting experiences, but also celebrating and expressing the multi-vocal, multi-layered events that develop drama facilitation skills. Writing, then reading, about this process of coming to know my identity-in-process as a drama facilitator enables the interpretation, interrogation and transformation of how one becomes facilitator, "making the way as we go," (re)writing/performing our presence.

Remiantis nauju supratimu, mokymas(is) laikomas aktyviu procesu, kurio metu besimokantysis, remdamasis anksčiau įgytomis žiniomis ir savo unikalia patirtimi, formuoja naujas sąvokas, idėjas ar prasmes. Mokytojo vaidmuo suprantamas kaip pagalbininko, kuris turi rūpintis besimokančiojo žinių kūrimo procesu,o taip pat bendraudamas ir stebėdamas besimokančiuosius, lanksčiai ir kūrybingai įtraukti juos į mokymo(si) procesą. Šio darbo tikslas: pagrįsti aktyvaus mokymo įtaką mokinių mokymosi motyvacijai. / Nowadays theories say, that learning is an active method, where the teacher is a part of this process, like an assitent communicating with the pupils. Also nowadays theories say, that it is not enough give new information, it is important include practise. Some methods were used to evalue correlations these factors.

The White Paper on education states that students should be employable after graduation / Thesis

Community developers are often solicited to teach essential core concepts and strategies in the field but lack the consensus among their peers on which theories constitute the fundamentals. This study examines leading community development theories, concepts and approaches to establish the essential elements for a weeklong short course. In addition to content research, leading teaching theories were also explored to establish the core methods for teaching such a course. Active learning techniques were utilized to increase student participation in the learning process while building solidarity and capacity in the class. Finally, the short course was taught to a group in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and was evaluated for knowledge and attitude change through pretests, posttests, and journal entries.

In this thesis, we provide computationally efficient algorithms with provable statistical guarantees, for the problem of active learning, by using ideas from sequential analysis. We provide a generic algorithmic framework for active learning in the pool setting, and instantiate this framework by using ideas from learning with experts, stochastic optimization, and multi-armed bandits. For the problem of learning convex combination of a given set of hypothesis, we provide a stochastic mirror descent based active learning algorithm in the stream setting.

The current study sought to extend knowledge on effectiveness of Electronic Response Systems (ERS) or “clickers” in a college classroom by comparing student assessment performance between two sections (n = 41 & 42) of a Biblical Studies course in a small evangelical university. Student characteristics were virtually identical in the classes, taught by the same instructor. In one section, the instructor used ERS two to four times a week to administer quizzes or start discussions. Results showed no statistically significant evidence of improved performance in the ERS class, measured on a wide variety of assignment, quiz, and exam scores, including pre-test/post-test improvement in knowledge. Gender, prior GPA, and other demographic differences did not interact with the manipulation. It was speculated that use of ERS may have failed to make a difference in the current study because the system was not used frequently enough or for engaging activities, or because the use of ERS in a small class may not have provided benefits beyond the usual class experience. Interestingly, however, a student survey given at the beginning and end of the semester showed that students in the ERS class significantly improved their opinion of the system, indicating that they felt they had performed better as a result of using the clickers. (Students’ opinions in the control class declined.) Thus, students believed that ERS had improved their performance, although objectively it had not. It was concluded that relying on student opinions on the benefits of ERS may be misleading. / Department of Educational Studies