Assessment of reliability and inherent risk levels of geogrid reinforced soil structures

Risk and Reliability in Geotechnical Engineerin

Active Learning is the Hook: Developing Information Literacy Dispositions in First-Year Calculus

Building dispositions values, attitudes, and habits of mind is an integral part of the learning process. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy provides suggested sets of dispositions for each information literacy concept. But what are some practical strategies we can use to develop student mindsets about information literacy? One way is to embed information literacy assignments into foundational courses that use active, student-centered teaching methods. This presentation will discuss a librarian-faculty collaboration at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where learn by doing library assignments are integrated into Inquiry-based Learning (IBL) Mathematics courses. Attendees will see sample assignments and student work that demonstrates how information literacy dispositions fit well with assignments on effective thinking, and take away ideas for finding new footholds in the curriculum

Problems and Possibilities: Emergent Bilinguals and Multimodalities

This commentary and review focuses on my teaching and research experiences with Mexican-heritage youths in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, alongside Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. Most of these youths were emergent bilinguals of poverty. I argue that high-stakes testing environments limited their experiences in diverse sign systems, including technology, in and out of school. These youths engaged in entertainment and friendship uses of technology outside of school, even though most had access to up-to-date digital tools at home for more higher-order technology use. They did not appear to have mentors or teachers who taught them to use digital tools beyond consumption and drill and practice, or who taught them how to explore multimodal texts for academic reasons. Also, I highlight promising multimodal and digital practices in and out of school to demonstrate the transformative potential of these semiotic tools

That question\u27s out of my part: Shakespeare\u27s original practices and the effect of surprise

This thesis is an exploration of Shakespeare\u27s original performance conditions and rehearsal techniques, including part-scripts, early modern staging, Original Pronunciation, and period costuming. It describes a production of Twelfth Night researched and put into practice with the Wellesley College Shakespeare Society in the fall of 2015, and what can be learned about the use of original practices with modern actors

Promising digital practices for nondominant learners

This case study took place during an after-school program in a public Texas school district along the U.S./Mexico border. We explore a focal participant’s technology access and use as part of our larger digital literacy research. We asked: What in- and out-of-school digital literacy skills, access, and experiences did Robot Boy (pseudonym) possess? How did he behave as a rhizome? Overarching theoretical frameworks were postmodernism and New Literacy Studies; within these theories, we focused on rhizomic principles and digital literacies. This research is part of a larger mixed methods research study (Bussert-Webb & Henry, 2016) focused on an exploration of Latino children’s digital literacy and online reading. Data sources included participant observation, interviews, and the Digital Divide Measurement Scale for Students (DDMS-S). Interviewees included 16 children (including Robot Boy) and six Latino staff; 310 children (87% Latino) responded to the DDMS-S. Emerging qualitative themes were Robot Boy’s responses to rhizomic rupture. Robot Boy, a bilingual and biliterate middle school youth, demonstrated promising digital practices, which we can apply to other nondominant learners. He assigned rupture by reworking restrictive maps, collaborating with others, and valuing diversity to create multiple pathways

Revised Generalized System of Preferences: Instant Replay or a Real Change

This article will discuss in detail the GSP in the United States. Ini- tially, it will examine the salient features of the original GSP program and subsequently the legislative hearings culminating in the extension of the GSP program. Finally, the article will explore the renewed version of the GSP and discuss its application

The LibRAT Program at Cal Poly: Full Partners in Peer Learning

The LibRAT Program at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo was first piloted in 2010. Although the program has expanded in scope and depth, the key to its continued success has been a commitment to core principles discovered during its initial launch. To this day, the LibRATs (Library Reference Assistance Technicians) form a small cadre of intensively trained students who are treated with respect as adults and as undergraduates. Communication, learning, and responsibility are multidirectional, and the LibRATs are full partners in the success of the program. The original design of the program was to post students in residence halls to provide research assistance, but this model failed to generate research questions. However, we discovered the LibRATs to be an untapped resource and we were determined to find ways to repurpose them. In 2011, unforeseen librarian leaves created a staffing shortfall, and we found a solution ready at hand: LibRATs. Within one year, the LibRATs were full partners in providing research assistance and in leading lower-division information literacy sessions. As research assistants, LibRATs now staff all Research Help Desk and local chat hours at the Robert E. Kennedy Library. The LibRATs also now lead more than one hundred instructional sessions per year. The rapid and sustained growth of our instruction program made possible by the LibRATs’ participation resoundingly justified the hiring of a foundational experiences librarian, who now coordinates the instructional component of the LibRAT program

Revised Generalized System of Preferences: Instant Replay or a Real Change

This article will discuss in detail the GSP in the United States. Ini- tially, it will examine the salient features of the original GSP program and subsequently the legislative hearings culminating in the extension of the GSP program. Finally, the article will explore the renewed version of the GSP and discuss its application