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EXAMINING MATHEMATICS COACHES IN SUPPORTING TEACHERS TO DEVELOP AMBITIOUS INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES: A THREE-PAPER DISSERTATION INVESTIGATING CONTEXT, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICEGibbons, Lynsey Kay 26 July 2012 (has links)
This three-paper dissertation investigates how mathematics coaches support teachers to develop ambitious instructional practices that will provide richer opportunities for students learning. The goal of the first study was to identify types of activities established in the professional learning literature as being likely to support teachers development of high quality instructional practices. Therefore, I conducted a conceptual analysis to determine the potential value of different types of activities in terms of the learning opportunities they provide for teachers to develop deeper understandings of mathematics, student reasoning, and ambitious instructional practices. The results of this analysis delineated a range of activities that, when facilitated effectively by coaches, have the potential to support teachers learning.
In the second study, I used social network and interview data collected across seven middle schools in a large urban district to examine what influenced mathematics coaches to become a central source of expertise. The findings suggest that teachers perceptions of the coachs competence, specific structural aspects of the school setting and principal support may influence whether a majority of teachers within a school go to their coach for advice or information about teaching mathematics.
Finally, in the third study I analyzed interview data of one coach across four years to investigate what, in addition to being relatively accomplished teachers, mathematics coaches need to know and be able to do in order to engage teachers in activities that are likely to support their development. This analysis identified potential practices that coaches need to be able to do and aspects of knowledge that coaches need to provide individualized support for teachers.
Overall, I sought to understand how mathematics coaches can support mathematics teachers development. Together, these three interrelated studies constitute a significant step towards this goal and contribute to research on content-focused coaching. In addition to research contributions, these studies have pragmatic implications as the findings can assist district leaders in implementing or revising current school-based coaching designs.
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A Novel Multiobjective EA-based Clustering Algorithm with Automatic Determination of the Number of ClustersChen, Wen-Ling 07 September 2012 (has links)
Automatically determining the number of clusters without a priori knowledge is a difficult research issue for data clustering problem. An effective multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based clustering algorithm is proposed to not only overcome this problem but also provide a better clustering result in this study. The proposed algorithm differs from the traditional evolutionary algorithm in the sense that instead of a single crossover operator and a single mutation operator, the proposed algorithm uses a pool of crossover operators and a pool of mutation operators that are selected at random to increase the search diversity. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, several well-known datasets are used. The simulation results show that not only can the proposed algorithm automatically determine the number of clusters, but it can also provide a better clustering result.
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A system approach, one school district approach to implementing a diversity plan: perception of board members, administrators, principals, and teachers, addressing race, ethnicity, and social economicsYoung, Billy Lee 15 May 2009 (has links)
The intent of this study was to investigate a system approach to implementing a
diversity plan in a chosen school district, with emphasis on (1) why a chosen school
district utilized a systems approach in implementing a diversity plan to meet the needs of
their ever changing ethnically diverse, disadvantaged, and multilingual population, (2)
what process did the district use in meeting the needs of a diverse population, and (3)
can a business model be transformed and used in an educational system to meet the
needs of the internal forces as well as those external forces.
The Cox’s Model for Cultural Change was used to analyze the district diversity
plan. The district diversity plan had six categories while the Cox Model has five.
According to the Cox Model, to have an effective organizational change the change
effort should include all the five themes and sub- themes. The change effort should be
continually assessed and refined over time in a process of continuous loop learning. A qualitative case study methodology was used to collect and report the data for
this study. The data collected in this study included intensive open-ended and follow-up
interviews. The data sources were comprised of one board member, three administrators,
four principals, and eight teachers. Of the sixteen participants, six members were of
color and ten were European-American teachers, principals, and administrators. The
constant comparative method was used to analyze the data.
In analysis, the themes utilized for this study, comparing the leadership of the
board member, administrators, principals, and teachers, congruence in leadership as
described by Cox did not exist. Failure to utilize all the elements of the Cox Model made
Mayflower ISD Diversity Plan weak. Lack of communication across the district
hampered Mayflower ISD to embrace diversity. The finding from this study using the
three categories Leadership, Education, and Follow-Up revealed that it was lacking in
continuity, understanding, implementation, guidance, and trust. In conjunction with the
review of literature and an analysis of the data, the findings from this study reveal that
the district will not meet its’ overall objective of embracing diversity district wide.
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Dual-band beam scanning reflectarrays and novel wideband and polarization diversified planar antennasHsu, Shih-Hsun 15 May 2009 (has links)
The reflectarray antenna has been considered as a suitable candidate to replace the
traditional parabolic reflectors because of its high-gain and low-profile features. Beam
scanning capability and multi-band operation are the current trends of the reflectarray
design. It is desired to implement these functionalities with simple and effective
techniques. Narrow bandwidth is the main issue which restricts the applications of the
microstrip antennas. New microstrip slot antennas and polarization diversified planar
antennas are introduced as the solutions to the issue of narrow bandwidth in this
dissertation.
A dual-band beam scanning reflectarray has been developed. It is the first offset-fed
reflectarray that has been ever practically developed to emulate a cylindrical/parabolic
type of reflector. Unlike other beam scanning reflectarrays which integrate phase tuning
devices into the reflectarray elements and control the reflection phase, the beam
scanning capability of this reflectarray is provided by its feed array. This method
significantly reduces the complexity of the design of the beam scanning reflectarray. A new dual-band reflectarray configuration is also developed to eliminate the possible top
layer blocking effects in the dual-layer reflectarray configuration. Perforated patches
loaded with slots on the ground plane and rectangular patches loaded with slots on the
patches are adopted as the low and high frequency bands, respectively. It is guaranteed
that no physical contact between any two elements will occur.
The bandwidth of the conventional microstrip antenna is small. A new wideband
circularly polarized microstrip slot antenna is introduced in this dissertation. Very wide
3-dB axial ratio bandwidth is observed for the proposed antenna. The antennas are
assembled in triangularly arranged array with sequential rotation feed technique.
Polarization polarity is an alternative solution to the narrow bandwidth. A reconfigurable
circularly polarized microstrip antenna is proposed. The antenna has both right-hand and
left-hand circular polarizations which are controlled by two piezoelectric transducers. In
addition, a dual-band dual-linearly-polarized planar array is designed based on the
concepts of polarization diversity and multi-band operation.
The research presented in this dissertation suggests useful techniques for
reflectarrays and novel antenna designs. The results should have many applications for
the modern wireless communication and radar systems.
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SNP Haplotype Block Inference and Tag Selection AlgorithmSun, Chia-Ling 27 July 2004 (has links)
SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms, pronounce as snip) is one nucleotide position difference within human population.
These differences can be detected in human genome and the difference occurs once about every 1000 base pairs. There are only two possible nucleotides in each SNP position. As a genetic marker, SNP data can be used to capture human disease traits because of its abundance and low diversity.
In recent research results, it has been shown that there is a block-like structure in human genome, and only limited haplotype diversity can be observed. Consequently, we can use only a small fraction of SNPs to capture haplotype diversity in each block, and these SNPs are called tagSNPs.
We propose a fixed-diversity approach to capture the diversity of the entire data. After partitioning the haplotype blocks, we will provide an objective way for evaluating the result. We obtain that the diversity of chromosome 21 SNPs locates at 0.5 by using our algorithm. The partition result shows the concurrence property of the haplotype data downloaded from NCBI web site. Finally, we develop an algorithm for tagSNP selection within each block, and obtain the compression ratio 0.78.
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Genetic diversity and performance of maize varieties from Zimbabwe, Zambia and MalawiMagorokosho, Cosmos 25 April 2007 (has links)
Large scale and planned introduction of maize (Zea mays) in southern Africa was
accomplished during the last 100 years. Since then, smallholder farmers and breeders
have been selecting varieties best adapted to their specific growing conditions. Six
studies were conducted to generate information on the current levels of genetic diversity
and agronomic performance of both farmer-developed and commercially-bred maize
varieties in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to help in the identification of sources of new
alleles for improving yield, especially under the main abiotic stresses that prevail in the
region. In the first study, 267 maize landraces were collected from smallholder farmers in
different agro-ecological zones of the three countries for conservation and further studies.
Passport data and information on why smallholder farmers continue to grow landraces
despite the advent of modern varieties were also collected along with the landraces. The
second study revealed considerable variation for phenological, morphological and
agronomic characters, and inter-relationships among the landraces and their commercial
counterparts. A core sample representing most of the diversity in the whole collection of
landraces was selected for further detailed analyses. The third study revealed high levels
of molecular diversity between landraces originating from different growing
environments and between landraces and commercially-bred varieties. The Simple
Sequence Repeat (SSR) data also showed that the genetic diversity introduced from the
original gene pool from the USA about 100 years ago is still found in both the descendant
landraces and commercially-bred varieties. The fourth study showed that in general,
commercially-bred varieties outyielded landraces under both abiotic stress and nonstress
conditions with some notable exceptions. Landraces were more stable across
environments than improved varieties. The most promising landraces for pre-breeding
and further investigation were also identified. The clustering patterns formed based on agronomic data were different from SSR markers, but in general the genotype groupings
were consistent across the two methods of measuring diversity. In the fifth study, the
more recently-bred maize varieties in Zimbabwe showed consistent improvement over
older cultivars in grain yield. The apparent yearly rate of yield increase due to genetic
improvement was positive under optimum growing conditions, low soil nitrogen levels
and drought stress. The sixth study revealed that in general, genetic diversity in
Zimbabwean maize has neither significantly decreased nor increased over time, and that
the temporal changes observed in this study were more qualitative than quantitative.
The results from the six studies confirm the origin of maize in southern Africa and
reveals that considerable genetic variation exists in the region which could be used to
broaden the sources of diversity for maize improvement under the current agro-ecological
conditions in southern Africa.
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Urban influence on diversity of avifauna in the Edwards Plateau of Texas: effect of property sizes on rural landscape structureGonzalez Afanador, Edith 17 September 2007 (has links)
The urban Influence on diversity of avifauna in the Edwards Plateau ecoregion and
surrounding area was studied using spatial analysis. Indices and metrics of urban influence,
ownership property sizes, landscape structure, and avian diversity were calculated for 31 North
American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) transects, 12 located within the Edwards Plateau
ecoregion and 18 in contiguous ecoregions. Spatial correlations were calculated between each
pair of these indices.
The spatial analysis identified an emergent property at the landscape level: A
âÂÂthreshold of habitat fragmentationâ at an ownership property size of 500 acres, which is
reached when urban influence increases to an intermediate level. Highly significant spatial
correlations among variables showed that property sizes lower than 500 acres produce habitat
fragmentation represented by a decrease in mean patch size (MN) and proximity among
habitat patches (Index PROX). Consequently, avian ñ-diversity (richness) decreases because
both MN and Index PROX are landscape metrics related to availability of suitable habitat for
avian populations.
The spatial analysis also made possible the prioritization of ecological subregions of
the Edwards Plateau for conservation or restoration with respect to the threshold of habitat
fragmentation and avian ñ and ò-diversity. Balcones Canyon Lands showed a high
percentage of land covered by farms smaller than 500 acres (64%), an ownership property
average size above the threshold of fragmentation (1440 acres) and the highest avian ñ-
diversity; so, management policies should focus on habitat conservation. In contrast,
Lampasas Cut Plains showed the highest percentage of land covered by farms smaller than
500 acres (71%), and ownership property average size was very close to the threshold of
fragmentation (625 acres); there, urban bird species are dominant and avian ñ-diversity is low
because of the loss of native bird species. Management in this ecoregion should focus on
habitat restoration. Finally, the Live Oak-Mesquite Savannah subregion showed the highest average ownership property size (7305 acres), and the highest values of patch richness and
ò-diversity. Management in this ecoregion should focus on conservation of land mosaic
diversity to assure native avian species turnover.
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Macrofaunal community structure on the gulf of mexico continental slope: the role of disturbance and habitat heterogeneity at local and regional scalesAmmons, Archie Wood 17 September 2007 (has links)
The ecological forces that drive community structure of deep-sea benthic
communities are poorly understood, yet such communities rival in biological complexity
those of coral reefs or rainforests. Using components of the recently concluded DGoMB
project, local and regional-scale structure of benthic macrofaunal communities were
examined at thirty two locations throughout the continental slope of the northern Gulf of
Mexico. Controlling factors associated with sediment disturbance, food supply, and
faunal competition between functional ecological groups were evaluated for correlative
and relational patterns. A higher order taxonomic sufficiency approach was used to
calculate both alpha and beta diversity.
The results of this study indicate that macrofaunal communities are very patchy,
having wide variations in abundance at within-site, adjacent-site, and across-basin
scales, yet all sample areas possess a large richness of higher taxa. Declining abundance
was noted with increasing water depth and reduced particulate organic carbon levels.
Upper-slope submarine canyons possess some of the highest abundances. Less mobile
macrofauna, such as poriferans, bivalves, and scaphopods, dominate slope communities above the 500 meter contour. Sediments exhibiting intense megafaunal bioturbation
inhibit abundances of sedentary macrofaunal taxa, but such mixing is positively
associated with increased abundances of polychaetes and ambulatory crustaceans,
including peracarids, harpacticoids, and ostracods. Prominent sediment mixing was
noted at most sites, including portions of the Sigsbee Abyssal Plain. The western Gulf of
Mexico was less biologically active than the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which possesses
two extensive submarine canyons that appear to act as regional nutrient traps. I conclude
that the physiographic complexity of the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope
influences macrofaunal community structure. Biological disturbance, in the form of
sediment mixing, is widespread throughout most slope depths, and the benthic
environment is food-limited. It appears that disequilibrium-type ecological processes
predominate in this area, supporting similar findings by previous studies in other regions
of the ocean, usually at far smaller scales and none representative at the basin-level. Use
of higher order taxonomy in lieu of genus or species-level faunal identifications for
diversity measurements was inadequate for detecting spatial patterns or environmental
responses.
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Spatial Diversity System Design and Performance AnalysisHuang, Yen-Han 05 August 2008 (has links)
none
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Intercultural competencies required by organization development consultantsKothbauer, Teresa R. January 2001 (has links) (PDF)
Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Field problem. Includes bibliographical references.
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