Search results for: machine learning tools and techniques

Authors: Jerald Ruta, Ricardo Villar, Jojemar Bantugan, Nycel Barbadillo, Jigg Pelayo

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Streams are important in providing water supply for industrial, agricultural and human consumption, In short when there are streams there are lives. Identifying streams are essential since many developed cities are situated in the vicinity of these bodies of water and in flood management, it serves as basin for surface runoff within the area. This study aims to process and generate features from high-resolution digital terrain model (DTM) with 1-meter resolution using Hydrology Tools of ArcGIS. The raster was then filled, processed flow direction and accumulation, then raster calculate and provide stream order, converted to vector, and clearing undesirable features using the ancillary or google earth. In field validation streams were classified whether perennial, intermittent or ephemeral. Results show more than 90% of the extracted feature were accurate in assessment through field validation.

Keywords: digital terrain models, hydrology tools, strahler method, stream classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Cory A. Bennett

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Teaching and learning through the use of discourse support students’ conceptual understanding by attending to key concepts and relationships. One discourse structure used in primary classrooms is number talks wherein students mentally calculate, discuss, and reason about the appropriateness and efficiency of their strategies. In the secondary mathematics classroom, the mathematics understudy does not often lend itself to mental calculations yet learning to reason, and articulate reasoning, is central to learning mathematics. This qualitative case study discusses how one secondary school in the Middle East adapted the number talk protocol for secondary mathematics classrooms. Several challenges in implementing ‘reasoning talks’ became apparent including shifting current discourse protocols and practices to a more student-centric model, accurately recording and probing student thinking, and specifically attending to reasoning rather than computations.

Keywords: discourse, reasoning, secondary mathematics, teacher development

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Samira Karimi-Mansoub, Rahem Abri

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Currently, users expect high quality and personalized information from search results. To satisfy user’s needs, personalized approaches to web search have been proposed. These approaches can provide the most appropriate answer for user’s needs by using user context and incorporating information about query provided by combining search technologies. To carry out personalized web search, there is a need to make different techniques on whole of user search process. There are the number of possible deployment of personalized approaches such as personalized web search, personalized recommendation, personalized summarization and filtering systems and etc. but the common feature of all approaches in various domains is that user modeling is utilized to provide personalized information from the Web. So the most important work in personalized approaches is user model mining. User modeling applications and technologies can be used in various domains depending on how the user collected information may be extracted. In addition to, the used techniques to create user model is also different in each of these applications. Since in the previous studies, there was not a complete survey in this field, our purpose is to present a survey on applications and techniques of user modeling from the viewpoint of improvement in search results by considering the existing literature and researches.

Keywords: filtering systems, personalized web search, user modeling, user search behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Neşe Taşci, Soner Çubuk, Ece Kök Yetimoğlu, M. Vezir Kahraman

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Bisphenol-A (BPA), 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenly)propane, is one of the highest usage volume chemicals in the world. Studies showed that BPA maybe has negative effects on the central nervous system, immune and endocrine systems. Several of analytical methods for the analysis of BPA have been reported including electrochemical processes, chemical oxidation, ozonization, spectrophotometric, chromatographic techniques. Compared with other conventional analytical techniques, optic sensors are reliable, providing quick results, low cost, easy to use, stands out as a much more advantageous method because of the high precision and sensitivity. In this work, a new photocured polymeric fluorescence sensor was prepared and characterized for Bisphenol-A (BPA) analysis. Characterization of the membrane was carried out by Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) techniques. The response characteristics of the sensor including dynamic range, pH effect and response time were systematically investigated. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under Grant 115Y469.

Keywords: bisphenol-a, fluorescence, photopolymerization, polymeric sensor

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Authors: Wongwarit Nipitwittaya

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The objectives of this research is bringing folk song with the teaching of Western music were to examine to investigate, to compare, develop the skill, technique, knowledge of Thai folk song and to preserve folk song of Thailand to be known more widely also learn Thai culture from Thai folk song. Study by bringing Thailand folk song is widely known for learning with Western music in course brass performance. Bringing the melody of Thai folk music and changing patterns to western music notes for appropriate on brass performance. A sample was selected from brass students, using research by assessment of knowledge from test after used Thai folk song lesson. The lesson focus for scales and key signature in western music by divided into two groups, the one study by used research tools and another one used simple lesson and a collection of research until testing. The results of the study were as follows: 1. There are good development skill form research method 2. Sound recognition can be even better. The study was a qualitative research and data collection by observation.

Keywords: Thai folk song, brass instrument, key signature, western music

Procedia PDF Downloads 670

Authors: Anthony Credoz, Nathalie Nief, Remy Hedacq, Salvador Jordana, Laurent Cazes

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Groundwater monitoring is classically performed in a network of piezometers in industrial sites. Groundwater flow parameters, such as direction, sense and velocity, are deduced from indirect measurements between two or more piezometers. Groundwater sampling is generally done on the whole column of water inside each borehole to provide concentration values for each piezometer location. These flow and concentration values give a global ‘static’ image of potential plume of contaminants evolution in the shallow aquifer with huge uncertainties in time and space scales and mass discharge dynamic. TOTAL R&D Subsurface Environmental team is challenging this classical approach with an innovative dynamic way of characterization of shallow aquifer groundwater. The current study aims at optimizing the tools and methodologies for (i) a direct and multilevel measurement of groundwater velocities in each piezometer and, (ii) a calculation of potential flux of dissolved contaminant in the shallow aquifer. Lab-scale experiments have been designed to test commercial and R&D tools in a controlled sandbox. Multiphysics modeling were performed and took into account Darcy equation in porous media and Navier-Stockes equation in the borehole. The first step of the current study focused on groundwater flow at porous media/piezometer interface. Huge uncertainties from direct flow rate measurements in the borehole versus Darcy flow rate in the porous media were characterized during experiments and modeling. The structure and location of the tools in the borehole also impacted the results and uncertainties of velocity measurement. In parallel, direct-push tool was tested and presented more accurate results. The second step of the study focused on mass flux of dissolved contaminant in groundwater. Several active and passive commercial and R&D tools have been tested in sandbox and reactive transport modeling has been performed to validate the experiments at the lab-scale. Some tools will be selected and deployed in field assays to better assess the mass discharge of dissolved contaminants in an industrial site. The long-term subsurface environmental strategy is targeting an in-situ, real-time, remote and cost-effective monitoring of groundwater.

Keywords: dynamic characterization, groundwater flow, lab-scale, mass flux

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Authors: Maria Valeria De Bonis, Gianpaolo Ruocco

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Nowadays, computational modeling is paving new design and verification ways in a number of industrial sectors. The technology is ripe to challenge some case in the Bioengineering and Medicine frameworks: for example, looking at the strategical and ethical importance of oncology research, efforts should be made to yield new and powerful resources to tumor knowledge and understanding. With these driving motivations, we approach this gigantic problem by using some standard engineering tools such as the mathematics behind the biomass transfer. We present here some bacterial colonization studies in complex structures. As strong analogies hold with some tumor proliferation, we extend our study to a benchmark case of solid tumor. By means of a commercial software, we model biomass and energy evolution in arbitrary media. The approach will be useful to cast virtualization cases of cancer growth in human organs, while augmented reality tools will be used to yield for a realistic aid to informed decision in treatment and surgery.

Keywords: bacteria, simulation, tumor, precision medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: Jianli Hu

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The internet has fundamentally revolutionized access to data and ushered new ways of creating and accessing information for commercializing products. Digital media such as computer programs, software, apps, websites, and social media have allowed the proliferation of information and ideas to grow exponentially. In recent years, a new wave of innovative e-commerce formats has begun to emerge in the fashion marketplace, responding to the ever-greater need for transparency and connectivity. For example, many fashion wholesalers and retailers have modified their operations using software systems that enable brands to cost, track, and analyze products and client orders, sales tools that connect buyers and brands to create a more dynamic market-place, as well as retailer-end apps designed to drive traffic back to brick-and-mortar stores. In this paper, we review the recently developed tools and applications of commercializing fashion, and present results of several field studies and interviews with fashion producers and buyers.

Keywords: fashion, digital media, commercializing products, internet

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Authors: S. C. Lin, M. S. Wu

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Japanese Scholar Manabu Sato has been advocating the Learning Community, which changed Japanese fundamental education during the last three decades. It was also called a “Quiet Revolution.” Manabu Sato criticized that traditional education only focused on individual competition, exams, teacher-centered instruction, and memorization. The students lacked leaning motivation. Therefore, Manabu Sato proclaimed that learning should be a sustainable process of “constantly weaving the relationship and the meanings” by having dialogues with learning materials, with peers, and with oneself. For a long time, secondary school education in Taiwan has been focused on exams and emphasized reciting and memorizing. The incident of “giving up learning” happened to some students. Manabu Sato’s learning community program has been implemented very successfully in Japan. It is worth exploring if learning community can resolve the issue of “Escape from learning” phenomenon among secondary school students in Taiwan. This study was the first year of a two-year project. This project applied a program theory-driven approach to evaluating the impact of teachers’ professional development interventions on students’ learning by using a mix of methods, qualitative inquiry, and quasi-experimental design. The current study was to show the results of using the method of theory-driven approach to program planning to design and evaluate a teachers’ professional development program (TPDP). The Manabu Sato’s learning community theory was applied to structure all components of a 54-hour workshop. The participants consisted of seven secondary school science teachers from two schools. The research procedure was comprised of: 1) Defining the problem and assessing participants’ needs; 2) Selecting the Theoretical Framework; 3) Determining theory-based goals and objectives; 4) Designing the TPDP intervention; 5) Implementing the TPDP intervention; 6) Evaluating the TPDP intervention. Data was collected from a number of different sources, including TPDP checklist, activity responses of workshop, LC subject matter test, teachers’ e-portfolio, course design documents, and teachers’ belief survey. The major findings indicated that program design was suitable to participants. More than 70% of the participants were satisfied with program implementation. They revealed that TPDP was beneficial to their instruction and promoted their professional capacities. However, due to heavy teaching loadings during the project some participants were unable to attend all workshops. To resolve this problem, the author provided options to them by watching DVD or reading articles offered by the research team. This study also established a communication platform for participants to share their thoughts and learning experiences. The TPDP had marked impacts on participants’ teaching beliefs. They believe that learning should be a sustainable process of “constantly weaving the relationship and the meanings” by having dialogues with learning materials, with peers, and with oneself. Having learned from TPDP, they applied a “learner-centered” approach and instructional strategies to design their courses, such as learning by doing, collaborative learning, and reflective learning. To conclude, participants’ beliefs, knowledge, and skills were promoted by the program instructions.

Keywords: program theory-driven approach, learning community, teacher professional development program, program evaluation

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Authors: Tarek Abdelkader, Suresh Selvaraj, Prasad Iyer, Yong Mun Hin, Hajmath Begum, P. Gopalakrishnakone

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Nowadays, more and more educational institutes, as well as students, rely on 3D anatomy programs as an important tool that helps students correlate the actual locations of anatomical structures in a 3D dimension. Lately, virtual reality (VR) is gaining more favor from the younger generations due to its higher interactive mode. As a result, using virtual reality as a gamified learning platform for anatomy became the current goal. We present a model where a Virtual Human Anatomy Program (VHAP) was developed to assist with the anatomy learning experience of students. The anatomy module has been built, mostly, from real patient CT scans. Segmentation and surface rendering were used to create the 3D model by direct segmentation of CT scans for each organ individually and exporting that model as a 3D file. After acquiring the 3D files for all needed organs, all the files were introduced into a Virtual Reality environment as a complete body anatomy model. In this ongoing experiment, students from different Allied Health orientations are testing the VHAP. Specifically, the cardiovascular system has been selected as the focus system of study since all of our students finished learning about it in the 1st trimester. The initial results suggest that the VHAP system is adding value to the learning process of our students, encouraging them to get more involved and to ask more questions. Involved students comments show that they are excited about the VHAP system with comments about its interactivity as well as the ability to use it solo as a self-learning aid in combination with the lectures. Some students also experienced minor side effects like dizziness.

Keywords: 3D construction, health sciences, teaching pedagogy, virtual reality

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Authors: Lucélia Alcântara

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Reading has been seen as a passive skill by many people for a long time. However, when one comes to study it deeply and in a such a way that the act of reading equals acquiring knowledge through living an experience that belongs to him/her, passive definitely becomes active. Material development with a focus on reading has to consider much more than reading strategies. The following questions are asked: Is the material appropriate to the students’ reality? Does it make students think and state their points of view? With that in mind a lesson has been developed to illustrate theory becoming practice. Knowledge, criticality, intercultural experience and social interaction. That is what reading is for.

Keywords: reading, culture, material development, learning

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Authors: Chaitanya Chawla, Divya Panwar, Gurneesh Singh Anand, M. P. S Bhatia

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This paper presents a deep-learning mechanism for classifying computer generated images and photographic images. The proposed method accounts for a convolutional layer capable of automatically learning correlation between neighbouring pixels. In the current form, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) will learn features based on an image's content instead of the structural features of the image. The layer is particularly designed to subdue an image's content and robustly learn the sensor pattern noise features (usually inherited from image processing in a camera) as well as the statistical properties of images. The paper was assessed on latest natural and computer generated images, and it was concluded that it performs better than the current state of the art methods.

Keywords: image forensics, computer graphics, classification, deep learning, convolutional neural networks

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Authors: J. S. M. Yang, G. E. T. Chua

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Diploma in Optometry (OPT) course is a three-year program offered by Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) to train students to provide primary eye care. Students are equipped with foundational conceptual knowledge and practical skills in the first three semesters before clinical modules in fourth to six semesters. In the clinical modules, students typically have difficulties in integrating the acquired knowledge and skills from the past semesters to perform general eye examinations on public patients at NP Optometry Centre (NPOC). To help the students overcome the challenge, a web-based game Virtual Optometrist (VO) was developed to help students apply their skills and knowledge through scenario-based learning. It consisted of two interfaces, Optical Practice Counter (OPC) and Optometric Consultation Room (OCR), to provide two simulated settings for authentic learning experiences. In OPC, students would recommend and provide appropriate frame and lens selection based on virtual patient’s case history. In OCR, students would diagnose and manage virtual patients with common ocular conditions. Simulated scenarios provided real-world clinical situations that required contextual application of integrated knowledge from relevant modules. The stages in OPC and OCR are of increasing complexity to align to expected students’ clinical competency as they progress to more senior semesters. This prevented gameplay fatigue as VO was used over the semesters to achieve different learning outcomes. Numerous feedback opportunities were provided to students based on their decisions to allow individualized learning to take place. The game-based learning element in VO was achieved through the scoreboard and leader board to enhance students' motivation to perform. Scores were based on the speed and accuracy of students’ responses to the questions posed in the simulated scenarios, preparing the students to perform accurately and effectively under time pressure in a realistic optometric environment. Learning analytics was generated in VO’s backend office based on students’ responses, offering real-time data on distinctive and observable learners’ behavior to monitor students’ engagement and learning progress. The backend office allowed versatility to add, edit, and delete scenarios for different intended learning outcomes. Likert Scale was used to measure students’ learning experience with VO for OPT Year 2 and 3 students. The survey results highlighted the learning benefits of implementing VO in the different modules, such as enhancing recall and reinforcement of clinical knowledge for contextual application to develop higher-order thinking skills, increasing efficiency in clinical decision-making, facilitating learning through immediate feedback and second attempts, providing exposure to common and significant ocular conditions, and training effective communication skills. The results showed that VO has been useful in reinforcing optometry students’ learning and supporting the development of higher-order thinking, increasing efficiency in clinical decision-making, and allowing students to learn from their mistakes with immediate feedback and second attempts. VO also exposed the students to diverse ocular conditions through simulated real-world clinical scenarios, which may otherwise not be encountered in NPOC, and promoted effective communication skills.

Keywords: authentic learning, game-based learning, scenario-based learning, simulated clinical scenarios

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Authors: Mustapha Yakubu, Ahmed Usman, Hashim Ambursa

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This paper presents the findings of a research which sought to investigate techniques used to improve cost and time control of construction projects management practice in Nigeria. However, there is limited research on issues surrounding the practical usage of these techniques. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to construction experts through a survey conducted on the 100 construction organisations and 50 construction consultancy firms in the Nigeria aimed at identifying common project cost and time control practices and factors inhibiting effective project control in practice. The study reveals that despite the vast application of control techniques a high proportion of respondents still experienced cost and time overruns on a significant proportion of their projects. Analysis of the survey results concluded that more effort should be geared at the management of the identified top project control inhibiting factors. This paper has outlined some measures for mitigating these inhibiting factors so that the outcome of project time and cost control can be improved in practice.

Keywords: construction project, cost control, Nigeria, time control

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Authors: Shahram Nowrouzieh, Abbas Rezaei Asl, Mohamad Ali Jafari

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Cotton, as a strategic crop, plays an important role in providing human food and clothing need, because of its oil, protein, and fiber. Iran has been one of the largest cotton producers in the world in the past, but unfortunately, for economic reasons, its production is reduced now. One of the ways to reduce the cost of cotton production is to expand the mechanization of cotton harvesting. Iranian farmers do not accept the function of cotton harvesters. One reason for this lack of acceptance of cotton harvesting machines is the number of field losses on these machines. So, the majority of cotton fields are harvested by hand. Although the correct setting of the harvesting machine is very important in the cotton losses, the morphological properties of the cotton plant also affect the performance of cotton harvesters. In this study, the effect of some cotton morphological properties such as the height of the cotton plant, number, and length of sympodial and monopodial branches, boll dimensions, boll weight, number of carpels and bracts angle were evaluated on the performance of cotton picker. In this research, the efficiency of John Deere 9920 spindle Cotton picker is investigated on five different Iranian cotton cultivars. The results indicate that there was a significant difference between the five cultivars in terms of machine harvest efficiency. Golestan cultivar showed the best cotton harvester performance with an average of 87.6% of total harvestable seed cotton and Khorshid cultivar had the least cotton harvester performance. The principal component analysis showed that, at 50.76% probability, the cotton picker efficiency is affected by the bracts angle positively and by boll dimensions, the number of carpels and the height of cotton plants negatively. The seed cotton remains (in the plant and on the ground) after harvester in PCA scatter plot were in the same zone with boll dimensions and several carpels.

Keywords: cotton, bract, harvester, carpel

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Authors: Daniel Tochwin

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Continuous improvement is an essential part of effective process performance management. In order to achieve continuous quality improvement, each organization must use the appropriate selection of tools and techniques. The basic condition for success is a proper understanding of the business need faced by the company and the selection of appropriate methods to improve a given production process. The main aim of this article is to analyze the methods of conduct which are popular in practice when implementing process improvements and then to determine whether the tested methods include repetitive systematics of the approach, i.e., a similar sequence of the same or similar actions. Based on an extensive literature review, 4 methods of continuous improvement of production processes were selected: A3 report, Gemba Kaizen, PDCA cycle, and Deming cycle. The research shows that all frequently used improvement methods are generally based on the PDCA cycle, and the differences are due to "(re)interpretation" and the need to adapt the continuous improvement approach to the specific business process. The research shows that all the frequently used improvement methods are generally based on the PDCA cycle, and the differences are due to "(re) interpretation" and the need to adapt the continuous improvement approach to the specific business process.

Keywords: continuous improvement, lean methods, process improvement, PDCA

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Authors: Shaik Jilani Basha, Inavolu Avinash, Alla Venu Sai Reddy, Bitragunta Taraka Ramu

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We can use the neural style transfer technique to build a picture with the same "content" as the beginning image but the "style" of the picture we've chosen. Neural style transfer is a technique for merging the style of one image into another while retaining its original information. The only change is how the image is formatted to give it an additional artistic sense. The content image depicts the plan or drawing, as well as the colors of the drawing or paintings used to portray the style. It is a computer vision programme that learns and processes images through deep convolutional neural networks. To implement software, we used to train deep learning models with the train data, and whenever a user takes an image and a styled image, the output will be as the style gets transferred to the original image, and it will be shown as the output.

Keywords: neural networks, computer vision, deep learning, convolutional neural networks

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Authors: Darius Singh

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This study adopts a research, develop, and deploy methodology to create a state-of-the-art forest preschool environment using technology and the Gaia (Earth) Education Philosophy as design support. The new philosophy adopts an ancient Greek terminology, “Gaia,” meaning “Mother Earth”, and it take its principle to model everything with the oldest living and breathing entity that it know – Earth. This includes using nature and biomimicry-based principles in building design, environments, curricula, teaching, learning, values and outcomes for children. The study highlights the potential effectiveness of the Gaia (Earth) Education Philosophy as a means of designing Earth-inspired environments for children’s learning. The discuss the strengths of biomimicry-based design principles and propose a curriculum that emphasizes natural outcomes for early childhood learning. Theoretical implications of the study are that the Gaia (Earth) Education Philosophy could serve as a strong foundation for educating young learners.it present a unique approach that promotes connections with Earth-principles and lessons that can contribute to the development of social and environmental consciousness among children and help educate generations to come into a stable and balanced future.

Keywords: earth science, nature education, sustainability, gaia, forest school, nature, inspirational teaching and learning

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Authors: Ali Berkan Ural

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This paper presents the analysis, evaluation, and pre-diagnosis of early stage breast based diagnostic problems (breast cancer, nodulesorlumps) by Computer Aided Diagnosing (CAD) system from mammogram radiological images. According to the statistics, the time factor is crucial to discover the disease in the patient (especially in women) as possible as early and fast. In the study, a new algorithm is developed using advanced image processing and deep learning method to detect and classify the problem at earlystagewithmoreaccuracy. This system first works with image processing methods (Image acquisition, Noiseremoval, Region Growing Segmentation, Morphological Operations, Breast BorderExtraction, Advanced Segmentation, ObtainingRegion Of Interests (ROIs), etc.) and segments the area of interest of the breast and then analyzes these partly obtained area for cancer detection/lumps in order to diagnosis the disease. After segmentation, with using the Spectrogramimages, 5 different deep learning based methods (specified Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) basedAlexNet, ResNet50, VGG16, DenseNet, Xception) are applied to classify the breast based problems.

Keywords: computer aided diagnosis, breast cancer, region growing, segmentation, deep learning

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Authors: Loreta Axhami

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Media literacy in the digital age emerges not only as a set of skills to generate true knowledge and information but also as a pedagogy methodology, as a kind of educational philosophy. In addition to such innovations as information integration and communication technologies, media infrastructures, and web usage in the educational system, media literacy enables the change in the learning methods, pedagogy, teaching programs, and school curriculum itself. In this framework, this study focuses on ICT's impact on teaching and learning methods and the degree they are reflected in the Albanian education system. The study is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of scientific research. Referring to the study findings, it results that student’s limited access to the internet in school, focus on the hardcopy textbooks and the role of the teacher as the only or main source of knowledge and information are some of the main factors contributing to the implementation of authoritarian pedagogical methods in the Albanian education system. In these circumstances, the implementation of media literacy is recommended as an apt educational process for the 21st century, which requires a reconceptualization of textbooks as well as the application of modern teaching and learning methods by integrating information and communication technologies.

Keywords: authoritarian pedagogic model, education system, ICT, media literacy

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Authors: Thifhuriwi Emmanuel Madzunye, Patricia Harpur, Ephias Ruhode

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A review of the pertinent literature identified a gap concerning the hindrances and opportunities accompanying the implementation of real-time online learning systems (RTOLs) in rural areas. Whilst RTOLs present a possible solution to teaching and learning issues in rural areas, little is known about the implementation of digital strategies among schools in isolated communities. This study explores associated guidelines that have the potential to inform decision-making where Internet-based education could improve educational opportunities. A systematic literature review has the potential to consolidate and focus on disparate literature served to collect interlinked data from specific sources in a structured manner. During qualitative data analysis (QDA) of selected publications via the application of a QDA tool - ATLAS.ti, the following overarching themes emerged: digital divide, educational strategy, human factors, and support. Furthermore, findings from data collection and literature review suggest that signiant factors include a lack of digital knowledge, infrastructure shortcomings such as a lack of computers, poor internet connectivity, and handicapped real-time online may limit students’ progress. The study recommends that timeous consideration should be given to the influence of the digital divide. Additionally, the evolution of educational strategy that adopts digital approaches, a focus on training of role-players and stakeholders concerning human factors, and the seeking of governmental funding and support are essential to the implementation and success of RTOLs.

Keywords: communication, digital divide, digital skills, distance, educational strategy, government, ICT, infrastructures, learners, limpopo, lukalo, network, online learning systems, political-unrest, real-time, real-time online learning, real-time online learning system, pass-rate, resources, rural area, school, support, teachers, teaching and learning and training

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Authors: Maryam Alkhalosi, Ahmad Naddaf, Rana Alani

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Qatar National Library has its main accounts on social media, which presents the general image of the library and its daily news. A paper will be presented based on a case study researching the outcome of having a separate Instagram account led by librarians, not the Communication Department of the library. The main purpose of the librarians-led account is to promote librarians’ services and events, such as research consultation, reference questions, community engagement programs, collection marketing, etc. all in the way that librarians think it reflects their role in the community. Librarians had several obstacles to help users understanding librarians' roles. As was noticed that Instagram is the most popular social media platform in Qatar, it was selected to promote how librarians can help users through a focused account to create a direct channel between librarians and users. Which helps librarians understand users’ needs and interests. This research will use a quantitative approach depending on the case study, librarians have used their case in the department of Research and learning to find out the best practices might help in promoting the librarians' services and reaching out to a bigger number of users. Through the descriptive method, this research will describe the changes observed in the numbers of community users who interact with the Instagram account and engaged in librarians’ events. Statistics of this study are based on three main sources: 1. The internal monthly statistics sheet of events and programs held by the Research and Learning Department. 2. The weekly tracking of the Instagram account statistics. 3. Instagram’s tools such as polls, quizzes, questions, etc. This study will show the direct effect of a librarian-led Instagram account on the number of community members who participate and engage in librarian-led programs and services. In addition to highlighting the librarians' role directly with the community members. The study will also show the best practices on Instagram, which helps reaching a wider community of users. This study is important because, in the region, there is a lack of studies focusing on librarianship, especially on contemporary problems and its solution. Besides, there is a lack of understanding of the role of a librarian in the Arab region. The research will also highlight how librarians can help the public and researchers as well. All of these benefits can come through one popular easy channel in social media. From another side, this paper is a chance to share the details of this experience starting from scratch, including the phase of setting the policy and guidelines of managing the social media account, until librarians reached to a point where the benefits of this experience are in reality. This experience had even added many skills to the librarians.

Keywords: librarian’s role, social media, instagram and libraries, promoting libraries’ services

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Authors: V. K. Banga

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Robots are now playing a very promising role in industries. Robots are commonly used in applications in repeated operations or where operation by human is either risky or not feasible. In most of the industrial applications, robotic arm manipulators are widely used. Robotic arm manipulator with two link or three link structures is commonly used due to their low degrees-of-freedom (DOF) movement. As the DOF of robotic arm increased, complexity increases. Instrumentation involved with robotics plays very important role in order to interact with outer environment. In this work, optimal control for movement of various DOFs of robotic arm using various soft computing techniques has been presented. We have discussed about different robotic structures having various DOF robotics arm movement. Further stress is on kinematics of the arm structures i.e. forward kinematics and inverse kinematics. Trajectory planning of robotic arms using soft computing techniques is demonstrating the flexibility of this technique. The performance is optimized for all possible input values and results in optimized movement as resultant output. In conclusion, soft computing has been playing very important role for achieving optimized movement of robotic arm. It also requires very limited knowledge of the system to implement soft computing techniques.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, kinematics, robotic arm, neural networks, fuzzy logic

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Authors: James Gallagher, Phillip Benachour

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As location aware mobile technologies become ever more omnipresent, the prospect of exploiting their context awareness to enforce learning approaches thrives. Utilizing the growing acceptance of ubiquitous computing, and the steady progress both in accuracy and battery usage of pervasive devices, we present a case study of remote location viewing, how the application can be utilized to support mobile learning in situ using an existing scenario. Through the case study we introduce a new innovative application: Mobipeek based around a request/response protocol for the viewing of a remote location and explore how this can apply both as part of a teacher lead activity and informal learning situations. The system developed allows a user to select a point on a map, and send a request. Users can attach messages alongside time and distance constraints. Users within the bounds of the request can respond with an image, and accompanying message, providing context to the response. This application can be used alongside a structured learning activity such as the use of mobile phone cameras outdoors as part of an interactive lesson. An example of a learning activity would be to collect photos in the wild about plants, vegetation, and foliage as part of a geography or environmental science lesson. Another example could be to take photos of architectural buildings and monuments as part of an architecture course. These images can be uploaded then displayed back in the classroom for students to share their experiences and compare their findings with their peers. This can help to fosters students’ active participation while helping students to understand lessons in a more interesting and effective way. Mobipeek could augment the student learning experience by providing further interaction with other peers in a remote location. The activity can be part of a wider study between schools in different areas of the country enabling the sharing and interaction between more participants. Remote location viewing can be used to access images in a specific location. The choice of location will depend on the activity and lesson. For example architectural buildings of a specific period can be shared between two or more cities. The augmentation of the learning experience can be manifested in the different contextual and cultural influences as well as the sharing of images from different locations. In addition to the implementation of Mobipeek, we strive to analyse this application, and a subset of other possible and further solutions targeted towards making learning more engaging. Consideration is given to the benefits of such a system, privacy concerns, and feasibility of widespread usage. We also propose elements of “gamification”, in an attempt to further the engagement derived from such a tool and encourage usage. We conclude by identifying limitations, both from a technical, and a mobile learning perspective.

Keywords: context aware, location aware, mobile learning, remote viewing

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Hasibul Kabir, Samin Shahriar Tokey, Md. Tofazzal Hossain

Abstract:

One of the most necessary things in the present time is raising social awareness about global warming and climate change among the people. Though many types of mediums and techniques have been used to teach people about this global phenomenon, there are still more effective ways to reach people with useful information about global warming. As many traditional methods to teach people about global warming and climate change did not work well, video games were overdue. To learn how effective a video game can be in this regard, we developed a Video game, "Historia's Nightmare," that teaches people about Global warming and climate change. The game was designed to entertain people and give them an idea about the reasons and consequences of global warming and climate change while not being like traditional educational games. The game threw a mini quiz consisting of two MCQs based on the information shown in the game, where a gamer had to pass the quiz to reach the next level. We published the game on different platforms to let all types of people play and complete our experiment effectively. The game continuously communicated with our server to send data about gamers' performance. We observed the data, including the participants' performance, time spent, quiz score, and the in-game feedback on a regular basis, and finally came to a verdict. In our experiment, we have found that most participants positively accepted the game and learned something new. The participants who spent more on our game performed better in both quiz and the game. Our experiment's result demonstrates that video games can be a great way to teach people something, particularly to raise social awareness about global warming and climate change. It also demonstrates that the game can be a significant element in education and learning improvement.

Keywords: video game, global warming, social awareness, climate change, education, feedback

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Authors: Adeyemi Adeyinka, Yemisi Ilesanmi

Abstract:

This study investigated parental involvement and motivation as predictors of students’ learning outcomes in value concepts in Yoruba language in Ibadan, Nigeria. Value concepts in Yoruba language aimed at teaching moral lessons and transmitting Yoruba culture. However, feelers from schools and the society reported students’ poor achievement in examinations and negative attitude to the subject. Previous interventions focused on teaching strategies with little consideration for student-related factors. The study was anchored on psychosocial learning theory. The respondents were senior secondary II students with mean age of 15.50 ± 2.25 from 20 public schools in Ibadan, Oyo-State. In all, 1000 students were selected (486 males and 514 females) through proportionate to sample size technique. Instruments used were Students’ Motivation (r=0.79), Parental Involvement (r=0.87), and Attitude to Yoruba Value Concepts (r=0.94) scales and Yoruba Value Concepts Achievement Test (r=0.86). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation and Multiple regressions at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a significant relationship between parental involvement (r=0.54) and students’ achievement in and attitude to (r=0.229) value concepts in Yoruba. The composite contribution of parental involvement and motivation to students’ achievement and attitude was significant, contributing 20.3% and 5.1% respectively. The relative contributions of parental involvement to students’ achievement (β = 0.073; t = 1.551) and attitude (β = 0.228; t = 7.313) to value concepts in Yoruba were significant. Parental involvement was the independent variable that strongly predicts students’ achievement in and attitude to Yoruba value concepts. Parents should inculcate indigenous knowledge in their children and support its learning at school.

Keywords: parental involvement, motivation, predictors, learning outcomes, value concepts in Yoruba

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Mohammad Javad Seddighi, Avar Almukhtar

Abstract:

The occurrence of natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, can cause significant damage to heritage sites and surrounding areas. In Iran, the city of Bam was devastated by an earthquake in 2003, which had a major impact on the rivers and watercourses around the city. This study aims to investigate the environmental design techniques and sustainable hazard mitigation strategies that can be employed to preserve heritage sites in the face of natural disasters, using the Bam experience as a case study. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. The study begins with a comprehensive literature review of recent publications on environmental design techniques and sustainable hazard mitigation strategies in heritage conservation. This is followed by a field study of the rivers and watercourses around Bam, including the Adoori River (Talangoo) and other watercourses, to assess the current conditions and identify potential hazards. The data collected from the field study is analysed using statistical methods and GIS mapping techniques. The findings of this study reveal the importance of sustainable hazard mitigation strategies and environmental design techniques in preserving heritage sites during natural disasters. The study suggests that these techniques can be used to prevent the outbreak of another natural disaster in Bam and the surrounding areas. Specifically, the study recommends the establishment of a comprehensive early warning system, the creation of flood-resistant landscapes, and the use of eco-friendly building materials in the reconstruction of heritage sites. These findings contribute to the current knowledge of sustainable hazard mitigation and environmental design in heritage conservation.

Keywords: natural disasters, heritage conservation, sustainable hazard mitigation, environmental design, landscape architecture, flood management, disaster resilience

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Michael Salib, Samer Ezeldin, Ahmed Waly

Abstract:

There are numerous challenges and problems facing the construction industry in several countries in the Middle East, as a result of numerous economic and political effects. As an example in Egypt, several construction companies have shut down and left the market since 2016. The closure of these companies occurred, as they did not respond with the suitable techniques and strategies that will enable them to survive during this economic turmoil period. A research is conducted in order to identify adequate strategies to be implemented by the Egyptian contractors that could allow them survive and keep competing during such economic hardship period. Two different techniques were used in order to identify these startegies. First, a deep research were conducted on the companies located in countries that suffered similar economic harship to identify the strategies they used in order to survive. Second, interviews were conducted with experts in the construction field in order to list the effective strategies they used that allowed them to survive. Moreover, at the end of each interview, the experts were asked to rate the applicability of the previously identified strategies used in the foreign countries, then the efficiency of each strategy if used in Egypt. A framework model is developed in order to assist the construction companies in choosing the suitable techniques to their company size, through identifying the top ranked strategies and techniques that should be adopted by the company based on the parameters given to the model. In order to verify this framework, the financial statements of two leading companies in the Egyptian construction market were studied. The first Contractor has applied nearly all the top ranked strategies identified in this paper, while the other contractor has applied only few of the identified top ranked strategies. Finally, another expert interviews were conducted in order to validate the framework. These experts were asked to test the model and rate through a questionnaire its applicability and effectiveness.

Keywords: construction management, economic hardship, recession, survive

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Mohammad Alqahtani, Eric Atwell

Abstract:

This paper reviews and classifies most of the important types of search techniques that have been applied on the holy Quran. Then, it addresses the limitations in these techniques. Additionally, this paper surveys most existing Quranic ontologies and what are their deficiencies. Finally, it explains a new search tool called: A semantic search tool for Al Quran based on Qur’anic ontologies. This tool will overcome all limitations in the existing Quranic search applications.

Keywords: holy Quran, natural language processing (NLP), semantic search, information retrieval (IR), ontology

Procedia PDF Downloads 568

Authors: Amine Ben Slama, Aymen Mouelhi, Sondes Manoubi, Chiraz Mbarek, Hedi Trabelsi, Mounir Sayadi, Farhat Fnaiech

Abstract:

Vertigo is a sensation of feeling off balance; the cause of this symptom is very difficult to interpret and needs a complementary exam. Generally, vertigo is caused by an ear problem. Some of the most common causes include: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), Meniere's disease and vestibular neuritis (VN). In clinical practice, different tests of videonystagmographic (VNG) technique are used to detect the presence of vestibular neuritis (VN). The topographical diagnosis of this disease presents a large diversity in its characteristics that confirm a mixture of problems for usual etiological analysis methods. In this study, a vestibular neuritis analysis method is proposed with videonystagmography (VNG) applications using an estimation of pupil movements in the case of an uncontrolled motion to obtain an efficient and reliable diagnosis results. First, an estimation of the pupil displacement vectors using with Hough Transform (HT) is performed to approximate the location of pupil region. Then, temporal and frequency features are computed from the rotation angle variation of the pupil motion. Finally, optimized features are selected using Fisher criterion evaluation for discrimination and classification of the VN disease.Experimental results are analyzed using two categories: normal and pathologic. By classifying the reduced features using the Support Vector Machine (SVM), 94% is achieved as classification accuracy. Compared to recent studies, the proposed expert system is extremely helpful and highly effective to resolve the problem of VNG analysis and provide an accurate diagnostic for medical devices.

Keywords: nystagmus, vestibular neuritis, videonystagmographic system, VNG, Fisher criterion, support vector machine, SVM

Procedia PDF Downloads 134