This study was designed to examine the impact of embedding multiple modes of representing science information on student conceptual understanding in science. Multiple representations refer to utilizing charts, graphs, diagrams, and other types of representations to communicate scientific information. This study investigated the impact of encouraging students to embed or integrate the multiple modes with text in end of unit writing-to-learn activities. A quasi-experimental design in which four separate sites consisting of intact chemistry classes taught by a separate teacher at each site was utilized. At each site, approximately half of the classes were designated treatment classes and students in these classes participated in activities designed to encourage strategies to embed multiple modes with text in student writing. The control classes did not participate in these activities. All classes participated in identical end of unit writing tasks in which they were required to use at least one mode other than text, followed by identical end of unit assessments. This progression was then repeated for a second consecutive unit of study. Analysis of quantitative data indicated that in several cases, treatment classes significantly outperformed control classes both on measures of embeddedness in writing and on end of unit assessment measures. In addition, analysis at the level of individual students indicated significant positive correlations in many cases between measures of student embeddedness in writing and student performance on end of unit assessments. Three factors emerged as critical in increasing the chances for benefit for students from these types of activities. First, teacher the level of implementation and emphasis on the embeddedness lessons was linked to the possibility of conceptual benefit. Secondly, students participating in two consecutive lessons appeared to receive greater benefit, inferring a cumulative benefit. Finally, differential impact of the degree of embeddedness on student performance was noted based on student's level of science ability prior to the initiation of study procedures.

The thesis is composed of two topics: A SOC design for one-time implantable spinal cord stimulation system ¡]SCS¡^, and the design of an inter-chip capacitance coupling circuit. In the first topic, the SOC design using wireless power and data transmission techniques for the SCS system is presented in this work. The proposed SOC can control 4 electrodes to generate different patterns of stimulation waves. It has multiple modes to drive whole the SCS system. Notably, the SOC contains a novel ASK demodulator which converts the ASK signals into digital signals reliably. The SOC is implemented using a typical 0.18-£gm 1P6M CMOS process. The chip area is only 1.71 * 1.41 mm2. Besides, the volume of the implantable SCS pulse generator utilizing this SOC is less than 24 cm3, and the power consumption is only 59.4 mW. In the second topic, a high-speed inter-chip capacitance coupling circuit is presented. Digital signals between two chips can be transceived through capacitive coupling of the proposed circuit. Notably, the transceivers are designed below the capacitors to attain the area reduction. It is an advanced application for high-speed wafer testing and 3D IC communication. A prototype chip is presented to achieve 2 Gbps on silicon using a typical 0.18 £gm 1P6M CMOS process. The chip area is 1045 ¡Ñ 894 £gm2. Besides, it only costs 21.47 mW in terms of power consumption. This capacitive coupling technique for high-speed digital circuit has great potential in the coming future.

In the present thesis, we propose and investigate a new approach to diagnose the effects of the various degradation mechanisms, including thermal degradation at hot spots, winding deformations due to the mechanical forces from short circuit currents, partial discharges due to local electric field surges, and increased moisture levels in the cellulose insulation due to decomposition, that affect electric power transformers during their normal operation in an electric power grid. Although the proposed diagnostics method can in principle be used to detect various degradation mechanisms mentioned above, we focus in the present thesis on mechanical deformations of transformer winding structures. Such mechanical deformations are most often caused by mechanical forces from short circuit currents, but they may also be caused by initial manufacturing errors and inconsistencies not detected by the power transformers’ suppliers quality assurance processes. We model a transformer winding surrounded by the transformer-tank wall and the magnetic core as a two-dimensional parallel plate waveguide or as a three-dimensional coaxial waveguide, where one metallic boundary (plate or cylinder) represents the wall of the transformer tank and the other metallic boundary (plate or cylinder) represents the iron core that conducts the magnetic flux. In between there is a set of parallel or coaxial conductors representing the winding segments. The new principle proposed in the present thesis is to insert a number of antennas into a transformer tank to radiate and measure microwave fields interacting with metallic structures and insulation. The responses from the emitted microwave radiation are expected to be sensitive to material properties that reflect the changes caused by any harmful deterioration processes mentioned above. Specifically, we investigate the mechanical deformations of transformer winding structures by determining the locations of the individual winding segments or turns, using measurements of the scattered fields at both ends of the winding structure. We solve the propagation problem using conventional waveguide theory, including mode-matching and cascading techniques. The inverse problem is solved using modified steepest-descent optimization methods. The optimization model is tested by comparing our calculated scattering data with synthetic measurement data generated by the commercial program HFSS. A good agreement is obtained between the calculated and measured positions of winding segments for a number of studied cases, which indicates that the diagnostics method proposed in the present thesis couldbe potentially useful as a basis for the design of a future commercial on-line winding monitoring device. However, further development of the theoretical analysis of a number of typical winding deformations, improvements of the optimization algorithms and a practical study with measurements on an actual power transformer structure are all needed to make an attempt to design a commercial winding monitoring device feasible. / <p>QC 20131007</p>