Georgia College & State University

About: Georgia College & State University is a education organization based out in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Higher education. The organization has 950 authors who have published 1591 publications receiving 37027 citations.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Asynchronous Discussion and Communication Patterns in Online and Hybrid History Courses

Abstract: Asynchronous online discussion has been shown to enhance communication between students and to elicit many cognitive indicators. Nevertheless, historians have often been reluctant to make use of such instructional technology. Students enrolled in a fully online world civilization course corroborated qualitative research findings regarding the cognitive indicators associated with asynchronous discussion. In contrast, students in face-to-face web-enhanced hybrid world civilization classes exhibited less dramatic cognitive indicators in asynchronous discussion, perhaps due to the greater maturity in terms of age and experience of the fully online students. Students in the hybrid class, however, did indicate that participation in online discussions enhanced their engagement in face-to-face in-class discussions. However, asynchronous discussions did not prompt the face-to-face students to achieve authentic dialog between students in the classroom, and neither group managed to transcend problems of inequitable participation in small groups. There remains a need for further research on how to transplant documented advantages of asynchronous discussion into the hybrid classroom.

Asteroseismology of the Kepler V777 Herculis variable white dwarf with fully evolutionary models

Abstract: Context. DBV stars are pulsating white dwarfs with atmospheres rich in He. Asteroseismology of DBV stars can provide valuable clues about the origin, structure and evolution of hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs, and may allow to study neutrino and axion physics. Recently, a new DBV star, KIC 8626021, has been discovered in the field of theKepler spacecraft. It is expected that further monitoring of this star in the next years will enable astronomers to determine its detailed asteroseismic profile. Aims. We perform an asteroseismological analysis of KIC 8626021 on the basis of fully evolutionary DB white-dwarf models. Methods. We employ a complete set of evolutionary DB white-dwarf structures covering a wide range of effective temperatures and stellar masses. They have been obtained on the basis of a complete treatment of the evolutionary history of progenitors stars. We compute g-mode adiabatic pulsation periods for this set of models and compare them with the pulsation properties exhibited by KIC 8626021. Results. On the basis of the mean period spacing of the star, we found that the stellar mass should be substantially larger than spectroscopy indicates. From period-to-period fits we found an asteroseismological model characterized by an effective temperature much higher than the spectroscopic estimate. Conclusions. In agreement with a recent asteroseismological analysis of this star by other authors, we conclude that KIC 8626021 is located near the blue edge of the DBV instability strip, contrarily to spectroscopic predictions. We also conclude that the mass of KIC 8626021 should be substantially larger than thought.