Search results for: learning Maltese as a second language

Authors: M. Cabrera, W. Tizani, J. Ninic, F. Wang

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Open section beam to concrete-filled tubular column structures has been increasingly utilized in construction over the past few decades due to their enhanced structural performance, as well as economic and architectural advantages. However, the use of this configuration in construction is limited due to the difficulties in connecting the structural members as there is no access to the inner part of the tube to install standard bolts. Blind-bolted systems are a relatively new approach to overcome this limitation as they only require access to one side of the tubular section to tighten the bolt. The performance of these connections in concrete-filled steel tubular sections remains uncharacterized due to the complex interactions between concrete, bolt, and steel section. Over the last years, research in structural performance has moved to a more sophisticated and efficient approach consisting of machine learning algorithms to generate metamodels. This method reduces the need for developing complex, and computationally expensive finite element models, optimizing the search for desirable design variables. Metamodels generated by a data fusion approach use numerical and experimental results by combining multiple models to capture the dependency between the simulation design variables and connection performance, learning the relations between different design parameters and predicting a given output. Fully characterizing this connection will transform high-rise and multistorey construction by means of the introduction of design guidance for moment-resisting blind-bolted connections, which is currently unavailable. This paper presents a review of the steps taken to develop metamodels generated by means of artificial neural network algorithms which predict the connection stress and stiffness based on the design parameters when using Extended Hollo-Bolt blind bolts. It also provides consideration of the failure modes and mechanisms that contribute to the deformability as well as the feasibility of achieving blind-bolted rigid connections when using the blind fastener.

Keywords: blind-bolted connections, concrete-filled tubular structures, finite element analysis, metamodeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Tessa Berg, Emma Guion Akdag

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Summative feedback forms are used in academia for gathering data on course quality and student understanding. Students answer a series of questions based on the course they are soon to finish in these forms. Feedback forms are notorious for being homogenised and limiting and thus the data captured is often neutral and lacking in tacit emotional responses. This paper contrasts student feedback forms with collaborative drawing. We analyse 19 pictures drawn by international students on a pre-sessional course. Through visuals we present an approach to enable a holistic level of student understanding. Visuals communicate irrespective of possible language, cultural and educational barriers. This paper sought to discover if the pictures mirrored the feedback given on a typical feedback form. Findings indicate a considerable difference in the two approaches and thus we highlight the value of collaborative drawing as a complimentary resource to aid the understanding of student experience.

Keywords: feedback forms, visualisation, student experience, collaborative drawing

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Z. Gharaee

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Recognizing actions performed by others is important in our daily lives since it is necessary for communicating with others in a proper way. We perceive an action by observing the kinematics of motions involved in the performance. We use our experience and concepts to make a correct recognition of the actions. Although building the action concepts is a life-long process, which is repeated throughout life, we are very efficient in applying our learned concepts in analyzing motions and recognizing actions. Experiments on the subjects observing the actions performed by an actor show that an action is recognized after only about two hundred milliseconds of observation. In this study, hierarchical action recognition architecture is proposed by using growing grid layers. The first-layer growing grid receives the pre-processed data of consecutive 3D postures of joint positions and applies some heuristics during the growth phase to allocate areas of the map by inserting new neurons. As a result of training the first-layer growing grid, action pattern vectors are generated by connecting the elicited activations of the learned map. The ordered vector representation layer receives action pattern vectors to create time-invariant vectors of key elicited activations. Time-invariant vectors are sent to second-layer growing grid for categorization. This grid creates the clusters representing the actions. Finally, one-layer neural network developed by a delta rule labels the action categories in the last layer. System performance has been evaluated in an experiment with the publicly available MSR-Action3D dataset. There are actions performed by using different parts of human body: Hand Clap, Two Hands Wave, Side Boxing, Bend, Forward Kick, Side Kick, Jogging, Tennis Serve, Golf Swing, Pick Up and Throw. The growing grid architecture was trained by applying several random selections of generalization test data fed to the system during on average 100 epochs for each training of the first-layer growing grid and around 75 epochs for each training of the second-layer growing grid. The average generalization test accuracy is 92.6%. A comparison analysis between the performance of growing grid architecture and self-organizing map (SOM) architecture in terms of accuracy and learning speed show that the growing grid architecture is superior to the SOM architecture in action recognition task. The SOM architecture completes learning the same dataset of actions in around 150 epochs for each training of the first-layer SOM while it takes 1200 epochs for each training of the second-layer SOM and it achieves the average recognition accuracy of 90% for generalization test data. In summary, using the growing grid network preserves the fundamental features of SOMs, such as topographic organization of neurons, lateral interactions, the abilities of unsupervised learning and representing high dimensional input space in the lower dimensional maps. The architecture also benefits from an automatic size setting mechanism resulting in higher flexibility and robustness. Moreover, by utilizing growing grids the system automatically obtains a prior knowledge of input space during the growth phase and applies this information to expand the map by inserting new neurons wherever there is high representational demand.

Keywords: action recognition, growing grid, hierarchical architecture, neural networks, system performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Zafer Yüce, Paşa Yayla, Alev Taşkın

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There are heaps of analytical methods to estimate the crack growth life of a component. Soft computing methods have an increasing trend in predicting fatigue life. Their ability to build complex relationships and capability to handle huge amounts of data are motivating researchers and industry professionals to employ them for challenging problems. This study focuses on soft computing methods, especially random forest regressors and artificial neural networks with hyperparameter optimization algorithms such as grid search and random grid search, to estimate the crack growth life of an aircraft wing splice joint under variable amplitude loading. TensorFlow and Scikit-learn libraries of Python are used to build the machine learning models for this study. The material considered in this work is 7050-T7451 aluminum, which is commonly preferred as a structural element in the aerospace industry, and regarding the crack type; corner crack is used. A finite element model is built for the joint to calculate fastener loads and stresses on the structure. Since finite element model results are validated with analytical calculations, findings of the finite element model are fed to AFGROW software to calculate analytical crack growth lives. Based on Fighter Aircraft Loading Standard for Fatigue (FALSTAFF), 90 unique fatigue loading spectra are developed for various load levels, and then, these spectrums are utilized as inputs to the artificial neural network and random forest regression models for predicting crack growth life. Finally, the crack growth life predictions of the machine learning models are compared with analytical calculations. According to the findings, a good correlation is observed between analytical and predicted crack growth lives.

Keywords: aircraft, fatigue, joint, life, optimization, prediction.

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Marina B. Cottrell

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Tempo plays a significant role in the perception of metrical groupings, with faster tempi tending to increase the number of beats in a given metrical unit. Previous research has shown a correlation between the perception of metric grouping and native language, but little is currently known about other possible musical factors that contribute to metric grouping tendencies. This study aims to find the tempo boundaries at which the perceptual groupings of a melodic pattern changes and to correlate these regions with self-reported musical experience. Participants were presented with looping melodies (divided between major and minor keys). Using a slider bar that controlled the tempo, subjects were asked to locate the point at which they heard the metric grouping doubled or halved. This region was shown to primarily be affected by the mode and time signature of the stimulus. The results also suggest a correlation between the level of musical training and the region of perceived grouping change.

Keywords: meter, metric grouping, mode, tempo

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: M. S. Maglasang, S. O. Palacio, L. P. Ogdoc

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Business Process Outsourcing has been one of the fastest growing and emerging industry in the Philippines today. Unlike most of the contact service centers, more popularly known as "call centers", The BPO Industry’s primary outsourced service is performing audits of the global clients' logistics. As a service industry, manpower is considered as the most important yet the most expensive resource in the company. Because of this, there is a need to maximize the human resources so people are effectively and efficiently utilized. The main purpose of the study is to optimize the current manpower resources through effective distribution and assignment of different types of bills to the different skill-level of data entry operators. The assignment model parameters include the average observed time matrix gathered from through time study, which incorporates the learning curve concept. Subsequently, a simulation model was made to duplicate the arrival rate of demand which includes the different batches and types of bill per day. Next, a mathematical linear programming model was formulated. Its objective is to minimize direct labor cost per bill by allocating the different types of bills to the different skill-levels of operators. Finally, a hypothesis test was done to validate the model, comparing the actual and simulated results. The analysis of results revealed that the there’s low utilization of effective capacity because of its failure to determine the product-mix, skill-mix, and simulated demand as model parameters. Moreover, failure to consider the effects of learning curve leads to overestimation of labor needs. From 107 current number of operators, the proposed model gives a result of 79 operators. This results to an increase of utilization of effective capacity to 14.94%. It is recommended that the excess 28 operators would be reallocated to the other areas of the department. Finally, a manpower capacity planning model is also recommended in support to management’s decisions on what to do when the current capacity would reach its limit with the expected increasing demand.

Keywords: optimization modelling, linear programming, simulation, time and motion study, capacity planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 510

Authors: Fatten F. Elkomy

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The Syrian refugees are the largest refugee population since World War II. Mostly, children, these individuals were exposed to intense traumatic events in their homeland, throughout their journey, and during settlement in foreign lands. Art is a universal language to express feelings and tough human experiences. It is also a medium for healing and promoting creativity and resilience. Literature review was conducted to examine the use of art to facilitate psychiatric interviews, diagnosis, and therapy with traumatized children. Results show a severe impact of childhood trauma on the increased risk for abuse, neglect, and psychiatric disorders. Clinicians must recognize, evaluated and provide help for these children. In conclusion, drawings are used to tell a story, reflect deep emotions, and create a meaningful self-recognition and determination. Participants will understand art therapy using the expressive therapies continuum framework to evaluate drawings and to promote healing for refugee children.

Keywords: art therapy, children drawings, Syrian refugees, trauma in childhood

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Karina Rashidovna Nabiullina

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In 2016, the ‘Beautiful Country’ innovative project was implemented in the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia). This project started at the initiative of architecture students majoring in city planning during their summer internship. As a part of the internship, the students had to study the layout and the lifestyle of Tatarstan towns. All the projects were presented to the Ministry of Construction of Tatarstan, which allowed the settlement authorities to receive the government funding for their implementation. This initiative, from the public discussion of the projects to their implementation, was welcomed by the local communities, evoked local patriotism, created new jobs as a part of the projects' implementation, and improved the architectural environment of the settlements. The projects initiated by the students became the ‘Big Projects’ for these small settlements.

Keywords: adapted graphic language, complex territorial development, identity of local resources, overcoming stagnation, participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Ezil Sam Leni, Shalen S.

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Transport service monitoring and upkeep are essential components of smart city initiatives. The main risks to the relevant departments and authorities are the ever-increasing vehicular traffic and the conditions of the roads. In India, the economy is greatly impacted by the road transport sector. In 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Transport, Government of India, produced a report with statistical data on traffic accidents. The data included the number of fatalities, injuries, and other pertinent criteria. This study proposes a distributed infrastructure for the monitoring, detection, and reporting of potholes to the appropriate authorities. In a distributed environment, the nodes are the edge devices, and local edge servers, and global servers. The edge devices receive the initial model to be employed from the global server. The YOLOv8 model for pothole detection is used in the edge devices. The edge devices run the pothole detection model, gather the pothole images on their path, and send the updates to the nearby edge server. The local edge server selects the clients for its aggregation process, aggregates the model updates and sends the updates to the global server. The global server collects the updates from the local edge servers, performs aggregation and derives the updated model. The updated model has the information about the potholes received from the local edge servers and notifies the updates to the local edge servers and concerned authorities for monitoring and maintenance of road conditions. The entire process is implemented in FedCV distributed environment with the implementation using the client-server model and aggregation entities. After choosing the clients for its aggregation process, the local edge server gathers the model updates and transmits them to the global server. After gathering the updates from the regional edge servers, the global server aggregates them and creates the updated model. Performance indicators and the experimentation environment are assessed, discussed, and presented. Accelerometer data may be taken into consideration for improved performance in the future development of this study, in addition to the images captured from the transportation routes.

Keywords: federated Learning, pothole detection, distributed framework, federated averaging

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Authors: Mary T. McKinley

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As socio-economic globalization impacts education and turns knowledge into a commodity, institutions of higher education are becoming more intentional about infusing a global and intercultural perspective into education via the recruitment of international students. Coming from dissimilar cultures, many of these students are evaluated and held accountable to Euro-American values of independence, self-reliance, and autonomy. Not surprisingly, these students often experience culture shock with deleterious effects on their mental health and academic functioning. Thus, it is critical to understand the experiences of international students with the hope that such knowledge will keep the field of psychology from promulgating Eurocentric ideals and values and prevent the training of these students as good-enough White therapists. Using a critical narrative inquiry framework, this study elicits stories about the challenges encountered by international students as they navigate their clinical training in the presence of acculturative stress and potentially different worldviews. With its emphasis on story-telling as meaning making, narrative research design is hinged on the assumption that people are interpretive beings who make meaning of themselves and their world through the language of stories. Also, dominant socially-constructed narratives play a central role in creating and maintaining hegemonic structures that privilege certain individuals and ideologies at the expense of others. On this premise, narrative inquiry begins with an exploration of the experiences of participants in their lived stories. Bounded narrative segments were read, interpreted, and analyzed using a critical events approach. Throughout the process, issues of reliability and researcher bias were addressed by keeping a reflective analytic memo, as well as triangulating the data using peer-reviewers and check-ins with participants. The findings situate culture at the epicenter of international students’ acculturation challenges as well as their resiliency in psychology doctoral programs. It was not uncommon for these international students to experience ethical dilemmas inherent in learning content that conflicted with their cultural beliefs and values. Issues of cultural incongruence appear to be further exacerbated by visible markers for differences like speech accent and clothing attire. These stories also link the acculturative stress reported by international students to the experiences of perceived racial discrimination and lack of support from the faculty, administration, peers, and the society at large. Beyond the impact on the international students themselves, there are implications for internationalization in psychology with the goal of equipping doctoral programs to be better prepared to meet the needs of their international students. More than ever before, programs need to liaise with international students’ services and work in tandem to meet the unique needs of this population of students. Also, there exists a need for multiculturally competent supervisors working with international students with varying degrees of acculturation. In addition to making social justice and advocacy salient in students’ multicultural training, it may be helpful for psychology doctoral programs to be more intentional about infusing cross-cultural theories, indigenous psychotherapies, and/or when practical, the possibility for geographically cross-cultural practicum experiences in the home countries of international students while taking into consideration the ethical issues for virtual supervision.

Keywords: decolonizing pedagogies, international students, multiculturalism, psychology doctoral programs

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Authors: Abimbola Akintounde

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Supporting the social and emotional needs of young adolescents has become an emergent concern for schools around the world. Yet educators remain in a dilemma regarding the optimum approach for integrating social and emotional learning (SEL) into their content area instruction. The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of secondary students regarding their schoolwide SEL interventions. Twenty-four International Baccalaureate students in a final year mathematics course at an American Public Secondary School near Washington D. C. were randomly selected for participation in this study via an online electronic survey. The participants in this study used Likert-scale items to rate the effectiveness of the socio-emotional and character development programs being implemented at their schools. Respondents also ranked their preferred mode of delivery of social and emotional support programs. About 71% of the teenagers surveyed preferred SEL support rendered via interactive team-building activities and games, 42% of the high school students in the study ranked focus group discussions as their preferred format for SEL interventions, while only 13% of the respondents in the study regarded lectures and presentations as their preferred mode of SEL delivery. About one-fourth of the study participants agreed that explicit instruction was critical to enhancing students’ wellness, 79% agreed that SEL programs should foster less teacher talk, while 88% of the students indicated that student engagement was critical to their mental health. Eighty percent of the teenagers surveyed decried that the focus of their school-wide social and emotional programs was poorly prioritized. About two-thirds of the students agreed that social justice and equity issues should be embedded in their schools’ advisory programs. More than half of the respondents agitated for strategies for managing stress and their school workload. About 54% of the respondents also clamored for SEL programs that reinforce emotion regulation and coping strategies for anxiety. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were proffered for best practices in the design and implementation of effective learner-friendly social and emotional development interventions.

Keywords: SEL, math anxiety, student support, emotion regulation, social awareness, self awareness, self management, relationship building

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Authors: Zainab Zendana Shafii

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Lullabies have been broadly defined as songs that are sung to calm and soothe children. While this is true, this paper intends to show that lullabies exceed these functions. The paper, in exploring Nupe lullabies, examines the various functions that lullabies perform in terms of language development, cultural enrichment and also the retelling of history as it relates to the culture of the Nupe people of northern Nigeria. The theoretical framework used is the functionalist theory. This theory postulates that all cultural or social phenomena have a positive function and that all are indispensable. The functionalist theory is based on the premise that all aspects of a society—institutions, roles, norms, etc.—serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term survival of the society. To this end, this paper dissects the various lullabies in Nupeland with a view to exploring the meaning that these songs generate and why they are even sung at all. The qualitative research methodology has been used to gather materials.

Keywords: Nupe, lullabies, Nigeria, northern

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Essam Al Daoud

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Gradient boosting methods have been proven to be a very important strategy. Many successful machine learning solutions were developed using the XGBoost and its derivatives. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the efficiency of three gradient methods. Home credit dataset is used in this work which contains 219 features and 356251 records. However, new features are generated and several techniques are used to rank and select the best features. The implementation indicates that the LightGBM is faster and more accurate than CatBoost and XGBoost using variant number of features and records.

Keywords: gradient boosting, XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost, home credit

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: Michael Wagner, Philipp Steinbauer, Andrea Katharina Lietz, Alexander Hoffelner, Johannes Fessler

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Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitations are stressful situations in which vital decisions must be made within seconds. Lack of routine due to the infrequency of pediatric emergencies can lead to serious medical and communication errors. Virtual reality can fundamentally change the way simulation training is conducted in the future. It appears to be a useful learning tool for technical and non-technical skills. It is important to investigate the use of VR in providing a strong sense of presence within simulations. Methods: In this randomized study, we will enroll doctors and medical students from the Medical University of Vienna, who will receive learning material regarding the resuscitation of a one-year-old child. The study will be conducted in three phases. In the first phase, 20 physicians and 20 medical students from the Medical University of Vienna will be included. They will perform simulation-based training with a standardized scenario of a critically ill child with a hypovolemic shock. The main goal of this phase is to establish a baseline for the following two phases to generate comparative values regarding cognitive load and stress. In phase 2 and 3, the same participants will perform the same scenario in a VR setting. In both settings, on three set points of progression, one of three predefined events is triggered. For each event, three different stress levels (easy, medium, difficult) will be defined. Stress and cognitive load will be analyzed using the NASA Task Load Index, eye-tracking parameters, and heart rate. Subsequently, these values will be compared between VR training and traditional simulation-based training. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the VR training and the traditional training groups will not differ in physiological response (cognitive load, heart rate, and heart rate variability). We further assume that virtual reality training can be used as cost-efficient additional training. Objectives: The aim of this study is to measure cognitive load and stress level during a real-life simulation training and compare it with VR training in order to show that VR training evokes the same physiological response and cognitive load as real-life simulation training.

Keywords: virtual reality, cognitive load, simulation, adaptive virtual reality training

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Authors: Nandu C. Nair, Kamal Bijlani

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This paper proposes a concept-based assessment to track the performance of the students. The idea behind this approach is to map the exam questions with the concepts learned in the course. So at the end of the course, each student will know how well he learned each concept. This system will give a self assessment for the students as well as instructor. By analyzing the score of all students, instructor can decide some concepts need to be teaching again or not. The system’s efficiency is proved using three courses from M-tech program in E-Learning technologies and results show that the concept-wise assessment improved the score in final exam of majority students on various courses.

Keywords: assessment, concept, examination, question, score

Procedia PDF Downloads 458

Authors: Sisira Edirippulige

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Background: Digital health education and training (DHET) is imperative for preparing current and future clinicians to work competently in digitally enabled environments. Despite rapid integration of digital health in modern health services, systematic education and training opportunities for health workers is still lacking. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate healthcare professionals’ perspectives and expectations regarding the knowledge, skills and competency needs in digital health for current and future healthcare workforce. Methods: A qualitative study design with semi-structured individual interviews was employed. A purposive sample method was adopted to collect relevant information from the health workers. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) was followed when we reported this study. Results: Two themes emerged while analysing the data: (1) what to teach in DHET and (2) how to teach DHET. Overall, healthcare professionals agreed that DHET is important for preparing current and future clinicians for working competently in digitally enabled environments. Knowledge relating to what is digital health, types of digital health, use of technology and human factors in digital health were considered as important to be taught in DHET. Skills relating to digital health consultations, clinical information system management and remote monitoring were considered important to be taught. Blended learning which combined e-learning and classroom-based teaching, simulation sessions and clinical rotations were suggested by healthcare professionals as optimal approaches to deliver the above-mentioned content. Conclusions: This study is the first of its kind to investigate health professionals’ perspectives and expectations relating to the knowledge, skills and competency needs in digital health for current and future healthcare workforce. Healthcare workers are keen to acquire relevant knowledge, skills and competencies related to digital health. Different modes of education delivery is of interest to fit in with busy schedule of health workers.

Keywords: digital health, telehealth, telemedicine, education, curriculum

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Ayesha Sanjana Kawser Parsha

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S-acylation is an irreversible bond in which cysteine residues are linked to fatty acids palmitate (74%) or stearate (22%), either at the COOH or NH2 terminal, via a thioester linkage. There are several experimental methods that can be used to identify the S-palmitoylation site; however, since they require a lot of time, computational methods are becoming increasingly necessary. There aren't many predictors, however, that can locate S- palmitoylation sites in Arabidopsis Thaliana with sufficient accuracy. This research is based on the importance of building a better prediction tool. To identify the type of machine learning algorithm that predicts this site more accurately for the experimental dataset, several prediction tools were examined in this research, including the GPS PALM 6.0, pCysMod, GPS LIPID 1.0, CSS PALM 4.0, and NBA PALM. These analyses were conducted by constructing the receiver operating characteristics plot and the area under the curve score. An AI-driven deep learning-based prediction tool has been developed utilizing the analysis and three sequence-based input data, such as the amino acid composition, binary encoding profile, and autocorrelation features. The model was developed using five layers, two activation functions, associated parameters, and hyperparameters. The model was built using various combinations of features, and after training and validation, it performed better when all the features were present while using the experimental dataset for 8 and 10-fold cross-validations. While testing the model with unseen and new data, such as the GPS PALM 6.0 plant and pCysMod mouse, the model performed better, and the area under the curve score was near 1. It can be demonstrated that this model outperforms the prior tools in predicting the S- palmitoylation site in the experimental data set by comparing the area under curve score of 10-fold cross-validation of the new model with the established tools' area under curve score with their respective training sets. The objective of this study is to develop a prediction tool for Arabidopsis Thaliana that is more accurate than current tools, as measured by the area under the curve score. Plant food production and immunological treatment targets can both be managed by utilizing this method to forecast S- palmitoylation sites.

Keywords: S- palmitoylation, ROC PLOT, area under the curve, cross- validation score

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Authors: Visvaganthie Moodley

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While rhetoric goes back as far as Aristotle who focalised its meaning as the “art of persuasion”, most scholars have focused on elocutio and dispositio canons, neglecting the rhetorical impact of multimodal texts, such as documentaries. Film documentaries are being increasingly rhetoric, often used by wildlife conservationists for influencing people to become more mindful about humanity’s connection with nature. This paper examines the award-winning film documentary, “My Octopus Teacher”, which depicts naturalist, Craig Foster’s unique discovery and relationship with a female octopus in the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Storms in South Africa. It is anchored in Leech and Short’s (2007) framework of linguistic and stylistic categories – comprising lexical items, grammatical features, figures of speech and other rhetoric features, and cohesiveness – with particular foci on diction, anthropomorphic language, metaphors and symbolism. It also draws on Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) multimodal analysis to show how verbal cues (the narrator’s commentary), visual images in motion, visual images as metaphors and symbolism, and aural sensory images such as music and sound synergise for rhetoric effect. In addition, the analysis of “My Octopus Teacher” is guided by Nichol’s (2010) narrative theory; features of a documentary which foregrounds the credibility of the narrative as a text that represents real events with real people; and its modes of construction, viz., the poetic mode, the expository mode, observational mode and participatory mode, and their integration – forging documentaries as multimodal texts. This paper presents a multimodal rhetoric discussion on the sequence of salient episodes captured in the slow moving one-and-a-half-hour documentary. These are: (i) The prologue: on the brink of something extraordinary; (ii) The day it all started; (iii) The narrator’s turmoil: getting back into the ocean; (iv) The incredible encounter with the octopus; (v) Establishing a relationship; (vi) Outwitting the predatory pyjama shark; (vii) The cycle of life; and (viii) The conclusion: lessons from an octopus. The paper argues that wildlife documentaries, characterized by plausibility and which provide researchers the lens to examine the ideologies about animals and humans, offer an assimilation of the various senses – vocal, visual and audial – for engaging viewers in stylized compelling way; they have the ability to persuade people to think and act in particular ways. As multimodal texts, with its use of lexical items; diction; anthropomorphic language; linguistic, visual and aural metaphors and symbolism; and depictions of anthropocentrism, wildlife documentaries are powerful resources for promoting wildlife conservation and conscientizing people of the need for establishing a harmonious relationship with nature and humans alike.

Keywords: documentaries, multimodality, rhetoric, style, wildlife, conservation

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Authors: Fazl E. Ahad, Shi Dongyan, Anees Ur Rehman

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Plates are one of the most important structural components used in many industries like aerospace, marine and various other engineering fields and thus motivate designers and engineers to study the vibrational characteristics of these structures. This paper is a review of existing literature on vibration analysis of plates. Focus has been kept on prominent studies related to isotropic plates based on Mindlin plate theory; however few citations on orthotropic plates and higher order shear deformation theories have also been included. All citations are in English language. This review is aimed to provide contemporarily relevant survey of papers on vibrational characteristics of thick plates and will be useful for scientists, designers and researchers to locate important and relevant literature/research quickly.

Keywords: mindlin plates, vibrations, arbitrary boundary conditions, mode shapes, natural frequency

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Authors: A. A. Altalbe, N. W Bergmann

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There has been significant recent interest in on-line learning, as well as considerable work on developing technologies for virtual laboratories for engineering students. After reviewing the state-of-the-art of virtual laboratories, this paper steps back from the technology issues to look in more detail at the pedagogical issues surrounding virtual laboratories, and examines the role of gathering student feedback in the development of such laboratories. The main contribution of the paper is a set of student surveys before and after a prototype deployment of a simulation laboratory tool, and the resulting analysis which leads to some tentative guidelines for the design of virtual engineering laboratories.

Keywords: engineering education, elearning, electrical engineering, virtual laboratories

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Authors: Reham Banwair, Lana Alshehri, Sara Hadrawi

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The purpose of this project is to identify user satisfaction with the AI functions on Snapchat, in order to generate improvement proposals that allow its development within the app. To achieve this, a qualitative analysis was carried out through interviews to people who usually use the application, revealing their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the usefulness of the AI. In addition, the background of the company and its introduction in these algorithms were analyzed. Furthermore, the characteristics of the three main functions of AI were explained: identify songs, solve mathematical problems, and recognize plants. As a result, it was obtained that 50% still do not know the characteristics of AI, 50% still believe song recognition is not always correct, 41.7% believe that math problems are usually accurate and 91.7% believes the plant detection tool is working properly.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, scanning, Snapchat, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: C. J. Rossouw, T. I. van Niekerk

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The global manufacturing industry is utilizing the internet and cloud-based services to further explore the anatomy and optimize manufacturing processes in support of the movement into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The 4IR from a third world and African perspective is hindered by the fact that many manufacturing systems that were developed in the third industrial revolution are not inherently equipped to utilize the internet and services of the 4IR, hindering the progression of third world manufacturing industries into the 4IR. This research focuses on the development of a non-invasive and cost-effective cyber-physical IoT system that will exploit a machine’s vibration to expose semantic characteristics in the manufacturing process and utilize these results through a real-time cloud-based machine condition monitoring system with the intention to optimize the system. A microcontroller-based IoT sensor was designed to acquire a machine’s mechanical vibration data, process it in real-time, and transmit it to a cloud-based platform via Wi-Fi and the internet. Time-frequency Fourier analysis was applied to the vibration data to form an image representation of the machine’s behaviour. This data was used to train a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to learn semantic characteristics in the machine’s behaviour and relate them to a state of operation. The same data was also used to train a Convolutional Autoencoder (CAE) to detect anomalies in the data. Real-time edge-based artificial intelligence was achieved by deploying the CNN and CAE on the sensor to analyse the vibration. A cloud platform was deployed to visualize the vibration data and the results of the CNN and CAE in real-time. The cyber-physical IoT system was deployed on a semi-automated metal granulation machine with a set of trained machine learning models. Using a single sensor, the system was able to accurately visualize three states of the machine’s operation in real-time. The system was also able to detect a variance in the material being granulated. The research demonstrates how non-IoT manufacturing systems can be equipped with edge-based artificial intelligence to establish a remote machine condition monitoring system.

Keywords: IoT, cyber-physical systems, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, vibration analytics, continuous machine condition monitoring

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Authors: Wandera Stephen Ojumbo

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People living with hearing impairment in Uganda are one of the most excluded minority groups in the country. The Uganda National Association of the Deaf estimates that deaf people make up 3.4% of Uganda’s 43 million people. Deaf Children and youth often appear withdrawn because they face social stigma. In 2009, photojournalist Stephen Wandera Ojumbo conducted an exhibition in Kampala titled “Silent Voices with colourful Hearts” showcasing the life of deaf children at Uganda School for the Deaf, Ntinda, in order to create awareness of their plight, raising funds for the construction of a vocational centre for the deaf that didn’t continue their education due to: lack of funds, non-inclusive educational institutions, and for those who cannot read and write. These children, whose lives were exhibited in 2009, are currently youths. In Uganda, there are just five primary schools for the deaf (three of these are located in Kampala, the capital city), and barely five secondary schools for the deaf. At the moment, some deaf children only receive special needs training equivalent to primary seven levels and the majority don’t make it to secondary school education level due to the fact that English is a second language to them. There is a communication gap between speaking parents and deaf children, which leads to the breakage of family bonds. The deaf youth run away from their homes to form a community where they can communicate freely. Likewise, employment opportunities for the deaf are equally very limited. It’s for this reason that a follow-up photo exhibition was conducted to expose more about what the youthful deaf people and their guardians go through in Uganda to get jobs, live and fit in the community, how they communicate and get understood, bonding with families instead of running away to bond with fellow deaf persons. The photo exhibition under the theme “Loud Silence” was significant in showcasing the ability of deaf youths in Uganda and eliciting solutions to make a more inclusive society for the deaf. It is hoped that partners in development will join in for intervention. The methodology used included individual interviews with the deaf youth and their parents and caretakers; photography at household and community levels; document review at organizations working with the deaf; observations; and key informant interviews with relevant personnel working with the deaf. Some of the major findings include: i) Effective sign language communication is key in deaf education, family bonding, and developing a sense of belonging; ii) Love and intimacy can keep the deaf bound together; iii) Education is important; everybody should struggle even if alone; iv) Games and sports are a unifying factor and most loved among the deaf; and v) better communication skills build confidence in deaf youth. In conclusion, concerted efforts are still needed to make Uganda schools more inclusive for deaf persons. This will enable a secure future for deaf youths.

Keywords: deaf, education, excluded, photo exhibition

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Authors: Mustafa Aydın, Ali Murat Sunbul

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Hierarchical or nested data structures usually are seen in many research areas. Especially, in the field of education, if we examine most of the studies, we can see the nested structures. Students in classes, classes in schools, schools in cities and cities in regions are similar nested structures. In a hierarchical structure, students being in the same class, sharing the same physical conditions and similar experiences and learning from the same teachers, they demonstrate similar behaviors between them rather than the students in other classes.

Keywords: hierarchical linear modeling, nested data, hierarchical structure, data structure

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Authors: Ratnawati Mohd Asraf, Hazlina Abdullah

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Numerous studies on boys’ performance relative to girls’ have been conducted around the globe. However, little has been done in relation to the literacy of primary school boys in the Malaysian context. This paper discusses the results of a study that sought to determine the literacy performance of Grades 1, 2, and 3 primary school students in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Data on approximately 85,000 students from each grade level were obtained from the Ministry of Education Malaysia, which conducts national screening on literacy and numeracy, or LINUS, in all government primary schools. Teachers’ views were also sought through focus group interviews and journal entries. The results show that although there is an overall improvement in literacy performance in the Malay language among the students as they go into Grades 2 and 3, girls are found to outperform boys in every screening for all grade levels.

Keywords: boys’ underperformance, literacy, literacy performance, reading

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Authors: Sally Abu Sabaa, Lindsey Gutt

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In an attempt to use education as a way of raising a socially responsible and engaged global citizen, the YU-Bridge program, the largest and fastest pathway program of its kind in North America, has embarked on the journey of integrating general themes from the UN’s sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) in its English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum. The purpose of this initiative was to redefine the general philosophy of education in the middle of a pandemic and align with York University’s University Academic Plan that was released in summer 2020 framed around the SDGs. The YUB program attracts international students from all over the world but mainly from China, and its goal is to enable students to achieve the minimum language requirement to join their undergraduate courses at York University. However, along with measuring outcomes, objectives, and the students’ GPA, instructors and academics are always seeking innovation of the YUB curriculum to adapt to the ever growing challenges of academics in the university context, in order to focus more on subject matter that students will be exposed to in their undergraduate studies. However, with the sudden change that has happened globally with the advance of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other natural disasters like the increase in forest fires and floods, rethinking the philosophy and goal of education was a must. Accordingly, the SDGs became the solid pillars upon which we, academics and administrators of the program, could build a new curriculum and shift our perspective from simply ESL education to education with moral and ethical goals. The preliminary implementation of this initiative was supported by an institutional-wide consultation with EAP instructors who have diverse experiences, disciplines, and interests. Along with brainstorming sessions and mini-pilot projects preceding the integration of the SDGs in the YUB-EAP curriculum, those meetings led to creating a general outline of a curriculum and an assessment framework that has the SDGs at its core with the medium of ESL used for language instruction. Accordingly, a community of knowledge exchange was spontaneously created and facilitated by instructors. This has led to knowledge, resources, and teaching pedagogies being shared and examined further. In addition, experiences and reactions of students are being shared, leading to constructive discussions about opportunities and challenges with the integration of the SDGs. The discussions have branched out to discussions about cultural and political barriers along with a thirst for knowledge and engagement, which has resulted in increased engagement not only on the part of the students but the instructors as well. Later in the program, two surveys will be conducted: one for the students and one for the instructors to measure the level of engagement of each in this initiative as well as to elicit suggestions for further development. This paper will describe this fundamental step into using ESL methodology as a mode of disseminating essential ethical and socially correct knowledge for all learners in the 21st Century, the students’ reactions, and the teachers’ involvement and reflections.

Keywords: EAP, curriculum, education, global citizen

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Authors: Mark Deschaine, David Whale

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Utilization of online instruction continues to increase at universities, placing more emphasis on the exploration of issues related to adult graduate student engagement. This reflective case study reviews non-traditional student engagement in online courses. The goals of the study are to enhance student focus, attention and interaction. Findings suggest that interactivity seemed to be a key in keeping students involved and achieving, with specific activities routinely favored by students. It is recommended that time spent engaging students is worthwhile and results in greater course satisfaction and academic effort.

Keywords: online learning, student achievement, student engagement, technology

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Authors: Elionai Moura, José A. Cunha, César Analide

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This work introduces a proposal scheme for an Intelligent System applied to Pedagogical Advising using Case-Based Reasoning, to find consolidated solutions before used for the new problems, making easier the task of advising students to the pedagogical staff. We do intend, through this work, introduce the motivation behind the choices for this system structure, justifying the development of an incremental and smart web system who learns bests solutions for new cases when it’s used, showing technics and technology.

Keywords: case-based reasoning, pedagogical advising, educational data-mining (EDM), machine learning

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Authors: Saksit Saengboon

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The study of English in Thailand receives comparatively little attention in the world of Englishes scholarship despite a complex and dynamic linguistic landscape. Like many countries in the region, English is used in predictable contexts, such as schools and at work. However, English is being increasingly used as a contact language among Thais and non-Thais, requiring much needed empirical attention. This study aims to address this neglected issue by examining how Thais perceive and use English in contemporary Thai society. This study explored the ways in which English has been used in public signage, mass media, especially about Thai food, and perceptions of Thais (N = 80) regarding English. Findings indicate that English in Thailand is used in a complicated manner portraying both standard and non-standard English. Thais still hold a static or traditional view of English, making it impractical, if not impossible, to have Thai English as an established variety.

Keywords: Thai english, thainess in english, public signage, mass media, thai food, thai linguistic landscape

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Authors: Caroline Bradbury-Jones, Maria Clark, Eleanor Molloy, Nicki Ward

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Background: Significant developments in the protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) rights culminated in their inclusion in the Equality Act 2010. This provides legal protection against discrimination including the Public Sector Equality Duty requiring public bodies to consider all individuals when carrying out their day-to-day work. In the UK, whilst the Higher Education sector has made some commitment to eliminating discrimination and addressing LGBTQ inclusivity, there are two particular problems specifically affecting students on professional programmes: -All students will come into contact with LGBTQ patients/clients/students and need to be equipped to respond appropriately to their diverse needs but evidence suggests that this is not always the case. -Many LGBTQ students have specific concerns on professional placements; often ‘going back in the closet’ or feeling uncertain how to respond to questions about their personal lives and being reticent to challenge discrimination against LGBTQ patients/clients/students for fear of reprisal. Study aim: To investigate how best to prepare all students to deal with the issue of gender and sexual diversity and to support LGBTQ students in negotiating (non) disclosure in practice placements. Methods: This multi-method study was conducted in 2017 in the UK. It comprised a student survey, focus group interview with students and a national benchmarking exercise. Findings: Preliminary findings are that there is considerable variation across professional programmes regarding the preparation of students to respond to LGBTQ issues. Similarly, there is considerable difference between the level of preparedness experienced by students irrespective of whether they identify as LGBTQ. Discussion: Nationally there are a number of ‘best practice’ examples that we share in this presentation. These contain important details and guidance about how to better prepare university students for professional practice, and to contribute to eliminating discrimination and addressing LGBTQ inclusivity. Conclusions: The presentation will appeal to delegates who are interested in the equality agenda regarding LGBTQ people. The study findings will be discussed and debated to explore their impact on higher education and learning and to identify ways to integrate best practice into professional curricula across the UK and beyond.

Keywords: diversity, equality, practice, sexuality, students, university

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