An educational incubator in Purdue University's Polytechnic Institute has been experimenting with highly integrated methods to facilitate, assess, and evaluate student learning. Comprised of transdisciplinary faculty and students, one of the basic covenants is to intentionally and repeatedly balance Humanities and STEM concepts by way of open-ended problems affecting humanity and the planet. The learning experience environment tries to integrate faculty and students from widely different disciplines in scenarios where cognitive and metacognitive development is encouraged and explored. This special session will engage attendees in examples of activities that can help students become self-aware of the power of music on their physiology and imagination while also integrating problem-solving and other STEM related concepts. Participants will take away ideas and techniques that they can add to their own palette for fostering integrated learning and metacognitive development. This session aligns with FIE's focus on innovations in classroom techniques.

One of the first artifacts produced by a massive multi-year education transformation effort has been the launching of a one-of-a-kind program focused on transdisciplinary studies that goes well beyond conventional notions of disciplines. One of the main thrusts of the transformation was to intentionally and repeatedly integrate STEM and Humanities learning and outcome assessment of skills and abilities needed for the 21 st century. The challenges of creating and sustaining systemic shifts in culture and operational systems at a large campus have been many, and sometimes controversial. This special session will provide attendees with information and active engagement in a dialog about the motivations, design, and implementation of significant systemic change. Attendees will take away insights not only from what is presented, but also active engagement in transdisciplinary conversations. This session aligns with FIE's focus on innovations in program design and classroom techniques.

A challenge facing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) higher education programs in the United States is an over-specification and over-emphasis of STEM content at the expense of what are sometimes collectively known as "soft skills" or "twenty-first century skills": critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, self-reflection, ethical thinking, cultural awareness, etc. The Purdue Polytechnic Institute's proposed Transdisciplinary Studies in Technology (TST) degree is an attempt to reintegrate these essential skills into the STEM curriculum in a substantive and comprehensive manner.In the TST program, in addition to taking both core requirement courses and domain-specific courses, learners will engage in a sequence of eight humanities seminar courses and eight STEM design studio courses which will be loosely linked through annual and per-semester themes. Learners will demonstrate integration of cross-domain skills (including design thinking, information literacy, ethical reasoning, teamwork and social interaction, among others) through portfolios comprised of their work and self assessments, critiqued by peers, faculty, and outside respondents at regular intervals.Combining elements of competency-based education as well as seminar and studio pedagogical practices, we believe Purdue University's Transdisciplinary Studies in Technology degree is a comprehensive new approach to STEM and transdisciplinary learning. To test this, a full-time evaluation team has been tasked with monitoring student progress, assessing instructional design efficacy, and gathering qualitative and quantitative data to shed light on research questions related to instructional design and pedagogy. This presentation will briefly examine the three major pedagogical approaches (competency-based education, the seminar model, and the studio model) and the rationale behind their implementation and integration in the TST degree. One primary rationale: student self assessment and observations of critiques of peers has a calibration effect on self-monitoring of knowledge acquisition; presenters will discuss the instruments and processes developed for Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 for collecting data pertinent to measuring the validity of this assumption which underlies the deployment of portfolios and the studio pedagogical model.

The U.S. Department of Education (DoE) asserts that one way to improve student achievement is to consider competency-based learning. The DoE describes competency-based learning as "a structure that creates flexibility, allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning." Competency-based learning focuses on outcomes and skill-sets. Students are encouraged to learn in a way that allows them to employ reproducible skills sets to generate tangible outcomes.Our group is early in an initiative to provide alternative learning environments in STEM higher education. The group consists of faculty from several academic units including liberal arts, libraries, and technology. One of the learning experiences currently being tested involves the tight coupling of all forms of communication and information literacy with technological skills and concepts. We develop an integrated learning experience that cultivates learner's capacities of interpersonal communication and social and cultural awareness in a seminar environment.We will describe our process of generating competencies from AAC&U inspired rubrics and how these were mapped to learning outcomes and learning activities in the seminar environment. The institutional (and in some cases legal) constraints associated with the spirit of competency-based learning will be discussed.

Run time variability of parallel applications continues to present significant challenges to their performance and energy efficiency in high-performance computing (HPC) systems. When run times are extended and unpredictable, application developers perceive this as a degradation of system (or subsystem) performance. Extended run times directly contribute to proportionally higher energy consumption, potentially negating efforts by applications, or the HPC system, to optimize energy consumption using low-level control techniques, such as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS). Therefore, successful systemic management of application run time performance can result in less wasted energy, or even energy savings. We have been studying run time variability in terms of communication time, from the perspective of the application, focusing on the interconnection network. More recently, our focus has shifted to developing a more complete understanding of the effects of HPC subsystem interactions on parallel applications. In this context, the set of executing applications on the HPC system is treated as a subsystem, along with more traditional subsystems like the communication subsystem, storage subsystem, etc. To gain insight into the run time variability problem, our earlier work developed a framework to emulate parallel applications (PACE) that stresses the communication subsystem. Evaluation of run time sensitivity to network performance of real applications is performed with a tool called PARSE, which uses PACE. In this paper, we propose a model defining application-level behavioral attributes , that collectively describes how applications behave in terms of their run time performance, as functions of their process distribution on the system (spacial locality), and subsystem interactions (communication subsystem degradation). These subsystem interactions are produced when multiple applications execute concurrently on the same HPC system. We also revisit our evaluation framework and tools to demonstrate the flexibility of our application characterization techniques, and the ease with which attributes can be quantified. The validity of the model is demonstrated using our tools with several parallel benchmarks and application fragments. Results suggest that it is possible to articulate application-level behavioral attributes as a tuple of numeric values that describe course-grained performance behavior.

Context aware Physical Activity (PA) monitoring of humans is important for the study of diseases associated with obesity and lack of physical activity. This paper introduces a wearable context aware PA monitoring device which determines if the user is indoors or outside in situations of disrupted Global Positioning System (GPS) reception. In addition to a GPS sensor, multiple light and temperature sensors were added to our PA monitoring device. Differences in inside and outside temperature and the intensity of light are used to distinguish the context of location. Location, Light and temperature values were recorded using a controlled route during a period of 20 days in January and February. One of the non-parametric pattern recognition techniques (K-nearest neighbors) was used to classify indoor and outdoor conditions based on the combination of sensor values. Results show that the K-nearest neighbors algorithm could distinguish indoor and outdoor conditions during daytime and nighttime with the error of 0.003.

Run time variability of parallel applications continues to be a significant challenge in high performance computing (HPC) systems. We are currently studying run time variability in the context of both systemic performance and energy management. Our perspective is from that of the application, focusing on the interactions of the inter-process communication system on the set of concurrently executing parallel applications. In such a scenario, application run time can be extended and become highly variable. While some applications may be more sensitive to these interactions, others may in fact be generating the interactions that cause inconsistent run time, thus forming the notion of application-level behavioral attributes. To gain insight into this problem, our earlier work developed a framework that emulates parallel applications, called PACE. We also introduced a Parallel Application Run time Sensitivity Evaluation (PARSE) function that uses the PACE framework to study the run time effects of controlled network performance degradation on applications. Inter-process communication has evolved over the last decade from network communication between single-processor, single-core nodes to hybrid systems whose compute nodes contain several multi-core processor units. Motivated by the evolution of compute hardware and systems software, this work introduces PARSE 2.0, which is a nearly complete re-write that extends PARSE capabilities to include fully automating the processes of evaluating and quantifying run time critical parallel application-level behavioral attributes. We present an overview of the tool and the attributes being evaluated, and present experimental results from tests conducted on several widely used parallel benchmarks and application code fragments. The results re-enforce our earlier work, demonstrating that parallel applications can be classified according to their behavioral attributes, in the context of communication system resources.

The linguistic demand of spoken instructions on individually administered norm-referenced psychological and educational tests is of concern when examining individuals who have varying levels of language processing ability or varying cultural backgrounds. The authors present a new method for analyzing the level of verbosity, complexity, and total demand of spoken directions for individually administered test batteries. This preliminary methodological investigation suggests it is possible, and relatively easy, to gather useful empirical information regarding the complexity of spoken test directions using existing (readily available) text readability programs. It is suggested that best practice for individually administered psychological and educational tests may benefit from including this information when tests are published and/or compared.

The growth of calcium alginate (Ca-alginate) clusters and its sol–gel transition phenomena were simulated with a population balance model. The classical statistical concept proposed by Flory–Stockmayer has been adopted and incorporated by the factor of cyclic structures formation into the model. Ca-alginate gelation was described as a random cross-linking of multifunctional monochains. The resulting discretized kinetic equations were solved numerically by parallel computation. After demonstrating the accuracy of this model, the effect of the cyclic structure, the reaction rate constants and the physical properties of the reactants (i.e., alginate and gelling agent of Ca2+ ions) were examined. The present work clarifies the mechanisms for forming ionotropic Ca-alginate gels and presents the concentration ranges where the transition between the sol state and the gel state occurs. The model allows for the estimation of the relative magnitude of stepwise reaction rate constants and the prediction of the sol–gel transition boundary. Finally, a reasonable agreement was obtained between the experimental results and model predictions.

U.S. universities with an interest in having students study at European universities need to understand the value of courses at those universities relative to credits at U.S. universities. The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) were mandated by the Bologna Declaration in 1999 and are part of a strategic plan for creating an integration of the higher education systems in Europe by the end of the year 2010. The ECTS is an important part of this overall effort since its intent is to allow students to transfer credits among the diverse universities in different European countries. The countries involved in the EHEA are not limited to, nor all-inclusive of, member countries of the European Union (EU).The process leading to the ECTS has been reasonably well accepted by European systems. As noted by the European Students Union (1), "The three-cycle system (bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees) and the ECTS are among the prime examples of successes of the Bologna Process."One significant difference between ECTS credits and typical U.S. university credits is that an ECTS credit includes not only lecture and laboratory times but also individual out-of-class work and exam times. According to the current ECTS system a 15 weeks semester of higher education corresponds to approximately 30 credits.As a beginning comparison between U.S. and European systems (2), "Regarding undergraduate degrees, there is a clear trend across Europe toward assigning between 180 and 240 ECTS credits, equaling 3 to 4 years of full-time study, while graduate degrees at Master level normally carry 60-120 ECTS credits".This paper will discuss some of the variations in both courses and degrees, including the three-year bachelor degree. It will also discuss ways for U.S. institutions to understand possible equivalencies between the U.S. and ECTS systems.1. ... The European Students Union (2010). "Bologna at the Finish Line-An Account of Ten Years of European Union."2. Martin, MJM (2008). "New Trends in Electrical and Information Engineering Higher Education in Europe.

Omnidirectional antennas are often used for radio frequency (RF) communication in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Outside noise, electromagnetic interference (EMI), overloaded network traffic, large obstacles (vegetation and buildings), terrain and atmospheric composition, along with climate patterns can degrade signal quality in the form of data packet loss or reduced RF communication range. This paper explores the RF range reduction properties of a particular WSN designed to operate in agricultural crop fields to collect aggregate data composed of subsurface soil moisture and soil temperature. Our study, using simulation, anechoic and field measurements shows that the effect of antenna placement close to the ground (within 10 cm) signi?cantly changes the omnidirectional transmission pattern. We then develop and propose a prediction method that is more precise than current practices of using the Friis and Fresnel equations. Our prediction method takes into account environmental properties for RF communication range based on the height of nodes and gateways.

Large-scale High Performance Computing (HPC) systems continue to be designed and constructed to extend performance beyond Petascales using monolithic, cluster, and distributed architectures and emerging multi-core Central Processing Unit (CPU) technologies. As these machines grow so too does the size and variety of applications that run on them. Yet power management and interconnection performance are of great and mounting concern, and to date, the understanding of HPC subsystem interactions and their relationships to power efficiency remains less than desirable. Furthermore, Executive Order 13423 was issued in January of 2007 in an effort to ensure that Federal agencies operate in an environmentally, economically, and fiscally sound manner. It mandates a 30% reduction in energy intensity (MBTUs per square foot) of government facilities in the FY06-15 timeframe using FY03 as a baseline. Two major drawbacks hinder their ability to sustain consistent run time and energy efficient performance: (1) major subsystems interact with each other, often at the expense of unpredictable application run time and energy consumption, and (2) increased power density of these machines complicates the space, power, and cooling problem, resulting in partial or full system down time, further exacerbating run time unpredictability. We believe that one fundamental reason for the above limitations is the operational isolation of loosely coupled subsystems. While the development of subsystems in isolation has been the dominant model for decades, it is inherently unsuitable for ensuring consistent and sustainable systemic performance. We propose that the collection of HPC sub-systems, including the set of running applications must be collaborative in nature, and as such the HPC systems full potential is limited by subsystem isolation and autonomous actions to improve their individual subsystem performance. This paper describes an approach for using “Application-Level Behavioral Attribute Driven Techniques” to characterize HPC subsystem interactions into meaningful metrics and correlates that can be used as inputs to algorithms to control large-scale behaviors (job schedulers, routers, and HVAC systems) as well as smaller-scale behaviors such as CPU frequency and voltage scaling to achieve improved run time and energy efficiency to help satisfy Executive Order 13423.

Educational programs in engineering and engineering technology have been developed to address many technical aspects associated with computers. Computer Engineering programs typically focus on the theoretical foundations related to machine and algorithm designs used to develop computers, producing highly skilled design and research engineers. Computer Engineering Technology (CpET) programs span a wide range of focus, from hardware and software development principles and practices to the latest advances in “applications”. Other programs tend to focus on Information Technology concepts and practices for the enterprise. This paper compares and contrasts CpET to other forms of computer, information, and network technology academic disciplines. We identify educational gaps that can be filled by 4-year CpET programs using the 2004 IEEE and ACM Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula “Body of Knowledge” for computer engineering, industry input, and institutional factors. This work also captures situations where combining CET and IT-centric disciplines can be useful to academic institutions, students and employers.

Beowulf clusters are now deployed worldwide, chiefly in support of scientific computing. Beowulf clusters yield high computing performance, yet they also pose several challenges: (1) heat-induced hardware failure makes large scale commodity clusters fail quite frequently and (2) cost effectiveness of the Beowulf cluster is challenged by the fact that it lacks means of adapting its power state according to varying work load. This paper addresses these issues by developing a Power and Environment Awareness Module (PEAM) for a Beowulf cluster. The busty nature of computation load in an academic environment inspired the implementation and analysis of a fixed timeout Dynamic Power Management (DPM) policy. Today it is common that many Beowulf clusters in academic environment are composed of older, recycled nodes that may lack of out-of-band management technologies, thus Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and Wake-on-LAN (WOL) technology is exploited to control the power state of cluster nodes. A data center environment monitoring system that uses Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) technology is developed and deployed to realize environment awareness of the cluster. Our PEAM module has been implemented on our cluster at Purdue University, reducing the operational cost and increasing the reliability of the cluster by reducing heat generation and optimizing workload distribution in an environment aware manner.

This study examined the relative contributions of measures of Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) cognitive abilities in explaining writing achievement. Drawing from samples that covered the age range of 7 to 18 years, simultaneous multiple regression was used to regress scores from the Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ 111; Woodcock. McGrew, & Mather, 2001) that represent CHC broad and narrow abilities onto the WJ III Basic Writing Skills and Written Expression cluster scores. At most age levels, Comprehension-Knowledge demonstrated moderate to strong effects on both writing clusters, Processing Speed demonstrated moderate effects on Basic Writing Skills and moderate to strong effects on Written Expression, and Short-Term Memory demonstrated moderate effects. At the youngest age levels, Long-Term Retrieval demonstrated moderate to strong effects on Basic Writing Skills and moderate effects on Written Expression. Auditory Processing, and Phonemic Awareness demonstrated moderate effects on only Written Expression at the youngest age levels and at some of the oldest age levels. Fluid Reasoning demonstrated moderate effects on both writing clusters only during some of the oldest age levels. Visual-Spatial Thinking primarily demonstrated negligible effects. The results provide insights into the cognitive abilities most important for understanding the writing skills of children during the school-age years. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.