Online interventions to help college students to improve the degree of integration of their argumentative synthesis

Writing an argumentative synthesis is a common but demanding task, consequently undergraduates require some instruction. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of two interventions on integrative argumentation: one of them was focused on the product features of argumentative texts; and the other one on the processes involved in the written argumentation. Sixty-six undergraduate students participated voluntarily. As an academic task, they were asked to write a pre-test synthesis after reading two sources which presented contradictory positions about an educational issue, then to read two new texts about a different but equivalent issue, and write a post-test synthesis following one of two types of instructional virtual environments. The instructions, implemented in Moodle, presented similar tools, employing videos, graphic organizers, and exercises. The first condition (n = 33) focused on the linguistic features while the second (n = 33), focused on the process, including explicit instruction and a script with critical questions to guide the reading and writing processes. In this study we have also analyzed how the students in the process condition answered some of the critical questions. The results show that the level of integration of the written products improved in both conditions, although this improvement was more pronounced in the process intervention. Nonetheless, the products that achieved medium and maximum integration were still limited. Despite the lack of a relationship between how students answered the critical questions and the level of integration in their post-test, the case analysis highlights certain educational implications and further research.

Testing the systems with fuzzy discrete components

Modern complex systems are build based on heterogeneous components with various interrela tionships, fuzziness, and uncertainty of the laws of functioning of the components and the system. An important class of such systems comprises hybrid intelligent systems, where the components are represented by analytical models of fuzzy objects, artifi cial neural networks, expert systems, etc. The article considers fuzzy discrete devices being, for example, part of hybrid systems. Fuzzy linear automata (FLA) introduced in the article are used as a mathematical model of such components. The problem of test synthesis for FLA used to detect faults in them is discussed. Normal single-stuck faults are permissible faults in FLA. The faults originating from the replacement of some elements of the FLA characteristic matrices with others (from a given set of alternative ones) are also permissible. Test synthesis methods for FLA belonging to the class of m-deterministic and synchronized automata, as well as arbitrary linear automata have been developed. The fi rst two methods are based on reducing the considered problem of solving systems of linear algebraic equations. It should be noted that there is a well-developed mathematical apparatus applying a few eff ective methods for searching for such solutions. The tests synthesized by these methods for m-deterministic and synchronized FLA are sufficiently short and do not exceed the memory depth of the corresponding automata. It is shown that the conditions for an FLA referring to the two fi rst classes mentioned above are not too strict. It is noted that the known methods of test synthesis for linear automata require compliance with much more stringent requirements. The synthesis method for arbitrary FLA also builds short tests

Simplified Vibration PSD Synthesis Method for MIL-STD-810

In MIL-STD-810, the environmental engineering consideration and laboratory tests by US military, the DP (damage potential) formula is used to calculate the fatigue damage by vibration environments which is a simplified version of a FDS (fatigue damage spectrum) formula. DP, however, was originally made for comparison between different test standards and is not an optimized formula for the synthesis of vibration environments. This paper presents the GRS (Gaussian Random Synthesis) formula for only vibration test synthesis featuring simplified DP formula and produce the same result as DP. Although the GRS provides insight into the synthesis of vibration tests, it must be used with care because it inherits the constraints of the original FDS formula.