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Public Pupil Pizza Project/Pre-Algebra and Spreadsheets

'''Note: The development of this concept has moved to the Effective Education Project. This page is being left for archive purposes.'''

Introduction
PizzaPre-Algebra and Spreadsheets is a standards-based curriculum that is being developed to create a more effective pre-algebra course than traditional curriculums. It will include a textbook, lesson plans, handouts, and additional online resources.

From an educational perspective, the teaching of mathematics has two primary purposes. One is to give students mathematical tools that can benefit them in their lives and careers, and the other is to help students learn to think logically. The Pizza Pre-Algebra curriculum goes beyond traditional curriculums in both of these areas.

Most pre-algebra curriculums emphasize the mechanics of the mathematics, but only show part of how it can be applied. And the applications that are shown are fragmented from each other. Pizza Pre-Algebra and Spreadsheets helps learners to see direct real world uses of pre-algebra while at the same time learning correct mechanics, and this is demonstrated through a consistent set of real world examples. Students also will learn how to enhance their mathematical skills through the use of spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel or Open Office Calc.

Pizza Pre-Algebra and Spreadsheets also helps to train students’ minds to think logically. Traditionally this is not emphasized in pre-algebra but only taught in higher mathematics when the concept of a proof is introduced. In the Pizza Pre-Algebra curriculum students will continually see examples of data-guided decision making, and apply this same principle to all the work they do. By doing this they will continually get practice in the critical thinking skills that can help them not stay competitive in the 21st global job market, both in business and in science. These critical thinking skills are also a solid foundation for students to be able to understand higher mathematics including proofs and/or enter into higher education.

Further this course teaches some important topics that are missing from traditional curriculums, including a discussion of binary, hexadecimal, and Boolean algebra. These concepts are critical to understanding how computers operate, and thus are important to anyone who wants to become a computer programmer, technician, web page designer, or database administrator. Statistics will also be emphasized more than in a traditional pre-algebra class.

The curriculum is divided into units which correspond to the lifecycle of a small business. These include the planning process of opening a business, operating the business, making an e-business by having a website, and improving the business through analyzing the data and doing business intelligence. Through these stages students will learn all of the areas of mathematics that California has set in its 6th Grade and 7th grade mathematics standards.

How Information is Taught

 * Students are shown examples and do exercises for a fictitious pizza restaurant.
 * Students then create their own restaurant and do exercises for it.
 * Beyond Business: Students think and learn about what other areas use this math

What is Taught

 * Pre-Algebra
 * Entrepreneurialism
 * Spreadsheets
 * Computer Concepts
 * Business Intelligence & Data Driven Decisions
 * Problem Solving & Critical Thinking Skills

Unit - Thinking about Logistics
Logistics of the Location needs to be added more, like how many people can fit. Also, maybe some construction projects can be added to reinforce some geometry, and teach the pythag theorem and do triangles, etc.

Unit - Operating the Business

 * 1) Sales Tax
 * 2) Percentage Increase
 * 3) Order of Operations
 * 4) Grand Opening Sale
 * 5) Percentage Decrease
 * 6) Promotions and Give Aways and Buy one get one free, etc

Unit - Hiring Employees

 * Estimating Employee Productivity || Rates
 * Employee Wages || Rates
 * Employee Taxes || Percentages
 * Employee Taxes || Percentages
 * Employee Taxes || Percentages

Unit - Going Online (Making an E-Business)

 * 1) What are we going to do with our website?
 * 2) How much will the website cost?
 * 3) Hourly Rates of Designer
 * 4) Data Storage Sizes for Text, Pictures, Sound & Video
 * 5) Different Base Systems (Binary vs Decimal)
 * 6) Powers
 * 7) Scientific Notation

Unit - Improving Business (Business Intelligence)

 * 1) Accounting in Spreadsheet
 * 2) Database in Spreadsheet
 * 3) Analyzing Database
 * 4) Boolean Algebra
 * 5) More Statistics
 * 6) Graphs (lines and Parabolas)
 * 7) Absolute Values?

Sample Lessons
Note: This section should be moved into WikiBooks once the Units get Outlined

Lesson 1 – Introducing Jane

Jane has always dreamed of opening her own pizza parlor. She LOVES pizza. She has been eating pizza since she was a kid, and started cooking her own pizzas while a teenager. As an adult she decided that she would start her own business.

Like any potential business owner she wanted her business to succeed. She realized in order to succeed in business she needed to have the right tools, and know how to use them. Very early on in the process, Jane realized that she was going to need to know a lot more about math in order to successfully start her business. Through this book we will be following her life, and learning along with her about the mathematics required in this type of venture.

You will also be planning your own imaginary restaurant in the process, following some of the examples you learn from Jane’s business. You will also learn how to apply these mathematical tools to other parts of your life. In your future, you may not opt to ever create your own business, but by better understanding the process of how business works, you will be able to be a more capable employee, and have more power over your personal life.

Jane realized that in order to succeed in business she needed to make sure that she made good decisions. But she quickly realized that she wouldn’t truly know whether a decision was good or bad until after she made it. She knew that was about as good as gambling and that there must be a method she could use to help make sure her decisions were good.

Jane started reading business books about how to start her own company, and found out about the idea called data guided decisions. The concept was very simple, before making a decision a person should try to gather as much relevant information as possible and analyze that information to try and figure out which decision would be the most likely to lead to success. This concept of understanding a business and its environment is also often called Business Intelligence or BI for short.

Throughout this textbook you will see examples of how data can guide the decision making process. This is basically the scientific process, but used for business.

Jane also knew that she didn’t want to do all the mathematics by hand. So she bought a computer, and put a spreadsheet program on it. A spreadsheet program is basically a very advanced calculator that allows you to put information in a grid, and calculate automatically different entries in that grid. Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice Calc are two very popular spreadsheet programs. In this book we will try to use examples that will work in nearly any spreadsheet program. In the back of this book you will find a CD that contains OpenOffice that you can install on your home computer if you wish. Lesson 1 Questions:

1. Describe what “Data Guided Decision Making” means: 2. Why might you want to use a spreadsheet program? 3. Start thinking about what type of imaginary restaurant you might want to open. Write down several different ideas you may have: 4. Do you think Data Guided Decision Making can help out in personal decisions as well as business decisions? Explain your answer.

Lesson 2 – Thinking up a Name


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Talk:Introduction to Math for computer programming

The original content for this page originated at Topic:Math for computer programming. --JWSchmidt 17:05, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

More content - but what to cover?
Hello,

Well done for starting the page, and getting some content on it. However, it obviously needs to cover more than just number theory in order to be useful. I think the best way to help new programmers with maths is to give examples and suggestions of problems which are common to experienced programmers.

Linear Algebra, for example, has plenty of applications in programming. It is relevant to search engine theory, 3D programming, sequences (no more recursive fibonacci functions :-) ), and probably a whole lot more.

I have occasionally used techniques that fit into the "linear algebra" category while programming, but I've never had to use any calculus, so I would recommend new programmers to pick up a book on Linear Algebra (this one is good: Linear Algebra and Its Applications, by Gilbert Strang) rather than a calculus book. That's obviously just my experience, but if lots of people add comments, then perhaps we could construct a table of "What you want to do" => "Which topic of maths you should look into".

Cheers, Colin

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Talk:Introduction to the Planets/Introduction

I suggest that images not be shown on a page at very large sizes. Usually 400 pixels across is enough. If people want to see the full size, they can click on the small version of the image. --JWSchmidt 17:13, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * This is in the main namespace. It needs to be moved to be a sub-page somewhere.  The Jade Knight 02:44, 30 June 2007 (UTC)


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User:Mu301/Learning blog/2006-12

First thoughts (mostly on astronomy learning)
Note: the contents of this section have been copied to Observational astronomy/Planning to encourage participation in the development of these ideas.

 * First, a little background... I used to work at a planetarium and I now work at an observatory.  One of the problems at an observatory is that a public education program requires clear skies to see objects through the telescope.  (There are always clear skies in a planetarium :)  I decided to create an activity that uses computers as a sort of virtual observatory.  This would not only create a rainy night activity but it would also bring astronomy to a larger group of people who don't have the chance to visit an observatory.  I started the Observational astronomy activity to try out these ideas.  I'm familiar with other virtual observatory learning activities.  (For instance, the Hubble FITS Liberator.)  One thing that will distinguish this learning project from others is that it is hosted on a wiki which will allow the students to interact in creating the lessons.  I have no idea how that will play out or where it will lead, but I suspect that the results will be interesting.--mikeu

 * The idea that I would eventually like to pursue is to allow students to do "real" astronomy. Students usually learn by solving "toy problems" where the only goal is to learn, and the results of solving the problem are then only given to the teacher for the purpose of getting a grade.  I'd like to give the participants original data to analyze such that their results are of some use to professional astronomers.  This is similar to ongoing projects such as the American Association of Variable Star Observers in which amateur astronomers who own a telescope contribute observations which are then analyzed by professionals.  (The National Science Foundation refers to people who do this as "citizen scientists.")  However, most of these amateurs are working individually or in small groups that only include those who have reached a certain level where they have the experience and knowledge to make a contribution.  I'd like to create an environment where it is easier for someone with no background to get involved and walk them through that first, steep, part of the learning curve.--mikeu

 * One example of a citizen science project is Stardust@home. It has a low threshold for getting involved and uses a slick tutorial and interface to train participants and get them started.  However, this project is more busy work than a learning experience.  The results make a valuable contribution to processing the science data but the only thing the person invlolved gains is a sense of satisfaction at being a part of the project.  They really don't learn much about interstellar dust.  My contributions here at Wikiversity are an experiment to determine how to create a more meaningfull learning experience while doing real science.--mikeu

 * The learning curve for doing astronomical data analysis is very steep for the uninitiated. For example, go through the short tutorial on astrometric calibration with Aladin to see the steps involved in processing a raw telescope image.  Is it reasonable to expect someone with no background  to go through a complicated process like this as part of a lesson?  Probably not, but I plan on creating activities here that will involve doing that.--mikeu

 * I'll start by creating some simple lessons that show how to use the software tools that astronomers use to analyze data. The main focus, at first, will be on learning basic concepts in astronomy while getting familiar with these tools.  I hope that the wikiversity community can help me learn how to implement the ideas that I have described.--mikeu

Wikiversity random thoughts

 * Many pages are created from templates, but the templates are so complicated that very few bother to fully fill them out. This leads to the creation of a multitude of pages that contain more boilerplate text than real content.

 * A long list of subjects that don't exist is an impediment to growth. It might entice the ambitious few to expand the content, but it probably turns away the majority of people. There is too much clutter to attract new users who would be willing to do casual editing.  New users are going to be confused trying to find content that exists, and it preimposes a structure for the future growth of what will be covered rather than just letting it happen naturaly.  These lists need to be checked to insure that they follow established Naming conventions.

 * I was working on the astronomy pages and had some confusion about namespace, problems with searching and a few other things. See Topic_talk:Astronomy for the details.

 * I've seen a couple of pages that have a nice welcome for new users. One is the Introduction at the school of mathematics which has a link to the Topic:School of Mathematics Help Desk.

Other

 * I decided to change the format of this page. I had originally intended to use this as a scratchspace to jot down my thoughts and then edit them into something more coherent.  I was also thinking that this could be a place to collaborate on planning projects.  That is different from a blog, and I probably should have created the content outside my user space to encourage participation.  This new format will be a log of things that I'm thinking and working on, with links to other pages.--mikeu 13:29, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

 * I started to cleanup the astronomy related pages. Many of the pages contain a lot of confusing clutter and things are so disorganized that it is difficult to find what little content exits.  I added all of the existing pages that I could find to the main Astronomy category.  This is not really the best way to organize things, but there is so little content that it will have to do for now.  I moved the index of content that does not yet exist from the main page to a new page and added a welcome section.  This needs to be expanded.  I doubt most new visitors have much idea about what to expect from wikiversity.--mikeu 16:56, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

 * My attention is now on creating specific content. Observational astronomy contains a couple of activities for getting started.  The focus is on learning basic principles for someone with no background in astronomy.  This page requires cleanup to make it more user friendly.  Some ideas for expanding the topic are described at Observational astronomy/Planning.  The hope is that others will provide input on the direction the project takes.  Observational astronomy/Supernova is an observing program to collect and analyze telescope data.--mikeu 15:50, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

title: User:Mu301/Learning blog/2006-12


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VJ-U

Introduction
VJ-U: An educational project to design curricula for the study and practice of visual performance, i.e., VJ-ing. Note: not the kind of VJ on MTV. ;-)

Definitions
VJ= Video Jockey. Not the MTV hosts, rather an artist who performs with -- whose medium is -- video. Aspects of the Art of the VJ include:
 * Live, realtime moviemaking
 * Über Auteur DIY
 * Musical principles applied to cinema
 * site and event specific screen installations
 * Movies played for and made in a dialog with an audience

Core Skills

 * Media Literacy (turning consumers into producers)
 * reappropriation of media
 * critical thinking
 * systems thinking (structural analysis of media production)
 * Composition
 * within a frame
 * in time and space
 * Videography
 * Mixing/Realtime Montage & Compositing
 * Collaboration
 * with musicians
 * with theatrical performers/dancers
 * with other artists
 * Listening/Seeing
 * Technical Skills

Upcoming classes

 * Fall 2007 - VJ-U XStudio at Urban Assembly School of Music and Art (high school), Brooklyn, NY. Instructor: Dan Winckler.

Work by VJ-U students and teachers

 * VJ-U playlist on YouTube - see especially the rough cut of the VJ-U program for NYC public television
 * Ghost Cop
 * videos by Daniel Mauro
 * live visuals by Dan Winckler
 * Benton-C Bainbridge's videography
 * VJ-U Eyebeam students

Syllabi

 * VJ-U undergraduate survey course: a survey-style class for students at the undergraduate level.
 * VJ-U High School class, an introductory course for students in grades 9 – 12.

Lessons
Nutshell descriptions of VJ-U classes

Viral Video
University of Rochester Students responded to news of 'end user' produced Superbowl Ads by making 4 'viral videos' in one hour and posting them to youtube.

Camera Exercises

 * Exquisite Corpse Videos
 * 2 person shooter
 * Cubist Portraiture
 * Obstacle Course/Paparrazzi
 * 1-shot Words
 * Repetition Exercise (from Meisner)

Light

 * Light tagging: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lichtfaktor/589296552/

Past classes

 * Spring 2007 - VJ-U (university-level) at Eyebeam Atelier, Manhattan, NY. Instructor: Benton-C Bainbridge.
 * Spring 2007 - VJ-U XStudio at Urban Assembly School of Music and Art (high school), Brooklyn, NY. Instructor: Dan Winckler.
 * Spring 2006 - VJ-U (public school level) at Eyebeam Atelier, Manhattan, NY. Instructor: Benton-C Bainbridge.
 * Fall 2006 - VJ-U XStudio at UAMA. Instructor: Benton-C Bainbridge.

Former students
Eyebeam VJ-U, Spring 2007:

 * Anne - interning at Creative Arts Workshops for kids (CAW)
 * Abigail - interning at small made for TV production co, taken a couple video production classes
 * Nick - Animation Collective. Studio Arts major
 * Gail - Emerging Pictures; photography, digital artwork - Photoshop, InDesign
 * Natalie - Richard Corman (photog) ; photography, digital art, design
 * Kali - Paul Taylor Dance Co; done photog, digital art, broad interest
 * Olivia - Cultural Affairs Dept (gov); historical and modern contemporary art
 * David - United for Opportunity Music/Invasion Group; physics, into music
 * Ben - Engel Entertainments - film/media studies major; into improv,
 * Amy - Children's Museum of the Arts - studio arts, psycho ; into art education ; done photog, drawing
 * Luke - 4th Row Films (docu, tv shows, stock footage for VJs) ; film studies ; into film, hasn't done filmstock
 * Liz - Tribeca Films ; film prod major ; done 16mm, digital
 * Daniel - VH1 Classic ; into performance art, installations ;

Useful Info
helpful hints and instructions

Preparing media for VJ software
For most VJ applications running on moderately powerful computers, it's best to compress QuickTime Movies in Photo JPEG at 320x240 or 640x480. Quoting from Vidvox:

"PhotoJPEG is the most common video codec used by VJs. Due to it's low data rates and fast decompression, PhotoJPEG is ideal for video scratching and playback of multiple video files, particularly on laptop hard drives which tend to be slower than hard drives in desktop computers. However, PhotoJPEG is a lossy codec and even when using a high quality setting (90% or above) the image quality is clearly worse than DV or a well-made DVD."

follow these steps for exporting QT movies from Quicktime Pro, etc.:
 * click on the movie to select it
 * select File: Export from the pull down menu (or Apple + E)
 * keep the .mov file name extension
 * choose Movie to QuickTime Movie
 * click Options
 * Select Video checkbox
 * click Settings
 * for Compression Type select Photo - JPEG
 * for frame rate use Current
 * for Keyframes choose Automatic
 * for Depth choose Color or Grayscale when your movie is Black and White
 * for Quality it's worth experimenting. Most common would be High.
 * If you choose, click Options and make sure 'Optimize for streaming' is deselected
 * click OK

 * for Size select 320x240 QVGA or 640x480 VGA. (Preserve Aspect Ratio is important for 16x9 movies, make test movies and play them in your VJ app to determine what option will work best for you). select Deinterlace
 * click OK

 * If your movie has sound then select Audio
 * click Settings
 * select Linear PCM
 * choose Mono if your movie isn't Stereo
 * default sample rate is 48KHz but choose a lower sample rate if you don't have hi-fi sound
 * use Quality: Normal, 16 bit and Little Endian
 * click OK

 * deselect Prepare for Internet Streaming

 * click OK to begin exporting!

Converting troublesome Windows Media files
Please see this how-to for converting Windows Media audio/video files to Quicktime or MPEG-4 on the VideoLAN Wiki.

Copying DVDs
If you are copying a DVD-ROM or non copy-protected DVD-Video on an Apple computer, you can use the Disk Utility program that comes with all Macs.

 * Put the disc you want to copy into the drive.
 * Select it from the list on the left and click on "New Image".
 * A "Save As" menu should pop up.
 * Save the new disc image with an appropriate name. (Benton suggests limiting this name to eight characters in all CAPS and with no special characters. ie: NMROCZKA.)
 * Under the "Image Format" drop down menu select "DVD/CD master".
 * Click SAVE. The disc should begin copying.
 * When it is completed the new disc image should appear in the left hand column with a ".cdr" extension. Select it.
 * Eject the master disc.
 * Put a blank DVD-R into your drive.
 * Click the BURN icon.
 * Press Enter or click BURN.

Ripping DVDs

 * If you wish to extract video from a non copy-protected DVD on an Apple computer, you can use MPEG Streamclip or Cinematize. (instructions to come)

 * If you wish to extract video from a copy-protected DVD on an Apple computer, you can use a free application called Mac The Ripper. You can download this application at www.mactheripper.org/  Mac The Ripper will extract MPEG2 files from the DVD which you will then need to convert to Quicktime movies in DVD2DV or ffmpegX.

 * You can rip DVDs in one go with Handbrake. It uses xViD AVIs (very fast and small), H.264 (slower but looks great and small filesize) or Ogg Vorbis (don't know much about this one).

Ripping the .VOB files in Mac The Ripper:

 * Put the disc you want to extract video from into the drive.
 * Launch Mac The Ripper.
 * The name of the disc you plan to extract video from should appear in a drop down menu below the "Disc" and "Mode" buttons.
 * The size of all video files on the disc will appear in the top-center of the viewer window.
 * The mode of disc extraction will appear below the size.
 * To change the mode click on the "Mode" button. A drop down menu will appear with the types of disc extraction."O
 * Choose the extraction mode that best suits your needs.
 * Click back on the "Disc" button.
 * Make sure the "De-Macrovision" check box is checked. This will eliminate problems during playback.
 * Click the "Go!" button to begin the extraction process.
 * A "Open As" window will appear.
 * I suggest saving your video extraction to the hard drive.
 * Click on the HD image in the left hand menu.
 * Create a new folder to hold your extraction by clicking on the "New Folder" button on the bottom left hand corner of the "Open As" window.
 * Name Your New Folder.
 * Make sure your new folder is selected and click the "Open" button.
 * The extraction will begin.
 * When the extraction is complete a window will pop up explaining that the extraction is complete via "Bomberman". The pop up will also tell you how long the extraction took to complete and that copying DVDs that you do not own is a crime.  Click close.

Converting .VOB files to Quicktime movies in ffmpegX:

 * Open the ffmpegX and the folder with your files
 * Click on File that you want to transfer into DV and drag it into the window labeled from
 * Go to the Window that is labeled To and click the down arrow
 * The arrow will drop a menu
 * Select DV from the menu
 * Click the encode button in the bottom right
 * A download window will appear and downloading has begun
 * It will Click when it has finished and will save in the same area where it was saved before

Uploading to YouTube.com

 * Here is a link to YouTube's Help Center: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/
 * Here is a link to YouTube's recommended movie compression settings: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55745&topic=10526

VJ-U calendar
New York City events of interest to VJ-U http://www.google.com/calendar/render?cid=eauh6596bbkba3fu8atms0gl4k%40group.calendar.google.com

visual tools

 * Max/MSP and Jitter (30 day fully functional free trial)
 * PureData - a free and open source alternative to Max/MSP
 * Processing - free and open source Java library you can, among many other things, build a VJ performance app with
 * VDMX (commercial app)
 * Modul8 (Mac-only commercial)
 * Isadora (commercial)
 * ImX (free Mac OSX only)
 * Milkymist (hardware platform for interactive performances)

places to go in NYC to learn, see and practice live visuals

 * Share - free and open audio/visual jams every Sunday in the East Village
 * EyeWash biweekly audio/visual performances
 * Integrated Digital Media Institute - free and open hacklabs and patching circles at Polytechnic University in downtown Brooklyn
 * Dorkbot monthly presentations of cool things done with electricity

Places to post your work online

 * Internet Archive - FREE bandwidth and hosting FOREVER for your creative works.

VJ related pages, sites and blogs

 * Data Is Nature generative art, vj'ing, and more
 * abstrakt.vade.info vj'ing and mo'
 * LeCollagiste VJ Weblog on the culture of the VJING, video information and high tech VJ
 * VJ Kung Fu Online VJ Magazine - Tutorials and More
 * Eyebeam's blog
 * VJ Central - decent hardware and software reviews. do not take the VJs on these fora too seriously  ;)
 * AudioVisualizers - has info on old video synths
 * skynoise - Jean Poole's collection of audiovisual links.
 * Create Digital Motion - Regularly updated live visual news.
 * wikipedia VJ entry - as of this writing needs some work!
 * - strictly speaking not a vj but 'data visualiser' in both sound and images, very impressive!

veejayu youtube playlists

 * Hacking TV - Videos of media hactivism
 * ArtNY Viral Videos - the results of a 1 hour VJ-U competition
 * sampleable - get permission from the makers if not public domain or Creative Commons!
 * teach'a - videos by VJ-U teachers
 * vid synths - movies of, or made with video synthesizers
 * Viral - Viral videos. Why are they so popular?
 * VJ videos - Movies by VJs
 * VJ-U videos - Movies made in VJ-U

defeat censorware tools
Use the following tips and resources to get around the New York State Dept of Education and other censors to get to YouTube and other sites we need to see:
 * one quick way: use Google's translation tool as a lightweight proxy.
 * check Boingboing's big list of ways to route around censorship: http://www.boingboing.net/censorroute.html

title: VJ-U


text:
User:Mu301/Learning blog/2007-01

January 2007

 * It has been a while since I posted here. I've been busy making telescope observations for the supernova page (which is still under development.)  I also added a supernova related activity section to observational astronomy and created a new page on extrasolar planets.  These two pages are now a featured learning resource at Portal:Physical Sciences.--mikeu 18:20, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Take a look at the image at right. The bright star near the center goes by the rather unimaginative name of HD 209458.  There is something about this star that is quite remarkable.  You can't tell by looking at the image, but this star is home to a planet {which  goes by the even less imaginative name of HD 209458 b.)  It is one of more than 200 planets that have been discovered outside of our solar system.  These distant planetary systems are the subject of one of the observational astronomy subpages that I recently started.  The first activity encourages someone interested in learning about this topic to participate in the systemic research collaboration and join a learning group here.  Learning projects like this bring up an interesting question about the role of research here at Wikiversity.  Since many of the projects that I'm working on or planning involve some kind of research I'll need to address this question.  In the next few days I'll start by writing up some more detailed descriptions of the projects that I have in mind.--mikeu 20:30, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

title: User:Mu301/Learning blog/2007-01


text:
Wikiversity:Motto contest/Round 5

These is a record of round 5 of Wikiversity's motto and slogan contests.

Goals
We need to create and select:
 * 1) a Wikiversity motto
 * 2) a short description (for use with the Wikiversity logo on sister Wikimedia projects)
 * 3) a slogan

There are two contests, using the same options, to choose phrases to fulfill these three roles

The motto contest fulfills two purposes, choosing:
 * A Wikiversity motto, which is a general phrase which conveys the mission of Wikiversity (or part of the mission), which may be inspiring or appeal to a general principle. This purpose emerged in the course of various of the options proposed and selected in rounds 1-3 of this contest.

 * A "short description," which is a short phrase that describes a Wikimedia project briefly. This was the original purpose of the motto contest. The "short description" will be listed with our logo (see our logo contest) and project name on Wikimedia sister projects. Here are some Wikimedia logo-name-motto examples:

Here are logo-name-motto examples the Wikiversity logo finalist and some of the motto finalists:

The slogan contest is for choosing a descriptive phrase to be listed at the top of our main page just under "Welcome to Wikiversity."

We are now into Round 6 of the selection process. The selection process is summarized at the end of this page.

Round 5
Please list your name below in support of only one motto group and only one slogan group.

The winning motto and winning slogan will be the options with majority support. A Round 6 may be needed to refine and select amongst the winning group options.

Please share comments in the comment section below that help explain the meaning and intent of mottos and slogans.

Motto Finalists
The motto contest fulfills two purposes as discussed in the goals section above. As noted, this contest now includes all options receiving support of four or more persons from both the motto and slogan contests. Please select one option:

Motto: "Set learning free" group

 * a. Because knowledge should be free.
 * b. Set Learning Free.
 * c. Knowledge is free. (Note: This variation, and similar ones, emerged in discussion points.)
 * d. The Free University : The slogan should be simple and explain itself.
 * Support:
 * 1) I support the "knowledge is free" option suggested above.  The Jade Knight 23:07, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) I'm all for the "Knowledge is free" option :) --Pedro.Gonnet 09:18, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Mathboy965 16:40, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) Support "Because knowledge should be free". --Cloud668 18:58, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 5) Support for 'knowledge is free' Trevor Reid 20:56, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 6) Definitely "Because knowledge should be free" --Harriska2 9:48, 08 November 2006 PST
 * 7) I Support the "knowledge is free" option.  Prasoon 09:33, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 8) I support "Knowledge is free"  Heltec  talk
 * 9) I support "knowlege is free" GandalfsWhisper 04:05, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 10) 'Set Learning Free' is definitely the best option. Wikiversity is about education. Bensharpie 00:01, 07 December 2006 (AST)
 * 11) How about "For Knowledge is Free"?  The word 'for' has the both the definitions 'because of' and 'supporting', so "For Knowledge is Free" could be taken as meaning either as supporting "Knowledge is Free" or "Because Knowledge is Free" (as it should be).Sol1496 19:36, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 12) I definetly prefer Sol's For Knowledge is Free - another variation to consider: (For) Knowledge (is) supposed to be Free or we could take Wisdom instead of Knowledge (maybe knowlegde is more related to wikipedia) - so how so how sounds Free (is) Wisdom? Cya, Sithem 16:30, 12 December 2006 (ECT)
 * 13) For Knowledge is/should be free.
 * 14) 'Set Learning Free'! Elatanatari 01:50, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 15) I support "Set Learning Free", because that's what Wikiversity is essentially doing. Celebere 20:30, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
 * 16) Support - Both mottos exemplify what Wikiversity is doing, but this one just sounds better.

Motto: "Open/free learning community" group

 * a. Open learning community / An open learning community
 * b. Free learning community / A free learning community
 * Support:
 * 1) I think it is important to promote wikiversity as a community space --Iwoj 02:29, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) sebmol ? 09:26, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Preferably a (to go along with the "opening minds.." slogan) - though possibly without the indefinite article, ie "Open learning community". Cormaggio 18:50, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) Alarob 21:01, 18 October 2006 (UTC) (who hasn't created a user page yet)
 * 5) 'Open' describes this project best. Awolf002 00:46, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 6) Wikiversity spirit. guillom 10:07, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 7)  I like a also.  --Smithgrrl 02:15, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 8) a. Matteo 01:46, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 9) Without anything more inspiring, I would supporta. But I would reorder the words into Community for Open Learning, with the emphasis on Community.--Hillgentleman 05:58, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 10) a. or b. -- Reswik 18:01, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 11) a. or b. as well (got motto and slogan confused)--Rayc 21:05, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 12) b. What about - Free learning for all/ everyone -- Ron
 * 13) Preferably b, but a is okay. Good description of what the project is about - if the motto should serve as the 'short description' thingie. --Lhademmor 17:22, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 14) My much belated vote for b, preferably with a definite article before it :). AmiDaniel (talk) 08:47, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 15) A/The free learning community --Remi0o 08:16, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 16) Support a. 85.204.176.2 16:11, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Slogan Finalists
"Welcome,Learning is Exchanging Knowledge." This can be a short sentence or phrase - for listing at top of main page with "Welcome to Wikiversity". As noted above, by the end of round three, the initial alternates below received support from at least four people in either the motto or the slogan contest. Please list your support under one option group:

Slogan: "set learning free" group

 * a. Because knowledge should be free.
 * b. Set Learning Free.
 * c. Knowledge is free. (Note: This variation, and similar ones, emerged in discussion points.)
 * Support:
 * 1) I support the "knowledge is free" option suggested above.  The Jade Knight 23:07, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) I'm all for the "Knowledge is free" option :) --Pedro.Gonnet 09:18, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Mathboy965 16:40, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) Still the most pithy way to put it (b or c). But maybe not a good motto so use it as the slogan, please. Awolf002 00:44, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 5) Changed vote to "Knowledge is free." Talonhawk 22:39, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 6) Support: "Because knowledge should be free" Think outside the box 12:37, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 7) Support: "Knowledge is free." Trevor Reid 21:02, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 8) Definitely "Because knowledge should be free" --Harriska2 9:48, 08 November 2006 PST
 * 9) Supportting "Set Learning Free." Prasoon 09:36, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 10) b. 'set learning/knowledge free' --Aidan 17:06, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 11) Definitely "Let Knowledge Grow" --B 5:15, 29 November 2006 PST
 * 12) b. - a sounds like a Nike-ad and the "open mind"-things make me think of lobotomy --Lhademmor 17:27, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 13) *What is lobotomy?--Hillgentleman|User talk 08:57, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 14) **See Lobotomy Michael Billington (talk • contribs) 05:12, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 15) ***What is lobotomy?--Hillgentleman|User talk 17:19, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 16) Because knowledge should be free. --Remi0o 08:18, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 17) Definitely "Knowledge is free." --NehpestTheFirst 13:19, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 18) Support: simple and gives a little insight into the project "Because knowledge should be free" Grosscha 16:48, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Slogan: "opening minds..." group

 * a. Opening minds through open learning.
 * b. Open learning to open minds. (Note: This variation, and similar ones, emerged in discussion points.)
 * c. Open learning for open minds.

 * Support:
 * 1) --Smithgrrl 05:59, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) Cormaggio 18:48, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) --Alexscho 20:53, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) --CaseInPoint 13:03, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 5) -- Matteo 01:47, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 6) -- Reswik 18:01, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 7) With no better options- the others are either too apologetic (because knowledge is free), or too generic (knowledge is free).--Hillgentleman|User talk:hillgentleman 09:08, 18 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 8) --Rayc 17:48, 18 November 2006 (UTC)
 * 9) Support b.--Vince 17:44, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 10) Support --NightDragon 11:30, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 11) Support a ---Haroon 16:07, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 12) Support b --- SlakaJ 22:04, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 13) Support b -- Celebere 20:33, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
 * 14) Support a Mos87 07:05, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Comments
The comments sections for mottos and slogans have been combined for this stage:

→"Knowledge means being Free"Marietta 14:01, 28 December 2006 (UTC) MariettaBP====Comments:"set learning free" group====
 * Because knowledge should be free.
 * This one would be better if 'because' was dropped, 'because ' seems like we have to justify Wikiversity, "Knowledge should be free" is more powerful. CharlieCLC
 * Why even make it conditional? "Knowledge is free" is even more powerful. Pedro.Gonnet 09:33, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Why not borrow from Shakespeare? "Thought is free" (The Tempest) --Lord Pheasant 03:05, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
 * It doesn't light my desire to learn.-Hillgentleman 09:22, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The use of "Because" is very pertinent - it is a bit of a direct lashing out at the publishing companies and the idea that you NEED to pay for knowledge. Many people without the knowledge or understanding of the principles behind wikimedia, GNU, etc might be surprised that there is alternative.  The word "Because" brings that to light. --Harriska2 9:48, 08 November 2006 PST
 * I think the "Because" is awful - this slogan proposes that we have at the top of our front page: "Welcome to Wikiversity - because knowledge should be free". This doesn't even make sense as a sentence. I agree with Harriska2 that we are making a case for the freedom of knowledge, but I think we should make that case implicitly, rather than have to shout it out. Wikipedia doesn't have to cry out "because knowledge should be free" - it just says it implicitly. Cormaggio 18:21, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
 * In that case, use because somewhere else such as a slogan. I agree that it sounds terrible: "Welcome to Wikiversity - because knowledge is free"--Harriska2 11:24, 08 November 2006 PST
 * I'd also make the point that this phrase is entirely inappropriate for a motto. The motto is meant to be a short description of the project on the front pages of other sister projects. It should be just that - a description of the project. About half of the currently proposed mottos are completely unusable - they don't describe what the project is or does. Cormaggio 23:52, 11 November 2006 (UTC) Also, just to clarify, I was talking firstly about this is as a slogan - which goes at the top of the front page of Wikiversity. Mottos are what go on the front pages of other projects, like Wikipedia. In my view, to repeat, this proposal is a bad idea for a slogan - but far worse as a motto. Cormaggio 08:11, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Freedom in knowledge, for knowledge is freedom.
 * I know I am late, but I would like this one Massimamanno 13:17, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Set Learning Free
 * Pithy and to the point. Although I like the "Three Nouns" approach, too, cleary we must have the word Free in the motto! Awolf002 00:00, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I like the context free is used in, meaning available and accessible. CharlieCLC
 * It doesn't motivate me.-Hillgentleman 09:22, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Knowledge Is Free

 * Free learning tools
 * used on Wikibooks main page with Wikiversity logo -- selected by ?
 * It doesn't light a fire in my heart.-Hillgentleman 09:22, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Free learning materials and activities
 * used on Wikipedia with Wikiversity logo -- selected by ?
 * It doesn't sound like a Motto. A motto is a set of words you keep for youself, and keep yourself going. Would you work hard for the Free Learning Communuty, or for Truth, Beauty,Wisdom? -Hillgentleman 09:17, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Greg Davis 20:16, 9 December 2006 (UTC)I don't like references to free - Knowledge is not free. One pays for it with intention, effort, validation and internalization. I'm left with "open" since it cites the spirit of Wikipedia - knowledge from the people, for the people. Or what about Wikiversity: "Now U Know"
 * Another alternative: How about a wordplay? "Priceless knowledge, at no price!" Bhaswar
 * Suggested by Ngober: "Learning Together Freely" and "Freedom to Learn" or "Priceless Knowledge" and "Free Knowledge for Freedom of Thought"
 * Suggested by anon. on 11/10/06: Learning across Boundaries.
 * What about a motto that combines some of these themes: "Like the best minds: Open, Free and Fair."

Comments: "opening minds..." group

 * Opening minds through open learning
 * See my comment about "openness" under "an open learning community" in the motto comment section. Reswik 15:57, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Also: Perhaps including "free" in a variant of the above is a better fit for the Wikiversity context? -- Reswik 13:17, 16 October 2006 (UTC). As in:
 * Opening minds through free learning

I like the parallel "open" idea, catchy! But I don't think we're taking full advantage of the versatility of the word "open". An adjective - verb parallel might sink it better... Other alternatives -- CaseInPoint 23:51, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Opening school to open minds would be my preference.
 * Open school, open minds
 * Open learning to open minds
 * Open teaching to open minds
 * etc.
 * Free Your Mind.
 * My personal suggestion. --NightDragon 11:33, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

My idea: Open source, Open minds

Comments: "open/free learning community" group

 * An open learning community
 * I switched my vote from "free learning community" to this for various reasons, including: 1) the appeal of the rich connotations of openness in the context of learning, in spite of my agreeing with the "free" side of debate in the politics of open source vs. free software; 2) the resonance with the slogan with most support below (so far) which uses "open."; 3) this offers our to-be-extensive project an opportunity to contribute (in discussions and on possible page(s) of explanation somewhere) to re-interpreting the implications of open, openness, and opening (in various senses such as development, awakening and liberation) in relation to the meaning of freedom in the free culture movement. Reswik 17:28, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
 * It doesn't light my desire to learn.-Hillgentleman 09:22, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Free learning community
 * It doesn't sound like a Motto. A motto is a set of words you keep for youself.  Free learning community sounds more like a three-letter advertisement and is more suitable to be a SLOGAN.-Hillgentleman 09:12, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Reswik, I would rather place the emphasis on learning, e.g. Community for Open Learning.--Hillgentleman 07:58, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * On reflection, for the motto contest, I prefer the open/free learning/education options -- simpler. --Reswik 14:13, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
 * It certainly is simple, straight forward, and accurate. If nothing else better comes up, why not stick with simplisty? --  Zanimum 16:41, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, plainly. Opening minds or not, let the events speak for themselves.--Hillgentleman
 * Here are some personal suggestions for a motto:
 * 1. AN INDIVIDUAL MIND. A COLLECTIVE WEB OF KNOWLEDGE.
 * 2. KNOWLEDGE...UNLOCKED.
 * Something like that. Catchy, and motivational, as a motto should be.
 * Something like that. Catchy, and motivational, as a motto should be.

I also liked the proposal 'OPEN SCHOOL, OPEN MINDS' made earlier.62.234.16.29 22:46, 29 November 2006 (UTC)by giordanellius

the motto's got to be catchy. i support 'KNOWLEDGE...UNLOCKED' and 'OPEN SCHOOL, OPEN MINDS'. how about 'FOR THOSE WHO SEEK' Haroon 16:03, 12 December 2006 (UTC) how about this: Teaching Each Other

well i add mine here hope it will catch someone's attention i tried my best cos this site gives alot and in return i like to give back:

 * 1. "we share the flair of life"

 * 2. "we share if you dare"

Aymanjabroun 17:04, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
 * 3. "wikiducate your mind & soul"

[Sudhir, 15th January 2007]: Just a suggestion ... "Free Knowledge for Open Minds (FKOM)". I hope it gels with the mission of "WIKIVERSITY".

Selection Process
Many options were listed and did not receive a strong majority in Rounds 1, 2 and 3. Hence, we need additional round(s) to arrive at consensus choice(s).

About Rounds 4 and 5

For rounds 4 and 5, alternates in each previous contest having support from at least four people are included, from both the motto and slogan contests. For round 4, both contests included the most supported options from the other contest. This is because some motto contest alternatives could be very good slogans and vice-versa. For round 5, groups with 4 or more supporters in round 4 were included.

To possibly create very good alternatives, new options very similar in theme to existing ones are welcome as suggestions in the comment section. (Mottos and slogans with new themes can be added to the round 2 lists.) Feel free to share comments in the comment sections that help explain the meaning and intent of mottos and slogans.

See the current top level motto contest page for a summary of contest steps.

title: Wikiversity:Motto contest/Round 5


text:
Portal:Performance art

Welcome to the Wikiversity Division of Performance Art! Departments in the Division of Peformance Art include Acting (Film and Stage), Dance and Physical Theatre, Music, Technical Theatre, and Visual Performance.

Division news

 * 27 January 2007 - Division founded!
 * 15 March 2007 - All Departments listed.

Departments
Like divisions, subdivisions and departments are pages in the Topic namespace, and their names start with the "Topic:" prefix. Individual departments can be used by multiple schools. Schools that use (link to) the same department should cooperate to develop the department. Subdivisions are used by large divisions to help organize related departments. Not all divisions have subdivisions. If you need a subdivision in your division, you can use the Template:Subdivision boilerplate template to start a subdivision.
 * Acting (Stage)
 * Acting (Film)
 * Dance and Physical Theatre
 * Music
 * Musical Theatre
 * Technical Theatre
 * Visual Performance
 * Live Art

Active participants
The histories of Wikiversity pages indicate who the active participants are. If you are an active participant in this division, you can list your name here (this can help small divisions grow and the participants communicate better; for large divisions a list of active participants is not needed).
 * Dorian Alexander Patterson
 * Dr. Lovely Sharma
 * Geof Bard

Open source software

 * LiteDesign - A CAD tool for stage lighting design

title: Portal:Performance art


text: Category:Visual performance

title: Category:Visual performance


text:
User talk:Mu301/Learning blog

Comments
"could be a place to collaborate on planning projects" <-- so are comments from others welcome or not? --JWSchmidt 18:55, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Comments are always welcome. But it is probably better to have pages outside User: namespace to collaborate on planning projects.  So, I copied my First thoughts (mostly on astronomy learning) from the blog to a better location at Observational astronomy/Planning.  If you'd like to collaborate on any of the other entries in the blog, post a comment to one of the talk pages and then we can figure out the best place to create a group effort to develop the ideas.--mikeu 21:39, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Okay. I just want to encourage people to allow comments on Wikiversity blogs. --JWSchmidt 21:48, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I think that would be a good idea. I added a line to the blog stating that I encourage people to leave comments by editing this page.--mikeu 15:20, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Comments
I am interested show me the way in astronomy basics first and then open the door to other astronomy projects.Get back to me on this please if you are interested in teaching me. belia

 * Hi, belia. I left a message for you at User_talk:Belia.  --mikeu 21:49, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Here is what I got of the moon :Celestial north is up, celestial east is to the left. this morning indeed.

 * Hi! I added some more information on the Moon to the Topic:Astronomy/Help desk page.--mikeu 13:39, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

History
Do you have any interest in History resources/Schools of History? ---Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 22:00, 30 December 2015 (UTC)

 * I'm very interested in the history of science and technology. I do sometimes include broader topics in history, but mostly to give context to the science history. It looks like we have quite a few resource in Category:History of Science, but I don't see a main page for the topic. Category:History of Technology has just one lonely stub. What did you have in mind? --mikeu talk 22:25, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Like... history of countries (Chinese History, US History, American History etc.) ---Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 22:26, 31 December 2015 (UTC)

A Wikiversity Journal along the lines of this blog?
It occurred to me that a non-academic journal along the lines of this blog might work as a Wikiversity Journal. I would suggest that you first solicit article submissions, and also wait for my construction Second Journal of Science to settle down before deciding. By the "settling down", I am referring to templates such as and the sortable table at Second Journal of Science/Past issues/A. I think the sortable table is a significant improvement, but it is currently buried deep in a subpage. This might take months to sort out because I have other things to do. But it is something to ponder in the meantime: A news and commentary journal edited by you might be worth having.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 11:56, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

 * That's an interesting idea. What do you think of something in the format of GLAM/Newsletter (Galleries • Libraries • Archives • Museums) or Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost? It's not so much that I prefer a newsletter format, but we could have MassMessage deliver a summary of the contents to subscriber talk pages. It could be a "This month in learning at Wikiveristy" kind of thing. We could use it highlight Featured content and ask that contributors reflect on the projects that they are working on. --mikeu talk 18:17, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

title: User talk:Mu301/Learning blog


text: User talk:Danwinckler

title: User talk:Danwinckler


text:
Introduction to the Planets/Activity 1

Activity 1
The following activity is for people with little experience of lunar observing and should be completed whenever you are able.

Follow the link below and print out the map of the moon:

Moon Map

If you don't own any binoculars for this activity try to beg, borrow or... well, just beg or borrow some (or a telescope if you have access to one). If you can't get any, pick a clear night and try this with unaided vision anyway - don't worry if the moon isn't full. Try to pick out the different feature of the moon. Once you have familiarised yourself with it, try to match the labels from the moon map to the features you can see.

If you want to continue observing the moon regularly and recording your observations you could use the following observing log:

Moon Observation Log Sheet

NB You don’t need a big fancy telescope to do real astronomy, a half-decent pair of binoculars are an excellent tool, and so portable they can go everywhere with you if you wish. In an ideal world you need a good pair of 10x50 (or 7x50 or 12x50) binoculars to do any serious astronomical observing (anything less than x50 is better than nothing, but doesn't gather as much light, so doesn't show as much detail; anything much more than 10x will magnify too much for someone of average strength to hold still enough for any length of time – the image will tremble. A good pair of 15x70 binoculars will give very good results if you can rest your arms on a high wall or similar to stop the worst of the tremble - even better with 15x70s or bigger would be attaching them to a camera tripod). If you are thinking of getting into astronomy it is sensible to buy yourself a pair of binoculars first (10x50s are more than adequate), as they are a fraction of the cost of a telescope, and if, after 2 or 3 months you are still keen (and can afford one), then it is time to think about buying a telescope.

title: Introduction to the Planets/Activity 1


text:
Portal:Research/New/Featured learning resource

Developing Wikiversity through action research in its largest sense, the question this project will address is "Why Wikiversity?" In other words: why does Wikiversity exist, and what does its existence mean for the world of education, and for you and me? Wikiversity is a repository of learning materials, a resource for self-study, a space for collaboration, a space in which to learn collaboratively, a space to explore about learning, a space to learn about teaching, etc. So, how does Wikiversity do all this - "how" in the sense of "by what means" - and, crucially, "by what values"..

Learning to learn a wiki way - Using wikis as tools for learning is a new and evolving social practice. If Wikiversity is to succeed, we need to learn how to make the best use of wikis for learning. This project aims to be an exemplar of how a wiki can be used for learning and to refine, develop and expand on the social practice of using wikis for learning.


text:
Portal:Research/New/Selected biography

Research policy The Wikiversity project proposal included the idea of allowing some research activities inside Wikiversity. Please read - and help develop our research guidelines on our multilingual coordination Wikiversity.

See also:
 * Research Ethics
 * Original research
 * Secondary research
 * Review board
 * Research collaboration

title: Portal:Research/New/Selected biography


text:
Portal:Research/New/Intro

Welcome to Wikiversity's research portal! This is intended to be a quick link out to resources about what research is, how to do research, what kinds of research there are, as well as research activities within Wikiversity. You can find all research-related pages from Category:Research - but hopefully on this page you are just one or two clicks away from where you want to be!

If you are interested in research - of any description - or simply want to find who else is doing research on Wikiversity, please see the researchers page - and please feel free to add yourself and your interests..

Please also note: Wikiversity is still very young - we would appreciate your input in all aspects of our work - developing resources, as well as our research guidelines. Even this page itself is under heavy construction - please bear with us - or, preferably, pitch in.

title: Portal:Research/New/Intro


text:
Decision Making

What is a Decision?
Decision making is a process of choosing an option from alternatives. Achieving the choice can be either risky (include some uncertainties) or certain. Usually decision process concentrates on choosing the best alternative. The best alternative can be determined by calculating and comparing the utility values and the probabilities of the choices.

Types of Decisions
In the context of Artificial Intelligence, computer scientists, software engineers and programmers deal with the ways machines make decisions. The simplest desision has a multiplicity of one-to-one (1::1), where only two possible choices exist: true or false; yes or no; one or zero; etc.. The two results are said to be mutually exclusive, thought of in human terms as "either, but not both" and "one or the other". Some terms for this type of desision are:
 * Exclusive OR (XOR)
 * mutex (short for mutual exclusion)
 * boolean as in Boolean Algebra

In Topic:Web Design, a common means to allow a Human to enter the answer to a yes or no question is the checkbox.

The next type of decision has a multiplicity of one-to-many (1::n), where one of several choices exist:
 * Color: red, yellow, blue, ...
 * yes, no, no preference (mutex with a "doesn't matter" choice)
 * Time Zone range: (UTC +12 ... UTC ... UTC-12)
 * Continent: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, N. America, S. America

Again, these choice are exclusive in that only one of the several choices is allowed. These are sometimes processes by a program or algorithm as conditional variables or set as parameters. Some terms for this type of desicion are:
 * Selection - choose only one please
 * condvar (short for conditional variable)
 * parameter - setting a value for a variable

For processing dynamic websites with PHP, a choice can be entered by way of a radio button or drop-down list to allow the user to make his or her choice.

Learning Tasks

 * (Logic and Fuzzy Logic - Inference System) Logical rules (combinations of AND, OR, NOT, ...) can be used to expressed a logical structure. Compare the classical logic and its inference with Fuzzy Logic and its inference system.
 * What are the difference and joint properties of classical Logic and Fuzyy Logic?
 * What are use-cases in which you would use classical logic for decision making and what are use cases in which you would use Fuzzy Logic?
 * (Spatial Decision Support System) What are Spatial Decision Support Systems and identify uses cases in which you would consider e.g. a spatial distribution of risk and a spatial distribution of the availability of resources?
 * Assume you have a property $$P$$ that can be evaluated at a specific geolocation $$(x,y)$$ (e.g. coordinates of the location (latitude, longitude)). How can you combine a logic property spatially? What is different if you use Fuzzy Logic  for that spatial property $$P(x,y)\in [0,1]$$?
 * Transfer decision making to a spatial context of Risk Management. Use your own application scenario and take as decision task: "Allocate the limited available resources according to the risk".

Programs and Algorithms
Programmes and algorithms are used to support decision makers in finding the best decision option according to the criteria the institution of organisation defines.
 * Analyse the concept of Dynamic Document Generation to create up-to-data reports for decision making.
 * What is the role of Geographic Information Systems to support spatial decision making?
 * Analyse e.g. existing OpenSource R packages that can be used for an algorithmic implementation of decision support.
 * What are decisions that can be performed by an algorithm or software and what are decision in which the decision maker should remain a human decision maker? Discuss also legal aspects of responsibility for decisions making, that was performed by a piece of software.

title: Decision Making


text:
Planning economic development

This course will examine factors in planning economic development. Through this course you will hopefully leave with a better sense of how to plan for quality economic development.

There are a multitude of different perspectives on economic development that fall into the realms of economic, political and philosophical.

Questions that will be explored are:
 * How can economic development best be stimulated?
 * What sort of business regulations are most conducive to quality economic development?
 * How can regulations be developed to maximize the benefit for both the people of the state and the businesses and their customers?

What is economic development?
Definition Economic development has several definitions from local to global perspectives. Professor of Economics and Public Policy Alan Deardorff at the University of Michigan as part of his International Economics Glossary calls it: "Sustained increase in the economic standard of living of a country's population, normally accomplished by increasing its stocks of physical and human capital and improving its technology." At the local level, the term is brought to a more reachable level. For example the UrbanPlan curriculum states: "Economic development—A term generally applied to the expansion of a community’s property and sales tax base or the expansion of the number of jobs through office, retail, and industrial development." An interesting Cornell article expands: "Economic development is typically measured in terms of jobs and income, but it also includes improvements in human development, education, health, choice, and environmental sustainability. Business and economic developers in the US are increasingly recognizing the importance of quality of life, which includes, environmental, and recreational amenities, as well as social infrastructure such as child care, in attracting and retaining businesses in a community." In each of these definitions, the focus is on growth of the physical and social sphere of life. As well there is an inherent goal, that such growth achieves a greater "standard of living" or "quality of life." Growth and improvement, of course, not simply endless building such as that of residential suburbia. However the field does presume one common fact, that what is there is not providing what that community needs.

In government structure Economic development (ED) is seen both as a policy and a profession. In the United States, most local governments have an economic development authority that oversees and guides enterprise in states and cities. Many states have multiple layers of such groups. For example, a neighborhood might have it's own non-profit to help small businesses establish storefronts. The municipality's economic development department would help major corporations locate into city limits. Most cities have metropolitan regions, and such regional authorities can promote entire areas of a state for new companies. The state's workforce and employment department would then overlap all of these, tracking job growth and ensuring Federal funds may be available for job programs and assistance. ED many times is an expected part of government function because cities and regions are constantly competing for jobs which no longer need a specific location.

As government policy As policy, ED is frequently noted in the news as a function of a country's government to improve the welfare of its citizens by providing and literally building opportunities. The skyscrapers and dams being fervorently built in China's coastal cities and rural west have become a symbol of ED. The term started for American cities in the advent of suburbia in the 1970s but had not exactly entered American politics until the economic boon of the 1990s. ED has traditionally been applied to major projects such as a new industrial zone or enclosed shopping mall as well as waterworks projects and freeway expansion. However suburbia by the 1990s began to realize that the capitalist micro-economies of downtowns were not going to remake themselves and the term gained full footing to ensure stability in new cities by carefully planning and plotting the location of potential retail, services, and office. ED has also become familiar with medical and hospitality industries, seeing hospital campuses and hotels as valuable as an office tower. The main goal with ED as government policy is that jobs must grow in the end, much like how private companies ultimately wish to gain profits from new investment.

As a profession As a profession, ED Directors and Business Specialists work with business owners and much like courting deals in the private sector, will try to provide opportunities to entrepreneurs. These may include qualifying special new business loans, offering tax breaks on a piece of land, or ensuring planning officials can compromise to approve a project. While ED personnel are generally "on the ground," they also do extensive research and quantitative analysis as to potential sites which may accommodate future employers. Regularly they perform many urban planning and community development functions such as identifying properly zoned areas for commercial or industrial and the accompanying codes and variances that could suit a business model. With these goals, ED staff may also influence planning decisions and encourage the establishment of Enterprise Tax Zones which specifically encourage businesses to locate in a particular geographic area.

The city and the hinterland
The basis for urban economies is in understanding the relationship of cities and the hinterland. The hinterland has been used since the 20th century by geographers to describe rural land, the "empty" and "wild" space between cities. Eugene van Cleef would better define it in "Hinterland and Umland," tracing its Germanic routes as the land extending from the coast. The best equivalent is "back country." Though with a slight negative connotation, the hinterland has become an appropriate term to describe land areas that do not necessarily have a city or urbanized function but are not necessarily rural lands. For example much of the central to western United States is unincorporated or not in use at all due to natural features. As well hinterland encompasses all natural lands even those in protected status.

The need to understand the relationship between the city (meaning both urbanized and metropolitan areas) and the hinterland, is helpful to understanding the cycle of urban economies and flow of investment and assets. ((more text to be added))

title: Planning economic development


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Portal:Research/New/WikiProjects

Research related content development projects:
 * Business Research
 * Exobiology
 * Research policy proposals
 * Publishing original research
 * Science research and the Law
 * Sandbox Server

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Portal:Research/New/Related portals

Other Wikiversity research-related portals:
 * Education
 * Engineering and Technology
 * Life Sciences
 * Mathematics
 * Physical Sciences
 * Social Sciences
 * General Science Portal

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Sustainable urban development

In the post industrial age we have come to realize some of the deleterious effects of technology. Pollution and over utilization of natural resources has created negative effects on human health and well being. This course on sustainable urban development will discuss how to best plan for the challenges posed by huge populations and what appears to be limited space and natural resources.

Eminent physicist Stephen Hawking once stated that humans must colonize the cosmos in order to survive as a species. Since colonizing planets, extrasolar or otherwise is not currently a possibility, we must use the resources we have as efficiently as possible. Utilizing the resources we currently have in the most efficient manner can potentially allow humans to live, and even thrive in conditions of high population densities while still keeping the earth in a healthy and pristine condition.

It follows then that studying sustainable urban development allows one to see how to best face the limiting conditions we face. Through this course we will discuss systems of keeping water clean, disposing of waste, using non toxic materials, and renewable resources, etc.

Topics
Technologies and areas that will be explored are:

Sustainable best practices

 * Permaculture
 * Improving the production cycle
 * LEED sustainability Ratings
 * Sustainable business practices
 * Maximizing efficiency in buildings
 * Sustainable manufacturing
 * Rain water management
 * Carbon offsetting
 * Net metering
 * Promoting public transit

Alternative energy

 * Alternative Power Sources
 * Biofuels
 * Electric Vehicles
 * Battery Technologies

Natural energy and energy from waste

 * Plasma arc waste disposal (gasification)
 * Algae use in biofuels
 * Cellocitic Ethanol
 * Wind Power
 * Solar Power

Local projects

 * Paducah2020 - Paducah, Kentucky (USA)

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Searching for water and life on Mars. The map shows a possible landing site at Eos Chasma.

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The major chromosomal difference between humans and chimpanzees arose when the ancestral ape chromosomes 2A and 2B fused to produce human chromosome 2. See Human Genetic Uniqueness Project.

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"It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas … If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you … On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones." - Carl Sagan

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." - Albert Einstein

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Portal:Research/New/News

Ten Democracy Projects in Seventy Minutes by Ethan Zuckerman. Should people know what their representatives in Congress are doing? Is Congresspedia the research tool people need to create an open government?

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Portal:Research/Intro

Welcome to Wikiversity's research portal. In addition to Wikiversity's learning mission in the pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary and non-formal educational sectors, the Wikimedia Foundation's approved project proposal for Wikiversity includes an approval to host research. The research portal is Wikiversity's main entry point to all known research being hosted here, as well as all documents and supporting materials relating to research, such as proposals and other administrative materials. If you wish to conduct research using Wikiversity, you should start by reading the various guidelines, bearing in mind their provisional status, and look at some existing projects. Research projects at Wikiversity are fundamentally collaborative and open to all. Discuss research projects, reports, methodologies, methods, theories, etc. in the research discussion forum.

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Portal:Research/Featured learning resource

Developing Wikiversity through action research in its largest sense, the question this project will address is "Why Wikiversity?" In other words: why does Wikiversity exist, and what does its existence mean for the world of education, and for you and me? Wikiversity is a repository of learning materials, a resource for self-study, a space for collaboration, a space in which to learn collaboratively, a space to explore about learning, a space to learn about teaching, etc. So, how does Wikiversity do all this - "how" in the sense of "by what means" - and, crucially, "by what values"..

Learning to learn a wiki way - Using wikis as tools for learning is a new and evolving social practice. If Wikiversity is to succeed, we need to learn how to make the best use of wikis for learning. This project aims to be an exemplar of how a wiki can be used for learning and to refine, develop and expand on the social practice of using wikis for learning.


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Portal:Research/WikiProjects

Research related content development projects:
 * Topic:Research - Division of Research
 * Business Research
 * Exobiology
 * Research policy proposals
 * Publishing original research
 * Science research and the Law
 * Sandbox Server

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Portal:Research/Related portals

Other Wikiversity research-related portals:
 * Education
 * Engineering and Technology
 * Life Sciences
 * Mathematics
 * Physical Sciences
 * Social Sciences
 * General Science Portal

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Searching for water and life on Mars. The map shows a possible landing site at Eos Chasma.

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Portal:Research/Categories

Browse research-related content in these categories:
 * Research
 * Original research
 * Secondary research
 * Research projects
 * Research collaboration
 * Research grant collaboration group
 * Research process
 * Wiki journals

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Portal:Research/Selected biography

Research policy The Wikiversity project proposal included the idea of allowing some research activities inside Wikiversity. Please read - and help develop our research guidelines on our multilingual coordination Wikiversity.

See also:
 * Research Ethics
 * Original research
 * Secondary research
 * Review board
 * Research collaboration

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Portal:Research/Research topics

Action research, Astronomy Project, Bibliography and Research Methods, Bloom clock project, Supernova models, Developing Wikiversity through action research, Wikiversity Distributed Virtual Supercomputer, Ethnography, Freelance academics, Free-use Scientology-related video project, Hedonic modelling, Human Genetic Uniqueness Project, Introduction to research, Learning to learn a wiki way, Neural Symbolic Learning and Reasoning, Paducah2020, Research grant collaboration group, SchoolForge, Screensaver Project, Systems And Tools Educational Philosophy, Theory of Everything Project, UFO research, Exobiology, Wikiversity Genomics Database, Evolutionary Neuroscience Laboratory, More...

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Portal:Research/Did you know

The major chromosomal difference between humans and chimpanzees arose when the ancestral ape chromosomes 2A and 2B fused to produce human chromosome 2. See Human Genetic Uniqueness Project.

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Portal:Research/Research news

Ten Democracy Projects in Seventy Minutes by Ethan Zuckerman. Should people know what their representatives in Congress are doing? Is Congresspedia the research tool people need to create an open government?

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Portal talk:Research/New

Note: This is a "backup" copy of Portal:Research where new versions of the portal can be planned.

Colors
The page Portal:Researchnew/box-header contains the settings for the portal colors:
 * border=#aaaaaa
 * titleforeground=white
 * titlebackground=#aaccff
 * background=#f9f9ff
 * foreground=black

See w:Wikipedia:Portal/Instructions for details about how this portal format was created and can be modified.

I just noticed that the graph of the number of pages online at Wikiversity only encompasses a page count before December 2006. Shouldn't a new version be availible? (I will post this on Portal talk:Research as well.) --Sgutkind 21:52, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

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