The washback effect, also known as backwash effect, refers to the impact that assessments or testing can have on teaching and learning practices. This concept highlights the idea that the way students are assessed can influence the methods teachers use in the classroom and the manner in which students learn. In positive terms, a strong alignmment between assessment and instructional goals can lead to effective teaching strategies that enhance learning.
Property testing is a fundamental concept in computer science and, more specifically, in the field of algorithms and complexity theory. It involves the following key ideas: 1. **Definition**: Property testing is the process of determining whether a given object (often a function, graph, or dataset) exhibits a certain property or is "far" from having that property, without needing to examine the entire object. It is a randomized algorithmic technique that allows for efficient checks.
Katherine E. Stange is not a widely recognized public figure or concept as of my last knowledge update in October 2023. It's possible that she could be a professional in a specific field, an author, or a person associated with a particular event or organization that may not be well-documented in widely available sources.
Anania Shirakatsi (also known as Ananias of Širak) was an Armenian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived during the 7th century. He is particularly renowned for his significant contributions to the field of mathematics and for his role in the development of astronomy in Armenia. Shirakatsi is best known for his work called "Mathematics" (or "Astrognosy"), which includes a comprehensive overview of mathematical concepts as understood in his time.
Ted Janssen could refer to a specific individual or a lesser-known figure, but there isn't widely recognized information available about someone by that name up to October 2023. It's possible that he could be a private individual, a fictional character, or someone who has gained notoriety in a specific field or region not widely covered in mainstream sources.
"Darwin Among the Machines" is a book written by the British author George B. Dyson, published in 1998. The book explores the relationship between evolutionary biology and technology, particularly the development of computers and artificial intelligence. Dyson draws parallels between the processes of natural selection in biological evolution and the development of intelligent machines, suggesting that technology is evolving in a manner similar to biological organisms.
MASON is a multi-agent simulation library that is written in Java. It is designed to provide a flexible framework for creating agent-based models and simulations. MASON stands out due to its emphasis on performance, scalability, and ease of use. Here are some key features and characteristics of MASON: 1. **Agent-Based Modeling**: MASON facilitates the modeling of systems as autonomous agents that interact with one another and their environment.
The perifocal coordinate system is a framework used in orbital mechanics to describe the position and velocity of an object in orbit around a central body, such as a planet or star. In this system, the coordinates are defined relative to the orbital parameters of the body in question. Here's how the perifocal coordinate system is structured: 1. **Perifocal Plane**: The plane in which the orbit lies is called the perifocal plane.
Fakhr al-Din al-Akhlati (also known as Fakhr al-Din al-Akhlaqi or al-Akhawati) was a prominent Persian poet and philosopher from the 12th century. He is particularly known for his works that blend themes of mysticism, ethics, and philosophy. His poetry often reflects the rich cultural and intellectual milieu of the Islamic Golden Age, and he is recognized for his contributions to Persian literature and thought.
Jeremy S. Heyl is an astrophysicist known for his research in various areas of astrophysics, including topics such as neutron stars, black holes, and other astronomical phenomena. He has contributed to the understanding of cosmic objects and their behaviors through theoretical modeling and analysis.
Astronomers from Georgia, a country located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, have made significant contributions to the field of astronomy over the years. Georgia has a rich cultural and scientific heritage, and its astronomers have been involved in various research activities, especially following the establishment of academic institutions in the 20th century.
"Belgian astronomers" could refer to several things, including notable astronomers from Belgium, contributions made by Belgian scientists to the field of astronomy, or institutions in Belgium that are involved in astronomical research.
"Dutch astronomers" could refer to several notable figures in the field of astronomy from the Netherlands, as well as the contributions of Dutch scientists to the field. Here are a few key highlights: 1. **Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)**: Though he was Danish, he spent time in the Netherlands and had a significant influence on astronomy in the region. His meticulous observations laid the groundwork for later astronomers.
The great stellapentakis dodecahedron is a convex polyhedron in the category of stellated polyhedra. It is one of the many tessellated shapes in the field of geometry and is characterized by a specific arrangement of its faces, vertices, and edges. To break it down: 1. **Dodecahedron**: This is a polyhedron with 12 flat faces, each of which is a regular pentagon.
The gyroelongated square bipyramid is a type of polyhedron that belongs to the category of Archimedean solids. Specifically, it is derived from the elongated square bipyramid, which is a bipyramid with a square base elongated by the addition of two additional square pyramidal sections. Here are some key characteristics of the gyroelongated square bipyramid: 1. **Faces**: The gyroelongated square bipyramid consists of 8 triangular faces and 4 square faces.
The Q-Vandermonde identity is a generalization of the classical Vandermonde identity, which relates sums of binomial coefficients to the coefficients of a polynomial expansion. The Q-Vandermonde identity specifically introduces the concept of q-binomial coefficients (also known as Gaussian coefficients) and q-series.
Gum copal is a natural resin that is obtained from certain trees, particularly from the genus Commiphora and the family Burseraceae, which includes species like Boswellia (frankincense) and Canarium. The resin is collected by making incisions in the bark of the tree, allowing the sap to ooze out and harden into a solid form.
Storax balsam, also known simply as storax, is a fragrant resin obtained from the bark of several species of trees in the Liquidambar genus, particularly Liquidambar styraciflua, commonly known as the sweetgum tree. Storax has been used for centuries for various purposes, including perfumery, incense, and traditional medicine. The resin has a warm, sweet, and balsamic scent, making it popular in the production of fragrances and scented products.
Hypocatastasis is a rhetorical term that refers to the indirect or implied comparison between two things, often through suggestion rather than explicit statement. It is a form of metaphor where one concept or idea is not directly referenced but is suggested through context, inference, or underlying meaning. This can often create a more nuanced or layered expression, allowing the audience to make connections and interpretations beyond the literal words used.
"Chorographia" is a term that historically refers to the description and depiction of specific regions or landscapes in a detailed and artistic manner. The term derives from Greek, combining "choro-" meaning "area" or "region" and "-graphia" meaning "writing" or "description." In geographical and cartographic contexts, chorographia emphasizes the representation of smaller areas compared to larger geographical studies, often incorporating elements of cultural, historical, and natural features.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 2.
    You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either https://OurBigBook.com or as a static website
    .
    Figure 3.
    Visual Studio Code extension installation
    .
    Figure 4.
    Visual Studio Code extension tree navigation
    .
    Figure 5.
    Web editor
    . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
    Video 4.
    OurBigBook Visual Studio Code extension editing and navigation demo
    . Source.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact