Improving students’ use of argumentation is front and center in the increasing emphasis on scientific practice in K-12 Science and STEM programs. We explore the construct validity of scenario-based assessments of claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) and the structure of the CER construct with respect to a learning progression framework. We also seek to understand how middle school students progress. Establishing the purpose of an argument is a competency that a majority of middle school students meet, whereas quantitative reasoning is the most difficult, and the Rasch model indicates that the competencies form a unidimensional hierarchy of skills. We also find no evidence of differential item functioning between different scenarios, suggesting that multiple scenarios can be utilized in the context of a multi-level assessment framework for measuring the impacts of learning experiences on students’ argumentation.
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Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) is the technology of electronically extracting intended data from marked fields, such as squareand bubbles fields, on printed forms. OMR technology is particularly useful for applications in which large numbers of hand-filled forms need to be processed quickly and with a great degree of accuracy. The technique is particularly popular with schools and universities for the reading in of multiple choice exam papers. This paper proposed OMRbased on Modify Multi-Connect Architecture (MMCA) associative memory, its work in two phases: training phase and recognition phase. The proposed method was also able to detect more than one or no selected choice. Among 800 test samples with 8 types of grid answer sheets and tota
... Show MoreTreated effluent wastewater is considered an alternative water resource which can provide an important contribution for using it in different purposes, so, the wastewater quality is very important for knowing its suitability for different uses before discharging it into fresh water ecosystems. The wastewater quality index (WWQI) may be considered as a useful and effective tool to assess wastewater quality by indicating one value representing the overall characteristic of the wastewater. It could be used to indicate the suitability of wastewater for different uses in water quality management and decision making. The present study was conducted to evaluate the Al-Diwaniyah sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent quality based on wastewa
... Show MoreThis paper proposed a new method for network self-fault management (NSFM) based on two technologies: intelligent agent to automate fault management tasks, and Windows Management Instrumentations (WMI) to identify the fault faster when resources are independent (different type of devices). The proposed network self-fault management reduced the load of network traffic by reducing the request and response between the server and client, which achieves less downtime for each node in state of fault occurring in the client. The performance of the proposed system is measured by three measures: efficiency, availability, and reliability. A high efficiency average is obtained depending on the faults occurred in the system which reaches to
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This paper presents a hybrid energy resources (HER) system consisting of solar PV, storage, and utility grid. It is a challenge in real time to extract maximum power point (MPP) from the PV solar under variations of the irradiance strength. This work addresses challenges in identifying global MPP, dynamic algorithm behavior, tracking speed, adaptability to changing conditions, and accuracy. Shallow Neural Networks using the deep learning NARMA-L2 controller have been proposed. It is modeled to predict the reference voltage under different irradiance. The dynamic PV solar and nonlinearity have been trained to track the maximum power drawn from the PV solar systems in real time.
Moreover, the proposed controller i
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Background: The base of the denture is largely responsible for providing the prosthesis with retention, stability, and support by being closely adapted to the oral mucosa. However; the process of bone resorption is irreversible and may lead to an inadequate fit of the prosthesis; this can be overcome by relining. Materials and methods: Acrylic based soft denture liner is prepared by preparing polymer from purified methylmethacrylate monomer with (10-2) initiator and (30%) dibutylphthalate plasticizer concentrations. Biological properties were evaluated in comparison with the control material through subcutaneous specimens' implantation in the New Zealand rabbits. Excisional biopsies were taken after (1, 3, days 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks) period. Mic
... Show MoreThe synthesis, characterization and mesomorphic properties of two new series of triazine-core based liquid crystals have been investigated. The amino triazine derivatives were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), 1HNMR and mass spectroscopy. The liquid crystalline properties of these compounds were examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarizing optical microscopy (POM). DSC and POM confirmed nematic (N) and columnar mesophase textures of the materials. The formation of mesomorphic properties was found to be dependent on the number of methylene unit in alkoxy side chains.
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Twelve compounds containing a sulphur- or oxygen-based heterocyclic core, 1,3- oxazole or 1,3-thiazole ring with hydroxy, methoxy and methyl terminal substituent, were synthesized and characterized. The molecular structures of these compounds were performed by elemental analysis and different spectroscopic tequniques. The liquid crystalline behaviors were studied by using hot-stage optical polarizing microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. All compounds of 1,4- disubstituted benzene core with oxazole ring display liquid crystalline smectic A (SmA) mesophase. The compounds of 1,3- and 1,4-disubstituted benzene core with thiazole ring exhibit exclusively enantiotropic nematic liquid crystal phases.
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