Massive Open Program Evaluation

Given the complexity of developing programs, services, policies, and support for e-learning, leaders may find it challenging to regularly evaluate programs to improve quality. Are there new opportunities to expand user and stakeholder input, or involve others in e-learning program evaluation? This chapter asks researchers and practitioners to rethink existing paradigms and methods for program evaluation. Crowdsourced input may help leaders and stakeholders address persistent evaluation challenges and improve e-learning quality, especially in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). After reviewing selected evaluation paradigms, models, and methods, this chapter offers a possible role for crowdsourced input. This chapter examines the topics of crowd definition, affordances, and problems, to begin a taxonomical framework with possible applications for e-learning. The goal is to provide a reference for advancing the discussion and examination of crowdsourced input.

Massive Open Program Evaluation

Given the complexity of developing programs, services, policies, and support for e-learning, leaders may find it challenging to regularly evaluate programs to improve quality. Are there new opportunities to expand user and stakeholder input, or involve others in e-learning program evaluation? This chapter asks researchers and practitioners to rethink existing paradigms and methods for program evaluation. Crowdsourced input may help leaders and stakeholders address persistent evaluation challenges and improve e-learning quality, especially in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). After reviewing selected evaluation paradigms, models, and methods, this chapter offers a possible role for crowdsourced input. This chapter examines the topics of crowd definition, affordances, and problems, to begin a taxonomical framework with possible applications for e-learning. The goal is to provide a reference for advancing the discussion and examination of crowdsourced input.

Uma Arte do Encontro

RESUMO A partir da abertura para pesquisas dos arquivos da segunda parte da vida de Grotowski, este texto se debruça sobre as concepções de teatro do mestre polonês, nas quais ele o descreve como a arte do encontro. Trata-se, ao mesmo tempo, de colocar essa proposição nas interrogações de uma época e de mostrar como esse encontro é o anátema que reverterá as perspectivas tanto sobre a arte do ator, quanto sobre a criação e as relações teatrais. Enfim, essas pesquisas sobre o teatro como arte do encontro têm continuidade hoje por intermédio do Open Program, um dos dois grupos do Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards e, notadamente, suas criações em torno do poeta americano Allen Ginsberg, autor cuja poesia pretende, da mesma forma, um encontro com o outro e com o mundo.

Artificial insemination: ethical and legal issues

Ethical and legal issues related to artificial insemination (AI) are considered. The psychological problems of children conceived with the help of AI with donor sperm according to an anonymous or open program are discussed. Attention is drawn to the peculiarities of the legal aspects of preliminary cryopreservation of sperm of young cancer patients who are to undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy, as well as military personnel of special risk. The article describes the legal difficulties of posthumous reproduction that arise when AI is performed with the sperm of a deceased husband. The position of the Orthodox Church on the issues under consideration is stated.

Improvement Geometrical Precision in Sheet Incremental Forming Processes

Incremental forming is nowadays increasing its presence in industry as a new but interesting process, especially for production of small batches or unique components. Anyway, relevant efforts have to be spent in order to reduce the typical incremental forming processes drawbacks that risk to belittle the high advantages in terms of costs and simplicity. In fact, the process duration, usually equal to several minutes even if the operations are carried out on high speed numerical controlled units, and a certain tendency to produce no precise parts, can reduce industrial interest about incremental forming. A possible strategy to reduce the latter item is the design of modified trajectories able to take into account both the springback effects and the stiffness reduction due to the particular clamping equipment. In this paper the above introduced strategy is pursued integrating an on-line measuring system, based on a digital inspector, and a CNC open program. The actual geometry is acquired in some remarkable points and a compensation routine modifies the coordinates of the future punch path. The modification policy has been developed by using an effective FE code. An experimental verification shows the good potentiality of the suggested methodology.

FIRST-CLASS CONTEXTS IN ML

This paper develops an ML-style programming language with first-class contexts i.e. expressions with holes. The crucial operation for contexts is hole-filling. Filling a hole with an expression has the effect of dynamic binding or macro expansion which provides the advanced feature of manipulating open program fragments. Such mechanisms are useful in many systems including distributed/mobile programming and program modules. If we can treat a context as a first-class citizen in a programming language, then we can manipulate open program fragments in a flexible and seamless manner. A possibility of such a programming language was shown by the theory of simply typed context calculus developed by Hashimoto and Ohori. This paper extends the simply typed system of the context calculus to an ML-style polymorphic type system, and gives an operational semantics and a sound and complete type inference algorithm.