Age-related similarities and differences in brain activity underlying reversal learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaoru eNashiro

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The ability to update associative memory is an important aspect of episodic memory and a critical skill for social adaptation. Previous research with younger adults suggests that emotional arousal alters brain mechanisms underlying memory updating; however, it is unclear whether this applies to older adults. Given that the ability to update associative information declines with age, it is important to understand how emotion modulates the brain processes underlying memory updating in older adults. The current study investigated this question using reversal learning tasks, where younger and older participants (age ranges 19-35 and 61-78 respectively learn a stimulus–outcome association and then update their response when contingencies change. We found that younger and older adults showed similar patterns of activation in the frontopolar OFC and the amygdala during emotional reversal learning. In contrast, when reversal learning did not involve emotion, older adults showed greater parietal cortex activity than did younger adults. Thus, younger and older adults show more similarities in brain activity during memory updating involving emotional stimuli than during memory updating not involving emotional stimuli.

Training of tonal similarity ratings in non-musicians: a rapid learning approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathias S Oechslin

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Although music psychology has a long tradition of expert-novice comparisons, experimental training studies are rare. Studies on the learning progress of trained novices in hearing harmonic relationships are still largely lacking. This paper presents a simple training concept using the example of tone/triad similarity ratings, demonstrating the gradual progress of non-musicians compared to musical experts: In a feedback-based rapid learning paradigm, participants had to decide for single tones and chords whether paired sounds matched each other well. Before and after the training sessions, they provided similarity judgments for a complete set of sound pairs. From these similarity matrices, individual relational sound maps, aiming to map the mental representations, were calculated by means of non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS, which were compared to an expert model through procrustean transformation. Approximately half of the novices showed substantial learning success, with some participants even reaching the level of professional musicians. Results speak for a fundamental ability to quickly train an understanding of harmony, show inter-individual differences in learning success, and demonstrate the suitability of the scaling method used for music psychological research. Results are discussed in the context of the giftedness debate.

Improved cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophic sets for medical diagnoses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Jun

2015-03-01

In pattern recognition and medical diagnosis, similarity measure is an important mathematical tool. To overcome some disadvantages of existing cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophic sets (SNSs) in vector space, this paper proposed improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based on cosine function, including single valued neutrosophic cosine similarity measures and interval neutrosophic cosine similarity measures. Then, weighted cosine similarity measures of SNSs were introduced by taking into account the importance of each element. Further, a medical diagnosis method using the improved cosine similarity measures was proposed to solve medical diagnosis problems with simplified neutrosophic information. The improved cosine similarity measures between SNSs were introduced based on cosine function. Then, we compared the improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs with existing cosine similarity measures of SNSs by numerical examples to demonstrate their effectiveness and rationality for overcoming some shortcomings of existing cosine similarity measures of SNSs in some cases. In the medical diagnosis method, we can find a proper diagnosis by the cosine similarity measures between the symptoms and considered diseases which are represented by SNSs. Then, the medical diagnosis method based on the improved cosine similarity measures was applied to two medical diagnosis problems to show the applications and effectiveness of the proposed method. Two numerical examples all demonstrated that the improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based on the cosine function can overcome the shortcomings of the existing cosine similarity measures between two vectors in some cases. By two medical diagnoses problems, the medical diagnoses using various similarity measures of SNSs indicated the identical diagnosis results and demonstrated the effectiveness and rationality of the diagnosis method proposed in this paper. The improved cosine measures of SNSs based on cosine

Team-based learning to improve learning outcomes in a therapeutics course sequence.

Science.gov (United States)

Bleske, Barry E; Remington, Tami L; Wells, Trisha D; Dorsch, Michael P; Guthrie, Sally K; Stumpf, Janice L; Alaniz, Marissa C; Ellingrod, Vicki L; Tingen, Jeffrey M

2014-02-12

To compare the effectiveness of team-based learning (TBL) to that of traditional lectures on learning outcomes in a therapeutics course sequence. A revised TBL curriculum was implemented in a therapeutic course sequence. Multiple choice and essay questions identical to those used to test third-year students (P3) taught using a traditional lecture format were administered to the second-year pharmacy students (P2) taught using the new TBL format. One hundred thirty-one multiple-choice questions were evaluated; 79 tested recall of knowledge and 52 tested higher level, application of knowledge. For the recall questions, students taught through traditional lectures scored significantly higher compared to the TBL students (88%±12% vs. 82%±16%, p=0.01). For the questions assessing application of knowledge, no differences were seen between teaching pedagogies (81%±16% vs. 77%±20%, p=0.24). Scores on essay questions and the number of students who achieved 100% were also similar between groups. Transition to a TBL format from a traditional lecture-based pedagogy allowed P2 students to perform at a similar level as students with an additional year of pharmacy education on application of knowledge type questions. However, P3 students outperformed P2 students regarding recall type questions and overall. Further assessment of long-term learning outcomes is needed to determine if TBL produces more persistent learning and improved application in clinical settings.

Optimizing top precision performance measure of content-based image retrieval by learning similarity function

KAUST Repository

Liang, Ru-Ze

2017-04-24

In this paper we study the problem of content-based image retrieval. In this problem, the most popular performance measure is the top precision measure, and the most important component of a retrieval system is the similarity function used to compare a query image against a database image. However, up to now, there is no existing similarity learning method proposed to optimize the top precision measure. To fill this gap, in this paper, we propose a novel similarity learning method to maximize the top precision measure. We model this problem as a minimization problem with an objective function as the combination of the losses of the relevant images ranked behind the top-ranked irrelevant image, and the squared Frobenius norm of the similarity function parameter. This minimization problem is solved as a quadratic programming problem. The experiments over two benchmark data sets show the advantages of the proposed method over other similarity learning methods when the top precision is used as the performance measure.

Optimizing top precision performance measure of content-based image retrieval by learning similarity function

KAUST Repository

Liang, Ru-Ze; Shi, Lihui; Wang, Haoxiang; Meng, Jiandong; Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Sun, Qingquan; Gu, Yi

2017-01-01

In this paper we study the problem of content-based image retrieval. In this problem, the most popular performance measure is the top precision measure, and the most important component of a retrieval system is the similarity function used to compare a query image against a database image. However, up to now, there is no existing similarity learning method proposed to optimize the top precision measure. To fill this gap, in this paper, we propose a novel similarity learning method to maximize the top precision measure. We model this problem as a minimization problem with an objective function as the combination of the losses of the relevant images ranked behind the top-ranked irrelevant image, and the squared Frobenius norm of the similarity function parameter. This minimization problem is solved as a quadratic programming problem. The experiments over two benchmark data sets show the advantages of the proposed method over other similarity learning methods when the top precision is used as the performance measure.

A Collaborative Learning Network Approach to Improvement: The CUSP Learning Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Sallie J; Lofthus, Jennifer; Sawyer, Melinda; Greer, Lee; Opett, Kristin; Reynolds, Catherine; Wyskiel, Rhonda; Peditto, Stephanie; Pronovost, Peter J

2015-04-01

Collaborative improvement networks draw on the science of collaborative organizational learning and communities of practice to facilitate peer-to-peer learning, coaching, and local adaption. Although significant improvements in patient safety and quality have been achieved through collaborative methods, insight regarding how collaborative networks are used by members is needed. Improvement Strategy: The Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) Learning Network is a multi-institutional collaborative network that is designed to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and coaching specifically related to CUSP. Member organizations implement all or part of the CUSP methodology to improve organizational safety culture, patient safety, and care quality. Qualitative case studies developed by participating members examine the impact of network participation across three levels of analysis (unit, hospital, health system). In addition, results of a satisfaction survey designed to evaluate member experiences were collected to inform network development. Common themes across case studies suggest that members found value in collaborative learning and sharing strategies across organizational boundaries related to a specific improvement strategy. The CUSP Learning Network is an example of network-based collaborative learning in action. Although this learning network focuses on a particular improvement methodology-CUSP-there is clear potential for member-driven learning networks to grow around other methods or topic areas. Such collaborative learning networks may offer a way to develop an infrastructure for longer-term support of improvement efforts and to more quickly diffuse creative sustainment strategies.

Using concept similarity in cross ontology for adaptive e-Learning systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Saleena

2015-01-01

Full Text Available e-Learning is one of the most preferred media of learning by the learners. The learners search the web to gather knowledge about a particular topic from the information in the repositories. Retrieval of relevant materials from a domain can be easily implemented if the information is organized and related in some way. Ontologies are a key concept that helps us to relate information for providing the more relevant lessons to the learner. This paper proposes an adaptive e-Learning system, which generates a user specific e-Learning content by comparing the concepts with more than one system using similarity measures. A cross ontology measure is defined, which consists of fuzzy domain ontology as the primary ontology and the domain expert’s ontology as the secondary ontology, for the comparison process. A personalized document is provided to the user with a user profile, which includes the data obtained from the processing of the proposed method under a User score, which is obtained through the user evaluation. The results of the proposed e-Learning system under the designed cross ontology similarity measure show a significant increase in performance and accuracy under different conditions. The assessment of the comparative analysis, showed the difference in performance of our proposed method over other methods. Based on the assessment results it is proved that the proposed approach is effective over other methods.

Stochastic abstract policies: generalizing knowledge to improve reinforcement learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Koga, Marcelo L; Freire, Valdinei; Costa, Anna H R

2015-01-01

Reinforcement learning (RL) enables an agent to learn behavior by acquiring experience through trial-and-error interactions with a dynamic environment. However, knowledge is usually built from scratch and learning to behave may take a long time. Here, we improve the learning performance by leveraging prior knowledge; that is, the learner shows proper behavior from the beginning of a target task, using the knowledge from a set of known, previously solved, source tasks. In this paper, we argue that building stochastic abstract policies that generalize over past experiences is an effective way to provide such improvement and this generalization outperforms the current practice of using a library of policies. We achieve that contributing with a new algorithm, AbsProb-PI-multiple and a framework for transferring knowledge represented as a stochastic abstract policy in new RL tasks. Stochastic abstract policies offer an effective way to encode knowledge because the abstraction they provide not only generalizes solutions but also facilitates extracting the similarities among tasks. We perform experiments in a robotic navigation environment and analyze the agent's behavior throughout the learning process and also assess the transfer ratio for different amounts of source tasks. We compare our method with the transfer of a library of policies, and experiments show that the use of a generalized policy produces better results by more effectively guiding the agent when learning a target task.

Does peer learning or higher levels of e-learning improve learning abilities?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Worm, Bjarne Skjødt; Jensen, Kenneth

2013-01-01

The fast development of e-learning and social forums demands us to update our understanding of e-learning and peer learning. We aimed to investigate if higher, pre-defined levels of e-learning or social interaction in web forums improved students' learning ability....

Face and body recognition show similar improvement during childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Bank, Samantha; Rhodes, Gillian; Read, Ainsley; Jeffery, Linda

2015-09-01

Adults are proficient in extracting identity cues from faces. This proficiency develops slowly during childhood, with performance not reaching adult levels until adolescence. Bodies are similar to faces in that they convey identity cues and rely on specialized perceptual mechanisms. However, it is currently unclear whether body recognition mirrors the slow development of face recognition during childhood. Recent evidence suggests that body recognition develops faster than face recognition. Here we measured body and face recognition in 6- and 10-year-old children and adults to determine whether these two skills show different amounts of improvement during childhood. We found no evidence that they do. Face and body recognition showed similar improvement with age, and children, like adults, were better at recognizing faces than bodies. These results suggest that the mechanisms of face and body memory mature at a similar rate or that improvement of more general cognitive and perceptual skills underlies improvement of both face and body recognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Instructional Design Framework to Improve Student Learning in a First-Year Engineering Class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kumar Yelamarthi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Increasingly, numerous universities have identified benefits of flipped learning environments and have been encouraging instructors to adapt such methodologies in their respective classrooms, at a time when departments are facing significant budget constraints. This article proposes an instructional design framework utilized to strategically enhance traditional flipped methodologies in a first-year engineering course, by using low-cost technology aids and proven pedagogical techniques to enhance student learning. Implemented in a first-year engineering course, this modified flipped model demonstrated an improved student awareness of essential engineering concepts and improved academic performance through collaborative and active learning activities, including flipped learning methodologies, without the need for expensive, formal active learning spaces. These findings have been validated through two studies and have shown similar results confirming that student learning is improved by the implementation of multi-pedagogical strategies in-formed by the use of an instructional design in a traditional classroom setting.

Improved cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophic setsfor medical diagnoses

OpenAIRE

Jun Ye

2014-01-01

In pattern recognition and medical diagnosis, similarity measure is an important mathematicaltool. To overcome some disadvantages of existing cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophicsets (SNSs) in vector space, this paper proposed improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based oncosine function, including single valued neutrosophic cosine similarity measures and interval neutro-sophic cosine similarity measures. Then, weighted cosine similarity measures of SNSs were introduced...

Improved personalized recommendation based on a similarity network

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ximeng; Liu, Yun; Xiong, Fei

2016-08-01

A recommender system helps individual users find the preferred items rapidly and has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Many successful recommendation algorithms are designed on bipartite networks, such as network-based inference or heat conduction. However, most of these algorithms define the resource-allocation methods for an average allocation. That is not reasonable because average allocation cannot indicate the user choice preference and the influence between users which leads to a series of non-personalized recommendation results. We propose a personalized recommendation approach that combines the similarity function and bipartite network to generate a similarity network that improves the resource-allocation process. Our model introduces user influence into the recommender system and states that the user influence can make the resource-allocation process more reasonable. We use four different metrics to evaluate our algorithms for three benchmark data sets. Experimental results show that the improved recommendation on a similarity network can obtain better accuracy and diversity than some competing approaches.

Virtual screening by a new Clustering-based Weighted Similarity Extreme Learning Machine approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasupa, Kitsuchart; Kudisthalert, Wasu

2018-01-01

Machine learning techniques are becoming popular in virtual screening tasks. One of the powerful machine learning algorithms is Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) which has been applied to many applications and has recently been applied to virtual screening. We propose the Weighted Similarity ELM (WS-ELM) which is based on a single layer feed-forward neural network in a conjunction of 16 different similarity coefficients as activation function in the hidden layer. It is known that the performance of conventional ELM is not robust due to random weight selection in the hidden layer. Thus, we propose a Clustering-based WS-ELM (CWS-ELM) that deterministically assigns weights by utilising clustering algorithms i.e. k-means clustering and support vector clustering. The experiments were conducted on one of the most challenging datasets-Maximum Unbiased Validation Dataset-which contains 17 activity classes carefully selected from PubChem. The proposed algorithms were then compared with other machine learning techniques such as support vector machine, random forest, and similarity searching. The results show that CWS-ELM in conjunction with support vector clustering yields the best performance when utilised together with Sokal/Sneath(1) coefficient. Furthermore, ECFP_6 fingerprint presents the best results in our framework compared to the other types of fingerprints, namely ECFP_4, FCFP_4, and FCFP_6.

Behavioral similarity measurement based on image processing for robots that use imitative learning

Science.gov (United States)

Sterpin B., Dante G.; Martinez S., Fernando; Jacinto G., Edwar

2017-02-01

In the field of the artificial societies, particularly those are based on memetics, imitative behavior is essential for the development of cultural evolution. Applying this concept for robotics, through imitative learning, a robot can acquire behavioral patterns from another robot. Assuming that the learning process must have an instructor and, at least, an apprentice, the fact to obtain a quantitative measurement for their behavioral similarity, would be potentially useful, especially in artificial social systems focused on cultural evolution. In this paper the motor behavior of both kinds of robots, for two simple tasks, is represented by 2D binary images, which are processed in order to measure their behavioral similarity. The results shown here were obtained comparing some similarity measurement methods for binary images.

Sustainability of healthcare improvement: what can we learn from learning theory?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hovlid Einar

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Changes that improve the quality of health care should be sustained. Falling back to old, unsatisfactory ways of working is a waste of resources and can in the worst case increase resistance to later initiatives to improve care. Quality improvement relies on changing the clinical system yet factors that influence the sustainability of quality improvements are poorly understood. Theoretical frameworks can guide further research on the sustainability of quality improvements. Theories of organizational learning have contributed to a better understanding of organizational change in other contexts. To identify factors contributing to sustainability of improvements, we use learning theory to explore a case that had displayed sustained improvement. Methods Førde Hospital redesigned the pathway for elective surgery and achieved sustained reduction of cancellation rates. We used a qualitative case study design informed by theory to explore factors that contributed to sustain the improvements at Førde Hospital. The model Evidence in the Learning Organization describes how organizational learning contributes to change in healthcare institutions. This model constituted the framework for data collection and analysis. We interviewed a strategic sample of 20 employees. The in-depth interviews covered themes identified through our theoretical framework. Through a process of coding and condensing, we identified common themes that were interpreted in relation to our theoretical framework. Results Clinicians and leaders shared information about their everyday work and related this knowledge to how the entire clinical pathway could be improved. In this way they developed a revised and deeper understanding of their clinical system and its interdependencies. They became increasingly aware of how different elements needed to interact to enhance the performance and how their own efforts could contribute. Conclusions The improved understanding of

Sustainability of healthcare improvement: what can we learn from learning theory?

Science.gov (United States)

Hovlid, Einar; Bukve, Oddbjørn; Haug, Kjell; Aslaksen, Aslak Bjarne; von Plessen, Christian

2012-08-03

Changes that improve the quality of health care should be sustained. Falling back to old, unsatisfactory ways of working is a waste of resources and can in the worst case increase resistance to later initiatives to improve care. Quality improvement relies on changing the clinical system yet factors that influence the sustainability of quality improvements are poorly understood. Theoretical frameworks can guide further research on the sustainability of quality improvements. Theories of organizational learning have contributed to a better understanding of organizational change in other contexts. To identify factors contributing to sustainability of improvements, we use learning theory to explore a case that had displayed sustained improvement. Førde Hospital redesigned the pathway for elective surgery and achieved sustained reduction of cancellation rates. We used a qualitative case study design informed by theory to explore factors that contributed to sustain the improvements at Førde Hospital. The model Evidence in the Learning Organization describes how organizational learning contributes to change in healthcare institutions. This model constituted the framework for data collection and analysis. We interviewed a strategic sample of 20 employees. The in-depth interviews covered themes identified through our theoretical framework. Through a process of coding and condensing, we identified common themes that were interpreted in relation to our theoretical framework. Clinicians and leaders shared information about their everyday work and related this knowledge to how the entire clinical pathway could be improved. In this way they developed a revised and deeper understanding of their clinical system and its interdependencies. They became increasingly aware of how different elements needed to interact to enhance the performance and how their own efforts could contribute. The improved understanding of the clinical system represented a change in mental models of

Improvement of training set structure in fusion data cleaning using Time-Domain Global Similarity method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, J.; Lan, T.; Qin, H.

2017-01-01

Traditional data cleaning identifies dirty data by classifying original data sequences, which is a class-imbalanced problem since the proportion of incorrect data is much less than the proportion of correct ones for most diagnostic systems in Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) devices. When using machine learning algorithms to classify diagnostic data based on class-imbalanced training set, most classifiers are biased towards the major class and show very poor classification rates on the minor class. By transforming the direct classification problem about original data sequences into a classification problem about the physical similarity between data sequences, the class-balanced effect of Time-Domain Global Similarity (TDGS) method on training set structure is investigated in this paper. Meanwhile, the impact of improved training set structure on data cleaning performance of TDGS method is demonstrated with an application example in EAST POlarimetry-INTerferometry (POINT) system.

Creating Usage Context-Based Object Similarities to Boost Recommender Systems in Technology Enhanced Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Niemann, Katja; Wolpers, Martin

2015-01-01

In this paper, we introduce a new way of detecting semantic similarities between learning objects by analysing their usage in web portals. Our approach relies on the usage-based relations between the objects themselves rather then on the content of the learning objects or on the relations between users and learning objects. We then take this new…

Improving e-learning by Emotive Feedback

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sharp, Robin; Gjedde, Lisa

2011-01-01

This paper considers the use of feedback with emotive elements in order to improve the efficiency of e-learning for teaching complex technical subjects to the general public by stimulation of implicit learning. An example is presented, based on an effort to investigate the current level of IT sec......This paper considers the use of feedback with emotive elements in order to improve the efficiency of e-learning for teaching complex technical subjects to the general public by stimulation of implicit learning. An example is presented, based on an effort to investigate the current level...

Teaching Strategies to Improve Algebra Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Zbiek, Rose Mary; Larson, Matthew R.

2015-01-01

Improving student learning is the primary goal of every teacher of algebra. Teachers seek strategies to help all students learn important algebra content and develop mathematical practices. The new Institute of Education Sciences[IES] practice guide, "Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students"…

Improving Flood Plain Management through Adaptive Learning ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

This project will explore how an adaptive learning approach can improve CBO governance ... for improving resource sustainability and productivity, and facilitate learning and an exchange ... Middlesex University Higher Education Corporation.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING APPROACHES IN IMPROVING LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ACID-BASE SUBJECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachmat Sahputra

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Learning in the understanding of acid-base chemistry in schools needs to be improved so research to determine differences in learning outcomes between students taught using environmental approaches and methods lectures in class XI SMA on acid-base subject needs to be done. In this study, using a quasi-experimental method using a data collection tool achievement test essay form. The test statistic results of the post-test learning has been obtained Asymp value. Sig (2-tailed 0,026 that showed the differences between students' learning outcomes with a control experimental class with effect size of 0.63 or much influence difference with the percentage 23.57% which indicated that the learning environment approach can improve learning outcomes of high school students.

The influence of learning in collaborative improvement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jacob S.; Boer, Harry; Gertsen, Frank

2008-01-01

Collaborative improvement is a purposeful inter-company interactive process that focuses on continuous incremental innovation aimed at enhancing the partnership's overall performance. Considering that in such an environment the capability to learn jointly and individually is crucial, this paper...... takes a learning perspective on collaborative improvement and addresses the question: How do organisational learning and collaboration interplay and affect improvement performance? Based on an analysis of three dyads of the same Extended Manufacturing Enterprise, this paper concludes that a robust...

Interaction between age and perceptual similarity in olfactory discrimination learning in F344 rats: relationships with spatial learning

Science.gov (United States)

Yoder, Wendy M.; Gaynor, Leslie S.; Burke, Sara N.; Setlow, Barry; Smith, David W.; Bizon, Jennifer L.

2017-01-01

Emerging evidence suggests that aging is associated with a reduced ability to distinguish perceptually similar stimuli in one’s environment. As the ability to accurately perceive and encode sensory information is foundational for explicit memory, understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of discrimination impairments that emerge with advancing age could help elucidate the mechanisms of mnemonic decline. To this end, there is a need for preclinical approaches that robustly and reliably model age-associated perceptual discrimination deficits. Taking advantage of rodents’ exceptional olfactory abilities, the present study applied rigorous psychophysical techniques to the evaluation of discrimination learning in young and aged F344 rats. Aging did not influence odor detection thresholds or the ability to discriminate between perceptually distinct odorants. In contrast, aged rats were disproportionately impaired relative to young on problems that required discriminations between perceptually similar olfactory stimuli. Importantly, these disproportionate impairments in discrimination learning did not simply reflect a global learning impairment in aged rats, as they performed other types of difficult discriminations on par with young rats. Among aged rats, discrimination deficits were strongly associated with spatial learning deficits. These findings reveal a new, sensitive behavioral approach for elucidating the neural mechanisms of cognitive decline associated with normal aging. PMID:28259065

Georgia - Improved Learning Environment

Data.gov (United States)

Millennium Challenge Corporation — The school rehabilitation activity seeks to decrease student and teacher absenteeism, increase students’ time on task, and, ultimately, improve learning and labor...

Learning from aviation to improve safety in the operating room - a systematic literature review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.S.G.L. Wauben; J.F. Lange (Johan); R.H.M. Goossens (Richard)

2012-01-01

textabstractLessons learned from other high-risk industries could improve patient safety in the operating room (OR). This review describes similarities and differences between high-risk industries and describes current methods and solutions within a system approach to reduce errors in the OR. PubMed

A Deep Similarity Metric Learning Model for Matching Text Chunks to Spatial Entities

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, K.; Wu, L.; Tao, L.; Li, W.; Xie, Z.

2017-12-01

The matching of spatial entities with related text is a long-standing research topic that has received considerable attention over the years. This task aims at enrich the contents of spatial entity, and attach the spatial location information to the text chunk. In the data fusion field, matching spatial entities with the corresponding describing text chunks has a big range of significance. However, the most traditional matching methods often rely fully on manually designed, task-specific linguistic features. This work proposes a Deep Similarity Metric Learning Model (DSMLM) based on Siamese Neural Network to learn similarity metric directly from the textural attributes of spatial entity and text chunk. The low-dimensional feature representation of the space entity and the text chunk can be learned separately. By employing the Cosine distance to measure the matching degree between the vectors, the model can make the matching pair vectors as close as possible. Mearnwhile, it makes the mismatching as far apart as possible through supervised learning. In addition, extensive experiments and analysis on geological survey data sets show that our DSMLM model can effectively capture the matching characteristics between the text chunk and the spatial entity, and achieve state-of-the-art performance.

Privacy-Preserving Patient Similarity Learning in a Federated Environment: Development and Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Junghye; Sun, Jimeng; Wang, Fei; Wang, Shuang; Jun, Chi-Hyuck; Jiang, Xiaoqian

2018-04-13

There is an urgent need for the development of global analytic frameworks that can perform analyses in a privacy-preserving federated environment across multiple institutions without privacy leakage. A few studies on the topic of federated medical analysis have been conducted recently with the focus on several algorithms. However, none of them have solved similar patient matching, which is useful for applications such as cohort construction for cross-institution observational studies, disease surveillance, and clinical trials recruitment. The aim of this study was to present a privacy-preserving platform in a federated setting for patient similarity learning across institutions. Without sharing patient-level information, our model can find similar patients from one hospital to another. We proposed a federated patient hashing framework and developed a novel algorithm to learn context-specific hash codes to represent patients across institutions. The similarities between patients can be efficiently computed using the resulting hash codes of corresponding patients. To avoid security attack from reverse engineering on the model, we applied homomorphic encryption to patient similarity search in a federated setting. We used sequential medical events extracted from the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care-III database to evaluate the proposed algorithm in predicting the incidence of five diseases independently. Our algorithm achieved averaged area under the curves of 0.9154 and 0.8012 with balanced and imbalanced data, respectively, in κ-nearest neighbor with κ=3. We also confirmed privacy preservation in similarity search by using homomorphic encryption. The proposed algorithm can help search similar patients across institutions effectively to support federated data analysis in a privacy-preserving manner. ©Junghye Lee, Jimeng Sun, Fei Wang, Shuang Wang, Chi-Hyuck Jun, Xiaoqian Jiang. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http

Effectiveness of Memantine in Improvement of Cognitive Deficits in Specific Learning Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elham Ahmadi Zahrani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: Specific learning disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent difficulties in learning academic skills in reading, written expression, or mathematics. This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of memantine in the relief of cognitive deficits (selective attention, sustained attention, and working memory in specific learning disorder. Materials and Methods: This study is a clinical trial. Of all children 8-12 years referred to Amir Kabir Hospital 94 patients diagnosed with specific learning disorder based on DSMV diagnostic interview referred by specialist and randomly divided by two groups, memantine and placebo. Cognitive deficits before and after treatment were measured with continuous performance test, Stroop test and Wechsler Digit Span forward and reverse and Corsi test. Results: Multivariate analysis of variance showed a significant difference in error when answering, omission answer and corrected answer in continuous performance test, but this difference is not significant in response time. Difference in forward, reverse and collected auditory was significant and not significant in the auditory span. In active visual working memory at corsi cube test, difference was significant (p <0.05. Conclusion: The results showed that memantine in improvement of sustained attention, auditory working memory and visual working memory, is effective, while in selective attention is not effective and according to similarities of learning disorder and Attention deficit / Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD and the effectiveness of memantine in improvement of symptoms of ADHD, we can also use this drug in improvement of cognitive deficits of specific learning disorder.

Mobile learning to improve mathematics teachers mathematical competencies

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrayana, A.; Wahyudin

2018-01-01

The role of teachers is crucial to the success of mathematics learning. One of the learning indicator is characterized by the students’ improved mathematical proficiency. In order to increase that, it is necessary to improve the teacher’s mathematical skills first. For that, it needs an innovative way to get teachers close to easily accessible learning resources through technology. The technology can facilitate teachers to access learning resources anytime and anywhere. The appropriate information technology is mobile learning. Innovations that can make teachers easy to access learning resources are mobile applications that can be accessed anytime and anywhere either online or offline. The research method was research development method. In preliminary analysis, subjects consist of teachers and lecturers in professional teacher education program. The results that the teachers ready to adopt mobile-learning for the improvement of their skills.

Neural Pattern Similarity in the Left IFG and Fusiform Is Associated with Novel Word Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Qu

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have revealed that greater neural pattern similarity across repetitions is associated with better subsequent memory. In this study, we used an artificial language training paradigm and representational similarity analysis to examine whether neural pattern similarity across repetitions before training was associated with post-training behavioral performance. Twenty-four native Chinese speakers were trained to learn a logographic artificial language for 12 days and behavioral performance was recorded using the word naming and picture naming tasks. Participants were scanned while performing a passive viewing task before training, after 4-day training and after 12-day training. Results showed that pattern similarity in the left pars opercularis (PO and fusiform gyrus (FG before training was negatively associated with reaction time (RT in both word naming and picture naming tasks after training. These results suggest that neural pattern similarity is an effective neurofunctional predictor of novel word learning in addition to word memory.

Neural Pattern Similarity in the Left IFG and Fusiform Is Associated with Novel Word Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Jing; Qian, Liu; Chen, Chuansheng; Xue, Gui; Li, Huiling; Xie, Peng; Mei, Leilei

2017-01-01

Previous studies have revealed that greater neural pattern similarity across repetitions is associated with better subsequent memory. In this study, we used an artificial language training paradigm and representational similarity analysis to examine whether neural pattern similarity across repetitions before training was associated with post-training behavioral performance. Twenty-four native Chinese speakers were trained to learn a logographic artificial language for 12 days and behavioral performance was recorded using the word naming and picture naming tasks. Participants were scanned while performing a passive viewing task before training, after 4-day training and after 12-day training. Results showed that pattern similarity in the left pars opercularis (PO) and fusiform gyrus (FG) before training was negatively associated with reaction time (RT) in both word naming and picture naming tasks after training. These results suggest that neural pattern similarity is an effective neurofunctional predictor of novel word learning in addition to word memory. PMID:28878640

Structural Plasticity Denoises Responses and Improves Learning Speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robin Spiess

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Despite an abundance of computational models for learning of synaptic weights, there has been relatively little research on structural plasticity, i.e. the creation and elimination of synapses. Especially, it is not clear how structural plasticity works in concert with spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP and what advantages their combination offers.Here we present a fairly large-scale functional model that uses leaky integrate-and-fire neurons, STDP, homeostasis, recurrent connections, and structural plasticity to learn the input encoding, the relation between inputs, and to infer missing inputs. Using this model, we compare the error and the amount of noise in the network's responses with and without structural plasticity and the influence of structural plasticity on the learning speed of the network.Using structural plasticity during learning shows good results for learning the representation of input values, i.e. structural plasticity strongly reduces the noise of the response by preventing spikes with a high error.For inferring missing inputs we see similar results, with responses having less noise if the network was trained using structural plasticity.Additionally, using structural plasticity with pruning significantly decreased the time to learn weights suitable for inference.Presumably, this is due to the clearer signal containing less spikes that misrepresent the desired value. Therefore, this work shows that structural plasticity is not only able to improve upon the performance using STDP without structural plasticity but also speeds up learning.Additionally, it addresses the practical problem of limited resources for connectivity that is not only apparent in the mammalian neocortex but also in computer hardware or neuromorphic (brain-inspired hardware by efficiently pruning synapses without losing performance.

A Similarity Analysis of Audio Signal to Develop a Human Activity Recognition Using Similarity Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandra García-Hernández

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Human Activity Recognition (HAR is one of the main subjects of study in the areas of computer vision and machine learning due to the great benefits that can be achieved. Examples of the study areas are: health prevention, security and surveillance, automotive research, and many others. The proposed approaches are carried out using machine learning techniques and present good results. However, it is difficult to observe how the descriptors of human activities are grouped. In order to obtain a better understanding of the the behavior of descriptors, it is important to improve the abilities to recognize the human activities. This paper proposes a novel approach for the HAR based on acoustic data and similarity networks. In this approach, we were able to characterize the sound of the activities and identify those activities looking for similarity in the sound pattern. We evaluated the similarity of the sounds considering mainly two features: the sound location and the materials that were used. As a result, the materials are a good reference classifying the human activities compared with the location.

Improving STEM Undergraduate Education with Efficient Learning Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Godsk, Mikkel

2018-01-01

The project investigates the potential of Learning Design for efficiently improving STEM undergraduate education with technology. In order to investigate this potential, the project consists of two main studies at Aarhus University: a study of the perspectives of the main stakeholders on Learning...... Design uptake. The project concludes that it is possible to improve STEM undergraduate education with Learning Design for technology-enhanced learning efficiently and that Efficient Learning Design provides a useful concept for qualifying educational decisions....... provided by technology-enhanced learning based on Learning Design, and in particular students’ learning was of a high common interest. However, only the educators were directly interested in Learning Design and its support for design, reuse in their practice and to inform pedagogy. A holistic concept...

Deep Learning Methods for Improved Decoding of Linear Codes

Science.gov (United States)

Nachmani, Eliya; Marciano, Elad; Lugosch, Loren; Gross, Warren J.; Burshtein, David; Be'ery, Yair

2018-02-01

The problem of low complexity, close to optimal, channel decoding of linear codes with short to moderate block length is considered. It is shown that deep learning methods can be used to improve a standard belief propagation decoder, despite the large example space. Similar improvements are obtained for the min-sum algorithm. It is also shown that tying the parameters of the decoders across iterations, so as to form a recurrent neural network architecture, can be implemented with comparable results. The advantage is that significantly less parameters are required. We also introduce a recurrent neural decoder architecture based on the method of successive relaxation. Improvements over standard belief propagation are also observed on sparser Tanner graph representations of the codes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the neural belief propagation decoder can be used to improve the performance, or alternatively reduce the computational complexity, of a close to optimal decoder of short BCH codes.

Improving learning of anatomy with reusable learning objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P Rad

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The use of modern educational technologies is useful for learning, durability, sociability, and upgrading professionalism. The aim of this study was evaluating the effect of reusable learning objects on improving learning of anatomy. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study. Fourteen (reusable learning objects RLO from different parts of anatomy of human body including thorax, abdomen, and pelvis were prepared for medical student in Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2009. The length of the time for RLO was between 11-22 min. Because their capacities were low, so they were easy to use with cell phone or MP4. These materials were available to the students before the classes. The mean scores of students in anatomy of human body group were compared to the medical students who were not used this method and entered the university in 2008. A questionnaire was designed by the researcher to evaluate the effect of RLO and on, content, interest and motivation, participation, preparation and attitude. Result: The mean scores of anatomy of human body of medical student who were entered the university in 2009 have been increased compare to the students in 2008, but this difference was not significant. Based on the questionnaire data, it was shown that the RLO had a positive effect on improving learning anatomy of human body (75.5% and the effective relationship (60.6%. The students were interested in using RLO (74.6%, some students (54.2% believed that this method should be replaced by lecture. Conclusion: The use of RLO could promote interests and effective communication among the students and led to increasing self-learning motivation.

Do emergency medicine residents and faculty have similar learning styles when assessed with the Kolb learning style assessment tool?

Science.gov (United States)

Fredette, Jenna; O'Brien, Corinne; Poole, Christy; Nomura, Jason

2015-04-01

Experiential learning theory and the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (Kolb LSI) have influenced educators worldwide for decades. Knowledge of learning styles can create efficient learning environments, increase information retention, and improve learner satisfaction. Learning styles have been examined in medicine previously, but not specifically with Emergency Medicine (EM) residents and attendings. Using the Kolb LSI, the learning styles of Emergency Medicine residents and attendings were assessed. The findings showed that the majority of EM residents and attendings shared the accommodating learning style. This result was different than prior studies that found the majority of medical professionals had a converging learning style and other studies that found attendings often have different learning styles than residents. The issue of learning styles among emergency medical residents and attendings is important because learning style knowledge may have an impact on how a residency program structures curriculum and how EM residents are successfully, efficiently, and creatively educated.

An e-learning course in medical immunology: does it improve learning outcome?

Science.gov (United States)

Boye, Sondre; Moen, Torolf; Vik, Torstein

2012-01-01

E-learning is used by most medical students almost daily and several studies have shown e-learning to improve learning outcome in small-scale interventions. However, few studies have explored the effects of e-learning in immunology. To study the effect of an e-learning package in immunology on learning outcomes in a written integrated examination and to examine student satisfaction with the e-learning package. All second-year students at a Norwegian medical school were offered an animated e-learning package in basic immunology as a supplement to the regular teaching. Each student's log-on-time was recorded and linked with the student's score on multiple choice questions included in an integrated end-of-the-year written examination. Student satisfaction was assessed through a questionnaire. The intermediate-range students (interquartile range) on average scored 3.6% better on the immunology part of the examination per hour they had used the e-learning package (p = 0.0046) and log-on-time explained 17% of the variance in immunology score. The best and the less skilled students' examination outcomes were not affected by the e-learning. The e-learning was well appreciated among the students. Use of an e-learning package in immunology in addition to regular teaching improved learning outcomes for intermediate-range students.

A little similarity goes a long way: the effects of peripheral but self-revealing similarities on improving and sustaining interracial relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Tessa V; Magee, Joe C; Gordon, Sarah H; Gullett, Lindy

2014-07-01

Integrating theory on close relationships and intergroup relations, we construct a manipulation of similarity that we demonstrate can improve interracial interactions across different settings. We find that manipulating perceptions of similarity on self-revealing attributes that are peripheral to the interaction improves interactions in cross-race dyads and racially diverse task groups. In a getting-acquainted context, we demonstrate that the belief that one's different-race partner is similar to oneself on self-revealing, peripheral attributes leads to less anticipatory anxiety than the belief that one's partner is similar on peripheral, nonself-revealing attributes. In another dyadic context, we explore the range of benefits that perceptions of peripheral, self-revealing similarity can bring to different-race interaction partners and find (a) less anxiety during interaction, (b) greater interest in sustained contact with one's partner, and (c) stronger accuracy in perceptions of one's partners' relationship intentions. By contrast, participants in same-race interactions were largely unaffected by these manipulations of perceived similarity. Our final experiment shows that among small task groups composed of racially diverse individuals, those whose members perceive peripheral, self-revealing similarity perform superior to those who perceive dissimilarity. Implications for using this approach to improve interracial interactions across different goal-driven contexts are discussed.

[-25]A Similarity Analysis of Audio Signal to Develop a Human Activity Recognition Using Similarity Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Hernández, Alejandra; Galván-Tejada, Carlos E; Galván-Tejada, Jorge I; Celaya-Padilla, José M; Gamboa-Rosales, Hamurabi; Velasco-Elizondo, Perla; Cárdenas-Vargas, Rogelio

2017-11-21

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is one of the main subjects of study in the areas of computer vision and machine learning due to the great benefits that can be achieved. Examples of the study areas are: health prevention, security and surveillance, automotive research, and many others. The proposed approaches are carried out using machine learning techniques and present good results. However, it is difficult to observe how the descriptors of human activities are grouped. In order to obtain a better understanding of the the behavior of descriptors, it is important to improve the abilities to recognize the human activities. This paper proposes a novel approach for the HAR based on acoustic data and similarity networks. In this approach, we were able to characterize the sound of the activities and identify those activities looking for similarity in the sound pattern. We evaluated the similarity of the sounds considering mainly two features: the sound location and the materials that were used. As a result, the materials are a good reference classifying the human activities compared with the location.

Effect of improving the usability of an e-learning resource: a randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Davids, Mogamat Razeen; Chikte, Usuf M E; Halperin, Mitchell L

2014-06-01

Optimizing the usability of e-learning materials is necessary to reduce extraneous cognitive load and maximize their potential educational impact. However, this is often neglected, especially when time and other resources are limited. We conducted a randomized trial to investigate whether a usability evaluation of our multimedia e-learning resource, followed by fixing of all problems identified, would translate into improvements in usability parameters and learning by medical residents. Two iterations of our e-learning resource [version 1 (V1) and version 2 (V2)] were compared. V1 was the first fully functional version and V2 was the revised version after all identified usability problems were addressed. Residents in internal medicine and anesthesiology were randomly assigned to one of the versions. Usability was evaluated by having participants complete a user satisfaction questionnaire and by recording and analyzing their interactions with the application. The effect on learning was assessed by questions designed to test the retention and transfer of knowledge. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with both versions, with good ratings on the System Usability Scale and adjective rating scale. In contrast, analysis of video recordings revealed significant differences in the occurrence of serious usability problems between the two versions, in particular in the interactive HandsOn case with its treatment simulation, where there was a median of five serious problem instances (range: 0-50) recorded per participant for V1 and zero instances (range: 0-1) for V2 (P e-learning resource resulted in significant improvements in usability. This is likely to translate into improved motivation and willingness to engage with the learning material. In this population of relatively high-knowledge participants, learning scores were similar across the two versions. Copyright © 2014 The American Physiological Society.

IMPROVING CAUSE DETECTION SYSTEMS WITH ACTIVE LEARNING

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — IMPROVING CAUSE DETECTION SYSTEMS WITH ACTIVE LEARNING ISAAC PERSING AND VINCENT NG Abstract. Active learning has been successfully applied to many natural language...

Improved Extreme Learning Machine based on the Sensitivity Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Licheng; Zhai, Huawei; Wang, Benchao; Qu, Zengtang

2018-03-01

Extreme learning machine and its improved ones is weak in some points, such as computing complex, learning error and so on. After deeply analyzing, referencing the importance of hidden nodes in SVM, an novel analyzing method of the sensitivity is proposed which meets people’s cognitive habits. Based on these, an improved ELM is proposed, it could remove hidden nodes before meeting the learning error, and it can efficiently manage the number of hidden nodes, so as to improve the its performance. After comparing tests, it is better in learning time, accuracy and so on.

The development of learning material using learning cycle 5E model based stem to improve students’ learning outcomes in Thermochemistry

Science.gov (United States)

sugiarti, A. C.; suyatno, S.; Sanjaya, I. G. M.

2018-04-01

The objective of this study is describing the feasibility of Learning Cycle 5E STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) based learning material which is appropriate to improve students’ learning achievement in Thermochemistry. The study design used 4-D models and one group pretest-posttest design to obtain the information about the improvement of sudents’ learning outcomes. The subject was learning cycle 5E based STEM learning materials which the data were collected from 30 students of Science class at 11th Grade. The techniques used in this study were validation, observation, test, and questionnaire. Some result attain: (1) all the learning materials contents were valid, (2) the practicality and the effectiveness of all the learning materials contents were classified as good. The conclution of this study based on those three condition, the Learnig Cycle 5E based STEM learning materials is appropriate to improve students’ learning outcomes in studying Thermochemistry.

Using a collaborative Mobile Augmented Reality learning application (CoMARLA) to improve Improve Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hanafi, Hafizul Fahri bin; Soh Said, Che; Hanee Ariffin, Asma; Azlan Zainuddin, Nur; Samsuddin, Khairulanuar

2016-11-01

This study was carried out to improve student learning in ICT course using a collaborative mobile augmented reality learning application (CoMARLA). This learning application was developed based on the constructivist framework that would engender collaborative learning environment, in which students could learn collaboratively using their mobile phones. The research design was based on the pretest posttest control group design. The dependent variable was students’ learning performance after learning, and the independent variables were learning method and gender. Students’ learning performance before learning was treated as the covariate. The sample of the study comprised 120 non-IT (non-technical) undergraduates, with the mean age of 19.5. They were randomized into two groups, namely the experimental and control group. The experimental group used CoMARLA to learn one of the topics of the ICT Literacy course, namely Computer System; whereas the control group learned using the conventional approach. The research instrument used was a set of multiple-choice questions pertaining to the above topic. Pretesting was carried out before the learning sessions, and posttesting was performed after 6 hours of learning. Using the SPSS, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was performed on the data. The analysis showed that there were main effects attributed to the learning method and gender. The experimental group outperformed the control group by almost 9%, and male students outstripped their opposite counterparts by as much as 3%. Furthermore, an interaction effect was also observed showing differential performances of male students based on the learning methods, which did not occur among female students. Hence, the tool can be used to help undergraduates learn with greater efficacy when contextualized in an appropriate setting.

Improving health care quality and safety: the role of collective learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Sara J; Benzer, Justin K; Hamdan, Sami U

2015-01-01

Despite decades of effort to improve quality and safety in health care, this goal feels increasingly elusive. Successful examples of improvement are infrequently replicated. This scoping review synthesizes 76 empirical or conceptual studies (out of 1208 originally screened) addressing learning in quality or safety improvement, that were published in selected health care and management journals between January 2000 and December 2014 to deepen understanding of the role that collective learning plays in quality and safety improvement. We categorize learning activities using a theoretical model that shows how leadership and environmental factors support collective learning processes and practices, and in turn team and organizational improvement outcomes. By focusing on quality and safety improvement, our review elaborates the premise of learning theory that leadership, environment, and processes combine to create conditions that promote learning. Specifically, we found that learning for quality and safety improvement includes experimentation (including deliberate experimentation, improvisation, learning from failures, exploration, and exploitation), internal and external knowledge acquisition, performance monitoring and comparison, and training. Supportive learning environments are characterized by team characteristics like psychological safety, appreciation of differences, openness to new ideas social motivation, and team autonomy; team contextual factors including learning resources like time for reflection, access to knowledge, organizational capabilities; incentives; and organizational culture, strategy, and structure; and external environmental factors including institutional pressures, environmental dynamism and competitiveness and learning collaboratives. Lastly learning in the context of quality and safety improvement requires leadership that reinforces learning through actions and behaviors that affect people, such as coaching and trust building, and through

From Continuous Improvement to Organisational Learning: Developmental Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Peter; Chapman, Ross

2003-01-01

Explores continuous improvement methods, which underlie total quality management, finding barriers to implementation in practice that are related to a one-dimensional approach. Suggests a multiple, unbounded learning cycle, a holistic approach that includes adaptive learning, learning styles, generative learning, and capability development.…

Incidental Learning: A Brief, Valid Measure of Memory Based on the WAIS-IV Vocabulary and Similarities Subtests.

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, Robert J; Reckow, Jaclyn; Drag, Lauren L; Bieliauskas, Linas A

2016-12-01

We assessed the validity of a brief incidental learning measure based on the Similarities and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Most neuropsychological assessments for memory require intentional learning, but incidental learning occurs without explicit instruction. Incidental memory tests such as the WAIS-III Symbol Digit Coding subtest have existed for many years, but few memory studies have used a semantically processed incidental learning model. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 37 veterans with traumatic brain injury, referred for outpatient neuropsychological testing at a Veterans Affairs hospital. As part of their evaluation, the participants completed the incidental learning tasks. We compared their incidental learning performance to their performance on traditional memory measures. Incidental learning scores correlated strongly with scores on the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R). After we conducted a partial correlation that controlled for the effects of age, incidental learning correlated significantly with the CVLT-II Immediate Free Recall, CVLT-II Short-Delay Recall, CVLT-II Long-Delay Recall, and CVLT-II Yes/No Recognition Hits, and with the BVMT-R Delayed Recall and BVMT-R Recognition Discrimination Index. Our incidental learning procedures derived from subtests of the WAIS-IV Edition are an efficient and valid way of measuring memory. These tasks add minimally to testing time and capitalize on the semantic encoding that is inherent in completing the Similarities and Vocabulary subtests.

Using Information Technology in the Navy Lessons Learned System to Improve Organizational Learning

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Garvey, Michael

2001-01-01

... to support or enhance organizational learning in the Navy. The research concludes that NLLS has improved organizational learning but has not attained as widespread use as is possible. Recommendations are provide to improve the program and increase NLLS exposure to the fleet and to the potential users of the system.

THE INTENTIONAL USE OF LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE LEARNING OUTCOMES IN STUDIO.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew MacKenzie

2017-01-01

Full Text Available At the University of Canberra, Australia, the design and architecture faculty are trialling a range of approaches to incorporating learning technologies in the first year foundation studio to improve student learning outcomes. For this study researchers collected information on students’ access to their assignment information and feedback from the learning management system (LMS to discover how the students engaged in the design process. The studio curriculum was designed to encourage students to engage in a convergence, divergence dynamic (Brown, 2009; Thomas, Billsberry, Ambrosini, & Barton, 2014 in developing their own understanding of the design process. The staff tailored around points of convergence, online instruction, assessment tools and feedback in studio. We argue that using learning technologies in this way can improve intentionality at the beginning of semester, enhance students understanding of feedback and facilitate a more iterative approach to problem based learning in studio practice.

Similarities and differences between learning abilities, "pure" learning disabilities, "pure" ADHD and comorbid ADHD with learning disabilities.

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Mangina, Constantine A; Beuzeron-Mangina, Helen

2009-08-01

This research pursues the crucial question of the differentiation of preadolescents with "Pure" ADHD, comorbid ADHD with learning disabilities, "Pure" learning disabilities and age-matched normal controls. For this purpose, Topographic Mapping of Event-Related Brain Potentials (ERPs) to a Memory Workload Paradigm with visually presented words, Bilateral Electrodermal Activity during cognitive workload and Mangina-Test performance were used. The analysis of Topographic distribution of amplitudes revealed that normal preadolescents were significantly different from "Pure" ADHD (Plearning disabilities (Plearning disabilities (Plearning disabilities have shown a marked reduction of prefrontal and frontal negativities (N450). As for the "Pure" Learning Disabled preadolescents, very small positivities (P450) in prefrontal and frontal regions were obtained as compared to the other pathological groups. Bilateral Electrodermal Activity during cognitive workload revealed a significant main effect for groups (P<0.00001), Left versus Right (P=0.0029) and sessions (P=0.0136). A significant main effect for the Mangina-Test performance which separated the four groups was found (P<0.000001). Overall, these data support the existence of clear differences and similarities between the pathological preadolescent groups as opposed to age-matched normal controls. The psychophysiological differentiation of these groups, provides distinct biological markers which integrate central, autonomic and neuropsychometric variables by targeting the key features of these pathologies for diagnosis and intervention strategies and by providing knowledge for the understanding of normal neurocognitive processes and functions.

The Implementation of Discovery Learning Model with Scientific Learning Approach to Improve Students’ Critical Thinking in Learning History

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edi Nurcahyo

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Historical learning has not reached optimal in the learning process. It is caused by the history teachers’ learning model has not used the innovative learning models. Furthermore, it supported by the perception of students to the history subject because it does not become final exam (UN subject so it makes less improvement and builds less critical thinking in students’ daily learning. This is due to the lack of awareness of historical events and the availability of history books for students and teachers in the library are still lacking. Discovery learning with scientific approach encourages students to solve problems actively and able to improve students' critical thinking skills with scientific approach so student can build scientific thinking include observing, asking, reasoning, trying, and networking   Keywords: discovery learning, scientific, critical thinking

Learning Similar Actions by Reinforcement or Sensory-Prediction Errors Rely on Distinct Physiological Mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Uehara, Shintaro; Mawase, Firas; Celnik, Pablo

2017-09-14

Humans can acquire knowledge of new motor behavior via different forms of learning. The two forms most commonly studied have been the development of internal models based on sensory-prediction errors (error-based learning) and success-based feedback (reinforcement learning). Human behavioral studies suggest these are distinct learning processes, though the neurophysiological mechanisms that are involved have not been characterized. Here, we evaluated physiological markers from the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex (M1) using noninvasive brain stimulations while healthy participants trained finger-reaching tasks. We manipulated the extent to which subjects rely on error-based or reinforcement by providing either vector or binary feedback about task performance. Our results demonstrated a double dissociation where learning the task mainly via error-based mechanisms leads to cerebellar plasticity modifications but not long-term potentiation (LTP)-like plasticity changes in M1; while learning a similar action via reinforcement mechanisms elicited M1 LTP-like plasticity but not cerebellar plasticity changes. Our findings indicate that learning complex motor behavior is mediated by the interplay of different forms of learning, weighing distinct neural mechanisms in M1 and the cerebellum. Our study provides insights for designing effective interventions to enhance human motor learning. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

How to Improve Learning when Going Online Using POPBL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borch, Ole; Helbo, Jan; Madsen, Per Printz

2007-01-01

, Pedagogical and Technological (DPT) methods must be selected and used properly to ensure progress in the learning process. Although it has never been proven that PBL increases learning, there are many observations indicating improved learning, e.g. the students are able to learn more beyond required...... objectives within the defined time slot. The remote online education Master of Industrial Information Technology (MII) at Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark, is using collaborative Project Organized PBL (POPBL) and is using new DPT resulting in very high motivation and in remarkable learning results......It is accepted worldwide; that Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a very fine method to improve learning motivation and to satisfy the students being more innovative and creative. Progress in learning is supported by teaching, individual and team reflections and collaborative project work. On...

Improving Learning Analytics--Combining Observational and Self-Report Data on Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Robert A.; Han, Feifei; Pardo, Abelardo

2017-01-01

The field of education technology is embracing a use of learning analytics to improve student experiences of learning. Along with exponential growth in this area is an increasing concern of the interpretability of the analytics from the student experience and what they can tell us about learning. This study offers a way to address some of the…

The scientific learning approach using multimedia-based maze game to improve learning outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Setiawan, Wawan; Hafitriani, Sarah; Prabawa, Harsa Wara

2016-02-01

The objective of curriculum 2013 is to improve the quality of education in Indonesia, which leads to improving the quality of learning. The scientific approach and supported empowerment media is one approach as massaged of curriculum 2013. This research aims to design a labyrinth game based multimedia and apply in the scientific learning approach. This study was conducted in one of the Vocational School in Subjects of Computer Network on 2 (two) classes of experimental and control. The method used Mix Method Research (MMR) which combines qualitative in multimedia design, and quantitative in the study of learning impact. The results of a survey showed that the general of vocational students like of network topology material (68%), like multimedia (74%), and in particular, like interactive multimedia games and flash (84%). Multimediabased maze game developed good eligibility based on media and material aspects of each value 840% and 82%. Student learning outcomes as a result of using a scientific approach to learning with a multimediabased labyrinth game increase with an average of gain index about (58%) and higher than conventional multimedia with index average gain of 0.41 (41%). Based on these results the scientific approach to learning by using multimediabased labyrinth game can improve the quality of learning and increase understanding of students. Multimedia of learning based labyrinth game, which developed, got a positive response from the students with a good qualification level (75%).

Motivation to Improve Work through Learning: A Conceptual Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kueh Hua Ng

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to enhance our current understanding of the transfer of training by proposing a conceptual model that supports the mediating role of motivation to improve work through learning about the relationship between social support and the transfer of training. The examination of motivation to improve work through motivation to improve work through a learning construct offers a holistic view pertaining to a learner's profile in a workplace setting, which emphasizes learning for the improvement of work performance. The proposed conceptual model is expected to benefit human resource development theory building, as well as field practitioners by emphasizing the motivational aspects crucial for successful transfer of training.

Production Practice During Language Learning Improves Comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopman, Elise W M; MacDonald, Maryellen C

2018-04-01

Language learners often spend more time comprehending than producing a new language. However, memory research suggests reasons to suspect that production practice might provide a stronger learning experience than comprehension practice. We tested the benefits of production during language learning and the degree to which this learning transfers to comprehension skill. We taught participants an artificial language containing multiple linguistic dependencies. Participants were randomly assigned to either a production- or a comprehension-learning condition, with conditions designed to balance attention demands and other known production-comprehension differences. After training, production-learning participants outperformed comprehension-learning participants on vocabulary comprehension and on comprehension tests of grammatical dependencies, even when we controlled for individual differences in vocabulary learning. This result shows that producing a language during learning can improve subsequent comprehension, which has implications for theories of memory and learning, language representations, and educational practices.

FLIPPED CLASSROOM LEARNING METHOD TO IMPROVE CARING AND LEARNING OUTCOME IN FIRST YEAR NURSING STUDENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ni Putu Wulan Purnama Sari

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Caring is the essence of nursing profession. Stimulation of caring attitude should start early. Effective teaching methods needed to foster caring attitude and improve learning achievement. This study aimed to explain the effect of applying flipped classroom learning method for improving caring attitude and learning achievement of new student nurses at nursing institutions in Surabaya. Method: This is a pre-experimental study using the one group pretest posttest and posttest only design. Population was all new student nurses on nursing institutions in Surabaya. Inclusion criteria: female, 18-21 years old, majoring in nursing on their own volition and being first choice during students selection process, status were active in the even semester of 2015/2016 academic year. Sample size was 67 selected by total sampling. Variables: 1 independent: application of flipped classroom learning method; 2 dependent: caring attitude, learning achievement. Instruments: teaching plan, assignment descriptions, presence list, assignment assessment rubrics, study materials, questionnaires of caring attitude. Data analysis: paired and one sample t test. Ethical clearance was available. Results: Most respondents were 20 years old (44.8%, graduated from high school in Surabaya (38.8%, living with parents (68.7% in their homes (64.2%. All data were normally distributed. Flipped classroom learning method could improve caring attitude by 4.13%. Flipped classroom learning method was proved to be effective for improving caring attitude (p=0.021 and learning achievement (p=0.000. Conclusion and Recommendation: Flipped classroom was effective for improving caring attitude and learning achievement of new student nurse. It is recommended to use mix-method and larger sample for further study.

Learning bridge tool to improve student learning, preceptor training, and faculty teamwork.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimi, Reza; Cawley, Pauline; Arendt, Cassandra S

2011-04-11

To implement a Learning Bridge tool to improve educational outcomes for pharmacy students as well as for preceptors and faculty members. Pharmacy faculty members collaborated to write 9 case-based assignments that first-year pharmacy (P1) students worked with preceptors to complete while at experiential sites. Students, faculty members, and preceptors were surveyed about their perceptions of the Learning Bridge process. As in our pilot study,(1) the Learning Bridge process promoted student learning. Additionally, the Learning Bridge assignments familiarized preceptors with the school's P1 curriculum and its content. Faculty teamwork also was increased through collaborating on the assignments. The Learning Bridge assignments provided a compelling learning environment and benefited students, preceptors, and faculty members.

Improving the quality of learning in science through optimization of lesson study for learning community

Science.gov (United States)

Setyaningsih, S.

2018-03-01

Lesson Study for Learning Community is one of lecturer profession building system through collaborative and continuous learning study based on the principles of openness, collegiality, and mutual learning to build learning community in order to form professional learning community. To achieve the above, we need a strategy and learning method with specific subscription technique. This paper provides a description of how the quality of learning in the field of science can be improved by implementing strategies and methods accordingly, namely by applying lesson study for learning community optimally. Initially this research was focused on the study of instructional techniques. Learning method used is learning model Contextual teaching and Learning (CTL) and model of Problem Based Learning (PBL). The results showed that there was a significant increase in competence, attitudes, and psychomotor in the four study programs that were modelled. Therefore, it can be concluded that the implementation of learning strategies in Lesson study for Learning Community is needed to be used to improve the competence, attitude and psychomotor of science students.

Improving Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy through Service Learning: Lessons Learned

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Carianne Bernadowski

2013-07-01

Full Text Available University students have been barraged with service learning opportunities both as course required and as volunteer opportunities in recent years. Currently, many universities now require students to participate in engaged learning as a graduation requirement. Situated in Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, this study examines the effects service learning has on students teaching self-efficacy when required to participate in an activity (course connected, compared to when they chose to volunteer in service learning projects. As instructors of preservice teachers it is our commitment to prepare these students to their maximum potential. Identifying best practices for teacher preparation is an overarching goal of this study. A pre/post survey examined students’ self-perceptions for each service opportunity in regards to their perceived teaching self-efficacy. Results indicate that students’ self-efficacy improved when service learning was connected or imbedded in the context of learning and connected to a specific course. These findings indicate course connected service learning has a greater impact on preservice teachers’ perceptions of their ability to be effective future classroom teachers. Therefore course connected service learning can be viewed as a best practice in preservice teaching instruction.

Using paper presentation breaks during didactic lectures improves learning of physiology in undergraduate students.

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Ghorbani, Ahmad; Ghazvini, Kiarash

2016-03-01

Many studies have emphasized the incorporation of active learning into classrooms to reinforce didactic lectures for physiology courses. This work aimed to determine if presenting classic papers during didactic lectures improves the learning of physiology among undergraduate students. Twenty-two students of health information technology were randomly divided into the following two groups: 1) didactic lecture only (control group) and 2) didactic lecture plus paper presentation breaks (DLPP group). In the control group, main topics of gastrointestinal and endocrine physiology were taught using only the didactic lecture technique. In the DLPP group, some topics were presented by the didactic lecture method (similar to the control group) and some topics were taught by the DLPP technique (first, concepts were covered briefly in a didactic format and then reinforced with presentation of a related classic paper). The combination of didactic lecture and paper breaks significantly improved learning so that students in the DLPP group showed higher scores on related topics compared with those in the control group (P physiology. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

Improving health care quality and safety: the role of collective learning

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Singer SJ

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Sara J Singer,1–4 Justin K Benzer,4–6 Sami U Hamdan4,6 1Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 3Mongan Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 4Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; 5VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Waco, TX, USA; 6Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Abstract: Despite decades of effort to improve quality and safety in health care, this goal feels increasingly elusive. Successful examples of improvement are infrequently replicated. This scoping review synthesizes 76 empirical or conceptual studies (out of 1208 originally screened addressing learning in quality or safety improvement, that were published in selected health care and management journals between January 2000 and December 2014 to deepen understanding of the role that collective learning plays in quality and safety improvement. We categorize learning activities using a theoretical model that shows how leadership and environmental factors support collective learning processes and practices, and in turn team and organizational improvement outcomes. By focusing on quality and safety improvement, our review elaborates the premise of learning theory that leadership, environment, and processes combine to create conditions that promote learning. Specifically, we found that learning for quality and safety improvement includes experimentation (including deliberate experimentation, improvisation, learning from failures, exploration, and exploitation, internal and external knowledge acquisition, performance monitoring and comparison, and training. Supportive learning environments are characterized by team characteristics like psychological

Natural texture retrieval based on perceptual similarity measurement

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Gao, Ying; Dong, Junyu; Lou, Jianwen; Qi, Lin; Liu, Jun

2018-04-01

A typical texture retrieval system performs feature comparison and might not be able to make human-like judgments of image similarity. Meanwhile, it is commonly known that perceptual texture similarity is difficult to be described by traditional image features. In this paper, we propose a new texture retrieval scheme based on texture perceptual similarity. The key of the proposed scheme is that prediction of perceptual similarity is performed by learning a non-linear mapping from image features space to perceptual texture space by using Random Forest. We test the method on natural texture dataset and apply it on a new wallpapers dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed texture retrieval scheme with perceptual similarity improves the retrieval performance over traditional image features.

Does Clicker Technology Improve Student Learning?

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Fike, David; Fike, Renea; Lucio, Krystal

2012-01-01

This prospective, intervention-based study was conducted to assess the impact of in-class review methods on student learning outcomes in a course preparing pre-service teachers for the Texas Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities teacher certification exam. Students were tested on midterm and end-of-term exams comprised of questions similar to…

Improving IT Project Portfolio Management: Lessons Learned

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Pedersen, Keld

2013-01-01

The IT PPM improvement process is not well understood, and our knowledge about what makes IT PPM improvement succeed or fail is not well developed. This article presents lessons learned from organizations trying to improve their IT PPM practice. Based on this research IT PPM practitioners are adv...

Making perceptual learning practical to improve visual functions.

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Polat, Uri

2009-10-01

Task-specific improvement in performance after training is well established. The finding that learning is stimulus-specific and does not transfer well between different stimuli, between stimulus locations in the visual field, or between the two eyes has been used to support the notion that neurons or assemblies of neurons are modified at the earliest stage of cortical processing. However, a debate regarding the proposed mechanism underlying perceptual learning is an ongoing issue. Nevertheless, generalization of a trained task to other functions is an important key, for both understanding the neural mechanisms and the practical value of the training. This manuscript describes a structured perceptual learning method that previously used (amblyopia, myopia) and a novel technique and results that were applied for presbyopia. In general, subjects were trained for contrast detection of Gabor targets under lateral masking conditions. Training improved contrast sensitivity and diminished the lateral suppression when it existed (amblyopia). The improvement was transferred to unrelated functions such as visual acuity. The new results of presbyopia show substantial improvement of the spatial and temporal contrast sensitivity, leading to improved processing speed of target detection as well as reaction time. Consequently, the subjects, who were able to eliminate the need for reading glasses, benefited. Thus, here we show that the transfer of functions indicates that the specificity of improvement in the trained task can be generalized by repetitive practice of target detection, covering a sufficient range of spatial frequencies and orientations, leading to an improvement in unrelated visual functions. Thus, perceptual learning can be a practical method to improve visual functions in people with impaired or blurred vision.

Reinforcement learning improves behaviour from evaluative feedback

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Littman, Michael L.

2015-05-01

Reinforcement learning is a branch of machine learning concerned with using experience gained through interacting with the world and evaluative feedback to improve a system's ability to make behavioural decisions. It has been called the artificial intelligence problem in a microcosm because learning algorithms must act autonomously to perform well and achieve their goals. Partly driven by the increasing availability of rich data, recent years have seen exciting advances in the theory and practice of reinforcement learning, including developments in fundamental technical areas such as generalization, planning, exploration and empirical methodology, leading to increasing applicability to real-life problems.

Gene selection and classification for cancer microarray data based on machine learning and similarity measures

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Liu Qingzhong

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microarray data have a high dimension of variables and a small sample size. In microarray data analyses, two important issues are how to choose genes, which provide reliable and good prediction for disease status, and how to determine the final gene set that is best for classification. Associations among genetic markers mean one can exploit information redundancy to potentially reduce classification cost in terms of time and money. Results To deal with redundant information and improve classification, we propose a gene selection method, Recursive Feature Addition, which combines supervised learning and statistical similarity measures. To determine the final optimal gene set for prediction and classification, we propose an algorithm, Lagging Prediction Peephole Optimization. By using six benchmark microarray gene expression data sets, we compared Recursive Feature Addition with recently developed gene selection methods: Support Vector Machine Recursive Feature Elimination, Leave-One-Out Calculation Sequential Forward Selection and several others. Conclusions On average, with the use of popular learning machines including Nearest Mean Scaled Classifier, Support Vector Machine, Naive Bayes Classifier and Random Forest, Recursive Feature Addition outperformed other methods. Our studies also showed that Lagging Prediction Peephole Optimization is superior to random strategy; Recursive Feature Addition with Lagging Prediction Peephole Optimization obtained better testing accuracies than the gene selection method varSelRF.

Improving access to screening for people with learning disabilities.

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Marriott, Anna; Turner, Sue; Giraud-Saunders, Alison

2014-11-04

People with learning disabilities have poorer health than their non-disabled peers, and are less likely to access screening services than the general population. The National Development Team for Inclusion and the Norah Fry Research Centre developed a toolkit and guidance to improve uptake of five national (English) screening programmes (one of which is delivered through local programmes), based on work to improve access by people with learning disabilities in the south west peninsula of the UK. This article describes the findings in relation to the five English screening programmes and suggests ways to improve uptake of cancer screening by people with learning disabilities.

Scrum-Based Learning Environment: Fostering Self-Regulated Learning

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Linden, Tanya

2018-01-01

Academics teaching software development courses are experimenting with teaching methods aiming to improve students' learning experience and learning outcomes. Since Agile software development is gaining popularity in industry due to positive effects on managing projects, academics implement similar Agile approaches in student-centered learning…

Improving self-regulated learning junior high school students through computer-based learning

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Nurjanah; Dahlan, J. A.

2018-05-01

This study is back grounded by the importance of self-regulated learning as an affective aspect that determines the success of students in learning mathematics. The purpose of this research is to see how the improvement of junior high school students' self-regulated learning through computer based learning is reviewed in whole and school level. This research used a quasi-experimental research method. This is because individual sample subjects are not randomly selected. The research design used is Pretest-and-Posttest Control Group Design. Subjects in this study were students of grade VIII junior high school in Bandung taken from high school (A) and middle school (B). The results of this study showed that the increase of the students' self-regulated learning who obtain learning with computer-based learning is higher than students who obtain conventional learning. School-level factors have a significant effect on increasing of the students' self-regulated learning.

Learning to Learn: towards a Relational and Transformational Model of Learning for Improved Integrated Care Delivery

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John Diamond

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Health and social care systems are implementing fundamental changes to organizational structures and work practices in an effort to achieve integrated care. While some integration initiatives have produced positive outcomes, many have not. We reframe the concept of integration as a learning process fueled by knowledge exchange across diverse professional and organizational communities. We thus focus on the cognitive and social dynamics of learning in complex adaptive systems, and on learning behaviours and conditions that foster collective learning and improved collaboration. We suggest that the capacity to learn how to learn shapes the extent to which diverse professional groups effectively exchange knowledge and self-organize for integrated care delivery.

Improving Open Access through Prior Learning Assessment

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Yin, Shuangxu; Kawachi, Paul

2013-01-01

This paper explores and presents new data on how to improve open access in distance education through using prior learning assessments. Broadly there are three types of prior learning assessment (PLAR): Type-1 for prospective students to be allowed to register for a course; Type-2 for current students to avoid duplicating work-load to gain…

Creating visual explanations improves learning.

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Bobek, Eliza; Tversky, Barbara

2016-01-01

Many topics in science are notoriously difficult for students to learn. Mechanisms and processes outside student experience present particular challenges. While instruction typically involves visualizations, students usually explain in words. Because visual explanations can show parts and processes of complex systems directly, creating them should have benefits beyond creating verbal explanations. We compared learning from creating visual or verbal explanations for two STEM domains, a mechanical system (bicycle pump) and a chemical system (bonding). Both kinds of explanations were analyzed for content and learning assess by a post-test. For the mechanical system, creating a visual explanation increased understanding particularly for participants of low spatial ability. For the chemical system, creating both visual and verbal explanations improved learning without new teaching. Creating a visual explanation was superior and benefitted participants of both high and low spatial ability. Visual explanations often included crucial yet invisible features. The greater effectiveness of visual explanations appears attributable to the checks they provide for completeness and coherence as well as to their roles as platforms for inference. The benefits should generalize to other domains like the social sciences, history, and archeology where important information can be visualized. Together, the findings provide support for the use of learner-generated visual explanations as a powerful learning tool.

The ICAP Active Learning Framework Predicts the Learning Gains Observed in Intensely Active Classroom Experiences

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Benjamin L. Wiggins

2017-05-01

Full Text Available STEM classrooms (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in postsecondary education are rapidly improved by the proper use of active learning techniques. These techniques occupy a descriptive spectrum that transcends passive teaching toward active, constructive, and, finally, interactive methods. While aspects of this framework have been examined, no large-scale or actual classroom-based data exist to inform postsecondary education STEM instructors about possible learning gains. We describe the results of a quasi-experimental study to test the apex of the ICAP framework (interactive, constructive, active, and passive in this ecological classroom environment. Students in interactive classrooms demonstrate significantly improved learning outcomes relative to students in constructive classrooms. This improvement in learning is relatively subtle; similar experimental designs without repeated measures would be unlikely to have the power to observe this significance. We discuss the importance of seemingly small learning gains that might propagate throughout a course or departmental curriculum, as well as improvements with the necessity for faculty to develop and implement similar activities.

Pioneering a Nursing Home Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative: A Case Study of Method and Lessons Learned.

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Gillespie, Suzanne M; Olsan, Tobie; Liebel, Dianne; Cai, Xueya; Stewart, Reginald; Katz, Paul R; Karuza, Jurgis

2016-02-01

To describe the development of a nursing home (NH) quality improvement learning collaborative (QILC) that provides Lean Six Sigma (LSS) training and infrastructure support for quality assurance performance improvement change efforts. Case report. Twenty-seven NHs located in the Greater Rochester, NY area. The learning collaborative approach in which interprofessional teams from different NHs work together to improve common clinical and organizational processes by sharing experiences and evidence-based practices to achieve measurable changes in resident outcomes and system efficiencies. NH participation, curriculum design, LSS projects. Over 6 years, 27 NHs from urban and rural settings joined the QILC as organizational members and sponsored 47 interprofessional teams to learn LSS techniques and tools, and to implement quality improvement projects. NHs, in both urban and rural settings, can benefit from participation in QILCs and are able to learn and apply LSS tools in their team-based quality improvement efforts. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A care improvement program acting as a powerful learning environment to support nursing students learning facilitation competencies.

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Jukema, Jan S; Harps-Timmerman, Annelies; Stoopendaal, Annemiek; Smits, Carolien H M

2015-11-01

Change management is an important area of training in undergraduate nursing education. Successful change management in healthcare aimed at improving practices requires facilitation skills that support teams in attaining the desired change. Developing facilitation skills in nursing students requires formal educational support. A Dutch Regional Care Improvement Program based on a nationwide format of change management in healthcare was designed to act as a Powerful Learning Environment for nursing students developing competencies in facilitating change. This article has two aims: to provide comprehensive insight into the program components and to describe students' learning experiences in developing their facilitation skills. This Dutch Regional Care Improvement Program considers three aspects of a Powerful Learning Environment: self-regulated learning; problem-based learning; and complex, realistic and challenging learning tasks. These three aspects were operationalised in five distinct areas of facilitation: increasing awareness of the need for change; leadership and project management; relationship building and communication; importance of the local context; and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Over a period of 18 months, 42 nursing students, supported by trained lecturer-coaches, took part in nine improvement teams in our Regional Care Improvement Program, executing activities in all five areas of facilitation. Based on the students' experiences, we propose refinements to various components of this program, aimed at strengthenin the learning environment. There is a need for further detailed empirical research to study the impact this kind of learning environment has on students developing facilitation competencies in healthcare improvement. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aversive reinforcement improves visual discrimination learning in free-flying honeybees.

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Aurore Avarguès-Weber

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Learning and perception of visual stimuli by free-flying honeybees has been shown to vary dramatically depending on the way insects are trained. Fine color discrimination is achieved when both a target and a distractor are present during training (differential conditioning, whilst if the same target is learnt in isolation (absolute conditioning, discrimination is coarse and limited to perceptually dissimilar alternatives. Another way to potentially enhance discrimination is to increase the penalty associated with the distractor. Here we studied whether coupling the distractor with a highly concentrated quinine solution improves color discrimination of both similar and dissimilar colors by free-flying honeybees. As we assumed that quinine acts as an aversive stimulus, we analyzed whether aversion, if any, is based on an aversive sensory input at the gustatory level or on a post-ingestional malaise following quinine feeding. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We show that the presence of a highly concentrated quinine solution (60 mM acts as an aversive reinforcer promoting rejection of the target associated with it, and improving discrimination of perceptually similar stimuli but not of dissimilar stimuli. Free-flying bees did not use remote cues to detect the presence of quinine solution; the aversive effect exerted by this substance was mediated via a gustatory input, i.e. via a distasteful sensory experience, rather than via a post-ingestional malaise. CONCLUSION: The present study supports the hypothesis that aversion conditioning is important for understanding how and what animals perceive and learn. By using this form of conditioning coupled with appetitive conditioning in the framework of a differential conditioning procedure, it is possible to uncover discrimination capabilities that may remain otherwise unsuspected. We show, therefore, that visual discrimination is not an absolute phenomenon but can be modulated by experience.

Chemical Education Research: Improving Chemistry Learning

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Dudley Herron, J.; Nurrenbern, Susan C.

1999-10-01

Chemical education research is the systematic investigation of learning grounded in a theoretical foundation that focuses on understanding and improving learning of chemistry. This article reviews many activities, changes, and accomplishments that have taken place in this area of scholarly activity despite its relatively recent emergence as a research area. The article describes how the two predominant broad perspectives of learning, behaviorism and constructivism, have shaped and influenced chemical education research design, analysis, and interpretation during the 1900s. Selected research studies illustrate the range of research design strategies and results that have contributed to an increased understanding of learning in chemistry. The article also provides a perspective of current and continuing challenges that researchers in this area face as they strive to bridge the gap between chemistry and education - disciplines with differing theoretical bases and research paradigms.

Active Learning and Teaching: Improving Postsecondary Library Instruction.

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Allen, Eileen E.

1995-01-01

Discusses ways to improve postsecondary library instruction based on theories of active learning. Topics include a historical background of active learning; student achievement and attitudes; cognitive development; risks; active teaching; and instructional techniques, including modified lectures, brainstorming, small group work, cooperative…

Perceptual learning in children with visual impairment improves near visual acuity.

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Huurneman, Bianca; Boonstra, F Nienke; Cox, Ralf F A; van Rens, Ger; Cillessen, Antonius H N

2013-09-17

This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children with visual impairment were divided into three groups: a magnifier group (n = 12), a crowded perceptual learning group (n = 18), and an uncrowded perceptual learning group (n = 15). Children with normal vision also were divided in three groups, but were measured only at baseline. Dependent variables were single near visual acuity (NVA), crowded NVA, LH line 50% crowding NVA, number of trials, accuracy, performance time, amount of small errors, and amount of large errors. Children with visual impairment trained during six weeks, two times per week, for 30 minutes (12 training sessions). After training, children showed significant improvement of NVA in addition to specific improvements on the training task. The crowded perceptual learning group showed the largest acuity improvements (1.7 logMAR lines on the crowded chart, P children in the crowded perceptual learning group showed improvements on all NVA charts. Children with visual impairment benefit from perceptual training. While task-specific improvements were observed in all training groups, transfer to crowded NVA was largest in the crowded perceptual learning group. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide evidence for the improvement of NVA by perceptual learning in children with visual impairment. (http://www.trialregister.nl number, NTR2537.).

Fast Depiction Invariant Visual Similarity for Content Based Image Retrieval Based on Data-driven Visual Similarity using Linear Discriminant Analysis

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Wihardi, Y.; Setiawan, W.; Nugraha, E.

2018-01-01

On this research we try to build CBIRS based on Learning Distance/Similarity Function using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HoG) feature. Our method is invariant to depiction of image, such as similarity of image to image, sketch to image, and painting to image. LDA can decrease execution time compared to state of the art method, but it still needs an improvement in term of accuracy. Inaccuracy in our experiment happen because we did not perform sliding windows search and because of low number of negative samples as natural-world images.

Does peer learning or higher levels of e-learning improve learning abilities? A randomized controlled trial.

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Worm, Bjarne Skjødt; Jensen, Kenneth

2013-01-01

Background and aims The fast development of e-learning and social forums demands us to update our understanding of e-learning and peer learning. We aimed to investigate if higher, pre-defined levels of e-learning or social interaction in web forums improved students' learning ability. Methods One hundred and twenty Danish medical students were randomized to six groups all with 20 students (eCases level 1, eCases level 2, eCases level 2+, eTextbook level 1, eTextbook level 2, and eTextbook level 2+). All students participated in a pre-test, Group 1 participated in an interactive case-based e-learning program, while Group 2 was presented with textbook material electronically. The 2+ groups were able to discuss the material between themselves in a web forum. The subject was head injury and associated treatment and observation guidelines in the emergency room. Following the e-learning, all students completed a post-test. Pre- and post-tests both consisted of 25 questions randomly chosen from a pool of 50 different questions. Results All students concluded the study with comparable pre-test results. Students at Level 2 (in both groups) improved statistically significant compared to students at level 1 (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between level 2 and level 2+. However, level 2+ was associated with statistically significant greater student's satisfaction than the rest of the students (p>0.05). Conclusions This study applies a new way of comparing different types of e-learning using a pre-defined level division and the possibility of peer learning. Our findings show that higher levels of e-learning does in fact provide better results when compared with the same type of e-learning at lower levels. While social interaction in web forums increase student satisfaction, learning ability does not seem to change. Both findings are relevant when designing new e-learning materials.

Does peer learning or higher levels of e-learning improve learning abilities? A randomized controlled trial

Science.gov (United States)

Worm, Bjarne Skjødt; Jensen, Kenneth

2013-01-01

Background and aims The fast development of e-learning and social forums demands us to update our understanding of e-learning and peer learning. We aimed to investigate if higher, pre-defined levels of e-learning or social interaction in web forums improved students’ learning ability. Methods One hundred and twenty Danish medical students were randomized to six groups all with 20 students (eCases level 1, eCases level 2, eCases level 2+, eTextbook level 1, eTextbook level 2, and eTextbook level 2+). All students participated in a pre-test, Group 1 participated in an interactive case-based e-learning program, while Group 2 was presented with textbook material electronically. The 2+ groups were able to discuss the material between themselves in a web forum. The subject was head injury and associated treatment and observation guidelines in the emergency room. Following the e-learning, all students completed a post-test. Pre- and post-tests both consisted of 25 questions randomly chosen from a pool of 50 different questions. Results All students concluded the study with comparable pre-test results. Students at Level 2 (in both groups) improved statistically significant compared to students at level 1 (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between level 2 and level 2+. However, level 2+ was associated with statistically significant greater student's satisfaction than the rest of the students (p>0.05). Conclusions This study applies a new way of comparing different types of e-learning using a pre-defined level division and the possibility of peer learning. Our findings show that higher levels of e-learning does in fact provide better results when compared with the same type of e-learning at lower levels. While social interaction in web forums increase student satisfaction, learning ability does not seem to change. Both findings are relevant when designing new e-learning materials. PMID:24229729

Does peer learning or higher levels of e-learning improve learning abilities? A randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bjarne Skjødt Worm

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Background and aims : The fast development of e-learning and social forums demands us to update our understanding of e-learning and peer learning. We aimed to investigate if higher, pre-defined levels of e-learning or social interaction in web forums improved students’ learning ability. Methods : One hundred and twenty Danish medical students were randomized to six groups all with 20 students (eCases level 1, eCases level 2, eCases level 2+, eTextbook level 1, eTextbook level 2, and eTextbook level 2+. All students participated in a pre-test, Group 1 participated in an interactive case-based e-learning program, while Group 2 was presented with textbook material electronically. The 2+ groups were able to discuss the material between themselves in a web forum. The subject was head injury and associated treatment and observation guidelines in the emergency room. Following the e-learning, all students completed a post-test. Pre- and post-tests both consisted of 25 questions randomly chosen from a pool of 50 different questions. Results : All students concluded the study with comparable pre-test results. Students at Level 2 (in both groups improved statistically significant compared to students at level 1 (p>0.05. There was no statistically significant difference between level 2 and level 2+. However, level 2+ was associated with statistically significant greater student's satisfaction than the rest of the students (p>0.05. Conclusions : This study applies a new way of comparing different types of e-learning using a pre-defined level division and the possibility of peer learning. Our findings show that higher levels of e-learning does in fact provide better results when compared with the same type of e-learning at lower levels. While social interaction in web forums increase student satisfaction, learning ability does not seem to change. Both findings are relevant when designing new e-learning materials.

Learning from Aviation to Improve Safety in the Operating Room - a Systematic Literature Review

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Linda S. G. L. Wauben

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Lessons learned from other high-risk industries could improve patient safety in the operating room (OR. This review describes similarities and differences between high-risk industries and describes current methods and solutions within a system approach to reduce errors in the OR. PubMed and Scopus databases were systematically searched for relevant articles written in the English language published between 2000 and 2011. In total, 25 articles were included, all within the medical domain focusing on the comparison between surgery and aviation. In order to improve safety in the OR, multiple interventions have to be implemented. Additionally, the healthcare organization has to become a ‘learning organization’ and the OR team has to become a team with shared responsibilities and flat hierarchies. Interpersonal and technical skills can be trained by means of simulation and can be supported by implementing team briefings, debriefings and cross-checks. However, further development and research is needed to prove if these solutions are useful, practical, and actually increase safety.

Learned helplessness in chess players: the importance of task similarity and the role of skill.

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Gobet, F R

1992-01-01

The effects of noncontingency between subjects' responses and outcomes were examined with respect to treatment-and-posttest similarity and skill in the task. The experimental design consisted of three groups. The first group had to solve chess problems with objective solutions and received veridical feedback; each member of the second group faced problems with no objective solutions, and received the same feedback as the member of the first group he was yoked with, but without any control on it; the control group received a waiting task. It was found at the end of the experiment that the group with unsolvable problems was more depressed than the two other groups. The mid-strength players were the most sensitive to the manipulation, and the weakest players showed little effect of learned helplessness. It was also found that the effects were proportional to the degree of similarity between the treatment and the posttest. The results limit the domain of applicability of the learned-helplessness model.

A workflow learning model to improve geovisual analytics utility.

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Roth, Robert E; Maceachren, Alan M; McCabe, Craig A

2009-01-01

INTRODUCTION: This paper describes the design and implementation of the G-EX Portal Learn Module, a web-based, geocollaborative application for organizing and distributing digital learning artifacts. G-EX falls into the broader context of geovisual analytics, a new research area with the goal of supporting visually-mediated reasoning about large, multivariate, spatiotemporal information. Because this information is unprecedented in amount and complexity, GIScientists are tasked with the development of new tools and techniques to make sense of it. Our research addresses the challenge of implementing these geovisual analytics tools and techniques in a useful manner. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to develop and implement a method for improving the utility of geovisual analytics software. The success of software is measured by its usability (i.e., how easy the software is to use?) and utility (i.e., how useful the software is). The usability and utility of software can be improved by refining the software, increasing user knowledge about the software, or both. It is difficult to achieve transparent usability (i.e., software that is immediately usable without training) of geovisual analytics software because of the inherent complexity of the included tools and techniques. In these situations, improving user knowledge about the software through the provision of learning artifacts is as important, if not more so, than iterative refinement of the software itself. Therefore, our approach to improving utility is focused on educating the user. METHODOLOGY: The research reported here was completed in two steps. First, we developed a model for learning about geovisual analytics software. Many existing digital learning models assist only with use of the software to complete a specific task and provide limited assistance with its actual application. To move beyond task-oriented learning about software use, we propose a process-oriented approach to learning based on

An active learning curriculum improves fellows' knowledge and faculty teaching skills.

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Inra, Jennifer A; Pelletier, Stephen; Kumar, Navin L; Barnes, Edward L; Shields, Helen M

2017-01-01

Traditional didactic lectures are the mainstay of teaching for graduate medical education, although this method may not be the most effective way to transmit information. We created an active learning curriculum for Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) gastroenterology fellows to maximize learning. We evaluated whether this new curriculum improved perceived knowledge acquisition and knowledge base. In addition, our study assessed whether coaching faculty members in specific methods to enhance active learning improved their perceived teaching and presentation skills. We compared the Gastroenterology Training Exam (GTE) scores before and after the implementation of this curriculum to assess whether an improved knowledge base was documented. In addition, fellows and faculty members were asked to complete anonymous evaluations regarding their learning and teaching experiences. Fifteen fellows were invited to 12 lectures over a 2-year period. GTE scores improved in the areas of stomach ( p active learning curriculum. Scores in hepatology, as well as biliary and pancreatic study, showed a trend toward improvement ( p >0.05). All fellows believed the lectures were helpful, felt more prepared to take the GTE, and preferred the interactive format to traditional didactic lectures. All lecturers agreed that they acquired new teaching skills, improved teaching and presentation skills, and learned new tools that could help them teach better in the future. An active learning curriculum is preferred by GI fellows and may be helpful for improving transmission of information in any specialty in medical education. Individualized faculty coaching sessions demonstrating new ways to transmit information may be important for an individual faculty member's teaching excellence.

Utilizing Lesson Study in Improving Year 12 Students' Learning and Performance in Mathematics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessie Siew Yin Chong

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the use of Lesson Study to improve Year 12 students' performance in conditional probability through Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL lessons. In total, 66 students comprised of three Year 12 classes of similar abilities, and their three respective teachers from a government junior college participated in the study. The instruments used to collect the relevant data in this study were teachers' reflective journals and students' achievement tests. The collected data were then analyzed and interpreted quantitatively using the SPSS. The analysis of the students' pre- and post-tests concluded that as the lesson plans were gradually refined and enhanced, their performance in solving conditional probability questions steadily improved.

Improving the Virtual Learning Development Processes Using XML Standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Suss, Kurt; Oberhofer, Thomas

2002-01-01

Suggests that distributed learning environments and content often lack a common basis for the exchange of learning materials, which can hinder or even delay innovation and delivery of learning technology. Standards for platforms and authoring may provide a way to improve interoperability and cooperative development. Provides an XML-based approach…

Motivation's Influence on English Learning and Strategies for Improving

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

陈玢; 张亚铃

2009-01-01

The article mainly focuses on the relationship between motivation and English learning,the influence of motivation on English learning(That is,English learning motive may be simply viewed as the reason of learning English;different motives will lead to different learning methods;generally speaking,surface motive does not endure longer than deep motive.;strong motivation can lead to final Success.)and six strategies of improving English learning(That is,developing proper attitudes towards English learning and letting students know the pressure of it;goal and feedback;praise and criticism;contest and cooperation;expectation and appraisement;achievement motive.).

Learning, memory and exploratory similarities in genetically identical cloned dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Chi Won; Kim, Geon A; Park, Won Jun; Park, Kwan Yong; Jeon, Jeong Min; Oh, Hyun Ju; Kim, Min Jung; Lee, Byeong Chun

2016-12-30

Somatic cell nuclear transfer allows generation of genetically identical animals using donor cells derived from animals with particular traits. To date, few studies have investigated whether or not these cloned dogs will show identical behavior patterns. To address this question, learning, memory and exploratory patterns were examined using six cloned dogs with identical nuclear genomes. The variance of total incorrect choice number in the Y-maze test among cloned dogs was significantly lower than that of the control dogs. There was also a significant decrease in variance in the level of exploratory activity in the open fields test compared to age-matched control dogs. These results indicate that cloned dogs show similar cognitive and exploratory patterns, suggesting that these behavioral phenotypes are related to the genotypes of the individuals.

A Journey Through Self-Assessment, Learning, and Continous Improvement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Frances

The main objective of the research presented in this thesis is to describe and understand the process and effects of facilitated Continuos Improvement (CI) on group learning in order to infer actionable CI implementation knowledge. In order to fulfil this objective, a longitudinal study....... The thesis also includes brief overviews of the relevant leterature, including continuos improvement, self-assesment, group and organizational learning, and organizational culture....

Improving Student Learning Outcomes Marketing Strategy Lesson By Applying SFAE Learning Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Winda Nur Rohmawati

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Research objectives for improving student learning outcomes on the subjects of marketing strategy through the implementation of model learning SFAE. This type of research this is a class action research using a qualitative approach which consists of two cycles with the subject Marketing X grade SMK YPI Darussalam 2 Cerme Gresik Regency. This research consists of four stages: (1 the Planning Act, (2 the implementation of the action, (3 observations (observation, and (4 Reflection. The result of the research shows that cognitive and affective learning outcomes of students have increased significantly.

Similarities and Differences between Underachievers and Students Labeled Learning Disabled: Identical Twins with Different Mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ysseldyke, James E.; And Others

School identified learning disabled (LD) fourth graders (N=50) were compared with 49 fourth graders who were underachieving in school (non-LD) but were not identified as LD. Both groups were administered a battery of psychoeducational tests and their performances were compared on all measures. Results indicated considerable similarities between…

Replacing lecture with peer-led workshops improves student learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Preszler, Ralph W

2009-01-01

Peer-facilitated workshops enhanced interactivity in our introductory biology course, which led to increased student engagement and learning. A majority of students preferred attending two lectures and a workshop each week over attending three weekly lectures. In the workshops, students worked in small cooperative groups as they solved challenging problems, evaluated case studies, and participated in activities designed to improve their general learning skills. Students in the workshop version of the course scored higher on exam questions recycled from preworkshop semesters. Grades were higher over three workshop semesters in comparison with the seven preworkshop semesters. Although males and females benefited from workshops, there was a larger improvement of grades and increased retention by female students; although underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM students benefited from workshops, there was a larger improvement of grades by URM students. As well as improving student performance and retention, the addition of interactive workshops also improved the quality of student learning: Student scores on exam questions that required higher-level thinking increased from preworkshop to workshop semesters.

AR-based Technoself Enhanced Learning Approach to Improving Student Engagement

OpenAIRE

Jin, L.; Huang, W.; Wen, Z.

2016-01-01

The emerging technologies have expanded a new dimension of self – ‘technoself’ driven by socio-technical innovations and taken an important step forward in pervasive learning. Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) research has increasingly focused on emergent technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) for augmented learning, mobile learning, and game-based learning in order to improve self-motivation and self-engagement of the learners in enriched multimodal learning environments. These researc...

Improving Students' Intrinsic Motivation in Piano Learning: Expert Teacher Voices

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zijia; Southcott, Jane

2016-01-01

Many students learn to play the piano but some lack the motivation to continue learning. Many students learn for extrinsic reasons. This research will explore understandings about student motivation held by expert piano teachers who have developed strategies to improve their students' intrinsic motivation to begin and continue learning. This small…

The Impact of Protein Structure and Sequence Similarity on the Accuracy of Machine-Learning Scoring Functions for Binding Affinity Prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hongjian; Peng, Jiangjun; Leung, Yee; Leung, Kwong-Sak; Wong, Man-Hon; Lu, Gang; Ballester, Pedro J

2018-03-14

It has recently been claimed that the outstanding performance of machine-learning scoring functions (SFs) is exclusively due to the presence of training complexes with highly similar proteins to those in the test set. Here, we revisit this question using 24 similarity-based training sets, a widely used test set, and four SFs. Three of these SFs employ machine learning instead of the classical linear regression approach of the fourth SF (X-Score which has the best test set performance out of 16 classical SFs). We have found that random forest (RF)-based RF-Score-v3 outperforms X-Score even when 68% of the most similar proteins are removed from the training set. In addition, unlike X-Score, RF-Score-v3 is able to keep learning with an increasing training set size, becoming substantially more predictive than X-Score when the full 1105 complexes are used for training. These results show that machine-learning SFs owe a substantial part of their performance to training on complexes with dissimilar proteins to those in the test set, against what has been previously concluded using the same data. Given that a growing amount of structural and interaction data will be available from academic and industrial sources, this performance gap between machine-learning SFs and classical SFs is expected to enlarge in the future.

Quantity-quality measuring method possibilities in improving operator's learning quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zvonarev, V.P.

1984-01-01

Possibilities of obtainnjng qualitative-quantitative estimations of different aspects of learning process and their application in determination of learning purposes, substantiation of the training program choice of types and forms of studies directed at quality improvement of operator learning are considered

ICTs to improve learning and research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, Ton

2014-01-01

1. Content Some 20 years ago, expectations for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) were rather ambitious. ICTs were expected to improve both personal and institutional performance, leading to higher outcomes and a better life for all. Learning and ICTs also became important issues in

Performance in physiology evaluation: possible improvement by active learning strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Montrezor, Luís H

2016-12-01

The evaluation process is complex and extremely important in the teaching/learning process. Evaluations are constantly employed in the classroom to assist students in the learning process and to help teachers improve the teaching process. The use of active methodologies encourages students to participate in the learning process, encourages interaction with their peers, and stimulates thinking about physiological mechanisms. This study examined the performance of medical students on physiology over four semesters with and without active engagement methodologies. Four activities were used: a puzzle, a board game, a debate, and a video. The results show that engaging in activities with active methodologies before a physiology cognitive monitoring test significantly improved student performance compared with not performing the activities. We integrate the use of these methodologies with classic lectures, and this integration appears to improve the teaching/learning process in the discipline of physiology and improves the integration of physiology with cardiology and neurology. In addition, students enjoy the activities and perform better on their evaluations when they use them. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

Continuous Improvement and Collaborative Improvement: Similarities and Differences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Middel, H.G.A.; Boer, Harm; Fisscher, O.A.M.

2006-01-01

A substantial body of theoretical and practical knowledge has been developed on continuous improvement. However, there is still a considerable lack of empirically grounded contributions and theories on collaborative improvement, that is, continuous improvement in an inter-organizational setting. The

The effectiveness of collaborative problem based physics learning (CPBPL) model to improve student’s self-confidence on physics learning

Science.gov (United States)

Prahani, B. K.; Suprapto, N.; Suliyanah; Lestari, N. A.; Jauhariyah, M. N. R.; Admoko, S.; Wahyuni, S.

2018-03-01

In the previous research, Collaborative Problem Based Physic Learning (CPBPL) model has been developed to improve student’s science process skills, collaborative problem solving, and self-confidence on physics learning. This research is aimed to analyze the effectiveness of CPBPL model towards the improvement of student’s self-confidence on physics learning. This research implemented quasi experimental design on 140 senior high school students who were divided into 4 groups. Data collection was conducted through questionnaire, observation, and interview. Self-confidence measurement was conducted through Self-Confidence Evaluation Sheet (SCES). The data was analyzed using Wilcoxon test, n-gain, and Kruskal Wallis test. Result shows that: (1) There is a significant score improvement on student’s self-confidence on physics learning (α=5%), (2) n-gain value student’s self-confidence on physics learning is high, and (3) n-gain average student’s self-confidence on physics learning was consistent throughout all groups. It can be concluded that CPBPL model is effective to improve student’s self-confidence on physics learning.

IMPROVING THE VIRTUAL LEARNING DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES USING XML STANDARDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kurt Suss

2002-06-01

Full Text Available Distributed Icarning environments and content often lack a common basis for the cxchange of learning materials. This delays, or even hinders, both innovation and delivery of learning tecnology. Standards for platforms and authoring may provide a way to improve interoperability and cooperative development. This article provides an XML-based approach to this problem creaied by the IMS Global Learning Consortium.

Social incentives improve deliberative but not procedural learning in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorlick, Marissa A; Maddox, W Todd

2015-01-01

Age-related deficits are seen across tasks where learning depends on asocial feedback processing, however plasticity has been observed in some of the same tasks in social contexts suggesting a novel way to attenuate deficits. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests this plasticity is due to a deliberative motivational shift toward achieving well-being with age (positivity effect) that reverses when executive processes are limited (negativity effect). The present study examined the interaction of feedback valence (positive, negative) and social salience (emotional face feedback - happy; angry, asocial point feedback - gain; loss) on learning in a deliberative task that challenges executive processes and a procedural task that does not. We predict that angry face feedback will improve learning in a deliberative task when executive function is challenged. We tested two competing hypotheses regarding the interactive effects of deliberative emotional biases on automatic feedback processing: (1) If deliberative emotion regulation and automatic feedback are interactive we expect happy face feedback to improve learning and angry face feedback to impair learning in older adults because cognitive control is available. (2) If deliberative emotion regulation and automatic feedback are not interactive we predict that emotional face feedback will not improve procedural learning regardless of valence. Results demonstrate that older adults show persistent deficits relative to younger adults during procedural category learning suggesting that deliberative emotional biases do not interact with automatic feedback processing. Interestingly, a subgroup of older adults identified as potentially using deliberative strategies tended to learn as well as younger adults with angry relative to happy feedback, matching the pattern observed in the deliberative task. Results suggest that deliberative emotional biases can improve deliberative learning, but have no effect on procedural learning.

Improvement of Inquiry in a Complex Technology-Enhanced Learning Environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pedaste, Margus; Kori, Külli; Maeots, Mario; de Jong, Anthonius J.M.; Riopel, Martin; Smyrnaiou, Zacharoula

2016-01-01

Inquiry learning is an effective approach in science education. Complex technology-enhanced learning environments are needed to apply inquiry worldwide to support knowledge gain and improvement of inquiry skills. In our study, we applied an ecology mission in the SCY-Lab learning environment and

Dataset-driven research for improving recommender systems for learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbert, Katrien; Drachsler, Hendrik; Manouselis, Nikos; Wolpers, Martin; Vuorikari, Riina; Duval, Erik

2011-01-01

Verbert, K., Drachsler, H., Manouselis, N., Wolpers, M., Vuorikari, R., & Duval, E. (2011). Dataset-driven research for improving recommender systems for learning. In Ph. Long, & G. Siemens (Eds.), Proceedings of 1st International Conference Learning Analytics & Knowledge (pp. 44-53). February,

Do quality improvement collaboratives' educational components match the dominant learning style preferences of the participants?

Science.gov (United States)

Weggelaar-Jansen, Anne Marie; van Wijngaarden, Jeroen; Slaghuis, Sarah-Sue

2015-06-20

Quality improvement collaboratives are used to improve healthcare by various organizations. Despite their popularity literature shows mixed results on their effectiveness. A quality improvement collaborative can be seen as a temporary learning organization in which knowledge about improvement themes and methods is exchanged. In this research we studied: Does the learning approach of a quality improvement collaborative match the learning styles preferences of the individual participants and how does that affect the learning process of participants? This research used a mixed methods design combining a validated learning style questionnaire with data collected in the tradition of action research methodology to study two Dutch quality improvement collaboratives. The questionnaire is based on the learning style model of Ruijters and Simons, distinguishing five learning style preferences: Acquisition of knowledge, Apperception from others, Discovery of new insights, Exercising in fictitious situations and Participation with others. The most preferred learning styles of the participants were Discovery and Participation. The learning style Acquisition was moderately preferred and Apperception and Exercising were least preferred. The educational components of the quality improvement collaboratives studied (national conferences, half-day learning sessions, faculty site visits and use of an online tool) were predominantly associated with the learning styles Acquisition and Apperception. We observed a decrease in attendance to the learning activities and non-conformance with the standardized set goals and approaches. We conclude that the participants' satisfaction with the offered learning approach changed over time. The lacking match between these learning style preferences and the learning approach in the educational components of the quality improvement collaboratives studied might be the reason why the participants felt they did not gain new insights and therefore ceased

Improving together: collaborative learning in science communication

Science.gov (United States)

Stiller-Reeve, Mathew

2015-04-01

Most scientists today recognise that science communication is an important part of the scientific process. Despite this recognition, science writing and communication are generally taught outside the normal academic schedule. If universities offer such courses, they are generally short-term and intensive. On the positive side, such courses rarely fail to motivate. At no fault of their own, the problem with such courses lies in their ephemeral nature. The participants rarely complete a science communication course with an immediate and pressing need to apply these skills. And so the skills fade. We believe that this stalls real progress in the improvement of science communication across the board. Continuity is one of the keys to success! Whilst we wait for the academic system to truly integrate science communication, we can test and develop other approaches. We suggest a new approach that aims to motivate scientists to continue nurturing their communication skills. This approach adopts a collaborative learning framework where scientists form writing groups that meet regularly at different institutes around the world. The members of the groups learn, discuss and improve together. The participants produce short posts, which are published online. In this way, the participants learn and cement basic writing skills. These skills are transferrable, and can be applied to scientific articles as well as other science communication media. In this presentation we reflect on an ongoing project, which applies a collaborative learning framework to help young and early career scientists improve their writing skills. We see that this type of project could be extended to other media such as podcasts, or video shorts.

Contextualizing learning to improve care using collaborative communities of practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffs, Lianne; McShane, Julie; Flintoft, Virginia; White, Peggy; Indar, Alyssa; Maione, Maria; Lopez, A J; Bookey-Bassett, Sue; Scavuzzo, Lauren

2016-09-02

The use of interorganizational, collaborative approaches to build capacity in quality improvement (QI) in health care is showing promise as a useful model for scaling up and accelerating the implementation of interventions that bridge the "know-do" gap to improve clinical care and provider outcomes. Fundamental to a collaborative approach is interorganizational learning whereby organizations acquire, share, and combine knowledge with other organizations and have the opportunity to learn from their respective successes and challenges in improvement areas. This learning approach aims to create the conditions for collaborative, reflective, and innovative experiential systems that enable collective discussions regarding daily practice issues and finding solutions for improvement. The concepts associated with interorganizational learning and deliberate learning activities within a collaborative 'Communities-of-practice'(CoP) approach formed the foundation of the of an interactive QI knowledge translation initiative entitled PERFORM KT. Nine teams participated including seven teams from two acute care hospitals, one from a long term care center, and one from a mental health sciences center. Six monthly CoP learning sessions were held and teams, with the support of an assigned mentor, implemented a QI project and monitored their results which were presented at an end of project symposium. 47 individuals participated in either a focus group or a personal interview. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using an iterative content analysis. Four key themes emerged from the narrative dataset around experiences and perceptions associated with the PERFORM KT initiative: 1) being successful and taking it to other levels by being systematic, structured, and mentored; 2) taking it outside the comfort zone by being exposed to new concepts and learning together; 3) hearing feedback, exchanging stories, and getting new ideas; and 4) having a pragmatic and accommodating approach to

Similarity-based pattern analysis and recognition

CERN Document Server

Pelillo, Marcello

2013-01-01

This accessible text/reference presents a coherent overview of the emerging field of non-Euclidean similarity learning. The book presents a broad range of perspectives on similarity-based pattern analysis and recognition methods, from purely theoretical challenges to practical, real-world applications. The coverage includes both supervised and unsupervised learning paradigms, as well as generative and discriminative models. Topics and features: explores the origination and causes of non-Euclidean (dis)similarity measures, and how they influence the performance of traditional classification alg

Perceptual learning as improved probabilistic inference in early sensory areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Bejjanki, Vikranth R; Beck, Jeffrey M; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Pouget, Alexandre

2011-05-01

Extensive training on simple tasks such as fine orientation discrimination results in large improvements in performance, a form of learning known as perceptual learning. Previous models have argued that perceptual learning is due to either sharpening and amplification of tuning curves in early visual areas or to improved probabilistic inference in later visual areas (at the decision stage). However, early theories are inconsistent with the conclusions of psychophysical experiments manipulating external noise, whereas late theories cannot explain the changes in neural responses that have been reported in cortical areas V1 and V4. Here we show that we can capture both the neurophysiological and behavioral aspects of perceptual learning by altering only the feedforward connectivity in a recurrent network of spiking neurons so as to improve probabilistic inference in early visual areas. The resulting network shows modest changes in tuning curves, in line with neurophysiological reports, along with a marked reduction in the amplitude of pairwise noise correlations.

Think Pair Share (TPS as Method to Improve Student’s Learning Motivation and Learning Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hetika Hetika

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This research aims to find out the application of Think Pair Share (TPS learning method in improving learning motivation and learning achievement in the subject of Introduction to Accounting I of the Accounting Study Program students of Politeknik Harapan Bersama. The Method of data collection in this study used observation method, test method, and documentation method. The research instruments used observation sheet, questionnaire and test question. This research used Class Action Research Design which is an action implementation oriented research, with the aim of improving quality or problem solving in a group by carefully and observing the success rate due to the action. The method of analysis used descriptive qualitative and quantitative analysis method. The results showed that the application of Think Pair Share Learning (TPS Method can improve the Learning Motivation and Achievement. Before the implementation of the action, the obtained score is 67% then in the first cycle increases to 72%, and in the second cycle increasws to 80%. In addition, based on questionnaires distributed to students, it also increases the score of Accounting Learning Motivation where the score in the first cycle of 76% increases to 79%. In addition, in the first cycle, the score of pre test and post test of the students has increased from 68.86 to 76.71 while in the second cycle the score of pre test and post test of students has increased from 79.86 to 84.86.

Effects of Improving Primary Health Care Workers’ Knowledge About Public Health Services in Rural China: A Comparative Study of Blended Learning and Pure E-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Xingxin; Zhang, Zhixia; Sun, Fang; Liu, Qian; Peng, Weijun; Zhang, Heng

2017-01-01

.63 (95% CI 1.08-2.48; P=.02). Conclusions Among PHCWs in rural China, a blended-learning approach to BPHS training could result in a higher knowledge achievement and satisfaction level compared with a pure e-learning approach. The findings of the study will contribute knowledge to improve the competency of PHCWs in similar settings. PMID:28461286

Using relational databases for improved sequence similarity searching and large-scale genomic analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackey, Aaron J; Pearson, William R

2004-10-01

Relational databases are designed to integrate diverse types of information and manage large sets of search results, greatly simplifying genome-scale analyses. Relational databases are essential for management and analysis of large-scale sequence analyses, and can also be used to improve the statistical significance of similarity searches by focusing on subsets of sequence libraries most likely to contain homologs. This unit describes using relational databases to improve the efficiency of sequence similarity searching and to demonstrate various large-scale genomic analyses of homology-related data. This unit describes the installation and use of a simple protein sequence database, seqdb_demo, which is used as a basis for the other protocols. These include basic use of the database to generate a novel sequence library subset, how to extend and use seqdb_demo for the storage of sequence similarity search results and making use of various kinds of stored search results to address aspects of comparative genomic analysis.

Performance in Physiology Evaluation: Possible Improvement by Active Learning Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Montrezor, Luís H.

2016-01-01

The evaluation process is complex and extremely important in the teaching/learning process. Evaluations are constantly employed in the classroom to assist students in the learning process and to help teachers improve the teaching process. The use of active methodologies encourages students to participate in the learning process, encourages…

Strategies to Improve Learning of All Students in a Class

Science.gov (United States)

Suraishkumar, G. K.

2018-01-01

The statistical distribution of the student learning abilities in a typical undergraduate engineering class poses a significant challenge to simultaneously improve the learning of all the students in the class. With traditional instruction styles, the students with significantly high learning abilities are not satisfied due to a feeling of…

Social Incentives Improve Deliberative But Not Procedural Learning in Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marissa A Gorlick

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Age-related deficits are seen across tasks where learning depends on asocial feedback processing, however plasticity has been observed in some of the same tasks in social contexts suggesting a novel way to attenuate deficits. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests this plasticity is due to a deliberative motivational shift toward achieving well-being with age (positivity effect that reverses when executive processes are limited (negativity effect. The present study examined the interaction of feedback valence (positive, negative and social salience (emotional face feedback – happy; angry, asocial point feedback – gain; loss on learning in a deliberative task that challenges executive processes and a procedural task that does not. We predict that angry face feedback will improve learning in a deliberative task when executive function is challenged. We tested two competing hypotheses regarding the interactive effects of deliberative emotional biases on automatic feedback processing: 1 If deliberative emotion regulation and automatic feedback are interactive we expect happy face feedback to improve learning and angry face feedback to impair learning in older adults because cognitive control is available. 2 If deliberative emotion regulation and automatic feedback are not interactive we predict that emotional face feedback will not improve procedural learning regardless of valence. Results demonstrate that older adults show persistent deficits relative to younger adults during procedural category learning suggesting that deliberative emotional biases do not interact with automatic feedback processing. Interestingly, a subgroup of older adults identified as potentially using deliberative strategies tended to learn as well as younger adults with angry relative to happy feedback, matching the pattern observed in the deliberative task. Results suggest that deliberative emotional biases can improve deliberative learning, but have no effect on

Promoting Continuous Quality Improvement in the Alabama Child Health Improvement Alliance Through Q-Sort Methodology and Learning Collaboratives.

Science.gov (United States)

Fifolt, Matthew; Preskitt, Julie; Rucks, Andrew; Corvey, Kathryn; Benton, Elizabeth Cason

Q-sort methodology is an underutilized tool for differentiating among multiple priority measures. The authors describe steps to identify, delimit, and sort potential health measures and use selected priority measures to establish an overall agenda for continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities within learning collaboratives. Through an iterative process, the authors vetted a list of potential child and adolescent health measures. Multiple stakeholders, including payers, direct care providers, and organizational representatives sorted and prioritized measures, using Q-methodology. Q-methodology provided the Alabama Child Health Improvement Alliance (ACHIA) an objective and rigorous approach to system improvement. Selected priority measures were used to design learning collaboratives. An open dialogue among stakeholders about state health priorities spurred greater organizational buy-in for ACHIA and increased its credibility as a statewide provider of learning collaboratives. The integrated processes of Q-sort methodology, learning collaboratives, and CQI offer a practical yet innovative way to identify and prioritize state measures for child and adolescent health and establish a learning agenda for targeted quality improvement activities.

The Effect of Learning Type and Avatar Similarity on Learning Outcomes in Educational Video Games

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Melissa L.

2009-01-01

Two theories guide two very different ideas about learning. Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977, 1989) places the greater emphasis on observational learning, or learning by watching a model produce a behavior before doing it oneself. Other researchers purport that experiential learning, or learning by doing, results in stronger learning (Kolb,…

Communication: Understanding molecular representations in machine learning: The role of uniqueness and target similarity

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Bing; von Lilienfeld, O. Anatole

2016-10-01

The predictive accuracy of Machine Learning (ML) models of molecular properties depends on the choice of the molecular representation. Inspired by the postulates of quantum mechanics, we introduce a hierarchy of representations which meet uniqueness and target similarity criteria. To systematically control target similarity, we simply rely on interatomic many body expansions, as implemented in universal force-fields, including Bonding, Angular (BA), and higher order terms. Addition of higher order contributions systematically increases similarity to the true potential energy and predictive accuracy of the resulting ML models. We report numerical evidence for the performance of BAML models trained on molecular properties pre-calculated at electron-correlated and density functional theory level of theory for thousands of small organic molecules. Properties studied include enthalpies and free energies of atomization, heat capacity, zero-point vibrational energies, dipole-moment, polarizability, HOMO/LUMO energies and gap, ionization potential, electron affinity, and electronic excitations. After training, BAML predicts energies or electronic properties of out-of-sample molecules with unprecedented accuracy and speed.

Improving Education in Medical Statistics: Implementing a Blended Learning Model in the Existing Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Milic, Natasa M; Trajkovic, Goran Z; Bukumiric, Zoran M; Cirkovic, Andja; Nikolic, Ivan M; Milin, Jelena S; Milic, Nikola V; Savic, Marko D; Corac, Aleksandar M; Marinkovic, Jelena M; Stanisavljevic, Dejana M

2016-01-01

Although recent studies report on the benefits of blended learning in improving medical student education, there is still no empirical evidence on the relative effectiveness of blended over traditional learning approaches in medical statistics. We implemented blended along with on-site (i.e. face-to-face) learning to further assess the potential value of web-based learning in medical statistics. This was a prospective study conducted with third year medical undergraduate students attending the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, who passed (440 of 545) the final exam of the obligatory introductory statistics course during 2013-14. Student statistics achievements were stratified based on the two methods of education delivery: blended learning and on-site learning. Blended learning included a combination of face-to-face and distance learning methodologies integrated into a single course. Mean exam scores for the blended learning student group were higher than for the on-site student group for both final statistics score (89.36±6.60 vs. 86.06±8.48; p = 0.001) and knowledge test score (7.88±1.30 vs. 7.51±1.36; p = 0.023) with a medium effect size. There were no differences in sex or study duration between the groups. Current grade point average (GPA) was higher in the blended group. In a multivariable regression model, current GPA and knowledge test scores were associated with the final statistics score after adjusting for study duration and learning modality (pstatistics to undergraduate medical students. Blended and on-site training formats led to similar knowledge acquisition; however, students with higher GPA preferred the technology assisted learning format. Implementation of blended learning approaches can be considered an attractive, cost-effective, and efficient alternative to traditional classroom training in medical statistics.

Improving Education in Medical Statistics: Implementing a Blended Learning Model in the Existing Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Milic, Natasa M.; Trajkovic, Goran Z.; Bukumiric, Zoran M.; Cirkovic, Andja; Nikolic, Ivan M.; Milin, Jelena S.; Milic, Nikola V.; Savic, Marko D.; Corac, Aleksandar M.; Marinkovic, Jelena M.; Stanisavljevic, Dejana M.

2016-01-01

Background Although recent studies report on the benefits of blended learning in improving medical student education, there is still no empirical evidence on the relative effectiveness of blended over traditional learning approaches in medical statistics. We implemented blended along with on-site (i.e. face-to-face) learning to further assess the potential value of web-based learning in medical statistics. Methods This was a prospective study conducted with third year medical undergraduate students attending the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, who passed (440 of 545) the final exam of the obligatory introductory statistics course during 2013–14. Student statistics achievements were stratified based on the two methods of education delivery: blended learning and on-site learning. Blended learning included a combination of face-to-face and distance learning methodologies integrated into a single course. Results Mean exam scores for the blended learning student group were higher than for the on-site student group for both final statistics score (89.36±6.60 vs. 86.06±8.48; p = 0.001) and knowledge test score (7.88±1.30 vs. 7.51±1.36; p = 0.023) with a medium effect size. There were no differences in sex or study duration between the groups. Current grade point average (GPA) was higher in the blended group. In a multivariable regression model, current GPA and knowledge test scores were associated with the final statistics score after adjusting for study duration and learning modality (plearning environments for teaching medical statistics to undergraduate medical students. Blended and on-site training formats led to similar knowledge acquisition; however, students with higher GPA preferred the technology assisted learning format. Implementation of blended learning approaches can be considered an attractive, cost-effective, and efficient alternative to traditional classroom training in medical statistics. PMID:26859832

Organisational learning: A tool for continuous improvement of the organization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, J. L.; Esteban, M. J.

2013-01-01

We are used to hear a success company in today's world is not possible unless a continuous improvement is developed. How can we be successful in the nuclear plant? We have to achieve safety for workers, people and environment in the first step, and for the second step availability and reliability for systems and components to avoid failure of components that could reduce availability. The aim is to search for new measures to reach this way. One of the improvements implemented in the plants to improve continuously was mainly Operating Experience activities, which was based in event analysis in the plants, causes identification, and to implement corrective actions. For External Operating Experience the aim was to learn from others to avoid occurrence of events in our plants. This was the lessons learned from Three Mile Island event. This was the learning process implemented so far, to get a continuous improvement. So far, the developed capabilities for process improvement follow the Operating Experience process that could be considered classical and will be revitalized nowadays. (Author)

Strategies for improving students' motivation in the learning of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Strategies for improving students' motivation in the learning of French as a foreign language. ... learning should be made fun. The paper recommends that French teachers should give themselves to reading, writing and interaction with colleagues in French and in addition use varieties of methods and materials in teaching.

Cultivating collaborative improvement: an action learning approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Middel, H.G.A.; McNichols, Timothy

2006-01-01

The process of implementing collaborative initiatives across disparate members of supply networks is fraught with difficulties. One approach designed to tackle the difficulties of organisational change and interorganisational improvement in practice is 'action learning'. This paper examines the

Professionals learning together with patients: An exploratory study of a collaborative learning Fellowship programme for healthcare improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Myron, Rowan; French, Catherine; Sullivan, Paul; Sathyamoorthy, Ganesh; Barlow, James; Pomeroy, Linda

2018-05-01

Improving the quality of healthcare involves collaboration between many different stakeholders. Collaborative learning theory suggests that teaching different professional groups alongside each other may enable them to develop skills in how to collaborate effectively, but there is little literature on how this works in practice. Further, though it is recognised that patients play a fundamental role in quality improvement, there are few examples of where they learn together with professionals. To contribute to addressing this gap, we review a collaborative fellowship in Northwest London, designed to build capacity to improve healthcare, which enabled patients and professionals to learn together. Using the lens of collaborative learning, we conducted an exploratory study of six cohorts of the year long programme (71 participants). Data were collected using open text responses from an online survey (n = 31) and semi-structured interviews (n = 34) and analysed using an inductive open coding approach. The collaborative design of the Fellowship, which included bringing multiple perspectives to discussions of real world problems, was valued by participants who reflected on the safe, egalitarian space created by the programme. Participants (healthcare professionals and patients) found this way of learning initially challenging yet ultimately productive. Despite the pedagogical and practical challenges of developing a collaborative programme, this study indicates that opening up previously restricted learning opportunities as widely as possible, to include patients and carers, is an effective mechanism to develop collaborative skills for quality improvement.

A Qualitative Study to Improve the Student Learning Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Jastania, Raid A.; Balata, Gehan F.; Abd El-Hady, Mohamed I. S.; Gouda, Ahmad; Abd El-Wahab, Mohamad; Mohamad, Abeer S.; Ibrahim, Nashwa M.; Beshr, Eman; Mahdi, Abeer Y.; Mousa, Rabab; Tag, Batool F.; Hisham, Hadeel; El-Sofiani, Ibtehal

2017-01-01

Purpose: For any educational institution, student satisfaction is an important goal. Thus, the purpose of the study is to use a structured improvement process, define--measure--analyse--improve--control (DMAIC) methodology, to improve students' satisfaction regarding their learning experience at the College of Pharmacy/Umm Al-Qura University.…

Job-demand for learning and job-related learning: the mediating effect of job performance improvement initiatives

OpenAIRE

Loon, M; Bartram, T

2007-01-01

This study examined whether job-performance-improvementinitiatives mediate the relationship between individuals’ job-demand for learning and job-related learning. Data were obtained from 115 full-time\\ud employees in a diverse range of occupations. A partial least squares analysis revealed that job-performance-improvement-initiatives mediate partially the effects of job-demand for learning on job-related learning. Several implications\\ud for future research and policy are drawn from the findi...

Quality Improvement and Learning in Productive Systems

OpenAIRE

Charles H. Fine

1986-01-01

Recent interest in product quality suggests that effort devoted to improving the quality of manufactured products may reduce unit costs. This conjecture---that improving quality can lower costs---challenges the traditional assumption that unit costs increase with increased quality assurance activities and has significant implications for quality management. By introducing the idea of a quality-based learning curve, this paper links the previously disjoint literatures of quality control and le...

Metric Learning for Hyperspectral Image Segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Bue, Brian D.; Thompson, David R.; Gilmore, Martha S.; Castano, Rebecca

2011-01-01

We present a metric learning approach to improve the performance of unsupervised hyperspectral image segmentation. Unsupervised spatial segmentation can assist both user visualization and automatic recognition of surface features. Analysts can use spatially-continuous segments to decrease noise levels and/or localize feature boundaries. However, existing segmentation methods use tasks-agnostic measures of similarity. Here we learn task-specific similarity measures from training data, improving segment fidelity to classes of interest. Multiclass Linear Discriminate Analysis produces a linear transform that optimally separates a labeled set of training classes. The defines a distance metric that generalized to a new scenes, enabling graph-based segmentation that emphasizes key spectral features. We describe tests based on data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer (CRISM) in which learned metrics improve segment homogeneity with respect to mineralogical classes.

Professional Learning Communities: Teachers Working Collaboratively for Continuous Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Griffith, Louise Ann

2009-01-01

Current research indicates that a professional learning community (PLC) is an effective means for helping teachers to bridge the gap between research and practice. A PLC is a team of educators systematically working together to improve teaching practice and student learning. This study evaluated the PLC formed by teachers at a public elementary…

Learning material recommendation based on case-based reasoning similarity scores

Science.gov (United States)

Masood, Mona; Mokmin, Nur Azlina Mohamed

2017-10-01

A personalized learning material recommendation is important in any Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). Case-based Reasoning (CBR) is an Artificial Intelligent Algorithm that has been widely used in the development of ITS applications. This study has developed an ITS application that applied the CBR algorithm in the development process. The application has the ability to recommend the most suitable learning material to the specific student based on information in the student profile. In order to test the ability of the application in recommending learning material, two versions of the application were created. The first version displayed the most suitable learning material and the second version displayed the least preferable learning material. The results show the application has successfully assigned the students to the most suitable learning material.

Improving orbit prediction accuracy through supervised machine learning

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Hao; Bai, Xiaoli

2018-05-01

Due to the lack of information such as the space environment condition and resident space objects' (RSOs') body characteristics, current orbit predictions that are solely grounded on physics-based models may fail to achieve required accuracy for collision avoidance and have led to satellite collisions already. This paper presents a methodology to predict RSOs' trajectories with higher accuracy than that of the current methods. Inspired by the machine learning (ML) theory through which the models are learned based on large amounts of observed data and the prediction is conducted without explicitly modeling space objects and space environment, the proposed ML approach integrates physics-based orbit prediction algorithms with a learning-based process that focuses on reducing the prediction errors. Using a simulation-based space catalog environment as the test bed, the paper demonstrates three types of generalization capability for the proposed ML approach: (1) the ML model can be used to improve the same RSO's orbit information that is not available during the learning process but shares the same time interval as the training data; (2) the ML model can be used to improve predictions of the same RSO at future epochs; and (3) the ML model based on a RSO can be applied to other RSOs that share some common features.

Effects of Improving Primary Health Care Workers' Knowledge About Public Health Services in Rural China: A Comparative Study of Blended Learning and Pure E-Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Xingxin; Zhang, Zhixia; Sun, Fang; Liu, Qian; Peng, Weijun; Zhang, Heng; Yan, Weirong

2017-05-01

rural China, a blended-learning approach to BPHS training could result in a higher knowledge achievement and satisfaction level compared with a pure e-learning approach. The findings of the study will contribute knowledge to improve the competency of PHCWs in similar settings. ©Xingxin Zhan, Zhixia Zhang, Fang Sun, Qian Liu, Weijun Peng, Heng Zhang, Weirong Yan. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 01.05.2017.

iPads: Improving Numeracy Learning in the Early Years

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, Peta

2013-01-01

The concept of mobile technologies is now an emergency theme in educational research, yet the playing of these edutainment applications and their impact on early childhood learning needs to be fully explored. This study highlights current research and explores how iPads improve student learning. It also examines how the introduction of iPads,…

Make Gestures to Learn: Reproducing Gestures Improves the Learning of Anatomical Knowledge More than Just Seeing Gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherdieu, Mélaine; Palombi, Olivier; Gerber, Silvain; Troccaz, Jocelyne; Rochet-Capellan, Amélie

2017-01-01

Manual gestures can facilitate problem solving but also language or conceptual learning. Both seeing and making the gestures during learning seem to be beneficial. However, the stronger activation of the motor system in the second case should provide supplementary cues to consolidate and re-enact the mental traces created during learning. We tested this hypothesis in the context of anatomy learning by naïve adult participants. Anatomy is a challenging topic to learn and is of specific interest for research on embodied learning, as the learning content can be directly linked to learners' body. Two groups of participants were asked to look at a video lecture on the forearm anatomy. The video included a model making gestures related to the content of the lecture. Both groups see the gestures but only one also imitate the model. Tests of knowledge were run just after learning and few days later. The results revealed that imitating gestures improves the recall of structures names and their localization on a diagram. This effect was however significant only in long-term assessments. This suggests that: (1) the integration of motor actions and knowledge may require sleep; (2) a specific activation of the motor system during learning may improve the consolidation and/or the retrieval of memories.

Make Gestures to Learn: Reproducing Gestures Improves the Learning of Anatomical Knowledge More than Just Seeing Gestures

Science.gov (United States)

Cherdieu, Mélaine; Palombi, Olivier; Gerber, Silvain; Troccaz, Jocelyne; Rochet-Capellan, Amélie

2017-01-01

Manual gestures can facilitate problem solving but also language or conceptual learning. Both seeing and making the gestures during learning seem to be beneficial. However, the stronger activation of the motor system in the second case should provide supplementary cues to consolidate and re-enact the mental traces created during learning. We tested this hypothesis in the context of anatomy learning by naïve adult participants. Anatomy is a challenging topic to learn and is of specific interest for research on embodied learning, as the learning content can be directly linked to learners' body. Two groups of participants were asked to look at a video lecture on the forearm anatomy. The video included a model making gestures related to the content of the lecture. Both groups see the gestures but only one also imitate the model. Tests of knowledge were run just after learning and few days later. The results revealed that imitating gestures improves the recall of structures names and their localization on a diagram. This effect was however significant only in long-term assessments. This suggests that: (1) the integration of motor actions and knowledge may require sleep; (2) a specific activation of the motor system during learning may improve the consolidation and/or the retrieval of memories. PMID:29062287

Make Gestures to Learn: Reproducing Gestures Improves the Learning of Anatomical Knowledge More than Just Seeing Gestures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mélaine Cherdieu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Manual gestures can facilitate problem solving but also language or conceptual learning. Both seeing and making the gestures during learning seem to be beneficial. However, the stronger activation of the motor system in the second case should provide supplementary cues to consolidate and re-enact the mental traces created during learning. We tested this hypothesis in the context of anatomy learning by naïve adult participants. Anatomy is a challenging topic to learn and is of specific interest for research on embodied learning, as the learning content can be directly linked to learners' body. Two groups of participants were asked to look at a video lecture on the forearm anatomy. The video included a model making gestures related to the content of the lecture. Both groups see the gestures but only one also imitate the model. Tests of knowledge were run just after learning and few days later. The results revealed that imitating gestures improves the recall of structures names and their localization on a diagram. This effect was however significant only in long-term assessments. This suggests that: (1 the integration of motor actions and knowledge may require sleep; (2 a specific activation of the motor system during learning may improve the consolidation and/or the retrieval of memories.

Involving users with learning difficulties in health improvement: lessons from inclusive learning disability research.

Science.gov (United States)

Walmsley, Jan

2004-03-01

In this paper the author considers the lessons to be drawn from what is termed "inclusive" learning disability research for user involvement around health improvement. Inclusive learning disability research refers to research where people with learning difficulties (intellectual disability) are involved as active participants, as opposed to passive subjects. There is by now a considerable body of such research, developed over the past 25 years. From the review, the author draws attention to areas which can inform practice in involvement of users in a way that adds value.

Improving attitudes toward mathematics learning with problem posing in class VIII

Science.gov (United States)

Vionita, Alfha; Purboningsih, Dyah

2017-08-01

This research is classroom action research which is collaborated to improve student's behavior toward math and mathematics learning at class VIII by using problem posing approach. The subject of research is all of students grade VIIIA which consist of 32 students. This research has been held on two period, first period is about 3 times meeting, and second period is about 4 times meeting. The instrument of this research is implementation of learning observation's guidance by using problem posing approach. Cycle test has been used to measure cognitive competence, and questionnaire to measure the students' behavior in mathematics learning process. The result of research shows the students' behavior has been improving after using problem posing approach. It is showed by the behavior's criteria of students that has increasing result from the average in first period to high in second period. Furthermore, the percentage of test result is also improve from 68,75% in first period to 78,13% in second period. On the other hand, the implementation of learning observation by using problem posing approach has also improving and it is showed by the average percentage of teacher's achievement in first period is 89,2% and student's achievement 85,8%. These results get increase in second period for both teacher and students' achievement which are 94,4% and 91,11%. As a result, students' behavior toward math learning process in class VIII has been improving by using problem posing approach.

Enabling Team Learning in Healthcare

Science.gov (United States)

Boak, George

2016-01-01

This paper is based on a study of learning processes within 35 healthcare therapy teams that took action to improve their services. The published research on team learning is introduced, and the paper suggests it is an activity that has similarities with action research and with those forms of action learning where teams address collective…

Improving student learning in calculus through applications

Science.gov (United States)

Young, C. Y.; Georgiopoulos, M.; Hagen, S. C.; Geiger, C. L.; Dagley-Falls, M. A.; Islas, A. L.; Ramsey, P. J.; Lancey, P. M.; Straney, R. A.; Forde, D. S.; Bradbury, E. E.

2011-07-01

Nationally only 40% of the incoming freshmen Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors are successful in earning a STEM degree. The University of Central Florida (UCF) EXCEL programme is a National Science Foundation funded STEM Talent Expansion Programme whose goal is to increase the number of UCF STEM graduates. One of the key requirements for STEM majors is a strong foundation in Calculus. To improve student learning in calculus, the EXCEL programme developed two special courses at the freshman level called Applications of Calculus I (Apps I) and Applications of Calculus II (Apps II). Apps I and II are one-credit classes that are co-requisites for Calculus I and II. These classes are teams taught by science and engineering professors whose goal is to demonstrate to students where the calculus topics they are learning appear in upper level science and engineering classes as well as how faculty use calculus in their STEM research programmes. This article outlines the process used in producing the educational materials for the Apps I and II courses, and it also discusses the assessment results pertaining to this specific EXCEL activity. Pre- and post-tests conducted with experimental and control groups indicate significant improvement in student learning in Calculus II as a direct result of the application courses.

Electrical Storm Simulation to Improve the Learning Physics Process

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez Muñoz, Miriam; Jiménez Rodríguez, María Lourdes; Gutiérrez de Mesa, José Antonio

2013-01-01

This work is part of a research project whose main objective is to understand the impact that the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has on the teaching and learning process on the subject of Physics. We will show that, with the use of a storm simulator, physics students improve their learning process on one hand they understand…

Utilising learning environment assessments to improve teaching ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We examined the viability of using feedback from a learning environment instrument to guide improvements in the teaching practices of in-service teachers undertaking a distance-education programme. The 31 teachers involved administered a primary school version of the What Is Happening In this Class?

Improving Information Technology Curriculum Learning Outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derrick L Anderson

2017-06-01

The case study research methodology has been selected to conduct the inquiry into this phenomenon. This empirical inquiry facilitates exploration of a contemporary phenomenon in depth within its real-life context using a variety of data sources. The subject of analysis will be two Information Technology classes composed of a combination of second year and third year students; both classes have six students, the same six students. Contribution It is the purpose of this research to show that the use of improved approaches to learning will produce more desirable learning outcomes. Findings The results of this inquiry clearly show that the use of the traditional behaviorist based pedagogic model to achieve college and university IT program learning outcomes is not as effective as a more constructivist based andragogic model. Recommendations Instruction based purely on either of these does a disservice to the typical college and university level learner. The correct approach lies somewhere in between them; the most successful outcome attainment would be the product of incorporating the best of both. Impact on Society Instructional strategies produce learning outcomes; learning outcomes demonstrate what knowledge has been acquired. Acquired knowledge is used by students as they pursue professional careers and other ventures in life. Future Research Learning and teaching approaches are not “one-size-fits-all” propositions; different strategies are appropriate for different circumstances and situations. Additional research should seek to introduce vehicles that will move learners away from one the traditional methodology that has been used throughout much of their educational careers to an approach that is better suited to equip them with the skills necessary to meet the challenges awaiting them in the professional world.

Learning and improvement in product innovation processes: Enabling behaviors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gieskes, J.F.B.; Langenberg, Ilse

2001-01-01

Product Innovation is described as a continuous and cross-functional process involving all stages in the product life cycle. This approach gives way to study product innovation processes from a continuous improvement and learning viewpoint. The Continuous Improvement in the global product MAnagement

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF JOBSHEET-BASED STUDENT TEAMS ACHIEVEMENT DIVISION LEARNING MODEL TO IMPROVE STUDENTS LEARNING OUTCOMES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kadek Dodi Permana

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study aims to improve the Information and Communications Technology (ICT learning outcomes of the students in SMA N 2 Singaraja through the learning model of Job sheet-based Student Team Achievement Division (STAD. This is a classroom action research. The data analysis reveals that learning outcomes in cycle I gain a mean score of 80. 51 and a classical provisions of 15%. There are three students who pass with a minimum score of 85 in cycle I. From these categories, the students’ learning outcomes in the first cycle have not met the criterion of 85%. The mean score of cycle II is 88. 57 and the classical provisions is 90%. In the second cycle, there are 18 students who gain a minimum score of 85. Based on the success criterion, a research study is successful if the minimum completeness criterion reaches 85 and the minimum classical completeness criterion reaches 85%. From the categories, the students’ learning outcomes have been successfully improved since the percentage of classical completeness in the second cycle has reached its expected results.

[Similarity system theory to evaluate similarity of chromatographic fingerprints of traditional Chinese medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yongsuo; Meng, Qinghua; Jiang, Shumin; Hu, Yuzhu

2005-03-01

The similarity evaluation of the fingerprints is one of the most important problems in the quality control of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Similarity measures used to evaluate the similarity of the common peaks in the chromatogram of TCM have been discussed. Comparative studies were carried out among correlation coefficient, cosine of the angle and an improved extent similarity method using simulated data and experimental data. Correlation coefficient and cosine of the angle are not sensitive to the differences of the data set. They are still not sensitive to the differences of the data even after normalization. According to the similarity system theory, an improved extent similarity method was proposed. The improved extent similarity is more sensitive to the differences of the data sets than correlation coefficient and cosine of the angle. And the character of the data sets needs not to be changed compared with log-transformation. The improved extent similarity can be used to evaluate the similarity of the chromatographic fingerprints of TCM.

Effect of quantum learning model in improving creativity and memory

Science.gov (United States)

Sujatmika, S.; Hasanah, D.; Hakim, L. L.

2018-04-01

Quantum learning is a combination of many interactions that exist during learning. This model can be applied by current interesting topic, contextual, repetitive, and give opportunities to students to demonstrate their abilities. The basis of the quantum learning model are left brain theory, right brain theory, triune, visual, auditorial, kinesthetic, game, symbol, holistic, and experiential learning theory. Creativity plays an important role to be success in the working world. Creativity shows alternatives way to problem-solving or creates something. Good memory plays a role in the success of learning. Through quantum learning, students will use all of their abilities, interested in learning and create their own ways of memorizing concepts of the material being studied. From this idea, researchers assume that quantum learning models can improve creativity and memory of the students.

Large margin classification with indefinite similarities

KAUST Repository

Alabdulmohsin, Ibrahim

2016-01-07

Classification with indefinite similarities has attracted attention in the machine learning community. This is partly due to the fact that many similarity functions that arise in practice are not symmetric positive semidefinite, i.e. the Mercer condition is not satisfied, or the Mercer condition is difficult to verify. Examples of such indefinite similarities in machine learning applications are ample including, for instance, the BLAST similarity score between protein sequences, human-judged similarities between concepts and words, and the tangent distance or the shape matching distance in computer vision. Nevertheless, previous works on classification with indefinite similarities are not fully satisfactory. They have either introduced sources of inconsistency in handling past and future examples using kernel approximation, settled for local-minimum solutions using non-convex optimization, or produced non-sparse solutions by learning in Krein spaces. Despite the large volume of research devoted to this subject lately, we demonstrate in this paper how an old idea, namely the 1-norm support vector machine (SVM) proposed more than 15 years ago, has several advantages over more recent work. In particular, the 1-norm SVM method is conceptually simpler, which makes it easier to implement and maintain. It is competitive, if not superior to, all other methods in terms of predictive accuracy. Moreover, it produces solutions that are often sparser than more recent methods by several orders of magnitude. In addition, we provide various theoretical justifications by relating 1-norm SVM to well-established learning algorithms such as neural networks, SVM, and nearest neighbor classifiers. Finally, we conduct a thorough experimental evaluation, which reveals that the evidence in favor of 1-norm SVM is statistically significant.

Improving Education in Medical Statistics: Implementing a Blended Learning Model in the Existing Curriculum.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natasa M Milic

Full Text Available Although recent studies report on the benefits of blended learning in improving medical student education, there is still no empirical evidence on the relative effectiveness of blended over traditional learning approaches in medical statistics. We implemented blended along with on-site (i.e. face-to-face learning to further assess the potential value of web-based learning in medical statistics.This was a prospective study conducted with third year medical undergraduate students attending the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, who passed (440 of 545 the final exam of the obligatory introductory statistics course during 2013-14. Student statistics achievements were stratified based on the two methods of education delivery: blended learning and on-site learning. Blended learning included a combination of face-to-face and distance learning methodologies integrated into a single course.Mean exam scores for the blended learning student group were higher than for the on-site student group for both final statistics score (89.36±6.60 vs. 86.06±8.48; p = 0.001 and knowledge test score (7.88±1.30 vs. 7.51±1.36; p = 0.023 with a medium effect size. There were no differences in sex or study duration between the groups. Current grade point average (GPA was higher in the blended group. In a multivariable regression model, current GPA and knowledge test scores were associated with the final statistics score after adjusting for study duration and learning modality (p<0.001.This study provides empirical evidence to support educator decisions to implement different learning environments for teaching medical statistics to undergraduate medical students. Blended and on-site training formats led to similar knowledge acquisition; however, students with higher GPA preferred the technology assisted learning format. Implementation of blended learning approaches can be considered an attractive, cost-effective, and efficient alternative to traditional

School Improvement Model to Foster Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Rulloda, Rudolfo Barcena

2011-01-01

Many classroom teachers are still using the traditional teaching methods. The traditional teaching methods are one-way learning process, where teachers would introduce subject contents such as language arts, English, mathematics, science, and reading separately. However, the school improvement model takes into account that all students have…

Improving access to learning in the workplace using technology in an accredited course.

Science.gov (United States)

Munro, Kathleen M; Peacock, Susi

2005-03-01

This article gives an account of a case study which seeks to explore the potential for using technology to deliver learning in the workplace: a syringe driver course for nurses. We provide a brief overview of workplace learning, continuing professional development and learning technology in the health sciences. The paper then draws upon a three-year project that involved the transition of a traditionally taught, institution-based face-to-face course to work-based learning using technology. Through the evaluation and discussion of the case study we address key issues that have emerged, such as, marketing of the product; in our case it was decided that the most cost-effective way to provide the course and recuperate some costs was to accredit the course by the Institution. Registered practitioners in the workplace assess learning and are linked to the quality assurance mechanisms of the Institution. We also consider some of the major barriers to implementation, highlighting critical areas for consideration for those undertaking a similar project. These include the lack of technical knowledge in the Group, which resulted in a steep learning curve for all members. This and numerous iterations of materials (including video and animations) lengthened the project considerably whilst technological advances meant other more sophisticated technological solutions that became available during the production process were incorporated. A cost benefit analysis would show that the product has been delivered across Scotland and production costs covered and that there have been unquantifiable gains, including improving the external profile of the academic institution and the NHS Trust, developing the technical skills of the Group and providing invaluable experience of working in a cross-disciplinary collaborative working environment.

IMPROVING TRUST THROUGH ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: MOVING BEYOND THE SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY TO A HISTORICAL LEARNING APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omoregie Charles Osifo

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The complex nature of trust and its evolving relative concepts require a more idealistic and simpler review. Ethical leadership is related to trust, honesty, transparency, compassion, empathy, results-orientedness, and many other behavioral attributes. Ethical leadership and good leadership are the same, because they represent practicing what one preaches or showing a way to the accomplishment of set goals. The outcomes and findings of many research papers on trust and ethical leadership report positive correlations between ethical leadership and trust. Improving trust from different rational standpoints requires moving and looking beyond the popular theoretical framework through which most results are derived in order to create a new thinking perspective. Social learning theory strongly emphasizes modelling while the new historical learning approach, proposed by the author, is defined as an approach that creates unique historical awareness among individuals, groups, institutions, societies, and nations to use previous experience(s or occurrence(s as a guide in developing positive opinion(s and framework(s in order to tackle the problems and issues of today and tomorrow. Social learning theory is seen as limited from the perspectives of balancing the equation between leadership and trust, the non-compatibility of the values of different generations at work, and other approaches and methods that support the historical approach. This paper is argumentative, adopts a writer´s perspective, and employs a logical analysis of the literature. The main contention is that a historical learning approach can inform an independent-learning to improve trust and its relatives (e.g. motivation and performance, because independent learning can positively shape the value of integrity, which is an integral part of ethical leadership. Historical learning can positively shape leadership in every perspective, because good leadership can develop based on history and

Lactobacillus helveticus-fermented milk improves learning and memory in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohsawa, Kazuhito; Uchida, Naoto; Ohki, Kohji; Nakamura, Yasunori; Yokogoshi, Hidehiko

2015-07-01

To investigate the effects of Calpis sour milk whey, a Lactobacillus helveticus-fermented milk product, on learning and memory. We evaluated improvement in scopolamine-induced memory impairment using the spontaneous alternation behaviour test, a measure of short-term memory. We also evaluated learning and working memory in mice using the novel object recognition test, which does not involve primary reinforcement (food or electric shocks). A total of 195 male ddY mice were used in the spontaneous alternation behaviour test and 60 in the novel object recognition test. Forced orally administered Calpis sour milk whey powder (200 and 2000 mg/kg) significantly improved scopolamine-induced cognitive impairments (P memory (2000 mg/kg; P learning and memory in healthy human subjects; however, human clinical studies are necessary.

Improving the Impact and Return of Investment of Game-Based Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Loh, Christian Sebastian

2013-01-01

Today's economic situation demands that learning organizations become more diligent in their business dealings to reduce cost and increase bottom line for survival. While there are many champions and proponents claiming that game-based learning (GBL) is sure to improve learning, researchers have, thus far, been unable to (re)produce concrete,…

Perceptual learning improves visual performance in juvenile amblyopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Roger W; Young, Karen G; Hoenig, Pia; Levi, Dennis M

2005-09-01

To determine whether practicing a position-discrimination task improves visual performance in children with amblyopia and to determine the mechanism(s) of improvement. Five children (age range, 7-10 years) with amblyopia practiced a positional acuity task in which they had to judge which of three pairs of lines was misaligned. Positional noise was produced by distributing the individual patches of each line segment according to a Gaussian probability function. Observers were trained at three noise levels (including 0), with each observer performing between 3000 and 4000 responses in 7 to 10 sessions. Trial-by-trial feedback was provided. Four of the five observers showed significant improvement in positional acuity. In those four observers, on average, positional acuity with no noise improved by approximately 32% and with high noise by approximately 26%. A position-averaging model was used to parse the improvement into an increase in efficiency or a decrease in equivalent input noise. Two observers showed increased efficiency (51% and 117% improvements) with no significant change in equivalent input noise across sessions. The other two observers showed both a decrease in equivalent input noise (18% and 29%) and an increase in efficiency (17% and 71%). All five observers showed substantial improvement in Snellen acuity (approximately 26%) after practice. Perceptual learning can improve visual performance in amblyopic children. The improvement can be parsed into two important factors: decreased equivalent input noise and increased efficiency. Perceptual learning techniques may add an effective new method to the armamentarium of amblyopia treatments.

Strategies to improve learning of all students in a class

Science.gov (United States)

Suraishkumar, G. K.

2018-05-01

The statistical distribution of the student learning abilities in a typical undergraduate engineering class poses a significant challenge to simultaneously improve the learning of all the students in the class. With traditional instruction styles, the students with significantly high learning abilities are not satisfied due to a feeling of unfulfilled potential, and the students with significantly low learning abilities feel lost. To address the challenge in an undergraduate core/required course on 'transport phenomena in biological systems', a combination of learning strategies such as active learning including co-operative group learning, challenge exercises, and others were employed in a pro-advising context. The short-term and long-term impacts were evaluated through student course performances and input, respectively. The results show that it is possible to effectively address the challenge posed by the distribution of student learning abilities in a class.

An Improved Reinforcement Learning System Using Affective Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takashi Kuremoto

2013-07-01

Full Text Available As a powerful and intelligent machine learning method, reinforcement learning (RL has been widely used in many fields such as game theory, adaptive control, multi-agent system, nonlinear forecasting, and so on. The main contribution of this technique is its exploration and exploitation approaches to find the optimal solution or semi-optimal solution of goal-directed problems. However, when RL is applied to multi-agent systems (MASs, problems such as “curse of dimension”, “perceptual aliasing problem”, and uncertainty of the environment constitute high hurdles to RL. Meanwhile, although RL is inspired by behavioral psychology and reward/punishment from the environment is used, higher mental factors such as affects, emotions, and motivations are rarely adopted in the learning procedure of RL. In this paper, to challenge agents learning in MASs, we propose a computational motivation function, which adopts two principle affective factors “Arousal” and “Pleasure” of Russell’s circumplex model of affects, to improve the learning performance of a conventional RL algorithm named Q-learning (QL. Compared with the conventional QL, computer simulations of pursuit problems with static and dynamic preys were carried out, and the results showed that the proposed method results in agents having a faster and more stable learning performance.

Design e-learning with flipped learning model to improve layout understanding the concepts basic of the loop control structure

Science.gov (United States)

Handayani, D. P.; Sutarno, H.; Wihardi, Y.

2018-05-01

This study aimed in design and build e-learning with classroom flipped model to improve the concept of understanding of SMK students on the basic programming subject. Research and development obtained research data from survey questionnaire given to students of SMK class X RPL in SMK Negeri 2 Bandung and interviews to RPL productive teacher. Data also obtained from questionnaire of expert validation and students' assessment from e-learning with flipped classroom models. Data also obtained from multiple-choice test to measure improvements in conceptual understanding. The results of this research are: 1) Developed e- learning with flipped classroom model considered good and worthy of use by the average value of the percentage of 86,3% by media experts, and 85,5% by subjects matter experts, then students gave judgment is very good on e-learning either flipped classroom model with a percentage of 79,15% votes. 2) e-learning with classroom flipped models show an increase in the average value of pre-test before using e-learning 26.67 compared to the average value post-test after using e- learning at 63.37 and strengthened by the calculation of the index gains seen Increased understanding of students 'concepts by 50% with moderate criteria indicating that students' understanding is improving.

Discovery learning model with geogebra assisted for improvement mathematical visual thinking ability

Science.gov (United States)

Juandi, D.; Priatna, N.

2018-05-01

The main goal of this study is to improve the mathematical visual thinking ability of high school student through implementation the Discovery Learning Model with Geogebra Assisted. This objective can be achieved through study used quasi-experimental method, with non-random pretest-posttest control design. The sample subject of this research consist of 62 senior school student grade XI in one of school in Bandung district. The required data will be collected through documentation, observation, written tests, interviews, daily journals, and student worksheets. The results of this study are: 1) Improvement students Mathematical Visual Thinking Ability who obtain learning with applied the Discovery Learning Model with Geogebra assisted is significantly higher than students who obtain conventional learning; 2) There is a difference in the improvement of students’ Mathematical Visual Thinking ability between groups based on prior knowledge mathematical abilities (high, medium, and low) who obtained the treatment. 3) The Mathematical Visual Thinking Ability improvement of the high group is significantly higher than in the medium and low groups. 4) The quality of improvement ability of high and low prior knowledge is moderate category, in while the quality of improvement ability in the high category achieved by student with medium prior knowledge.

Contextual learning theory: Concrete form and a software prototype to improve early education.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, Ton

2016-01-01

In 'contextual learning theory' three types of contextual conditions (differentiation of learning procedures and materials, integrated ICT support, and improvement of development and learning progress) are related to four aspects of the learning process (diagnostic, instructional, managerial, and

Learning Evaluation: blending quality improvement and implementation research methods to study healthcare innovations.

Science.gov (United States)

Balasubramanian, Bijal A; Cohen, Deborah J; Davis, Melinda M; Gunn, Rose; Dickinson, L Miriam; Miller, William L; Crabtree, Benjamin F; Stange, Kurt C

2015-03-10

In healthcare change interventions, on-the-ground learning about the implementation process is often lost because of a primary focus on outcome improvements. This paper describes the Learning Evaluation, a methodological approach that blends quality improvement and implementation research methods to study healthcare innovations. Learning Evaluation is an approach to multi-organization assessment. Qualitative and quantitative data are collected to conduct real-time assessment of implementation processes while also assessing changes in context, facilitating quality improvement using run charts and audit and feedback, and generating transportable lessons. Five principles are the foundation of this approach: (1) gather data to describe changes made by healthcare organizations and how changes are implemented; (2) collect process and outcome data relevant to healthcare organizations and to the research team; (3) assess multi-level contextual factors that affect implementation, process, outcome, and transportability; (4) assist healthcare organizations in using data for continuous quality improvement; and (5) operationalize common measurement strategies to generate transportable results. Learning Evaluation principles are applied across organizations by the following: (1) establishing a detailed understanding of the baseline implementation plan; (2) identifying target populations and tracking relevant process measures; (3) collecting and analyzing real-time quantitative and qualitative data on important contextual factors; (4) synthesizing data and emerging findings and sharing with stakeholders on an ongoing basis; and (5) harmonizing and fostering learning from process and outcome data. Application to a multi-site program focused on primary care and behavioral health integration shows the feasibility and utility of Learning Evaluation for generating real-time insights into evolving implementation processes. Learning Evaluation generates systematic and rigorous cross

Using a NIATx based local learning collaborative for performance improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Roosa, Mathew; Scripa, Joseph S; Zastowny, Thomas R; Ford, James H

2011-11-01

Local governments play an important role in improving substance abuse and mental health services. The structure of the local learning collaborative requires careful attention to old relationships and challenges local governmental leaders to help move participants from a competitive to collaborative environment. This study describes one county's experience applying the NIATx process improvement model via a local learning collaborative. Local substance abuse and mental health agencies participated in two local learning collaboratives designed to improve client retention in substance abuse treatment and client access to mental health services. Results of changes implemented at the provider level on access and retention are outlined. The process of implementing evidence-based practices by using the Plan-Do-Study-Act rapid-cycle change is a powerful combination for change at the local level. Key lessons include: creating a clear plan and shared vision, recognizing that one size does not fit all, using data can help fuel participant engagement, a long collaborative may benefit from breaking it into smaller segments, and paying providers to offset costs of participation enhances their engagement. The experience gained in Onondaga County, New York, offers insights that serve as a foundation for using the local learning collaborative in other community-based organizations. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large margin classification with indefinite similarities

KAUST Repository

Alabdulmohsin, Ibrahim; Cisse, Moustapha; Gao, Xin; Zhang, Xiangliang

2016-01-01

Classification with indefinite similarities has attracted attention in the machine learning community. This is partly due to the fact that many similarity functions that arise in practice are not symmetric positive semidefinite, i.e. the Mercer

Measurable improvement in patient safety culture: A departmental experience with incident learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Kusano, Aaron S; Nyflot, Matthew J; Zeng, Jing; Sponseller, Patricia A; Ermoian, Ralph; Jordan, Loucille; Carlson, Joshua; Novak, Avrey; Kane, Gabrielle; Ford, Eric C

2015-01-01

Rigorous use of departmental incident learning is integral to improving patient safety and quality of care. The goal of this study was to quantify the impact of a high-volume, departmental incident learning system on patient safety culture. A prospective, voluntary, electronic incident learning system was implemented in February 2012 with the intent of tracking near-miss/no-harm incidents. All incident reports were reviewed weekly by a multiprofessional team with regular department-wide feedback. Patient safety culture was measured at baseline with validated patient safety culture survey questions. A repeat survey was conducted after 1 and 2 years of departmental incident learning. Proportional changes were compared by χ(2) or Fisher exact test, where appropriate. Between 2012 and 2014, a total of 1897 error/near-miss incidents were reported, representing an average of 1 near-miss report per patient treated. Reports were filed by a cross section of staff, with the majority of incidents reported by therapists, dosimetrists, and physicists. Survey response rates at baseline and 1 and 2 years were 78%, 80%, and 80%, respectively. Statistically significant and sustained improvements were noted in several safety metrics, including belief that the department was openly discussing ways to improve safety, the sense that reports were being used for safety improvement, and the sense that changes were being evaluated for effectiveness. None of the surveyed dimensions of patient safety culture worsened. Fewer punitive concerns were noted, with statistically significant decreases in the worry of embarrassment in front of colleagues and fear of getting colleagues in trouble. A comprehensive incident learning system can identify many areas for improvement and is associated with significant and sustained improvements in patient safety culture. These data provide valuable guidance as incident learning systems become more widely used in radiation oncology. Copyright © 2015

Improving Zernike moments comparison for optimal similarity and rotation angle retrieval.

Science.gov (United States)

Revaud, Jérôme; Lavoué, Guillaume; Baskurt, Atilla

2009-04-01

Zernike moments constitute a powerful shape descriptor in terms of robustness and description capability. However the classical way of comparing two Zernike descriptors only takes into account the magnitude of the moments and loses the phase information. The novelty of our approach is to take advantage of the phase information in the comparison process while still preserving the invariance to rotation. This new Zernike comparator provides a more accurate similarity measure together with the optimal rotation angle between the patterns, while keeping the same complexity as the classical approach. This angle information is particularly of interest for many applications, including 3D scene understanding through images. Experiments demonstrate that our comparator outperforms the classical one in terms of similarity measure. In particular the robustness of the retrieval against noise and geometric deformation is greatly improved. Moreover, the rotation angle estimation is also more accurate than state-of-the-art algorithms.

Improving Learning in a Traditional, Large-Scale Science Module with a Simple and Efficient Learning Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Godsk, Mikkel

2014-01-01

the impact on teaching and learning in terms of how the teacher and the students used the materials and the impact on the students’ performance and satisfaction. The article concludes that replacing face-to-face lectures with webcasts and online activities has the potential to improve learning in terms...... of a better student performance, higher student satisfaction, and a higher degree of flexibility for the students. In addition, the article discusses implications of using learning design for educational development, how learning design may help breaking with the perception that facilitating blended learning...... is a daunting process, and, ultimately, its potential for addressing some of the grand challenges in science education and the political agenda of today....

Replacing Lecture with Peer-led Workshops Improves Student Learning

OpenAIRE

Preszler, Ralph W.

2009-01-01

Peer-facilitated workshops enhanced interactivity in our introductory biology course, which led to increased student engagement and learning. A majority of students preferred attending two lectures and a workshop each week over attending three weekly lectures. In the workshops, students worked in small cooperative groups as they solved challenging problems, evaluated case studies, and participated in activities designed to improve their general learning skills. Students in the workshop versio...

Investigation of psychophysical similarity measures for selection of similar images in the diagnosis of clustered microcalcifications on mammograms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muramatsu, Chisako; Li Qiang; Schmidt, Robert; Shiraishi, Junji; Doi, Kunio

2008-01-01

The presentation of images with lesions of known pathology that are similar to an unknown lesion may be helpful to radiologists in the diagnosis of challenging cases for improving the diagnostic accuracy and also for reducing variation among different radiologists. The authors have been developing a computerized scheme for automatically selecting similar images with clustered microcalcifications on mammograms from a large database. For similar images to be useful, they must be similar from the point of view of the diagnosing radiologists. In order to select such images, subjective similarity ratings were obtained for a number of pairs of clustered microcalcifications by breast radiologists for establishment of a ''gold standard'' of image similarity, and the gold standard was employed for determination and evaluation of the selection of similar images. The images used in this study were obtained from the Digital Database for Screening Mammography developed by the University of South Florida. The subjective similarity ratings for 300 pairs of images with clustered microcalcifications were determined by ten breast radiologists. The authors determined a number of image features which represent the characteristics of clustered microcalcifications that radiologists would use in their diagnosis. For determination of objective similarity measures, an artificial neural network (ANN) was employed. The ANN was trained with the average subjective similarity ratings as teacher and selected image features as input data. The ANN was trained to learn the relationship between the image features and the radiologists' similarity ratings; therefore, once the training was completed, the ANN was able to determine the similarity, called a psychophysical similarity measure, which was expected to be close to radiologists' impressions, for an unknown pair of clustered microcalcifications. By use of a leave-one-out test method, the best combination of features was selected. The correlation

Investigation of psychophysical similarity measures for selection of similar images in the diagnosis of clustered microcalcifications on mammograms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muramatsu, Chisako; Li Qiang; Schmidt, Robert; Shiraishi, Junji; Doi, Kunio [Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States) and Department of Intelligent Image Information, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu (Japan); Department of Radiology, Duke Advanced Imaging Labs, Duke University, 2424 Erwin Road, Suite 302, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States)

2008-12-15

The presentation of images with lesions of known pathology that are similar to an unknown lesion may be helpful to radiologists in the diagnosis of challenging cases for improving the diagnostic accuracy and also for reducing variation among different radiologists. The authors have been developing a computerized scheme for automatically selecting similar images with clustered microcalcifications on mammograms from a large database. For similar images to be useful, they must be similar from the point of view of the diagnosing radiologists. In order to select such images, subjective similarity ratings were obtained for a number of pairs of clustered microcalcifications by breast radiologists for establishment of a ''gold standard'' of image similarity, and the gold standard was employed for determination and evaluation of the selection of similar images. The images used in this study were obtained from the Digital Database for Screening Mammography developed by the University of South Florida. The subjective similarity ratings for 300 pairs of images with clustered microcalcifications were determined by ten breast radiologists. The authors determined a number of image features which represent the characteristics of clustered microcalcifications that radiologists would use in their diagnosis. For determination of objective similarity measures, an artificial neural network (ANN) was employed. The ANN was trained with the average subjective similarity ratings as teacher and selected image features as input data. The ANN was trained to learn the relationship between the image features and the radiologists' similarity ratings; therefore, once the training was completed, the ANN was able to determine the similarity, called a psychophysical similarity measure, which was expected to be close to radiologists' impressions, for an unknown pair of clustered microcalcifications. By use of a leave-one-out test method, the best combination of features

E-Learning to Improve Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS of Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Poppy Yaniawati

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The role of technology integration on modern learning is essential to optimize the acceleration process in Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS. This research describes how to implement e-learning to improve HOTS of students and students’ attitude toward e-learning of mathematics, pre- learning students knowledge, duration of login in website, and correlation of variables with HOTS. There is a significant correlation between pre-learning knowledge and students’ HOTS, but there is no significant correlation between students’ HOTS and students’ attitude toward e-learning of mathematics. There is a significant correlation between login duration and students attitude toward e-learning of mathematics. No significant correlation is found between login duration and students’ HOTS.

Using Hierarchical Machine Learning to Improve Player Satisfaction in a Soccer Videogame

OpenAIRE

Collins, Brian; Rovatsos, Michael

2006-01-01

This paper describes an approach to using a hierarchical machine learning model in a two player 3D physics-based soccer video game to improve human player satisfaction. Learning is accomplished at two layers to form a complete game-playing agent such that higher level strategy learning is dependent on lower-level learning of basic behaviors.Supervised learning is used to train neural networks on human data to model the basic behaviors. The reinforcement learning algorithms Sarsa (λ) and Q(λ) ...

The Nonlocal Sparse Reconstruction Algorithm by Similarity Measurement with Shearlet Feature Vector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Qidi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the limited accuracy of conventional methods with image restoration, the paper supplied a nonlocal sparsity reconstruction algorithm with similarity measurement. To improve the performance of restoration results, we proposed two schemes to dictionary learning and sparse coding, respectively. In the part of the dictionary learning, we measured the similarity between patches from degraded image by constructing the Shearlet feature vector. Besides, we classified the patches into different classes with similarity and trained the cluster dictionary for each class, by cascading which we could gain the universal dictionary. In the part of sparse coding, we proposed a novel optimal objective function with the coding residual item, which can suppress the residual between the estimate coding and true sparse coding. Additionally, we show the derivation of self-adaptive regularization parameter in optimization under the Bayesian framework, which can make the performance better. It can be indicated from the experimental results that by taking full advantage of similar local geometric structure feature existing in the nonlocal patches and the coding residual suppression, the proposed method shows advantage both on visual perception and PSNR compared to the conventional methods.

LEARNING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERATIVE LEARNING ASSISTED SCIENTIST’S CARD TO IMPROVE SELF EFFICACY OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN CLASS VIII

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Yuliarti

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In general, self-efficacy of the students is still low. This study aims to determine the learning strategies implementation of generative learning assisted scientist's card in improving self-efficacy and cognitive learning outcomes of the students. The study designed form One Group Pretest-Posttest Design. The improvement of self-efficacy can be determined from the change in the questionnaire score before and after the learning and observations during the learning process. Cognitive learning outcomes are known from pretest and posttest scores. To determine the improvement, the data were analyzed by using the gain test. The results showed that N-gain of self-efficacy is 0.13 (low and N-gain of cognitive learning is 0.60 (medium. Based on the observation, students’ self-efficacy has increased each meeting. Cognitive learning results also achieved mastery learning as big as 72.88%. It could be concluded that the learning strategy of generative learning assisted scientist's card can improve self efficacy and cognitive learning outcomes of the students.Pada umumnya, self efficacy yang dimiliki siswa masih rendah. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui penerapan strategi pembelajaran generative learning berbantuan scientist’s card dalam meningkatkan self efficacy dan  hasil belajar  kognitif siswa.  Desain penelitian berbentuk One Group Pretest-Posttest Design. Peningkatan self efficacy dapat diketahui dari perubahan  skor angket sebelum dan sesudah pembelajaran dan hasil observasi selama pembelajaran. Hasil  belajar kognitif diketahui dari skor pretest dan posttest. Untuk mengetahui peningkatannya, data yang diperoleh dianalisis menggunakan uji gain. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa peningkatan self efficacy berkatagori rendah dan peningkatan hasil belajar kognitif berkatagori sedang. Berdasarkan hasil observasi, self efficacy siswa setiap pertemuan meningkat. Hasil belajar ranah kognitif juga mencapai ketuntasan belajar .Jadi dapat

The Effectiveness of Project-based E-learning to Improve Ict Literacy

OpenAIRE

Eliana, E. D. S; Senam, Senam; Wilujeng, I; Jumadi, Jumadi

2016-01-01

This study aims to reveal the effectiveness of science teaching based on project-based learning to improve ICT literacy learners in the junior high school with the category of high, medium and low. This research uses descriptive method to describe the students’ equipness of ICT literacy in the science learning based on the project-based learning that is integrated with e-learning. All of the population in this study are junior high school of curriculum pilot project in 2013 in Singkawang. The...

Process-oriented guided-inquiry learning improves long-term retention of information.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanags, Thea; Pammer, Kristen; Brinker, Jay

2013-09-01

Many chemistry educators have adopted the process-oriented guided instructional learning (POGIL) pedagogy. However, it is not clear which aspects of POGIL are the most important in terms of actual learning. We compared 354 first-year undergraduate psychology students' learning in physiological psychology using four teaching methods: control, POGIL, POGIL without reporting [no report out (NRO)], and POGIL run by untrained graduate students [new facilitator (NF)]. Student activities were identical across POGIL variations and highly similar for control. Participants' knowledge was evaluated before (pretest), immediately after (posttest), and 2 wk later (followup). Control and POGIL groups showed no improvement at posttest, whereas NRO and NF groups both recalled more material than at pretest (P = 0.002 and P < 0.0005, respectively). In a surprise test 2 wk later, control (P < 0.0005), NRO (P = 0.03), and NF (P < 0.0005) groups recalled less than at posttest. The POGIL group showed the smallest drop in knowledge (P = 0.05). Importantly, the control group's knowledge was below pretest levels (P < 0.0005), whereas the POGIL, NRO, and NF groups' knowledge was not. Self-assessment of knowledge was consistent across groups at pretest, but POGIL participants had the lowest confidence at posttest and 2 wk later. At followup, the control, NRO, and NF groups showed greater confidence in their knowledge than the POGIL group (P = 0.03, P = 0.002, and P = 0.004, respectively). POGIL and its variations appear to consolidate existing knowledge against memory decay even when student confidence does not match performance.

Experiential Learning Model on Entrepreneurship Subject to Improve Students’ Soft Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lina Rifda Naufalin

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This research aims to improve students’ soft skills on entrepreneurship subject by using experiential learning model. It was expected that the learning model could upgrade students’ soft skills which were indicated by the higher confidence, result and job oriented, being courageous to take risks, leadership, originality, and future-oriented. It was a class action research using Kemmis and Mc Tagart’s design model. The research was conducted for two cycles. The subject of the study was economics education students in the year of 2015/2016.  Findings show that the experiential learning model could improve students’ soft skills. The research showed that there is increased at the dimension of confidence by 52.1%, result-oriented by 22.9%, being courageous to take risks by 10.4%, leadership by 12.5%, originality by 10.4%, and future-oriented by 18.8%. It could be concluded that the experiential learning model is effective model to improve students’ soft skills on entrepreneurship subject. Dimension of confidence has the highest rise. Students’ soft skills are shaped through the continuous stimulus when they get involved at the implementation.

Enzyme sequence similarity improves the reaction alignment method for cross-species pathway comparison

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ovacik, Meric A. [Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Androulakis, Ioannis P., E-mail: yannis@rci.rutgers.edu [Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Biomedical Engineering Department, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States)

2013-09-15

Pathway-based information has become an important source of information for both establishing evolutionary relationships and understanding the mode of action of a chemical or pharmaceutical among species. Cross-species comparison of pathways can address two broad questions: comparison in order to inform evolutionary relationships and to extrapolate species differences used in a number of different applications including drug and toxicity testing. Cross-species comparison of metabolic pathways is complex as there are multiple features of a pathway that can be modeled and compared. Among the various methods that have been proposed, reaction alignment has emerged as the most successful at predicting phylogenetic relationships based on NCBI taxonomy. We propose an improvement of the reaction alignment method by accounting for sequence similarity in addition to reaction alignment method. Using nine species, including human and some model organisms and test species, we evaluate the standard and improved comparison methods by analyzing glycolysis and citrate cycle pathways conservation. In addition, we demonstrate how organism comparison can be conducted by accounting for the cumulative information retrieved from nine pathways in central metabolism as well as a more complete study involving 36 pathways common in all nine species. Our results indicate that reaction alignment with enzyme sequence similarity results in a more accurate representation of pathway specific cross-species similarities and differences based on NCBI taxonomy.

Enzyme sequence similarity improves the reaction alignment method for cross-species pathway comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ovacik, Meric A.; Androulakis, Ioannis P.

2013-01-01

Pathway-based information has become an important source of information for both establishing evolutionary relationships and understanding the mode of action of a chemical or pharmaceutical among species. Cross-species comparison of pathways can address two broad questions: comparison in order to inform evolutionary relationships and to extrapolate species differences used in a number of different applications including drug and toxicity testing. Cross-species comparison of metabolic pathways is complex as there are multiple features of a pathway that can be modeled and compared. Among the various methods that have been proposed, reaction alignment has emerged as the most successful at predicting phylogenetic relationships based on NCBI taxonomy. We propose an improvement of the reaction alignment method by accounting for sequence similarity in addition to reaction alignment method. Using nine species, including human and some model organisms and test species, we evaluate the standard and improved comparison methods by analyzing glycolysis and citrate cycle pathways conservation. In addition, we demonstrate how organism comparison can be conducted by accounting for the cumulative information retrieved from nine pathways in central metabolism as well as a more complete study involving 36 pathways common in all nine species. Our results indicate that reaction alignment with enzyme sequence similarity results in a more accurate representation of pathway specific cross-species similarities and differences based on NCBI taxonomy

Strengths-based Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ledertoug, Mette Marie

-being. The Ph.D.-project in Strength-based learning took place in a Danish school with 750 pupils age 6-16 and a similar school was functioning as a control group. The presentation will focus on both the aware-explore-apply processes and the practical implications for the schools involved, and on measurable......Strength-based learning - Children͛s Character Strengths as Means to their Learning Potential͛ is a Ph.D.-project aiming to create a strength-based mindset in school settings and at the same time introducing strength-based interventions as specific tools to improve both learning and well...

The Role of Visual Learning in Improving Students' High-Order Thinking Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Raiyn, Jamal

2016-01-01

Various concepts have been introduced to improve students' analytical thinking skills based on problem based learning (PBL). This paper introduces a new concept to increase student's analytical thinking skills based on a visual learning strategy. Such a strategy has three fundamental components: a teacher, a student, and a learning process. The…

Recently learned foreign abstract and concrete nouns are represented in distinct cortical networks similar to the native language.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, Katja M; Macedonia, Manuela; von Kriegstein, Katharina

2017-09-01

In the native language, abstract and concrete nouns are represented in distinct areas of the cerebral cortex. Currently, it is unknown whether this is also the case for abstract and concrete nouns of a foreign language. Here, we taught adult native speakers of German 45 abstract and 45 concrete nouns of a foreign language. After learning the nouns for 5 days, participants performed a vocabulary translation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Translating abstract nouns in contrast to concrete nouns elicited responses in regions that are also responsive to abstract nouns in the native language: the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left middle and superior temporal gyri. Concrete nouns elicited larger responses in the angular gyri bilaterally and the left parahippocampal gyrus than abstract nouns. The cluster in the left angular gyrus showed psychophysiological interaction (PPI) with the left lingual gyrus. The left parahippocampal gyrus showed PPI with the posterior cingulate cortex. Similar regions have been previously found for concrete nouns in the native language. The results reveal similarities in the cortical representation of foreign language nouns with the representation of native language nouns that already occur after 5 days of vocabulary learning. Furthermore, we showed that verbal and enriched learning methods were equally suitable to teach foreign abstract and concrete nouns. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4398-4412, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

IRB Process Improvements: A Machine Learning Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shoenbill, Kimberly; Song, Yiqiang; Cobb, Nichelle L; Drezner, Marc K; Mendonca, Eneida A

2017-06-01

Clinical research involving humans is critically important, but it is a lengthy and expensive process. Most studies require institutional review board (IRB) approval. Our objective is to identify predictors of delays or accelerations in the IRB review process and apply this knowledge to inform process change in an effort to improve IRB efficiency, transparency, consistency and communication. We analyzed timelines of protocol submissions to determine protocol or IRB characteristics associated with different processing times. Our evaluation included single variable analysis to identify significant predictors of IRB processing time and machine learning methods to predict processing times through the IRB review system. Based on initial identified predictors, changes to IRB workflow and staffing procedures were instituted and we repeated our analysis. Our analysis identified several predictors of delays in the IRB review process including type of IRB review to be conducted, whether a protocol falls under Veteran's Administration purview and specific staff in charge of a protocol's review. We have identified several predictors of delays in IRB protocol review processing times using statistical and machine learning methods. Application of this knowledge to process improvement efforts in two IRBs has led to increased efficiency in protocol review. The workflow and system enhancements that are being made support our four-part goal of improving IRB efficiency, consistency, transparency, and communication.

Improved machine learning method for analysis of gas phase chemistry of peptides

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahn Natalie

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Accurate peptide identification is important to high-throughput proteomics analyses that use mass spectrometry. Search programs compare fragmentation spectra (MS/MS of peptides from complex digests with theoretically derived spectra from a database of protein sequences. Improved discrimination is achieved with theoretical spectra that are based on simulating gas phase chemistry of the peptides, but the limited understanding of those processes affects the accuracy of predictions from theoretical spectra. Results We employed a robust data mining strategy using new feature annotation functions of MAE software, which revealed under-prediction of the frequency of occurrence in fragmentation of the second peptide bond. We applied methods of exploratory data analysis to pre-process the information in the MS/MS spectra, including data normalization and attribute selection, to reduce the attributes to a smaller, less correlated set for machine learning studies. We then compared our rule building machine learning program, DataSqueezer, with commonly used association rules and decision tree algorithms. All used machine learning algorithms produced similar results that were consistent with expected properties for a second gas phase mechanism at the second peptide bond. Conclusion The results provide compelling evidence that we have identified underlying chemical properties in the data that suggest the existence of an additional gas phase mechanism for the second peptide bond. Thus, the methods described in this study provide a valuable approach for analyses of this kind in the future.

IMPROVEMENT OF RECOGNITION QUALITY IN DEEP LEARNING NETWORKS BY SIMULATED ANNEALING METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Potapov

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The subject of this research is deep learning methods, in which automatic construction of feature transforms is taken place in tasks of pattern recognition. Multilayer autoencoders have been taken as the considered type of deep learning networks. Autoencoders perform nonlinear feature transform with logistic regression as an upper classification layer. In order to verify the hypothesis of possibility to improve recognition rate by global optimization of parameters for deep learning networks, which are traditionally trained layer-by-layer by gradient descent, a new method has been designed and implemented. The method applies simulated annealing for tuning connection weights of autoencoders while regression layer is simultaneously trained by stochastic gradient descent. Experiments held by means of standard MNIST handwritten digit database have shown the decrease of recognition error rate from 1.1 to 1.5 times in case of the modified method comparing to the traditional method, which is based on local optimization. Thus, overfitting effect doesn’t appear and the possibility to improve learning rate is confirmed in deep learning networks by global optimization methods (in terms of increasing recognition probability. Research results can be applied for improving the probability of pattern recognition in the fields, which require automatic construction of nonlinear feature transforms, in particular, in the image recognition. Keywords: pattern recognition, deep learning, autoencoder, logistic regression, simulated annealing.

Learning leadership skills in practice through quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Gamble, James; Vaux, Emma

2014-02-01

The development of leadership skills in doctors in training is essential to support both their professional development and the future supply of clinical leaders the NHS so desperately needs. There is, however, limited opportunity in current training programmes for trainees to learn and develop these skills, and what opportunity there is has often focused on management rather than leadership skills. Involvement in trainee-led supported quality improvement projects can teach these skills. We summarise the current limitations in leadership training and discuss how the College's 'Learning To Make a Difference' programme, and others like it, are helping to teach leadership.

Proactive Review – learn from experience to improve bottom line

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolbæk, Ditte

2016-01-01

This article aims to provide a theoretically based and proven educational design for lessons learned. Called a Proactive Review, this educational design is exemplified in a case study of a global information technology company classified as big business, where Proactive Reviews were developed...... and implemented in over 40 countries. This article explores how employees who solve a task together can learn from the experience and share this learning with relevant colleagues to improve work practices, services, and/or products. This article describes the format of Proactive Reviews, suggestions for starting...

Improve Business Results by Learning from Experience in Proactive Reviews

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolbæk, Ditte

2018-01-01

This article aims to provide a theoretically based and proven educational design for lessons learned. Called a Proactive Review, this educational design is exemplified in a case study of a global information technology company classified as big business, where Proactive Reviews were developed...... and implemented in over 40 countries. This article explores how employees who solve a task together can learn from the experience and share this learning with relevant colleagues to improve work practices, services, and/or products. This article describes the format of Proactive Reviews, suggestions for starting...

A general picture of the learning communities: characteristics, similarities and differences.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verkleij, K.A.M.; Francke, A.L.; Voordouw, I.; Albers, M.; Gobbens, R.J.J.

2016-01-01

Background: Because learning communities of community care nurses and nursing lectures are a new phenomenon, it is of interest to evaluate en monitor the learning communities. the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, NIVEL, was commissioned to monitor the realization of the learning

An improved clustering algorithm based on reverse learning in intelligent transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Guoqing; Kou, Qianqian; Niu, Ting

2017-05-01

With the development of artificial intelligence and data mining technology, big data has gradually entered people's field of vision. In the process of dealing with large data, clustering is an important processing method. By introducing the reverse learning method in the clustering process of PAM clustering algorithm, to further improve the limitations of one-time clustering in unsupervised clustering learning, and increase the diversity of clustering clusters, so as to improve the quality of clustering. The algorithm analysis and experimental results show that the algorithm is feasible.

[An approach to care indicators benchmarking. Learning to improve patient safety].

Science.gov (United States)

de Andrés Gimeno, B; Salazar de la Guerra, R M; Ferrer Arnedo, C; Revuelta Zamorano, M; Ayuso Murillo, D; González Soria, J

2014-01-01

Improvements in clinical safety can be achieved by promoting a safety culture, professional training, and learning through benchmarking. The aim of this study was to identify areas for improvement after analysing the safety indicators in two public Hospitals in North-West Madrid Region. Descriptive study performed during 2011 in Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda (HUPHM) and Hospital de Guadarrama (HG). The variables under study were 40 indicators on nursing care related to patient safety. Nineteen of them were defined in the SENECA project as care quality standards in order to improve patient safety in the hospitals. The data collected were clinical history, Madrid Health Service assessment reports, care procedures, and direct observation Within the 40 indicators: 22 of them were structured (procedures), HUPHM had 86%, and HG 95% 14 process indicators (training and protocols compliance) with similar results in both hospitals, apart from the care continuity reports and training in hand hygiene. The 4 results indicators (pressure ulcer, falls and pain) showed different results. The analysis of the indicators allowed the following actions to be taken: to identify improvements to be made in each hospital, to develop joint safety recommendations in nursing care protocols in prevention and treatment of chronic wound, to establish systematic pain assessments, and to prepare continuity care reports on all patients transferred from HUPHM to HG. Copyright © 2013 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Improved Extreme Learning Machine and Its Application in Image Quality Assessment

OpenAIRE

Mao, Li; Zhang, Lidong; Liu, Xingyang; Li, Chaofeng; Yang, Hong

2014-01-01

Extreme learning machine (ELM) is a new class of single-hidden layer feedforward neural network (SLFN), which is simple in theory and fast in implementation. Zong et al. propose a weighted extreme learning machine for learning data with imbalanced class distribution, which maintains the advantages from original ELM. However, the current reported ELM and its improved version are only based on the empirical risk minimization principle, which may suffer from overfitting. To solve the overfitting...

Evaluation of machine learning algorithms for improved risk assessment for Down's syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Koivu, Aki; Korpimäki, Teemu; Kivelä, Petri; Pahikkala, Tapio; Sairanen, Mikko

2018-05-04

Prenatal screening generates a great amount of data that is used for predicting risk of various disorders. Prenatal risk assessment is based on multiple clinical variables and overall performance is defined by how well the risk algorithm is optimized for the population in question. This article evaluates machine learning algorithms to improve performance of first trimester screening of Down syndrome. Machine learning algorithms pose an adaptive alternative to develop better risk assessment models using the existing clinical variables. Two real-world data sets were used to experiment with multiple classification algorithms. Implemented models were tested with a third, real-world, data set and performance was compared to a predicate method, a commercial risk assessment software. Best performing deep neural network model gave an area under the curve of 0.96 and detection rate of 78% with 1% false positive rate with the test data. Support vector machine model gave area under the curve of 0.95 and detection rate of 61% with 1% false positive rate with the same test data. When compared with the predicate method, the best support vector machine model was slightly inferior, but an optimized deep neural network model was able to give higher detection rates with same false positive rate or similar detection rate but with markedly lower false positive rate. This finding could further improve the first trimester screening for Down syndrome, by using existing clinical variables and a large training data derived from a specific population. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An improved segmentation-based HMM learning method for Condition-based Maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, T; Lemeire, J; Cartella, F; Meganck, S

2012-01-01

In the domain of condition-based maintenance (CBM), persistence of machine states is a valid assumption. Based on this assumption, we present an improved Hidden Markov Model (HMM) learning algorithm for the assessment of equipment states. By a good estimation of initial parameters, more accurate learning can be achieved than by regular HMM learning methods which start with randomly chosen initial parameters. It is also better in avoiding getting trapped in local maxima. The data is segmented with a change-point analysis method which uses a combination of cumulative sum charts (CUSUM) and bootstrapping techniques. The method determines a confidence level that a state change happens. After the data is segmented, in order to label and combine the segments corresponding to the same states, a clustering technique is used based on a low-pass filter or root mean square (RMS) values of the features. The segments with their labelled hidden state are taken as 'evidence' to estimate the parameters of an HMM. Then, the estimated parameters are served as initial parameters for the traditional Baum-Welch (BW) learning algorithms, which are used to improve the parameters and train the model. Experiments on simulated and real data demonstrate that both performance and convergence speed is improved.

Gender similarities and differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyde, Janet Shibley

2014-01-01

Whether men and women are fundamentally different or similar has been debated for more than a century. This review summarizes major theories designed to explain gender differences: evolutionary theories, cognitive social learning theory, sociocultural theory, and expectancy-value theory. The gender similarities hypothesis raises the possibility of theorizing gender similarities. Statistical methods for the analysis of gender differences and similarities are reviewed, including effect sizes, meta-analysis, taxometric analysis, and equivalence testing. Then, relying mainly on evidence from meta-analyses, gender differences are reviewed in cognitive performance (e.g., math performance), personality and social behaviors (e.g., temperament, emotions, aggression, and leadership), and psychological well-being. The evidence on gender differences in variance is summarized. The final sections explore applications of intersectionality and directions for future research.

Deal or No Deal: using games to improve student learning, retention and decision-making

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Alan F.; Woodford, Kelly C.; Maes, Jeanne

2011-03-01

Student understanding and retention can be enhanced and improved by providing alternative learning activities and environments. Education theory recognizes the value of incorporating alternative activities (games, exercises and simulations) to stimulate student interest in the educational environment, enhance transfer of knowledge and improve learned retention with meaningful repetition. In this case study, we investigate using an online version of the television game show, 'Deal or No Deal', to enhance student understanding and retention by playing the game to learn expected value in an introductory statistics course, and to foster development of critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in the modern business environment. Enhancing the thinking process of problem solving using repetitive games should also improve a student's ability to follow non-mathematical problem-solving processes, which should improve the overall ability to process information and make logical decisions. Learning and retention are measured to evaluate the success of the students' performance.

Filtering sensory information with XCSF: improving learning robustness and robot arm control performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kneissler, Jan; Stalph, Patrick O; Drugowitsch, Jan; Butz, Martin V

2014-01-01

It has been shown previously that the control of a robot arm can be efficiently learned using the XCSF learning classifier system, which is a nonlinear regression system based on evolutionary computation. So far, however, the predictive knowledge about how actual motor activity changes the state of the arm system has not been exploited. In this paper, we utilize the forward velocity kinematics knowledge of XCSF to alleviate the negative effect of noisy sensors for successful learning and control. We incorporate Kalman filtering for estimating successive arm positions, iteratively combining sensory readings with XCSF-based predictions of hand position changes over time. The filtered arm position is used to improve both trajectory planning and further learning of the forward velocity kinematics. We test the approach on a simulated kinematic robot arm model. The results show that the combination can improve learning and control performance significantly. However, it also shows that variance estimates of XCSF prediction may be underestimated, in which case self-delusional spiraling effects can hinder effective learning. Thus, we introduce a heuristic parameter, which can be motivated by theory, and which limits the influence of XCSF's predictions on its own further learning input. As a result, we obtain drastic improvements in noise tolerance, allowing the system to cope with more than 10 times higher noise levels.

Improved Neural Signal Classification in a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Task Using Active Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Marathe, Amar R; Lawhern, Vernon J; Wu, Dongrui; Slayback, David; Lance, Brent J

2016-03-01

The application space for brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies is rapidly expanding with improvements in technology. However, most real-time BCIs require extensive individualized calibration prior to use, and systems often have to be recalibrated to account for changes in the neural signals due to a variety of factors including changes in human state, the surrounding environment, and task conditions. Novel approaches to reduce calibration time or effort will dramatically improve the usability of BCI systems. Active Learning (AL) is an iterative semi-supervised learning technique for learning in situations in which data may be abundant, but labels for the data are difficult or expensive to obtain. In this paper, we apply AL to a simulated BCI system for target identification using data from a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm to minimize the amount of training samples needed to initially calibrate a neural classifier. Our results show AL can produce similar overall classification accuracy with significantly less labeled data (in some cases less than 20%) when compared to alternative calibration approaches. In fact, AL classification performance matches performance of 10-fold cross-validation (CV) in over 70% of subjects when training with less than 50% of the data. To our knowledge, this is the first work to demonstrate the use of AL for offline electroencephalography (EEG) calibration in a simulated BCI paradigm. While AL itself is not often amenable for use in real-time systems, this work opens the door to alternative AL-like systems that are more amenable for BCI applications and thus enables future efforts for developing highly adaptive BCI systems.

Can machine-learning improve cardiovascular risk prediction using routine clinical data?

Science.gov (United States)

Kai, Joe; Garibaldi, Jonathan M.; Qureshi, Nadeem

2017-01-01

Background Current approaches to predict cardiovascular risk fail to identify many people who would benefit from preventive treatment, while others receive unnecessary intervention. Machine-learning offers opportunity to improve accuracy by exploiting complex interactions between risk factors. We assessed whether machine-learning can improve cardiovascular risk prediction. Methods Prospective cohort study using routine clinical data of 378,256 patients from UK family practices, free from cardiovascular disease at outset. Four machine-learning algorithms (random forest, logistic regression, gradient boosting machines, neural networks) were compared to an established algorithm (American College of Cardiology guidelines) to predict first cardiovascular event over 10-years. Predictive accuracy was assessed by area under the ‘receiver operating curve’ (AUC); and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) to predict 7.5% cardiovascular risk (threshold for initiating statins). Findings 24,970 incident cardiovascular events (6.6%) occurred. Compared to the established risk prediction algorithm (AUC 0.728, 95% CI 0.723–0.735), machine-learning algorithms improved prediction: random forest +1.7% (AUC 0.745, 95% CI 0.739–0.750), logistic regression +3.2% (AUC 0.760, 95% CI 0.755–0.766), gradient boosting +3.3% (AUC 0.761, 95% CI 0.755–0.766), neural networks +3.6% (AUC 0.764, 95% CI 0.759–0.769). The highest achieving (neural networks) algorithm predicted 4,998/7,404 cases (sensitivity 67.5%, PPV 18.4%) and 53,458/75,585 non-cases (specificity 70.7%, NPV 95.7%), correctly predicting 355 (+7.6%) more patients who developed cardiovascular disease compared to the established algorithm. Conclusions Machine-learning significantly improves accuracy of cardiovascular risk prediction, increasing the number of patients identified who could benefit from preventive treatment, while avoiding unnecessary treatment of others

Machine Learning for Treatment Assignment: Improving Individualized Risk Attribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, Jeremy; Kuusisto, Finn; Boyd, Kendrick; Liu, Jie; Page, David

2015-01-01

Clinical studies model the average treatment effect (ATE), but apply this population-level effect to future individuals. Due to recent developments of machine learning algorithms with useful statistical guarantees, we argue instead for modeling the individualized treatment effect (ITE), which has better applicability to new patients. We compare ATE-estimation using randomized and observational analysis methods against ITE-estimation using machine learning, and describe how the ITE theoretically generalizes to new population distributions, whereas the ATE may not. On a synthetic data set of statin use and myocardial infarction (MI), we show that a learned ITE model improves true ITE estimation and outperforms the ATE. We additionally argue that ITE models should be learned with a consistent, nonparametric algorithm from unweighted examples and show experiments in favor of our argument using our synthetic data model and a real data set of D-penicillamine use for primary biliary cirrhosis.

Improvement of Learning Process and Learning Outcomes in Physics Learning by Using Collaborative Learning Model of Group Investigation at High School (Grade X, SMAN 14 Jakarta)

Science.gov (United States)

Astra, I. Made; Wahyuni, Citra; Nasbey, Hadi

2015-01-01

The aim of this research is to improve the quality of physics learning through application of collaborative learning of group investigation at grade X MIPA 2 SMAN 14 Jakarta. The method used in this research is classroom action research. This research consisted of three cycles was conducted from April to May in 2014. Each cycle consists of…

Crocin Improved Learning and Memory Impairments in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esmaeal Tamaddonfard

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objective(s: Crocin influences many biological functions including memory and learning. The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of crocin on learning and memory impairments in streptozotocine-induced diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal (IP injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 45 mg/kg. Transfer latency (TL paradigm in elevated plus-maze (EPM was used as an index of learning and memory. Plasma levels of total antioxidant capacity (TAC and malondialdehyde (MDA, blood levels of glucose, and serum concentrations of insulin were measured. The number of hippocampal neurons was also counted. Results: STZ increased acquisition transfer latency (TL1 and retention transfer latency (TL2, and MDA, decreased transfer latency shortening (TLs and TCA, produced hyperglycemia and hypoinsulinemia, and reduced the number of neurons in the hippocampus. Learning and memory impairments and blood TCA, MDA, glucose, and insulin changes induced by streptozotocin were improved with long-term IP injection of crocin at doses of 15 and 30 mg/kg. Crocin prevented hippocampal neurons number loss in diabetic rats. Conclusion: The results indicate that oxidative stress, hyperglycemia, hypoinsulinemia, and reduction of hippocampal neurons may be involved in learning and memory impairments in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, antihypoinsulinemic, and neuroprotective activities of crocin might be involved in improving learning and memory impairments.

E-Portfolio improving learning in methematics pre-service teacher

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Almeida

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This research is focused on dimensions of mathematical thinking among preservice teachers learning through the use of e-Portfolios. The data came from portfolios created and reconstructed by future mathematics teachers. Their process of reviewing and republishing pages through the Internet was constantly saved and reviewed in turn by the researchers. Seven case studies were conducted. Results stress the importance of the use of ICT by pre-service teachers as an interface to become more reflective about their learning and to improve their knowledge. Besides being a tool to recognize different dimensions (technological, conceptual and communicative the e-Portfolios were a powerful resource for creating, publicizing ideas, and learning mathematics in different ways. The article also presents some methodological issues

Learning to improve path planning performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Pang C.

1995-04-01

In robotics, path planning refers to finding a short. collision-free path from an initial robot configuration to a desired configuratioin. It has to be fast to support real-time task-level robot programming. Unfortunately, current planning techniques are still too slow to be effective, as they often require several minutes, if not hours of computation. To remedy this situation, we present and analyze a learning algorithm that uses past experience to increase future performance. The algorithm relies on an existing path planner to provide solutions to difficult tasks. From these solutions, an evolving sparse network of useful robot configurations is learned to support faster planning. More generally, the algorithm provides a speedup-learning framework in which a slow but capable planner may be improved both cost-wise and capability-wise by a faster but less capable planner coupled with experience. The basic algorithm is suitable for stationary environments, and can be extended to accommodate changing environments with on-demand experience repair and object-attached experience abstraction. To analyze the algorithm, we characterize the situations in which the adaptive planner is useful, provide quantitative bounds to predict its behavior, and confirm our theoretical results with experiments in path planning of manipulators. Our algorithm and analysis are sufficiently, general that they may also be applied to other planning domains in which experience is useful

A User-Centered Educational Modeling Language Improving the Controllability of Learning Design Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Zendi, Asma; Bouhadada, Tahar; Bousbia, Nabila

2016-01-01

Semiformal EMLs are developed to facilitate the adoption of educational modeling languages (EMLs) and to address practitioners' learning design concerns, such as reusability and readability. In this article, SDLD (Structure Dialogue Learning Design) is presented, which is a semiformal EML that aims to improve controllability of learning design…

Online Video Modules for Improvement in Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Lancellotti, Matthew; Thomas, Sunil; Kohli, Chiranjeev

2016-01-01

The objective of this teaching innovation was to incorporate a comprehensive set of short online video modules covering key topics from the undergraduate principles of marketing class, and to evaluate its effectiveness in improving student learning. A quasiexperimental design was used to compare students who had access to video modules with a…

Does using active learning in thermodynamics lectures improve students’ conceptual understanding and learning experiences?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Georgiou, H; Sharma, M D

2015-01-01

Encouraging ‘active learning’ in the large lecture theatre emerges as a credible recommendation for improving university courses, with reports often showing significant improvements in learning outcomes. However, the recommendations are based predominantly on studies undertaken in mechanics. We set out to examine those claims in the thermodynamics module of a large first year physics course with an established technique, called interactive lecture demonstrations (ILDs). The study took place at The University of Sydney, where four parallel streams of the thermodynamics module were divided into two streams that experienced the ILDs and two streams that did not. The programme was first implemented in 2011 to gain experience and refine logistical matters and repeated in 2012 with approximately 500 students. A validated survey, the thermal concepts survey, was used as pre-test and post-test to measure learning gains while surveys and interviews provided insights into what the ‘active learning’ meant from student experiences. We analysed lecture recordings to capture the time devoted to different activities in a lecture, including interactivity. The learning gains were in the ‘high gain’ range for the ILD streams and ‘medium gain’ for the other streams. The analysis of the lecture recordings showed that the ILD streams devoted significantly more time to interactivity while surveys and interviews showed that students in the ILD streams were thinking in deep ways. Our study shows that ILDs can make a difference in students’ conceptual understanding as well as their experiences, demonstrating the potential value-add that can be provided by investing in active learning to enhance lectures. (paper)

A framework for designing and improving learning environments fostering creativity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norio Ishii

Full Text Available This paper proposes a framework for designing and improving learning environment for creativity in engineering. The framework consists of the following three components: instructional design based on knowledge from psychology, development of systems for supporting creative activities, and objective evaluation of learning results related to creativity. Based on that framework, we design and practice course based in the programation of a robot at a Japan University in the 2004 academic year. As a result, we confirm the following two advantages of our framework: learners' idea generation skills were improved and their meta-cognitive activities were also activated. In the 2005 academic year, we improve the course based on 2004 results. As a result, we confirm that the number of uploads of activity data from students have increased in the 2005 course, students' reflection sheets have become more detailed, and their volume of information have also increased.

Process Improvement for Next Generation Space Flight Vehicles: MSFC Lessons Learned

Science.gov (United States)

Housch, Helen

2008-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the lessons learned from process improvement for Next Generation Space Flight Vehicles. The contents include: 1) Organizational profile; 2) Process Improvement History; 3) Appraisal Preparation; 4) The Appraisal Experience; 5) Useful Tools; and 6) Is CMMI working?

Improved Student Reasoning About Carbon-Transforming Processes Through Inquiry-Based Learning Activities Derived from an Empirically Validated Learning Progression

Science.gov (United States)

JW, Schramm; Jin, H.; Keeling, EG; Johnson, M.; Shin, HJ

2017-05-01

This paper reports on our use of a fine-grained learning progression to assess secondary students' reasoning through carbon-transforming processes (photosynthesis, respiration, biosynthesis). Based on previous studies, we developed a learning progression with four progress variables: explaining mass changes, explaining energy transformations, explaining subsystems, and explaining large-scale systems. For this study, we developed a 2-week teaching module integrating these progress variables. Students were assessed before and after instruction, with the learning progression framework driving data analysis. Our work revealed significant overall learning gains for all students, with the mean post-test person proficiency estimates higher by 0.6 logits than the pre-test proficiency estimates. Further, instructional effects were statistically similar across all grades included in the study (7th-12th) with students in the lowest third of initial proficiency evidencing the largest learning gains. Students showed significant gains in explaining the processes of photosynthesis and respiration and in explaining transformations of mass and energy, areas where prior research has shown that student misconceptions are prevalent. Student gains on items about large-scale systems were higher than with other variables (although absolute proficiency was still lower). Gains across each of the biological processes tested were similar, despite the different levels of emphasis each had in the teaching unit. Together, these results indicate that students can benefit from instruction addressing these processes more explicitly. This requires pedagogical design quite different from that usually practiced with students at this level.

Improving pedagogic competence using an e-learning approach for pre-service mathematics teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Retnowati, E.; Murdiyani, N. M.; Marsigit; Sugiman; Mahmudi, A.

2018-03-01

This article reported a classroom action research that was aimed to improve student’s pedagogic competence during a course namely Methods of Mathematics Instruction. An asynchronous e-learning approach was provided as supplementary material to the main lecture. This e-learning consisted of selected references and educational website addresses and also facilitated online discussions about various methods of mathematics instructions. The subject was twenty-six pre-service teachers in the Department of Mathematics Education, Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia, conducted by the researchers. The research completed three cycles, where each cycle consisted of plan-action-reflection. Through observation, documentation, and interview, it was concluded that asynchronous e-learning might be used to improve pedagogic competence when direct instruction is also applied in the classroom. Direct instruction in this study provided review, explanation, scheme, and examples which could be used by students to select relevant resources in the e-learning portal. Moreover, the pedagogic competence improved after students accomplished assignments to identify aspects of pedagogic instruction either from analyzing videos in e-learning course or simulating in the classroom with direct commentaries. Supporting factors were enthusiasm, discipline, and interactions among students and lecturer that were built throughout the lectures.

Reducing test anxiety and improving academic self-esteem in high school and college students with learning disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wachelka, D; Katz, R C

1999-09-01

Test anxiety seems like a benign problem to some people, but it can be potentially serious when it leads to high levels of distress and academic failure in otherwise capable students. Because test anxiety is common in older students with learning disabilities (LD), it is surprising that little research has been done on ways to reduce the distress these students experience in test situations. In this study, we used a randomized pretest-posttest control group design to examine the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral treatment for reducing test anxiety and improving academic self-esteem in a cohort (N = 27) of high school and college students with learning disabilities (LD). All of the students participated voluntarily. They were enrolled in classes for students with learning problems. Before the study began, they complained of test anxiety and showed an elevated score on the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI). Eleven students (85%) completed the 8-week long treatment, which consisted of progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, self-instruction training, as well as training in study and test-taking skills. Results showed significant improvement in the treated group which was not evident in an untreated control group (N = 16). Compared to the control group, the treated group showed significant reductions in test anxiety on the TAI, as well as improvement in study skills and academic self-esteem as measured by the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes, and the school scale of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. These results extend the generality of similar studies on reducing test anxiety and improving academic self-esteem in younger students. They also suggest that relief from test anxiety can be expected fairly quickly when cognitive-behavioral methods are used. Additional implications and methodological limitations of the study are discussed.

Inquiry-based learning to improve student engagement in a large first year topic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masha Smallhorn

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Increasing the opportunity for students to be involved in inquiry-based activities can improve engagement with content and assist in the development of analysis and critical thinking skills. The science laboratory has traditionally been used as a platform to apply the content gained through the lecture series. These activities have exposed students to experiments which test the concepts taught but which often result in a predicted outcome. To improve the engagement and learning outcomes of our large first year biology cohort, the laboratories were redeveloped. Superlabs were run with 100 students attending weekly sessions increasing the amount of contact time from previous years. Laboratories were redeveloped into guided-inquiry and educators facilitated teams of students to design and carry out an experiment. To analyse the impact of the redevelopment on student satisfaction and learning outcomes, students were surveyed and multiple choice exam data was compared before and after the redevelopment. Results suggest high levels of student satisfaction and a significant improvement in student learning outcomes. All disciplines should consider including inquiry-based activities as a methodology to improve student engagement and learning outcome as it fosters the development of independent learners. 

Action Research to Improve the Learning Space for Diagnostic Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellen Ariel

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The module described and evaluated here was created in response to perceived learning difficulties in diagnostic test design and interpretation for students in third-year Clinical Microbiology. Previously, the activities in lectures and laboratory classes in the module fell into the lower cognitive operations of “knowledge” and “understanding.” The new approach was to exchange part of the traditional activities with elements of interactive learning, where students had the opportunity to engage in deep learning using a variety of learning styles. The effectiveness of the new curriculum was assessed by means of on-course student assessment throughout the module, a final exam, an anonymous questionnaire on student evaluation of the different activities and a focus group of volunteers. Although the new curriculum enabled a major part of the student cohort to achieve higher pass grades (p < 0.001, it did not meet the requirements of the weaker students, and the proportion of the students failing the module remained at 34%. The action research applied here provided a number of valuable suggestions from students on how to improve future curricula from their perspective. Most importantly, an interactive online program that facilitated flexibility in the learning space for the different reagents and their interaction in diagnostic tests was proposed. The methods applied to improve and assess a curriculum refresh by involving students as partners in the process, as well as the outcomes, are discussed.

Action Research to Improve the Learning Space for Diagnostic Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Ariel, Ellen; Owens, Leigh

2015-12-01

The module described and evaluated here was created in response to perceived learning difficulties in diagnostic test design and interpretation for students in third-year Clinical Microbiology. Previously, the activities in lectures and laboratory classes in the module fell into the lower cognitive operations of "knowledge" and "understanding." The new approach was to exchange part of the traditional activities with elements of interactive learning, where students had the opportunity to engage in deep learning using a variety of learning styles. The effectiveness of the new curriculum was assessed by means of on-course student assessment throughout the module, a final exam, an anonymous questionnaire on student evaluation of the different activities and a focus group of volunteers. Although the new curriculum enabled a major part of the student cohort to achieve higher pass grades (p < 0.001), it did not meet the requirements of the weaker students, and the proportion of the students failing the module remained at 34%. The action research applied here provided a number of valuable suggestions from students on how to improve future curricula from their perspective. Most importantly, an interactive online program that facilitated flexibility in the learning space for the different reagents and their interaction in diagnostic tests was proposed. The methods applied to improve and assess a curriculum refresh by involving students as partners in the process, as well as the outcomes, are discussed. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education.

The Evolution of Facultative Conformity Based on Similarity.

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Efferson, Charles; Lalive, Rafael; Cacault, Maria Paula; Kistler, Deborah

2016-01-01

Conformist social learning can have a pronounced impact on the cultural evolution of human societies, and it can shape both the genetic and cultural evolution of human social behavior more broadly. Conformist social learning is beneficial when the social learner and the demonstrators from whom she learns are similar in the sense that the same behavior is optimal for both. Otherwise, the social learner's optimum is likely to be rare among demonstrators, and conformity is costly. The trade-off between these two situations has figured prominently in the longstanding debate about the evolution of conformity, but the importance of the trade-off can depend critically on the flexibility of one's social learning strategy. We developed a gene-culture coevolutionary model that allows cognition to encode and process information about the similarity between naive learners and experienced demonstrators. Facultative social learning strategies that condition on perceived similarity evolve under certain circumstances. When this happens, facultative adjustments are often asymmetric. Asymmetric adjustments mean that the tendency to follow the majority when learners perceive demonstrators as similar is stronger than the tendency to follow the minority when learners perceive demonstrators as different. In an associated incentivized experiment, we found that social learners adjusted how they used social information based on perceived similarity, but adjustments were symmetric. The symmetry of adjustments completely eliminated the commonly assumed trade-off between cases in which learners and demonstrators share an optimum versus cases in which they do not. In a second experiment that maximized the potential for social learners to follow their preferred strategies, a few social learners exhibited an inclination to follow the majority. Most, however, did not respond systematically to social information. Additionally, in the complete absence of information about their similarity to

The Evolution of Facultative Conformity Based on Similarity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Efferson

Full Text Available Conformist social learning can have a pronounced impact on the cultural evolution of human societies, and it can shape both the genetic and cultural evolution of human social behavior more broadly. Conformist social learning is beneficial when the social learner and the demonstrators from whom she learns are similar in the sense that the same behavior is optimal for both. Otherwise, the social learner's optimum is likely to be rare among demonstrators, and conformity is costly. The trade-off between these two situations has figured prominently in the longstanding debate about the evolution of conformity, but the importance of the trade-off can depend critically on the flexibility of one's social learning strategy. We developed a gene-culture coevolutionary model that allows cognition to encode and process information about the similarity between naive learners and experienced demonstrators. Facultative social learning strategies that condition on perceived similarity evolve under certain circumstances. When this happens, facultative adjustments are often asymmetric. Asymmetric adjustments mean that the tendency to follow the majority when learners perceive demonstrators as similar is stronger than the tendency to follow the minority when learners perceive demonstrators as different. In an associated incentivized experiment, we found that social learners adjusted how they used social information based on perceived similarity, but adjustments were symmetric. The symmetry of adjustments completely eliminated the commonly assumed trade-off between cases in which learners and demonstrators share an optimum versus cases in which they do not. In a second experiment that maximized the potential for social learners to follow their preferred strategies, a few social learners exhibited an inclination to follow the majority. Most, however, did not respond systematically to social information. Additionally, in the complete absence of information about their

The Evolution of Facultative Conformity Based on Similarity

Science.gov (United States)

Efferson, Charles; Lalive, Rafael; Cacault, Maria Paula; Kistler, Deborah

2016-01-01

Conformist social learning can have a pronounced impact on the cultural evolution of human societies, and it can shape both the genetic and cultural evolution of human social behavior more broadly. Conformist social learning is beneficial when the social learner and the demonstrators from whom she learns are similar in the sense that the same behavior is optimal for both. Otherwise, the social learner’s optimum is likely to be rare among demonstrators, and conformity is costly. The trade-off between these two situations has figured prominently in the longstanding debate about the evolution of conformity, but the importance of the trade-off can depend critically on the flexibility of one’s social learning strategy. We developed a gene-culture coevolutionary model that allows cognition to encode and process information about the similarity between naive learners and experienced demonstrators. Facultative social learning strategies that condition on perceived similarity evolve under certain circumstances. When this happens, facultative adjustments are often asymmetric. Asymmetric adjustments mean that the tendency to follow the majority when learners perceive demonstrators as similar is stronger than the tendency to follow the minority when learners perceive demonstrators as different. In an associated incentivized experiment, we found that social learners adjusted how they used social information based on perceived similarity, but adjustments were symmetric. The symmetry of adjustments completely eliminated the commonly assumed trade-off between cases in which learners and demonstrators share an optimum versus cases in which they do not. In a second experiment that maximized the potential for social learners to follow their preferred strategies, a few social learners exhibited an inclination to follow the majority. Most, however, did not respond systematically to social information. Additionally, in the complete absence of information about their similarity to

Improved Extreme Learning Machine and Its Application in Image Quality Assessment

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Li Mao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Extreme learning machine (ELM is a new class of single-hidden layer feedforward neural network (SLFN, which is simple in theory and fast in implementation. Zong et al. propose a weighted extreme learning machine for learning data with imbalanced class distribution, which maintains the advantages from original ELM. However, the current reported ELM and its improved version are only based on the empirical risk minimization principle, which may suffer from overfitting. To solve the overfitting troubles, in this paper, we incorporate the structural risk minimization principle into the (weighted ELM, and propose a modified (weighted extreme learning machine (M-ELM and M-WELM. Experimental results show that our proposed M-WELM outperforms the current reported extreme learning machine algorithm in image quality assessment.

Transfer learning improves supervised image segmentation across imaging protocols.

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van Opbroek, Annegreet; Ikram, M Arfan; Vernooij, Meike W; de Bruijne, Marleen

2015-05-01

The variation between images obtained with different scanners or different imaging protocols presents a major challenge in automatic segmentation of biomedical images. This variation especially hampers the application of otherwise successful supervised-learning techniques which, in order to perform well, often require a large amount of labeled training data that is exactly representative of the target data. We therefore propose to use transfer learning for image segmentation. Transfer-learning techniques can cope with differences in distributions between training and target data, and therefore may improve performance over supervised learning for segmentation across scanners and scan protocols. We present four transfer classifiers that can train a classification scheme with only a small amount of representative training data, in addition to a larger amount of other training data with slightly different characteristics. The performance of the four transfer classifiers was compared to that of standard supervised classification on two magnetic resonance imaging brain-segmentation tasks with multi-site data: white matter, gray matter, and cerebrospinal fluid segmentation; and white-matter-/MS-lesion segmentation. The experiments showed that when there is only a small amount of representative training data available, transfer learning can greatly outperform common supervised-learning approaches, minimizing classification errors by up to 60%.

STEM learning on electricity using arduino-phet based experiment to improve 8th grade students’ STEM literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Prima, E. C.; Oktaviani, T. D.; Sholihin, H.

2018-05-01

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. One way to support the development of the technology is by integrating the use of technology and build the technology with the learning process in the form of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Learning approach. Applying STEM Learning could improve Students’ STEM Literacy. The learning approach is applied in every aspect of Learning including the application of STEM Learning in the lesson plan and worksheet. The method used in this research is weak experimental method. One group class (N=15) is taken and learn using STEM Learning approach. The topic choosen is the electricity topic which is separated into electrical circuit and parameters. The learning process is separated into 3 meetings. 15 Students are given a STEM Literacy test item before and after the lesson. The result of the normalized gain shows there are improvement in students’ STEM Literacy by 0.16 categorieed as low improvement. The most higher improvement is the students’ technology literacy, because students learn using the same technology in every meeting. This factor influences students’ technology literacy so the result is higher than another.

Effect of Royal Jelly on Improving Passive Avoidance Learning and Spatial Learning and Memory in Rats

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H Alaei

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Studies have proposed that royal jelly(RJ has various biological activities in different cells and tissues. Since it has been demonstrated that RJ contains compounds having desirable effects on central neurons system and neural functions, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of royal jelly on learning and memory in rats. Methods: Male wistar rats were divided into two groups, the royal jelly and the control. In the RJ group, the rats received a food that contained 3% RJ instead of regular food for 10 days. Then learning and memory were investigated in these animals through both passive avoidance learning test(1 day and 1 week after receiving electrical shock and Morris water maze test(1 day and 1 week after a 4-day learning period. Results: The study results indicated that the food containing RJ in the RJ group significantly increased the time of the first entrance to the dark room one week after the electrical shock in passive avoidance learning test. In other words, the findings suggest an improvement of learning and memory in RJ group. In the acquisition phase of Morris water maze test, rats receiving RJ found the underwater escape plate during less time and distance comparing with the control group. Furthermore, one week after the acquisition phase, in the retention phase, rats spent more time in the quadrant in which the escape plate was previously located. Conclusion: The present study findings propose that Royal Jelly can improve cognitive processes through positive effects on neural functions and probably has a significant influence on prevention and therapy of some neuronal disorders.

Improving Language Learning Strategies and Performance of Pre-Service Language Teachers Through a CALLA-TBLT Model

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Maria Eugenia Guapacha Chamorro

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This paper reports an action-research study on language learning strategies in tertiary education at a Colombian university. The study aimed at improving the English language performance and language learning strategies use of 33 first-year pre-service language teachers by combining elements from two models: the cognitive academic language learning approach and task-based language teaching. Data were gathered through surveys, a focus group, students’ and teachers’ journals, language tests, and documentary analysis. Results evidenced that the students improved in speaking, writing, grammar, vocabulary and in their language learning strategies repertoire. As a conclusion, explicit strategy instruction in the proposed model resulted in a proper combination to improve learners’ language learning strategies and performance.

Effects of Using Online Tools in Improving Regulation of the Teaching-Learning Process

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de la Fuente, Jesus; Cano, Francisco; Justicia, Fernando; Pichardo, Maria del Carmen; Garcia-Berben, Ana Belen; Martinez-Vicente, Jose Manuel; Sander, Paul

2007-01-01

Introduction: The current panorama of Higher Education reveals a need to improve teaching and learning processes taking place there. The rise of the information society transforms how we organize learning and transmit knowledge. On this account, teaching-learning processes must be enhanced, the role of teachers and students must be evaluated, and…

From Learning Cultures to Educational Cultures: Values and Judgements in Educational Research and Educational Improvement

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Biesta, Gert

2011-01-01

This article outlines a new approach to the study of learning and the improvement of education. The approach consists of two elements: a theory of learning cultures and a cultural theory of learning. Learning cultures are different from learning contexts or learning environments in that they are to be understood as the social practices through…

Improving the Achievement of Second Year Natural Resource Management Students of Madawalabu University through Cooperative Learning

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Abdulahi, Mohammed Mussa; Hashim, Hakim; Kawo, Mohammed

2017-01-01

The purpose of this action research is to improve the achievement of students in general and, to examine the perception of students and teachers about cooperative learning, to identify major factors affecting the implementation of cooperative learning and to identify the possible strategies used to improve cooperative learning in Madawalabu…

Undergraduate teaching in geriatric medicine using computer-aided learning improves student performance in examinations.

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Daunt, Laura A; Umeonusulu, Patience I; Gladman, John R F; Blundell, Adrian G; Conroy, Simon P; Gordon, Adam L

2013-07-01

computer-aided learning (CAL) is increasingly used to deliver teaching, but few studies have evaluated its impact on learning within geriatric medicine. We developed and implemented CAL packages on falls and continence, and evaluated their effect on student performance in two medical schools. traditional ward based and didactic teaching was replaced by blended learning (CAL package combined with traditional teaching methods). Examination scores were compared for cohorts of medical students receiving traditional learning and those receiving blended learning. Control questions were included to provide data on cohort differences. in both medical schools, there was a trend towards improved scores following blended learning, with a smaller number of students achieving low scores (P learning was associated with improvement in student examination performance, regardless of the setting or the methods adopted, and without increasing teaching time. Our findings support the use of CAL in teaching geriatric medicine, and this method has been adopted for teaching other topics in the undergraduate curriculum.

Combining Correlation-Based and Reward-Based Learning in Neural Control for Policy Improvement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manoonpong, Poramate; Kolodziejski, Christoph; Wörgötter, Florentin

2013-01-01

Classical conditioning (conventionally modeled as correlation-based learning) and operant conditioning (conventionally modeled as reinforcement learning or reward-based learning) have been found in biological systems. Evidence shows that these two mechanisms strongly involve learning about...... associations. Based on these biological findings, we propose a new learning model to achieve successful control policies for artificial systems. This model combines correlation-based learning using input correlation learning (ICO learning) and reward-based learning using continuous actor–critic reinforcement...... learning (RL), thereby working as a dual learner system. The model performance is evaluated by simulations of a cart-pole system as a dynamic motion control problem and a mobile robot system as a goal-directed behavior control problem. Results show that the model can strongly improve pole balancing control...

IMPROVING LEARNING PROCESS AND STUDENT RESULTS LEARNING TO TUNE-UPMOTORCYCLE USING DEMONSTRATION METHODOF CLASS XI SMA N 1 PLAYEN YEAR STUDY2013/2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haryono Haryono

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This research is to improve the learning process and results in learning a tune-up motorcycle  using the demonstrationmethod of class XI SMA 1 Playen.              This research is a classroom action research (PTK, using the demonstration method.Subyek this study were students of class XI SMA Negeri 1 Playen.Theimplementationofthisstudyusing3cycles,there is a (planning, implementation (actuating, observation (observing, and reflection (reflecting. Collecting data in this study are observations of student learning process and student learning outcomes test data pre-test, postesI, II, III and documentation as a support to the two data. Further observation data based on the observation of student learning just learning the positive process of learning student and test data were analyzed for comparison. Indicators of success in this classroom action research that student learning increases towards positive along with the use of methods of demonstration, is to see an increase from the pre-cycle to end the first cycle, the first cycle to the second cycle and the secondcyclebycycle III.             From the results of this study concluded that the method could improve the demonstration of positive student learning, from the first cycle of 30%, 50% second cycle and third cycle of 80%. Learning is also more effective with students indicated more quickly adapt as a positive activity, especially in terms of increased student asked, noting the test and work on the problems. Demonstration method can improve the learning outcomes  students of class XI SMA 1 Playen as evidenced by an increase in the average yield final test first cycle of 64.09; second cycle of 77.82 and 78.86 for the third cycle. So it proved with the increasing positive student learning canalso improve student learning outcomes.

An Improved Brain-Inspired Emotional Learning Algorithm for Fast Classification

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Ying Mei

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Classification is an important task of machine intelligence in the field of information. The artificial neural network (ANN is widely used for classification. However, the traditional ANN shows slow training speed, and it is hard to meet the real-time requirement for large-scale applications. In this paper, an improved brain-inspired emotional learning (BEL algorithm is proposed for fast classification. The BEL algorithm was put forward to mimic the high speed of the emotional learning mechanism in mammalian brain, which has the superior features of fast learning and low computational complexity. To improve the accuracy of BEL in classification, the genetic algorithm (GA is adopted for optimally tuning the weights and biases of amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in the BEL neural network. The combinational algorithm named as GA-BEL has been tested on eight University of California at Irvine (UCI datasets and two well-known databases (Japanese Female Facial Expression, Cohn–Kanade. The comparisons of experiments indicate that the proposed GA-BEL is more accurate than the original BEL algorithm, and it is much faster than the traditional algorithm.

Study for the design method of multi-agent diagnostic system to improve diagnostic performance for similar abnormality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minowa, Hirotsugu; Gofuku, Akio

2014-01-01

Accidents on industrial plants cause large loss on human, economic, social credibility. In recent, studies of diagnostic methods using techniques of machine learning such as support vector machine is expected to detect the occurrence of abnormality in a plant early and correctly. There were reported that these diagnostic machines has high accuracy to diagnose the operating state of industrial plant under mono abnormality occurrence. But the each diagnostic machine on the multi-agent diagnostic system may misdiagnose similar abnormalities as a same abnormality if abnormalities to diagnose increases. That causes that a single diagnostic machine may show higher diagnostic performance than one of multi-agent diagnostic system because decision-making considering with misdiagnosis is difficult. Therefore, we study the design method for multi-agent diagnostic system to diagnose similar abnormality correctly. This method aimed to realize automatic generation of diagnostic system where the generation process and location of diagnostic machines are optimized to diagnose correctly the similar abnormalities which are evaluated from the similarity of process signals by statistical method. This paper explains our design method and reports the result evaluated our method applied to the process data of the fast-breeder reactor Monju

Improving the Students' Activity and Learning Outcomes on Social Sciences Subject Using Round Table and Rally Coach of Cooperative Learning Model

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Ningsih; Soetjipto, Budi Eko; Sumarmi

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was: (1) to analyze increasing students' learning activity and learning outcomes. Student activities which were observed include the visual, verbal, listening, writing and mental visual activity; (2) to analyze the improvement of student learning outcomes using "Round Table" and "Rally Coach" Model of…

The development of learning materials based on core model to improve students’ learning outcomes in topic of Chemical Bonding

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Avianti, R.; Suyatno; Sugiarto, B.

2018-04-01

This study aims to create an appropriate learning material based on CORE (Connecting, Organizing, Reflecting, Extending) model to improve students’ learning achievement in Chemical Bonding Topic. This study used 4-D models as research design and one group pretest-posttest as design of the material treatment. The subject of the study was teaching materials based on CORE model, conducted on 30 students of Science class grade 10. The collecting data process involved some techniques such as validation, observation, test, and questionnaire. The findings were that: (1) all the contents were valid, (2) the practicality and the effectiveness of all the contents were good. The conclusion of this research was that the CORE model is appropriate to improve students’ learning outcomes for studying Chemical Bonding.

Information Literacy and technology to improve learning and education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, Ton; Smeets, Ed

2011-01-01

Mooij, T., & Smeets, E. (2011, 13-16 September). Information Literacy and technology to improve learning and education. Presentation and discussion in a cross-network symposium of networks 16 and 12 at the ‘European Conference on Educational Research’ of the “European Educational Research

Improving the basic skills of teaching mathematics through learning with search-solve-create-share strategy

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Rahayu, D. V.; Kusumah, Y. S.; Darhim

2018-05-01

This study examined to see the improvement of prospective teachers’ basic skills of teaching mathematics through search-solve-create-share learning strategy based on overall and Mathematical Prior Knowledge (MPK) and interaction of both. Quasi experiments with the design of this experimental-non-equivalent control group design involved 67 students at the mathematics program of STKIP Garut. The instrument used in this study included pre-test and post-test. The result of this study showed that: (1) The improvement and achievement of the basic skills of teaching mathematics of the prospective teachers who get the learning of search-solve-create-share strategy is better than the improvement and achievement of the prospective teachers who get the conventional learning as a whole and based on MPK; (2) There is no interaction between the learning used and MPK on improving and achieving basic skills of teaching mathematics.

Organizational learning and continuous quality improvement: examining the impact on nursing home performance.

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Rondeau, Kent V; Wagar, Terry H

2002-01-01

Interest is growing in learning more about the ability of total quality management and continuous quality improvement (TQM/CQI) initiatives to contribute to the performance of healthcare organizations. A major factor in the successful implementation of TQM/CQI is the seminal contribution of an organization's culture. Many implementation efforts have not succeeded because of a corporate culture that failed to stress broader organizational learning. This may help to explain why some TQM/CQI programs have been unsuccessful in improving healthcare organization performance. Organizational performance variables and organizational learning orientation were assessed in a sample of 181 Canadian long-term care organizations that had implemented a formal TQM/CQI program. Categorical regression analysis shows that, in the absence of a strong corporAte culture that stresses organizational learning and employee development, few performance enhancements are reported. The results of the assessment suggest that a TQM/CQI program without the backing of a strong organizational learning culture may be insufficient to achieve augmented organizational performance.

Using Learning Analytics to Predict (and Improve) Student Success: A Faculty Perspective

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Dietz-Uhler, Beth; Hurn, Janet E.

2013-01-01

Learning analytics is receiving increased attention, in part because it offers to assist educational institutions in increasing student retention, improving student success, and easing the burden of accountability. Although these large-scale issues are worthy of consideration, faculty might also be interested in how they can use learning analytics…

Of mice, birds, and men: the mouse ultrasonic song system has some features similar to humans and song-learning birds.

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Gustavo Arriaga

Full Text Available Humans and song-learning birds communicate acoustically using learned vocalizations. The characteristic features of this social communication behavior include vocal control by forebrain motor areas, a direct cortical projection to brainstem vocal motor neurons, and dependence on auditory feedback to develop and maintain learned vocalizations. These features have so far not been found in closely related primate and avian species that do not learn vocalizations. Male mice produce courtship ultrasonic vocalizations with acoustic features similar to songs of song-learning birds. However, it is assumed that mice lack a forebrain system for vocal modification and that their ultrasonic vocalizations are innate. Here we investigated the mouse song system and discovered that it includes a motor cortex region active during singing, that projects directly to brainstem vocal motor neurons and is necessary for keeping song more stereotyped and on pitch. We also discovered that male mice depend on auditory feedback to maintain some ultrasonic song features, and that sub-strains with differences in their songs can match each other's pitch when cross-housed under competitive social conditions. We conclude that male mice have some limited vocal modification abilities with at least some neuroanatomical features thought to be unique to humans and song-learning birds. To explain our findings, we propose a continuum hypothesis of vocal learning.

Rehearsal significantly improves immediate and delayed recall on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.

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Hessen, Erik

2011-10-01

A repeated observation during memory assessment with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is that patients who spontaneously employ a memory rehearsal strategy by repeating the word list more than once achieve better scores than patients who only repeat the word list once. This observation led to concern about the ability of the standard test procedure of RAVLT and similar tests in eliciting the best possible recall scores. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that a rehearsal recall strategy of repeating the word list more than once would result in improved scores of recall on the RAVLT. We report on differences in outcome after standard administration and after experimental administration on Immediate and Delayed Recall measures from the RAVLT of 50 patients. The experimental administration resulted in significantly improved scores for all the variables employed. Additionally, it was found that patients who failed effort screening showed significantly poorer improvement on Delayed Recall compared with those who passed the effort screening. The general clear improvement both in raw scores and T-scores demonstrates that recall performance can be significantly influenced by the strategy of the patient or by small variations in instructions by the examiner.

Improving the learning of clinical reasoning through computer-based cognitive representation.

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Wu, Bian; Wang, Minhong; Johnson, Janice M; Grotzer, Tina A

2014-01-01

Clinical reasoning is usually taught using a problem-solving approach, which is widely adopted in medical education. However, learning through problem solving is difficult as a result of the contextualization and dynamic aspects of actual problems. Moreover, knowledge acquired from problem-solving practice tends to be inert and fragmented. This study proposed a computer-based cognitive representation approach that externalizes and facilitates the complex processes in learning clinical reasoning. The approach is operationalized in a computer-based cognitive representation tool that involves argument mapping to externalize the problem-solving process and concept mapping to reveal the knowledge constructed from the problems. Twenty-nine Year 3 or higher students from a medical school in east China participated in the study. Participants used the proposed approach implemented in an e-learning system to complete four learning cases in 4 weeks on an individual basis. For each case, students interacted with the problem to capture critical data, generate and justify hypotheses, make a diagnosis, recall relevant knowledge, and update their conceptual understanding of the problem domain. Meanwhile, students used the computer-based cognitive representation tool to articulate and represent the key elements and their interactions in the learning process. A significant improvement was found in students' learning products from the beginning to the end of the study, consistent with students' report of close-to-moderate progress in developing problem-solving and knowledge-construction abilities. No significant differences were found between the pretest and posttest scores with the 4-week period. The cognitive representation approach was found to provide more formative assessment. The computer-based cognitive representation approach improved the learning of clinical reasoning in both problem solving and knowledge construction.

Improving Students’ Motivation in Learning ICT Course With the Use of A Mobile Augmented Reality Learning Environment

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Fahri Hanafi, Hafizul; Soh Said, Che; Helmy Wahab, Mohd; Samsuddin, Khairulanuar

2017-08-01

Studies have shown that many Malaysian non-technical students have low motivation in learning ICT course due to a number of reasons, such as a lack of learning practice and effective learning applications. In view of such a problem, the researchers carried out a quasi-experimental study to examine the impact of a novel mobile augmented reality learning application (MARLA) on students’ motivation in learning a topic of a university ICT course. The research was based on the pretest-posttest control group design, and the study sample consisted of 120 non-technical undergraduates majoring in social science, with a mean age of 19.5 years. They were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The dependent variable was students’ motivation in learning, and the independent variables were learning method and gender. The experimental group used MARLA on their mobile devices to learn one of the topics of the ICT Competency course, namely Computer System; whereas the control group used a similar application on their desktop computers. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) was the research instrument used to measure students’ motivation before and after learning sessions, which spanned 6 hours. Utilizing the SPSS (version 21), an analysis of covariance was performed, showing there was a main effect attributed to gender only, with male and female students attaining mean scores of 4.24 and 3.90 respectively for the motivation construct. This finding showed male students were more motivated than their opposite counterparts. In contrast, no such main effect attributed to learning method was observed, as evidenced from the mean scores of 4.08 and 4.07 of the experimental group and control group respectively for the measured construct, suggesting both methods were both equally effective. Additionally, there was an interaction effect between gender and learning method, with male students attaining different levels of motivation based on learning method. Arguably

Learning discriminative distance functions for valve retrieval and improved decision support in valvular heart disease

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Ingmar; Vitanovski, Dime; Ionasec, Razvan I.; Tsymal, Alexey; Georgescu, Bogdan; Zhou, Shaohua K.; Huber, Martin; Navab, Nassir; Hornegger, Joachim; Comaniciu, Dorin

2010-03-01

Disorders of the heart valves constitute a considerable health problem and often require surgical intervention. Recently various approaches were published seeking to overcome the shortcomings of current clinical practice,that still relies on manually performed measurements for performance assessment. Clinical decisions are still based on generic information from clinical guidelines and publications and personal experience of clinicians. We present a framework for retrieval and decision support using learning based discriminative distance functions and visualization of patient similarity with relative neighborhood graphsbased on shape and derived features. We considered two learning based techniques, namely learning from equivalence constraints and the intrinsic Random Forest distance. The generic approach enables for learning arbitrary user-defined concepts of similarity depending on the application. This is demonstrated with the proposed applications, including automated diagnosis and interventional suitability classification, where classification rates of up to 88.9% and 85.9% could be observed on a set of valve models from 288 and 102 patients respectively.

Administrative Barriers to Improving Undergraduate Education. Accent on Improving College Teaching and Learning, 6.

Science.gov (United States)

Genthon, Michele; Joscelyn, Mary K., Ed.

Chief academic officers at 1,053 institutions of higher education across the United States were surveyed about the barriers to improving teaching and learning. Using factor analysis, responses were reduced to nine general problem areas. In order of importance from most important to least important, the problems identified were: financial support,…

The impact of project-based learning on improving student learning outcomes of sustainability concepts in transportation engineering courses

Science.gov (United States)

Fini, Elham H.; Awadallah, Faisal; Parast, Mahour M.; Abu-Lebdeh, Taher

2018-05-01

This paper describes an intervention to enhance students' learning by involving students in brainstorming activities about sustainability concepts and their implications in transportation engineering. The paper discusses the process of incorporating the intervention into a transportation course, as well as the impact of this intervention on students' learning outcomes. To evaluate and compare students' learning as a result of the intervention, the Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education survey instrument was used. The survey instrument includes five constructs: higher-order cognitive skills, self-efficacy, ease of learning subject matter, teamwork, and communication skills. Pre- and post-intervention surveys of student learning outcomes were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the intervention on enhancing students' learning outcomes. The results show that the implementation of the intervention significantly improved higher-order cognitive skills, self-efficacy, teamwork, and communication skills. Involving students in brainstorming activities related to sustainability concepts and their implications in transportation proved to be an effective teaching and learning strategy.

Developing the Mathematics Learning Management Model for Improving Creative Thinking in Thailand

Science.gov (United States)

Sriwongchai, Arunee; Jantharajit, Nirat; Chookhampaeng, Sumalee

2015-01-01

The study purposes were: 1) To study current states and problems of relevant secondary students in developing mathematics learning management model for improving creative thinking, 2) To evaluate the effectiveness of model about: a) efficiency of learning process, b) comparisons of pretest and posttest on creative thinking and achievement of…

Revisiting Inter-Genre Similarity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sturm, Bob L.; Gouyon, Fabien

2013-01-01

We revisit the idea of ``inter-genre similarity'' (IGS) for machine learning in general, and music genre recognition in particular. We show analytically that the probability of error for IGS is higher than naive Bayes classification with zero-one loss (NB). We show empirically that IGS does...... not perform well, even for data that satisfies all its assumptions....

Is having similar eye movement patterns during face learning and recognition beneficial for recognition performance? Evidence from hidden Markov modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuk, Tim; Chan, Antoni B; Hsiao, Janet H

2017-12-01

The hidden Markov model (HMM)-based approach for eye movement analysis is able to reflect individual differences in both spatial and temporal aspects of eye movements. Here we used this approach to understand the relationship between eye movements during face learning and recognition, and its association with recognition performance. We discovered holistic (i.e., mainly looking at the face center) and analytic (i.e., specifically looking at the two eyes in addition to the face center) patterns during both learning and recognition. Although for both learning and recognition, participants who adopted analytic patterns had better recognition performance than those with holistic patterns, a significant positive correlation between the likelihood of participants' patterns being classified as analytic and their recognition performance was only observed during recognition. Significantly more participants adopted holistic patterns during learning than recognition. Interestingly, about 40% of the participants used different patterns between learning and recognition, and among them 90% switched their patterns from holistic at learning to analytic at recognition. In contrast to the scan path theory, which posits that eye movements during learning have to be recapitulated during recognition for the recognition to be successful, participants who used the same or different patterns during learning and recognition did not differ in recognition performance. The similarity between their learning and recognition eye movement patterns also did not correlate with their recognition performance. These findings suggested that perceptuomotor memory elicited by eye movement patterns during learning does not play an important role in recognition. In contrast, the retrieval of diagnostic information for recognition, such as the eyes for face recognition, is a better predictor for recognition performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emergency operating procedures improvement based on the lesson learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Wen-Hsiung, E-mail: whwu1127@aec.gov.tw [Atomic Energy Council, 2F., No. 80, Sec.1, Chenggong Rd., Yonghe Dist., New Taipei City 234, Taiwan (China); Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Sec. 2, Guangfu Rd., Hsinchu City 300, Taiwan (China); Liao, Lih-Yih, E-mail: lyliao@iner.gov.tw [Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Energy Council, No. 1000, Wenhua Rd., Jiaan Village, Longtan Township, Taoyuan County 325, Taiwan (China)

2016-12-01

Highlights: • Discuss the problem of EOPs at the time of Fukushima accident to deal with the prolonged SBO. • Elaborate the potential risk accompanied with the emergency depressurization in the SBO. • Describe a special guideline to cope with Fukushima-like accidents and provide its technical basis. • Point out that Fukushima accident might have been prevented if improved EOPs had been used. • Propose key points and suggestions for improving the EOPs. - Abstract: One of the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident is the emergency operating procedures (EOPs) have to be improved. The BWR Owners’ Group revised the emergency procedure guidelines and addressed the lesson learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident in revision 3 in order to avoid loss of turbine-driven makeup water systems during reactor depressurization. However, the improvement deserves much more attention. The existing EOPs at the time of the accident may not be adequate enough for the prolonged station blackout condition, because resources required for performing the EOPs are vastly unavailable or gradually exhausted. The improved EOPs must not only permit early reactor pressure vessel depressurization, but also address the risk accompanied with the emergency depressurization. For this reason, Taiwan Power Company proposed the Ultimate Response Guideline (URG) to cope with Fukushima-like accidents. The main content of the URG is a two-stage depressurization strategy, namely the controlled depressurization and the emergency depressurization. The technical basis of the two-stage depressurization strategy was discussed in this paper. The effectiveness of the URG was verified by using TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine (TRACE). Besides, the emergency responses performed by Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant (Fukushima Daini NPP) were found to be very similar to the URG. The consequences of Fukushima Daini NPP somehow demonstrate that the URG is effective for Fukushima

Emergency operating procedures improvement based on the lesson learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Wen-Hsiung; Liao, Lih-Yih

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Discuss the problem of EOPs at the time of Fukushima accident to deal with the prolonged SBO. • Elaborate the potential risk accompanied with the emergency depressurization in the SBO. • Describe a special guideline to cope with Fukushima-like accidents and provide its technical basis. • Point out that Fukushima accident might have been prevented if improved EOPs had been used. • Propose key points and suggestions for improving the EOPs. - Abstract: One of the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident is the emergency operating procedures (EOPs) have to be improved. The BWR Owners’ Group revised the emergency procedure guidelines and addressed the lesson learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident in revision 3 in order to avoid loss of turbine-driven makeup water systems during reactor depressurization. However, the improvement deserves much more attention. The existing EOPs at the time of the accident may not be adequate enough for the prolonged station blackout condition, because resources required for performing the EOPs are vastly unavailable or gradually exhausted. The improved EOPs must not only permit early reactor pressure vessel depressurization, but also address the risk accompanied with the emergency depressurization. For this reason, Taiwan Power Company proposed the Ultimate Response Guideline (URG) to cope with Fukushima-like accidents. The main content of the URG is a two-stage depressurization strategy, namely the controlled depressurization and the emergency depressurization. The technical basis of the two-stage depressurization strategy was discussed in this paper. The effectiveness of the URG was verified by using TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine (TRACE). Besides, the emergency responses performed by Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant (Fukushima Daini NPP) were found to be very similar to the URG. The consequences of Fukushima Daini NPP somehow demonstrate that the URG is effective for Fukushima

Face Recognition Performance Improvement using a Similarity Score of Feature Vectors based on Probabilistic Histograms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SRIKOTE, G.

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an improved performance algorithm of face recognition to identify two face mismatch pairs in cases of incorrect decisions. The primary feature of this method is to deploy the similarity score with respect to Gaussian components between two previously unseen faces. Unlike the conventional classical vector distance measurement, our algorithms also consider the plot of summation of the similarity index versus face feature vector distance. A mixture of Gaussian models of labeled faces is also widely applicable to different biometric system parameters. By comparative evaluations, it has been shown that the efficiency of the proposed algorithm is superior to that of the conventional algorithm by an average accuracy of up to 1.15% and 16.87% when compared with 3x3 Multi-Region Histogram (MRH direct-bag-of-features and Principal Component Analysis (PCA-based face recognition systems, respectively. The experimental results show that similarity score consideration is more discriminative for face recognition compared to feature distance. Experimental results of Labeled Face in the Wild (LFW data set demonstrate that our algorithms are suitable for real applications probe-to-gallery identification of face recognition systems. Moreover, this proposed method can also be applied to other recognition systems and therefore additionally improves recognition scores.

Information Literacy and technology to improve learning and education

OpenAIRE

Mooij, Ton; Smeets, Ed

2011-01-01

Mooij, T., & Smeets, E. (2011, 13-16 September). Information Literacy and technology to improve learning and education. Presentation and discussion in a cross-network symposium of networks 16 and 12 at the ‘European Conference on Educational Research’ of the “European Educational Research Association” (EERA), Berlin, Germany.

Infrastructure under construction: continuous improvement and learning in projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gieskes, J.F.B.; ten Broeke, André M.

2000-01-01

Continuous improvement and learning are popular concepts in management literature and practice. Often they are situated in an environment where the work is of a repetitive nature. However, there are a lot of organisations where (part of) the primary processes are carried out by means of projects. An

Edutourism Taka Bonerate National Park through Scientific Approach to Improve Student Learning Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Hayati, R. S.

2017-02-01

This research aim is develop the potential of Taka Bonerate National Park as learning resources through edutourism with scientific approach to improve student learning outcomes. Focus of student learning outcomes are students psychomotor abilities and comprehension on Biodiversity of Marine Biota, Corals Ecosystem, and Conservation topics. The edutourism development products are teacher manual, edutourism worksheet, material booklet, guide’s manual, and Taka Bonerate National Park governor manual. The method to develop edutourism products is ADDIE research and development model that consist of analysis, design, development and production, implementation, and evaluation step. The subjects in the implementation step were given a pretest and posttest and observation sheet to see the effect of edutourism Taka Bonerate National Park through scientific approach to student learning outcomes on Biodiversity of Marine Biota, Corals Ecosystem, and Conservation topics. The data were analyzed qualitative descriptively. The research result is edutourism Taka Bonerate National Park through scientific approach can improve students learning outcomes on Biodiversity of Marine Biota, Corals Ecosystem, and Conservation topics. Edutourism Taka Bonerate National Park can be an alternative of learning method on Biodiversity of Marine Biota, Corals Ecosystem, and Conservation topics.

Improving students’ creativity using cooperative learning with virtual media on static fluida concept

Science.gov (United States)

Gunawan; Harjono, A.; Sahidu, H.; Nisrina

2018-04-01

Creativity is an important component of global competition in the 21st century. Therefore, learning innovation is needed to make students more creative. This research was conducted to improve students' creativity through cooperative learning using virtual media for the static fluid concept. This study was a quasi-experiment through a pre-test post-test design. The samples were chosen using cluster random sampling technique to obtain two groups, namely experimental group and control group. Data were collected using a creativity test in the form of an essay consisting of verbal and figural tests. The data were analyzed using t-test and N-gain test to determine the improvement of creativity in both groups. The results showed that the improvement of students' creativity in the experimental group was higher than the control group. The difference in the improvement of students’ creativity in both group is significant. Students become more creative especially related to indicators of fluency and elaboration. We conclude that the application of cooperative learning model using virtual media has a positive effect on students’ creativity.

Alignment of an interprofessional student learning experience with a hospital quality improvement initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Terri O; Wise, Holly H; Mauldin, Mary P; Ragucci, Kelly R; Scheurer, Danielle B; Su, Zemin; Mauldin, Patrick D; Bailey, Jennifer R; Borckardt, Jeffrey J

2018-04-11

Assessment of interprofessional education (IPE) frequently focuses on students' learning outcomes including changes in knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes. While a foundational education in the values and information of their chosen profession is critical, interprofessional learning follows a continuum from formal education to practice. The continuum increases in significance and complexity as learning becomes more relationship based and dependent upon the ability to navigate complex interactions with patients, families, communities, co-workers, and others. Integrating IPE into collaborative practice is critical to enhancing students' experiential learning, developing teamwork competencies, and understanding the complexity of teams. This article describes a project that linked students with a hospital-based quality-improvement effort to focus on the acquisition and practice of teamwork skills and to determine the impact of teamwork on patient and quality outcome measures. A hospital unit was identified with an opportunity for improvement related to quality care, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, and team behaviours. One hundred and thirty-seven students from six health profession colleges at the Medical University of South Carolina underwent TeamSTEPPS® training and demonstrated proficiency of their teamwork-rating skills with the TeamSTEPPS® Team Performance Observation Tool (T-TPO). Students observed real-time team behaviours of unit staff before and after staff attended formal TeamSTEPPS® training. The students collected a total of 778 observations using the T-TPO. Teamwork performance on the unit improved significantly across all T-TPO domains (team structure, communication, leadership, situation monitoring, and mutual support). Significant improvement in each domain continued post-intervention and at 15-month follow-up, improvement remained significant compared to baseline. Student engagement in TeamSTEPPS® training and demonstration of their

Improving ability mathematic literacy, self-efficacy and reducing mathematical anxiety with learning Treffinger model at senior high school students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hafizh Nizham

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study is a Quasi Experimental study with the design of The Pretest-Post-Test Non-Equivalent Group Design. Population in this research is all student of class X SHS in South Jakarta. Sampling is done by purposive sampling, to obtain an experimental class and control class. In the experimental class, students learn with Treffinger learning model and control, class learning with conventional learning. This study is also to examine the differences of self-efficacy improvement and students literacy skills, and decreased students' mathematical anxiety. Also, this study also examines the relevance of early mathematical abilities (high, medium, low with improving students' math literacy skills. The instrument used in this research is literacy skill test, self-efficacy scale, mathematical anxiety scale, observation sheet, and student interview. Data were analyzed by t-test, one-way ANOVA, and two lines. From the results of the data, it is found that: (1 The improvement of literacy ability of students who are learned with Treffinger model learning is not significantly higher than students who learn with conventional. (2 The self-efficacy of students who learning with the Treffinger model learning  is better than the student that is learning by conventional. (3 The mathematical anxiety of students learning with Treffinger model learning reduces better than students learning with conventional. (4 There is a difference in the improvement of students' mathematical literacy skills learning by learning the Treffinger model and students learning with conventional learning based on early mathematical abilities. (5 Student response to Treffinger model learning is better than students learning with conventional learning. Therefore, learning model Treffinger can be an alternative model of learning to improve students' mathematical literacy skills, and self-efficacy students, and able to reduce mathematical anxiety.

Using SVD on Clusters to Improve Precision of Interdocument Similarity Measure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing based on SVD (Singular Value Decomposition is proposed to overcome the problems of polysemy and homonym in traditional lexical matching. However, it is usually criticized as with low discriminative power for representing documents although it has been validated as with good representative quality. In this paper, SVD on clusters is proposed to improve the discriminative power of LSI. The contribution of this paper is three manifolds. Firstly, we make a survey of existing linear algebra methods for LSI, including both SVD based methods and non-SVD based methods. Secondly, we propose SVD on clusters for LSI and theoretically explain that dimension expansion of document vectors and dimension projection using SVD are the two manipulations involved in SVD on clusters. Moreover, we develop updating processes to fold in new documents and terms in a decomposed matrix by SVD on clusters. Thirdly, two corpora, a Chinese corpus and an English corpus, are used to evaluate the performances of the proposed methods. Experiments demonstrate that, to some extent, SVD on clusters can improve the precision of interdocument similarity measure in comparison with other SVD based LSI methods.

Authoring Robot-Assisted Instructional Materials for Improving Learning Performance and Motivation in EFL Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Zeng-Wei; Huang, Yueh-Min; Hsu, Marie; Shen, Wei-Wei

2016-01-01

Anthropomorphized robots are regarded as beneficial tools in education due to their capabilities of improving teaching effectiveness and learning motivation. Therefore, one major trend of research, known as Robot- Assisted Language Learning (RALL), is trying to develop robots to support teaching and learning English as a foreign language (EFL). As…

Improving the learning of clinical reasoning through computer-based cognitive representation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bian Wu

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Clinical reasoning is usually taught using a problem-solving approach, which is widely adopted in medical education. However, learning through problem solving is difficult as a result of the contextualization and dynamic aspects of actual problems. Moreover, knowledge acquired from problem-solving practice tends to be inert and fragmented. This study proposed a computer-based cognitive representation approach that externalizes and facilitates the complex processes in learning clinical reasoning. The approach is operationalized in a computer-based cognitive representation tool that involves argument mapping to externalize the problem-solving process and concept mapping to reveal the knowledge constructed from the problems. Methods: Twenty-nine Year 3 or higher students from a medical school in east China participated in the study. Participants used the proposed approach implemented in an e-learning system to complete four learning cases in 4 weeks on an individual basis. For each case, students interacted with the problem to capture critical data, generate and justify hypotheses, make a diagnosis, recall relevant knowledge, and update their conceptual understanding of the problem domain. Meanwhile, students used the computer-based cognitive representation tool to articulate and represent the key elements and their interactions in the learning process. Results: A significant improvement was found in students’ learning products from the beginning to the end of the study, consistent with students’ report of close-to-moderate progress in developing problem-solving and knowledge-construction abilities. No significant differences were found between the pretest and posttest scores with the 4-week period. The cognitive representation approach was found to provide more formative assessment. Conclusions: The computer-based cognitive representation approach improved the learning of clinical reasoning in both problem solving and knowledge

Do pre-trained deep learning models improve computer-aided classification of digital mammograms?

Science.gov (United States)

Aboutalib, Sarah S.; Mohamed, Aly A.; Zuley, Margarita L.; Berg, Wendie A.; Luo, Yahong; Wu, Shandong

2018-02-01

Digital mammography screening is an important exam for the early detection of breast cancer and reduction in mortality. False positives leading to high recall rates, however, results in unnecessary negative consequences to patients and health care systems. In order to better aid radiologists, computer-aided tools can be utilized to improve distinction between image classifications and thus potentially reduce false recalls. The emergence of deep learning has shown promising results in the area of biomedical imaging data analysis. This study aimed to investigate deep learning and transfer learning methods that can improve digital mammography classification performance. In particular, we evaluated the effect of pre-training deep learning models with other imaging datasets in order to boost classification performance on a digital mammography dataset. Two types of datasets were used for pre-training: (1) a digitized film mammography dataset, and (2) a very large non-medical imaging dataset. By using either of these datasets to pre-train the network initially, and then fine-tuning with the digital mammography dataset, we found an increase in overall classification performance in comparison to a model without pre-training, with the very large non-medical dataset performing the best in improving the classification accuracy.

Integrating machine learning and physician knowledge to improve the accuracy of breast biopsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutra, I; Nassif, H; Page, D; Shavlik, J; Strigel, R M; Wu, Y; Elezaby, M E; Burnside, E

2011-01-01

In this work we show that combining physician rules and machine learned rules may improve the performance of a classifier that predicts whether a breast cancer is missed on percutaneous, image-guided breast core needle biopsy (subsequently referred to as "breast core biopsy"). Specifically, we show how advice in the form of logical rules, derived by a sub-specialty, i.e. fellowship trained breast radiologists (subsequently referred to as "our physicians") can guide the search in an inductive logic programming system, and improve the performance of a learned classifier. Our dataset of 890 consecutive benign breast core biopsy results along with corresponding mammographic findings contains 94 cases that were deemed non-definitive by a multidisciplinary panel of physicians, from which 15 were upgraded to malignant disease at surgery. Our goal is to predict upgrade prospectively and avoid surgery in women who do not have breast cancer. Our results, some of which trended toward significance, show evidence that inductive logic programming may produce better results for this task than traditional propositional algorithms with default parameters. Moreover, we show that adding knowledge from our physicians into the learning process may improve the performance of the learned classifier trained only on data.

An Analysis of Looking Back Method in Problem-Based Learning: Case Study on Congruence and Similarity in Junior High School

Science.gov (United States)

Kosasih, U.; Wahyudin, W.; Prabawanto, S.

2017-09-01

This study aims to understand how learners do look back their idea of problem solving. This research is based on qualitative approach with case study design. Participants in this study were xx students of Junior High School, who were studying the material of congruence and similarity. The supporting instruments in this research are test and interview sheet. The data obtained were analyzed by coding and constant-comparison. The analysis find that there are three ways in which the students review the idea of problem solving, which is 1) carried out by comparing answers to the completion measures exemplified by learning resources; 2) carried out by examining the logical relationship between the solution and the problem; and 3) carried out by means of confirmation to the prior knowledge they have. This happens because most students learn in a mechanistic way. This study concludes that students validate the idea of problem solving obtained, influenced by teacher explanations, learning resources, and prior knowledge. Therefore, teacher explanations and learning resources contribute to the success or failure of students in solving problems.

Galantamine improves olfactory learning in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza, Fabio M Simoes; Busquet, Nicolas; Blatner, Megan; Maclean, Kenneth N; Restrepo, Diego

2011-01-01

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common form of congenital intellectual disability. Although DS involves multiple disturbances in various tissues, there is little doubt that in terms of quality of life cognitive impairment is the most serious facet and there is no effective treatment for this aspect of the syndrome. The Ts65Dn mouse model of DS recapitulates multiple aspects of DS including cognitive impairment. Here the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS was evaluated in an associative learning paradigm based on olfactory cues. In contrast to disomic controls, trisomic mice exhibited significant deficits in olfactory learning. Treatment of trisomic mice with the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galantamine resulted in a significant improvement in olfactory learning. Collectively, our study indicates that olfactory learning can be a sensitive tool for evaluating deficits in associative learning in mouse models of DS and that galantamine has therapeutic potential for improving cognitive abilities.

Improving resident well-being and clinical learning environment through academic initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Nathaniel; Appelbaum, Nital; Amendola, Michael; Dodson, Kelley; Kaplan, Brian

2017-07-01

Organizational effects on job satisfaction, burnout, work-life balance, and perceived support have not been studied in the context of the clinical learning environment. We evaluated the relationship between academic resources and resident well-being, the clinical learning environment, and in-service examination performance of surgical residents. Residents of general surgery and surgical specialty programs were recruited from March 2016 through June 2016 across the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast regions. Program directors were asked to allow distribution of a paper survey or to forward an electronic survey link onto residents. Five dichotomous questions were asked regarding access to academic resources. Validated measures were obtained assessing resident well-being and perceived clinical learning environment. Data were analyzed through t-tests and chi-squared test of independence. We received 276 respondents across 50 programs. Residents perceiving adequate support to succeed had less burnout (P = 0.008), better resilience (P = 0.009), better job satisfaction (P workplace climate (P < 0.001), better organizational support (P < 0.001), and were more likely to have high performance on the in-service examination (P = 0.001). Specific resources including educational stipends, review questions, in-service board prep, and support for poor performers correlated with improved well-being and perceived clinical learning environment. Provision of academic resources has implications beyond in-service examination performance, correlating with improved resident well-being and perceptions of the clinical learning environment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A hypothesis on improving foreign accents by optimizing variability in vocal learning brain circuits

OpenAIRE

Simmonds, Anna J.

2015-01-01

Rapid vocal motor learning is observed when acquiring a language in early childhood, or learning to speak another language later in life. Accurate pronunciation is one of the hardest things for late learners to master and they are almost always left with a non-native accent. Here, I propose a novel hypothesis that this accent could be improved by optimizing variability in vocal learning brain circuits during learning. Much of the neurobiology of human vocal motor learning has been inferred fr...

Deep learning classification in asteroseismology using an improved neural network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hon, Marc; Stello, Dennis; Yu, Jie

2018-01-01

Deep learning in the form of 1D convolutional neural networks have previously been shown to be capable of efficiently classifying the evolutionary state of oscillating red giants into red giant branch stars and helium-core burning stars by recognizing visual features in their asteroseismic...... frequency spectra. We elaborate further on the deep learning method by developing an improved convolutional neural network classifier. To make our method useful for current and future space missions such as K2, TESS, and PLATO, we train classifiers that are able to classify the evolutionary states of lower...

A Human/Computer Learning Network to Improve Biodiversity Conservation and Research

OpenAIRE

Kelling, Steve; Gerbracht, Jeff; Fink, Daniel; Lagoze, Carl; Wong, Weng-Keen; Yu, Jun; Damoulas, Theodoros; Gomes, Carla

2012-01-01

In this paper we describe eBird, a citizen-science project that takes advantage of the human observational capacity to identify birds to species, which is then used to accurately represent patterns of bird occurrences across broad spatial and temporal extents. eBird employs artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning to improve data quality by taking advantage of the synergies between human computation and mechanical computation. We call this a Human-Computer Learning Network,...

Integration of Traditional and E-Learning Methods to Improve Learning Outcomes for Dental Students in Histopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ariana, Armin; Amin, Moein; Pakneshan, Sahar; Dolan-Evans, Elliot; Lam, Alfred K

2016-09-01

Dental students require a basic ability to explain and apply general principles of pathology to systemic, dental, and oral pathology. Although there have been recent advances in electronic and online resources, the academic effectiveness of using self-directed e-learning tools in pathology courses for dental students is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine if blended learning combining e-learning with traditional learning methods of lectures and tutorials would improve students' scores and satisfaction over those who experienced traditional learning alone. Two consecutive cohorts of Bachelor of Dentistry and Oral Health students taking the general pathology course at Griffith University in Australia were compared. The control cohort experienced traditional methods only, while members of the study cohort were also offered self-directed learning materials including online resources and online microscopy classes. Final assessments for the course were used to compare the differences in effectiveness of the intervention, and students' satisfaction with the teaching format was evaluated using questionnaires. On the final course assessments, students in the study cohort had significantly higher scores than students in the control cohort (plearning tools such as virtual microscopy and interactive online resources for delivering pathology instruction can be an effective supplement for developing dental students' competence, confidence, and satisfaction.

A dissociation between engagement and learning: Enthusiastic instructions fail to reliably improve performance on a memory task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin A Motz

Full Text Available Despite widespread assertions that enthusiasm is an important quality of effective teaching, empirical research on the effect of enthusiasm on learning and memory is mixed and largely inconclusive. To help resolve these inconsistencies, we conducted a carefully-controlled laboratory experiment, investigating whether enthusiastic instructions for a memory task would improve recall accuracy. Scripted videos, either enthusiastic or neutral, were used to manipulate the delivery of task instructions. We also manipulated the sequence of learning items, replicating the spacing effect, a known cognitive technique for memory improvement. Although spaced study reliably improved test performance, we found no reliable effect of enthusiasm on memory performance across two experiments. We did, however, find that enthusiastic instructions caused participants to respond to more item prompts, leaving fewer test questions blank, an outcome typically associated with increased task motivation. We find no support for the popular claim that enthusiastic instruction will improve learning, although it may still improve engagement. This dissociation between motivation and learning is discussed, as well as its implications for education and future research on student learning.

A dissociation between engagement and learning: Enthusiastic instructions fail to reliably improve performance on a memory task.

Science.gov (United States)

Motz, Benjamin A; de Leeuw, Joshua R; Carvalho, Paulo F; Liang, Kaley L; Goldstone, Robert L

2017-01-01

Despite widespread assertions that enthusiasm is an important quality of effective teaching, empirical research on the effect of enthusiasm on learning and memory is mixed and largely inconclusive. To help resolve these inconsistencies, we conducted a carefully-controlled laboratory experiment, investigating whether enthusiastic instructions for a memory task would improve recall accuracy. Scripted videos, either enthusiastic or neutral, were used to manipulate the delivery of task instructions. We also manipulated the sequence of learning items, replicating the spacing effect, a known cognitive technique for memory improvement. Although spaced study reliably improved test performance, we found no reliable effect of enthusiasm on memory performance across two experiments. We did, however, find that enthusiastic instructions caused participants to respond to more item prompts, leaving fewer test questions blank, an outcome typically associated with increased task motivation. We find no support for the popular claim that enthusiastic instruction will improve learning, although it may still improve engagement. This dissociation between motivation and learning is discussed, as well as its implications for education and future research on student learning.

The Effectiveness of KNOS-KGS Learning Model to Improve Generic Science Skill and Biology Student Learning Outcomes SMA PGRI 1 Banjarmasin

OpenAIRE

Nefianthi, Rezky

2015-01-01

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of the model KNOS-KGS, to improve the learning outcomes of Biology at the ecosystem material in class X SMA PGRI 1 Banjarmasin. This research is a classroom action research, conducted in two cycles. Each cycle is done with two meetings. This study was conducted on 25 students in class X1. The research data is the result of student learning that consists of cognitive learning outcomes such as pretest and posttest. Affective learning outcomes such ...

MAP as a model for practice-based learning and improvement in child psychiatry training.

Science.gov (United States)

Kataoka, Sheryl H; Podell, Jennifer L; Zima, Bonnie T; Best, Karin; Sidhu, Shawn; Jura, Martha Bates

2014-01-01

Not only is there a growing literature demonstrating the positive outcomes that result from implementing evidence based treatments (EBTs) but also studies that suggest a lack of delivery of these EBTs in "usual care" practices. One way to address this deficit is to improve the quality of psychotherapy teaching for clinicians-in-training. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires all training programs to assess residents in a number of competencies including Practice-Based Learning and Improvements (PBLI). This article describes the piloting of Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP) for child psychiatry fellows, to teach them both EBT and PBLI skills. Eight child psychiatry trainees received 5 full days of MAP training and are delivering MAP in a year-long outpatient teaching clinic. In this setting, MAP is applied to the complex, multiply diagnosed psychiatric patients that present to this clinic. This article describes how MAP tools and resources assist in teaching trainees each of the eight required competency components of PBLI, including identifying deficits in expertise, setting learning goals, performing learning activities, conducting quality improvement methods in practice, incorporating formative feedback, using scientific studies to inform practice, using technology for learning, and participating in patient education. A case example illustrates the use of MAP in teaching PBLI. MAP provides a unique way to teach important quality improvement and practice-based learning skills to trainees while training them in important psychotherapy competence.

Accuracy Feedback Improves Word Learning from Context: Evidence from a Meaning-Generation Task

Science.gov (United States)

Frishkoff, Gwen A.; Collins-Thompson, Kevyn; Hodges, Leslie; Crossley, Scott

2016-01-01

The present study asked whether accuracy feedback on a meaning generation task would lead to improved contextual word learning (CWL). Active generation can facilitate learning by increasing task engagement and memory retrieval, which strengthens new word representations. However, forced generation results in increased errors, which can be…

An implementation of 7E Learning Cycle Model to Improve Student Self-esteem

Science.gov (United States)

Firdaus, F.; Priatna, N.; Suhendra, S.

2017-09-01

One of the affective factors that affect student learning outcomes is student self-esteem in mathematics, learning achievement and self-esteem influence each other. The purpose of this research is to know whether self-esteem students who get 7E learning cycle model is better than students who get conventional learning. This research method is a non-control group design. Based on the results obtained that the normal and homogeneous data so that the t test and from the test results showed there are significant differences in self-esteem students learning with 7E learning cycle model compared with students who get conventional learning. The implications of the results of this study are that students should be required to conduct many discussions, presentations and evaluations on classroom activities as these learning stages can improve students’ self-esteem especially pride in the results achieved.

Piloting a Statewide Home Visiting Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative.

Science.gov (United States)

Goyal, Neera K; Rome, Martha G; Massie, Julie A; Mangeot, Colleen; Ammerman, Robert T; Breckenridge, Jye; Lannon, Carole M

2017-02-01

Objective To pilot test a statewide quality improvement (QI) collaborative learning network of home visiting agencies. Methods Project timeline was June 2014-May 2015. Overall objectives of this 8-month initiative were to assess the use of collaborative QI to engage local home visiting agencies and to test the use of statewide home visiting data for QI. Outcome measures were mean time from referral to first home visit, percentage of families with at least three home visits per month, mean duration of participation, and exit rate among infants learning. A statewide data system was used to generate monthly run charts. Results Mean time from referral to first home visit was 16.7 days, and 9.4% of families received ≥3 visits per month. Mean participation was 11.7 months, and the exit rate among infants learning network, agencies tested and measured changes using statewide and internal data. Potential next steps are to develop and test new metrics with current pilot sites and a larger collaborative.

Similarity of WISC-R and WAIS-R Scores at Age 16.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandoval, Jonathan; And Others

1988-01-01

Examined similarity of scores of 30 learning disabled students (aged 16 and 17) on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). Results documented similarity between WISC-R and WAIS-R for 16 year-olds who were learning disabled and had average intellectual ability.…

Experiential learning model on entrepreneurship subject for improving students’ soft skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lina Rifda Naufalin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of the research was to improve students’ soft skills on entrepreneurship subject by using experiential learning model. It was expected that the learning model could upgrade students’ soft skills which were indicated by the higher confidence, result and job oriented, being courageous to take risks, leadership, originality, and future-oriented. It was a class action research using Kemmis and Mc Tagart’s design model. The research was conducted for two cycles. The subject of the study was economics education students in 2015/2016.  The result of the research showed that the experiential learning model could improve students’ soft skills. The research showed that there were increases at the dimension of confidence, (52.1%, result-oriented (22.9%, being courageous to take risks (10.4%, leadership (12.5%, originality (10.4%, and future-oriented (18.8%. It could be concluded that the experiential learning model was effective to improve students’ soft skills on entrepreneurship subject. It also showed that the dimension of confidence had the highest rise. Students’ soft skills were shaped through the continuous stimulus when they got involved at the implementation.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan soft skills mahasiswa dalam mata kuliah kewirausahaan dengan menggunakan model experietial learning. Diharapkan dengan model pembelajaran ini terjadi peningkatan soft skills mahasiswa yang ditandai dengan peningkatan rasa percaya diri, berorientasi tugas dan hasil, berani mengambil resiko, kepemimpinan, keorisinilan, dan berorientasi masa depan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian tindakan kelas dengan menggunakan model desain menurut Kemmis dan Mc Tagart. Penelitian ini dilakukan dalam dua siklus, yaitu siklus I dan siklus II. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di kelas pendidikan ekonomi angkatan 2015/2016. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan model experiential learning dapat meningkatkan soft skills

Improvement of Learning and Memory Induced by Cordyceps Polypeptide Treatment and the Underlying Mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guangxin Yuan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Our previous research revealed that Cordyceps militaris can improve the learning and memory, and although the main active ingredient should be its polypeptide complexes, the underlying mechanism of its activity remains poorly understood. In this study, we explored the mechanisms by which Cordyceps militaris improves learning and memory in a mouse model. Mice were given scopolamine hydrobromide intraperitoneally to establish a mouse model of learning and memory impairment. The effects of Cordyceps polypeptide in this model were tested using the Morris water maze test; serum superoxide dismutase activity; serum malondialdehyde levels; activities of acetyl cholinesterase, Na+-k+-ATPase, and nitric oxide synthase; and gamma aminobutyric acid and glutamate contents in brain tissue. Moreover, differentially expressed genes and the related cellular signaling pathways were screened using an mRNA expression profile chip. The results showed that the genes Pik3r5, Il-1β, and Slc18a2 were involved in the effects of Cordyceps polypeptide on the nervous system of these mice. Our findings suggest that Cordyceps polypeptide may improve learning and memory in the scopolamine-induced mouse model of learning and memory impairment by scavenging oxygen free radicals, preventing oxidative damage, and protecting the nervous system.

How glitter relates to gold : Similarity-dependent reward prediction errors in the human striatum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kahnt, T.; Park, S.Q.; Burke, C.; Tobler, P.N.

2012-01-01

Optimal choices benefit from previous learning. However, it is not clear how previously learned stimuli influence behavior to novel but similar stimuli. One possibility is to generalize based on the similarity between learned and current stimuli. Here, we use neuroscientific methods and a novel

IMPROVEMENT OF GRAPH INTERPRETATION ABILITY USING HYPERTEXT-ASSISTED KINEMATIC LEARNING AND FORMAL THINKING ABILITY

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S. R. Manurung

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The effectiveness of hypertext media in improving graph interpretation ability is investigated in this paper. In addition, joint ability of the formal thinking to improve the graph ability of prospective students is considered. The research design used is the one-group pretest-posttest experimental design is carried out in the research by taking 36 students on from Physics Education Program in one institute for teacher education in Medan. The test consists of graph interpretation ability test in the topic of kinematics and Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT or formal thinking before learning and graph interpretation ability test after learning. The data are then analysed by using SPSS based two ways Analisys of Variance (ANOVA method. The results show that the ability to interpretate graph is significantly improved by using hypertext media assisted kinematic learning.

Rolling bearing fault feature learning using improved convolutional deep belief network with compressed sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Haidong; Jiang, Hongkai; Zhang, Haizhou; Duan, Wenjing; Liang, Tianchen; Wu, Shuaipeng

2018-02-01

The vibration signals collected from rolling bearing are usually complex and non-stationary with heavy background noise. Therefore, it is a great challenge to efficiently learn the representative fault features of the collected vibration signals. In this paper, a novel method called improved convolutional deep belief network (CDBN) with compressed sensing (CS) is developed for feature learning and fault diagnosis of rolling bearing. Firstly, CS is adopted for reducing the vibration data amount to improve analysis efficiency. Secondly, a new CDBN model is constructed with Gaussian visible units to enhance the feature learning ability for the compressed data. Finally, exponential moving average (EMA) technique is employed to improve the generalization performance of the constructed deep model. The developed method is applied to analyze the experimental rolling bearing vibration signals. The results confirm that the developed method is more effective than the traditional methods.

Brahmi rasayana Improves Learning and Memory in Mice

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Hanumanthachar Joshi

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Cure of cognitive disorders such as amnesia, attention deficit and Alzheimer's disease is still a nightmare in the field of medicine. Nootropic agents such as piracetam, aniracetam and choline esterase inhibitors like Donepezil® are being used to improve memory, mood and behavior, but the resulting side effects associated with these agents have made their use limited. The present study was undertaken to assess the potential of Brahmi rasayana (BR as a memory enhancer. BR (100 and 200 mg kg−1 p.o. was administered for eight successive days to both young and aged mice. Elevated plus maze and passive-avoidance paradigm were employed to evaluate learning and memory parameters. Scopolamine (0.4 mg kg−1 i.p. was used to induce amnesia in mice. The effect of BR on whole brain AChE activity was also assessed. Piracetam (200 mg kg−1 i.p. was used as a standard nootropic agent. BR significantly improved learning and memory in young mice and reversed the amnesia induced by both scopolamine (0.4 mg kg−1 i.p. and natural aging. BR significantly decreased whole brain acetyl cholinesterase activity. BR might prove to be a useful memory restorative agent in the treatment of dementia seen in elderly.

Organizational learning perspective on continuous improvement and innovation in product realization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Christina Villefrance

with cross-functional collaboration in solving problems that subsequently restraining continuous improvement and innovation (CII) in product realization. This research project apply an organizational learning perspective on cross-functional problem solving in product realization processes. The research...... project has two main objectives, first to develop and test a CIIprogram that integrates cross-functional work practices into product realization. The second objective is to enhance understanding of organizational learning processes in cross-functional and multilevel settings within manufacturing....

Development of the breastfeeding quality improvement in hospitals learning collaborative in New York state.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Eileen; Dennison, Barbara A; Welge, Sara Bonam; Hisgen, Stephanie; Boyce, Patricia Simino; Waniewski, Patricia A

2013-06-01

Exclusive breastfeeding is a public health priority. A strong body of evidence links maternity care practices, based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, to increased breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity. Despite having written breastfeeding policies, New York (NY) hospitals vary widely in reported maternity care practices and in prevalence rates of breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding, during the birth hospitalization. To improve hospital maternity care practices, breastfeeding support, and the percentage of infants exclusively breastfeeding, the NY State Department of Health developed the Breastfeeding Quality Improvement in Hospitals (BQIH) Learning Collaborative. The BQIH Learning Collaborative was the first to use the Institute for Health Care Improvement's Breakthrough Series methodology to specifically focus on increasing hospital breastfeeding support. The evidence-based maternity care practices from the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding provided the basis for the Change Package and Data Measurement Plan. The present article describes the development of the BQIH Learning Collaborative. The engagement of breastfeeding experts, partners, and stakeholders in refining the Learning Collaborative design and content, in defining the strategies and interventions (Change Package) that drive hospital systems change, and in developing the Data Measurement Plan to assess progress in meeting the Learning Collaborative goals and hospital aims is illustrated. The BQIH Learning Collaborative is a model program that was implemented in a group of NY hospitals with plans to spread to additional hospitals in NY and across the country.

PROJECT BASED LEARNING (PBL TO IMPROVE PSYCHOMOTORIC SKILLS: A CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH

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W. Sumarni

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the application of project-based learning (PBL to improve student’ psychomotor skills and concept understanding, as well as knowing what PBL contribution to the improvement of student’ psychomotor skills in chemistry learning. The study was conducted in three cycles. Each cycle consisted of planning, implementation, observation, and reflection steps. One set of data consists of student’ psychomotor skills assesment, student’ conceptual understanding and questionnaire responses were obtained from the action research. Learning process was performed in the eleventh grade students included 37 students (10 males and 27 females and 3 collaborators. The successful research was indicated by 85% of students achieve the mastery learning on concept understanding and well on psychomotor aspects. Data collection was performed using documentation method by questionnaire, observations, and tests. Data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results show that all aspects of the psychomotor assessed include sets, mechanical response, complex response, adaptation, and origination were in high category. At the end of the lesson, the project assigned to students were evaluated jointly between teachers and students. The project results in the form of a series of distillation apparatus is applied to separate the natural compounds.

Organizational structure and continuous improvement and learning: Moderating effects of cultural endorsement of participative leadership

OpenAIRE

Xiaowen Huang; Joseph C Rode; Roger G Schroeder

2011-01-01

Building upon the culturally endorsed implicit theory of leadership, we investigated the moderating effects of national culture on the relationship between organizational structure and continuous improvement and learning. We propose that the relationship between organic organizations (characterized by flat, decentralized structures with a wide use of multifunctional employees) and continuous improvement and learning will be stronger when national cultural endorsement for participative leaders...

Ubiquitous learning model using interactive internet messenger group (IIMG) to improve engagement and behavior for smart campus

Science.gov (United States)

Umam, K.; Mardi, S. N. S.; Hariadi, M.

2017-01-01

The recent popularity of internet messenger based smartphone technologies has motivated some university lecturers to use them for educational activities. These technologies have enormous potential to enhance the teaching and ubiquitous learning experience for smart campus development. However, the design ubiquitous learning model using interactive internet messenger group (IIMG) and empirical evidence that would favor a broad application of mobile and ubiquitous learning in smart campus settings to improve engagement and behavior is still limited. In addition, the expectation that mobile learning could improve engagement and behavior on smart campus cannot be confirmed because the majority of the reviewed studies followed instructions paradigms. This article aims to present ubiquitous learning model design and showing learners’ experiences in improved engagement and behavior using IIMG for learner-learner and learner-lecturer interactions. The method applied in this paper includes design process and quantitative analysis techniques, with the purpose of identifying scenarios of ubiquitous learning and realize the impressions of learners and lecturers about engagement and behavior aspect, and its contribution to learning.

Improving buried threat detection in ground-penetrating radar with transfer learning and metadata analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Colwell, Kenneth A.; Torrione, Peter A.; Morton, Kenneth D.; Collins, Leslie M.

2015-05-01

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology has proven capable of detecting buried threats. The system relies on a binary classifier that is trained to distinguish between two classes: a target class, encompassing many types of buried threats and their components; and a nontarget class, which includes false alarms from the system prescreener. Typically, the training process involves a simple partition of the data into these two classes, which allows for straightforward application of standard classifiers. However, since training data is generally collected in fully controlled environments, it includes auxiliary information about each example, such as the specific type of threat, its purpose, its components, and its depth. Examples from the same specific or general type may be expected to exhibit similarities in their GPR data, whereas examples from different types may differ greatly. This research aims to leverage this additional information to improve overall classification performance by fusing classifier concepts for multiple groups, and to investigate whether structure in this information can be further utilized for transfer learning, such that the amount of expensive training data necessary to learn a new, previously-unseen target type may be reduced. Methods for accomplishing these goals are presented with results from a dataset containing a variety of target types.

Exploring, Documenting, and Improving Humanitarian Service Learning through Engineers Without Borders USA

OpenAIRE

Buchanan, Elizabeth; Berg, Devin; Lee, Tina; Buchanan, Elizabeth; Lacksonen, Tom

2017-01-01

Exploring, Documenting, and Improving Humanitarian Service Learning through Engineers without Borders-USA is a four-year project exploring a variety of challenges and opportunities in university-based service learning programs. Specifically, this project looks holistically at the inception and evolution of a new Engineers Without Borders USA chapter, while analyzing characteristics, values, and demographics of individuals involved in EWB community-based humanitarian projects in multiple chapt...

Age-related impairments in active learning and strategic visual exploration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly L Brandstatt

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Old age could impair memory by disrupting learning strategies used by younger individuals. We tested this possibility by manipulating the ability to use visual-exploration strategies during learning. Subjects controlled visual exploration during active learning, thus permitting the use of strategies, whereas strategies were limited during passive learning via predetermined exploration patterns. Performance on tests of object recognition and object-location recall was matched for younger and older subjects for objects studied passively, when learning strategies were restricted. Active learning improved object recognition similarly for younger and older subjects. However, active learning improved object-location recall for younger subjects, but not older subjects. Exploration patterns were used to identify a learning strategy involving repeat viewing. Older subjects used this strategy less frequently and it provided less memory benefit compared to younger subjects. In previous experiments, we linked hippocampal-prefrontal co-activation to improvements in object-location recall from active learning and to the exploration strategy. Collectively, these findings suggest that age-related memory problems result partly from impaired strategies during learning, potentially due to reduced hippocampal-prefrontal co-engagement.

Age-related impairments in active learning and strategic visual exploration.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandstatt, Kelly L; Voss, Joel L

2014-01-01

Old age could impair memory by disrupting learning strategies used by younger individuals. We tested this possibility by manipulating the ability to use visual-exploration strategies during learning. Subjects controlled visual exploration during active learning, thus permitting the use of strategies, whereas strategies were limited during passive learning via predetermined exploration patterns. Performance on tests of object recognition and object-location recall was matched for younger and older subjects for objects studied passively, when learning strategies were restricted. Active learning improved object recognition similarly for younger and older subjects. However, active learning improved object-location recall for younger subjects, but not older subjects. Exploration patterns were used to identify a learning strategy involving repeat viewing. Older subjects used this strategy less frequently and it provided less memory benefit compared to younger subjects. In previous experiments, we linked hippocampal-prefrontal co-activation to improvements in object-location recall from active learning and to the exploration strategy. Collectively, these findings suggest that age-related memory problems result partly from impaired strategies during learning, potentially due to reduced hippocampal-prefrontal co-engagement.

STEM LEARNING IN MATERIAL OF TEMPERATURE AND ITS CHANGE TO IMPROVE SCIENTIFIC LITERACY OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Khaeroningtyas

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This research aims to determine the improvement of students’ scientific literacy after STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics learning using 6E Learning by DesignTM Model on temperature and its changes material. The research was conducted in SMP Negeri (State Junior High School 1 Bumiayu in the academic year 2015/2016. The method used was quasi-experimental design with The Matching Only - pretest posttest control group design. This study used two group of experiment group of students who learned the material with STEM learning using 6E Learning by DesignTM, while the control group students learned with non-STEM learning. The analysis showed that the students' scientific literacy in experiment group is better than control group. The conclusion that can be drawn is STEM learning using 6E Learning by DesignTM on temperature and its changes material can improve students’ scientific literacy.

How mental health nurses improve their critical thinking through problem-based learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Tsui-Mei; Tang, Lee-Chun; Ko, Chen-Ju

2015-01-01

Critical thinking has been regarded as one of the most important elements for nurses to improve quality of patient care. The aim of this study was to use problem-based learning (PBL) as a method in a continuing education program to evaluate nurses' critical thinking skills. A quasiexperimental study design was carried out. The "Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory" in Chinese was used for data collection. The results indicated significant improvement after PBL continuous education, notably in the dimensions of systematic analysis and curiosity. Content analysis extracted four themes: (a) changes in linear thinking required, (b) logical and systematic thinking required performance improved, (3) integration of prior knowledge and clinical application, and (4) brainstorming learning strategy. The study supports PBL as a continuing education strategy for mental health nurses, and that systematic analysis and curiosity effectively facilitate the development of critical thinking.

Epistemic Similarities between Students' Scientific and Supernatural Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Shtulman, Andrew

2013-01-01

The evidential support for scientific claims is quantitatively and qualitatively superior to that for supernatural claims, yet students may not appreciate this difference in light of the fact that both types of claims are learned in similar ways (through testimony rather than firsthand observation) and perform similar functions (explaining…

Knowledge Reuse Method to Improve the Learning of Interference-Preventive Allocation Policies in Multi-Car Elevators

Science.gov (United States)

Valdivielso Chian, Alex; Miyamoto, Toshiyuki

In this letter, we introduce a knowledge reuse method to improve the performance of a learning algorithm developed to prevent interference in multi-car elevators. This method enables the algorithm to use its previously acquired experience in new learning processes. The simulation results confirm the improvement achieved in the algorithm's performance.

Active Learning Improves Student Performance in a Respiratory Physiology Lab

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Alex M.; Liachovitzky, Carlos; Abdullahi, Abass S.

2015-01-01

This study assessed the effectiveness of the introduction of active learning exercises into the anatomy and physiology curriculum in a community college setting. Specifically, the incorporation of a spirometry-based respiratory physiology lab resulted in improved student performance in two concepts (respiratory volumes and the hallmarks of…

Using Cross-Cultural Dimensions Exercises to Improve and Measure Learning Outcomes in International Business Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Zainuba, Mohamed; Rahal, Ahmad

2012-01-01

This article proposes an approach for using cross-cultural dimensions exercises to improve and measure learning outcomes in international business courses. The following key issues are highlighted: (a) what are the targeted learning outcomes to be assessed, (b) how to measure the accomplishment of these learning outcomes, (c) the input measures…

Similar effects of substance P on learning and memory function between hippocampus and striatal marginal division

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yan; Zeng, Changchun; Shu, Siyun; Liu, Xuemei; Li, Chuhua

2014-01-01

Substance P is an endogenous neurokinin that is present in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The neuropeptide substance P and its high-affinity receptor neurokinin 1 receptor are known to play an important role in the central nervous system in inflammation, blood pressure, motor behavior and anxiety. The effects of substance P in the hippocampus and the marginal division of the striatum on memory remain poorly understood. Compared with the hippocampus as a control, immunofluorescence showed high expression of the substance P receptor, neurokinin 1, in the marginal division of the striatum of normal rats. Unilateral or bilateral injection of an antisense oligonucleotide against neurokinin 1 receptor mRNA in the rat hippocampus or marginal division of the striatum effectively reduced neurokinin 1 receptor expression. Independent of injection site, rats that received this antisense oligonucleotide showed obviously increased footshock times in a Y-maze test. These results indicate that the marginal division of the striatum plays a similar function in learning and memory to the hippocampus, which is a valuable addition to our mechanistic understanding of the learning and memory functions of the marginal division of the striatum. PMID:25206901

Improving Problem Solving Skill and Self Regulated Learning of Senior High School Students through Scientific Approach using Quantum Learning strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Sudirman

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This research is quasi experiment with control group pretest-postest design. The sampel in this research using the techique of purposive sampling so the samples used were two classes of the 11th grade students of SMAN 14 Bandung in the academic year 2017/2018. The experiment group uses saintific approach using Quantum Learning strategy and control group uses saintific approach. In collecting the data the researcher will use the test of problem solving ability and self regulated learning as the instrument. The aims of this research are to:1find out the improvement of students mathematical problem solving through scientific approach using Quantum Learning study, 2 find out students self regulated learning through scientific approach using Quantum Learning.

Implementing simulated learning modules to improve students’ pharmacy practice skills and professionalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fejzic J

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Effective communication enables healthcare professionals and students to practise their disciplines in a professional and competent manner. Simulated-based education (SBE has been increasingly used to improve students’ communication and practice skills in Health Education. Objective: Simulated learning modules (SLMs were developed using practice-based scenarios grounded in effective communication competencies. The effect of the SLMs on Pharmacy students’ (i Practice skills and (ii Professionalism were evaluated. Methods: SLMs integrating EXCELL competencies were applied in the classroom to study their effect on a number of learning outcomes. EXcellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership (EXCELL Program is a schematic, evidence-based professional development resource centred around developing participants’ self-efficacy and generic communication competencies. Students (N=95 completed three hours of preliminary lectures and eight hours of SLM workshops including six scenarios focused on Pharmacy Practice and Experiential Placements. Each SLM included briefing, role-plays with actors, facilitation, and debriefing on EXCELL social interaction maps (SIMs. Evaluations comprised quantitative and qualitative survey responsed by students before and post-workshops, and post-placements, and teachers’ reflections. Surveys examine specific learning outcomes by using pharmacy professionalism and pharmacy practice effectiveness scales. Responses were measured prior to the commencement of SLMs, after completion of the two workshops and after students completed their block placement. Self-report measures enabled students to self-assess whether any improvements occurred. Results: Student responses were overwhelmingly positive and indicated significant improvements in their Pharmacy practice and professionalism skills, and commitment to professional ethics. Qualitative feedback strongly supported students’ improved communication

Improving Nursing Students' Learning Outcomes in Fundamentals of Nursing Course through Combination of Traditional and e-Learning Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheikhaboumasoudi, Rouhollah; Bagheri, Maryam; Hosseini, Sayed Abbas; Ashouri, Elaheh; Elahi, Nasrin

2018-01-01

Fundamentals of nursing course are prerequisite to providing comprehensive nursing care. Despite development of technology on nursing education, effectiveness of using e-learning methods in fundamentals of nursing course is unclear in clinical skills laboratory for nursing students. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of blended learning (combining e-learning with traditional learning methods) with traditional learning alone on nursing students' scores. A two-group post-test experimental study was administered from February 2014 to February 2015. Two groups of nursing students who were taking the fundamentals of nursing course in Iran were compared. Sixty nursing students were selected as control group (just traditional learning methods) and experimental group (combining e-learning with traditional learning methods) for two consecutive semesters. Both groups participated in Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and were evaluated in the same way using a prepared checklist and questionnaire of satisfaction. Statistical analysis was conducted through SPSS software version 16. Findings of this study reflected that mean of midterm (t = 2.00, p = 0.04) and final score (t = 2.50, p = 0.01) of the intervention group (combining e-learning with traditional learning methods) were significantly higher than the control group (traditional learning methods). The satisfaction of male students in intervention group was higher than in females (t = 2.60, p = 0.01). Based on the findings, this study suggests that the use of combining traditional learning methods with e-learning methods such as applying educational website and interactive online resources for fundamentals of nursing course instruction can be an effective supplement for improving nursing students' clinical skills.

Applying cheerful disco learning for improving of motivation and learning result of PKn in grade viii c students junior high school 1 Kebumen in second semester 2013/2014 academic years

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Makmuroh

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this classroom action research is to improve students’ learning motivation, learning result of PKn on Basic Competence of Describing Indonesian Government System and the Roles of the State Institutions as the Sovereignty Executive and the characters of Grade VIII C Students of Junior High School 1 of Kebumen in Second Semester of Academic Year 2013/2014 by applying CHEERFUL DISCO learning method. The research is a classroom action research conducted in two cycles; each cycle of which includes planning, conducting, observation, and reflection. The result of the research shows that the learning method was able to improve the students’ learning motivation in learning activities from 62.37% in pre cycle to 73.74% in the first cycle, then from 78.91% in the second cycle, improved the PKn learning achievement in mastering concept of the ability to describe Indonesian Government System and the Roles of the State Institutions as the Sovereignty Executive, which can be seen that the students’ achievement test result is improving in average from 78.18 with 54.55% of mastery learning in pre cycle to 83.23 with 72.73% of mastery learning in the first cycle, then it was improved to 86.59 in average with 81.82% of mastery learning in the second cycle.

Similarity measures for face recognition

CERN Document Server

Vezzetti, Enrico

2015-01-01

Face recognition has several applications, including security, such as (authentication and identification of device users and criminal suspects), and in medicine (corrective surgery and diagnosis). Facial recognition programs rely on algorithms that can compare and compute the similarity between two sets of images. This eBook explains some of the similarity measures used in facial recognition systems in a single volume. Readers will learn about various measures including Minkowski distances, Mahalanobis distances, Hansdorff distances, cosine-based distances, among other methods. The book also summarizes errors that may occur in face recognition methods. Computer scientists "facing face" and looking to select and test different methods of computing similarities will benefit from this book. The book is also useful tool for students undertaking computer vision courses.

Efficient estimation for high similarities using odd sketches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitzenmacher, Michael; Pagh, Rasmus; Pham, Ninh Dang

2014-01-01

. This means that Odd Sketches provide a highly space-efficient estimator for sets of high similarity, which is relevant in applications such as web duplicate detection, collaborative filtering, and association rule learning. The method extends to weighted Jaccard similarity, relevant e.g. for TF-IDF vector...... and web duplicate detection tasks....

Light exposure before learning improves memory consolidation at night

Science.gov (United States)

Shan, Li-Li; Guo, Hao; Song, Ning-Ning; Jia, Zheng-Ping; Hu, Xin-Tian; Huang, Jing-Fei; Ding, Yu-Qiang; Richter-Levine, Gal; Zhou, Qi-Xin; Xu, Lin

2015-01-01

Light is recently recognized as a modulator able to activate the hippocampus and modulate memory processing, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms. Here, we report that in mice, a short pulse of white light before learning dramatically improves consolidation of contextual fear memory during the night. The light exposure increases hippocampal active p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) and CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP). These light effects are abolished in PAK1 knockout and dominant-negative transgenic mice, but preserved by expression of constitutively active PAK1 in the hippocampus. Our results indicate that light can act as a switch of PAK1 activity that modulate CA1 LTP and thereby memory consolidation without affecting learning and short-term memory. PMID:26493375

Criterial learning is not enough: Retrieval practice is necessary for improving post-stress memory accessibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Amy M; Davis, F Caroline; Thomas, Ayanna K

2018-06-01

In a recent study, having participants make three retrieval attempts (i.e., retrieval practice) when learning information strengthened memory against the detrimental effects of psychological stress. We aimed to determine whether learning to criterion, in which only one successful retrieval attempt is made, would similarly buffer memory against stress, or whether multiple retrieval attempts are necessary to achieve that effect. In Experiment 1, participants learned to criterion and then engaged in additional restudying (CL S ) or retrieval practice (CL R ). Twenty-four hours later, stress was induced and stress-related increases in cortisol were observed. However, no differences in recall performance were observed between any of the groups. Experiment 2 was similar but introduced a 1-week delay between encoding and retrieval. Recall performance was impaired for both groups under stress, but recall for those in the CL R group was still better than either pre- or post-stress performance for those in the CL S group. Thus, criterial learning may protect memory against stress in the short-term, but additional retrieval practice is more beneficial for achieving this effect in the long-term. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Distance and Density Similarity Based Enhanced k-NN Classifier for Improving Fault Diagnosis Performance of Bearings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharif Uddin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available An enhanced k-nearest neighbor (k-NN classification algorithm is presented, which uses a density based similarity measure in addition to a distance based similarity measure to improve the diagnostic performance in bearing fault diagnosis. Due to its use of distance based similarity measure alone, the classification accuracy of traditional k-NN deteriorates in case of overlapping samples and outliers and is highly susceptible to the neighborhood size, k. This study addresses these limitations by proposing the use of both distance and density based measures of similarity between training and test samples. The proposed k-NN classifier is used to enhance the diagnostic performance of a bearing fault diagnosis scheme, which classifies different fault conditions based upon hybrid feature vectors extracted from acoustic emission (AE signals. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme, which uses the enhanced k-NN classifier, yields better diagnostic performance and is more robust to variations in the neighborhood size, k.

Improved method for SNR prediction in machine-learning-based test

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sheng, Xiaoqin; Kerkhoff, Hans G.

2010-01-01

This paper applies an improved method for testing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of Analogue-to-Digital Converters (ADC). In previous work, a noisy and nonlinear pulse signal is exploited as the input stimulus to obtain the signature results of ADC. By applying a machine-learning-based approach,

Using Technology to Improve Student Learning. NCREL Viewpoints, Volume 12

Science.gov (United States)

Gahala, Jan, Ed.

2004-01-01

"Viewpoints" is a multimedia package containing two audio CDs and a short, informative booklet. This volume of "Viewpoints" focuses on how technology can help improve student learning. The audio CDs provide the voices, or viewpoints, of various leaders from the education field who work closely with technology issues. Their…

Improved Student Learning through a Faculty Learning Community: How Faculty Collaboration Transformed a Large-Enrollment Course from Lecture to Student Centered

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, Emily R.; Reason, Robert D.; Coffman, Clark R.; Gangloff, Eric J.; Raker, Jeffrey R.; Powell-Coffman, Jo Anne; Ogilvie, Craig A.

2016-01-01

Undergraduate introductory biology courses are changing based on our growing understanding of how students learn and rapid scientific advancement in the biological sciences. At Iowa State University, faculty instructors are transforming a second-semester large-enrollment introductory biology course to include active learning within the lecture setting. To support this change, we set up a faculty learning community (FLC) in which instructors develop new pedagogies, adapt active-learning strategies to large courses, discuss challenges and progress, critique and revise classroom interventions, and share materials. We present data on how the collaborative work of the FLC led to increased implementation of active-learning strategies and a concurrent improvement in student learning. Interestingly, student learning gains correlate with the percentage of classroom time spent in active-learning modes. Furthermore, student attitudes toward learning biology are weakly positively correlated with these learning gains. At our institution, the FLC framework serves as an agent of iterative emergent change, resulting in the creation of a more student-centered course that better supports learning. PMID:27252298

Blended learning approach improves teaching in a problem-based learning environment in orthopedics - a pilot study

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background While e-learning is enjoying increasing popularity as adjunct in modern teaching, studies on this topic should shift from mere evaluation of students’ satisfaction towards assessing its benefits on enhancement of knowledge and skills. This pilot study aimed to detect the teaching effects of a blended learning program on students of orthopedics and traumatology in the context of a problem-based learning environment. Methods The project NESTOR (network for students in traumatology and orthopedics) was offered to students in a problem-based learning course. Participants completed written tests before and directly after the course, followed by a final written test and an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as well as an evaluation questionnaire at the end of the semester. Results were compared within the group of NESTOR users and non-users and between these two groups. Results Participants (n = 53) rated their experiences very positively. An enhancement in knowledge was found directly after the course and at the final written test for both groups (p blended learning approach on knowledge enhancement and satisfaction of participating students. However, it will be an aim for the future to further explore the chances of this approach and internet-based technologies for possibilities to improve also practical examination skills. PMID:24690365

Development of cyberblog-based intelligent tutorial system to improve students learning ability algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Wahyudin; Riza, L. S.; Putro, B. L.

2018-05-01

E-learning as a learning activity conducted online by the students with the usual tools is favoured by students. The use of computer media in learning provides benefits that are not owned by other learning media that is the ability of computers to interact individually with students. But the weakness of many learning media is to assume that all students have a uniform ability, when in reality this is not the case. The concept of Intelligent Tutorial System (ITS) combined with cyberblog application can overcome the weaknesses in neglecting diversity. An Intelligent Tutorial System-based Cyberblog application (ITS) is a web-based interactive application program that implements artificial intelligence which can be used as a learning and evaluation media in the learning process. The use of ITS-based Cyberblog in learning is one of the alternative learning media that is interesting and able to help students in measuring ability in understanding the material. This research will be associated with the improvement of logical thinking ability (logical thinking) of students, especially in algorithm subjects.

APPLICATION OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING MODEL INDEX CARD MATCH TYPE IN IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING RESULTS ON COMPOSITION AND COMPOSITION FUNCTIONS OF FUNCTIONS INVERS IN MAN 1 MATARAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syahrir Syahrir

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Lack of student response in learning mathematics caused by passive of student in process of learning progress so that student consider mathematics subject is difficult subject to be understood. The research is Classroom Action Research (PTK using 2 cycles, then the purpose of this research is how the implementation of cooperative learning type of index card match in improving student learning outcomes on the subject matter of composition function and inverse function in MAN 1 Mataram. While the results of the analysis in the study showed that there is in cycle I obtained classical completeness 78.79% with the average score of student learning outcomes 69.78 and the average value of student learning responses with the category Enough, then in cycle II shows that classical thoroughness 87 , 89% with mean score of student learning result 78,94 and average value of student learning response with good category. So it can be concluded that the implementation of Model Cooperative Learning Type Index Card Match can improve student learning outcomes on the subject matter of composition function and inverse function.

Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae improves learning and memory capabilities in ovariectomized rats

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yuefen Wang; Ya Xu; Yanshu Pan; Weihong Li; Wei Zhang; Yang Liu; Jing Jia; Pengtao Li

2013-01-01

Kidney-tonifying recipe can reduce the accumulation of advanced glycation end products, prevent neuronal degeneration and improve cognitive functions in ovariectomized rats. Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae alcohol extracts may dose-dependently inhibit non-enzymatic saccharification in vitro. This study aimed to examine the effect of Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae on advanced glycation end products and on learning and memory capabilities in ovariectomized rats. Ovariectomized rats were treated with Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae alcohol extracts (containing 1.5 g/kg crude drug) or 0.1% aminoguanidine for 12 weeks and behavioral testing was performed with the Y-electrical maze. This test revealed that Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae and aminoguanidine could improve the learning and memory capabilities of ovariectomized rats. Results of competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that treatment with Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae or aminoguanidine reduced the accumulation of advanced glycation end products in the frontal cortex of ovariectomized rats, while increasing content in the blood and urine. Biochemical tests showed that treatment with Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae or aminoguanidine decreased superoxide dismutase activity in the serum and frontal cortex, and increased serum levels of glutathione peroxidase in ovariectomized rats. In addition, there was no apparent effect on malondialdehyde levels. These experimental findings indicate that Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae inhibits production of advanced glycation end products and its accumulation in brain tissue, and improves learning and memory capabilities in ovariectomized rats. These effects may be associated with an anti-oxidative action of the extract.

Kaiser Permanente's performance improvement system, Part 4: Creating a learning organization.

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Schilling, Lisa; Dearing, James W; Staley, Paul; Harvey, Patti; Fahey, Linda; Kuruppu, Francesca

2011-12-01

In 2006, recognizing variations in performance in quality, safety, service, and efficiency, Kaiser Permanente leaders initiated the development of a performance improvement (PI) system. Kaiser Permanente has implemented a strategy for creating the systemic capacity for continuous improvement that characterizes a learning organization. Six "building blocks" were identified to enable Kaiser Permanente to make the transition to becoming a learning organization: real-time sharing of meaningful performance data; formal training in problem-solving methodology; workforce engagement and informal knowledge sharing; leadership structures, beliefs, and behaviors; internal and external benchmarking; and technical knowledge sharing. Putting each building block into place required multiple complex strategies combining top-down and bottom-up approaches. Although the strategies have largely been successful, challenges remain. The demand for real-time meaningful performance data can conflict with prioritized changes to health information systems. It is an ongoing challenge to teach PI, change management, innovation, and project management to all managers and staff without consuming too much training time. Challenges with workforce engagement include low initial use of tools intended to disseminate information through virtual social networking. Uptake of knowledge-sharing technologies is still primarily by innovators and early adopters. Leaders adopt new behaviors at varying speeds and have a range of abilities to foster an environment that is psychologically safe and stimulates inquiry. A learning organization has the capability to improve, and it develops structures and processes that facilitate the acquisition and sharing of knowledge.

Impact of interactive online units on learning science among students with learning disabilities and English learners

Science.gov (United States)

Terrazas-Arellanes, Fatima E.; Gallard M., Alejandro J.; Strycker, Lisa A.; Walden, Emily D.

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study was to document the design, classroom implementation, and effectiveness of interactive online units to enhance science learning over 3 years among students with learning disabilities, English learners, and general education students. Results of a randomised controlled trial with 2,303 middle school students and 71 teachers across 13 schools in two states indicated that online units effectively deepened science knowledge across all three student groups. Comparing all treatment and control students on pretest-to-posttest improvement on standards-based content-specific assessments, there were statistically significant mean differences (17% improvement treatment vs. 6% control; p English learner status, indicating that these two groups performed similarly to their peers; students with learning disabilities had significantly lower assessment scores overall. Teachers and students were moderately satisfied with the units.

FPGA implementation of neuro-fuzzy system with improved PSO learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Karakuzu, Cihan; Karakaya, Fuat; Çavuşlu, Mehmet Ali

2016-07-01

This paper presents the first hardware implementation of neuro-fuzzy system (NFS) with its metaheuristic learning ability on field programmable gate array (FPGA). Metaheuristic learning of NFS for all of its parameters is accomplished by using the improved particle swarm optimization (iPSO). As a second novelty, a new functional approach, which does not require any memory and multiplier usage, is proposed for the Gaussian membership functions of NFS. NFS and its learning using iPSO are implemented on Xilinx Virtex5 xc5vlx110-3ff1153 and efficiency of the proposed implementation tested on two dynamic system identification problems and licence plate detection problem as a practical application. Results indicate that proposed NFS implementation and membership function approximation is as effective as the other approaches available in the literature but requires less hardware resources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Paper Presentation Breaks during Didactic Lectures Improves Learning of Physiology in Undergraduate Students

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbani, Ahmad; Ghazvini, Kiarash

2016-01-01

Many studies have emphasized the incorporation of active learning into classrooms to reinforce didactic lectures for physiology courses. This work aimed to determine if presenting classic papers during didactic lectures improves the learning of physiology among undergraduate students. Twenty-two students of health information technology were…

The Effects of Aesthetic Science Activities on Improving At-Risk Families Children's Anxiety About Learning Science and Positive Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Zuway-R.; Lin, Huann-shyang; Chen, Hsiang-Ting; Wang, Hsin-Hui; Lin, Chia-Jung

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of aesthetic science activities on improving elementary school at-risk families' children's positive thinking, attitudes toward science, and decreasing their anxiety about learning science. Thirty-six 4th-grade children from at-risk families volunteered to participate in a 12-week intervention and formed the experimental group; another 97 typical 4th graders were randomly selected to participant in the assessment and were used as the comparison group. The treatment for experimental group children emphasized scaffolding aesthetic science activities and inquiry strategies. The Elementary School Student Questionnaire was administered to assess all children's positive thinking, attitudes toward science, and anxiety about learning science. In addition, nine target children from the experimental group with the lowest scores on either positive thinking, or attitudes toward science, or with the highest scores on anxiety about learning science in the pre-test were recruited to be interviewed at the end of the intervention and observed weekly. Confirmatory factor analyses, analyses of covariance, and content theme analysis assessed the similarities and differences between groups. It was found that the at-risk families' children were motivated by the treatment and made significant progress on positive thinking and attitudes toward science, and also decreased their anxiety about learning science. The findings from interviews and classroom observations also revealed that the intervention made differences in children's affective perceptions of learning science. Implication and research recommendation are discussed.

Improving collaborative learning in online software engineering education

Science.gov (United States)

Neill, Colin J.; DeFranco, Joanna F.; Sangwan, Raghvinder S.

2017-11-01

Team projects are commonplace in software engineering education. They address a key educational objective, provide students critical experience relevant to their future careers, allow instructors to set problems of greater scale and complexity than could be tackled individually, and are a vehicle for socially constructed learning. While all student teams experience challenges, those in fully online programmes must also deal with remote working, asynchronous coordination, and computer-mediated communications all of which contribute to greater social distance between team members. We have developed a facilitation framework to aid team collaboration and have demonstrated its efficacy, in prior research, with respect to team performance and outcomes. Those studies indicated, however, that despite experiencing improved project outcomes, students working in effective software engineering teams did not experience significantly improved individual achievement. To address this deficiency we implemented theoretically grounded refinements to the collaboration model based upon peer-tutoring research. Our results indicate a modest, but statistically significant (p = .08), improvement in individual achievement using this refined model.

Using Technology, Bioinformatics and Health Informatics Approaches to Improve Learning Experiences in Optometry Education, Research and Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vivek K. Gupta

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Rapid advances in ocular diagnostic approaches and emerging links of pathological changes in the eye with systemic disorders have widened the scope of optometry as the front line of eye health care. Expanding professional requirements stipulate that optometry students get a meticulous training in relevant information and communication technologies (ICT and various bioinformatics and health informatics software to meet current and future challenges. Greater incorporation of ICT approaches in optometry education can facilitate increased student engagement in shared learning experiences and improve collaborative learning. This, in turn, will enable students to participate in and prepare for the complex real-world situations. A judicious use of ICTs by teachers in learning endeavors can help students develop innovative patterns of thinking to be a successful optometry professional. ICT-facilitated learning enables students and professionals to carry out their own research and take initiatives and thus shifts the equilibrium towards self-education. It is important that optometry and allied vision science schools adapt to the changing professional requirements with pedagogical evolution and react appropriately to provide the best educational experience for the students and teachers. This review aims to highlight the scope of ICT applications in optometry education and professional development drawing from similar experiences in other disciplines. Further, while enhanced use of ICT in optometry has the potential to create opportunities for transformative learning experiences, many schools use it merely to reinforce conventional teaching practices. Tremendous developments in ICT should allow educators to consider using ICT tools to enhance communication as well as providing a novel, richer, and more meaningful medium for the comprehensive knowledge construction in optometry and allied health disciplines.

Using Technology, Bioinformatics and Health Informatics Approaches to Improve Learning Experiences in Optometry Education, Research and Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Vivek K; Gupta, Veer B

2016-11-15

Rapid advances in ocular diagnostic approaches and emerging links of pathological changes in the eye with systemic disorders have widened the scope of optometry as the front line of eye health care. Expanding professional requirements stipulate that optometry students get a meticulous training in relevant information and communication technologies (ICT) and various bioinformatics and health informatics software to meet current and future challenges. Greater incorporation of ICT approaches in optometry education can facilitate increased student engagement in shared learning experiences and improve collaborative learning. This, in turn, will enable students to participate in and prepare for the complex real-world situations. A judicious use of ICTs by teachers in learning endeavors can help students develop innovative patterns of thinking to be a successful optometry professional. ICT-facilitated learning enables students and professionals to carry out their own research and take initiatives and thus shifts the equilibrium towards self-education. It is important that optometry and allied vision science schools adapt to the changing professional requirements with pedagogical evolution and react appropriately to provide the best educational experience for the students and teachers. This review aims to highlight the scope of ICT applications in optometry education and professional development drawing from similar experiences in other disciplines. Further, while enhanced use of ICT in optometry has the potential to create opportunities for transformative learning experiences, many schools use it merely to reinforce conventional teaching practices. Tremendous developments in ICT should allow educators to consider using ICT tools to enhance communication as well as providing a novel, richer, and more meaningful medium for the comprehensive knowledge construction in optometry and allied health disciplines.

Teaching EBP Using Game-Based Learning: Improving the Student Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, Sandra J; Candy, Laurie

2016-08-01

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is considered a key entry to practice competency for nurses. However, many baccalaureate nursing programs continue to teach "traditional" nursing research courses that fail to address many of the critical knowledge, skills, and attitudes that foster EBP. Traditional classroom teaching strategies do little to promote the development of competencies critical for engaging in EBP in clinical contexts. The purpose of this work was to develop, implement, and evaluate an innovative teaching strategy aimed at improving student learning, engagement and satisfaction in an online EBP course. The goals of this paper are to: (1) describe the process of course development, (2) describe the innovative teaching strategy, and (3) discuss the outcomes of the pilot course offered using game-based learning. A midterm course-specific survey and standard institutional end of course evaluations were used to evaluate student satisfaction. Game platform analytics and thematic analysis of narrative comments in the midterm and end of course surveys were used to evaluate students' level of engagement. Student learning was evaluated using the end of course letter grade. Students indicated a high satisfaction with the course. Student engagement was also maintained throughout the course. The majority of students (87%, 26/30) continued to complete learning quests in the game after achieving the minimum amount of points to earn an A. Seven students completed every learning quest available in the game platform. Of the 30 students enrolled in the course, 17 students earned a final course grade of A+ and 13 earned an A. Provide students with timely, individualized feedback to enable mastery learning. Create student choice and customization of learning. Integrate the use of badges (game mechanics) to increase engagement and motivation. Level learning activities to build on each other and create flow. © 2016 Sigma Theta Tau International.

The effectiveness of research-based physics learning module with predict-observe-explain strategies to improve the student’s competence

Science.gov (United States)

Usmeldi

2018-05-01

The preliminary study shows that many students are difficult to master the concept of physics. There are still many students who have not mastery learning physics. Teachers and students still use textbooks. Students rarely do experiments in the laboratory. One model of learning that can improve students’ competence is a research-based learning with Predict- Observe-Explain (POE) strategies. To implement this learning, research-based physics learning modules with POE strategy are used. The research aims to find out the effectiveness of implementation of research-based physics learning modules with POE strategy to improving the students’ competence. The research used a quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest group control design. Data were collected using observation sheets, achievement test, skill assessment sheets, questionnaire of attitude and student responses to learning implementation. The results of research showed that research-based physics learning modules with POE strategy was effective to improve the students’ competence, in the case of (1) mastery learning of physics has been achieved by majority of students, (2) improving the students competency of experimental class including high category, (3) there is a significant difference between the average score of students’ competence of experimental class and the control class, (4) the average score of the students competency of experimental class is higher than the control class, (5) the average score of the students’ responses to the learning implementation is very good category, this means that most students can implement research-based learning with POE strategies.

IMPROVING THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS BASED ON THE USE OF INFORMATION LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra B. Kriger

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers with the development of effective educational process, using leaning management system. The analysis of the results of the use Blackboard Learning System for the organization of educational activities to the university students. Built process models of learning (ideal and real on the basis of their proposals on the improvement of the educational process. 

Improving a Deep Learning based RGB-D Object Recognition Model by Ensemble Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aakerberg, Andreas; Nasrollahi, Kamal; Heder, Thomas

2018-01-01

Augmenting RGB images with depth information is a well-known method to significantly improve the recognition accuracy of object recognition models. Another method to im- prove the performance of visual recognition models is ensemble learning. However, this method has not been widely explored...... in combination with deep convolutional neural network based RGB-D object recognition models. Hence, in this paper, we form different ensembles of complementary deep convolutional neural network models, and show that this can be used to increase the recognition performance beyond existing limits. Experiments...

Improved object optimal synthetic description, modeling, learning, and discrimination by GEOGINE computational kernel

Science.gov (United States)

Fiorini, Rodolfo A.; Dacquino, Gianfranco

2005-03-01

GEOGINE (GEOmetrical enGINE), a state-of-the-art OMG (Ontological Model Generator) based on n-D Tensor Invariants for n-Dimensional shape/texture optimal synthetic representation, description and learning, was presented in previous conferences elsewhere recently. Improved computational algorithms based on the computational invariant theory of finite groups in Euclidean space and a demo application is presented. Progressive model automatic generation is discussed. GEOGINE can be used as an efficient computational kernel for fast reliable application development and delivery in advanced biomedical engineering, biometric, intelligent computing, target recognition, content image retrieval, data mining technological areas mainly. Ontology can be regarded as a logical theory accounting for the intended meaning of a formal dictionary, i.e., its ontological commitment to a particular conceptualization of the world object. According to this approach, "n-D Tensor Calculus" can be considered a "Formal Language" to reliably compute optimized "n-Dimensional Tensor Invariants" as specific object "invariant parameter and attribute words" for automated n-Dimensional shape/texture optimal synthetic object description by incremental model generation. The class of those "invariant parameter and attribute words" can be thought as a specific "Formal Vocabulary" learned from a "Generalized Formal Dictionary" of the "Computational Tensor Invariants" language. Even object chromatic attributes can be effectively and reliably computed from object geometric parameters into robust colour shape invariant characteristics. As a matter of fact, any highly sophisticated application needing effective, robust object geometric/colour invariant attribute capture and parameterization features, for reliable automated object learning and discrimination can deeply benefit from GEOGINE progressive automated model generation computational kernel performance. Main operational advantages over previous

Training self-assessment and task-selection skills: A cognitive approach to improving self-regulated learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kostons, Danny; Van Gog, Tamara; Paas, Fred

2012-01-01

Kostons, D., Van Gog, T., & Paas, F. (2012). Training self-assessment and task-selection skills: A cognitive approach to improving self-regulated learning. Learning and Instruction, 22(2), 121-132. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2011.08.004

[Cooperative learning for improving healthy housing conditions in Bogota: a case study].

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Parra, Camilo A; García-Ubaque, Juan C; García-Ubaque, César A

2014-01-01

This was a community-based effort at constructing an educational proposal orientated towards self-empowerment aimed at improving the target population's sanitary, housing and living conditions through cooperative learning. A constructivist approach was adopted based on a programme called "Habitat community manger". The project involved working with fifteen families living in the Mochuelo Bajo barrio in Ciudad Bolívar in Bogotá, Colombia, for identifying the most relevant sanitary aspects for improving their homes and proposing a methodology and organisation for an educational proposal. Twenty-one poor housing-related epidemiological indicators were identified which formed the basis for defining specific problems and establishing a methodology for designing an educational proposal. The course which emerged from the cooperative learning experience was designed to promote the community's skills and education regarding health aimed at improving households' living conditions and ensuring a healthy environment which would allow them to develop an immediate habitat ensuring their own welfare and dignity.

Exploring the potential of a multi-level approach to improve capability for continuous organizational improvement and learning in a Swedish healthcare region.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyström, M E; Höög, E; Garvare, R; Andersson Bäck, M; Terris, D D; Hansson, J

2018-05-24

Eldercare and care of people with functional impairments is organized by the municipalities in Sweden. Improving care in these areas is complex, with multiple stakeholders and organizations. Appropriate strategies to develop capability for continuing organizational improvement and learning (COIL) are needed. The purpose of our study was to develop and pilot-test a flexible, multilevel approach for COIL capability building and to identify what it takes to achieve changes in key actors' approaches to COIL. The approach, named "Sustainable Improvement and Development through Strategic and Systematic Approaches" (SIDSSA), was applied through an action-research and action-learning intervention. The SIDSSA approach was tested in a regional research and development (R&D) unit, and in two municipalities handling care of the elderly and people with functional impairments. Our approach included a multilevel strategy, development loops of five flexible phases, and an action-learning loop. The approach was designed to support systems understanding, strategic focus, methodological practices, and change process knowledge - all of which required double-loop learning. Multiple qualitative methods, i.e., repeated interviews, process diaries, and documents, provided data for conventional content analyses. The new approach was successfully tested on all cases and adopted and sustained by the R&D unit. Participants reported new insights and skills. The development loop facilitated a sense of coherence and control during uncertainty, improved planning and problem analysis, enhanced mapping of context and conditions, and supported problem-solving at both the individual and unit levels. The systems-level view and structured approach helped participants to explain, motivate, and implement change initiatives, especially after working more systematically with mapping, analyses, and goal setting. An easily understood and generalizable model internalized by key organizational actors is an

Metric learning

CERN Document Server

Bellet, Aurelien; Sebban, Marc

2015-01-01

Similarity between objects plays an important role in both human cognitive processes and artificial systems for recognition and categorization. How to appropriately measure such similarities for a given task is crucial to the performance of many machine learning, pattern recognition and data mining methods. This book is devoted to metric learning, a set of techniques to automatically learn similarity and distance functions from data that has attracted a lot of interest in machine learning and related fields in the past ten years. In this book, we provide a thorough review of the metric learnin

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, Bianca; Boonstra, F. Nienke; Cox, Ralf F. A.; van Rens, Ger; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.

PURPOSE. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four-to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.A.; van Rens, G.H.M.B.; Cillessen, A.H.N.

2013-01-01

Purpose. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. Methods. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual learning in children with visual impairment improves near visual acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.; Rens, G. van; Cillessen, A.H.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE: This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS: Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.A.; Rens, G.H.M.B. van; Cillessen, A.H.N.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four-to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Improving self-regulated learning of preschool children: evaluation of training for kindergarten teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Perels, Franziska; Merget-Kullmann, Miriam; Wende, Milena; Schmitz, Bernhard; Buchbinder, Carla

2009-06-01

In the context of lifelong learning, self-regulated learning is an important competence. Children between 4 and 6 years of age are at a crucial step in their life to develop self-regulatory competence. That is why their kindergarten teachers play an important role as instructors as well as role models. This study tested the effects of self-regulation training for kindergarten teachers concerning their own self-regulation and methods to foster self-regulation in children at preschool age whom they were teaching. In this study, 35 German kindergarten teachers and 97 children participated. All adult participants were graduated kindergarten teachers. The kindergarten teachers were tested with a questionnaire 2 weeks before and after the training. At the same time, the preschoolers were interviewed. A waiting control group design was applied. The results obtained by means of analyses of variance show that the self-regulation of the kindergarten teachers as well as the self-regulated learning of preschoolers whose kindergarten teachers took part in the training improved significantly. The results indicate that it is possible to improve self-regulated learning of preschool children by a training programme for kindergarten teachers.

Participation in asynchronous online discussion forums does improve student learning of gross anatomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Rodney A; Farchione, Davide; Hughes, Diane L; Chan, Siew-Pang

2014-01-01

Asynchronous online discussion forums are common in blended learning models and are popular with students. A previous report has suggested that participation in these forums may assist student learning in a gross anatomy subject but it was unclear as to whether more academically able students post more often or whether participation led to improved learning outcomes. This study used a path model to analyze the contribution of forum participation, previous academic ability, and student campus of enrolment to final marks in a multicampus gross anatomy course for physiotherapy students. The course has a substantial online learning management system (LMS) that incorporates asynchronous forums as a learning tool, particularly to answer learning objectives. Students were encouraged to post new threads and answer queries in threads started by others. The forums were moderated weekly by staff. Discussion forums were the most used feature of the LMS site with 31,920 hits. Forty-eight percent of the students posted at least once with 186 threads initiated by students and a total of 608 posts. The total number of posts made a significant direct contribution to final mark (P = 0.008) as did previous academic ability (P = 0.002). Although campus did not contribute to final mark, there was a trend for students at the campus where the course coordinator was situated to post more often than those at the other campus (P = 0.073). These results indicate that asynchronous online discussion forums can be an effective tool for improving student learning outcomes as evidenced by final marks in gross anatomy teaching. Copyright © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.

Mixed-List Phonological Similarity Effects in Delayed Serial Recall

Science.gov (United States)

Farrell, Simon

2006-01-01

Recent experiments have shown that placing dissimilar items on lists of phonologically similar items enhances accuracy of ordered recall of the dissimilar items [Farrell, S., & Lewandowsky, S. (2003). Dissimilar items benefit from phonological similarity in serial recall. "Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition," 29,…

Using a kinesthetic learning strategy to engage nursing student thinking, enhance retention, and improve critical thinking.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Elissa A

2014-06-01

This article reports the outcomes of a kinesthetic learning strategy used during a cardiac lecture to engage students and to improve the use of classroom-acquired knowledge in today's challenging clinical settings. Nurse educators are constantly faced with finding new ways to engage students, stimulate critical thinking, and improve clinical application in a rapidly changing and complex health care system. Educators who deviate from the traditional pedagogy of didactic, content-driven teaching to a concept-based, student-centered approach using active and kinesthetic learning activities can enhance engagement and improve clinical problem solving, communication skills, and critical thinking to provide graduates with the tools necessary to be successful. The goals of this learning activity were to decrease the well-known classroom-clinical gap by enhancing engagement, providing deeper understanding of cardiac function and disorders, enhancing critical thinking, and improving clinical application. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Genistein improves spatial learning and memory in male rats with elevated glucose level during memory consolidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohara, Yumi; Kawaguchi, Shinichiro; Kuwahara, Rika; Uchida, Yutaro; Oku, Yushi; Yamashita, Kimihiro

2015-03-01

Cognitive dysfunction due to higher blood glucose level has been reported previously. Genistein (GEN) is a phytoestrogen that we hypothesized might lead to improved memory, despite elevated blood glucose levels at the time of memory consolidation. To investigate this hypothesis, we compared the effects of orally administered GEN on the central nervous system in normal versus glucose-loaded adult male rats. A battery of behavioral assessments was carried out. In the MAZE test, which measured spatial learning and memory, the time of normal rats was shortened by GEN treatment compared to the vehicle group, but only in the early stages of testing. In the glucose-loaded group, GEN treatment improved performance as mazes were advanced. In the open-field test, GEN treatment delayed habituation to the new environment in normal rats, and increased the exploratory behaviors of glucose-loaded rats. There were no significant differences observed for emotionality or fear-motivated learning and memory. Together, these results indicate that GEN treatment improved spatial learning and memory only in the early stages of testing in the normal state, but improved spatial learning and memory when glucose levels increased during memory consolidation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving learning with science and social studies text using computer-based concept maps for students with disabilities.

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Ciullo, Stephen; Falcomata, Terry S; Pfannenstiel, Kathleen; Billingsley, Glenna

2015-01-01

Concept maps have been used to help students with learning disabilities (LD) improve literacy skills and content learning, predominantly in secondary school. However, despite increased access to classroom technology, no previous studies have examined the efficacy of computer-based concept maps to improve learning from informational text for students with LD in elementary school. In this study, we used a concurrent delayed multiple probe design to evaluate the interactive use of computer-based concept maps on content acquisition with science and social studies texts for Hispanic students with LD in Grades 4 and 5. Findings from this study suggest that students improved content knowledge during intervention relative to a traditional instruction baseline condition. Learning outcomes and social validity information are considered to inform recommendations for future research and the feasibility of classroom implementation. © The Author(s) 2014.

E-learning as a Way to Improve the Quality of Educational for International Students

OpenAIRE

Yanushchik, Olga Vladimirovna; Pakhomova, Elena Grigorievna; Batbold, Khongorzul

2015-01-01

The article focuses on the problem of teaching mathematics to students of an engineering university learning in a non-native language. The results of a survey helped us identify the main difficulties facing international students when they begin their studies at Russian universities. We also describe a methodology of teaching mathematics using e-learning as web-based instruction. The use of e-learning in the educational process improves the quality of practical training and provides a better ...

Improving Nurses' Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Insertion Knowledge, Confidence, and Skills Using a Simulation-Based Blended Learning Program

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Keleekai, Nowai L.; Schuster, Catherine A.; Murray, Connie L.; King, Mary Anne; Stahl, Brian R.; Labrozzi, Laura J.; Gallucci, Susan; LeClair, Matthew W.; Glover, Kevin R.

2016-01-01

Introduction Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion is one of the most common invasive procedures performed in a hospital, but most nurses receive little formal training in this area. Blended PIVC insertion training programs that incorporate deliberate simulated practice have the potential to improve clinical practice and patient care. Methods The study was a randomized, wait-list control group with crossover using nurses on three medical/surgical units. Baseline PIVC knowledge, confidence, and skills assessments were completed for both groups. The intervention group then received a 2-hour PIVC online course, followed by an 8-hour live training course using a synergistic mix of three simulation tools. Both groups were then reassessed. After crossover, the wait-list group received the same intervention and both groups were reassessed. Results At baseline, both groups were similar for knowledge, confidence, and skills. Compared with the wait-list group, the intervention group had significantly higher scores for knowledge, confidence, and skills upon completing the training program. After crossover, the wait-list group had similarly higher scores for knowledge, confidence, and skills than the intervention group. Between the immediate preintervention and postintervention periods, the intervention group improved scores for knowledge by 31%, skills by 24%, and decreased confidence by 0.5%, whereas the wait-list group improved scores for knowledge by 28%, confidence by 16%, and skills by 15%. Conclusions Results demonstrate significant improvements in nurses' knowledge, confidence, and skills with the use of a simulation-based blended learning program for PIVC insertion. Transferability of these findings from a simulated environment into clinical practice should be further explored. PMID:27504890

Modafinil combined with cognitive training is associated with improved learning in healthy volunteers--a randomised controlled trial.

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Gilleen, J; Michalopoulou, P G; Reichenberg, A; Drake, R; Wykes, T; Lewis, S W; Kapur, S

2014-04-01

Improving cognition in people with neuropsychiatric disorders remains a major clinical target. By themselves pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches have shown only modest effects in improving cognition. In the present study we tested a recently-proposed methodology to combine CT with a 'cognitive-enhancing' drug to improve cognitive test scores and expanded on previous approaches by delivering combination drug and CT, over a long intervention of repeated sessions, and used multiple tasks to reveal the cognitive processes being enhanced. We also aimed to determine whether gains from this combination approach generalised to untrained tests. In this proof of principle randomised-controlled trial thirty-three healthy volunteers were randomised to receive either modafinil or placebo combined with daily cognitive training over two weeks. Volunteers were trained on tasks of new-language learning, working memory and verbal learning following 200 mg modafinil or placebo for ten days. Improvements in trained and untrained tasks were measured. Rate of new-language learning was significantly enhanced with modafinil, and effects were greatest over the first five sessions. Modafinil improved within-day learning rather than between-day retention. No enhancement of gains with modafinil was observed in working memory nor rate of verbal learning. Gains in all tasks were retained post drug-administration, but transfer effects to broad cognitive abilities were not seen. This study shows that combining CT with modafinil specifically elevates learning over early training sessions compared to CT with placebo and provides a proof of principle experimental paradigm for pharmacological enhancement of cognitive remediation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

Improving Geography Learning in the Schools: Efforts by the National Geographic Society.

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Dulli, Robert E.

1994-01-01

Contends that the National Geographic Society's Geography Education Program continues to work on improving geography instruction and learning. Outlines future activities of the National Geographic Society including urban outreach and technology training. (CFR)

Curcuma comosa improves learning and memory function on ovariectomized rats in a long-term Morris water maze test

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Jian; Sripanidkulchai, Kittisak; Wyss, J. Michael; Sripanidkulchai, Bungorn

2010-01-01

Aim of the study Curcuma comosa extract and some purified compounds from this plant have been reported to have estrogenic-like effects, and estrogen improves learning in some animals and potentially in postmenopausal women; therefore, this study tested the hypothesis that Curcuma comosa and estrogen have similar beneficial effects on spatial learning and memory. Materials and methods Curcuma comosa hexane extract, containing 0.165 mg of (4E,6E)-1,7-diphenylhepta-4,6-dien-3-one per mg of the crude extract, was orally administered to ovariectomized Wistar rats at the doses of 250 or 500 mg/kg body weight. 17β-estradiol (10 μg/kg body weight, subcutaneously) was used as a positive control. Thirty days after the initiation of treatment, animals were tested in a Morris water maze for spatial learning and memory. They were re-tested every 30 days and a final probe trial was run on day 119. Results Compared to control rats, OVX rats displayed significant memory impairment for locating the platform in the water maze from day 67 after the surgery, onward. In contrast, OVX rats treated with either Curcuma comosa or estrogen were significantly protected from this decline in cognitive function. Further, the protection of cognitive effects by Curcuma comosa was larger at higher dose. Conclusions These results suggest that long-term treatment with Curcuma comosa has beneficial effects on learning and memory function in rats. PMID:20420894

Applying a Framework for Student Modeling in Exploratory Learning Environments: Comparing Data Representation Granularity to Handle Environment Complexity

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Fratamico, Lauren; Conati, Cristina; Kardan, Samad; Roll, Ido

2017-01-01

Interactive simulations can facilitate inquiry learning. However, similarly to other Exploratory Learning Environments, students may not always learn effectively in these unstructured environments. Thus, providing adaptive support has great potential to help improve student learning with these rich activities. Providing adaptive support requires a…

Physics-Based Scientific Learning Module to Improve Students Motivation and Results

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Soni Nugroho Yuliono

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Teaching materials that available in the school to learn physics especially scientific-based is limited and become one of the obstacles to achieving the learning objectives on electromagnetic waves maerial. The research aims is to gain scientific Physics-based learning modules for high school grade XII students who have met the eligibility criteria, determine the effectiveness of using scientific-based learning modules Physics to improve motivation and learning outcomes from students of grade XII High School. The development of this research on Physics module using 4D development procedure which consist of the steps of define, design, development, and dissemination. Definition phase consists of the teacher and student’s needs analysis process, material analysis, as well as the formulation of the learning module. The design phase of physics learning modules according to the stage of scientific learning are integrated into the module. The development phase consists of the development process of the modules from the design results, validating the feasibility, module revision, limited testing, and the use of scientifically-based learning modules Physics in grade XII IPA 1 Batik 2 Surakarta senior high school. The deployment phase is the deployment process module to another Senior High School in Surakarta. Data Analysis for the study is quantitative descriptive analysis based on the score criteria and analysis of increasing student motivation through N-gain. Conclusion obtained are ; 1 Physics-based scientific learning modules that developed meet the eligibility criteria on aspects of content and presentation, language, the chart, and aspects of learning. The module is declared worthy of the ideals validation results with the percentage of 85.16%, 83.66% by students and teachers in the response phase of the deployment of 85.93%, which is included in the category of "very good"; 2 Physics-based scietific learning modules with material scientific

Psychosocial modulators of motor learning in Parkinson’s disease

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Petra eZemankova

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Using the remarkable overlap between brain circuits affected in Parkinson’s disease (PD and those underlying motor sequence learning, we may improve the effectiveness of motor rehabilitation interventions by identifying motor learning facilitators in PD. For instance, additional sensory stimulation and task cueing enhanced motor learning in people with PD, whereas exercising using musical rhythms or console computer games improved gait and balance, and reduced some motor symptoms, in addition to increasing task enjoyment. Yet, despite these advances, important knowledge gaps remain. Most studies investigating motor learning in PD used laboratory-specific tasks and equipment, with little resemblance to real life situations. Thus, it is unknown whether similar results could be achieved in more ecological setups and whether individual’s task engagement could further improve motor learning capacity. Moreover, the role of social interaction in motor skill learning process has not yet been investigated in PD and the role of mind-set and self-regulatory mechanisms have been sporadically examined. Here we review evidence suggesting that these psychosocial factors may be important modulators of motor learning in PD. We propose their incorporation in future research, given that it could lead to development of improved non-pharmacological interventions aimed to preserve or restore motor function in PD.

Developing a service improvement initiative for people with learning disabilities in hospice settings.

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Springall, Fiona

2018-03-21

People with learning disabilities are often marginalised in healthcare, including in hospice settings, and as a result may not receive effective end of life care. Research in hospice settings has identified that many staff lack confidence, skills and knowledge in caring for people with learning disabilities, which can have a negative effect on the care these individuals receive. To address these issues, the author has proposed a service improvement initiative, which she developed as part of her learning disability nursing degree programme. This proposed initiative aimed to enhance end of life care for people with learning disabilities through the implementation of a community learning disability link nurse in the hospice setting. ©2018 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

Interactional Resources for Quality Improvement: Learning From Participants Through a Qualitative Study.

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Brooks, Joanna Veazey; Gorbenko, Ksenia; Bosk, Charles

Implementing quality improvement in hospitals requires a multifaceted commitment from leaders, including financial, material, and personnel resources. However, little is known about the interactional resources needed for project implementation. The aim of this analysis was to identify the types of interactional support hospital teams sought in a surgical quality improvement project. Hospital site visits were conducted using a combination of observations, interviews, and focus groups to explore the implementation of a surgical quality improvement project. Twenty-six site visits were conducted between October 2012 and August 2014 at a total of 16 hospitals that agreed to participate. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes using inductive analysis. We interviewed 321 respondents and conducted an additional 28 focus groups. Respondents reported needing the following types of interactional support during implementation of quality improvement interventions: (1) a critical outside perspective on their implementation progress; (2) opportunities to learn from peers, especially around clinical innovations; and (3) external validation to help establish visibility for and commitment to the project. Quality improvement in hospitals is both a clinical endeavor and a social endeavor. Our findings show that teams often desire interactional resources as they implement quality improvement initiatives. In-person site visits can provide these resources while also activating emotional energy for teams, which builds momentum and sustainability for quality improvement work. Policymakers and quality improvement leaders will benefit from developing strategies to maximize interactional learning and feedback for quality improvement teams. Further research should investigate the most effective methods for meeting these needs.

Improved probabilistic inference as a general learning mechanism with action video games.

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Green, C Shawn; Pouget, Alexandre; Bavelier, Daphne

2010-09-14

Action video game play benefits performance in an array of sensory, perceptual, and attentional tasks that go well beyond the specifics of game play [1-9]. That a training regimen may induce improvements in so many different skills is notable because the majority of studies on training-induced learning report improvements on the trained task but limited transfer to other, even closely related, tasks ([10], but see also [11-13]). Here we ask whether improved probabilistic inference may explain such broad transfer. By using a visual perceptual decision making task [14, 15], the present study shows for the first time that action video game experience does indeed improve probabilistic inference. A neural model of this task [16] establishes how changing a single parameter, namely the strength of the connections between the neural layer providing the momentary evidence and the layer integrating the evidence over time, captures improvements in action-gamers behavior. These results were established in a visual, but also in a novel auditory, task, indicating generalization across modalities. Thus, improved probabilistic inference provides a general mechanism for why action video game playing enhances performance in a wide variety of tasks. In addition, this mechanism may serve as a signature of training regimens that are likely to produce transfer of learning. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Dynamic Hidden Forwarding Path Planning Method Based on Improved Q-Learning in SDN Environments

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Yun Chen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, many methods are available to improve the target network’s security. The vast majority of them cannot obtain an optimal attack path and interdict it dynamically and conveniently. Almost all defense strategies aim to repair known vulnerabilities or limit services in target network to improve security of network. These methods cannot response to the attacks in real-time because sometimes they need to wait for manufacturers releasing corresponding countermeasures to repair vulnerabilities. In this paper, we propose an improved Q-learning algorithm to plan an optimal attack path directly and automatically. Based on this path, we use software-defined network (SDN to adjust routing paths and create hidden forwarding paths dynamically to filter vicious attack requests. Compared to other machine learning algorithms, Q-learning only needs to input the target state to its agents, which can avoid early complex training process. We improve Q-learning algorithm in two aspects. First, a reward function based on the weights of hosts and attack success rates of vulnerabilities is proposed, which can adapt to different network topologies precisely. Second, we remove the actions and merge them into every state that reduces complexity from O(N3 to O(N2. In experiments, after deploying hidden forwarding paths, the security of target network is boosted significantly without having to repair network vulnerabilities immediately.

Topographic generalization of tactile perceptual learning.

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Harrar, Vanessa; Spence, Charles; Makin, Tamar R

2014-02-01

Perceptual learning can improve our sensory abilities. Understanding its underlying mechanisms, in particular, when perceptual learning generalizes, has become a focus of research and controversy. Specifically, there is little consensus regarding the extent to which tactile perceptual learning generalizes across fingers. We measured tactile orientation discrimination abilities on 4 fingers (index and middle fingers of both hands), using psychophysical measures, before and after 4 training sessions on 1 finger. Given the somatotopic organization of the hand representation in the somatosensory cortex, the topography of the cortical areas underlying tactile perceptual learning can be inferred from the pattern of generalization across fingers; only fingers sharing cortical representation with the trained finger ought to improve with it. Following training, performance improved not only for the trained finger but also for its adjacent and homologous fingers. Although these fingers were not exposed to training, they nevertheless demonstrated similar levels of learning as the trained finger. Conversely, the performance of the finger that was neither adjacent nor homologous to the trained finger was unaffected by training, despite the fact that our procedure was designed to enhance generalization, as described in recent visual perceptual learning research. This pattern of improved performance is compatible with previous reports of neuronal receptive fields (RFs) in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) spanning adjacent and homologous digits. We conclude that perceptual learning rooted in low-level cortex can still generalize, and suggest potential applications for the neurorehabilitation of syndromes associated with maladaptive plasticity in SI. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

A Mobile Gamification Learning System for Improving the Learning Motivation and Achievements

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Su, C-H.; Cheng, C-H.

2015-01-01

This paper aims to investigate how a gamified learning approach influences science learning, achievement and motivation, through a context-aware mobile learning environment, and explains the effects on motivation and student learning. A series of gamified learning activities, based on MGLS (Mobile Gamification Learning System), was developed and…

Automation of information decision support to improve e-learning resources quality

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A.L. Danchenko

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In conditions of active development of e-learning the high quality of e-learning resources is very important. Providing the high quality of e-learning resources in situation with mass higher education and rapid obsolescence of information requires the automation of information decision support for improving the quality of e-learning resources by development of decision support system. Methodology. The problem is solved by methods of artificial intelligence. The knowledge base of information structure of decision support system that is based on frame model of knowledge representation and inference production rules are developed. Findings. According to the results of the analysis of life cycle processes and requirements to the e-learning resources quality the information model of the structure of the knowledge base of the decision support system, the inference rules for the automatically generating of recommendations and the software implementation are developed. Practical value. It is established that the basic requirements for quality are performance, validity, reliability and manufacturability. It is shown that the using of a software implementation of decision support system for researched courses gives a growth of the quality according to the complex quality criteria. The information structure of a knowledge base system to support decision-making and rules of inference can be used by methodologists and content developers of learning systems.

A Learning Collaborative Approach to Improve Primary Care STI Screening.

Science.gov (United States)

McKee, M Diane; Alderman, Elizabeth; York, Deborah V; Blank, Arthur E; Briggs, Rahil D; Hoidal, Kelsey E S; Kus, Christopher; Lechuga, Claudia; Mann, Marie; Meissner, Paul; Patel, Nisha; Racine, Andrew D

2017-10-01

The Bronx Ongoing Pediatric Screening (BOPS) project sought to improve screening for sexual activity and sexually transmitted infections (gonorrhea and chlamydia [GCC] and HIV) in a primary care network, employing a modified learning collaborative, real-time clinical data feedback to practices, improvement coaching, and a pay-for-quality monetary incentive. Outcomes are compared for 11 BOPS-participating sites and 10 non-participating sites. The quarterly median rate for documenting sexual activity status increased from 55% to 88% (BOPS sites) and from 13% to 74% (non-BOPS sites). GCC screening of sexually active youth increased at BOPS and non-BOPS sites. Screening at non-health care maintenance visits improved more at BOPS than non-BOPS sites. Data from nonparticipating sites suggests that introduction of an adolescent EMR template or other factors improved screening rates regardless of BOPS participation; BOPS activities appear to promote additional improvement of screening during non-health maintenance visits.

Educational Information Quantization for Improving Content Quality in Learning Management Systems

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Rybanov, Alexander Aleksandrovich

2014-01-01

The article offers the educational information quantization method for improving content quality in Learning Management Systems. The paper considers questions concerning analysis of quality of quantized presentation of educational information, based on quantitative text parameters: average frequencies of parts of speech, used in the text; formal…

Impact E-Learning Platform Moodle on the Physic's Learning Process in the High School's Students

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Torres-Montealban, Jonas; Ruiz-Chavarria, Gregorio; Gomez-Lozoya, Enrique Armando

2011-03-01

As a didactic proposal, moodle e-learning platform was implemented in one of two Physics High School's group at UACH, in order to show how the use of new technologies can improve the learning progress linked to physics concepts. As a result, the first group worked at the same time with inside class activities as well as outside resources from the moodle e-platform. The second group only worked with inside class activities. This teaching application was developed in six sections. Section I defines the educational framework. Section II identifies the key physic's concepts to be studied in each proposed activity. Section III describes the didactic model. Section IV displays the compared results between similarities and differences in both groups. Section VI shows the gathered information in order to be discussed as a topic related on how new technologies improve the Physic's learning process in the high school' students.

The use of an active learning approach in a SCALE-UP learning space improves academic performance in undergraduate General Biology.

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Hacisalihoglu, Gokhan; Stephens, Desmond; Johnson, Lewis; Edington, Maurice

2018-01-01

Active learning is a pedagogical approach that involves students engaging in collaborative learning, which enables them to take more responsibility for their learning and improve their critical thinking skills. While prior research examined student performance at majority universities, this study focuses on specifically Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for the first time. Here we present work that focuses on the impact of active learning interventions at Florida A&M University, where we measured the impact of active learning strategies coupled with a SCALE-UP (Student Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies) learning environment on student success in General Biology. In biology sections where active learning techniques were employed, students watched online videos and completed specific activities before class covering information previously presented in a traditional lecture format. In-class activities were then carefully planned to reinforce critical concepts and enhance critical thinking skills through active learning techniques such as the one-minute paper, think-pair-share, and the utilization of clickers. Students in the active learning and control groups covered the same topics, took the same summative examinations and completed identical homework sets. In addition, the same instructor taught all of the sections included in this study. Testing demonstrated that these interventions increased learning gains by as much as 16%, and students reported an increase in their positive perceptions of active learning and biology. Overall, our results suggest that active learning approaches coupled with the SCALE-UP environment may provide an added opportunity for student success when compared with the standard modes of instruction in General Biology.

Improving the Understanding of Research Methodology and Self-Regulated Learning Through Blog Project

OpenAIRE

Retnawati, Heri

2017-01-01

: This classroom action research seeks to improve self-regulated learning (SRL) and understanding of research methodology at the graduate school. Nineteen graduate school students were involved. Using project-based learning (PjBL), students were assigned to create online blogs as the main project. The blog was intended for representing their understanding of research methodology by writing review of research articles and submitting a research proposal. The classroom action research was based ...

Content-based VLE designs improve learning efficiency in constructivist statistics education.

Science.gov (United States)

Wessa, Patrick; De Rycker, Antoon; Holliday, Ian Edward

2011-01-01

We introduced a series of computer-supported workshops in our undergraduate statistics courses, in the hope that it would help students to gain a deeper understanding of statistical concepts. This raised questions about the appropriate design of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in which such an approach had to be implemented. Therefore, we investigated two competing software design models for VLEs. In the first system, all learning features were a function of the classical VLE. The second system was designed from the perspective that learning features should be a function of the course's core content (statistical analyses), which required us to develop a specific-purpose Statistical Learning Environment (SLE) based on Reproducible Computing and newly developed Peer Review (PR) technology. The main research question is whether the second VLE design improved learning efficiency as compared to the standard type of VLE design that is commonly used in education. As a secondary objective we provide empirical evidence about the usefulness of PR as a constructivist learning activity which supports non-rote learning. Finally, this paper illustrates that it is possible to introduce a constructivist learning approach in large student populations, based on adequately designed educational technology, without subsuming educational content to technological convenience. Both VLE systems were tested within a two-year quasi-experiment based on a Reliable Nonequivalent Group Design. This approach allowed us to draw valid conclusions about the treatment effect of the changed VLE design, even though the systems were implemented in successive years. The methodological aspects about the experiment's internal validity are explained extensively. The effect of the design change is shown to have substantially increased the efficiency of constructivist, computer-assisted learning activities for all cohorts of the student population under investigation. The findings demonstrate that a

Content-based VLE designs improve learning efficiency in constructivist statistics education.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Wessa

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: We introduced a series of computer-supported workshops in our undergraduate statistics courses, in the hope that it would help students to gain a deeper understanding of statistical concepts. This raised questions about the appropriate design of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE in which such an approach had to be implemented. Therefore, we investigated two competing software design models for VLEs. In the first system, all learning features were a function of the classical VLE. The second system was designed from the perspective that learning features should be a function of the course's core content (statistical analyses, which required us to develop a specific-purpose Statistical Learning Environment (SLE based on Reproducible Computing and newly developed Peer Review (PR technology. OBJECTIVES: The main research question is whether the second VLE design improved learning efficiency as compared to the standard type of VLE design that is commonly used in education. As a secondary objective we provide empirical evidence about the usefulness of PR as a constructivist learning activity which supports non-rote learning. Finally, this paper illustrates that it is possible to introduce a constructivist learning approach in large student populations, based on adequately designed educational technology, without subsuming educational content to technological convenience. METHODS: Both VLE systems were tested within a two-year quasi-experiment based on a Reliable Nonequivalent Group Design. This approach allowed us to draw valid conclusions about the treatment effect of the changed VLE design, even though the systems were implemented in successive years. The methodological aspects about the experiment's internal validity are explained extensively. RESULTS: The effect of the design change is shown to have substantially increased the efficiency of constructivist, computer-assisted learning activities for all cohorts of the student

Content-Based VLE Designs Improve Learning Efficiency in Constructivist Statistics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Wessa, Patrick; De Rycker, Antoon; Holliday, Ian Edward

2011-01-01

Background We introduced a series of computer-supported workshops in our undergraduate statistics courses, in the hope that it would help students to gain a deeper understanding of statistical concepts. This raised questions about the appropriate design of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in which such an approach had to be implemented. Therefore, we investigated two competing software design models for VLEs. In the first system, all learning features were a function of the classical VLE. The second system was designed from the perspective that learning features should be a function of the course's core content (statistical analyses), which required us to develop a specific–purpose Statistical Learning Environment (SLE) based on Reproducible Computing and newly developed Peer Review (PR) technology. Objectives The main research question is whether the second VLE design improved learning efficiency as compared to the standard type of VLE design that is commonly used in education. As a secondary objective we provide empirical evidence about the usefulness of PR as a constructivist learning activity which supports non-rote learning. Finally, this paper illustrates that it is possible to introduce a constructivist learning approach in large student populations, based on adequately designed educational technology, without subsuming educational content to technological convenience. Methods Both VLE systems were tested within a two-year quasi-experiment based on a Reliable Nonequivalent Group Design. This approach allowed us to draw valid conclusions about the treatment effect of the changed VLE design, even though the systems were implemented in successive years. The methodological aspects about the experiment's internal validity are explained extensively. Results The effect of the design change is shown to have substantially increased the efficiency of constructivist, computer-assisted learning activities for all cohorts of the student population under

Collaborative activities for improving the quality of science teaching and learning and learning to teach science

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Tobin, Kenneth

2012-03-01

I have been involved in research on collaborative activities for improving the quality of teaching and learning high school science. Initially the collaborative activities we researched involved the uses of coteaching and cogenerative dialogue in urban middle and high schools in Philadelphia and New York (currently I have active research sites in New York and Brisbane, Australia). The research not only transformed practices but also produced theories that informed the development of additional collaborative activities and served as interventions for research and creation of heuristics for professional development programs and teacher certification courses. The presentation describes a collage of collaborative approaches to teaching and learning science, including coteaching, cogenerative dialogue, radical listening, critical reflection, and mindful action. For each activity in the collage I provide theoretical frameworks and empirical support, ongoing research, and priorities for the road ahead. I also address methodologies used in the research, illustrating how teachers and students collaborated as researchers in multilevel investigations of teaching and learning and learning to teach that included ethnography, video analysis, and sophisticated analyses of the voice, facial expression of emotion, eye gaze, and movement of the body during classroom interactions. I trace the evolution of studies of face-to-face interactions in science classes to the current focus on emotions and physiological aspects of teaching and learning (e.g., pulse rate, pulse strength, breathing patterns) that relate to science participation and achievement.

Improve Outcomes Study subjects Chemistry Teaching and Learning Strategies through independent study with the help of computer-based media

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Sugiharti, Gulmah

2018-03-01

This study aims to see the improvement of student learning outcomes by independent learning using computer-based learning media in the course of STBM (Teaching and Learning Strategy) Chemistry. Population in this research all student of class of 2014 which take subject STBM Chemistry as many as 4 class. While the sample is taken by purposive as many as 2 classes, each 32 students, as control class and expriment class. The instrument used is the test of learning outcomes in the form of multiple choice with the number of questions as many as 20 questions that have been declared valid, and reliable. Data analysis techniques used one-sided t test and improved learning outcomes using a normalized gain test. Based on the learning result data, the average of normalized gain values for the experimental class is 0,530 and for the control class is 0,224. The result of the experimental student learning result is 53% and the control class is 22,4%. Hypothesis testing results obtained t count> ttable is 9.02> 1.6723 at the level of significance α = 0.05 and db = 58. This means that the acceptance of Ha is the use of computer-based learning media (CAI Computer) can improve student learning outcomes in the course Learning Teaching Strategy (STBM) Chemistry academic year 2017/2018.

Improving interprofessional competence in undergraduate students using a novel blended learning approach.

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