Search results for: student experience

Authors: Mario R. Acevedo Amaya, Fernanda M. Martinez Reyes

Abstract:

Through the time, the higher education has changed the learning system since mother tongue to bilingual, and in this new century has been coming develop a multilingual education. All as part of globalization process of the countries and the education. Nevertheless, this change only has been effectively in countries of the first world, the rest have been lagging. Therefore, these countries require strengthen their higher education systems through models that give way to multilingual and bilingual education. In this way, shows a new model adapted from a systemic form to allow a higher bilingual and multilingual education in Latin America. This systematization aims to increase the skills and competencies student’s, decrease the time learning of a second tongue, add to multilingualism in the American Latin Universities, also, contribute to position the region´s countries in a better global status, and stimulate the development of new research in this area.

Keywords: Bilingual Education, Higher Education, Multilingual Education, Multilingual Education Model

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Authors: Kanyarat Bussaban, Kunyanuth Kularbphettong

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This research aims to create a model for analysis of student behavior using Library resources based on data mining technique in case of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The model was created under association rules, Apriori algorithm. The results were found 14 rules and the rules were tested with testing data set and it showed that the ability of classify data was 79.24percent and the MSE was 22.91. The results showed that the user’s behavior model by using association rule technique can use to manage the library resources.

Keywords: Behavior, data mining technique, Apriori algorithm.

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Authors: Lai-Fen Yang

Abstract:

In this increasingly visual world, how can we best decipher and understand the many ways that our everyday lives are organized around looking practices and the many images we encounter each day? Indeed, how we interact with and interpret visual images is a basic component of human life. Today, however, we are living in one of the most artificial visual and image-saturated cultures in human history, which makes understanding the complex construction and multiple social functions of visual imagery more important than ever before. Themes regarding our experience of a visually pervasive mediated culture, here, termed visual spectacle.

Keywords: Visual culture, contemporary, visual spectacle.

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Authors: B.W. Field

Abstract:

For a variety of safety and economic reasons, engineering undergraduates in Australia have experienced diminishing access to the real hardware that is typically the embodiment of their theoretical studies. This trend will delay the development of practical competence, decrease the ability to model and design, and suppress motivation. The author has attempted to address this concern by creating a software tool that contains both photographic images of real machinery, and sets of graphical modeling 'tools'. Academics from a range of disciplines can use the software to set tutorial tasks, and incorporate feedback comments for a range of student responses. An evaluation of the software demonstrated that students who had solved modeling problems with the aid of the electronic tutor performed significantly better in formal examinations with similar problems. The 2-D graphical diagnostic routines in the Tutor have the potential to be used in a wider range of problem-solving tasks.

Keywords: CAL, graphics, modeling, structural distillation, tutoring.

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Authors: Herruzo E., Espejo R.A., Moreno R., González C., Benavides J.I., Plata, O.

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This paper aims to explain the project carried out at the University of Cordoba, specifically at the High Polytechnic School in collaboration with two other organizations belonging to the Andalusian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Business: Andalusian Innovation and Development Agency (IDEA agency) [1] and the Territorial Net of Entrepreneurship Support (in Spanish Red Territorial de Apoyo al Emprendedor) [11]. The project is being developed in several stages of which only the first one has already been completed. However, several important preliminary results derive from it, based mainly in the description of the nature of entrepreneurship in the field of university education and its impact on student-s competency as recommended by the European Higher Education Area. Some problems holding back the correct future development will also be shown as derived from the specific context of application of the project.

Keywords: EHEA, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, TransversalCompetence.

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Authors: L. Horňák

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The aim of the paper is to analyze a longstanding problem in Slovakia – the effective education of Roma students coming from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Although it is a relatively small country, there are over 630 communities in the Slovak Republic. The efficiency of the projects was verified by interviews with participants; questionnaires; and direct observations. Evaluation reports which summarized and evaluated the outcomes of the projects only confirmed their success. Slovakia realizes that appropriate social inclusion of marginalized citizens coming from the Roma ethnic group can only be achieved through education based on equality of all students and acceptance of diversity.

Keywords: Inclusive education, marginalized communities, Roma student, equality in education, socially disadvantaged backgrounds, social inclusion.

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Authors: Kleanthis Prekas, Maria Rangoussi, Savvas Vassiliadis, George Prekas

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Intelligent tutoring systems constitute an evolution of computer-aided educational software. We present here the modules of an intelligent tutoring system for Automatic Control, developed in our department. Through the software application developed,students can perform complete automatic control laboratory experiments, either over the departmental local area network or over the Internet. Monitoring of access to the system (local as well as international), along with student performance statistics, has yielded strongly encouraging results (as of fall 2004), despite the advanced technical content of the presented paradigm, thus showing the potential of the system developed for education and for training.

Keywords: Automatic control, tutoring system, Internet access, laboratory experiments.

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Authors: Kuo Hung Huang, Chong-Ji Ke

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The purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of computer games on the mathematics instruction. First, the research designed and implemented the web-based games according to the content of existing textbook. And the researcher collected and analyzed the information related to the mathematics instruction integrating the computer games. In this study, the researcher focused on the learning motivation of mathematics, mathematics achievement, and pupil-teacher interactions in classroom. The results showed that students under instruction integrating computer games significantly improved in motivation and achievement. The teacher tended to use less direct teaching and provide more time for student-s active learning.

Keywords: computer games, mathematics instruction, pupil-teacher interaction, technology-enhanced learning

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Authors: A. Zimnas, D. Kleftouris, N. Valkanos

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Today-s Information and Knowledge Society has placed new demands on education and a new paradigm of education is required. Learning, facilitated by educational systems and the pedagogic process, is globally undergoing dramatic changes. The aim of this paper is the development of a simple Instructional Design tool for E-Learning, named IDEL (Instructional Design for Electronic Learning), that provides the educators with facilities to create their own courses with the essential educational material and manage communication with students. It offers flexibility in the way of learning and provides ease in employment and reusability of resources. IDEL is a web-based Instructional System and is designed to facilitate course design process in accordance with the ADDIE model and the instructional design principles with emphasis placed on the use of technology enhanced learning. An example case of using the ADDIE model to systematically develop a course and its implementation with the aid of IDEL is given and some results from student evaluation of the tool and the course are reported.

Keywords: Education, E-learning, Instructional Design.

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Authors: Bella Llego

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This study aims to investigate the motivating and de-motivating factors that affect the learning ability of students attending the English Learning Center in Thailand. The subjects of this research were 20 students from the Hana Semiconductor Co., Limited. The data were collected by using questionnaire and analyzed using the SPSS program for the percentage, mean and standard deviation. The research results show that the main motivating factor in learning English at Hana Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is that it would help the employees to communicate with foreign customers and managers. Other reasons include the need to read and write e-mails, and reports in English, as well as to increase overall general knowledge. The main de-motivating factor is that there is a lot of vocabulary to remember when learning English. Another de-motivating factor is that when homework is given, the students have no time to complete the tasks required of them at the end of the working day.

Keywords: Motivating, demotivating, English learning center, student communicate.

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Authors: G. Bickel, D. Jensen

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This research documents a qualitative study of selected Native Americans who have successfully graduated from mainstream higher education institutions. The research framework explored the Bicultural Identity Formation Model as a means of understanding the expressions of the students' adaptations to mainstream education. This approach lead to an awareness of how the participants in the study used specific cultural and social strategies to enhance their educational success and also to an awareness of how they coped with cultural dissonance to achieve a new academic identity. Research implications impact a larger audience of bicultural, foreign, or international students experiencing cultural dissonance.

Keywords: Bicultural Identity Formation Model, Cultural Dissonance, Higher Education, Student Success

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Authors: Melani Arnaldi, Suzy Yusna Dewi

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School brawls have taken casualties to the life of students in Jakarta. In the last time, school brawl studies investigate the cause with groups approach such as cognitive dissonance that provocation and resentment among student in the schools. This research focus on individual factors as the cause of school brawls, where the characteristics of children with ADHD, lack of self-control regulation, and level of depression. The results show that in fact the lower influence of individual factor to be come conduct disorder. The meaning students have good self-regulation control, insignificant characteristics of children with ADHD, and moderate of depression level. Concluded group factor more significant than individual factor to caused school brawl.

Keywords: ADHD, depression, school brawl, self-regulation control.

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Authors: A. Giraldo, A. Lapatka, A. Namyslak, S. Pilny, J. B. Miima

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This paper explains how the New Jersey Institute of Technology surveying student team members designed and created an interactive GIS map, the purpose of which is to be useful to the land surveyor and engineer for project management. This was achieved by building a research and storage database that can be easily integrated into any land surveyor’s current operations through the use of ArcGIS 10, Arc Catalog, and AutoCAD. This GIS database allows for visual representation and information querying for multiple job sites, and simple access to uploaded data, which is geospatially referenced to each individual job site or project. It can also be utilized by engineers to determine design criteria, or to store important files. This cost-effective approach to a surveying map not only saves time, but saves physical storage space and paper resources.

Keywords: Data Storage, GIS, Land Surveying, Mapping.

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Authors: A. Meydanlioglu, F. Arikan

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In recent years, thanks to the development of information and communication technologies, the computer and internet have been used widely in higher education. Internet-based education is impacting traditional higher education as online components increasingly become integrated into face- to- face (FTF) courses. The goal of combined internet-based and traditional education is to take full advantage of the benefits of each platform in order to provide an educational opportunity that can promote student learning better than can either platform alone. Research results show that the use of hybrid learning is more effective than online or FTF models in higher education. Due to the potential benefits, an increasing number of institutions are interested in developing hybrid courses, programs, and degrees. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of hybrid learning. This paper is designed to determine the impact of hybrid learning on higher education.

Keywords: E-learning, higher education, hybrid learning, online education.

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Authors: Yasmin Binti Othman Mydin, Mohd. Fadzillah Abdul Razak

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Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy is the first cognitive behavior therapy which was introduced by Albert Ellis. This is a systematic and structured psychotherapy which is effective in treating various psychological problems. A patient, 25 years old male, experienced intense fear and situational panic attack to return to his faculty and to face his class-mates after a long absence (2 years). This social anxiety disorder was a major factor that impeded the progress of his study. He was treated with the use of behavioural technique such as relaxation breathing technique and cognitive techniques such as imagery, cognitive restructuring, rationalization technique and systematic desensitization. The patient reported positive improvement in the anxiety disorder, able to progress well in studies and lead a better quality of life as a student.

Keywords: Anxiety, behaviour, cognitive, therapy

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Authors: Serena Alvino, Paola Forcheri, Maria Grazia Ierardi, Luigi Sarti

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One of the main advantages of the LO paradigm is to allow the availability of good quality, shareable learning material through the Web. The effectiveness of the retrieval process requires a formal description of the resources (metadata) that closely fits the user-s search criteria; in spite of the huge international efforts in this field, educational metadata schemata often fail to fulfil this requirement. This work aims to improve the situation, by the definition of a metadata model capturing specific didactic features of shareable learning resources. It classifies LOs into “teacher-oriented" and “student-oriented" categories, in order to describe the role a LO is to play when it is integrated into the educational process. This article describes the model and a first experimental validation process that has been carried out in a controlled environment.

Keywords: Learning object, pedagogical metadata, experimental validation.

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Authors: Mona Salah El-Din Hassanein

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Faced with a sudden, unexpected, and overwhelming event, the individual's normal cognitive processing may cease to function, trapping the psyche in "speechless terror", while images, feelings and sensations are experienced with emotional intensity. Unable to master such situation, the individual becomes a trauma victim who will be susceptible to traumatic recollections like intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and repetitive re-living of the primal event in a way that blurs the distinction between past and present, and forecloses the future. Trauma is timeless, repetitious, and contagious; a trauma observer could fall prey to "secondary victimhood". Central to the process of healing the psychic wounds in the aftermath of trauma is verbalizing the traumatic experience (i.e., putting it into words) – an act which provides a chance for assimilation, testimony, and reevaluation. In light of this paradigm, this paper proposes a reading of Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol, written shortly after his release from prison, as a post-traumatic text which traces the disruptive effects of the traumatic experience of Wilde's imprisonment for homosexual offences and the ensuing reversal of fortune he endured. Post-traumatic writing demonstrates the process of "working through" a trauma which may lead to the possibility of ethical agency in the form of a "survivor mission". This paper draws on fundamental concepts and key insights in literary trauma theory which is characterized by interdisciplinarity, combining the perspectives of different fields like critical theory, psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, history, and social studies. Of particular relevance to this paper are the concepts of "vicarious traumatization" and "survivor mission", as The Ballad of Reading Gaol was written in response to Wilde's own prison trauma and the indirect traumatization he experienced as a result of witnessing the execution of a fellow prisoner whose story forms the narrative base of the poem. The Ballad displays Wilde's sense of mission which leads him to recognize the social as well as ethical implications of personal tragedy. Through a close textual analysis of The Ballad of Reading Gaol within the framework of literary trauma theory, the paper aims to: (a) demonstrate how the poem's thematic concerns, structure and rhetorical figures reflect the structure of trauma; (b) highlight Wilde's attempts to come to terms with the effects of the cataclysmic experience which transformed him into a social outcast; and (c) show how Wilde manages to transcend the victim status and assumes the role of ethical agent to voice a critique of the Victorian penal system and the standards of morality underlying the cruelties practiced against wrong doers and to solicit social action.

Keywords: Ballad of Reading Gaol, post-traumatic writing, trauma theory, Wilde.

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Authors: V. Ramnarain-Seetohul, J. Abdool Karim, A. Amir

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Almost all universities include some form of assignment in their courses. The assignments are either carried out in either in groups or individually. To effectively manage these submitted assignments, a well-designed assignment submission system is needed, hence the need for an online assignment submission system to facilitate the distribution, and collection of assignments on due dates. The objective of such system is to facilitate interaction of lecturers and students for assessment and grading purposes. The aim of this study was to create a web based online assignment submission system for University of Mauritius. The system was created to eliminate the traditional process of giving an assignment and collecting the answers for the assignment. Lecturers can also create automated assessment to assess the students online. Moreover, the online submission system consists of an automatic mailing system which acts as a reminder for students about the deadlines of the posted assignments. System was tested to measure its acceptance rate among both student and lecturers.

Keywords: Assignment, assessment, online, submission

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Authors: Marko Spasojevic, Ying Hei Chui, Yuxiang Chen

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Increasing the level of exterior insulation in residential buildings is a popular way for improving the thermal characteristic of building enclosure and reducing heat loss. However, the layout and properties of materials composing the wall have a great effect on moisture accumulation within the wall cavity, long-term durability of a wall as well as the structural performance. A one-dimensional hygrothermal modeling has been performed to investigate moisture condensation risks and the drying capacity of standard 2×4 and 2×6 light wood-frame wall assemblies including exterior low-permeance extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation. The analysis considered two different wall configurations whereby the rigid insulation board was placed either between Oriented Strand Board (OSB) sheathing and the stud or outboard to the structural sheathing. The thickness of the insulation varied between 0 mm and 50 mm and the analysis has been conducted for eight different locations in Canada, covering climate zone 4 through zone 8. Results show that the wall configuration with low-permeance insulation inserted between the stud and OSB sheathing accumulates more moisture within the stud cavity, compared to the assembly with the same insulation placed exterior to the sheathing. On the other hand, OSB moisture contents of the latter configuration were markedly higher. Consequently, the analysis of hygrothermal performance investigated and compared moisture accumulation in both the OSB and stud cavity. To investigate the structural performance of the wall and the effect of soft insulation layer inserted between the sheathing and framing, forty nail connection specimens were tested. Results have shown that both the connection strength and stiffness experience a significant reduction as the insulation thickness increases. These results will be compared with results from a full-scale shear wall tests in order to investigate if the capacity of shear walls with insulated sheathing would experience a similar reduction in structural capacities.

Keywords: Hygrothermal analysis, insulated sheathing, moisture performance, nail joints, wood shear wall.

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Authors: G. Anugkakul, S. Yordchim

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The objectives were to study language learning strategies (LLSs) employed by Chinese students, and the frequency of LLSs they used, and examine the relationship between the use of LLSs and gender. The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by Oxford was administered to thirty-six Chinese students at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in Thailand. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Three useful findings were found on the use of LLSs reported by Chinese students. First, Chinese students used overall LLSs at a high level. Second, among the six strategy groups, Chinese students employed compensation strategy most frequently and memory strategy least frequently. Third, the research results also revealed that gender had significant effect on Chinese Student’s use of overall LLSs.

Keywords: English language, Language Learning Strategy, Chinese Students, Gender.

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Authors: Sumita Chowhan

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Abilities are important for academic success. Yet, abilities cannot be the whole story. Styles might be one source of unexplained variation. A style is a preferred way of using ones abilities. Students are thought to be incompetent not because they are lacking in abilities, but because their styles do not match the academic course chosen. The purpose of the study was to determine the role of abilities and learning styles in prediction of academic performance and their adjustment. Participants were 272 engineering students. The tools used are Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Culture Fair Intelligence Test and Student Problem Checklist. The statistical procedures employed were t-test, correlations and stepwise regressions. The analyses of the data indicated that although abilities are better predictors of academic performance, learning styles also shown a significant relationship. The study also indicates that if students learning styles matches to their chosen academic course, they tend to show better performance and less adjustment problems.

Keywords: Abilities, Academic Performance, Adjustment, Learning Styles.

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Authors: Hyunhee Ryu, Young Ju Jeon, Jaeuk U. Kim, Hae Jung Lee, Yu Jung Lee, Jong Yeol Kim

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of blood viscosity on the radial pulse wave. For this, we obtained the radial pulse wave of 15 males with abnormal high hematocrit level and 47 males with normal hematocrit level at the age of thirties and forties. Various variables of the radial pulse wave between two groups were analyzed and compared by Student's T test. There are significant differences in several variables about height, time and area of the pulse wave. The first peak of the radial pulse wave was higher in abnormal high hematocrit group, but the third peak was higher and longer in normal hematocrit group. Our results suggest that the radial pulse wave can be used for diagnosis of high blood viscosity and more clinical application.

Keywords: Radial pulse wave, Blood viscosity, Hematocrit.

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Authors: Ahmet Denker

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The trend in the world of Information Technology (IT) is getting increasingly large and difficult projects rather than smaller and easier. However, the data on large-scale IT project success rates provide cause for concern. This paper seeks to answer why large-scale IT projects are different from and more difficult than other typical engineering projects. Drawing on the industrial experience, a compilation of the conditions that influence failure is presented. With a view to improve success rates solutions are suggested.

Keywords: Software engineering, software economics, project management, large-scale projects.

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Authors: Chang, Wei-Chen

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The purpose of this study is to research on thoughts transmitted from virtual fitting-room and to deduce discussion in an auxiliary narrative way. The research structure is based on 3D virtual fitting-room as the research subject. Initially, we will discuss the principles of narrate study, User Demand and so on by using a narrative design pattern to transmit their objective indications of “people-situation-reason-object", etc, and then to analyze the virtual fitting-room examples that are able to provide a new thinking for designers who engaged in clothing related industry – which comes in “story telling" and “user-centered design" forms. Clothing designs are not just to cover up the body to keep warm but to draw closer to people-s demand physiologically and psychologically through interactive designs so as to achieve cognition between people and environment. In the “outside" goal of clothing-s functional designs, we use tribal group-s behavior characteristics to “transform" the existing personal cultural stories, and “reform" them to design appropriate interactive products. Synthesizing the above matters, apart from being able to regard “narrate" as a kind of functional thinking process, we are also able to regard it as a kind of choice, arrangement and an activity of story expression, allowing interactive design-s spirit, product characteristics and experience ideas be transmitted to target tribal group in a visual image performance method. It is a far more confident and innovative attempt, and meanwhile, able to achieve entertainment, joyful and so forth fundamental interactive transmissions. Therefore, this study takes “user-centered design" thinking as a basis to establish a set of clothing designs with interactive experience patterns and to assist designers to examine the five sensual feeling of interactive demands in order to initiate a new value in textile industry.

Keywords: Virtual Fitting-room, Interactive Design, User Demand Evaluation, Intelligent Systems.

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Authors: Veronika Pivkina, Alla Kim, Khon Nataliya

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In this paper, the actuality of the study, and the role of subjective well-being problem in modern psychology and the comprehending of subjective well-being by current students is defined. The purpose of this research is to educe peculiarities of comprehending of subjective well-being by students with various levels of emotional intelligence. Methods of research are adapted Russian-Language questionnaire of K. Riff 'The scales of psychological well-being'; emotional intelligence questionnaire of D. V. Lusin. The research involved 72 students from different universities and disciplines aged between 18 and 24. Analyzing the results of the studies, it can be concluded that the understanding of happiness in different groups of students with high and low levels of overall emotional intelligence is different, as well as differentiated by gender. Students with a higher level of happiness possess more capacity and higher need to control their emotions, to cause and maintain the desired emotions and control something undesirable.

Keywords: Subjective well-being, emotional intelligence, psychology of comprehending, students.

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Authors: Anahita Dalmia

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There has been a recent rise in ‘audience-centric’ and immersive storytelling. This indicates audiences are gaining interest in experiencing real adventure with everything that encompasses the struggle, the new friendships, skill development, and growth. This paper examines two themed alternate reality games created by a group of students at the University of Southern California as an experiment in how to design an adventure and to evaluate its impact on participants. The experiences combined immersive improvisational theatre and live-action roleplaying to create socially aware experiences within the timespan of four hours, using Harry Potter and mythology as themes. In each experiment, over 500 players simultaneously embarked on quests -a series of challenges including puzzle-solving, scavenger-hunting, and character interactions- to join a narrative faction. While playing, the participants were asked to choose faction alignments based on the characters they interacted with, as well as their own backgrounds and moral values. During the narrative finale, the impact of their individual choices on the larger story and game were revealed. After the conclusion of each experience, participants filled out questionnaires and were interviewed. Through this, it was discovered that participants developed transferable problem-solving, team-work, and persuasion skills. They also learned about the theme of the experience and reflected on their own moral values and judgment-making abilities after they realized the consequences of their actions in the game-world, inspiring some participants to make changes outside of it. This reveals that alternative reality games can lead to socialization, educational development, and real-world change in a variety of contexts when implemented correctly. This experiment has begun to discover the value of alternate reality games in a real-world context and to develop a reproducible format to continue to create such an impact.

Keywords: Adventure, alternate reality games, education, immersive entertainment, interactive entertainment.

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Authors: Anatoly Krivinsh

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The results of dissertation research "Preventing and  combating corruption in public procurement" are presented in this  publication. The study was conducted 2011 till 2013 in a Member  State of the European Union– in the Republic of Latvia.  Goal of the thesis is to explore corruption prevention and  combating issues in public procurement sphere, to identify the  prevalence rates, determinants and contributing factors and  prevention opportunities in Latvia.  In the first chapter the author analyzes theoretical aspects of  understanding corruption in public procurement, with particular  emphasis on corruption definition problem, its nature, causes and  consequences. A separate section is dedicated to the public  procurement concept, mechanism and legal framework. In the first  part of this work the author presents cognitive methodology of  corruption in public procurement field, based on which the author has  carried out an analysis of corruption situation in public procurement  in Republic of Latvia.  In the second chapter of the thesis, the author analyzes the  problem of corruption in public procurement, including its historical  aspects, typology and classification of corruption subjects involved,  corruption risk elements in public procurement and their  identification. During the development of the second chapter author's  practical experience in public procurements was widely used.  The third and fourth chapter deals with issues related to the  prevention and combating corruption in public procurement, namely  the operation of the concept, principles, methods and techniques,  subjects in Republic of Latvia, as well as an analysis of foreign  experience in preventing and combating corruption. The fifth chapter  is devoted to the corruption prevention and combating perspectives  and their assessment. In this chapter the author has made the  evaluation of corruption prevention and combating measures  efficiency in Republic of Latvia, assessment of anti-corruption  legislation development stage in public procurement field in Latvia. 

Keywords: Prevention of corruption, public purchases.

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Authors: Maria J. Garcia-Garcia, Concepcion Gonzalez-Garcia, Gabriel A. Dorado, Luis J. Fernandez

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The results obtained after incorporating the competence “creativity" to the subject Technical Drawing of the first course of the Degree in Forestry, Technical University of Madrid, are presented in this study.At first, learning activities which could serve two functions at the same time -developing students- creativity and developing other specific competences of the subject- were considered. Besides, changes in the assessment procedure were made and a method which analyzes two aspects of the assessment of the competence creativity was established. On the one hand, the products are evaluated by analyzing the outcomes obtained by students in the essays suggested and by establishing a parameter to assess the creativity expressed in those essays. On the other, an assessment of the student is directly carried out through a psychometric test which has been previously chosen by the team.Moreover, these results can be applied to similar or could be of general application.

Keywords: assessment competence, assessment creativity, creativity, generic competences

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Authors: Niken Rarasati, Moh. A. Hakim, Kwartarini W. Yuniarti

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This study aimed to explore future life orientation and support that needed to accomplish it. A total of 258 participants are Javanese high school student. The age of the sample ranges from 14 to 18 years old. Participants were asked about their future aspiration, their reason of choosing them as important goals in their life, and support that they need to accomplished their goals using open ended questionnaire. The responses were categorized through content analysis into four main categories. They are: (1) Self Fulfillment (72.1%) (2) Parents and Family (16.7%) (3) Altruism (8.1%) (4) Social and Economy Status (3.1%). Meanwhile, the categories for support that they needed are shown as follows: (1) Affection Support (64.7%) (2) Spiritual support (17.4%) (3) Material Support (10.9%) (4) Guidance Support (7.0%). The research found that affection support always gets the highest number in every future orientation categories. It can be concluded that although Javanese adolescents have different future orientation, they basically need affection support.

Keywords: Affection support, future orientation, indigenous psychology, Javanese adolescent

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Authors: Jin Zhang, Wing Lon Ng

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In recent years, copulas have become very popular in financial research and actuarial science as they are more flexible in modelling the co-movements and relationships of risk factors as compared to the conventional linear correlation coefficient by Pearson. However, a precise estimation of the copula parameters is vital in order to correctly capture the (possibly nonlinear) dependence structure and joint tail events. In this study, we employ two optimization heuristics, namely Differential Evolution and Threshold Accepting to tackle the parameter estimation of multivariate t distribution models in the EML approach. Since the evolutionary optimizer does not rely on gradient search, the EML approach can be applied to estimation of more complicated copula models such as high-dimensional copulas. Our experimental study shows that the proposed method provides more robust and more accurate estimates as compared to the IFM approach.

Keywords: Copula Models, Student t Copula, Parameter Inference, Differential Evolution, Threshold Accepting.

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