Search results for: and virtual learning environment.
3315 The Motivating and Limiting Factors of Learners’ Engagement in an Online Discussion Forum
Authors: K. Durairaj, I. N. Umar
Abstract:
Lately, asynchronous discussion forum is integrated in higher educational institutions as it may increase learning process, learners’ understanding, achievement and knowledge construction. The asynchronous discussion forum is used to complement the traditional, face-to-face learning session in hybrid learning courses. However, studies have proven that students’ engagement in online forums is still unconvincing. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the motivating factors and obstacles that affect the learners’ engagement in asynchronous discussion forum. This study is carried out in one of the public higher educational institutions in Malaysia with 18 postgraduate students as samples. The authors have developed a 40-items questionnaire based on literature review. The results indicate several factors that have encouraged or limited students’ engagement in asynchronous discussion forum: (a) the practices or behaviors of peers, or instructors, (b) the needs for the discussions, (c) the learners’ personalities, (d) constraints in continuing the discussion forum, (e) lack of ideas, (f) the level of thoughts, (g) the level of knowledge construction, (h) technical problems, (i) time constraints and (j) misunderstanding. This study suggests some recommendations to increase the students’ engagement in online forums. Finally, based upon the findings, some implications are proposed for further research.
Keywords: Asynchronous Discussion Forum, Engagement, Factors, Motivating, Limiting.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19163314 Lean Changeability – Evaluation and Design of Lean and Transformable Factories
Authors: Tim Klemke, Peter Nyhuis
Abstract:
In today-s turbulent environment, companies are faced with two principal challenges. On the one hand, it is necessary to produce ever more cost-effectively to remain competitive. On the other hand, factories need to be transformable in order to manage unpredictable changes in the corporate environment. To deal with these different challenges, companies use the philosophy of lean production in the first case, in the second case the philosophy of transformability. To a certain extent these two approaches follow different directions. This can cause conflicts when designing factories. Therefore, the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA) of the Leibniz University of Hanover has developed a procedure to allow companies to evaluate and design their factories with respect to the requirements of both philosophies.
Keywords: Factory planning, lean production, transformability
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21973313 Reflective Thinking and Experiential Learning: A Quasi-Experimental Quanti-Quali Response to Greater Diversification of Activities and Greater Integration of Student Profiles
Authors: P. Bogas
Abstract:
As a scientific contribution to this discussion, a pedagogical intervention of a quasi-experimental nature was developed, with a mixed methodology, evaluating the intervention within a single curricular unit of Marketing, using cases based on real challenges of brands, business simulation and customer projects. Primary and secondary experiences were incorporated in the intervention: the primary experiences are the experiential activities themselves; the secondary experiences resulted from the primary experience, such as reflection and discussion in work teams. A diversified learning relationship was encouraged through the various connections between the different members of the learning community. The present study concludes that in the same context, the students' response can be described as: students who reinforce the initial deep approach, students who maintain the initial deep approach level and others who change from an emphasis on the deep approach to one closer to superficial. This typology did not always confirm studies reported in the literature, namely, whether the initial level of deep processing would influence the superficial and the opposite. The result of this investigation points to the inclusion of pedagogical and didactic activities that integrate different motivations and initial strategies, leading to a possible adoption of deep approaches to learning, since it revealed statistically significant differences in the difference in the scores of the deep/superficial approach and the experiential level. In the case of real challenges, the categories of “attribution of meaning and meaning of studied” and the possibility of “contact with an aspirational context” for their future professional stand out. In this category, the dimensions of autonomy that will be required of them were also revealed when comparing the classroom context of real cases and the future professional context and the impact they may have on the world. Regarding to the simulated practice, two categories of response stand out: on the one hand, the motivation associated with the possibility of measuring the results of the decisions taken, an awareness of oneself and, on the other hand, the additional effort that this practice required for some of the students.
Keywords: Experiential learning, higher education, marketing, mixed methods, reflective thinking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3163312 A Convolutional Deep Neural Network Approach for Skin Cancer Detection Using Skin Lesion Images
Authors: Firas Gerges, Frank Y. Shih
Abstract:
Malignant Melanoma, known simply as Melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that appears as a mole on the skin. It is critical to detect this cancer at an early stage because it can spread across the body and may lead to the patient death. When detected early, Melanoma is curable. In this paper we propose a deep learning model (Convolutional Neural Networks) in order to automatically classify skin lesion images as Malignant or Benign. Images underwent certain pre-processing steps to diminish the effect of the normal skin region on the model. The result of the proposed model showed a significant improvement over previous work, achieving an accuracy of 97%.
Keywords: Deep learning, skin cancer, image processing, melanoma.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15563311 Practice, Observation, and Gender Effects on Students’ Entrepreneurial Skills Development When Teaching through Entrepreneurship Is Adopted: Case of University of Tunis El Manar
Authors: H. Chaker, T. Slama, N. Elyétim
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the effects of gender, affiliation, prior work experience, social work, and vicarious learning through family role models on entrepreneurial skills development by students when they followed the teaching through the entrepreneurship method in Tunisia. We suggest that these variables enhance the development of students’ entrepreneurial skills when combined with teaching through entrepreneurship. The article assesses the impact of these combinations by comparing their effects on the development of thirteen students’ entrepreneurial competencies, namely entrepreneurial mindset, core self-evaluation, entrepreneurial attitude, entrepreneurial knowledge, creativity, financial literacy, managing ambiguity, marshaling of resources, planning, teaching methods, entrepreneurial teachers, innovative employee, and entrepreneurial intention. We use a two-sample independent t-test to make the comparison, and the results indicate that, when combined with teaching through the entrepreneurship method, students with prior work experience developed better six entrepreneurial skills; students with social work developed better three entrepreneurial skills, men developed better four entrepreneurial skills than women. However, all students developed their entrepreneurial skills through this practical method regardless of their affiliation and their vicarious learning through family role models.
Keywords: Affiliation, entrepreneurial skills, gender, role models, social work, teaching through entrepreneurship, vicarious learning, work experience.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1993310 Towards Developing a Self-Explanatory Scheduling System Based on a Hybrid Approach
Authors: Jian Zheng, Yoshiyasu Takahashi, Yuichi Kobayashi, Tatsuhiro Sato
Abstract:
In the study, we present a conceptual framework for developing a scheduling system that can generate self-explanatory and easy-understanding schedules. To this end, a user interface is conceived to help planners record factors that are considered crucial in scheduling, as well as internal and external sources relating to such factors. A hybrid approach combining machine learning and constraint programming is developed to generate schedules and the corresponding factors, and accordingly display them on the user interface. Effects of the proposed system on scheduling are discussed, and it is expected that scheduling efficiency and system understandability will be improved, compared with previous scheduling systems.Keywords: Constraint programming, Factors considered in scheduling, machine learning, scheduling system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14423309 A New Design of Temperature-Controlled Chamber for OLED Panels
Authors: Hsin-Hung Chang, Jin-Lung Guan, Ming-Ta Yang
Abstract:
This paper presents an inexpensive and effective temperature-controlled chamber for temperature environment tests of Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) panels. The proposed chamber is a compact warmer and cooler with an exact temperature control system. In the temperature-controlled space of the chamber, thermoelectric modules (TEMs) are utilized to cool or to heat OLED panels, novel fixtures are designed to flexibly clamp the OLED panels of different size, and special connectors for wiring between the OLED panels and the test instrument are supplied. The proposed chamber has the following features. (1) The TEMs are solid semi-conductive devices, so they operate without noise and without pollution. (2) The volume of the temperature-controlled space of the chamber about 160mm*160mm*120mm, so the chamber are compact and easy to move. (3) The range of the controlled temperatures is from -10 oC to +80 oC, and the precision is ?0.5 oC. (4) The test instrument can conveniently and easily measure the OLED panels via the novel fixtures and special connectors. In addition to a constant temperature being maintained in the chamber, a temperature shock experiments can run for a long time. Therefore, the chamber will be convenient and useful for temperature environment tests of OLED panels.Keywords: Thermoelectric module, Temperature environment test, OLED, chamber.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19203308 Using Wiki for Enhancing the Knowledge Transfer to Newcomers: An Experience Report
Authors: H. O. Barbosa, A. C. R. da Silva, C. M. de Almeida, E. M. dos Santos, F. O. de Sousa, F. B. da S. Souza, F. B. da S. Souza, F. de O. Lima, L. H. Albuquerque, R. F. do Valle Cunha
Abstract:
Software development is intrinsic human-based knowledge-intensive. Due to globalization, software development has become a complex challenge and we usually face barriers related to knowledge management, team building, costly testing processes, especially in distributed settings. In this paper, we present the use of experimental studies to improve our knowledge management process using the Wiki system. According to the results, it was possible to identify learning preferences from our software projects leader team, organize and improve the learning experience of our Wiki, and facilitate collaboration by newcomers to improve Wiki with new contents available in the Wiki.
Keywords: Mobile products, knowledge management process, Wiki system, Global Software Development.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6793307 Control Strategy for an Active Suspension System
Authors: C. Alexandru, P. Alexandru
Abstract:
The paper presents the virtual model of the active suspension system used for improving the dynamic behavior of a motor vehicle. The study is focused on the design of the control system, the purpose being to minimize the effect of the road disturbances (which are considered as perturbations for the control system). The analysis is performed for a quarter-car model, which corresponds to the suspension system of the front wheel, by using the DFC (Design for Control) software solution EASY5 (Engineering Analysis Systems) of MSC Software. The controller, which is a PIDbased device, is designed through a parametric optimization with the Matrix Algebra Tool (MAT), considering the gain factors as design variables, while the design objective is to minimize the overshoot of the indicial response.Keywords: Active suspension, Controller, Dynamics, Vehicle
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22613306 Investigating Iraqi EFL Undergraduates' Performance in the Production of Number Forms in English
Authors: Adnan Z. Mkhelif
Abstract:
The production of number forms in English tends to be problematic for Iraqi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), even at the undergraduate level. To help better understand and consequently address this problem, it is important to identify its sources. This study aims at: (1) statistically analysing Iraqi EFL undergraduates' performance in the production of number forms in English; (2) classifying learners' errors in terms of their possible major causes; and (3) outlining some pedagogical recommendations relevant to the teaching of number forms in English. It is hypothesized in this study that (1) Iraqi EFL undergraduates still face problems in the production of number forms in English and (2) errors pertaining to the context of learning are more numerous than those attributable to the other possible causes. After reviewing the literature available on the topic, a written test comprising 50 items has been constructed and administered to a randomly chosen sample of 50 second-year college students from the Department of English, College of Education, Wasit University. The findings of the study showed that Iraqi EFL undergraduates still face problems in the production of number forms in English and that the possible major sources of learners’ errors can be arranged hierarchically in terms of the percentages of errors to which they can be ascribed as follows: (1) context of learning (50%), (2) intralingual transfer (37%), and (3) interlingual transfer (13%). It is hoped that the implications of the study findings will be beneficial to researchers, syllabus designers, as well as teachers of English as a foreign/second language.
Keywords: L2 morphology, L2 number forms, L2 vocabulary learning, productive knowledge.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6593305 Data Analysis Techniques for Predictive Maintenance on Fleet of Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Authors: Antonis Sideris, Elias Chlis Kalogeropoulos, Konstantia Moirogiorgou
Abstract:
The present study proposes a methodology for the efficient daily management of fleet vehicles and construction machinery. The application covers the area of remote monitoring of heavy-duty vehicles operation parameters, where specific sensor data are stored and examined in order to provide information about the vehicle’s health. The vehicle diagnostics allow the user to inspect whether maintenance tasks need to be performed before a fault occurs. A properly designed machine learning model is proposed for the detection of two different types of faults through classification. Cross validation is used and the accuracy of the trained model is checked with the confusion matrix.
Keywords: Fault detection, feature selection, machine learning, predictive maintenance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7873304 Applying the Extreme-Based Teaching Model in Post-Secondary Online Classroom Setting: A Field Experiment
Authors: Leon Pan
Abstract:
The first programming course within post-secondary education has long been recognized as a challenging endeavor for both educators and students alike. Historically, these courses have exhibited high failure rates and a notable number of dropouts. Instructors often lament students' lack of effort on their coursework, and students often express frustration that the teaching methods employed are not effective. Drawing inspiration from the successful principles of Extreme Programming, this study introduces an approach—the Extremes-based teaching model—aimed at enhancing the teaching of introductory programming courses. To empirically determine the effectiveness of the model, a comparison was made between a section taught using the extreme-based model and another utilizing traditional teaching methods. Notably, the extreme-based teaching class required students to work collaboratively on projects, while also demanding continuous assessment and performance enhancement within groups. This paper details the application of the extreme-based model within the post-secondary online classroom context and presents the compelling results that emphasize its effectiveness in advancing the teaching and learning experiences. The extreme-based model led to a significant increase of 13.46 points in the weighted total average and a commendable 10% reduction in the failure rate.
Keywords: Extreme-based teaching model, innovative pedagogical methods, project-based learning, team-based learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1463303 Real-Time Physics Simulation Packages: An Evaluation Study
Abstract:
This paper includes a review of three physics simulation packages that can be used to provide researchers with a virtual ground for modeling, implementing and simulating complex models, as well as testing their control methods with less cost and time of development. The inverted pendulum model was used as a test bed for comparing ODE, DANCE and Webots, while Linear State Feedback was used to control its behavior. The packages were compared with respect to model creation, solving systems of differential equation, data storage, setting system variables, control the experiment and ease of use. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview about our experience with these environments and to demonstrate some of the benefits and drawbacks involved in practice for each package.
Keywords: DANCE, Inverted Pendulum, ODE, Simulation Packages, Webots.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15723302 Process Optimization and Automation of Information Technology Services in a Heterogenic Digital Environment
Authors: Tasneem Halawani, Yamen Khateeb
Abstract:
With customers’ ever-increasing expectations for fast services provisioning for all their business needs, information technology (IT) organizations, as business partners, have to cope with this demanding environment and deliver their services in the most effective and efficient way. The purpose of this paper is to identify optimization and automation opportunities for the top requested IT services in a heterogenic digital environment and widely spread customer base. In collaboration with systems, processes, and subject matter experts (SMEs), the processes in scope were approached by analyzing four-year related historical data, identifying and surveying stakeholders, modeling the as-is processes, and studying systems integration/automation capabilities. This effort resulted in identifying several pain areas, including standardization, unnecessary customer and IT involvement, manual steps, systems integration, and performance measurement. These pain areas were addressed by standardizing the top five requested IT services, eliminating/automating 43 steps, and utilizing a single platform for end-to-end process execution. In conclusion, the optimization of IT service request processes in a heterogenic digital environment and widely spread customer base is challenging, yet achievable without compromising the service quality and customers’ added value. Further studies can focus on measuring the value of the eliminated/automated process steps to quantify the enhancement impact. Moreover, a similar approach can be utilized to optimize other IT service requests, with a focus on business criticality.Keywords: Automation, customer value, heterogenic, integration, IT services, optimization, processes.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6713301 Study on Influencing Factors of Walkability of Rail Transit Station Area
Authors: Yang Wenjuan, Xu Yilun
Abstract:
Based on the comparative analysis of the relevant evaluation methods of walking environment, this paper selects the combined evaluation method of macro urban morphology analysis and micro urban design quality survey, then investigates and analyzes the walking environment of three rail transit station area in Nanjing to explore the influence factor and internal relation of walkability of rail transit station area. Analysis shows that micro urban design factors have greater impact on the walkability of rail transit station area compared with macro urban morphology factors, the convenience is the key factor in the four aspects of convenience, security, identity and comfortability of the urban design factors, the convenience is not only affected by the block network form, but also related to the quality of the street space. The overall evaluation of walkability comes from the overlapping and regrouping of the walking environment at different levels, but some environmental factors play a leading role. The social attributes of pedestrians also partly influence their walking perception and evaluation.
Keywords: Rail transit station area, walkability, evaluation, influence factors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8413300 National Image in the Age of Mass Self-Communication: An Analysis of Internet Users' Perception of Portugal
Authors: L. Godinho, N. Teixeira
Abstract:
Nowadays, massification of Internet access represents one of the major challenges to the traditional powers of the State, among which the power to control its external image. The virtual world has also sparked the interest of social sciences which consider it a new field of study, an immense open text where sense is expressed. In this paper, that immense text has been accessed to so as to understand the perception Internet users from all over the world have of Portugal. Ours is a quantitative and qualitative approach, as we have resorted to buzz, thematic and category analysis. The results confirm the predominance of sea stereotype in others' vision of the Portuguese people, and evidence that national image has adapted to network communication through processes of individuation and paganization.Keywords: Internet, national image, perception, web analytics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10583299 Natural Discovery: Electricity Potential from Vermicompost (Waste to Energy)
Authors: R. A. Karim, N. M. A. Ghani, N. N. S. Nasari
Abstract:
Wastages such as grated coconut meat, spent tea and used sugarcane had contributed negative impacts to the environment. Vermicomposting method is fully utilized to manage the wastes towards a more sustainable approach. The worms that are used in the vermicomposting are Eisenia foetida and Eudrillus euginae. This research shows that the vermicompost of wastages has voltage of electrical energy and is able to light up the Light-Emitting Diode (LED) device. Based on the experiment, the use of replicated and double compartments of the component will produce double of voltage. Hence, for conclusion, this harmless and low cost technology of vermicompost can act as a dry cell in order to reduce the usage of hazardous chemicals that can contaminate the environment.
Keywords: Wastages, vermiconpose, worm, voltage, organic cell.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 42513298 Learning an Overcomplete Dictionary using a Cauchy Mixture Model for Sparse Decay
Authors: E. S. Gower, M. O. J. Hawksford
Abstract:
An algorithm for learning an overcomplete dictionary using a Cauchy mixture model for sparse decomposition of an underdetermined mixing system is introduced. The mixture density function is derived from a ratio sample of the observed mixture signals where 1) there are at least two but not necessarily more mixture signals observed, 2) the source signals are statistically independent and 3) the sources are sparse. The basis vectors of the dictionary are learned via the optimization of the location parameters of the Cauchy mixture components, which is shown to be more accurate and robust than the conventional data mining methods usually employed for this task. Using a well known sparse decomposition algorithm, we extract three speech signals from two mixtures based on the estimated dictionary. Further tests with additive Gaussian noise are used to demonstrate the proposed algorithm-s robustness to outliers.Keywords: expectation-maximization, Pitman estimator, sparsedecomposition
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19553297 Diffusion and Impact of Business Analytics: A Conceptual Framework
Authors: Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, Yanqing Duan, Guangming Cao, Elaine Philpott
Abstract:
We discuss a theoretical conceptual framework to help understand how the new business analytics technologies have diffused in firms. We draw on three theoretical perspectives for this purpose. They are innovation diffusion theory, IT Business Value and the technology-organization-environment theory. We develop a conceptual framework that helps understand the interlinkages among factors affecting diffusion of business analytics and its impact on performance.Keywords: Innovation diffusion, IT-Business Value, Technology-Organization-Environment, Business Analytics, Business performance
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21553296 Modeling Engagement with Multimodal Multisensor Data: The Continuous Performance Test as an Objective Tool to Track Flow
Authors: Mohammad H. Taheri, David J. Brown, Nasser Sherkat
Abstract:
Engagement is one of the most important factors in determining successful outcomes and deep learning in students. Existing approaches to detect student engagement involve periodic human observations that are subject to inter-rater reliability. Our solution uses real-time multimodal multisensor data labeled by objective performance outcomes to infer the engagement of students. The study involves four students with a combined diagnosis of cerebral palsy and a learning disability who took part in a 3-month trial over 59 sessions. Multimodal multisensor data were collected while they participated in a continuous performance test. Eye gaze, electroencephalogram, body pose, and interaction data were used to create a model of student engagement through objective labeling from the continuous performance test outcomes. In order to achieve this, a type of continuous performance test is introduced, the Seek-X type. Nine features were extracted including high-level handpicked compound features. Using leave-one-out cross-validation, a series of different machine learning approaches were evaluated. Overall, the random forest classification approach achieved the best classification results. Using random forest, 93.3% classification for engagement and 42.9% accuracy for disengagement were achieved. We compared these results to outcomes from different models: AdaBoost, decision tree, k-Nearest Neighbor, naïve Bayes, neural network, and support vector machine. We showed that using a multisensor approach achieved higher accuracy than using features from any reduced set of sensors. We found that using high-level handpicked features can improve the classification accuracy in every sensor mode. Our approach is robust to both sensor fallout and occlusions. The single most important sensor feature to the classification of engagement and distraction was shown to be eye gaze. It has been shown that we can accurately predict the level of engagement of students with learning disabilities in a real-time approach that is not subject to inter-rater reliability, human observation or reliant on a single mode of sensor input. This will help teachers design interventions for a heterogeneous group of students, where teachers cannot possibly attend to each of their individual needs. Our approach can be used to identify those with the greatest learning challenges so that all students are supported to reach their full potential.
Keywords: Affective computing in education, affect detection, continuous performance test, engagement, flow, HCI, interaction, learning disabilities, machine learning, multimodal, multisensor, physiological sensors, Signal Detection Theory, student engagement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12733295 Discovering the Dimension of Abstractness: Structure-Based Model that Learns New Categories and Categorizes on Different Levels of Abstraction
Authors: Georgi I. Petkov, Ivan I. Vankov, Yolina A. Petrova
Abstract:
A structure-based model of category learning and categorization at different levels of abstraction is presented. The model compares different structures and expresses their similarity implicitly in the forms of mappings. Based on this similarity, the model can categorize different targets either as members of categories that it already has or creates new categories. The model is novel using two threshold parameters to evaluate the structural correspondence. If the similarity between two structures exceeds the higher threshold, a new sub-ordinate category is created. Vice versa, if the similarity does not exceed the higher threshold but does the lower one, the model creates a new category on higher level of abstraction.
Keywords: Analogy-making, categorization, learning of categories, abstraction, hierarchical structure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7883294 A Case Study to Observe How Students’ Perception of the Possibility of Success Impacts Their Performance in Summative Exams
Authors: Rochelle Elva
Abstract:
Faculty in Higher Education today are faced with the challenge of convincing their students of the importance of the mastery of skills through learning. This is because most students often have a single motivation -to get high grades. If it appears that this goal will not be met, they lose their motivation and their academic efforts wane. This is true even for students in the competitive fields of STEM, including Computer Science majors. As educators, we have to understand our students and leverage what motivates them, to achieve our learning outcomes. This paper presents a case study that utilizes cognitive psychology’s Expectancy-Value Theory and Motivation Theory, to investigate the effect of sustained expectancy for success on students’ learning outcomes. In our case study, we explore how students’ motivation and persistence in their academic efforts are impacted by providing them with an unexpected path to success, which continues to the end of the semester. The approach was tested in an undergraduate computer science course with n = 56. The results of the study indicate that when presented with the real possibility of success, despite existing low grades, both low and high-scoring students persisted in their efforts to improve their performance. Their final grades were on average one place higher on the +/-letter grade scale, with some students scoring as high as three places above their predicted grade.
Keywords: Expectancy for success and persistence, motivation and performance, computer science education, motivation and performance in computer science.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3383293 Multi-Factor Optimization Method through Machine Learning in Building Envelope Design: Focusing on Perforated Metal Façade
Authors: Jinwooung Kim, Jae-Hwan Jung, Seong-Jun Kim, Sung-Ah Kim
Abstract:
Because the building envelope has a significant impact on the operation and maintenance stage of the building, designing the facade considering the performance can improve the performance of the building and lower the maintenance cost of the building. In general, however, optimizing two or more performance factors confronts the limits of time and computational tools. The optimization phase typically repeats infinitely until a series of processes that generate alternatives and analyze the generated alternatives achieve the desired performance. In particular, as complex geometry or precision increases, computational resources and time are prohibitive to find the required performance, so an optimization methodology is needed to deal with this. Instead of directly analyzing all the alternatives in the optimization process, applying experimental techniques (heuristic method) learned through experimentation and experience can reduce resource waste. This study proposes and verifies a method to optimize the double envelope of a building composed of a perforated panel using machine learning to the design geometry and quantitative performance. The proposed method is to achieve the required performance with fewer resources by supplementing the existing method which cannot calculate the complex shape of the perforated panel.
Keywords: Building envelope, machine learning, perforated metal, multi-factor optimization, façade.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12293292 Information Retrieval in the Semantic LIFE Personal Digital Memory Framework
Authors: Hanh Huu Hoang, Tho Manh Nguyen
Abstract:
Ever increasing capacities of contemporary storage devices inspire the vision to accumulate (personal) information without the need of deleting old data over a long time-span. Hence the target of SemanticLIFE project is to create a Personal Information Management system for a human lifetime data. One of the most important characteristics of the system is its dedication to retrieve information in a very efficient way. By adopting user demands regarding the reduction of ambiguities, our approach aims at a user-oriented and yet powerful enough system with a satisfactory query performance. We introduce the query system of SemanticLIFE, the Virtual Query System, which uses emerging Semantic Web technologies to fulfill users- requirements.Keywords: Ontology-based Information Retrieval, Digital Memories, SemanticLIFE.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13513291 Malaysia Folk Literature in Early Childhood Education
Authors: F. P. Chew, Z. Ishak
Abstract:
Malay Folk Literature in early childhood education served as an important agent in child development that involved emotional, thinking and language aspects. Up to this moment not much research has been carried out in Malaysia particularly in the teaching and learning aspects nor has there been an effort to publish “big books." Hence this article will discuss the stance taken by university undergraduate students, teachers and parents in evaluating Malay Folk Literature in early childhood education to be used as big books. The data collated and analyzed were taken from 646 respondents comprising 347 undergraduates and 299 teachers. Results of the study indicated that Malay Folk Literature can be absorbed into teaching and learning for early childhood with a mean of 4.25 while it can be in big books with a mean of 4.14. Meanwhile the highest mean value required for placing Malay Folk Literature genre as big books in early childhood education rests on exemplary stories for undergraduates with mean of 4.47; animal fables for teachers with a mean of 4.38. The lowest mean value of 3.57 is given to lipurlara stories. The most popular Malay Folk Literature found suitable for early children is Sang Kancil and the Crocodile, followed by Bawang Putih Bawang Merah. Pak Padir, Legends of Mahsuri, Origin of Malacca, and Origin of Rainbow are among the popular stories as well. Overall the undergraduates show a positive attitude toward all the items compared to teachers. The t-test analysis has revealed a non significant relationship between the undergraduate students and teachers with all the items for the teaching and learning of Malay Folk Literature.Keywords: Big Book, Early Childhood Education, Malay FolkLiterature
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 43133290 To Design Holistic Health Service Systems on the Internet
Authors: Åsa Smedberg
Abstract:
There are different kinds of online systems on the Internet for people who need support and develop new knowledge. Online communities and Ask the Expert systems are two such systems. In the health care area, the number of users of these systems has increased at a rapid pace. Interactions with medical trained experts take place online, and people with concerns about similar health problems come together to share experiences and advice. The systems are also used as storages and browsed for health information. Over the years, studies have been conducted of the usage of the different systems. However, in what ways the systems can be used together to enhance learning has not been explored. This paper presents results from a study of online health-communities and an Ask the Expert system for people who suffer from overweight. Differences and similarities in regards to posted issues and replies are discussed, and suggestions for a new holistic design of the two systems are presented.
Keywords: Learning, Ask the Expert, online community, healthcare, holistic, overweight.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14333289 Echo State Networks for Arabic Phoneme Recognition
Authors: Nadia Hmad, Tony Allen
Abstract:
This paper presents an ESN-based Arabic phoneme recognition system trained with supervised, forced and combined supervised/forced supervised learning algorithms. Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCCs) and Linear Predictive Code (LPC) techniques are used and compared as the input feature extraction technique. The system is evaluated using 6 speakers from the King Abdulaziz Arabic Phonetics Database (KAPD) for Saudi Arabia dialectic and 34 speakers from the Center for Spoken Language Understanding (CSLU2002) database of speakers with different dialectics from 12 Arabic countries. Results for the KAPD and CSLU2002 Arabic databases show phoneme recognition performances of 72.31% and 38.20% respectively.
Keywords: Arabic phonemes recognition, echo state networks (ESNs), neural networks (NNs), supervised learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24123288 Increasing Replica Consistency Performances with Load Balancing Strategy in Data Grid Systems
Authors: Sarra Senhadji, Amar Kateb, Hafida Belbachir
Abstract:
Data replication in data grid systems is one of the important solutions that improve availability, scalability, and fault tolerance. However, this technique can also bring some involved issues such as maintaining replica consistency. Moreover, as grid environment are very dynamic some nodes can be more uploaded than the others to become eventually a bottleneck. The main idea of our work is to propose a complementary solution between replica consistency maintenance and dynamic load balancing strategy to improve access performances under a simulated grid environment.
Keywords: Consistency, replication, data grid, load balancing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23303287 Antenna for Energy Harvesting in Wireless Connected Objects
Authors: Nizar Sakli, Chayma Bahar, Chokri Baccouch, Hedi Sakli
Abstract:
If connected objects multiply, they are becoming a challenge in more than one way. In particular by their consumption and their supply of electricity. A large part of the new generations of connected objects will only be able to develop if it is possible to make them entirely autonomous in terms of energy. Some manufacturers are therefore developing products capable of recovering energy from their environment. Vital solutions in certain contexts, such as the medical industry. Energy recovery from the environment is a reliable solution to solve the problem of powering wireless connected objects. This paper presents and study a optically transparent solar patch antenna in frequency band of 2.4 GHz for connected objects in the future standard 5G for energy harvesting and RF transmission.Keywords: 5G, IoT, wireless communications, antenna, solar cell.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8333286 The Techno-Pedagogical Pivot: Designing and Implementing a Digital Writing Tool
Authors: Justin D. Olmanson, Katrina S. Kennett, Bill Cope
Abstract:
In educational technology, the idea of innovation is usually tethered to contemporary technological inventions and emerging technologies. Yet, using long-known technologies in ways that are pedagogically or experimentially new can reposition them as emerging educational technologies. In this study we explore how a subtle pivot in pedagogical thinking led to an innovative education technology. We describe the design and implementation of an online writing tool that scaffolds students in the evaluation of their own informational texts. We think about how pathways to innovation can emerge from pivots, namely a leveraging of longstanding practices in novel ways has the potential to cultivate new opportunities for learning. We first unpack Infowriter in terms of its design, then we describe some results of a study in which we implemented an intervention which included our designed application.Keywords: Design, innovation, learning, technology, writing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1696