11-14 of 14 results

  • Argumentative Knowledge Construction in Asynchronous Calculus Discussion Boards

    PI Zackery Reed

    CO-I Darryl Chamberlain

    CO-I Karen Keene

    Social learning tasks can provide additional cognitive benefits to students. These tasks are necessarily different in an asynchronous environment though. Our proposed study will investigate how instructors can encourage students to socially construct knowledge during asynchronous discussions. 



    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • An Empirical Study of the Evolution of Homeland Security Definitions in Federal Documents

    PI Alexander Siedschlag

    CO-I Andrea Jerkovic

    This ongoing empirical study (quantitative systematic review) systematically tracks the evolution of official homeland security definitions from related federal strategies, frameworks, guidelines, the Quadrennial Homeland Security Reviews (QHSRs), enterprise agencies’ strategic plans, and pertinent legislation. Continuing and changing ingredients of the sprouting public policy and strategy definition of homeland security will be identified.

    Twenty years after 9/11, the field of homeland security has benefited from several conceptual studies. Those assessed and made recommendations on main domains of homeland security from scholastic and normative viewpoints, how the concept of homeland security should be mirrored in curriculum development, evolution, and program learning outcomes, and what competencies a homeland security graduate, scholar, and educated practitioner needs. However, few studies and texbooks address the evolution of the term of homeland security in the homeland security era from 9/11 to now. While valuable analyses of how homeland security predates and transcends 9/11 have increased, systematic study of how the concept and meaning of homeland security have evolved over the past 20 years continues to be scarce. This ongiong empirical study (quantitative systematic review) systematically tracks the evolution of official homeland security definitions from related federal strategies, frameworks, guidelines, the Quadrennial Homeland Security Reviews (QHSRs), enterprise agencies’ strategic plans, and pertinent legislation. Continuing and changing ingredients of the sprouting public policy and strategy definition of homeland security will be identified.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Comparison of Classic Guerrilla Warfare With So-Called Fourth-Generation Warfare Using Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation

    PI Jerry Sink

    CO-I Mark Abdollahian

    Fourth-Generation Warfare (4GW) theory shares many characteristics of classical guerrilla theory (CGW) in security studies literature. Proponents claim that 4GW is a significant evolution that overturns traditional measures of military power, while critics counter that 4GW is simply CGW in an updated context. The two strategies are modeled in an agent-based simulation to evaluate similarities and differences in speed to victory and territory controlled over. Emergent behaviors are compared with historical data.



    So-called Fourth-Generation Warfare (4GW) as described by numerous military scholars shares many characteristics of guerrilla tactics in the classical literature, as described by SunTzu, Wellington, Clausewitz, Mao, and Giap. Proponents of 4GW claim that its development has significantly altered the ratio of strength of industrialized and guerrilla forces, and thus the likelihood of "weaker" forces (as measured in previous military contexts) prevailing against forces assessed by traditional measures as stronger. Critics point to a lack of intellectual rigor in defining the salient characteristics of 4GW, and charge that it is simply a re-statement of classical guerrilla war (CGW) tactics, albeit with improved communications and propaganda capabilities, along with a social media cultural context.

    This project, which is the topic of the forthcoming PhD dissertation of the author, models CGW and 4GW in an agent-based simulation using NetLogo software in order to explore the differences in time to victory and increased area of territory controlled of CGW and 4GW forces against their respective industrialized and information-age conventional opponents. Expected results include emergent behaviors that offer insights into the similarities and differences of CGW. These are compared to historical data to determine if 4GW is indeed a significant military evolution that threatens to upend traditional measures of military superiority, or if it is merely an adaptation of old tactics to a new context. 

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Eaglet: Writing Center and Tutoring Program

    CO-I Wendi Kappers

    The purpose of this research is to develop and implement a fully functioning writing center for the Embry-Riddle Worldwide student body. The program will consist of a tutoring service to aid students with grammatically correct writing, forming coherent arguments, and properly addressing the specific objectives of the paper.

    While writing tutor programs are routine at residential campuses, they are not for online programs, such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Worldwide Campus. In the fall of 2013, the English department and the Rothwell Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) distributed a needs assessment survey to the Embry-RIddle Aeronautical University- Worldwide faculty for the potential need of an online writing center. The results from the needs assessment showed 80 percent of respondents indicated that they thought ERAU needed a writing center, and another 15 percent answered that maybe there was a need. 

    In January 2014, a pilot project was initiated that matched live tutors with students in three different online courses. Data collected from students, tutors, and instructors illuminated program successes, as well as ways to improve pilot implementations scheduled in future terms. The pilot included three courses taught in different modalities, from different colleges, and targeting different levels of students. Students submitted drafts of assignments via email, and tutors responded with feedback and comments within 48 hours. Types of feedback focused on organization, meeting assignment parameters, APA documentation and formatting, plagiarism avoidance, and language use and punctuation.

    This is an on-going investigation until the determination is made about the need to create a Writing Center and what will be needed to support it in terms of staffing and services. Original findings were disseminated at the 2014 Lilly Conference held in Oxford, Ohio, hosted by Miami University and are planned to continue until the establishment of a center takes place or another mechanism is selected. 

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

11-14 of 14 results