Pohnpei campus open house

Pohnpei campus held an open house for programs on the their campus.

In the automotive area a student explains the inner workings of a transmission to a group of off-camera high school students.

 Over in the RAC area my son observes a circuit.

 My daughter was not as excited as I to get to see all of the inner workings of a refrigerator.

 The cabinetry program displayed furniture that they made.

The hospitality program had the kitchen in operation, students preparing sample foods for visitors.

The front desk for the mock hotel.

 The facility also includes a mock hotel room.

Students in the agriculture program were giving tours of the traditional plants of Pohnpei garden.

 My two touring the garden, still eating their food sample from the hospitality program.

 

Ethnobotany spring 2011 final review

Ethnobotany spring 2011 comes to a close with a final review of the plants of the ethnobotanical garden.

Isabella, Annjanette, and Elvira review notes

Mallone

Marla, Julie Ann, Jackleen, Jasmine, Lewis

Jackleen and Lewis

Jackleen

Jasmine

Site swap notation

Laboratory fifteen in physical science sought to push the boundaries on the mathematical box for the students. In laboratory one a quote from Freeman Dyson was used to start a journey through the mathematical models  that explain physical systems. Dyson calculated how an electron ought to behave. Later someone went into a laboratory and the electron behaved as predicted by the mathematical model. 

Annalyn juggled from first try

In laboratory two a linear model predicted the location of a rolling ball. In laboratory three a falling ball obeyed a quadratic mathematical relationship. The behavior of a marble rolling off of a banana leaf obeyed a square root relationship. And in laboratory four the marbles knew what to do in order to mathematically conserve momentum. Sound, the relative depth of an image, and Ohm's law all exhibited linear relationships.

Jermis dressed for success

There are other mathematical relationships that govern physical systems. There are systems that are modeled by exponential and logarithmic functions. The path of a RipStik formed a sine wave on a sheet of paper. There are exotic functions such as the hyperbolic sine and hyperbolic cosine. Some systems are best described by complex variables that include a real and an imaginary component. Many of these systems are beyond the mathematical scope of this course.

 Tracey Ann practices on two

The relationships described above are algebraic mathematical models. Much of the mathematics curriculum is centered on algebra in part because algebra is important to describing the physical world. There are, however, other mathematical models, non-algebraic models. This laboratory seeks to broaden the students mathematical horizons by introducing a mathematical model and notation that is not algebraic. In laboratory fifteen the students were introduced to the mathematics of site swaps.

Cheryl keeps three aloft

In an attempt to connect site swap theory back to the language of algebraic equations, after introducing site swap notation I referred to sequences such as 33342333 as site swap equations. The sequence is a mathematical statement that can be true (juggable) or false (not juggable).

Irene throws the third too far in front

This laboratory continues to provide a fun way to wrap up a term of exploring the mathematics at the core of physical science while expanding the students thinking with a mathematics system like nothing they have ever seen before.

 David bounce juggles

One difficulty this term - no student brought three balls. No one even brought one ball.

 Mercy-Ann three aloft

Nancy on a 3 site swap

 Nancy

 Angie moved up to the space balls

The laboratory is also an end of term enjoyable experience. As the course is not required by any major, the students are primarily from majors other than those in the natural sciences. For many of these students science is a requirement, possibly even a dreaded requirement.

 Brilinda, three aloft

I want the students to have the chance to do science, engage in exploring systems, grapple with the mathematical language underneath physical science. I can only hope that the students catch a glimpse of the beauty of science - of even pure science for science's sake.

Brilinda

I want the students to have good memories of the course, to think positively of science and of their own ability to do science. Thus I try to end the course on George M. Cohan's advice to "Always leave them laughing when you say goodbye."  

Dark Curse: Clidemia hirta

Clidemia hirta, known in English as Koster's curse, and locally named riahpen rot (dark curse) continues to spread in the forest across the road from the college. This term twenty-five of the twenty-eight SC/SS 115 Ethnobotany class students turned out to pull Clidemia hirta. Only the delegation from Yap was curiously absent.

Anthony launches into pulling a clump that is more than head high

The morning was ominous. While Pohnpei is rainy, lightning and thunder are rare. During the morning thundered boomed out across the open spaces of the campus. While thunderheads are rare on Pohnpei, apparently not on the day the class pulls Clidemia hirta. Fall 2010 a thunderstorm crossed campus that same afternoon that six students opted to pull the dark curse.

New plants spreading to the west of the original clumps

The hike into the dark, wet, muddy forest on a rainy day that had heard thunder earlier in the afternoon. The class first visited the Palikir Ethnobotanical Learning garden to learn to distinguish the native Melastoma malabathicum var. marianum (pisetikimei) from Clidemia hirta.

Angelo and Jayheart deep in a thicket

Melinda in the foreground, Vanessa putting plants in a plastic bag for removal, Julie Ann and Syleen holding another bag. The plant is scratchy and wiry, not a fun pulling job.

 Melinda went all out pulling hefty plants from the ground.

 Clidemia is tenacious, Melinda was more so.

Himena brings out a bag of Clidemia hirta.

After an hour of pulling, there were still many more plants than any crew could ever hope to pull up. The plant loves the sun, the plant loves the dark places, the plant loves growing on land, the plant thrives on growing in water. The plant does not die immediately on being uprooted, branches freely re-root. This plant is the Borg of plants, assimilating everything in its path. The perfect invasive species. Unstoppable. Aggressive. Seed spread by birds. After a while the plant even looks evil.

Writing improvement in physical science

In the terms prior to spring 2011 students in SC 130 Physical Science wrote thirteen laboratory reports complete with an introduction, equipment list, procedure, data tables, data chart, analysis, and conclusion. The intent was to put writing into the core of the physical science curriculum. Small but significant gains were seen in writing skills as measured by a rubric.

Thirteen laboratory reports in a sixteen week term effectively means marking thirty-two laboratory reports each and every weekend. Marking includes content, grammar, vocabulary, organization, and cohesion. The work load   demanded of the instructor meant that time for work on other courses was limited. Writing was improving, but the intensity of the course was draining.

Spring 2011 I decided to experiment with having students only turn in the odd laboratory reports, dropping the number of marked reports to seven during spring 2011. The obvious question was whether gains would still be seen in writing as measured by the rubric in use.

The rubric being used is not ideal for the task. The rubric, however, is based on that rubric used to mark entrance test essays for the college. As such, the rubric is well understood by a broad constituency at the college.

The following paragraphs look at the impact on grammar, vocabulary, organization, and cohesion. Twenty-seven students completed both laboratory one and laboratory thirteen, the following analysis is based on those twenty-seven reports from laboratory one and thirteen.

The grammar section of the rubric is as follows.

[G] Grammar and Syntax [-2 if conclusion too short to judge grammar properly]
5	No errors of grammar or word order. Correct use of tense.
4	Some errors of grammar or word order but communication not impaired.
3	Fairly frequent errors of grammar or word order; occasional re-reading necessary for full comprehension.
2	Frequent errors of grammar or word order; efforts of interpretation sometimes required on reader's part.
1	Very frequent errors of grammar or word order; reader often has to rely on own interpretation.
0	Errors of grammar or word order so severe as to make comprehension virtually impossible.

Typical grammar errors include tense shifts and unclear antecedents for pronouns. Bear in mind that a student effectively has to score a four or five to gain entrance to the college. A score of two or less is likely to lead to non-admission. With students often able to score a four at time of entry to the college, there is not a lot of upside room for improvement. Despite this, the students did show a significant improvement from laboratory one to laboratory thirteen (the last written laboratory report spring 2011).

Grammar scores improved from a mode of four to a mode of five. While a few students scored below a three on laboratory one (red line), no student scored below a three on laboratory thirteen (the blue columns). Grammar improved on par with past improvements in grammar, the decrease in the number of writing encounters for the students did not negatively impact grammar improvement. Again, many of the grammar errors are tense, misuse of pronouns, and other errors which many of the students can comprehend and correct.

Vocabulary showed a similar improvement both in the shape of the distribution and the mode. The following is the rubric used for vocabulary.

[V] Vocabulary [-2 if conclusion too short - taken as evidence of vocabulary limitations]
5	Appropriate terms used consistently, clear command of vocabulary with a focus on correct usage of physical science vocabulary, no misspelled words.
4	Occasionally uses inappropriate terms or relies on circumlocution; expression of ideas not impaired; or a few misspelled words.
3	Uses wrong or inappropriate words fairly frequently; expression of ideas may be limited because of inadequate vocabulary, or many misspelled words.
2	Limited vocabulary and frequent errors clearly hinder expression of ideas.
1	Vocabulary so limited and so frequently misused that reader must often rely on own interpretation.
0	Vocabulary limitations so extreme as to make comprehension virtually impossible.

While only four students scored a two or three on vocabulary for laboratory one, no student scored a two and one scored a three on laboratory thirteen. The weakest writers showed strong improvement. Stronger writers who scored a four on laboratory one also improved.

Organization is primarily determined by whether the students have the correct sections in the correct order.

[O] Organization
5	All sections present in the proper order. Material exceptionally well organized. Conclusion well structured with introductory and concluding phrases.
4	One section out of sequence or omitted. Material well organized; structure could occasionally be clearer but communication not impaired.
3	Multiple sections out of sequence, some lack of organization; re-reading required for clarification of ideas. For example, tables and graphs printed from a spreadsheet and then stapled to the back of a lab write-up printed from a word processing program.
2	Multiple sections omitted. Little or no attempt at connectivity, though reader can deduce some organization.
1	Individual ideas may be clear, but very difficult to deduce connection between them.
0	Lack of organization so severe that communication is seriously impaired.

Thus performance is linked more closely to the students' ability to follow directions and include all of the necessary sections.

Cohesion is not an area that I directly address in most of my marking. I tend to focus on grammar, vocabulary, and ensuring that the proper sections are included, in order, and complete. A good report, however, flows, tells the story of the laboratory.

[C] Cohesion [0 if text too short to judge cohesion]
5	Consistent choices in cohesive structures. Ideas flow logically. Conclusion remains on topic. Connector words assist the reader.
4	Occasional lack of consistency in choice of cohesive structures and vocabulary but overall ease of communication not impaired.
3	Patchy, with some cohesive structures or vocabulary items noticeably inappropriate to general style. Ideas tend to be disconnected from each other. Reads more like an outline than a coherent essay, or written as a list of answers to questions without connector words and phrases generating a choppy, disjoint style
2	Cohesive structures or vocabulary items sometimes not only inappropriate but also misused; little sense of ease of communication. Connector words and phrases confuse and mislead the reader, but sense can be made of the conclusion.
1	Communication often impaired by completely inappropriate or misused cohesive structures or vocabulary items making it difficult to make scientific sense of the conclusion.
0	A 'hodgepodge' of half-learned misused cohesive structures and vocabulary items rendering communication almost impossible.

Although not a focus, cohesion improved during the term as well.

All four areas show improvement, improvement that other tests suggest is statistically significant. The reduction in the number of full write-up laboratories has not come at the cost of an improvement in writing. Most critically, areas of focus - grammar and vocabulary - both showed improvement.

Physical science can remain a course that improves writing skills at half the number of laboratory reports as prior terms. The course can remain writing intensive while being more time friendly for faculty who choose to utilize this curriculum.

Good Friday Service

The Women's Christian Association of the Kosrae Congregational Church in Kolonia, Pohnpei, held their traditional Good Friday "black-out" service.

Opening with a prayer, the lights are then turned out.

In the darkness passages are read from the final moments of Jesus on the cross. With each passage a candle is lit and placed under the cross.

I know enough not to shoot with a flash during a black-out service, but others did not. On one of my long time exposures a flash went off. The FujiFilm XP30 handled the sudden illumination with aplomb. Shrue returns from placing her candle in the above image.

The service concluded with a prayer and a chance to greet each other at the start of the Easter weekend.

Statistics projects of interest

Each term there are a few student statistics projects of interest. Data samples are usually convenience samples, hence extrapolation is problematic. At best these provide anecdotal glimpses into the system being studied. The students are in their first and probably their only statistics course - an introduction to statistics. Four of the seventy reports contained data that I found interesting.

One student studied alcohol sales at a small family owned and operated local neighborhood store. The student found that 53% of their sales was of the highest proof alcohol available in the store. The top seller was not the cheapest of the high proof alcohols, just the strongest. Coupled with their own knowledge of their neighborhood, the student concluded that purchasers were "most likely drinking to get drunk, not drinking for flavor or an addition to a meal."

In a related vein, another student looking at cigarette sales in a local family store found that the top seller garnered 55% of sales among eight brands offered. When customers were asked why they preferred this brand, the student quoted respondents as noting that the brand offered the strongest "high." Based on a couple of charts, the top selling brand does appear to be the one with the highest nicotine content. Clearly the cigarette is only a vehicle for imbibing nicotine.

While the above two studies suggest groups that seek the strongest drugs available to them, another study indicated a steady drop in nightly evening church service attendance despite the season of Lent usually seeing an uptick in church attendance. This study was particularly interesting as a decision was carried out earlier in the year by an order of the church to forcibly retire a number of popular church leaders. The denomination, not known to be gaining ground globally, may have unintentionally acted against its future best interests in this action. The church did not explain its actions to its parishioners, and now the church is apparently losing a key constituency: the regulars who come to nightly services.

The fourth study that caught my attention was a study that hints at the possibility that the farther a student's home is from their elementary school, the lower the probability that they will eventually attend college. The study was conceptually interesting and was carried out to the best of the ability of the student. There are, however, so many confounding factors that the results can only be treated as "deserving of further study." The most fundamental problem has to do with the distribution of students - fewer may be living farther from the school. The geographic units used in the study are probably not population equal.

Despite the potential problems, the differentials appear to be stronger than the population differentials. On a very rainy island where children walk to school, there may be a distance effect on students in elementary schools. Obviously there are dozens of intervening variables. One would want attendance versus distance data broken down by individual student and distance covered.

If this effect is real, however, then there is an interesting result. For the school studied, children come from multi-generation ancestral home sites. Thus their parents often grew up in the same location. These are indigenous peoples who do not move from location to location in the manner seen in western nations. One could postulate that this effect also plays out over the generations: those who live near schools are more likely to go to college, value an education, and pass it along to their children who also grow up near the school.

Hence the school has local, state, and church leaders all living very close to the school, while areas further from the school produce fewer local, state, and church leaders.

If, and this remains a big if, if there is a distance disadvantage, then actions that reduce this effect should be beneficial to the larger society. Transport, such as buses, is too costly for this community, let alone expanded to a state wide initiative. A larger number of smaller schools closer to where children are raised is also probably not affordable nor practical. Solutions to enhancing the education of the most distant students are not obvious to this author.

For the particular school studied, of interest is that the lowest rates of college admission were seen for the students who are indeed farthest from the elementary school, but whom are closest to the national campus of the college. Some of these students are actually closer to a school in the neighboring municipality, but the municipal boundary is also a cultural boundary of a sort and families choose to send children to the further elementary school. The college is, however, probably not in a position to be all that helpful to these children. The college is small, budgets are way beyond tight, and socio-cultural complications would lead to bedeviling details.

Of the other studies, most are of routine and pedestrian matters, hours of sleep, number of betel nut chewed, number of sodas consumed per day (maxing out at seven!).

Obtaining a valid HTML foreignObject in SVG in HTML5

For some time now I have used the SVG foreignObject in XHTML to control the layout of a combination table and graph that I sometimes use for physical science tests. The HTML foreignObject in XHTML requires the presence of the html, head, and body elements. In fact, the foreignObject carries its own XML namespace. A fragment of a valid XHTML file with an HTML foreignObject can be viewed in the source of quiz 114.

Note that the XHTML file includes the html element, the head element, and the body element. Recently I shifted from XHTML to HTML as I suspect that the future belongs to HTML.

Valid HTML requires removal of the namespace declarations. Removal of the namespace alone, however is not sufficient to obtain validation. To obtain valid HTML, currently referred to as HTML5, one has to remove the html, head, and body elements from the HTML foreignObject inside the SVG that is within the HTML.

Confusing? Maybe not to those new to HTML5. I was confused a few years ago when I found I had to add in the html, head, title, (head must have at least a title), and body element to the HTML foreignObject in the SVG. The issue is, I suppose, that the namespace demands those elements be present.

Now that cyberspace is flat again - no namespaces - the parser apparently does not want nor need all of the elements. In fact both validator.nu and validator.w3.org agree that html, head, title, and body, must be omitted to generate a valid HTML5 document with a foreignObject in the SVG.

As usual for a moron, I am indebted to a fragment of proposed code that steered me in the right direction.

Ethnobotany cultural ceremony

The spring 2011 ethnbotany class visited Welianter "Oaulik" Samuel in Dien, Kitti to enact the Pohnpeian sakau ceremony.

 The moanindei (menindei) had to instruct students in proper positioning and sitting form.

Betsyna is oarir for "Nahnalek" Mae, Jackleen is oarir for "Nahnkeniei" Himena. Betsyna noted that her clan does not serve as oarir, hence her initial confusion as to how to sit.

After doffing his shirt, Jayheart brought in the sakau and cut the branches.

Cleaning the sakau.

Under the direction of the menindei, Jayheart places the four pwoakoar. Each has their own name, and the order in which the four are laid down is prescribed. All is done under the direction of the menindei.

Jayheart and Anthony join to form a foursome for sukusuk. Four pounders is the right number.

Jayheart on wengweng, Anthony wie sak on the ngarangar.

Hertin and Arnold as oarir, Ceasar takes pwel as "Nahnmwarki."

Mallone as oarir serves "Nahnken" Lewis. 

The menindei corrects Betsyna on the proper way to receive the ngarangar and pass it along to Mae. Hertin displays correct sitting form, not the most comfortable for those not used to this position.

Jayheart works hard delivering the nohpwei cups - five in Kitti fashion. Nahnmwarki, Nahnken, Wasahi, Nahnalek, and back to Nahnmwarki.

Hertin prepares to serve Ceasar.

For the after session, Mallone took over on wengweng.

 

Our host, Oaulik, who made the participatory experience possible.

This event always functions as a cap stone event that brings to a functional close the term in ethnobotany with a plant that is really at the very center, the heart and soul, of a culture.