Search results for: language learning strategies

Authors: Oluwatofunmi Otobo

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This paper presents a review of the challenges of e-learning and e-learning technologies in tertiary institutions. This review is based on the researchers observations of the challenges of making use of ICT for learning in Nigeria using Adeyemi College of Education as a case study; this is in comparison to tertiary institutions in the UK, US and other more developed countries. In Nigeria and probably Africa as a whole, power is the major challenge. Its inconsistency and fluctuations pose the greatest challenge to making use of online education inside and outside the classroom. Internet and its supporting infrastructures in many places in Nigeria are slow and unreliable. This, in turn, could frustrate any attempt at making use of online education and e-learning technologies. Lack of basic knowledge of computer, its technologies and facilities could also prove to be a challenge as many young people up until now are yet to be computer literate. Personal interest on both the parts of lecturers and students is also a challenge. Many people are not interested in learning how to make use of technologies. This makes them resistant to changing from the ancient methods of doing things. These and others were reviewed by this paper, suggestions, and recommendations were proffered.

Keywords: education, e-learning, Nigeria, tertiary institutions

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Authors: Tahani Aljohani, Jialin Yu, Alexandra. I. Cristea

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The more an educational system knows about a learner, the more personalised interaction it can provide, which leads to better learning. However, asking a learner directly is potentially disruptive, and often ignored by learners. Especially in the booming realm of MOOC Massive Online Learning platforms, only a very low percentage of users disclose demographic information about themselves. Thus, in this paper, we aim to predict learners’ demographic characteristics, by proposing an approach using linguistically motivated Deep Learning Architectures for Learner Profiling, particularly targeting gender prediction on a FutureLearn MOOC platform. Additionally, we tackle here the difficult problem of predicting the gender of learners based on their comments only – which are often available across MOOCs. The most common current approaches to text classification use the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model, considering sentences as sequences. However, human language also has structures. In this research, rather than considering sentences as plain sequences, we hypothesise that higher semantic - and syntactic level sentence processing based on linguistics will render a richer representation. We thus evaluate, the traditional LSTM versus other bleeding edge models, which take into account syntactic structure, such as tree-structured LSTM, Stack-augmented Parser-Interpreter Neural Network (SPINN) and the Structure-Aware Tag Augmented model (SATA). Additionally, we explore using different word-level encoding functions. We have implemented these methods on Our MOOC dataset, which is the most performant one comparing with a public dataset on sentiment analysis that is further used as a cross-examining for the models' results.

Keywords: deep learning, data mining, gender predication, MOOCs

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Authors: Syed Ahmed Hasnain

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Instructors’ perception of blended learning plays an important role in the field of education. The literature review shows that there is a gap in research. Instructor perception of the blended learning approach has an impact on the motivation of the instructor to use technology in the classroom. The role of the student's perspective on the instructor’s perception is also important. Research also shows that instructor perceptions can be changed based on their past and present experiences with technology and blended learning. This paper draws the attention of the readers to the need for further research and contributions to studying instructor perceptions globally. Instructor perception affects the implementation of technology in the classroom, instructor-student relationship, and the class environment. Various publications, literature reviews, and articles are studied to show the importance of instructor perceptions. A lot of work has been published on student perceptions of the blended learning approach but there is a gap in research on instructor perceptions. The paper also makes recommendations for further research in the area of instructor perceptions of the blended learning approach. Institutions, administrators, senior management, and instructors can benefit from this paper.

Keywords: blended learning, education, literature review, instructor perceptions

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Authors: Marta Bas-Szymaszek

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This research examines the intricate relationship between language practices and beliefs within international environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), with a particular focus on the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN Europe). While acknowledging that ENGOs often employ multilingual staff, this study aims to analyze the dual role of English within this sector. While English facilitates practical communication among individuals from diverse backgrounds, it also perpetuates inequalities and marginalization within CAN Europe. Instances of linguistic dominance impede participation and representation, reinforcing language hierarchies. Furthermore, the symbolic power of English risks overshadowing the multilingual skills of NGO employees. Through fourteen in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observations, this research uncovers the lived experiences of individuals navigating Europe’s largest environmental NGO network. By analyzing CAN Europe’s implicit language policy and the hegemony of English, this study illuminates the challenges within multilingual settings. The organization advocates for the implementation of more inclusive language policies and practices, with the objective of recognizing and embracing linguistic diversity within international environmental NGOs.

Keywords: language policy, English, NGOs, linguistic inclusion, multilingualism

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Authors: Qisheng Hu, Jianglei Han, Yue Yang, My Hoa Ha

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When a company is considering purchasing software for commercial use, contract risk assessment is critical to identify risks to mitigate the potential adverse business impact, e.g., security, financial and regulatory risks. Contract risk assessment requires reviewers with specialized knowledge and time to evaluate the legal documents manually. Specifically, validating contracts for a software vendor requires the following steps: manual screening, interpreting legal documents, and extracting risk-prone segments. To automate the process, we proposed a framework to assist legal contract document risk identification, leveraging pre-trained deep learning models and natural language processing techniques. Given a set of pre-defined risk evaluation problems, our framework utilizes the pre-trained transformer-based models for question-answering to identify risk-prone sections in a contract. Furthermore, the question-answering model encodes the concatenated question-contract text and predicts the start and end position for clause extraction. Due to the limited labelled dataset for training, we leveraged transfer learning by fine-tuning the models with the CUAD dataset to enhance the model. On a dataset comprising 287 contract documents and 2000 labelled samples, our best model achieved an F1 score of 0.687.

Keywords: contract risk assessment, NLP, transfer learning, question answering

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Authors: Hussah M. AlShayea

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This study aimed to identify the potential of cloud computing, "Google Drive" in overcoming the problems of collective learning from the viewpoint of Princess Noura University students. The study included (92) students from the College of Education. To achieve the goal of the study, several steps have been taken. First, the most important problems of collective learning were identified from the viewpoint of the students. After that, a survey identifying the potential of cloud computing "Google Drive" in overcoming the problems of collective learning was distributed among the students. The study results showed that the students believe that the use of Google Drive contributed to overcoming these problems. In the light of those results, the researcher presented a set of recommendations and proposals, including: encouraging teachers and learners to employ cloud computing to overcome the problems and constraints of collective learning.

Keywords: cloud computing, collective learning, Google drive, Princess Noura University

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Authors: Kennedy Efosa Ehimwenma, Sujatha Krishnamoorthy, Safiya Al‑Sharji

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The probability computation of events is in the interval of [0, 1], which are values that are determined by the number of outcomes of events in a sample space S. The probability Pr(A) that an event A will never occur is 0. The probability Pr(B) that event B will certainly occur is 1. This makes both events A and B a certainty. Furthermore, the sum of probabilities Pr(E₁) + Pr(E₂) + … + Pr(Eₙ) of a finite set of events in a given sample space S equals 1. Conversely, the difference of the sum of two probabilities that will certainly occur is 0. This paper first discusses Bayes, the complement of probability, and the difference of probability for occurrences of learning-events before applying them in the prediction of learning objects in student learning. Given the sum of 1; to make a recommendation for student learning, this paper proposes that the difference of argMaxPr(S) and the probability of student-performance quantifies the weight of learning objects for students. Using a dataset of skill-set, the computational procedure demonstrates i) the probability of skill-set events that have occurred that would lead to higher-level learning; ii) the probability of the events that have not occurred that requires subject-matter relearning; iii) accuracy of the decision tree in the prediction of student performance into class labels and iv) information entropy about skill-set data and its implication on student cognitive performance and recommendation of learning.

Keywords: complement of probability, Bayes’ rule, prediction, pre-assessments, computational education, information theory

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Authors: Sophia Barquete, Adriana H. Trevisan, Janaina Mascarenhas

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The circular economy (CE) aims at the cycling of resources through restorative and regenerative strategies. To achieve circularity, coordination of several actors who have different responsibilities is necessary. The interaction among multiple actors allows the connection between the CE and business ecosystem research fields. Although fundamental, the relationships between actors within an ecosystem to foster circularity are not deeply explored in the literature. The objective of this study was to identify the possibilities of cooperation, competition, or even coopetition among the members of business ecosystems that adopt circular strategies. In particular, the motivations that make these actors interact to achieve a circular economy were investigated. A systematic literature review was adopted to select business ecosystem cases that adopt circular strategies. As a result, several motivations were identified for actors to engage in relationships within ecosystems, such as sharing knowledge and infrastructure, developing products with a circular design, promoting reverse logistics, among others. The results suggest that partnerships between actors are, in fact, important for the implementation of circular strategies. In order to achieve a complete and circular solution, actors must be able to clearly understand their roles and relationships within the network so that they can establish new partnerships or reframe those already established.

Keywords: business ecosystem, circular economy, cooperation, coopetition, competition

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Authors: Samson T. Obafemi, Seraphin D. Eyono-Obono

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Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are pervasive nowadays, including in education where they are expected to improve the performance of learners. However, the hope placed in ICTs to find viable solutions to the problem of poor academic performance in schools in the developing world has not yet yielded the expected benefits. This problem serves as a motivation to this study whose aim is to examine the perceptions of educators on the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning. This aim will be subdivided into two types of research objectives. Objectives on the identification and design of theories and models will be achieved using content analysis and literature review. However, the objective on the empirical testing of such theories and models will be achieved through the survey of educators from different schools in the Pinetown District of the South African Kwazulu-Natal province. SPSS is used to quantitatively analyse the data collected by the questionnaire of this survey using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations after assessing the validity and the reliability of the data. The main hypothesis driving this study is that there is a relationship between the demographics of educators’ and their adherence to learning theories on one side, and their perceptions on the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning on the other side, as argued by existing research; but this research views these learning theories under three perspectives: educators’ adherence to self-regulated learning, to constructivism, and to progressivism. This hypothesis was fully confirmed by the empirical study except for the demographic factor where teachers’ level of education was found to be the only demographic factor affecting the perceptions of educators on the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning.

Keywords: academic performance, e-learning, learning theories, teaching and learning

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Authors: Stephanie Ho

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This project utilizes principles derived from the Surrealist movement to prioritize creative and critical thinking in secondary English Language Arts (ELA). The implementation of Surrealist-style pedagogies within an ELA classroom will be rooted in critical, radical pedagogy, which addresses the injustices caused by economic-oriented educational systems. The use of critical pedagogy will enable the subversive artistic and political aims of Surrealism to be transmitted to a classroom context. Through aesthetic reading strategies, appreciative questioning and dialogue, students will actively critique the power dynamics which structure (and often restrict) their lives. Within the ELA domain, cost-effective approaches often replace the actual “arts” of ELA. This research will therefore explore how Surrealist-oriented pedagogies could restore imaginative freedom and deconstruct conceptual barriers (normative standards, curricular constraints, and status quo power relations) in secondary ELA. This research will also examine how Surrealism can be used as a political and pedagogical model to treat societal problems mirrored in ELA classrooms. The stakeholders are teachers, as they experience constant pressure within their practices. Similarly, students encounter rigorous, results-based pressures. These dynamics contribute to feelings of powerlessness, thus reinforcing a formulaic model of ELA. The ELA curriculum has potential to create laboratories for critical discussion and active movement towards social change. This proposed research strategy of Surrealist-oriented pedagogies could enable students to experiment with social issues and develop senses of agency and voice that reflect awareness of contemporary society while simultaneously building their ELA skills.

Keywords: arts-informed pedagogies, language arts, literature, surrealism

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Authors: Rahimah Akbar, Abdullah Al-Hashemi, Hanan Taqi, Taiba Sadeq

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As technology continues to develop, teaching curriculums in both schools and universities have begun adopting a more computer/digital based approach to the transmission of knowledge and information, as opposed to the more old-fashioned use of textbooks. This gives rise to the question: Are there any differences in learning from a digital source over learning from a printed source, as in from a textbook? More specifically, which medium of information results in better long-term retention? A review of the confounding factors implicated in understanding the relationship between learning from the two different mediums was done. Alongside this, a 4-week cohort study involving 76 1st year English Language female students was performed, whereby the participants were divided into 2 groups. Group A studied material from a paper source (referred to as the Print Medium), and Group B studied material from a digital source (Digital Medium). The dependent variables were grading of memory recall indexed by a 4 point grading system, and total frequency of item repetition. The study was facilitated by advanced computer software called Super Memo. Results showed that, contrary to prevailing evidence, the Digital Medium group showed no statistically significant differences in terms of the shift from Remember (Episodic) to Know (Semantic) when all confounding factors were accounted for. The shift from Random Guess and Familiar to Remember occurred faster in the Digital Medium than it did in the Print Medium.

Keywords: digital medium, print medium, long-term memory recall, episodic memory, semantic memory, super memo, forgetting index, frequency of repetitions, total time spent

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Authors: Delowar Hossain, Genci Capi

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This paper concerns with the problem of deep learning parameters tuning using a genetic algorithm (GA) in order to improve the performance of deep learning (DL) method. We present a GA based DL method for robot object recognition and grasping. GA is used to optimize the DL parameters in learning procedure in term of the fitness function that is good enough. After finishing the evolution process, we receive the optimal number of DL parameters. To evaluate the performance of our method, we consider the object recognition and robot grasping tasks. Experimental results show that our method is efficient for robot object recognition and grasping.

Keywords: deep learning, genetic algorithm, object recognition, robot grasping

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Authors: Farnoush Haghanipour

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Recent research studies relation between coping strategies with stress and mental health situation in flying addicted family of self-introducer and private, Units of Guilan province. For this purpose 251 family (parent, spouse), that referred to private and self-introducer centers to break out of drug are selected in random sampling form. Research method was cross sectional-descriptive and purpose of research was fixing of between kinds of coping strategies with stress and mental health condition with attention to demographic variables. Therefore to collection of information, coping strategies questionnaire (CSQ) and mental health questionnaire (GHQ) was used and finally data analyzed by descriptive statistical methods (average, standard deviation) and inferential statistical correlation coefficient and regression. Study of correlation coefficient between mental healths with problem focused emotional focused and detachment strategies in level more than %99 is confirmed. Also mental health with avoidant focused hasn't correlation in other words relation is between mental health with problem focused strategies (r= 0/34) and emotional focused with mental health (r=0.52) and detachment with mental health (r= 0.18) in meaningful level 0.05. And also relation is between emotional focused strategies and mental health (r= 0.034) that is meaningless in Alpha 0.05. Also relation between problem processed coping strategies and mental health situation with attention to demographic variable is meaningful and relation level verified in confidence level more than 0.99. And result of anticipation equation regression statistical test has most a have in problem focused coping strategy, mental health, but relation of the avoidant emotional, detachment strategy with mental health was meaningless with attention to demographic variables.

Keywords: stress, coping strategy with stress, mental health, self introducer and private

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Authors: Crescentia Ugwuona

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Considering the importance of proverbs in socio-cultural life through socialization in any given society, it is deemed important for people to understand the hidden meanings that proverbs may convey. So far, there has been hardly any systematic research in the representation of different genders in Nigeria. Although there are writings on the representation of women in Nigerian proverbs, they are based on the writers’ introspection. Beyond that, investigators often tend to overlook the representations of men in proverbs. This study therefore explores from the perspective of sociolinguistics and critical discourse analysis (CDA) how different genders (men and women) are represented in Nigerian proverbs with particular reference to Igbo-Nigerians; with the aim of uncovering hidden gender inequalities that exist in them. The analysis reveals that Igbo proverbs consistently perpetuate an ideology of gender inequality, that is, male proverbs depict male achievements, power, bravery, and male supremacy; while that of female connotes their submissions to cultural and traditional female domestic roles, chastity, less competent, and women subjugation. The study alerts to how gendered language in proverbs can reflect, create, and sustain gender inequality in societies; and contributes to an education aimed at gender equality, emancipator practice of appropriate language in proverbs, respect for human rights; and of the need to develop strategies for addressing the problem.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, gender representation, gender stereotypes, Igbo-Nigerian, sociolinguistics analysis, proverbs

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Authors: K. C. Sony

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This paper investigates the coping strategies of households confronting disease in large cardamom (Amomum Subulatum Roxb.) in eastern Nepal. Cardamom farmers draw on various coping strategies to reduce the impact of crop disease in their livelihoods. Yet farmers face tremendous decline in production with a constant effort for revival. Past evidences provides dearth of information about coping strategies employed by farmers and institutional intervention to combat disease. Using factual data from Ilam district, and conducting a political economic analysis, this research addresses the gap by 1) understanding the impact of crop disease in farmers’ livelihoods, 2) identifying the coping strategies adopted by farmers and, 3) examining the existing institutional arrangements to address the disease. Coping strategies vary by household’s status defined by size of land, alternative income, and access to supporting institutions. Measures adopted are burning the cardamom field, changing land use pattern, diversifying crops, and visiting institutions for support. The local government’s support is limited to providing trainings and producing new varieties of cardamom. During crisis, farmers expect institutions to help revive the cardamom production, despite customary practice to combat disease. To retain and improve the livelihoods of farmers, there needs to be institutional innovation at the community level and policies that endorse immediate and sustainable support during hazards.

Keywords: cardamom, coping strategy, disease, institutions, Nepal

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Authors: Iran Kalbasi, Foroozandeh Zardashti

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Dialectology is a branch of social linguistics that studies systematic language variations. Dialects are the branches of a unique language that have structural, morphological and phonetic differences with each other. In Iran, these dialects and language variations themselves have a lot of cultural loads, and studying them have linguistic and cultural importance. In this study, phonetic structure of two Iranian dialects, Bakhtiyari Lori of Masjedsoleyman and Shushtari in Khuzestan Province of Iran have been surveyed. Its statistical community includes twenty speakers of two dialects. The theoretic bases of this research is based on structuralism. Its data have been collected by interviewing the questionnaire that consist of 3000 words, 410 sentences and 110 complex and simple verbs. These datas are analysed and described synchronically. Then, the phonetic characteristics of these two dialects and standard Persian have been compared. Therefore, we can say that in phonetic level of these two dialects and standard Persian, there are clearly differences.

Keywords: standard language, dialectology, bakhtiyari lori dialect of Masjedsoleyman, Shushtari dialect, vowel, consonant

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Authors: Hsin-Yu Lee, Ming-Zhong Li, Wen-Hsi Chiu, Su-Fen Cheng, Shwu-Wen Lin

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Background: The use of medical terminology is essential to professional nurses on clinical practice. However, most nursing students consider traditional lecture-based teaching of medical terminology as boring and overly conceptual and lack motivation to learn. It is thus an issue to be discussed on how to enhance nursing students’ self-directed learning and improve learning outcomes of medical terminology. Digital game-based learning is a learner-centered way of learning. Past literature showed that the most common game-based learning for language education has been immersive games and teaching games. Thus, this study selected role-playing games (RPG) and digital puzzle games for observation and comparison. It is interesting to explore whether digital game-based learning has positive impact on nursing students’ learning of medical terminology and whether students can adapt well on this type of learning. Results can be used to provide references for institutes and teachers on teaching medical terminology. These instructions give you guidelines for preparing papers for the conference. Use this document as a template if you are using Microsoft Word. Otherwise, use this document as an instruction set. The electronic file of your paper will be formatted further at WASET. Define all symbols used in the abstract. Do not cite references in the abstract. Do not delete the blank line immediately above the abstract; it sets the footnote at the bottom of this column. Page margins are 1,78 cm top and down; 1,65 cm left and right. Each column width is 8,89 cm and the separation between the columns is 0,51 cm. Objective: The purpose of this research is to explore respectively the impact of RPG and puzzle game on nursing students’ self-directed learning and technology acceptance. The study further discusses whether different game types bring about different influences on students’ self-directed learning and technology acceptance. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was adopted in this study so that repeated measures between two groups could be conveniently conducted. 103 nursing students from a nursing college in Northern Taiwan participated in the study. For three weeks of experiment, the experiment group (n=52) received “traditional teaching + RPG” while the control group (n=51) received “traditional teaching + puzzle games”. Results: 1. On self-directed learning: For each game type, there were significant differences for the delayed tests of both groups as compared to the pre and post-tests of each group. However, there were no significant differences between the two game types. 2. On technology acceptance: For the experiment group, after the intervention of RPG, there were no significant differences concerning technology acceptance. For the control group, after the intervention of puzzle games, there were significant differences regarding technology acceptance. Pearson-correlation coefficient and path analysis conducted on the results of the two groups revealed that the dimension were highly correlated and reached statistical significance. Yet, the comparison of technology acceptance between the two game types did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion and Recommend: This study found that through using different digital games on learning, nursing students have effectively improved their self-directed learning. Students’ technology acceptances were also high for the two different digital game types and each dimension was significantly correlated. The results of the experimental group showed that through the scenarios of RPG, students had a deeper understanding of medical terminology, which reached the ‘Understand’ dimension of Bloom’s taxonomy. The results of the control group indicated that digital puzzle games could help students memorize and review medical terminology, which reached the ‘Remember’ dimension of Bloom’s taxonomy. The findings suggest that teachers of medical terminology could use digital games to assist their teaching according to their goals on cognitive learning. Adequate use of those games could help improve students’ self-directed learning and further enhance their learning outcome on medical terminology.

Keywords: digital game-based learning, medical terminology, nursing education, self-directed learning, technology acceptance model

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Authors: Gaya Tridinanti

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Enhanching English vocabulary in early childhood is the main problem often faced by teachers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the enhancement of children’s English vocabulary acquisition by using digital storytelling. This type of research was an action research. It consisted of a series of four activities done in repeated cycles: planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. The subject of the study consisted of 30 students of B group (5-6 years old) attending Happy Kids Kindergarten Palembang, Indonesia. This research was conducted in three cycles. The methods used for data collection were observation and documentation. Descriptive qualitative and quantitative methods were also used to analyse the data. The research showed that the digital storytelling learning activities could enhance the children’s English vocabulary acquisition. It is based on the data in which the enhancement in pre-cycle was 37% and 51% in Cycle I. In Cycle II it was 71% and in Cycle III it was 89.3%. The results showed an enhancement of about 14% from the pre-cycle to Cycle I, 20% from Cycle I to Cycle II, and enhancement of about 18.3% from Cycle II to Cycle III. The conclusion of this study suggests that digital storytelling learning method could enhance the English vocabulary acquisition of B group children at the Happy Kids Kindergarten Palembang. Therefore, digital storytelling can be considered as an alternative to improve English language learning in the classroom.

Keywords: acquisition, enhancing, digital storytelling, English vocabulary

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Authors: Rahul Paul, Kedar Nath Das

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The paradigm of Reinforcement Learning (RL) has become prominent in training intelligent agents to make decisions in environments that are both dynamic and uncertain. The primary objective of RL is to optimize the policy of an agent in order to maximize the cumulative reward it receives throughout a given period. Nevertheless, the process of optimization presents notable difficulties as a result of the inherent trade-off between exploration and exploitation, the presence of extensive state-action spaces, and the intricate nature of the dynamics involved. Evolutionary Optimization Methods (EOMs) have garnered considerable attention as a supplementary approach to tackle these challenges, providing distinct capabilities for optimizing RL policies and value functions. The ongoing advancement of research in both RL and EOMs presents an opportunity for significant advancements in autonomous decision-making systems. The convergence of these two fields has the potential to have a transformative impact on various domains of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. This article highlights the considerable influence of EOMs in enhancing the capabilities of RL. Taking advantage of evolutionary principles enables RL algorithms to effectively traverse extensive action spaces and discover optimal solutions within intricate environments. Moreover, this paper emphasizes the practical implementations of EOMs in the field of RL, specifically in areas such as robotic control, autonomous systems, inventory problems, and multi-agent scenarios. The article highlights the utilization of EOMs in facilitating RL agents to effectively adapt, evolve, and uncover proficient strategies for complex tasks that may pose challenges for conventional RL approaches.

Keywords: machine learning, reinforcement learning, loss function, optimization techniques, evolutionary optimization methods

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Authors: Fernanda Bravo Cornejo, Camilo Cerda Sarabia, Belén Díaz Díaz, Diego Santibañez Oyarce, Esteban Gómez Terán, Hugo Osses Prado, Raúl Caulier-Cisterna, Jorge Vergara-Quezada, Ana Moya-Beltrán

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Streptococcus pyogenes is a gram-positive bacteria involved in a wide range of diseases and is a major-human-specific bacterial pathogen. In Chile, this year the 'Ministerio de Salud' declared an alert due to the increase in strains throughout the year. This increase can be attributed to the multitude of factors including antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and Virulence Factors (VF). Understanding these VF and AMR is crucial for developing effective strategies and improving public health responses. Moreover, experimental identification and characterization of these pathogenic mechanisms are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Therefore, new computational methods are required to provide robust techniques for accelerating this identification. Advances in Machine Learning (ML) algorithms represent the opportunity to refine and accelerate the discovery of VF associated with Streptococcus pyogenes. In this work, we evaluate the accuracy of various machine learning models in predicting the virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pyogenes, with the objective of providing new methods for identifying the pathogenic mechanisms of this organism.Our comprehensive approach involved the download of 32,798 genbank files of S. pyogenes from NCBI dataset, coupled with the incorporation of data from Virulence Factor Database (VFDB) and Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) which contains sequences of AMR gene sequence and resistance profiles. These datasets provided labeled examples of both virulent and non-virulent genes, enabling a robust foundation for feature extraction and model training. We employed preprocessing, characterization and feature extraction techniques on primary nucleotide/amino acid sequences and selected the optimal more for model training. The feature set was constructed using sequence-based descriptors (e.g., k-mers and One-hot encoding), and functional annotations based on database prediction. The ML models compared are logistic regression, decision trees, support vector machines, neural networks among others. The results of this work show some differences in accuracy between the algorithms, these differences allow us to identify different aspects that represent unique opportunities for a more precise and efficient characterization and identification of VF and AMR. This comparative analysis underscores the value of integrating machine learning techniques in predicting S. pyogenes virulence and AMR, offering potential pathways for more effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Future work will focus on incorporating additional omics data, such as transcriptomics, and exploring advanced deep learning models to further enhance predictive capabilities.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, streptococcus pyogenes, virulence factors., machine learning

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Authors: Fumane Portia Khanare

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This paper explores strategies to improve the psychosocial wellbeing of orphans and vulnerable learners (OVLs) in rural schools in Lesotho that seem essential for their success, in anticipation of, and in the context of global education. Various strategies to improve psychosocial wellbeing are considered necessary in that they are inclusive and buffer other forms of conditions beyond traditional and Eurocentric forms in orientation. Furthermore, they bring about the local experiences and particularly of the learners and schools in rural areas – all of which constitute ethnopsychology. COVID-19 pandemic has enthused the demands for collaboration and responsive support for learners within rural and many deprived contexts in Lesotho. However, the increase of OVLs in the education sector has also sparked the debate of how many rural schools with a lack of resources, inadequate teacher training, declining unemployment and the detriment of COVID-19 throughout Lesotho affected the psychosocial wellbeing of these learners. In some cases, the pandemic has created opportunities to explore existing, forgotten or ignored resources dated back to the pre-colonial era in Lesotho, and emphasizing to have an optimistic outlook on life as a result of collaboration and appreciating local knowledge. In order to scale up the psychosocial wellbeing of OVLs, there is a need to explore various strategies to improve their psychosocial wellbeing, in which all learners can succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, thereby promoting the agency of young people from the rural areas towards building supportive learning environments. The paper draws on qualitative participatory arts-based study data generated by 30 learners in two rural secondary schools in Lesotho. Thematic analysis was employed to provide an in-depth understanding of learners' psychosocial needs and strategies to improve their psychosocial wellbeing. The paper is guided by ethnopsychology – a strength-based perspective, which posits that in the most difficult situations, individuals including, young people have strengths, can collaborate and find solutions that respond to their challenges. This was done by examining how various facets of their environments such as peers, teachers, schools’ environment, family and community played out in creating supportive strategies to improve the psychosocial wellbeing of OVLs which buffer the successful completion of their secondary school education. It is recommended that ethnopsychology should recognise and be used under the realm of positive wellbeing in rural schools in Lesotho.

Keywords: arts-based research, ethnopsychology, Lesotho, orphans and vulnerable learners, psychosocial wellbeing, rural schools.

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Authors: Fumane Portia Khanare

Abstract:

This paper explores strategies to improve the psychosocial wellbeing of orphans and vulnerable learners (OVLs) in rural schools in Lesotho that seem essential for their success, in anticipation of, and in the context of global education. Various strategies to improve the psychosocial wellbeing are considered necessary in that they are inclusive and buffer other forms of conditions beyond traditional and Eurocentric forms in orientation. Furthermore, they bring about the local experiences and particularly of the learners and schools in rural areas – all of which constitute ethnopsychology. COVID-19 pandemic has enthused the demands for collaboration and responsive support for learners within rural and many deprived contexts in Lesotho. However, the increase of OVLs in the education sector has also sparked the debate of how much rural schools with lack of resources, inadequate teacher training, declining unemployment and the detriment of COVID-19 throughout Lesotho affected the psychosocial wellbeing of these learners. In some cases, the pandemic has created opportunities to explore existing, forgotten or ignored resources dated back to pre-colonial era in Lesotho, and emphasizing to have an optimistic outlook on life as a result of collaboration and appreciating local knowledge. In order to scale up the psychosocial wellbeing of OVLs there is a need to explore various strategies to improve their psychosocial wellbeing, in which all learners can succeed during COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, thereby promoting agency of young people from the rural areas towards building supportive learning environments. The paper draws on a qualitative participatory arts-based study data generated by 30 learners in two rural secondary schools in Lesotho. Thematic analysis was employed to provide an in-depth understanding of learners' psychosocial needs and strategies to improve their psychosocial wellbeing. The paper is guided by ethnopsychology – a strength-based perspective, which posit that in the most difficult situations, individual including, young people have strengths, can collaborate and find solutions that respond to their challenges. This was done by examining how various facets of their environments such as peers, teachers, schools’ environment, family and community played out in creating supportive strategies to improve the psychosocial wellbeing of OVLs which buffer their successful completion of their secondary school education. It is recommended that ethnopsychology should recognised and be used under the realm of positive wellbeing in rural schools in Lesotho.

Keywords: arts-based research, ethnopsychology, orphans and vulnerable learners, Lesotho, psychosocial wellbeing, rural schools

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Authors: Sami M. Alshareef

Abstract:

The rapid growth of smart grid technology has brought significant advancements to the power industry. However, with the increasing interconnectivity and reliance on information and communication technologies, smart grids have become vulnerable to cyber-attacks, posing significant threats to the reliable operation of power systems. Among the critical components of smart grids, the Automatic Generation Control (AGC) system plays a vital role in maintaining the balance between generation and load demand. Therefore, protecting the AGC system from cyber threats is of paramount importance to maintain grid stability and prevent disruptions. Traditional security measures often fall short in addressing sophisticated and evolving cyber threats, necessitating the exploration of innovative approaches. Machine learning, with its ability to analyze vast amounts of data and learn patterns, has emerged as a promising solution to enhance AGC system security. Therefore, this research proposal aims to address the challenges associated with detecting and mitigating cyber-attacks on AGC in smart grids by leveraging machine learning techniques on automatic generation control of two-area power systems. By utilizing historical data, the proposed system will learn the normal behavior patterns of AGC and identify deviations caused by cyber-attacks. Once an attack is detected, appropriate mitigation strategies will be employed to safeguard the AGC system. The outcomes of this research will provide power system operators and administrators with valuable insights into the vulnerabilities of AGC systems in smart grids and offer practical solutions to enhance their cyber resilience.

Keywords: machine learning, cyber-attacks, automatic generation control, smart grid

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Authors: Seree Chadcham, Niphon Sukvilai

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This study is the research and development which is intended to: 1) design of the Intelligent Scaffolding Learning Management System (ISLMS) for vocational education, 2) assess the suitability of the Design of Intelligent Scaffolding Learning Management System for Vocational Education. Its methods are divided into 2 phases. Phase 1 is the design of the ISLMS for Vocational Education and phase 2 is the assessment of the suitability of the design. The samples used in this study are work done by 15 professionals in the field of Intelligent Scaffolding, Learning Management System, Vocational Education, and Information and Communication Technology in education selected using the purposive sampling method. Data analyzed by arithmetic mean and standard deviation. The results showed that the ISLMS for vocational education consists of 2 main components which are: 1) the Intelligent Learning Management System for Vocational Education, 2) the Intelligent Scaffolding Management System. The result of the system suitability assessment from the professionals is in the highest range.

Keywords: intelligent, scaffolding, learning management system, vocational education

Procedia PDF Downloads 796

Authors: Maryam Savari, Mohamad Nizam Ayub, Ainuddin Wahid Abdul Wahab

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Game-based Learning (GBL) is an alternative that provides learners with an opportunity to experience a volatile environment in a safe and secure place. A volatile environment requires a different technique to facilitate learning and prevent injury and other hazards. Subjects involving elasticity are always considered hazardous and can cause injuries,for instance a bouncing ball. Elasticity is a topic that necessitates hands-on practicality for learners to experience the effects of elastic objects. In this paper the scope is to investigate the natural interaction between learners and elastic objects in a safe environment using GBL. During interaction, the potentials of natural contact in the process of learning were explored and gestures exhibited during the learning process were identified. GBL was developed using Kinect technology to teach elasticity to primary school children aged 7 to 12. The system detects body gestures and defines the meanings of motions exhibited during the learning process. The qualitative approach was deployed to constantly monitor the interaction between the student and the system. Based on the results, it was found that Natural Interaction GBL (Ni-GBL) is engaging for students to learn, making their learning experience more active and joyful.

Keywords: elasticity, Game-Based Learning (GBL), kinect technology, natural interaction

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Authors: R. M. Bashir, Sabo Elizabeth

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Electronic learning is an increasingly popular learning approach in higher educational institutions due to vast growth of internet technology. An investigation on the assessment of e-learning facilities and information need by open and distance learning students in Jalingo, Nigeria was conducted. Structured questionnaires were administered to 70 students of the university. Information sourced from the respondents covered demographic, economic and institutional variables. Data collected for demographic variables were computed as frequency count and percentages. Information on assessment of e-learning facilities and information need among open and distance learning students was computed on a three or four point Likert Rating Scale. Findings indicated that there are more men compared to women, a large proportion of the respondents are married and there are more matured students. A high proportion of the students obtained qualifications higher than the secondary school certificate. The proportion of computer literate students was higher compared with those students that owned a computer. Inadequate e-books and reference materials, internet gadgets and inadequate books (hard copies) and reference material are factors that limit utilization of e-learning facilities. Inadequate computer facilities caused delay in examination schedule at the study center. Open and distance learning students required to a high extent information on university timetable and schedule of activities, books (hard and e-books) and reference materials and contact with course coordinators via internet for better learning and academic performance.

Keywords: open and distance learning, information required, electronic books, internet gadgets, Likert scale test

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Merih Welay Welesilassie, Marianne Nikolov

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Research into second and foreign language (L2) acquisitions has demonstrated that L2 anxiety, perceived proficiency, and L2 willingness to communicate (L2WTC) profoundly impact language learning outcomes. However, the complex interplay between these variables has yet to be fully explored, as these factors are dynamic and context-specific and can vary across different learners and learning environments. This study, therefore, utilized a cross-sectional quantitative survey research design to scrutinise the causal relationships between L2 anxiety, English proficiency, and L2WTC of 609 Ethiopian preparatory school students. The model for the L2WTC, both inside and outside the classroom, has been expanded to include an additional sub-scale known as the L2WTC in a digital setting. Moreover, in contrast to the commonly recognised debilitative-focused L2 anxiety, the construct of L2 anxiety has been divided into facilitative and debilitative anxiety. This method allows to measure not only the presence or absence of anxiety but also evaluate if anxiety helps or hinders the L2 learning experience. A self-assessment proficiency measure was also developed specifically for Ethiopian high school students. The study treated facilitative and debilitative anxiety as independent variables while considering self-assessed English proficiency and L2WTC in the classroom, outside the classroom, and in digital settings as dependent variables. Additionally, self-assessed English proficiency was used as an independent variable to predict L2WTC in these three settings. The proposed model, including these variables, was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). According to the descriptive analysis, the mean scores of L2WTC in the three settings were generally low, ranging from 2.30 to 2.84. Debilitative anxiety casts a shadow on the positive aspects of anxiety. Self-assessed English proficiency was also too low. According to SEM, debilitative anxiety displayed a statistically significant negative impact on L2WTC inside the classroom, outside the classroom, in digital settings, and in self-assessed levels of English proficiency. In contrast, facilitative anxiety was found to positively contribute to L2WTC outside the classroom, in digital settings, and in self-assessed English proficiency. Self-assessed English proficiency made a statistically significant and positive contribution to L2WTC within the classroom, outside the classroom, and in digital contexts. L2WTC inside the classroom was found to positively contribute to L2WTC outside the classrooms and in digital contexts. The findings were systematically compared with existing studies, and the pedagogical implications, limitations, and potential avenues for future research were elucidated. The outcomes of the study have the potential to significantly contribute to the advancement of theoretical and empirical knowledge about improving English education, learning, and communication not only in Ethiopia but also in similar EFL contexts, thereby providing valuable insights for educators, researchers, and policymakers.

Keywords: debilitative anxiety, facilitative anxiety, L2 willingness to communicate, self-assessed English proficiency

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Authors: Sathapath Kilaso

Abstract:

Attendance checking in the classroom for student is object to record the student’s attendance in order to support the learning activities in the classroom. Despite the teaching trend in the 21st century is the student-center learning and the lecturer duty is to mentor and give an advice, the classroom learning is still important in order to let the student interact with the classmate and the lecturer or for a specific subject which the in-class learning is needed. The development of the system prototype by applied the microcontroller technology and embedded system with the “internet of thing” trend and the web socket technique will allow the lecturer to be alerted immediately whenever the data is updated.

Keywords: arduino, embedded system, classroom, raspberry PI

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: Yousef Sahari, Eisa Asiri

Abstract:

Hollywood films are produced in an open and liberal context, and when subtitling for a more conservative and closed society such as an Arabic society, religious words can pose a thorny challenge for subtitlers. Using a corpus of 90 Hollywood films released between 2000 and 2018 and applying insights from Descriptive Translation Studies (Toury, 1995, 2012) and the dichotomy of domestication and foreignization, this paper investigates three main research questions: (1) What are the dominant religious terms and functions in the English subtitles? (2) What are the dominant translation strategies used in the translation of religious words? (3) Do these strategies tend to be SL-oriented or TL-oriented (domesticating or foreignising)? To answer the research questions above, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the corpus is conducted, in which the researcher adopts a self-designed, parallel, aligned corpus of ninety films and their Arabic subtitles. A quantitative analysis is performed to compare the frequencies and distribution of religious words, their functions, and the translation strategies employed by the subtitlers of ninety films, with the aim of identifying similarities or differences in addition to identifying the impact of functions of religious terms on the use of subtitling strategies. Based on the quantitative analysis, a qualitative analysis is performed to identify any translational patterns in Arabic translations of religious words and the possible reasons for subtitlers’ choices. The results show that the function of religious words has a strong influence on the choice of subtitling strategies. Also, it is found that foreignization strategies are applied in about two-thirds of the total occurrences of religious words.

Keywords: religious terms, subtitling, audiovisual translation, modern standard arabic, subtitling strategies, english-arabic subtitling

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Authors: Shu-Chen Wu

Abstract:

This paper will present a study by the author which investigates Chinese teachers’ perspectives on learning at play and their teaching activities in the designed play activities. It asks the question of how Chinese teachers understand learning at play and how they design play activities in the classroom. Six kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong were invited to select and record exemplary play episodes which contain the largest amount of learning elements in their own classrooms. Applying video-stimulated interview, eight teachers in two focus groups were interviewed to elicit their perspectives on designing play activity and their teaching activities. The findings reveal that Chinese teachers have a very structured representation of learning at play, and the phenomenon of uniformity of teachers’ act was found. The contributions of which are important and useful for professional practices and curricular policies.

Keywords: learning at play, teacher involvement, video-stimulated interview, uniformity

Procedia PDF Downloads 144