WorldWideScience

Sample records for major learning objectives

  1. Learning Object Repositories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehman, Rosemary

    2007-01-01

    This chapter looks at the development and nature of learning objects, meta-tagging standards and taxonomies, learning object repositories, learning object repository characteristics, and types of learning object repositories, with type examples. (Contains 1 table.)

  2. From learning objects to learning activities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dalsgaard, Christian

    2005-01-01

    This paper discusses and questions the current metadata standards for learning objects from a pedagogical point of view. From a social constructivist approach, the paper discusses how learning objects can support problem based, self-governed learning activities. In order to support this approach......, it is argued that it is necessary to focus on learning activities rather than on learning objects. Further, it is argued that descriptions of learning objectives and learning activities should be separated from learning objects. The paper presents a new conception of learning objects which supports problem...... based, self-governed activities. Further, a new way of thinking pedagogy into learning objects is introduced. It is argued that a lack of pedagogical thinking in learning objects is not solved through pedagogical metadata. Instead, the paper suggests the concept of references as an alternative...

  3. Repurposing learning object components

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verbert, K.; Jovanovic, J.; Gasevic, D.; Duval, E.; Meersman, R.

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents an ontology-based framework for repurposing learning object components. Unlike the usual practice where learning object components are assembled manually, the proposed framework enables on-the-fly access and repurposing of learning object components. The framework supports two

  4. Repurposeable Learning Objects Linked to Teaching and Learning Styles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeremy Dunning

    2004-02-01

    Full Text Available Multimedia learning objects are an essential component of high quality, technology-mediated instruction. Learning objects allow the student to use the content learned in a particular part of a course and; 1. demonstrate mastery of the content, 2. apply that knowledge to solving a problem, and 3. use the content in a critical thinking exercise that both demonstrates mastery and allows the student to place the content within the context of the larger topic of the course. The difficulty associated with the use of learning objects on a broad scale is that they require programming skills most professors and instructors do not possess. Learning objects also tend to be custom productions and are defined in terms of the programming and code terminology, further limiting the professor's ability to understand how they are created. Learning objects defined in terms of styles of learning and teaching allow professors and instructors to develop a deeper understanding of the learning objects and the design process. A set of learning objects has been created that are designed for some of the important styles of learning and teaching. They include; visual learning, writing skills, critical thinking, time-revealed scenarios, case studies and empirical observation. The learning objects are designed and described in terms that the average instructor can readily understand , redesign and incorporate into their own courses. They are also designed in such a way that they can readily be repurposed for new applications in other courses and subject areas, with little or no additional programming.

  5. Learning Objects Web

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blåbjerg, Niels Jørgen

    2005-01-01

    Learning Objects Web er et DEFF projekt som Aalborg Universitetsbibliotek har initieret. Projektet tager afsæt i de resultater og erfaringer som er opnået med vores tidligere projekt Streaming Webbased Information Modules (SWIM). Vi har et internationalt netværk af interessenter som giver os...... sparring og feedback i forhold til udviklingskoncept både omkring de teoretiske rammer og i forhold til praktisk anvendelse af vores undervisningskoncept. Med disse rygstød og input har vi forfulgt ønsket om at videreudvikle SWIM i det nye projekt Learning Objects Web. Udgivelsesdato: juni...

  6. A Learning Object Approach To Evidence based learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zabin Visram

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the philosophy, development and framework of the body of elements formulated to provide an approach to evidence-based learning sustained by Learning Objects and web based technology Due to the demands for continuous improvement in the delivery of healthcare and in the continuous endeavour to improve the quality of life, there is a continuous need for practitioner's to update their knowledge by accomplishing accredited courses. The rapid advances in medical science has meant increasingly, there is a desperate need to adopt wireless schemes, whereby bespoke courses can be developed to help practitioners keep up with expanding knowledge base. Evidently, without current best evidence, practice risks becoming rapidly out of date, to the detriment of the patient. There is a need to provide a tactical, operational and effective environment, which allows professional to update their education, and complete specialised training, just-in-time, in their own time and location. Following this demand in the marketplace the information engineering group, in combination with several medical and dental schools, set out to develop and design a conceptual framework which form the basis of pioneering research, which at last, enables practitioner's to adopt a philosophy of life long learning. The body and structure of this framework is subsumed under the term Object oriented approach to Evidence Based learning, Just-in-time, via Internet sustained by Reusable Learning Objects (The OEBJIRLO Progression. The technical pillars which permit this concept of life long learning are pivoted by the foundations of object oriented technology, Learning objects, Just-in-time education, Data Mining, intelligent Agent technology, Flash interconnectivity and remote wireless technology, which allow practitioners to update their professional skills, complete specialised training which leads to accredited qualifications. This paper sets out to develop and

  7. Checklist for Evaluating SREB-SCORE Learning Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2007

    2007-01-01

    This checklist is based on "Evaluation Criteria for SREB-SCORE Learning Objects" and is designed to help schools and colleges determine the quality and effectiveness of learning objects. It is suggested that each learning object be rated to the extent to which it meets the criteria and the SREB-SCORE definition of a learning object. A learning…

  8. Constraints on reusability of learning objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    May, Michael; Hussmann, Peter Munkebo; Jensen, Anne Skov

    2010-01-01

    It is the aim of this paper to discuss some didactic constraints on the use and reuse of digital modular learning objects. Engineering education is used as the specific context of use with examples from courses in introductory electronics and mathematics. Digital multimedia and modular learning....... Constraints on reuse arise from the nature of conceptual understanding in higher education and the functionality of learning objects within present technologies. We will need didactic as well as technical perspectives on learning objects in designing for understanding....

  9. Mere exposure alters category learning of novel objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan R Folstein

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available We investigated how mere exposure to complex objects with correlated or uncorrelated object features affects later category learning of new objects not seen during exposure. Correlations among pre-exposed object dimensions influenced later category learning. Unlike other published studies, the collection of pre-exposed objects provided no information regarding the categories to be learned, ruling out unsupervised or incidental category learning during pre-exposure. Instead, results are interpreted with respect to statistical learning mechanisms, providing one of the first demonstrations of how statistical learning can influence visual object learning.

  10. Mere exposure alters category learning of novel objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Folstein, Jonathan R; Gauthier, Isabel; Palmeri, Thomas J

    2010-01-01

    We investigated how mere exposure to complex objects with correlated or uncorrelated object features affects later category learning of new objects not seen during exposure. Correlations among pre-exposed object dimensions influenced later category learning. Unlike other published studies, the collection of pre-exposed objects provided no information regarding the categories to be learned, ruling out unsupervised or incidental category learning during pre-exposure. Instead, results are interpreted with respect to statistical learning mechanisms, providing one of the first demonstrations of how statistical learning can influence visual object learning.

  11. Educational Rationale Metadata for Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tom Carey

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available Instructors searching for learning objects in online repositories will be guided in their choices by the content of the object, the characteristics of the learners addressed, and the learning process embodied in the object. We report here on a feasibility study for metadata to record process-oriented information about instructional approaches for learning objects, though a set of Educational Rationale [ER] tags which would allow authors to describe the critical elements in their design intent. The prototype ER tags describe activities which have been demonstrated to be of value in learning, and authors select the activities whose support was critical in their design decisions. The prototype ER tag set consists descriptors of the instructional approach used in the design, plus optional sub-elements for Comments, Importance and Features which implement the design intent. The tag set was tested by creators of four learning object modules, three intended for post-secondary learners and one for K-12 students and their families. In each case the creators reported that the ER tag set allowed them to express succinctly the key instructional approaches embedded in their designs. These results confirmed the overall feasibility of the ER tag approach as a means of capturing design intent from creators of learning objects. Much work remains to be done before a usable ER tag set could be specified, including evaluating the impact of ER tags during design to improve instructional quality of learning objects.

  12. Personalised Learning Object System Based on Self-Regulated Learning Theories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Alharbi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Self-regulated learning has become an important construct in education research in the last few years. Selfregulated learning in its simple form is the learner’s ability to monitor and control the learning process. There is increasing research in the literature on how to support students become more self-regulated learners. However, the advancement in the information technology has led to paradigm changes in the design and development of educational content. The concept of learning object instructional technology has emerged as a result of this shift in educational technology paradigms. This paper presents the results of a study that investigated the potential educational effectiveness of a pedagogical framework based on the self-regulated learning theories to support the design of learning object systems to help computer science students. A prototype learning object system was developed based on the contemporary research on self-regulated learning. The system was educationally evaluated in a quasi-experimental study over two semesters in a core programming languages concepts course. The evaluation revealed that a learning object system that takes into consideration contemporary research on self-regulated learning can be an effective learning environment to support computer science education.

  13. THE BLENDED LEARNING OF ELECTRICITY USING LEARNING OBJECTS IN ENGINEERING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lilia Maria Siqueira

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This work presents a proposal for the blended learning of Electricity education in Engineering, using resources called learning objects. The experience occurred with students enrolled on the Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering courses at PUCPR University. It made possible the contact with interdisciplinary themes related to the study of electricity and the professional curriculum contents. The learning objects, offered during the semester, were anchored on PUCPR’s proprietary virtual educational environment, called Eureka. The students’ evaluation results showed that the study through learning objects in a virtual environment is significant for learning.

  14. Learning Object Retrieval and Aggregation Based on Learning Styles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramirez-Arellano, Aldo; Bory-Reyes, Juan; Hernández-Simón, Luis Manuel

    2017-01-01

    The main goal of this article is to develop a Management System for Merging Learning Objects (msMLO), which offers an approach that retrieves learning objects (LOs) based on students' learning styles and term-based queries, which produces a new outcome with a better score. The msMLO faces the task of retrieving LOs via two steps: The first step…

  15. Distribution majorization of corner points by reinforcement learning for moving object detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hao; Yu, Hao; Zhou, Dongxiang; Cheng, Yongqiang

    2018-04-01

    Corner points play an important role in moving object detection, especially in the case of free-moving camera. Corner points provide more accurate information than other pixels and reduce the computation which is unnecessary. Previous works only use intensity information to locate the corner points, however, the information that former and the last frames provided also can be used. We utilize the information to focus on more valuable area and ignore the invaluable area. The proposed algorithm is based on reinforcement learning, which regards the detection of corner points as a Markov process. In the Markov model, the video to be detected is regarded as environment, the selections of blocks for one corner point are regarded as actions and the performance of detection is regarded as state. Corner points are assigned to be the blocks which are seperated from original whole image. Experimentally, we select a conventional method which uses marching and Random Sample Consensus algorithm to obtain objects as the main framework and utilize our algorithm to improve the result. The comparison between the conventional method and the same one with our algorithm show that our algorithm reduce 70% of the false detection.

  16. Knowledge Sharing, Communities of Practice, and Learning Asset Integration - DAU's Major Initiatives

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Hickok, John

    2005-01-01

    The concepts of Knowledge Management (KM) and knowledge communities have matured over the past decade and are being recognized as major enablers for personal learning and job performance in achieving organizational business objectives...

  17. Liberating Learning Object Design from the Learning Style of Student Instructional Designers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akpinar, Yavuz

    2007-01-01

    Learning objects are a new form of learning resource, and the design of these digital environments has many facets. To investigate senior instructional design students' use of reflection tools in designing learning objects, a series of studies was conducted using the Reflective Action Instructional Design and Learning Object Review Instrument…

  18. How learning might strengthen existing visual object representations in human object-selective cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brants, Marijke; Bulthé, Jessica; Daniels, Nicky; Wagemans, Johan; Op de Beeck, Hans P

    2016-02-15

    Visual object perception is an important function in primates which can be fine-tuned by experience, even in adults. Which factors determine the regions and the neurons that are modified by learning is still unclear. Recently, it was proposed that the exact cortical focus and distribution of learning effects might depend upon the pre-learning mapping of relevant functional properties and how this mapping determines the informativeness of neural units for the stimuli and the task to be learned. From this hypothesis we would expect that visual experience would strengthen the pre-learning distributed functional map of the relevant distinctive object properties. Here we present a first test of this prediction in twelve human subjects who were trained in object categorization and differentiation, preceded and followed by a functional magnetic resonance imaging session. Specifically, training increased the distributed multi-voxel pattern information for trained object distinctions in object-selective cortex, resulting in a generalization from pre-training multi-voxel activity patterns to after-training activity patterns. Simulations show that the increased selectivity combined with the inter-session generalization is consistent with a training-induced strengthening of a pre-existing selectivity map. No training-related neural changes were detected in other regions. In sum, training to categorize or individuate objects strengthened pre-existing representations in human object-selective cortex, providing a first indication that the neuroanatomical distribution of learning effects depends upon the pre-learning mapping of visual object properties. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Unifying Learning Object Repositories in MACE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Prause, Christian; Ternier, Stefaan; De Jong, Tim; Apelt, Stefan; Scholten, Marius; Wolpers, Martin; Eisenhauer, Markus; Vandeputte, Bram; Specht, Marcus; Duval, Erik

    2007-01-01

    Prause, C., Ternier, S., De Jong, T., Apelt, S., Scholten, M., Wolpers, M., et al. (2007). Unifying Learning Object Repositories in MACE. In D. Massart, J.-N. Colin & F. V. Assche (Eds.). Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Learning Object Discovery & Exchange (LODE'07). September,

  20. Authoring of Learning Objects in Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Specht, Marcus; Kravcik, Milos

    2006-01-01

    Learning objects and content interchange standards provide new possibilities for e-learning. Nevertheless the content often lacks context data to find appropriate use for adaptive learning on demand and personalized learning experiences. In the Remotely Accessible Field Trips (RAFT) project mobile authoring of learning content in context has shown…

  1. Definition of a Learning Object from Perspectives of In-Service Teachers (Case of Duzce Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kürşat ARSLAN

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Learning objects, as a relatively new technological concept, have drawn much attention from educators because these dijital resources are easily accessible, relatively easy to use due to their limited size and focus, interactive, and adaptable to many different educational contexts. Despite the fact that learning objects have the great potential to improve teaching and learning experiences by providing teachers reusable learning materials and reducing costs, the lack of a “working and clear” definition of these materials has restricted their effective and efficient use. This study aimed to explore elementary school teacher perceptions of their use of learning objects from a qualitative research paradigm in order to reveal the extent to which teachers understand concept of learning object and its instruction approach. The method of the study was based on descriptive phenomenology. Data were collected using multiple methods, including the semi-structured interview, field observation reports, and photos from nine in-service elementary school teachers from different departments in Duzce, Turkey. Methods of data analysis were based on Giorgi’s method of descriptive phenomenology including four stages of content analysis: data coding, developing themes, organizing code and themes, describing findings. Overall findings of the study indicate that teachers use learning objects in their lesson activities without explicit recognition; however they generally fail to understand the exact meaning of a learning object approach and its applications in the classroom. Participants understood different properties of learning objects. Almost all participants perceive objectivity as the most important characteristic of the learning object.  In addition, a majority of the teachers recognized the value of a learning object’s reusability. In-service teachers’ vague perceptions of the definition and usage of learning objects indicated that they used these

  2. Authoring Systems Delivering Reusable Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Nicola Sammour

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available A three layer e-learning course development model has been defined based on a conceptual model of learning content object. It starts by decomposing the learning content into small chunks which are initially placed in a hierarchic structure of units and blocks. The raw content components, being the atomic learning objects (ALO, were linked to the blocks and are structured in the database. We set forward a dynamic generation of LO's using re-usable e-learning raw materials or ALO’s In that view we need a LO authoring/ assembling system fitting the requirements of interoperability and reusability and starting from selecting the raw learning content from the learning materials content database. In practice authoring systems are used to develop e-learning courses. The company EDUWEST has developed an authoring system that is database based and will be SCORM compliant in the near future.

  3. An Exploratory Study into the Efficacy of Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas W. Farha, Ph.D.

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Learning objects have quickly become a widely accepted approach to instructional technology, particularly in on-line and computer-based learning environments. While there is a substantial body of literature concerning learning objects, very little of it verifies their efficacy. This research investigated the effectiveness of learning objects by comparing learning outcomes using a learning object with outcomes using a traditional textbook-based method of instruction. Participants were 327 undergraduate college students at a traditional public four-year coed institution, a private four-year women’s college, a private four-year engineering institution, and a public two-year community college. Through a series of independent samples t-tests and Analyses of Variance, results revealed mean scores for the learning object group that were nearly three times higher than the mean scores for the textbook-taught group. Gaming experience, age, gender, and learner preference were evaluated for their potential influence on the results; no statistically significant differences were found, implying that the learning object itself was central to the outcomes achieved. The future of learning objects is bright, and more empirical research is called for in the area of learning object effectiveness.

  4. An Investigation on the Correlation of Learner Styles and Learning Objects Characteristics in a Proposed Learning Objects Management Model (LOMM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanapu, Supachanun; Fung, Chun Che; Kerdprasop, Nittaya; Chamnongsri, Nisachol; Niwattanakul, Suphakit

    2016-01-01

    The issues of accessibility, management, storage and organization of Learning Objects (LOs) in education systems are a high priority of the Thai Government. Incorporating personalized learning or learning styles in a learning object management system to improve the accessibility of LOs has been addressed continuously in the Thai education system.…

  5. Intelligent Discovery for Learning Objects Using Semantic Web Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, I-Ching

    2012-01-01

    The concept of learning objects has been applied in the e-learning field to promote the accessibility, reusability, and interoperability of learning content. Learning Object Metadata (LOM) was developed to achieve these goals by describing learning objects in order to provide meaningful metadata. Unfortunately, the conventional LOM lacks the…

  6. Dynamic Learning Objects to Teach Java Programming Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narasimhamurthy, Uma; Al Shawkani, Khuloud

    2010-01-01

    This article describes a model for teaching Java Programming Language through Dynamic Learning Objects. The design of the learning objects was based on effective learning design principles to help students learn the complex topic of Java Programming. Visualization was also used to facilitate the learning of the concepts. (Contains 1 figure and 2…

  7. Elaborazione didattica di Learning Objects.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luigi Guerra

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available L’idea di un modello didattico problematico per la realizzazione di Learning Objects riprende i temi del problematicismo pedagogico e si impegna a definire un’ipotesi formativa complessa capace di valorizzare la possibile positiva compresenza integrata di strategie didattiche diverse (finanche antitetiche ma componibili in una logica appunto di matrice problematicista. Il punto di partenza del modello proposto è rappresentato dalla opportunità di definire tre tipologie fondamentali di Learning Objects, rispettivamente centrati sull’oggetto, sul processo e sul soggetto dell’apprendimento.

  8. Early age-dependent impairments of context-dependent extinction learning, object recognition, and object-place learning occur in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiescholleck, Valentina; Emma André, Marion Agnès; Manahan-Vaughan, Denise

    2014-03-01

    The hippocampus is vulnerable to age-dependent memory decline. Multiple forms of memory depend on adequate hippocampal function. Extinction learning comprises active inhibition of no longer relevant learned information concurrent with suppression of a previously learned reaction. It is highly dependent on context, and evidence exists that it requires hippocampal activation. In this study, we addressed whether context-based extinction as well as hippocampus-dependent tasks, such as object recognition and object-place recognition, are equally affected by moderate aging. Young (7-8 week old) and older (7-8 month old) Wistar rats were used. For the extinction study, animals learned that a particular floor context indicated that they should turn into one specific arm (e.g., left) to receive a food reward. On the day after reaching the learning criterion of 80% correct choices, the floor context was changed, no reward was given and animals were expected to extinguish the learned response. Both, young and older rats managed this first extinction trial in the new context with older rats showing a faster extinction performance. One day later, animals were returned to the T-maze with the original floor context and renewal effects were assessed. In this case, only young but not older rats showed the expected renewal effect (lower extinction ratio as compared to the day before). To assess general memory abilities, animals were tested in the standard object recognition and object-place memory tasks. Evaluations were made at 5 min, 1 h and 7 day intervals. Object recognition memory was poor at short-term and intermediate time-points in older but not young rats. Object-place memory performance was unaffected at 5 min, but impaired at 1 h in older but not young rats. Both groups were impaired at 7 days. These findings support that not only aspects of general memory, but also context-dependent extinction learning, are affected by moderate aging. This may reflect less flexibility in

  9. Transforming existing content into reusable Learning Objects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Doorten, Monique; Giesbers, Bas; Janssen, José; Daniels, Jan; Koper, Rob

    2003-01-01

    Please cite as: Doorten, M., Giesbers, B., Janssen, J., Daniëls, J, & Koper, E.J.R., (2004). Transforming existing content into reusable learning objects. In R. McGreal, Online Education using Learning Objects (pp. 116-127). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

  10. Learning Faster by Discovering and Exploiting Object Similarities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadej Janež

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we explore the question: “Is it possible to speed up the learning process of an autonomous agent by performing experiments in a more complex environment (i.e., an environment with a greater number of different objects?” To this end, we use a simple robotic domain, where the robot has to learn a qualitative model predicting the change in the robot's distance to an object. To quantify the environment's complexity, we defined cardinal complexity as the number of objects in the robot's world, and behavioural complexity as the number of objects' distinct behaviours. We propose Error reduction merging (ERM, a new learning method that automatically discovers similarities in the structure of the agent's environment. ERM identifies different types of objects solely from the data measured and merges the observations of objects that behave in the same or similar way in order to speed up the agent's learning. We performed a series of experiments in worlds of increasing complexity. The results in our simple domain indicate that ERM was capable of discovering structural similarities in the data which indeed made the learning faster, clearly superior to conventional learning. This observed trend occurred with various machine learning algorithms used inside the ERM method.

  11. Learning models of activities involving interacting objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manfredotti, Cristina; Pedersen, Kim Steenstrup; Hamilton, Howard J.

    2013-01-01

    We propose the LEMAIO multi-layer framework, which makes use of hierarchical abstraction to learn models for activities involving multiple interacting objects from time sequences of data concerning the individual objects. Experiments in the sea navigation domain yielded learned models that were t...

  12. Learning objects and interactive whiteboards: a evaluation proposal of learning objects for mathematics teaching

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvio Henrique Fiscarelli

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The current conditions of the classroom learning tend to be a one-way process based in teacher exposition, this make a negative impact on learning make it a mechanical and not meaningful activity. One possibility to improve the quality of teaching is to innovate methodologies and varying forms of presenting information to students, such as the use of technology in the teaching process. The Interactive Whiteboard (IBW is one of the technologies that are being implemented in Brazilian schools. One of the promising possibilities to add value to the use of LDI in classroom are "learning objects" (LO. However, one problem is that often the LO are not fully suited to the dynamics of IWB, whether functional or pedagogical point of view. The objective of this study is to analyze and propose a set of indicators that evaluate the learning objects for use in conjunction with Interactive Whiteboards. The selection and definition of evaluation indicators was carried from the literature review on the subject and based on LDI experiences of use in Municipal Elementary School. After defining the set of indicators was conducted a evaluation of a sample of 30 OA utilized to teaching mathematics in 3rd grade of elementary school. The results of the evaluation indicate that the proposed indicators are suitable for a pre-analysis of OA and assisting in the process of selection of these.

  13. Object recognition and concept learning with Confucius

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen, B; Sammut, C

    1982-01-01

    A learning program produces, as its output, a Boolean function which describes a concept. The function returns true if and only if the argument is an object which satisfies the logical expression in the body of the function. The learning program's input is a set of objects which are instances of the concept to be learnt. The paper describes an algorithm devised to learn concept descriptions in this form. 15 references.

  14. An Analysis of Learning Objectives and Content Coverage in Introductory Psychology Syllabi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homa, Natalie; Hackathorn, Jana; Brown, Carrie M.; Garczynski, Amy; Solomon, Erin D.; Tennial, Rachel; Sanborn, Ursula A.; Gurung, Regan A. R.

    2013-01-01

    Introductory psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses and often serves as the gateway to choosing psychology as an academic major. However, little research has examined the typical structure of introductory psychology courses. The current study examined student learning objectives (SLOs) and course content in introductory…

  15. Learning Object-Orientation through ICT-mediated Apprenticeship

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fjuk, A.; Berge, O.; Bennedsen, J.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper, we show how sociocultural theories inform the design of a course in object-oriented programming. An essential learning objective within this philosophy is the programming processes as such. To move toward this learning goal, the course design incorporates a combination of the so...

  16. Tagging the didactic functionality of learning objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Per Skafte; Brostroem, Stig

    2002-01-01

    From a components-in-a-network point of view, the most important issues are: a didactically based typing of the learning objects themselves; the entire design superstructure, into which the learning objects must be fitted; and the symmetry of the interfaces, as seen by each pair of the triad...

  17. Utopia2000: An Online Learning-Object Management Tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aspillaga, Macarena

    2002-01-01

    Describes Utopia2002, a database that contains learning objects that enables faculty to design and develop interactive Web-based instruction. Topics include advanced distributed learning; sharable content objects (SCOs) and sharable content object reference model (SCORM); instructional systems design process; templates; and quality assurance. (LRW)

  18. Learning while Babbling: Prelinguistic Object-Directed Vocalizations Indicate a Readiness to Learn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Michael H.; Schwade, Jennifer; Briesch, Jacquelyn; Syal, Supriya

    2010-01-01

    Two studies illustrate the functional significance of a new category of prelinguistic vocalizing--object-directed vocalizations (ODVs)--and show that these sounds are connected to learning about words and objects. Experiment 1 tested 12-month-old infants' perceptual learning of objects that elicited ODVs. Fourteen infants' vocalizations were…

  19. A Framework for the Flexible Content Packaging of Learning Objects and Learning Designs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukasiak, Jason; Agostinho, Shirley; Burnett, Ian; Drury, Gerrard; Goodes, Jason; Bennett, Sue; Lockyer, Lori; Harper, Barry

    2004-01-01

    This paper presents a platform-independent method for packaging learning objects and learning designs. The method, entitled a Smart Learning Design Framework, is based on the MPEG-21 standard, and uses IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) to provide bibliographic, technical, and pedagogical descriptors for the retrieval and description of learning…

  20. Localization-Aware Active Learning for Object Detection

    OpenAIRE

    Kao, Chieh-Chi; Lee, Teng-Yok; Sen, Pradeep; Liu, Ming-Yu

    2018-01-01

    Active learning - a class of algorithms that iteratively searches for the most informative samples to include in a training dataset - has been shown to be effective at annotating data for image classification. However, the use of active learning for object detection is still largely unexplored as determining informativeness of an object-location hypothesis is more difficult. In this paper, we address this issue and present two metrics for measuring the informativeness of an object hypothesis,...

  1. On the Concepts of Usability and Reusability of Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel-Angel Sicilia

    2003-10-01

    Full Text Available “Reusable learning objects” oriented towards increasing their potential reusability are required to satisfy concerns about their granularity and their independence of concrete contexts of use. Such requirements also entail that the definition of learning object “usability,” and the techniques required to carry out their “usability evaluation” must be substantially different from those commonly used to characterize and evaluate the usability of conventional educational applications. In this article, a specific characterization of the concept of learning object usability is discussed, which places emphasis on “reusability,” the key property of learning objects residing in repositories. The concept of learning object reusability is described as the possibility and adequacy for the object to be usable in prospective educational settings, so that usability and reusability are considered two interrelated – and in many cases conflicting – properties of learning objects. Following the proposed characterization of two characteristics or properties of learning objects, a method to evaluate usability of specific learning objects will be presented.

  2. Learning object location predictors with boosting and grammar-guided feature extraction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eads, Damian Ryan [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Rosten, Edward [UNIV OF CAMBRIDGE; Helmbold, David [UC/SANTA CRUZ

    2009-01-01

    The authors present BEAMER: a new spatially exploitative approach to learning object detectors which shows excellent results when applied to the task of detecting objects in greyscale aerial imagery in the presence of ambiguous and noisy data. There are four main contributions used to produce these results. First, they introduce a grammar-guided feature extraction system, enabling the exploration of a richer feature space while constraining the features to a useful subset. This is specified with a rule-based generative grammer crafted by a human expert. Second, they learn a classifier on this data using a newly proposed variant of AdaBoost which takes into account the spatially correlated nature of the data. Third, they perform another round of training to optimize the method of converting the pixel classifications generated by boosting into a high quality set of (x,y) locations. lastly, they carefully define three common problems in object detection and define two evaluation criteria that are tightly matched to these problems. Major strengths of this approach are: (1) a way of randomly searching a broad feature space, (2) its performance when evaluated on well-matched evaluation criteria, and (3) its use of the location prediction domain to learn object detectors as well as to generate detections that perform well on several tasks: object counting, tracking, and target detection. They demonstrate the efficacy of BEAMER with a comprehensive experimental evaluation on a challenging data set.

  3. Active learning in the lecture theatre using 3D printed objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, David P

    2016-01-01

    The ability to conceptualize 3D shapes is central to understanding biological processes. The concept that the structure of a biological molecule leads to function is a core principle of the biochemical field. Visualisation of biological molecules often involves vocal explanations or the use of two dimensional slides and video presentations. A deeper understanding of these molecules can however be obtained by the handling of objects. 3D printed biological molecules can be used as active learning tools to stimulate engagement in large group lectures. These models can be used to build upon initial core knowledge which can be delivered in either a flipped form or a more didactic manner. Within the teaching session the students are able to learn by handling, rotating and viewing the objects to gain an appreciation, for example, of an enzyme's active site or the difference between the major and minor groove of DNA. Models and other artefacts can be handled in small groups within a lecture theatre and act as a focal point to generate conversation. Through the approach presented here core knowledge is first established and then supplemented with high level problem solving through a "Think-Pair-Share" cooperative learning strategy. The teaching delivery was adjusted based around experiential learning activities by moving the object from mental cognition and into the physical environment. This approach led to students being able to better visualise biological molecules and a positive engagement in the lecture. The use of objects in teaching allows the lecturer to create interactive sessions that both challenge and enable the student.

  4. Patterns of Learning Object Reuse in the Connexions Repository

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duncan, S. M.

    2009-01-01

    Since the term "learning object" was first published, there has been either an explicit or implicit expectation of reuse. There has also been a lot of speculation about why learning objects are, or are not, reused. This study quantitatively examined the actual amount and type of learning object use, to include reuse, modification, and translation,…

  5. Towards a semantic learning model fostering learning object reusability

    OpenAIRE

    Fernandes , Emmanuel; Madhour , Hend; Wentland Forte , Maia; Miniaoui , Sami

    2005-01-01

    We try in this paper to propose a domain model for both author's and learner's needs concerning learning objects reuse. First of all, we present four key criteria for an efficient authoring tool: adaptive level of granularity, flexibility, integration and interoperability. Secondly, we introduce and describe our six-level Semantic Learning Model (SLM) designed to facilitate multi-level reuse of learning materials and search by defining a multi-layer model for metadata. Finally, after mapping ...

  6. Learning Objectives for Master's theses at DTU Management Engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Claus Thorp; Rasmussen, Birgitte; Hinz, Hector Nøhr

    2010-01-01

    , different. The DTU Study Handbook states that:”Learning objectives are an integrated part of the supervision”, which provides you with the opportunity – naturally in cooperation with your supervisor – to formulate learning objectives for your Master's thesis. There are at least three good reasons for being...... that you formulate precise and useful learning objectives for your Master's thesis. These notes of inspiration have been written to help you do exactly this. The notes discuss the requirements for the learning objectives, examples of learning objectives and the assessment criteria defined by DTU Management...... Engineering as well as, but not least, some useful things to remember concerning your submission and the assessment of the Master's thesis. DTU Management Engineering Claus Thorp Hansen Birgitte Rasmussen Hector Nøhr Hinz © DTU Management Engineering 2010 ISBN nr. 978-87-90855-94-7 This document...

  7. 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.

  8. Building a Smart E-Portfolio Platform for Optimal E-Learning Objects Acquisition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chih-Kun Ke

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In modern education, an e-portfolio platform helps students in acquiring e-learning objects in a learning activity. Quality is an important consideration in evaluating the desirable e-learning object. Finding a means of determining a high quality e-learning object from a large number of candidate e-learning objects is an important requirement. To assist student learning in a modern e-portfolio platform, this work proposed an optimal selection approach determining a reasonable e-learning object from various candidate e-learning objects. An optimal selection approach which uses advanced information techniques is proposed. Each e-learning object undergoes a formalization process. An Information Retrieval (IR technique extracts and analyses key concepts from the student’s previous learning contexts. A context-based utility model computes the expected utility values of various e-learning objects based on the extracted key concepts. The expected utility values of e-learning objects are used in a multicriteria decision analysis to determine the optimal selection order of the candidate e-learning objects. The main contribution of this work is the demonstration of an effective e-learning object selection method which is easy to implement within an e-portfolio platform and which makes it smarter.

  9. Participative Knowledge Production of Learning Objects for E-Books.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodero, Juan Manuel; Aedo, Ignacio; Diaz, Paloma

    2002-01-01

    Defines a learning object as any digital resource that can be reused to support learning and thus considers electronic books as learning objects. Highlights include knowledge management; participative knowledge production, i.e. authoring electronic books by a distributed group of authors; participative knowledge production architecture; and…

  10. Generative Learning Objects Instantiated with Random Numbers Based Expressions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciprian Bogdan Chirila

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The development of interactive e-learning content requires special skills like programming techniques, web integration, graphic design etc. Generally, online educators do not possess such skills and their e-learning products tend to be static like presentation slides and textbooks. In this paper we propose a new interactive model of generative learning objects as a compromise betweenstatic, dull materials and dynamic, complex software e-learning materials developed by specialized teams. We find that random numbers based automatic initialization learning objects increases content diversity, interactivity thus enabling learners’ engagement. The resulted learning object model is at a limited level of complexity related to special e-learning software, intuitive and capable of increasing learners’ interactivity, engagement and motivation through dynamic content. The approach was applied successfully on several computer programing disciplines.

  11. A Learning Object Approach To Evidence based learning

    OpenAIRE

    Zabin Visram; Bruce Elson; Patricia Reynolds

    2005-01-01

    This paper describes the philosophy, development and framework of the body of elements formulated to provide an approach to evidence-based learning sustained by Learning Objects and web based technology Due to the demands for continuous improvement in the delivery of healthcare and in the continuous endeavour to improve the quality of life, there is a continuous need for practitioner's to update their knowledge by accomplishing accredited courses. The rapid advances in medical science has mea...

  12. Personalised learning object based on multi-agent model and learners’ learning styles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noppamas Pukkhem

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available A multi-agent model is proposed in which learning styles and a word analysis technique to create a learning object recommendation system are used. On the basis of a learning style-based design, a concept map combination model is proposed to filter out unsuitable learning concepts from a given course. Our learner model classifies learners into eight styles and implements compatible computational methods consisting of three recommendations: i non-personalised, ii preferred feature-based, and iii neighbour-based collaborative filtering. The analysis of preference error (PE was performed by comparing the actual preferred learning object with the predicted one. In our experiments, the feature-based recommendation algorithm has the fewest PE.

  13. Learning Objects, Repositories, Sharing and Reusability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koppi, Tony; Bogle, Lisa; Bogle, Mike

    2005-01-01

    The online Learning Resource Catalogue (LRC) Project has been part of an international consortium for several years and currently includes 25 institutions worldwide. The LRC Project has evolved for several pragmatic reasons into an academic network whereby members can identify and share reusable learning objects as well as collaborate in a number…

  14. TYPES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY TERTIARY ENGLISH MAJORS

    OpenAIRE

    TAN KHYE CHUIN; SARJIT KAUR

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the types of language learning strategies used by 73 English majors from the School of Humanities in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Using questionnaires adopted from Oxford’s (1990) Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) and focus group interviews, the study also examined the English major students’ perceptions of using language learning strategies while learning English. The results revealed that the English majors were generally high users of all six types of lan...

  15. Developing Learning Objectives for Accounting Ethics Using Bloom's Taxonomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kidwell, Linda A.; Fisher, Dann G.; Braun, Robert L.; Swanson, Diane L.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of our article is to offer a set of core knowledge learning objectives for accounting ethics education. Using Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives, we develop learning objectives in six content areas: codes of ethical conduct, corporate governance, the accounting profession, moral development, classical ethics theories, and…

  16. The development of a National set of Physiology learning objectives ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    International Journal of Medicine and Health Development ... engagement that can be utilized to design a national set of learning objectives towards improving learning ... Key words: Learning objectives, Nigeria, Medical education, curriculum ...

  17. Enhancing the Accounting Major with Online Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hershey Friedman Ph.D

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Accounting majors who wish to be successful in life must learn to acquire knowledge using all kinds of platforms. The belief that the only way people can learn is by classroom instruction is not supported by research. The authors show how online learning is an important tool for achieving the various goals of accounting education that should include creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem solving. The authors conclude that the optimal method to teach accounting is by combining face-to-face learning with on-line learning.

  18. Searching for and Positioning of Contextualized Learning Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldiris, Silvia; Graf, Sabine; Fabregat, Ramon; Mendez, Nestor Dario Duque

    2012-01-01

    Learning object economies are marketplaces for the sharing and reuse of learning objects (LO). There are many motivations for stimulating the development of the LO economy. The main reason is the possibility of providing the right content, at the right time, to the right learner according to adequate quality standards in the context of a lifelong…

  19. Learn Objective-C for Java Developers

    CERN Document Server

    Bucanek, James

    2009-01-01

    Learn Objective-C for Java Developers will guide experienced Java developers into the world of Objective-C. It will show them how to take their existing language knowledge and design patterns and transfer that experience to Objective-C and the Cocoa runtime library. This is the express train to productivity for every Java developer who dreamt of developing for Mac OS X or iPhone, but felt that Objective-C was too intimidating. So hop on and enjoy the ride!

  20. Elaboration of Statistics Learning Objects for Mobile Devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Javier Tapia Moreno

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Mobile learning (m-learning allows a person to study using a mobile computer device anywhere and anytime. In this work we report the elaboration of learning objects for the teaching of introductory statistics using cellular phones.

  1. A Critique of Stephen Downes' "Learning Objects": A Chinese perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fuhua (Oscar Lin

    2001-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper by Stephen Downes recommends a way of sharing online teaching/ course materials to accelerate course development and make education more cost-effective. His paper is a review of basic information about learning objects (LOs and includes examples that illustrate such technical terms as XML and TML. His paper, however, does not identify several important issues such as: a the level of granularity of learning objects; b selection and integration of learning objects in an appropriate way to form higher level units of study; c training of professors in the use of learning objects; d appropriate use of metadata to facilitate composition of higher level units; and e the potential of computer agents to facilitate the dynamic composition of personalized lessons. An unorganized aggregate of learning objects simply does not constitute a course. In order to create a properly designed final course, student and instructor interaction must be built in.

  2. Understanding Business Majors' Learning Styles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giordano, James; Rochford, Regina A.

    2005-01-01

    Recently, business education programs have experienced a decline in enrollment and an increase in attrition. To understand these issues and recommend solutions, the learning styles of 503 first-year business majors at an urban community college were examined. The results demonstrated that: (a) 94% of the participants were analytic learners; (b)…

  3. Exploring emerging learning needs: a UK-wide consultation on environmental sustainability learning objectives for medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walpole, Sarah C; Mortimer, Frances; Inman, Alice; Braithwaite, Isobel; Thompson, Trevor

    2015-12-24

    This study aimed to engage wide-ranging stakeholders and develop consensus learning objectives for undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. A UK-wide consultation garnered opinions of healthcare students, healthcare educators and other key stakeholders about environmental sustainability in medical education. The policy Delphi approach informed this study. Draft learning objectives were revised iteratively during three rounds of consultation: online questionnaire or telephone interview, face-to-face seminar and email consultation. Twelve draft learning objectives were developed based on review of relevant literature. In round one, 64 participants' median ratings of the learning objectives were 3.5 for relevance and 3.0 for feasibility on a Likert scale of one to four. Revisions were proposed, e.g. to highlight relevance to public health and professionalism. Thirty three participants attended round two. Conflicting opinions were explored. Added content areas included health benefits of sustainable behaviours. To enhance usability, restructuring provided three overarching learning objectives, each with subsidiary points. All participants from rounds one and two were contacted in round three, and no further edits were required. This is the first attempt to define consensus learning objectives for medical students about environmental sustainability. Allowing a wide range of stakeholders to comment on multiple iterations of the document stimulated their engagement with the issues raised and ownership of the resulting learning objectives.

  4. Predictable Locations Aid Early Object Name Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benitez, Viridiana L.; Smith, Linda B.

    2012-01-01

    Expectancy-based localized attention has been shown to promote the formation and retrieval of multisensory memories in adults. Three experiments show that these processes also characterize attention and learning in 16- to 18-month old infants and, moreover, that these processes may play a critical role in supporting early object name learning. The…

  5. Reinforcement active learning in the vibrissae system: optimal object localization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Goren; Dorfman, Nimrod; Ahissar, Ehud

    2013-01-01

    Rats move their whiskers to acquire information about their environment. It has been observed that they palpate novel objects and objects they are required to localize in space. We analyze whisker-based object localization using two complementary paradigms, namely, active learning and intrinsic-reward reinforcement learning. Active learning algorithms select the next training samples according to the hypothesized solution in order to better discriminate between correct and incorrect labels. Intrinsic-reward reinforcement learning uses prediction errors as the reward to an actor-critic design, such that behavior converges to the one that optimizes the learning process. We show that in the context of object localization, the two paradigms result in palpation whisking as their respective optimal solution. These results suggest that rats may employ principles of active learning and/or intrinsic reward in tactile exploration and can guide future research to seek the underlying neuronal mechanisms that implement them. Furthermore, these paradigms are easily transferable to biomimetic whisker-based artificial sensors and can improve the active exploration of their environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Learning in Organizations - an Object Relations Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Anders Siig

    Learning in organizations – an object relations perspective As a researcher with a primary interest in the study of learning environments in organizations I have conducted a number of empirical research projects primarily concerning work places in the state sector. The aim of the research has been...... of organizations as learning environments for the employees. Theoretically I draw on object relations theory. Within this tradition the theoretical point of departure is twofold: the study of work conditions in hospitals carried out by Menzies (1975) and Hinschelwood & Skogstad (2000). With regard to the first...... positive and negative impact do they have with respect to the staff itself? With regard to Hinschelwood & Skogstad (2000) they are introduced to further develop and contrast Menzies’ theoretical ideas. Instead of only emphasizing the connection between the work organization and the defence techniques...

  7. The Game Object Model and expansive learning: Creation ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Game Object Model and expansive learning: Creation, instantiation, ... The aim of the paper is to develop insights into the design, integration, evaluation and use of video games in learning and teaching. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  8. Speckle-learning-based object recognition through scattering media.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ando, Takamasa; Horisaki, Ryoichi; Tanida, Jun

    2015-12-28

    We experimentally demonstrated object recognition through scattering media based on direct machine learning of a number of speckle intensity images. In the experiments, speckle intensity images of amplitude or phase objects on a spatial light modulator between scattering plates were captured by a camera. We used the support vector machine for binary classification of the captured speckle intensity images of face and non-face data. The experimental results showed that speckles are sufficient for machine learning.

  9. A critique of Stephen Downes' article, "Learning Objects" -- A perspective from Bahrain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muain H. Jamlan

    2001-07-01

    Full Text Available With the availability of technology, hardware, and software, learning objects become fundamental to the learning process and change the way in which learning materials are designed. The vast development of technology forces both teacher and learner to modify their roles. Teachers become facilitators, while learners became active and responsible for selecting modes and styles of learning. Assuming this attitude of implementing technology in the learning process and seeking new methods of facilitating learning, universities and colleges have to adopt new techniques. One of these new techniques is the use of learning objects. Although learning objects are considered products of technology developed in the USA, Japan, and European countries, universities in the Middle East have been influenced by this development. While there are differences in the quantity and quality of these technologies available in many Middle East countries, computer applications, especially those that deploy the Internet, have now become available. Educational authorities in Middle East countries are now turning to the availability of learning objects. Let me clarify some of the issues Downes discusses in his article on learning objects, Vol. 2, No. 1 of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.

  10. Design of Learning Objects for Concept Learning: Effects of Multimedia Learning Principles and an Instructional Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Thomas K. F.; Churchill, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    Literature suggests using multimedia learning principles in the design of instructional material. However, these principles may not be sufficient for the design of learning objects for concept learning in mathematics. This paper reports on an experimental study that investigated the effects of an instructional approach, which includes two teaching…

  11. PARTICULARITIES OF EDUCATIONAL OBJECTS IN COMPUTER-ASSISTED LEARNING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Narcisa ISĂILĂ

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The current trend in computer-assisted learning is the creation of reusable learning objects. They can be used independently or can be coupled to make lessons that best fit the users' learning needs. From this perspective, the specific of learning objects for people with disabilities is to ensure accessibility and usability. Using standards in the process of creating learning objects provide flexibility in achieving lessons, thus being helpful for educational content creators (teachers. Metadata have an essential role in achieving interoperability and provide standardized information about the learning objects, allowing the searching, accessing and their finding. The compliance of eLearning standards ensures the compatibility and portability of materials from one system to another, which reduces the time and cost of development.

  12. Learning Object Names at Different Hierarchical Levels Using Cross-Situational Statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chi-Hsin; Zhang, Yayun; Yu, Chen

    2018-05-01

    Objects in the world usually have names at different hierarchical levels (e.g., beagle, dog, animal). This research investigates adults' ability to use cross-situational statistics to simultaneously learn object labels at individual and category levels. The results revealed that adults were able to use co-occurrence information to learn hierarchical labels in contexts where the labels for individual objects and labels for categories were presented in completely separated blocks, in interleaved blocks, or mixed in the same trial. Temporal presentation schedules significantly affected the learning of individual object labels, but not the learning of category labels. Learners' subsequent generalization of category labels indicated sensitivity to the structure of statistical input. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  13. Learning based particle filtering object tracking for visible-light systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Wei

    2015-10-01

    We propose a novel object tracking framework based on online learning scheme that can work robustly in challenging scenarios. Firstly, a learning-based particle filter is proposed with color and edge-based features. We train a. support vector machine (SVM) classifier with object and background information and map the outputs into probabilities, then the weight of particles in a particle filter can be calculated by the probabilistic outputs to estimate the state of the object. Secondly, the tracking loop starts with Lucas-Kanade (LK) affine template matching and follows by learning-based particle filter tracking. Lucas-Kanade method estimates errors and updates object template in the positive samples dataset, and learning-based particle filter tracker will start if the LK tracker loses the object. Finally, SVM classifier evaluates every tracked appearance to update the training set or restart the tracking loop if necessary. Experimental results show that our method is robust to challenging light, scale and pose changing, and test on eButton image sequence also achieves satisfactory tracking performance.

  14. Real-world visual statistics and infants' first-learned object names.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clerkin, Elizabeth M; Hart, Elizabeth; Rehg, James M; Yu, Chen; Smith, Linda B

    2017-01-05

    We offer a new solution to the unsolved problem of how infants break into word learning based on the visual statistics of everyday infant-perspective scenes. Images from head camera video captured by 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 month-old infants at 147 at-home mealtime events were analysed for the objects in view. The images were found to be highly cluttered with many different objects in view. However, the frequency distribution of object categories was extremely right skewed such that a very small set of objects was pervasively present-a fact that may substantially reduce the problem of referential ambiguity. The statistical structure of objects in these infant egocentric scenes differs markedly from that in the training sets used in computational models and in experiments on statistical word-referent learning. Therefore, the results also indicate a need to re-examine current explanations of how infants break into word learning.This article is part of the themed issue 'New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences'. © 2016 The Author(s).

  15. Guide to good practices for developing learning objectives. DOE Handbook

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1992-07-01

    This guide to good practices provides information and guidance on the types of and development of learning objectives in a systematic approach to training program. This document can serve as a reference during the development of new learning objectives or refinement of existing ones.

  16. Large-scale weakly supervised object localization via latent category learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chong Wang; Kaiqi Huang; Weiqiang Ren; Junge Zhang; Maybank, Steve

    2015-04-01

    Localizing objects in cluttered backgrounds is challenging under large-scale weakly supervised conditions. Due to the cluttered image condition, objects usually have large ambiguity with backgrounds. Besides, there is also a lack of effective algorithm for large-scale weakly supervised localization in cluttered backgrounds. However, backgrounds contain useful latent information, e.g., the sky in the aeroplane class. If this latent information can be learned, object-background ambiguity can be largely reduced and background can be suppressed effectively. In this paper, we propose the latent category learning (LCL) in large-scale cluttered conditions. LCL is an unsupervised learning method which requires only image-level class labels. First, we use the latent semantic analysis with semantic object representation to learn the latent categories, which represent objects, object parts or backgrounds. Second, to determine which category contains the target object, we propose a category selection strategy by evaluating each category's discrimination. Finally, we propose the online LCL for use in large-scale conditions. Evaluation on the challenging PASCAL Visual Object Class (VOC) 2007 and the large-scale imagenet large-scale visual recognition challenge 2013 detection data sets shows that the method can improve the annotation precision by 10% over previous methods. More importantly, we achieve the detection precision which outperforms previous results by a large margin and can be competitive to the supervised deformable part model 5.0 baseline on both data sets.

  17. Quantitative Analysis of the Usage of a Pedagogical Tool Combining Questions Listed as Learning Objectives and Answers Provided as Online Videos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Odette Laneuville

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available To improve the learning of basic concepts in molecular biology of an undergraduate science class, a pedagogical tool was developed, consisting of learning objectives listed at the end of each lecture and answers to those objectives made available as videos online. The aim of this study was to determine if the pedagogical tool was used by students as instructed, and to explore students’ perception of its usefulness. A combination of quantitative survey data and measures of online viewing was used to evaluate the usage of the pedagogical practice. A total of 77 short videos linked to 11 lectures were made available to 71 students, and 64 completed the survey. Using online tracking tools, a total of 7046 views were recorded. Survey data indicated that most students (73.4% accessed all videos, and the majority (98.4% found the videos to be useful in assisting their learning. Interestingly, approximately half of the students (53.1% always or most of the time used the pedagogical tool as recommended, and consistently answered the learning objectives before watching the videos. While the proposed pedagogical tool was used by the majority of students outside the classroom, only half used it as recommended limiting the impact on students’ involvement in the learning of the material presented in class.

  18. Digital learning objects in nursing consultation: technology assessment by undergraduate students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silveira, DeniseTolfo; Catalan, Vanessa Menezes; Neutzling, Agnes Ludwig; Martinato, Luísa Helena Machado

    2010-01-01

    This study followed the teaching-learning process about the nursing consultation, based on digital learning objects developed through the active Problem Based Learning method. The goals were to evaluate the digital learning objects about nursing consultation, develop cognitive skills on the subject using problem based learning and identify the students' opinions on the use of technology. This is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 71 students in the sixth period of the nursing program at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The data was collected through a questionnaire to evaluate the learning objects. The results showed positive agreement (58%) on the content, usability and didactics of the proposed computer-mediated activity regarding the nursing consultation. The application of materials to the students is considered positive.

  19. Learning objects as coadjuvants in the human physiology teaching-learning process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcus Vinícius Lara

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs in the academic environment of biomedical area has gained much importance, both for their ability to complement the understanding of the subject obtained in the classroom, is the ease of access, or makes more pleasure the learning process, since these tools are present in everyday of the students and use a simple language. Considering that, this study aims to report the experience of building learning objects in human physiology as a tool for learning facilitation, and discuss the impact of this teaching methodology

  20. Types of Language Learning Strategies Used by Tertiary English Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuin, Tan Khye; Kaur, Sarjit

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the types of language learning strategies used by 73 English majors from the School of Humanities in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Using questionnaires adopted from Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) and focus group interviews, the study also examined the English major students' perceptions of using…

  1. Online Feature Transformation Learning for Cross-Domain Object Category Recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xuesong; Zhuang, Yan; Wang, Wei; Pedrycz, Witold

    2017-06-09

    In this paper, we introduce a new research problem termed online feature transformation learning in the context of multiclass object category recognition. The learning of a feature transformation is viewed as learning a global similarity metric function in an online manner. We first consider the problem of online learning a feature transformation matrix expressed in the original feature space and propose an online passive aggressive feature transformation algorithm. Then these original features are mapped to kernel space and an online single kernel feature transformation (OSKFT) algorithm is developed to learn a nonlinear feature transformation. Based on the OSKFT and the existing Hedge algorithm, a novel online multiple kernel feature transformation algorithm is also proposed, which can further improve the performance of online feature transformation learning in large-scale application. The classifier is trained with k nearest neighbor algorithm together with the learned similarity metric function. Finally, we experimentally examined the effect of setting different parameter values in the proposed algorithms and evaluate the model performance on several multiclass object recognition data sets. The experimental results demonstrate the validity and good performance of our methods on cross-domain and multiclass object recognition application.

  2. Interactive Preference Learning of Utility Functions for Multi-Objective Optimization

    OpenAIRE

    Dewancker, Ian; McCourt, Michael; Ainsworth, Samuel

    2016-01-01

    Real-world engineering systems are typically compared and contrasted using multiple metrics. For practical machine learning systems, performance tuning is often more nuanced than minimizing a single expected loss objective, and it may be more realistically discussed as a multi-objective optimization problem. We propose a novel generative model for scalar-valued utility functions to capture human preferences in a multi-objective optimization setting. We also outline an interactive active learn...

  3. Learning Ontology from Object-Relational Database

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaulins Andrejs

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This article describes a method of transformation of object-relational model into ontology. The offered method uses learning rules for such complex data types as object tables and collections – arrays of a variable size, as well as nested tables. Object types and their transformation into ontologies are insufficiently considered in scientific literature. This fact served as motivation for the authors to investigate this issue and to write the article on this matter. In the beginning, we acquaint the reader with complex data types and object-oriented databases. Then we describe an algorithm of transformation of complex data types into ontologies. At the end of the article, some examples of ontologies described in the OWL language are given.

  4. Form over Substance: Learning Objectives in the Business Core

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes, Leonard; Rosetti, Joseph L.; King, Michelle

    2010-01-01

    While members of the business faculty community have been advocating active learning in the classroom, it appears that textbooks encourage learning from a passive perspective. A review of learning objectives from 16 textbooks used in Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Finance, and Marketing demonstrates a focus on basically the same set…

  5. Object based implicit contextual learning: a study of eye movements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Asselen, Marieke; Sampaio, Joana; Pina, Ana; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

    2011-02-01

    Implicit contextual cueing refers to a top-down mechanism in which visual search is facilitated by learned contextual features. In the current study we aimed to investigate the mechanism underlying implicit contextual learning using object information as a contextual cue. Therefore, we measured eye movements during an object-based contextual cueing task. We demonstrated that visual search is facilitated by repeated object information and that this reduction in response times is associated with shorter fixation durations. This indicates that by memorizing associations between objects in our environment we can recognize objects faster, thereby facilitating visual search.

  6. A Convergent Participation Model for Evaluation of Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Nesbit

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available The properties that distinguish learning objects from other forms of educational software - global accessibility, metadata standards, finer granularity and reusability - have implications for evaluation. This article proposes a convergent participation model for learning object evaluation in which representatives from stakeholder groups (e.g., students, instructors, subject matter experts, instructional designers, and media developers converge toward more similar descriptions and ratings through a two-stage process supported by online collaboration tools. The article reviews evaluation models that have been applied to educational software and media, considers models for gathering and meta-evaluating individual user reviews that have recently emerged on the Web, and describes the peer review model adopted for the MERLOT repository. The convergent participation model is assessed in relation to other models and with respect to its support for eight goals of learning object evaluation: (1 aid for searching and selecting, (2 guidance for use, (3 formative evaluation, (4 influence on design practices, (5 professional development and student learning, (6 community building, (7 social recognition, and (8 economic exchange.

  7. An Analysis on Usage Preferences of Learning Objects and Learning Object Repositories among Pre-Service Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeni, Sabiha; Ozdener, Nesrin

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of the study is to investigate how pre-service teachers benefit from learning objects repositories while preparing course content. Qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used in a mixed methods approach. This study was carried out with 74 teachers from the Faculty of Education. In the first phase of the study,…

  8. ICT Competence-Based Learning Object Recommendations for Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sergis, Stylianos; Zervas, Panagiotis; Sampson, Demetrios G.

    2014-01-01

    Recommender Systems (RS) have been applied in the Technology enhanced Learning (TeL) field for facilitating, among others, Learning Object (LO) selection and retrieval. Most of the existing approaches, however, aim at accommodating the needs of learners and teacher-oriented RS are still an under-investigated field. Moreover, the systems that focus…

  9. Technology and human issues in reusing learning objects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Collis, Betty; Strijker, A.

    2004-01-01

    Reusing learning objects is as old as retelling a story or making use of libraries and textbooks, and in electronic form has received an enormous new impetus because of the World Wide Web and Web technologies. Are we at the brink of changing the "shape and form of learning, ... of being able to

  10. Incremental online object learning in a vehicular radar-vision fusion framework

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ji, Zhengping [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Weng, Juyang [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Luciw, Matthew [IEEE; Zeng, Shuqing [IEEE

    2010-10-19

    In this paper, we propose an object learning system that incorporates sensory information from an automotive radar system and a video camera. The radar system provides a coarse attention for the focus of visual analysis on relatively small areas within the image plane. The attended visual areas are coded and learned by a 3-layer neural network utilizing what is called in-place learning, where every neuron is responsible for the learning of its own signal processing characteristics within its connected network environment, through inhibitory and excitatory connections with other neurons. The modeled bottom-up, lateral, and top-down connections in the network enable sensory sparse coding, unsupervised learning and supervised learning to occur concurrently. The presented work is applied to learn two types of encountered objects in multiple outdoor driving settings. Cross validation results show the overall recognition accuracy above 95% for the radar-attended window images. In comparison with the uncoded representation and purely unsupervised learning (without top-down connection), the proposed network improves the recognition rate by 15.93% and 6.35% respectively. The proposed system is also compared with other learning algorithms favorably. The result indicates that our learning system is the only one to fit all the challenging criteria for the development of an incremental and online object learning system.

  11. e-Learning objects in the cloud: SCORM compliance, creation and deployment options

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephanie Day

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In the field of education, cloud computing is changing the way learning is delivered and experienced, by providing software, storage, teaching resources, artefacts, and knowledge that can be shared by educators on a global scale. In this paper, the first objective is to understand the general trends in educational use of the cloud, particularly the provision of large scale education opportunities, use of open and free services, and interoperability of learning objects. A review of current literature reveals the opportunities and issues around managing learning and teaching related knowledge in the cloud. The educational use of the cloud will continue to grow as the services, pedagogies, personalization, and standardization of learning are refined and adopted. Secondly, the paper presents an example of how the cloud can support learning opportunities using SCORM interoperable learning objects. The case study findings show that, while the use of SCORM enables a variety of trackable learning opportunities, the constraints of maintaining the currency of the learning also need to be considered. It is recommended that the SCORM content are combined with cloud based student activities. These learning objects can be used to support alternative learning opportunities within blended and online learning environments.

  12. The company objects keep: Linking referents together during cross-situational word learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zettersten, Martin; Wojcik, Erica; Benitez, Viridiana L; Saffran, Jenny

    2018-04-01

    Learning the meanings of words involves not only linking individual words to referents but also building a network of connections among entities in the world, concepts, and words. Previous studies reveal that infants and adults track the statistical co-occurrence of labels and objects across multiple ambiguous training instances to learn words. However, it is less clear whether, given distributional or attentional cues, learners also encode associations amongst the novel objects. We investigated the consequences of two types of cues that highlighted object-object links in a cross-situational word learning task: distributional structure - how frequently the referents of novel words occurred together - and visual context - whether the referents were seen on matching backgrounds. Across three experiments, we found that in addition to learning novel words, adults formed connections between frequently co-occurring objects. These findings indicate that learners exploit statistical regularities to form multiple types of associations during word learning.

  13. Simplified production of multimedia based radiological learning objects using the flash format

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jedrusik, P.; Preisack, M.; Dammann, F.

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: evaluation of the applicability of the flash format for the production of radiological learning objects used in an e-learning environment. Material and methods: five exemplary learning objects with different didactic purposes referring to radiological diagnostics are presented. They have been intended for the use within the multimedia, internet-based e-learning environment LaMedica. Interactive learning objects were composed using the Flash 5.0 software (Macromedia, San Francisco, USA) on the basis of digital CT and MR images, digitized conventional radiographs and different graphical elements prepared as TIFF files or in a vector graphics format. Results: after a short phase of initial skill adaptation training, a radiologist author was soon able to create independently all learning objects. The import of different types of images and graphical elements was carried out without complications. Despite manifold design options, handling of the program is easy due to clear arrangement and structure, thus enabling the creation of simple as well as complex learning objects that provided a high degree of attractiveness and interaction. Data volume and bandwidth demand for online use was significantly reduced by the flash format compression without a substantial loss of visual quality. (orig.)

  14. Guide to good practices for developing learning objectives. DOE guideline

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1992-07-01

    This guide to good practices provides information and guidance on the types of, and the development of learning objectives in performance-based training system at reactor and nonreactor nuclear facilities. Contractors are encouraged to consider this guidance as a reference when developing new learning objectives or refining existing ones. Training managers, designers, developers, and instructors are the intended audiences.

  15. Web based Interactive 3D Learning Objects for Learning Management Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan Hesse

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present an approach to create and integrate interactive 3D learning objects of high quality for higher education into a learning management system. The use of these resources allows to visualize topics, such as electro-technical and physical processes in the interior of complex devices. This paper addresses the challenge of combining rich interactivity and adequate realism with 3D exercise material for distance elearning.

  16. Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hauffen, Karin; Bart, Eugene; Brady, Mark; Kersten, Daniel; Hegdé, Jay

    2012-01-01

    In order to quantitatively study object perception, be it perception by biological systems or by machines, one needs to create objects and object categories with precisely definable, preferably naturalistic, properties1. Furthermore, for studies on perceptual learning, it is useful to create novel objects and object categories (or object classes) with such properties2. Many innovative and useful methods currently exist for creating novel objects and object categories3-6 (also see refs. 7,8). However, generally speaking, the existing methods have three broad types of shortcomings. First, shape variations are generally imposed by the experimenter5,9,10, and may therefore be different from the variability in natural categories, and optimized for a particular recognition algorithm. It would be desirable to have the variations arise independently of the externally imposed constraints. Second, the existing methods have difficulty capturing the shape complexity of natural objects11-13. If the goal is to study natural object perception, it is desirable for objects and object categories to be naturalistic, so as to avoid possible confounds and special cases. Third, it is generally hard to quantitatively measure the available information in the stimuli created by conventional methods. It would be desirable to create objects and object categories where the available information can be precisely measured and, where necessary, systematically manipulated (or 'tuned'). This allows one to formulate the underlying object recognition tasks in quantitative terms. Here we describe a set of algorithms, or methods, that meet all three of the above criteria. Virtual morphogenesis (VM) creates novel, naturalistic virtual 3-D objects called 'digital embryos' by simulating the biological process of embryogenesis14. Virtual phylogenesis (VP) creates novel, naturalistic object categories by simulating the evolutionary process of natural selection9,12,13. Objects and object categories created

  17. Learning object for teacher training aimed to develop communication skills

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norma Esmeralda RODRÍGUEZ RAMÍREZ

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the results and reflections obtained across a research aimed to analyze the quality criteria of an opened learning object oriented to develop communication skills in order to be able to report and validate it according to its content, pedagogic structure, technological structure, graphical and textual language and usability to teacher training, in order to base it theoretically, pedagogically and technologically. The research question was: Which are the quality criteria that a learning object aimed to develop communication skills must cover? Under a quantitative approach, there were electronic questionnaires applied to: 34 Technological University teachers, eight experts about of communicative competence, teaching, technology and graphic design. The results indicated that some of the quality criteria of learning object are: the effective managing of the learning content, the balanced composition of his pedagogic structure, the technological structure efficiency and the proper managing of graphical and textual language.

  18. Individualized Learning Through Non-Linear use of Learning Objects: With Examples From Math and Stat

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rootzén, Helle

    2015-01-01

    Our aim is to ensure individualized learning that is fun, inspiring and innovative. We believe that when you enjoy, your brain will open up and learning will be easier and more effective. The methods use a non-linear learning environment based on self-contained learning objects which are pieced t...

  19. EDUCATEE'S THESAURUS AS AN OBJECT OF MEASURING LEARNED MATERIAL OF THE DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Aleksandrovich RYBANOV

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Monitoring and control over the process of studying the distance learning course are based on solving the problem of making out an adequate integral mark to the educatee for mastering entire study course, by testing results. It is suggested to use the degree of correspondence between educatee's thesaurus and the study course thesaurus as an integral mark for the degree of mastering the distance learning course. Study course thesaurus is a set of the course objects with relations between them specified. The article considers metrics of the study course thesaurus complexity, made on the basis of the graph theory and the information theory. It is suggested to use the amount of information contained in the study course thesaurus graph as the metrics of the study course thesaurus complexity. Educatee's thesaurus is considered as an object of measuring educational material learned at the semantic level and is assessed on the basis of amount of information contained in its graph, taking into account the factors of learning the thesaurus objects.

  20. Object Recognition in Clutter: Cortical Responses Depend on the Type of Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jay eHegdé

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Theoretical studies suggest that the visual system uses prior knowledge of visual objects to recognize them in visual clutter, and posit that the strategies for recognizing objects in clutter may differ depending on whether or not the object was learned in clutter to begin with. We tested this hypothesis using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI of human subjects. We trained subjects to recognize naturalistic, yet novel objects in strong or weak clutter. We then tested subjects’ recognition performance for both sets of objects in strong clutter. We found many brain regions that were differentially responsive to objects during object recognition depending on whether they were learned in strong or weak clutter. In particular, the responses of the left fusiform gyrus reliably reflected, on a trial-to-trial basis, subjects’ object recognition performance for objects learned in the presence of strong clutter. These results indicate that the visual system does not use a single, general-purpose mechanism to cope with clutter. Instead, there are two distinct spatial patterns of activation whose responses are attributable not to the visual context in which the objects were seen, but to the context in which the objects were learned.

  1. Understanding E-Learning Adoption in Brazil: Major Determinants and Gender Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shintaro Okazaki

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to examine factors influencing e-learning adoption and the moderating role of gender. This study extends the technology acceptance model (TAM by adding attitude and social interaction. The new construct of social interaction is applied to the South American context. Gender effects on e-learning adoption from educators’ perspectives have seldom been explored. The data collection takes place in three major Brazilian universities. In total, 446 faculty members responded to the questionnaire. Our structural equation modeling reveals that ease of use and perceived usefulness are significant antecedents of attitude, which in turn affects intention. However, unlike the original TAM, perceived usefulness is not a direct driver of intention. In terms of moderation, gender affects three relationships: (1 ease of use –› perceived usefulness; (2 perceived usefulness –› attitude, and (3 intention –› actual behavior. The analysis is carried out in a single country; thus, caution should be taken in generalization of the results. The findings will help academics, educators, and policy makers to better understand the mechanism of e-learning adoption in Brazil.

  2. Digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecília Passos Vaz da Costa

    Full Text Available Objective: To describe the creation of a digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system at a public university of Piaui. Method: A methodological study applied to technological production based on the pedagogical framework of problem-based learning. The methodology for creating the learning object observed the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation recommended for contextualized instructional design. The revised taxonomy of Bloom was used to list the educational goals. Results: The four modules of the developed learning object were inserted into the educational platform Moodle. The theoretical assumptions allowed the design of an important online resource that promotes effective learning in the scope of nursing education. Conclusion: This study should add value to nursing teaching practices through the use of digital learning objects for teaching diagnostic reasoning applied to skin and skin appendages.

  3. Learning Objects and Grasp Affordances through Autonomous Exploration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kraft, Dirk; Detry, Renaud; Pugeault, Nicolas

    2009-01-01

    We describe a system for autonomous learning of visual object representations and their grasp affordances on a robot-vision system. It segments objects by grasping and moving 3D scene features, and creates probabilistic visual representations for object detection, recognition and pose estimation...... image sequences as well as (3) a number of built-in behavioral modules on the one hand, and autonomous exploration on the other hand, the system is able to generate object and grasping knowledge through interaction with its environment....

  4. Learning from Objects: A Future for 21st Century Urban Arts Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lasky, Dorothea

    2009-01-01

    In this technological age, where mind and body are increasingly disconnected in the classroom, object-based learning--along with strong museum-school partnerships--provide many benefits for student learning. In this article, the author first outlines some of the special mind-body connections that object-based learning in museums affords learners…

  5. Development and assessment of learning objects about intramuscular medication administration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lilian Mayumi Chinen Tamashiro

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: to develop and assess a learning object about intramuscular medication administration for nursing undergraduates and nurses.METHOD: a random, intentional and non-probabilistic sample was selected of nurses from a Brazilian social network of nursing and students from the Undergraduate Program at the University of São Paulo School of Nursing to serve as research subjects and assess the object.RESULTS: the participants, 8 nurses and 8 students, studied the object and answered an assessment instrument that included the following criteria: educational aspects (relevance of the theme, objectives and texts/hypertexts, interface of the environment (navigation, accessibility and screen design and didactic resources (interactivity and presentation of resources. In total, 128 significant answers were obtained, 124 (97% of which were positive, assessed as excellent and satisfactory, considered as a flexible, dynamic, objective resources that is appropriate to the nursing learning process.CONCLUSION: the educational technology shows a clear and easily understandable language and the teaching method could be applied in other themes, contributing to the education and training of nursing professionals, positively affecting nursing teaching, stimulating the knowledge, autonomous and independent learning, aligned with the new professional education requirements.

  6. The Relationship Between Learning Style Preferences and Gender, Educational Major and Status in First Year Medical Students: A Survey Study From Iran

    OpenAIRE

    Sarabi-Asiabar, Ali; Jafari, Mehdi; Sadeghifar, Jamil; Tofighi, Shahram; Zaboli, Rouhollah; Peyman, Hadi; Salimi, Mohammad; Shams, Lida

    2014-01-01

    Background: Identifying and employing appropriate learning styles could play an important role in selecting teaching styles in order to improve education. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the relationship between learning styles preferences and gender, educational major and status in first year students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study employing the visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) learning style?s questionnaire was do...

  7. Holistic Approach to Learning and Teaching Introductory Object-Oriented Programming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thota, Neena; Whitfield, Richard

    2010-01-01

    This article describes a holistic approach to designing an introductory, object-oriented programming course. The design is grounded in constructivism and pedagogy of phenomenography. We use constructive alignment as the framework to align assessments, learning, and teaching with planned learning outcomes. We plan learning and teaching activities,…

  8. Learn Objective-C on the Mac for OS X and iOS

    CERN Document Server

    Knaster, Scott; Malik, Waqar

    2012-01-01

    Learn to write apps for some of today's hottest technologies, including the iPhone and iPad (using iOS), as well as the Mac (using OS X). It starts with Objective-C, the base language on which the native iOS software development kit (SDK) and the OS X are based. Learn Objective-C on the Mac: For OS X and iOS, Second Edition updates a best selling book and is an extensive, newly updated guide to Objective-C. Objective-C is a powerful, object-oriented extension of C, making this update the perfect follow-up to Dave Mark's bestselling Learn C on the Mac. Whether you're an experienced C programmer

  9. Virtual learning object and environment: a concept analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salvador, Pétala Tuani Candido de Oliveira; Bezerril, Manacés Dos Santos; Mariz, Camila Maria Santos; Fernandes, Maria Isabel Domingues; Martins, José Carlos Amado; Santos, Viviane Euzébia Pereira

    2017-01-01

    To analyze the concept of virtual learning object and environment according to Rodgers' evolutionary perspective. Descriptive study with a mixed approach, based on the stages proposed by Rodgers in his concept analysis method. Data collection occurred in August 2015 with the search of dissertations and theses in the Bank of Theses of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. Quantitative data were analyzed based on simple descriptive statistics and the concepts through lexicographic analysis with support of the IRAMUTEQ software. The sample was made up of 161 studies. The concept of "virtual learning environment" was presented in 99 (61.5%) studies, whereas the concept of "virtual learning object" was presented in only 15 (9.3%) studies. A virtual learning environment includes several and different types of virtual learning objects in a common pedagogical context. Analisar o conceito de objeto e de ambiente virtual de aprendizagem na perspectiva evolucionária de Rodgers. Estudo descritivo, de abordagem mista, realizado a partir das etapas propostas por Rodgers em seu modelo de análise conceitual. A coleta de dados ocorreu em agosto de 2015 com a busca de dissertações e teses no Banco de Teses e Dissertações da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior. Os dados quantitativos foram analisados a partir de estatística descritiva simples e os conceitos pela análise lexicográfica com suporte do IRAMUTEQ. A amostra é constituída de 161 estudos. O conceito de "ambiente virtual de aprendizagem" foi apresentado em 99 (61,5%) estudos, enquanto o de "objeto virtual de aprendizagem" em apenas 15 (9,3%). Concluiu-se que um ambiente virtual de aprendizagem reúne vários e diferentes tipos de objetos virtuais de aprendizagem em um contexto pedagógico comum.

  10. An Assistant for Loading Learning Object Metadata: An Ontology Based Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casali, Ana; Deco, Claudia; Romano, Agustín; Tomé, Guillermo

    2013-01-01

    In the last years, the development of different Repositories of Learning Objects has been increased. Users can retrieve these resources for reuse and personalization through searches in web repositories. The importance of high quality metadata is key for a successful retrieval. Learning Objects are described with metadata usually in the standard…

  11. [Digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system].

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Costa, Cecília Passos Vaz; Luz, Maria Helena Barros Araújo

    2015-12-01

    To describe the creation of a digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system at a public university of Piaui. A methodological study applied to technological production based on the pedagogical framework of problem-based learning. The methodology for creating the learning object observed the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation recommended for contextualized instructional design. The revised taxonomy of Bloom was used to list the educational goals. The four modules of the developed learning object were inserted into the educational platform Moodle. The theoretical assumptions allowed the design of an important online resource that promotes effective learning in the scope of nursing education. This study should add value to nursing teaching practices through the use of digital learning objects for teaching diagnostic reasoning applied to skin and skin appendages.

  12. Using Epistemic Network Analysis to understand core topics as planned learning objectives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Allsopp, Benjamin Brink; Dreyøe, Jonas; Misfeldt, Morten

    Epistemic Network Analysis is a tool developed by the epistemic games group at the University of Wisconsin Madison for tracking the relations between concepts in students discourse (Shaffer 2017). In our current work we are applying this tool to learning objectives in teachers digital preparation....... The danish mathematics curriculum is organised in six competencies and three topics. In the recently implemented learning platforms teacher choose which of the mathematical competencies that serves as objective for a specific lesson or teaching sequence. Hence learning objectives for lessons and teaching...... sequences are defining a network of competencies, where two competencies are closely related of they often are part of the same learning objective or teaching sequence. We are currently using Epistemic Network Analysis to study these networks. In the poster we will include examples of different networks...

  13. Neural mechanisms of reinforcement learning in unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothkirch, Marcus; Tonn, Jonas; Köhler, Stephan; Sterzer, Philipp

    2017-04-01

    According to current concepts, major depressive disorder is strongly related to dysfunctional neural processing of motivational information, entailing impairments in reinforcement learning. While computational modelling can reveal the precise nature of neural learning signals, it has not been used to study learning-related neural dysfunctions in unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder so far. We thus aimed at comparing the neural coding of reward and punishment prediction errors, representing indicators of neural learning-related processes, between unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder and healthy participants. To this end, a group of unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder (n = 28) and a group of age- and sex-matched healthy control participants (n = 30) completed an instrumental learning task involving monetary gains and losses during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The two groups did not differ in their learning performance. Patients and control participants showed the same level of prediction error-related activity in the ventral striatum and the anterior insula. In contrast, neural coding of reward prediction errors in the medial orbitofrontal cortex was reduced in patients. Moreover, neural reward prediction error signals in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum showed negative correlations with anhedonia severity. Using a standard instrumental learning paradigm we found no evidence for an overall impairment of reinforcement learning in medication-free patients with major depressive disorder. Importantly, however, the attenuated neural coding of reward in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and the relation between anhedonia and reduced reward prediction error-signalling in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum likely reflect an impairment in experiencing pleasure from rewarding events as a key mechanism of anhedonia in major depressive disorder. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford

  14. Comparing L2 Word Learning through a Tablet or Real Objects: What Benefits Learning Most?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vlaar, M.A.J.; Verhagen, J.; Oudgenoeg-Paz, O.; Leseman, P.P.M.

    2017-01-01

    In child-robot interactions focused on language learning, tablets are often used to structure the interaction between the robot and the child. However, it is not clear how tablets affect children’s learning gains. Real-life objects are thought to benefit children’s word learning, but it is not clear

  15. 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…

  16. Active learning in the lecture theatre using 3D printed objects [version 2; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David P. Smith

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The ability to conceptualize 3D shapes is central to understanding biological processes. The concept that the structure of a biological molecule leads to function is a core principle of the biochemical field. Visualisation of biological molecules often involves vocal explanations or the use of two dimensional slides and video presentations. A deeper understanding of these molecules can however be obtained by the handling of objects. 3D printed biological molecules can be used as active learning tools to stimulate engagement in large group lectures. These models can be used to build upon initial core knowledge which can be delivered in either a flipped form or a more didactic manner. Within the teaching session the students are able to learn by handling, rotating and viewing the objects to gain an appreciation, for example, of an enzyme’s active site or the difference between the major and minor groove of DNA. Models and other artefacts can be handled in small groups within a lecture theatre and act as a focal point to generate conversation. Through the approach presented here core knowledge is first established and then supplemented with high level problem solving through a "Think-Pair-Share" cooperative learning strategy. The teaching delivery was adjusted based around experiential learning activities by moving the object from mental cognition and into the physical environment. This approach led to students being able to better visualise biological molecules and a positive engagement in the lecture. The use of objects in teaching allows the lecturer to create interactive sessions that both challenge and enable the student.

  17. Learning Spatial Object Localization from Vision on a Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jürgen Leitner

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available We present a combined machine learning and computer vision approach for robots to localize objects. It allows our iCub humanoid to quickly learn to provide accurate 3D position estimates (in the centimetre range of objects seen. Biologically inspired approaches, such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANN and Genetic Programming (GP, are trained to provide these position estimates using the two cameras and the joint encoder readings. No camera calibration or explicit knowledge of the robot's kinematic model is needed. We find that ANN and GP are not just faster and have lower complexity than traditional techniques, but also learn without the need for extensive calibration procedures. In addition, the approach is localizing objects robustly, when placed in the robot's workspace at arbitrary positions, even while the robot is moving its torso, head and eyes.

  18. Deep Learning through Reusable Learning Objects in an MBA Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rufer, Rosalyn; Adams, Ruifang Hope

    2013-01-01

    It has well been established that it is important to be able to leverage any organization's processes and core competencies to sustain its competitive advantage. Thus, one learning objective of an online MBA is to teach students how to apply the VRIO (value, rarity, inimitable, operationalized) model, developed by Barney and Hesterly (2006), in…

  19. Teaching and Assessing Ethics as a Learning Objective: One School's Journey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Templin, Carl R.; Christensen, David

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports the results of a ten-year effort to establish ethics as a learning objective for all business students, to assess the effectiveness in achieving that learning objective and to incorporate ethical conduct as a part of the school's organizational culture. First, it addresses the importance of ethics instruction for all business…

  20. The Development of the Virtual Learning Media of the Sacred Object Artwork

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nuanmeesri, Sumitra; Jamornmongkolpilai, Saran

    2018-01-01

    This research aimed to develop the virtual learning media of the sacred object artwork by applying the concept of the virtual technology in order to publicize knowledge on the cultural wisdom of the sacred object artwork. It was done by designing and developing the virtual learning media of the sacred object artwork for the virtual presentation.…

  1. Advanced technology for the reuse of learning objects in a course-management system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Strijker, A.; Collis, Betty

    2005-01-01

    The creation, labelling, use, and re-use of learning objects is an important area of development involving learning technology. In the higher education context, instructors typically use a course management system (CMS) to organize and manage their own learning objects. The needs and practices of

  2. Attribute conjunctions and the part configuration advantage in object category learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, J; Hummel, J E

    1996-07-01

    Five experiments demonstrated that in object category learning people are particularly sensitive to conjunctions of part shapes and relative locations. Participants learned categories defined by a part's shape and color (part-color conjunctions) or by a part's shape and its location relative to another part (part-location conjunctions). The statistical properties of the categories were identical across these conditions, as were the salience of color and relative location. Participants were better at classifying objects defined by part-location conjunctions than objects defined by part-color conjunctions. Subsequent experiments revealed that this effect was not due to the specific color manipulation or the role of location per se. These results suggest that the shape bias in object categorization is at least partly due to sensitivity to part-location conjunctions and suggest a new processing constraint on category learning.

  3. Methodology for Evaluating Quality and Reusability of Learning Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurilovas, Eugenijus; Bireniene, Virginija; Serikoviene, Silvija

    2011-01-01

    The aim of the paper is to present the scientific model and several methods for the expert evaluation of quality of learning objects (LOs) paying especial attention to LOs reusability level. The activities of eQNet Quality Network for a European Learning Resource Exchange (LRE) aimed to improve reusability of LOs of European Schoolnet's LRE…

  4. An OWL Ontology for Metadata of Interactive Learning Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luz, Bruno N.; Santos, Rafael; Alves, Bruno; Areão, Andreza S.; Yokoyama, Marcos H.; Guimarães, Marcelo P.

    2015-01-01

    The main purpose of this paper is to present the importance of Interactive Learning Objects (ILO) to improve the teaching-learning process by assuring a constant interaction among teachers and students, which in turn, allows students to be constantly supported by the teacher. The paper describes the ontology that defines the ILO available on the…

  5. Things to Say: Future Applications of Smart Objects in Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preis, Kevin

    2008-01-01

    Smart object technology allows users to know something in real time about the physical objects in their presence. Each object, from cereal boxes to skyscrapers, becomes a source of information with which users can interact. Through a series of usage scenarios, the article explores the potential impact of smart objects on learning in formal and…

  6. Effect of tDCS on task relevant and irrelevant perceptual learning of complex objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Meel, Chayenne; Daniels, Nicky; de Beeck, Hans Op; Baeck, Annelies

    2016-01-01

    During perceptual learning the visual representations in the brain are altered, but these changes' causal role has not yet been fully characterized. We used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate the role of higher visual regions in lateral occipital cortex (LO) in perceptual learning with complex objects. We also investigated whether object learning is dependent on the relevance of the objects for the learning task. Participants were trained in two tasks: object recognition using a backward masking paradigm and an orientation judgment task. During both tasks, an object with a red line on top of it were presented in each trial. The crucial difference between both tasks was the relevance of the object: the object was relevant for the object recognition task, but not for the orientation judgment task. During training, half of the participants received anodal tDCS stimulation targeted at the lateral occipital cortex (LO). Afterwards, participants were tested on how well they recognized the trained objects, the irrelevant objects presented during the orientation judgment task and a set of completely new objects. Participants stimulated with tDCS during training showed larger improvements of performance compared to participants in the sham condition. No learning effect was found for the objects presented during the orientation judgment task. To conclude, this study suggests a causal role of LO in relevant object learning, but given the rather low spatial resolution of tDCS, more research on the specificity of this effect is needed. Further, mere exposure is not sufficient to train object recognition in our paradigm.

  7. INST7150 - Advanced Topics in Learning Object Design and Reuse, Fall 2005

    OpenAIRE

    Wiley, David

    2005-01-01

    This course is designed to help you understand and apply advanced topics in the design, creation, and reuse of learning objects. The course is structured around a practical, hands-on project using learning objects, intermingled with readings and discussion on a variety of topics.

  8. Application of Multi-Objective Human Learning Optimization Method to Solve AC/DC Multi-Objective Optimal Power Flow Problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Jia; Yan, Zheng; He, Guangyu

    2016-06-01

    This paper introduces an efficient algorithm, multi-objective human learning optimization method (MOHLO), to solve AC/DC multi-objective optimal power flow problem (MOPF). Firstly, the model of AC/DC MOPF including wind farms is constructed, where includes three objective functions, operating cost, power loss, and pollutant emission. Combining the non-dominated sorting technique and the crowding distance index, the MOHLO method can be derived, which involves individual learning operator, social learning operator, random exploration learning operator and adaptive strategies. Both the proposed MOHLO method and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGAII) are tested on an improved IEEE 30-bus AC/DC hybrid system. Simulation results show that MOHLO method has excellent search efficiency and the powerful ability of searching optimal. Above all, MOHLO method can obtain more complete pareto front than that by NSGAII method. However, how to choose the optimal solution from pareto front depends mainly on the decision makers who stand from the economic point of view or from the energy saving and emission reduction point of view.

  9. OBJECTIVES AND PROCESSES OF SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING.

    Science.gov (United States)

    SIZEMORE, MAMIE

    THE OBJECTIVES OF SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING, AND SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS FOR PRESENTING AND DRILLING STRUCTURES BY THE USE OF CERTAIN GESTURES, WERE PRESENTED. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONCENTRATING EFFORTS ON THE ESSENTIALS OF LANGUAGE LEARNING REVOLVED AROUND AN EMPHASIS ON THE TEACHING OF THE LANGUAGE ITSELF RATHER THAN ABOUT ITS HISTORY, VOCABULARY,…

  10. The perceptual effects of learning object categories that predict perceptual goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Gulick, Ana E.; Gauthier, Isabel

    2014-01-01

    In classic category learning studies, subjects typically learn to assign items to one of two categories, with no further distinction between how items on each side of the category boundary should be treated. In real life, however, we often learn categories that dictate further processing goals, for instance with objects in only one category requiring further individuation. Using methods from category learning and perceptual expertise, we studied the perceptual consequences of experience with objects in tasks that rely on attention to different dimensions in different parts of the space. In two experiments, subjects first learned to categorize complex objects from a single morphspace into two categories based on one morph dimension, and then learned to perform a different task, either naming or a local feature judgment, for each of the two categories. A same-different discrimination test before and after each training measured sensitivity to feature dimensions of the space. After initial categorization, sensitivity increased along the category-diagnostic dimension. After task association, sensitivity increased more for the category that was named, especially along the non-diagnostic dimension. The results demonstrate that local attentional weights, associated with individual exemplars as a function of task requirements, can have lasting effects on perceptual representations. PMID:24820671

  11. Conformance Testing, the Elixer within the Chain for Learning Scenarios and Objects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nadolski, Rob; O'Neill, Owen; Vegt van der, Wim; Koper, Rob

    2006-01-01

    The chain for learning scenarios and learning objects includes five iterative links: (i) development, (ii) publication, (iii) making resources searchable and reusable and (iv) facilitating their arrangement (v) towards a runnable unit of learning. The use of e-learning specifications and

  12. Visual object tracking by correlation filters and online learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xin; Xia, Gui-Song; Lu, Qikai; Shen, Weiming; Zhang, Liangpei

    2018-06-01

    Due to the complexity of background scenarios and the variation of target appearance, it is difficult to achieve high accuracy and fast speed for object tracking. Currently, correlation filters based trackers (CFTs) show promising performance in object tracking. The CFTs estimate the target's position by correlation filters with different kinds of features. However, most of CFTs can hardly re-detect the target in the case of long-term tracking drifts. In this paper, a feature integration object tracker named correlation filters and online learning (CFOL) is proposed. CFOL estimates the target's position and its corresponding correlation score using the same discriminative correlation filter with multi-features. To reduce tracking drifts, a new sampling and updating strategy for online learning is proposed. Experiments conducted on 51 image sequences demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is superior to the state-of-the-art approaches.

  13. Special Aspects of Learning Objectives Design for Disciplines in Engineering Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu. B. Tsvetkov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to a problem of learning objectives design for disciplines in engineering education. It is shown that the system of well defined objectives can form a basis of discipline content analysis, acquisition control and improvement.The detailed defining of clear objectives and designing forms and content of objectives which allow to estimate their achievement are considered.For this purpose the objectives should consider the level of learners, to designate result which they will be able to show after training, conditions and how well they will be able to make it.Some examples of objective formulations are provided which allow to show in an explicit form the results reached by a learner.It is shown that cognitive process dimension can be divided into groups of initial level of thinking (to remember, understand, apply and thinking of high level (to analyze, estimate, create.Thus knowledge dimension include the factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive knowledges.On the basis of cognitive process dimension and knowledge dimension in engineering education it is offered to form system of learning objectives on the basis of their twodimensional classification - taxonomy.Objectives examples for engineering discipline are given. They consider conditions of their achievement and criteria of execution for various combinations of cognitive process dimension and levels of knowledge dimension.For some engineering disciplines examples of learning objectives are formulated including their achievement and criterion of execution of the corresponding actions.The given results can form a basis for design of learning objectives at realization of a competence approach in modern engineering education.Further work in this direction preplan the analysis and approbation of two-dimensional matrix applicability for objectives design on examples of various engineering disciplines.It is of profound importance to use matrixes of well defined

  14. An Initial Approach for Learning Objects from Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-05-02

    algorithm to delineate objects which are then fed to a simple feed-forward neural network without any other processes in the pipeline. Our neural network...These are the basic requirements for the pipeline and are discussed in more detail below. Additionally, we are interested in testing various parts...that continuously learning objects from experience requires mechanisms to do the following: 1) Focus attention on things and stuff of interest . 2

  15. Learning-based stochastic object models for characterizing anatomical variations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolly, Steven R.; Lou, Yang; Anastasio, Mark A.; Li, Hua

    2018-03-01

    It is widely known that the optimization of imaging systems based on objective, task-based measures of image quality via computer-simulation requires the use of a stochastic object model (SOM). However, the development of computationally tractable SOMs that can accurately model the statistical variations in human anatomy within a specified ensemble of patients remains a challenging task. Previously reported numerical anatomic models lack the ability to accurately model inter-patient and inter-organ variations in human anatomy among a broad patient population, mainly because they are established on image data corresponding to a few of patients and individual anatomic organs. This may introduce phantom-specific bias into computer-simulation studies, where the study result is heavily dependent on which phantom is used. In certain applications, however, databases of high-quality volumetric images and organ contours are available that can facilitate this SOM development. In this work, a novel and tractable methodology for learning a SOM and generating numerical phantoms from a set of volumetric training images is developed. The proposed methodology learns geometric attribute distributions (GAD) of human anatomic organs from a broad patient population, which characterize both centroid relationships between neighboring organs and anatomic shape similarity of individual organs among patients. By randomly sampling the learned centroid and shape GADs with the constraints of the respective principal attribute variations learned from the training data, an ensemble of stochastic objects can be created. The randomness in organ shape and position reflects the learned variability of human anatomy. To demonstrate the methodology, a SOM of an adult male pelvis is computed and examples of corresponding numerical phantoms are created.

  16. Moving object detection in video satellite image based on deep learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xueyang; Xiang, Junhua

    2017-11-01

    Moving object detection in video satellite image is studied. A detection algorithm based on deep learning is proposed. The small scale characteristics of remote sensing video objects are analyzed. Firstly, background subtraction algorithm of adaptive Gauss mixture model is used to generate region proposals. Then the objects in region proposals are classified via the deep convolutional neural network. Thus moving objects of interest are detected combined with prior information of sub-satellite point. The deep convolution neural network employs a 21-layer residual convolutional neural network, and trains the network parameters by transfer learning. Experimental results about video from Tiantuo-2 satellite demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm.

  17. Exploring Characterizations of Learning Object Repositories Using Data Mining Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segura, Alejandra; Vidal, Christian; Menendez, Victor; Zapata, Alfredo; Prieto, Manuel

    Learning object repositories provide a platform for the sharing of Web-based educational resources. As these repositories evolve independently, it is difficult for users to have a clear picture of the kind of contents they give access to. Metadata can be used to automatically extract a characterization of these resources by using machine learning techniques. This paper presents an exploratory study carried out in the contents of four public repositories that uses clustering and association rule mining algorithms to extract characterizations of repository contents. The results of the analysis include potential relationships between different attributes of learning objects that may be useful to gain an understanding of the kind of resources available and eventually develop search mechanisms that consider repository descriptions as a criteria in federated search.

  18. I learning object: la condivisione dei materiali didattici come naturale evoluzione del web

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Corrado Petrucco

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Discussion of Learning Objects (LO and sharing of educational materials. In addition to the standards that exist today, some issues are dealt with the emergence of these new objects of learning.

  19. Facilitating peer based learning through summative assessment - An adaptation of the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment tool for the blended learning environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wikander, Lolita; Bouchoucha, Stéphane L

    2018-01-01

    Adapting a course from face to face to blended delivery necessitates that assessments are modified accordingly. In Australia the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment tool, as a derivative from the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, has been used in the face-to-face delivery mode as a formative or summative assessment tool in medicine and nursing since 1990. The Objective Structured Clinical Assessment has been used at Charles Darwin University to assess nursing students' simulated clinical skills prior to the commencement of their clinical placements since 2008. Although the majority of the course is delivered online, students attend a one-week intensive clinical simulation block yearly, prior to attending clinical placements. Initially, the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment was introduced as a lecturer assessed summative assessment, over time it was adapted to better suit the blended learning environment. The modification of the tool from an academic to peer assessed assessment tool, was based on the empirical literature, student feedback and a cross-sectional, qualitative study exploring academics' perceptions of the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment (Bouchoucha et al., 2013a, b). This paper presents an overview of the process leading to the successful adaptation of the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment to suit the requirements of a preregistration nursing course delivered through blended learning. This is significant as many universities are moving their curriculum to fully online or blended delivery, yet little attention has been paid to adapting the assessment of simulated clinical skills. The aim is to identify the benefits and drawbacks of using the peer assessed Objective Structured Clinical Assessment and share recommendations for successful implementation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Algorithms for Learning Preferences for Sets of Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagstaff, Kiri L.; desJardins, Marie; Eaton, Eric

    2010-01-01

    A method is being developed that provides for an artificial-intelligence system to learn a user's preferences for sets of objects and to thereafter automatically select subsets of objects according to those preferences. The method was originally intended to enable automated selection, from among large sets of images acquired by instruments aboard spacecraft, of image subsets considered to be scientifically valuable enough to justify use of limited communication resources for transmission to Earth. The method is also applicable to other sets of objects: examples of sets of objects considered in the development of the method include food menus, radio-station music playlists, and assortments of colored blocks for creating mosaics. The method does not require the user to perform the often-difficult task of quantitatively specifying preferences; instead, the user provides examples of preferred sets of objects. This method goes beyond related prior artificial-intelligence methods for learning which individual items are preferred by the user: this method supports a concept of setbased preferences, which include not only preferences for individual items but also preferences regarding types and degrees of diversity of items in a set. Consideration of diversity in this method involves recognition that members of a set may interact with each other in the sense that when considered together, they may be regarded as being complementary, redundant, or incompatible to various degrees. The effects of such interactions are loosely summarized in the term portfolio effect. The learning method relies on a preference representation language, denoted DD-PREF, to express set-based preferences. In DD-PREF, a preference is represented by a tuple that includes quality (depth) functions to estimate how desired a specific value is, weights for each feature preference, the desired diversity of feature values, and the relative importance of diversity versus depth. The system applies statistical

  1. Teaching Ethics to Marketing and Logistics Majors: A Transformative Learning Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguirre, Grant; Hyman, Michael R.; Goudge, Darrell; Genchev, Stefan; Carrell, Amy; Hamilton, Corey

    2017-01-01

    Within the context of a transformative learning field experiment, the ethical ideologies of marketing majors, logistics majors, and nonbusiness majors were found to differ. Based on this finding, a field experiment was conducted to determine the effect (if any) that ethics instruction has on marketing and logistics majors versus nonbusiness…

  2. Students’ Views on Different Learning Objects Types

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Natsis, Antonios; Hormova, Hara; Mikropoulos, Tassos

    2014-01-01

    of different type: an educational game, a dynamic simulation and a digital concept map. The basic difference among these three LOs is the fact that both dynamic simulation and concept map are lacking game-like characteristics. The educational game has as a learning goal to familiarize students......The paper attempts to compare students’ views on three different Learning Objects (LOs), also known as Web-Based Learning Tools (WBLTs), which are used for educational purposes aiming at natural disaster readiness. Following an iterative development process, 100 LOs of various types are being...... they will be protected during the earthquake. The educational game comprises of 9 levels of ascending difficulty that have to be completed so as the game to be ended. The dynamic simulation aims to familiarize students with the causes of fog. In that context, they move temperature, wind and humidity bars and thus...

  3. How do newcomers learn to use an object?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjær, Malene

    in the daily practice of assessing how a patient is doing. Learning how to operate it in situ is thus an important task.I will present an empirical example from clinical nursing education in a Danish hospital, where students learn to use specific medical objects (a sphygmomanometer) in the setting...... status and stance (Heritage, 2012) epistemic, cooperative and instrumental stance (Goodwin, 2007) is important, as is the understanding of situated embodied cognition in the workplace practice: the knowledge ‘understanding and use of objects’ that has been limited to the nurse, translates through...

  4. Studies on English Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Three-year Business English Majors

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Liu Fang-rong

    2008-01-01

    Vocabulary learning strategies have been studied by a lot of scholars and teachers to a different extent on language learner of different levels. Little research has been done on three-year .Business English majors. This study is intended to examine the vocabulary learning strategies applied by those students to their vocabulary learning during the course of English learning. This study is carried out in the form of doing a questionnaire among 117 three-year Business English majors. The collected data is analyzed in the computer by using the SPSS software. The result is that most of the students give up the concept and strategy of repetition and accept the concept of context and practicing. In addition, most of the students know how to make use of cognitive strategies to learn vocabulary. However, those students seldom employ metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies to facilitate their vocabulary learning. In fight of these, some recommendations have given to those students to help them learn more vocabulary by appropriately using the vocabulary learning strategies.

  5. ROBOT LEARNING OF OBJECT MANIPULATION TASK ACTIONS FROM HUMAN DEMONSTRATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Kyrarini

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Robot learning from demonstration is a method which enables robots to learn in a similar way as humans. In this paper, a framework that enables robots to learn from multiple human demonstrations via kinesthetic teaching is presented. The subject of learning is a high-level sequence of actions, as well as the low-level trajectories necessary to be followed by the robot to perform the object manipulation task. The multiple human demonstrations are recorded and only the most similar demonstrations are selected for robot learning. The high-level learning module identifies the sequence of actions of the demonstrated task. Using Dynamic Time Warping (DTW and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM, the model of demonstrated trajectories is learned. The learned trajectory is generated by Gaussian mixture regression (GMR from the learned Gaussian mixture model.  In online working phase, the sequence of actions is identified and experimental results show that the robot performs the learned task successfully.

  6. Cloud Computing and Multi Agent System to improve Learning Object Paradigm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana B. Gil

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The paradigm of Learning Object provides Educators and Learners with the ability to access an extensive number of learning resources. To do so, this paradigm provides different technologies and tools, such as federated search platforms and storage repositories, in order to obtain information ubiquitously and on demand. However, the vast amount and variety of educational content, which is distributed among several repositories, and the existence of various and incompatible standards, technologies and interoperability layers among repositories, constitutes a real problem for the expansion of this paradigm. This study presents an agent-based architecture that uses the advantages provided by Cloud Computing platforms to deal with the open issues on the Learning Object paradigm.

  7. APA's Learning Objectives for Research Methods and Statistics in Practice: A Multimethod Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomcho, Thomas J.; Rice, Diana; Foels, Rob; Folmsbee, Leah; Vladescu, Jason; Lissman, Rachel; Matulewicz, Ryan; Bopp, Kara

    2009-01-01

    Research methods and statistics courses constitute a core undergraduate psychology requirement. We analyzed course syllabi and faculty self-reported coverage of both research methods and statistics course learning objectives to assess the concordance with APA's learning objectives (American Psychological Association, 2007). We obtained a sample of…

  8. Object-oriented user interfaces for personalized mobile learning

    CERN Document Server

    Alepis, Efthimios

    2014-01-01

    This book presents recent research in mobile learning and advanced user interfaces. It is shown how the combination of this fields can result in personalized educational software that meets the requirements of state-of-the-art mobile learning software. This book provides a framework that is capable of incorporating the software technologies, exploiting a wide range of their current advances and additionally investigating ways to go even further by providing potential solutions to future challenges. The presented approach uses the well-known Object-Oriented method in order to address these challenges. Throughout this book, a general model is constructed using Object-Oriented Architecture. Each chapter focuses on the construction of a specific part of this model, while in the conclusion these parts are unified. This book will help software engineers build more sophisticated personalized software that targets in mobile education, while at the same time retaining a high level of adaptivity and user-friendliness w...

  9. The Relationships among Learning Behaviors, Major Satisfaction, and Study Skills of First-Year Medical Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Minjung

    2011-06-01

    This study aims at increasing our understanding of first-year medical students' learning behaviors, major satisfaction, and study skills. We investigate different features of freshmen's behavior in relation to learning and explore the extent to which freshmen were satisfied with their major and perceived their study skills. A total of 106 freshmen participated in this study. At midyear, first-year medical students were asked to complete a questionnaire that included the learning behaviors, major satisfaction, and study skills. The data collected from the survey were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, chi-square test, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The study reported that most of freshmen had a lot of difficulties in studying at medical school by lack of prior learning. Despite first-year students, they were studying hard their major. Freshmen spent studying an average of 1 hour or less than 2 hours every day. The study also indicated that of major satisfaction, the overall satisfaction of the department was the highest and the satisfaction in learning environment was the lowest. There were significant differences among the freshmen on the major satisfaction due to admission process, academic performance, and housing type. Of 11 study skills, while freshman highly perceived their teamwork, stress management, and reading skills, their weak study skills identified in this study were writing, note taking, time management, and test taking skills. There were significant differences among the freshmen on the study skills due to gender and academic performance. Finally, freshmen's learning behaviors and major satisfaction were significantly associated with some of study skills. This study may have implications for the academic adjustment and learning processes in the first year. We need to consider variables such as learning behaviors, major satisfaction, and study skills, when discussing about how to maximize the learning potential of medical students

  10. Evaluation of a Learning Object Based Learning Environment in Different Dimensions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ünal Çakıroğlu

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Learning Objects (LOs are web based learning resources presented by Learning Object Repositories (LOR. For recent years LOs have begun to take place on web and it is suggested that appropriate design of LOs can make positive impact on learning. In order to support learning, research studies recommends LOs should have been evaluated pedagogically and technologically, and the content design created by using LOs should have been designed through appropriate instructional models. Since the use of LOs have recently begun, an exact pedagogical model about efficient use of LOs has not been developed. In this study a LOR is designed in order to be used in mathematics education. The LOs in this LOR have been evaluated pedagogically and technologically by mathematics teachers and field experts. In order to evaluate the designed LO based environment, two different questionnaires have been used. These questionnaires are developed by using the related literature about web based learning environments evaluation criteria and also the items are discussed with the field experts for providing the validity. The reliability of the questionnaires is calculated cronbach alpha = 0.715 for the design properties evaluation survey and cronbach alpha =0.726 for pedagogic evaluation. Both of two questionnaires are five point Likert type. The first questionnaire has the items about “Learning Support of LOs, Competency of LOR, The importance of LOs in mathematics education, the usability of LOs by students”. “The activities on LOs are related to outcomes of subjects, there are activities for students have different learning styles. There are activities for wondering students.” are examples for items about learning support of LOs. “System helps for exploration of mathematical relations”, “I think teaching mathematics with this system will be enjoyable.” are example items for importance of LOs in mathematics education. In the competency of LOR title,

  11. Personalized Learning Objects Recommendation Based on the Semantic-Aware Discovery and the Learner Preference Pattern

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Tzone I; Tsai, Kun Hua; Lee, Ming Che; Chiu, Ti Kai

    2007-01-01

    With vigorous development of the Internet, especially the web page interaction technology, distant E-learning has become more and more realistic and popular. Digital courses may consist of many learning units or learning objects and, currently, many learning objects are created according to SCORM standard. It can be seen that, in the near future,…

  12. Artificial Mangrove Species Mapping Using Pléiades-1: An Evaluation of Pixel-Based and Object-Based Classifications with Selected Machine Learning Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dezhi Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available In the dwindling natural mangrove today, mangrove reforestation projects are conducted worldwide to prevent further losses. Due to monoculture and the low survival rate of artificial mangroves, it is necessary to pay attention to mapping and monitoring them dynamically. Remote sensing techniques have been widely used to map mangrove forests due to their capacity for large-scale, accurate, efficient, and repetitive monitoring. This study evaluated the capability of a 0.5-m Pléiades-1 in classifying artificial mangrove species using both pixel-based and object-based classification schemes. For comparison, three machine learning algorithms—decision tree (DT, support vector machine (SVM, and random forest (RF—were used as the classifiers in the pixel-based and object-based classification procedure. The results showed that both the pixel-based and object-based approaches could recognize the major discriminations between the four major artificial mangrove species. However, the object-based method had a better overall accuracy than the pixel-based method on average. For pixel-based image analysis, SVM produced the highest overall accuracy (79.63%; for object-based image analysis, RF could achieve the highest overall accuracy (82.40%, and it was also the best machine learning algorithm for classifying artificial mangroves. The patches produced by object-based image analysis approaches presented a more generalized appearance and could contiguously depict mangrove species communities. When the same machine learning algorithms were compared by McNemar’s test, a statistically significant difference in overall classification accuracy between the pixel-based and object-based classifications only existed in the RF algorithm. Regarding species, monoculture and dominant mangrove species Sonneratia apetala group 1 (SA1 as well as partly mixed and regular shape mangrove species Hibiscus tiliaceus (HT could well be identified. However, for complex and easily

  13. Structured Kernel Dictionary Learning with Correlation Constraint for Object Recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhengjue; Wang, Yinghua; Liu, Hongwei; Zhang, Hao

    2017-06-21

    In this paper, we propose a new discriminative non-linear dictionary learning approach, called correlation constrained structured kernel KSVD, for object recognition. The objective function for dictionary learning contains a reconstructive term and a discriminative term. In the reconstructive term, signals are implicitly non-linearly mapped into a space, where a structured kernel dictionary, each sub-dictionary of which lies in the span of the mapped signals from the corresponding class, is established. In the discriminative term, by analyzing the classification mechanism, the correlation constraint is proposed in kernel form, constraining the correlations between different discriminative codes, and restricting the coefficient vectors to be transformed into a feature space, where the features are highly correlated inner-class and nearly independent between-classes. The objective function is optimized by the proposed structured kernel KSVD. During the classification stage, the specific form of the discriminative feature is needless to be known, while the inner product of the discriminative feature with kernel matrix embedded is available, and is suitable for a linear SVM classifier. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms many state-of-the-art dictionary learning approaches for face, scene and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) vehicle target recognition.

  14. A Report on Non-Egnlish Majors' Motivation and Achievement of Learning English

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    王粉

    2009-01-01

    A large number of non-English majors seldom consider what strategies of learning English they are using to regulate their motivation and how their motivation is related to achievement. Data were collected from 4000 college non-English-majors at Guizhou University using a questionnaire. This paper contrasts students' motivation and strategies of learning English. Some teaching approaches are offered to motivate students to do their best in attaining higher achievement.

  15. Design Guide for Earth System Science Education: Common Student Learning Objectives and Special Pedagogical Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, D.

    2006-12-01

    As part of the NASA-supported undergraduate Earth System Science Education (ESSE) program, fifty-seven institutions have developed and implemented a wide range of Earth system science (ESS) courses, pedagogies, and evaluation tools. The Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation section of USRA's online ESSE Design Guide showcases these ESS learning environments. This Design Guide section also provides resources for faculty who wish to develop ESS courses. It addresses important course design issues including prior student knowledge and interests, student learning objectives, learning resources, pedagogical approaches, and assessments tied to student learning objectives. The ESSE Design Guide provides links to over 130 ESS course syllabi at introductory, senior, and graduate levels. ESS courses over the past 15 years exhibit common student learning objectives and unique pedagogical approaches. From analysis of ESS course syllabi, seven common student learning objectives emerged: 1) demonstrate systems thinking, 2) develop an ESS knowledge base, 3) apply ESS to the human dimension, 4) expand and apply analytical skills, 5) improve critical thinking skills, 6) build professional/career skills, and 7) acquire an enjoyment and appreciation for science. To meet these objectives, ESSE often requires different ways of teaching than in traditional scientific disciplines. This presentation will highlight some especially successful pedagogical approaches for creating positive and engaging ESS learning environments.

  16. Toward Self-Referential Autonomous Learning of Object and Situation Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damerow, Florian; Knoblauch, Andreas; Körner, Ursula; Eggert, Julian; Körner, Edgar

    2016-01-01

    Most current approaches to scene understanding lack the capability to adapt object and situation models to behavioral needs not anticipated by the human system designer. Here, we give a detailed description of a system architecture for self-referential autonomous learning which enables the refinement of object and situation models during operation in order to optimize behavior. This includes structural learning of hierarchical models for situations and behaviors that is triggered by a mismatch between expected and actual action outcome. Besides proposing architectural concepts, we also describe a first implementation of our system within a simulated traffic scenario to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.

  17. It's all connected: Pathways in visual object recognition and early noun learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Linda B

    2013-11-01

    A developmental pathway may be defined as the route, or chain of events, through which a new structure or function forms. For many human behaviors, including object name learning and visual object recognition, these pathways are often complex and multicausal and include unexpected dependencies. This article presents three principles of development that suggest the value of a developmental psychology that explicitly seeks to trace these pathways and uses empirical evidence on developmental dependencies among motor development, action on objects, visual object recognition, and object name learning in 12- to 24-month-old infants to make the case. The article concludes with a consideration of the theoretical implications of this approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Selective bilateral amygdala lesions in rhesus monkeys fail to disrupt object reversal learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izquierdo, Alicia; Murray, Elisabeth A

    2007-01-31

    Neuropsychological studies in nonhuman primates have led to the view that the amygdala plays an essential role in stimulus-reward association. The main evidence in support of this idea is that bilateral aspirative or radiofrequency lesions of the amygdala yield severe impairments on object reversal learning, a task that assesses the ability to shift choices of objects based on the presence or absence of food reward (i.e., reward contingency). The behavioral effects of different lesion techniques, however, can vary. The present study therefore evaluated the effects of selective, excitotoxic lesions of the amygdala in rhesus monkeys on object reversal learning. For comparison, we tested the same monkeys on a task known to be sensitive to amygdala damage, the reinforcer devaluation task. Contrary to previous results based on less selective lesion techniques, monkeys with complete excitotoxic amygdala lesions performed object reversal learning as quickly as controls. As predicted, however, the same operated monkeys were impaired in making object choices after devaluation of the associated food reinforcer. The results suggest two conclusions. First, the results demonstrate that the amygdala makes a selective contribution to stimulus-reward association; the amygdala is critical for guiding object choices after changes in reward value but not after changes in reward contingency. Second, the results implicate a critical contribution to object reversal learning of structures nearby the amygdala, perhaps the subjacent rhinal cortex.

  19. Internal attention to features in visual short-term memory guides object learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Judith E; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B

    2013-11-01

    Attending to objects in the world affects how we perceive and remember them. What are the consequences of attending to an object in mind? In particular, how does reporting the features of a recently seen object guide visual learning? In three experiments, observers were presented with abstract shapes in a particular color, orientation, and location. After viewing each object, observers were cued to report one feature from visual short-term memory (VSTM). In a subsequent test, observers were cued to report features of the same objects from visual long-term memory (VLTM). We tested whether reporting a feature from VSTM: (1) enhances VLTM for just that feature (practice-benefit hypothesis), (2) enhances VLTM for all features (object-based hypothesis), or (3) simultaneously enhances VLTM for that feature and suppresses VLTM for unreported features (feature-competition hypothesis). The results provided support for the feature-competition hypothesis, whereby the representation of an object in VLTM was biased towards features reported from VSTM and away from unreported features (Experiment 1). This bias could not be explained by the amount of sensory exposure or response learning (Experiment 2) and was amplified by the reporting of multiple features (Experiment 3). Taken together, these results suggest that selective internal attention induces competitive dynamics among features during visual learning, flexibly tuning object representations to align with prior mnemonic goals. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Tool Support for Collaborative Teaching and Learning of Object-Oriented Modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Klaus Marius; Ratzer, Anne Vinter

    2002-01-01

    Modeling is central to doing and learning object-oriented development. We present a new tool, Ideogramic UML, for gesture-based collaborative modeling with the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which can be used to collaboratively teach and learn modeling. Furthermore, we discuss how we have...

  1. Object-based implicit learning in visual search: perceptual segmentation constrains contextual cueing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conci, Markus; Müller, Hermann J; von Mühlenen, Adrian

    2013-07-09

    In visual search, detection of a target is faster when it is presented within a spatial layout of repeatedly encountered nontarget items, indicating that contextual invariances can guide selective attention (contextual cueing; Chun & Jiang, 1998). However, perceptual regularities may interfere with contextual learning; for instance, no contextual facilitation occurs when four nontargets form a square-shaped grouping, even though the square location predicts the target location (Conci & von Mühlenen, 2009). Here, we further investigated potential causes for this interference-effect: We show that contextual cueing can reliably occur for targets located within the region of a segmented object, but not for targets presented outside of the object's boundaries. Four experiments demonstrate an object-based facilitation in contextual cueing, with a modulation of context-based learning by relatively subtle grouping cues including closure, symmetry, and spatial regularity. Moreover, the lack of contextual cueing for targets located outside the segmented region was due to an absence of (latent) learning of contextual layouts, rather than due to an attentional bias towards the grouped region. Taken together, these results indicate that perceptual segmentation provides a basic structure within which contextual scene regularities are acquired. This in turn argues that contextual learning is constrained by object-based selection.

  2. Creating Learning Objects to Enhance the Educational Experiences of American Sign Language Learners: An Instructional Development Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Conceição

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available Little attention has been given to involving the deaf community in distance teaching and learning or in designing courses that relate to their language and culture. This article reports on the design and development of video-based learning objects created to enhance the educational experiences of American Sign Language (ASL hearing participants in a distance learning course and, following the course, the creation of several new applications for use of the learning objects. The learning objects were initially created for the web, as a course component for review and rehearsal. The value of the web application, as reported by course participants, led us to consider ways in which the learning objects could be used in a variety of delivery formats: CD-ROM, web-based knowledge repository, and handheld device. The process to create the learning objects, the new applications, and lessons learned are described.

  3. Objects Classification by Learning-Based Visual Saliency Model and Convolutional Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Na; Zhao, Xinbo; Yang, Yongjia; Zou, Xiaochun

    2016-01-01

    Humans can easily classify different kinds of objects whereas it is quite difficult for computers. As a hot and difficult problem, objects classification has been receiving extensive interests with broad prospects. Inspired by neuroscience, deep learning concept is proposed. Convolutional neural network (CNN) as one of the methods of deep learning can be used to solve classification problem. But most of deep learning methods, including CNN, all ignore the human visual information processing mechanism when a person is classifying objects. Therefore, in this paper, inspiring the completed processing that humans classify different kinds of objects, we bring forth a new classification method which combines visual attention model and CNN. Firstly, we use the visual attention model to simulate the processing of human visual selection mechanism. Secondly, we use CNN to simulate the processing of how humans select features and extract the local features of those selected areas. Finally, not only does our classification method depend on those local features, but also it adds the human semantic features to classify objects. Our classification method has apparently advantages in biology. Experimental results demonstrated that our method made the efficiency of classification improve significantly.

  4. ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS TOWARDS LEARNING OBJECTS IN WEB-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet BASAL

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Language education is important in the rapidly changing world. Every year much effort has spent on preparing teaching materials for language education. Since positive attitudes of learners towards a teaching material enhance the effectiveness of that material, it is important to determine the attitudes of learners towards the material used. Learning objects (LOs are a new type of material on which many studies have been conducted in recent years. The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of students towards LOs in web-based language learning. To this end, the study was conducted in English I Course at the Department of Computer Programming in Kırıkkale University in 2010-2011 Fall Semester. Seventy LOs appropriate for six-week long lecture program were integrated into the Learning Management System (LMS of Kırıkkale University. The study group consisted of 38 students. After the six weeks long implementation period of the study, an attitude scale was administered to the students. The findings indicated that students in web based language education have positive attitudes towards LOs.

  5. Informal learning in SME majors for African American female undergraduates

    OpenAIRE

    Ezella McPherson

    2014-01-01

    This research investigates how eight undergraduate African American women in science, math, and engineering (SME) majors accessed cultural capital and informal science learning opportunities from preschool to college. It uses the multiple case study methodological approach and cultural capital as the framework to better understand their opportunities to engage in free-choice science learning. The article demonstrates that African American women have access to cultural capital and informal sci...

  6. Understanding E-Learning Adoption in Brazil: Major Determinants and Gender Effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okazaki, Shintaro; dos Santos, Luiz Miguel Renda

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this study is to examine factors influencing e-learning adoption and the moderating role of gender. This study extends the technology acceptance model (TAM) by adding attitude and social interaction. The new construct of social interaction is applied to the South American context. Gender effects on e-learning adoption from…

  7. Ego-Motion and Tracking for Continuous Object Learning: A Brief Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-09-01

    past research related to the tasks of ego-motion estimation and object tracking from the viewpoint of their role in continuous object learning...in visual object tracking, competitions are held each year to identify the most accurate and robust tracking implementations. Over recent competitions...information should they share) or vice versa? These are just some of the questions that must be addressed in future research toward continuous object

  8. Semantic Linking of Learning Object Repositories to DBpedia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lama, Manuel; Vidal, Juan C.; Otero-Garcia, Estefania; Bugarin, Alberto; Barro, Senen

    2012-01-01

    Large-sized repositories of learning objects (LOs) are difficult to create and also to maintain. In this paper we propose a way to reduce this drawback by improving the classification mechanisms of the LO repositories. Specifically, we present a solution to automate the LO classification of the Universia repository, a collection of more than 15…

  9. 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...

  10. Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a Learning Object that Supports the Mathematics Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Munoz

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Information technologies have been widely used for entertainment and learning purposes by children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD. Nonetheless, learning objects aiming at specific skills development in children with ASD require both a well bounded learning domain and a user-centered design process, considering skill levels of the users and the local geographical context and language. “Proyect@ Matemáticas” is a multi-touch based app designed for developing pre-calculus and functional mathematical skills in children with ASD, according to the Chilean regulations of learning goals for children with special educational necessities. This paper presents the User-centered design process conducted in order to develop the learning object, which included the evaluation by 15 experts in special educational needs, testing by 10 ASD-diagnosed children with different functional levels, and a multidisciplinary development team that also included a graphic designer diagnosed with ASD of high functionality. The development process yields to a validated learning object in terms of interactivity, design, engagement, and usability, from the point of view of the experts, and successful usage tests with ASD diagnosed children in terms of performance and achievement of learning outcomes. The application is currently available for download in the Google Play store for free, and currently has more than 15,000 downloads and an average rating of 4.2 out of 5 points.

  11. The role of professional objects in technology-enhanced learning environments in higher education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zitter, I.I.; Bruijn, E. de; Simons, P.R.J.; Cate, Th.J. ten

    2010-01-01

    We study project-based, technology-enhanced learning environments in higher education, which should produce, by means of specific mechanisms, learning outcomes in terms of transferable knowledge and learning-, thinking-, collaboration- and regulation-skills. Our focus is on the role of objects from

  12. Storytelling in the digital world: achieving higher-level learning objectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Melissa R

    2012-01-01

    Nursing students are not passive media consumers but instead live in a technology ecosystem where digital is the language they speak. To prepare the next generation of nurses, educators must incorporate multiple technologies to improve higher-order learning. The author discusses the evolution and use of storytelling as part of the digital world and how digital stories can be aligned with Bloom's Taxonomy so that students achieve higher-level learning objectives.

  13. Multi-objective group scheduling with learning effect in the cellular manufacturing system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Taghi Taghavi-fard

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Group scheduling problem in cellular manufacturing systems consists of two major steps. Sequence of parts in each part-family and the sequence of part-family to enter the cell to be processed. This paper presents a new method for group scheduling problems in flow shop systems where it minimizes makespan (Cmax and total tardiness. In this paper, a position-based learning model in cellular manufacturing system is utilized where processing time for each part-family depends on the entrance sequence of that part. The problem of group scheduling is modeled by minimizing two objectives of position-based learning effect as well as the assumption of setup time depending on the sequence of parts-family. Since the proposed problem is NP-hard, two meta heuristic algorithms are presented based on genetic algorithm, namely: Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II and non-dominated rank genetic algorithm (NRGA. The algorithms are tested using randomly generated problems. The results include a set of Pareto solutions and three different evaluation criteria are used to compare the results. The results indicate that the proposed algorithms are quite efficient to solve the problem in a short computational time.

  14. The Sloan-C Pillars and Boundary Objects As a Framework for Evaluating Blended Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laumakis, Mark; Graham, Charles; Dziuban, Chuck

    2009-01-01

    The authors contend that blended learning represents a boundary object; a construct that brings together constituencies from a variety of backgrounds with each of these cohorts defining the object somewhat differently. The Sloan-C Pillars (learning effectiveness, access, cost effectiveness, student satisfaction, and faculty satisfaction) provide…

  15. Mobile Authoring of Open Educational Resources as Reusable Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr Kinshuk

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available E-learning technologies have allowed authoring and playback of standardized reusable learning objects (RLO for several years. Effective mobile learning requires similar functionality at both design time and runtime. Mobile devices can play RLO using applications like SMILE, mobile access to a learning management system (LMS, or other systems which deploy content to mobile learners (Castillo & Ayala, 2008; Chu, Hwang, & Tseng, 2010; Hsu & Chen, 2010; Nakabayashi, 2009; Zualkernan, Nikkhah, & Al-Sabah, 2009. However, implementations which author content in a mobile context do not typically permit reuse across multiple contexts due to a lack of standardization. Standards based (IMS and SCORM authoring implementations exist for non-mobile platforms (Gonzalez-Barbone & Anido-Rifon, 2008; Griffiths, Beauvoir, Liber, & Barrett-Baxendale, 2009; Téllez, 2010; Yang, Chiu, Tsai, & Wu, 2004. However, this paradigm precludes capturing learning where and when it occurs. Consequently, RLO authored for e-learning lack learner generated content, especially with timely, relevant, and location aware examples.

  16. Using Learning Games to Meet Learning Objectives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Henriksen, Thomas Duus

    2013-01-01

    This paper addresses the question on how learning games can be used to meet with the different levels in Bloom’s and the SOLO taxonomy, which are commonly used for evaluating the learning outcome of educational activities. The paper discusses the quality of game-based learning outcomes based on a...... on a case study of the learning game 6Styles....

  17. Tracking Multiple Statistics: Simultaneous Learning of Object Names and Categories in English and Mandarin Speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chi-Hsin; Gershkoff-Stowe, Lisa; Wu, Chih-Yi; Cheung, Hintat; Yu, Chen

    2017-08-01

    Two experiments were conducted to examine adult learners' ability to extract multiple statistics in simultaneously presented visual and auditory input. Experiment 1 used a cross-situational learning paradigm to test whether English speakers were able to use co-occurrences to learn word-to-object mappings and concurrently form object categories based on the commonalities across training stimuli. Experiment 2 replicated the first experiment and further examined whether speakers of Mandarin, a language in which final syllables of object names are more predictive of category membership than English, were able to learn words and form object categories when trained with the same type of structures. The results indicate that both groups of learners successfully extracted multiple levels of co-occurrence and used them to learn words and object categories simultaneously. However, marked individual differences in performance were also found, suggesting possible interference and competition in processing the two concurrent streams of regularities. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  18. A Study of Effective Strategies to Stimulate College Non-English Majors' Motivation for Learning English

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    向玉

    2008-01-01

    As an English teacher for non-English majors in a college in Wuhan,I find that most of my students are not interested in learning English.Thus.I am concerned about how to stimulate my students' motivation in learning English.This paper discusses some effective strategies to stimulate college non-English majors' motivation for learning English.such as creating a comfortable atmosphere,buiIding students' confidence,promoting cooperative learning.and incorporating the multiple intelligences concept in the classroom.These strategies do have practical application in my classroom and have motivated my students' interest in English learning.

  19. Performance of four different rat strains in the autoshaping, two-object discrimination, and swim maze tests of learning and memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, J S; Jansen, J H; Linders, S; Princen, A; Broekkamp, C L

    1995-04-01

    The performance of four strains of rats commonly used in behavioural research was assessed in three different tests of learning and memory. The four strains included three outbred lines (Long-Evans, Sprague-Dawley, Wistar) and one inbred strain (S3). Learning and memory were tested using three different paradigms: autoshaping of a lever press, a two-object discrimination test, and performance in a two-island swim maze task. The pigmented strains showed better performance in the autoshaping procedure: the majority of the Long-Evans and the S3 rats acquired the response, and the majority of the Wistar and Sprague-Dawley failed to acquire the response in the set time. The albino strains were slightly better in the swim maze than the pigmented strains. There appeared to be a speed/accuracy trade-off in the strategy used to solve the task. This was also evident following treatment with the cholinergic-depleting agent hemicholinium-3. The performance of the Long-Evans rats was most affected by the treatment in terms of accuracy and the Wistar and Sprague-Dawleys in terms of speed. In the two-object discrimination test only the Long-Evans showed satisfactory performance and were able to discriminate a novel from a known object a short interval after initial exposure. These results show large task- and strain-dependent differences in performance in tests of learning and memory. Some of the performance variation may be due to emotional differences between the strains and may be alleviated by extra training. However, the response to pharmacological manipulation may require more careful evaluation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  20. Validation of virtual learning object to support the teaching of nursing care systematization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pétala Tuani Candido de Oliveira Salvador

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the content validation process of a Virtual Learning Object to support the teaching of nursing care systematization to nursing professionals. Method: methodological study, with quantitative approach, developed according to the methodological reference of Pasquali's psychometry and conducted from March to July 2016, from two-stage Delphi procedure. Results: in the Delphi 1 stage, eight judges evaluated the Virtual Object; in Delphi 2 stage, seven judges evaluated it. The seven screens of the Virtual Object were analyzed as to the suitability of its contents. The Virtual Learning Object to support the teaching of nursing care systematization was considered valid in its content, with a Total Content Validity Coefficient of 0.96. Conclusion: it is expected that the Virtual Object can support the teaching of nursing care systematization in light of appropriate and effective pedagogical approaches.

  1. [Learning objectives achievement in ethics education for medical school students].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chae, Sujin; Lim, Kiyoung

    2015-06-01

    This study aimed to examine the necessity for research ethics and learning objectives in ethics education at the undergraduate level. A total of 393 fourth-year students, selected from nine medical schools, participated in a survey about learning achievement and the necessity for it. It was found that the students had very few chances to receive systematic education in research ethics and that they assumed that research ethics education was provided during graduate school or residency programs. Moreover, the students showed a relatively high learning performance in life ethics, while learning achievement was low in research ethics. Medical school students revealed low interest in and expectations of research ethics in general; therefore, it is necessary to develop guidelines for research ethics in the present situation, in which medical education mainly focuses on life ethics.

  2. Model of Recommendation System for for Indexing and Retrieving the Learning Object based on Multiagent System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronaldo Lima Rocha Campos

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a multiagent system application model for indexing, retrieving and recommendation learning objects stored in different and heterogeneous repositories. The objects within these repositories are described by filled fields using different metadata standards. The searching mechanism covers several different learning object repositories and the same object can be described in these repositories by the use of different types of fields. Aiming to improve accuracy and coverage in terms of recovering a learning object and improve the signification of the results we propose an information retrieval model based on the multiagent system approach and an ontological model to describe the knowledge domain covered.

  3. Development of national competency-based learning objectives "Medical Informatics" for undergraduate medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Röhrig, R; Stausberg, J; Dugas, M

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this project is to develop a catalogue of competency-based learning objectives "Medical Informatics" for undergraduate medical education (abbreviated NKLM-MI in German). The development followed a multi-level annotation and consensus process. For each learning objective a reason why a physician needs this competence was required. In addition, each objective was categorized according to the competence context (A = covered by medical informatics, B = core subject of medical informatics, C = optional subject of medical informatics), the competence level (1 = referenced knowledge, 2 = applied knowledge, 3 = routine knowledge) and a CanMEDS competence role (medical expert, communicator, collaborator, manager, health advocate, professional, scholar). Overall 42 objectives in seven areas (medical documentation and information processing, medical classifications and terminologies, information systems in healthcare, health telematics and telemedicine, data protection and security, access to medical knowledge and medical signal-/image processing) were identified, defined and consented. With the NKLM-MI the competences in the field of medical informatics vital to a first year resident physician are identified, defined and operationalized. These competencies are consistent with the recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). The NKLM-MI will be submitted to the National Competence-Based Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education. The next step is implementation of these objectives by the faculties.

  4. Informal learning in SME majors for African American female undergraduates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ezella McPherson

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This research investigates how eight undergraduate African American women in science, math, and engineering (SME majors accessed cultural capital and informal science learning opportunities from preschool to college. It uses the multiple case study methodological approach and cultural capital as the framework to better understand their opportunities to engage in free-choice science learning. The article demonstrates that African American women have access to cultural capital and informal science learning inside and outside of home and school environments in P-16 settings. In primary and secondary schools, African American girls acquire cultural capital and access to free-choice science learning in the home environment, museums, science fairs, student organizations and clubs. However, in high school African American female teenagers have fewer informal science learning opportunities like those such as those provided in primary school settings. In college, cultural capital is transmitted through informal science learning that consisted of involvement in student organizations, research projects, seminars, and conferences. These experiences contributed to their engagement and persistence in SME fields in K-16 settings. This research adds to cultural capital and informal science learning research by allowing scholars to better understand how African American women have opportunities to learn about the hidden curriculum of science through informal science settings throughout the educational pipeline.

  5. Memory for Object Locations: Priority Effect and Sex Differences in Associative Spatial Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cinan, Sevtap; Atalay, Deniz; Sisman, Simge; Basbug, Gokce; Dervent-Ozbek, Sevinc; Teoman, Dalga D.; Karagoz, Ayca; Karadeniz, A. Yezdan; Beykurt, Sinem; Suleyman, Hediye; Memis, H. Ozge; Yurtsever, Ozgur D.

    2007-01-01

    This paper reports two experiments conducted to examine priority effects and sex differences in object location memory. A new task of paired position-learning was designed, based on the A-B A-C paradigm, which was used in paired word learning. There were three different paired position-learning conditions: (1) positions of several different…

  6. Humanoid infers Archimedes' principle: understanding physical relations and object affordances through cumulative learning experiences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhat, Ajaz Ahmad; Mohan, Vishwanathan; Sandini, Giulio; Morasso, Pietro

    2016-07-01

    Emerging studies indicate that several species such as corvids, apes and children solve 'The Crow and the Pitcher' task (from Aesop's Fables) in diverse conditions. Hidden beneath this fascinating paradigm is a fundamental question: by cumulatively interacting with different objects, how can an agent abstract the underlying cause-effect relations to predict and creatively exploit potential affordances of novel objects in the context of sought goals? Re-enacting this Aesop's Fable task on a humanoid within an open-ended 'learning-prediction-abstraction' loop, we address this problem and (i) present a brain-guided neural framework that emulates rapid one-shot encoding of ongoing experiences into a long-term memory and (ii) propose four task-agnostic learning rules (elimination, growth, uncertainty and status quo) that correlate predictions from remembered past experiences with the unfolding present situation to gradually abstract the underlying causal relations. Driven by the proposed architecture, the ensuing robot behaviours illustrated causal learning and anticipation similar to natural agents. Results further demonstrate that by cumulatively interacting with few objects, the predictions of the robot in case of novel objects converge close to the physical law, i.e. the Archimedes principle: this being independent of both the objects explored during learning and the order of their cumulative exploration. © 2016 The Author(s).

  7. Multi-agent system for Knowledge-based recommendation of Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula Andrea RODRÍGUEZ MARÍN

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Learning Object (LO is a content unit being used within virtual learning environments, which -once found and retrieved- may assist students in the teaching - learning process. Such LO search and retrieval are recently supported and enhanced by data mining techniques. In this sense, clustering can be used to find groups holding similar LOs so that from obtained groups, knowledge-based recommender systems (KRS can recommend more adapted and relevant LOs. In particular, prior knowledge come from LOs previously selected, liked and ranked by the student to whom the recommendation will be performed. In this paper, we present a KRS for LOs, which uses a conventional clustering technique, namely K-means, aimed at finding similar LOs and delivering resources adapted to a specific student. Obtained promising results show that proposed KRS is able to both retrieve relevant LO and improve the recommendation precision.Learning Object (LO is a content unit being used within virtual learning environments, which -once found and retrieved- may assist students in the teaching - learning process. Such LO search and retrieval are recently supported and enhanced by data mining techniques. In this sense, clustering can be used to find groups holding similar LOs so that from obtained groups, knowledge-based recommender systems (KRS can recommend more adapted and relevant LOs. In particular, prior knowledge come from LOs previously selected, liked and ranked by the student to whom the recommendation will be performed. In this paper, we present a KRS for LOs, which uses a conventional clustering technique, namely K-means, aimed at finding similar LOs and delivering resources adapted to a specific student. Obtained promising results show that proposed KRS is able to both retrieve relevant LO and improve the recommendation precision.

  8. Profiles of Motivated Self-Regulation in College Computer Science Courses: Differences in Major versus Required Non-Major Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shell, Duane F.; Soh, Leen-Kiat

    2013-12-01

    The goal of the present study was to utilize a profiling approach to understand differences in motivation and strategic self-regulation among post-secondary STEM students in major versus required non-major computer science courses. Participants were 233 students from required introductory computer science courses (194 men; 35 women; 4 unknown) at a large Midwestern state university. Cluster analysis identified five profiles: (1) a strategic profile of a highly motivated by-any-means good strategy user; (2) a knowledge-building profile of an intrinsically motivated autonomous, mastery-oriented student; (3) a surface learning profile of a utility motivated minimally engaged student; (4) an apathetic profile of an amotivational disengaged student; and (5) a learned helpless profile of a motivated but unable to effectively self-regulate student. Among CS majors and students in courses in their major field, the strategic and knowledge-building profiles were the most prevalent. Among non-CS majors and students in required non-major courses, the learned helpless, surface learning, and apathetic profiles were the most prevalent. Students in the strategic and knowledge-building profiles had significantly higher retention of computational thinking knowledge than students in other profiles. Students in the apathetic and surface learning profiles saw little instrumentality of the course for their future academic and career objectives. Findings show that students in STEM fields taking required computer science courses exhibit the same constellation of motivated strategic self-regulation profiles found in other post-secondary and K-12 settings.

  9. Autonomous learning of robust visual object detection and identification on a humanoid

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leitner, J.; Chandrashekhariah, P.; Harding, S.; Frank, M.; Spina, G.; Förster, A.; Triesch, J.; Schmidhuber, J.

    2012-01-01

    In this work we introduce a technique for a humanoid robot to autonomously learn the representations of objects within its visual environment. Our approach involves an attention mechanism in association with feature based segmentation that explores the environment and provides object samples for

  10. Transforming clinical imaging and 3D data for virtual reality learning objects: HTML5 and mobile devices implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trelease, Robert B; Nieder, Gary L

    2013-01-01

    Web deployable anatomical simulations or "virtual reality learning objects" can easily be produced with QuickTime VR software, but their use for online and mobile learning is being limited by the declining support for web browser plug-ins for personal computers and unavailability on popular mobile devices like Apple iPad and Android tablets. This article describes complementary methods for creating comparable, multiplatform VR learning objects in the new HTML5 standard format, circumventing platform-specific limitations imposed by the QuickTime VR multimedia file format. Multiple types or "dimensions" of anatomical information can be embedded in such learning objects, supporting different kinds of online learning applications, including interactive atlases, examination questions, and complex, multi-structure presentations. Such HTML5 VR learning objects are usable on new mobile devices that do not support QuickTime VR, as well as on personal computers. Furthermore, HTML5 VR learning objects can be embedded in "ebook" document files, supporting the development of new types of electronic textbooks on mobile devices that are increasingly popular and self-adopted for mobile learning. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.

  11. An Interactive Learning Environment for Teaching the Imperative and Object-Oriented Programming Techniques in Various Learning Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xinogalos, Stelios

    The acquisition of problem-solving and programming skills in the era of knowledge society seems to be particularly important. Due to the intrinsic difficulty of acquiring such skills various educational tools have been developed. Unfortunately, most of these tools are not utilized. In this paper we present the programming microworlds Karel and objectKarel that support the procedural-imperative and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) techniques and can be used for supporting the teaching and learning of programming in various learning contexts and audiences. The paper focuses on presenting the pedagogical features that are common to both environments and mainly on presenting the potential uses of these environments.

  12. Multi-objective evolutionary emergency response optimization for major accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Georgiadou, Paraskevi S.; Papazoglou, Ioannis A.; Kiranoudis, Chris T.; Markatos, Nikolaos C.

    2010-01-01

    Emergency response planning in case of a major accident (hazardous material event, nuclear accident) is very important for the protection of the public and workers' safety and health. In this context, several protective actions can be performed, such as, evacuation of an area; protection of the population in buildings; and use of personal protective equipment. The best solution is not unique when multiple criteria are taken into consideration (e.g. health consequences, social disruption, economic cost). This paper presents a methodology for multi-objective optimization of emergency response planning in case of a major accident. The emergency policy with regards to protective actions to be implemented is optimized. An evolutionary algorithm has been used as the optimization tool. Case studies demonstrating the methodology and its application in emergency response decision-making in case of accidents related to hazardous materials installations are presented. However, the methodology with appropriate modification is suitable for supporting decisions in assessing emergency response procedures in other cases (nuclear accidents, transportation of hazardous materials) or for land-use planning issues.

  13. Duo: A Human/Wearable Hybrid for Learning About Common Manipulate Objects

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kemp, Charles C

    2002-01-01

    ... with them. Duo is a human/wearable hybrid that is designed to learn about this important domain of human intelligence by interacting with natural manipulable objects in unconstrained environments...

  14. Relational Analysis of College Chemistry-Major Students' Conceptions of and Approaches to Learning Chemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wei-Ting; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to examine the relationships between conceptions of learning and approaches to learning in chemistry. Two questionnaires, conceptions of learning chemistry (COLC) and approaches to learning chemistry (ALC), were developed to identify 369 college chemistry-major students' (220 males and 149 females) conceptions of…

  15. Confidence-Based Data Association and Discriminative Deep Appearance Learning for Robust Online Multi-Object Tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Seung-Hwan; Yoon, Kuk-Jin

    2018-03-01

    Online multi-object tracking aims at estimating the tracks of multiple objects instantly with each incoming frame and the information provided up to the moment. It still remains a difficult problem in complex scenes, because of the large ambiguity in associating multiple objects in consecutive frames and the low discriminability between objects appearances. In this paper, we propose a robust online multi-object tracking method that can handle these difficulties effectively. We first define the tracklet confidence using the detectability and continuity of a tracklet, and decompose a multi-object tracking problem into small subproblems based on the tracklet confidence. We then solve the online multi-object tracking problem by associating tracklets and detections in different ways according to their confidence values. Based on this strategy, tracklets sequentially grow with online-provided detections, and fragmented tracklets are linked up with others without any iterative and expensive association steps. For more reliable association between tracklets and detections, we also propose a deep appearance learning method to learn a discriminative appearance model from large training datasets, since the conventional appearance learning methods do not provide rich representation that can distinguish multiple objects with large appearance variations. In addition, we combine online transfer learning for improving appearance discriminability by adapting the pre-trained deep model during online tracking. Experiments with challenging public datasets show distinct performance improvement over other state-of-the-arts batch and online tracking methods, and prove the effect and usefulness of the proposed methods for online multi-object tracking.

  16. Robustness and prediction accuracy of machine learning for objective visual quality assessment

    OpenAIRE

    HINES, ANDREW

    2014-01-01

    PUBLISHED Lisbon, Portugal Machine Learning (ML) is a powerful tool to support the development of objective visual quality assessment metrics, serving as a substitute model for the perceptual mechanisms acting in visual quality appreciation. Nevertheless, the reli- ability of ML-based techniques within objective quality as- sessment metrics is often questioned. In this study, the ro- bustness of ML in supporting objective quality assessment is investigated, specific...

  17. Integrating language and content learning objectives : the Bilkent University adjunct model

    OpenAIRE

    Doğan, Egemen Barış

    2003-01-01

    Cataloged from PDF version of article. In response to a global interest in learning English, many instructional approaches, methods, and techniques have been developed. Some have been short-lived, and others have sustained themselves for longer periods of time. Content-based instruction (CBI) — a particular approach to CBI involving a pairing of language and content classes with shared language and content learning objectives — have been considered as viable ways to teach la...

  18. Cortical Dynamics of Contextually Cued Attentive Visual Learning and Search: Spatial and Object Evidence Accumulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Tsung-Ren; Grossberg, Stephen

    2010-01-01

    How do humans use target-predictive contextual information to facilitate visual search? How are consistently paired scenic objects and positions learned and used to more efficiently guide search in familiar scenes? For example, humans can learn that a certain combination of objects may define a context for a kitchen and trigger a more efficient…

  19. Analyzing the Quality of Students Interaction in a Distance Learning Object-Oriented Programming Discipline

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvalho, Elizabeth Simão

    2015-01-01

    Teaching object-oriented programming to students in an in-classroom environment demands well-thought didactic and pedagogical strategies in order to guarantee a good level of apprenticeship. To teach it on a completely distance learning environment (e-learning) imposes possibly other strategies, besides those that the e-learning model of Open…

  20. Different Modes of Digital Learning Object Use in School Settings: Do We Design for Individual or Collaborative Learning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akpinar, Yavuz

    2014-01-01

    The aim of the studies reported in this paper is to gain classroom based empirical evidence on the learning effectiveness of learning objects used in two types of study settings: Collaborative and individual. A total of 127 seventh and ninth grade students participated in the experiments. They were assigned into one of the study modes and worked…

  1. ROBUSTNESS AND PREDICTION ACCURACY OF MACHINE LEARNING FOR OBJECTIVE VISUAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT

    OpenAIRE

    Hines, Andrew; Kendrick, Paul; Barri, Adriaan; Narwaria, Manish; Redi, Judith A.

    2014-01-01

    Machine Learning (ML) is a powerful tool to support the development of objective visual quality assessment metrics, serving as a substitute model for the perceptual mechanisms acting in visual quality appreciation. Nevertheless, the reliability of ML-based techniques within objective quality assessment metrics is often questioned. In this study, the robustness of ML in supporting objective quality assessment is investigated, specifically when the feature set adopted for prediction is suboptim...

  2. Self-Learning Embedded System for Object Identification in Intelligent Infrastructure Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villaverde, Monica; Perez, David; Moreno, Felix

    2015-11-17

    The emergence of new horizons in the field of travel assistant management leads to the development of cutting-edge systems focused on improving the existing ones. Moreover, new opportunities are being also presented since systems trend to be more reliable and autonomous. In this paper, a self-learning embedded system for object identification based on adaptive-cooperative dynamic approaches is presented for intelligent sensor's infrastructures. The proposed system is able to detect and identify moving objects using a dynamic decision tree. Consequently, it combines machine learning algorithms and cooperative strategies in order to make the system more adaptive to changing environments. Therefore, the proposed system may be very useful for many applications like shadow tolls since several types of vehicles may be distinguished, parking optimization systems, improved traffic conditions systems, etc.

  3. Self-Learning Embedded System for Object Identification in Intelligent Infrastructure Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica Villaverde

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The emergence of new horizons in the field of travel assistant management leads to the development of cutting-edge systems focused on improving the existing ones. Moreover, new opportunities are being also presented since systems trend to be more reliable and autonomous. In this paper, a self-learning embedded system for object identification based on adaptive-cooperative dynamic approaches is presented for intelligent sensor’s infrastructures. The proposed system is able to detect and identify moving objects using a dynamic decision tree. Consequently, it combines machine learning algorithms and cooperative strategies in order to make the system more adaptive to changing environments. Therefore, the proposed system may be very useful for many applications like shadow tolls since several types of vehicles may be distinguished, parking optimization systems, improved traffic conditions systems, etc.

  4. An Achievement Degree Analysis Approach to Identifying Learning Problems in Object-Oriented Programming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allinjawi, Arwa A.; Al-Nuaim, Hana A.; Krause, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Students often face difficulties while learning object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts. Many papers have presented various assessment methods for diagnosing learning problems to improve the teaching of programming in computer science (CS) higher education. The research presented in this article illustrates that although max-min composition is…

  5. Multi-documents summarization based on clustering of learning object using hierarchical clustering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mustamiin, M.; Budi, I.; Santoso, H. B.

    2018-03-01

    The Open Educational Resources (OER) is a portal of teaching, learning and research resources that is available in public domain and freely accessible. Learning contents or Learning Objects (LO) are granular and can be reused for constructing new learning materials. LO ontology-based searching techniques can be used to search for LO in the Indonesia OER. In this research, LO from search results are used as an ingredient to create new learning materials according to the topic searched by users. Summarizing-based grouping of LO use Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC) with the dependency context to the user’s query which has an average value F-Measure of 0.487, while summarizing by K-Means F-Measure only has an average value of 0.336.

  6. Can Pre-Service Physical Education Majors Identify Learning Standards during Authentic Teaching Episodes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kniffin, Mike; Foley, John; MacDonald, Lynn Couturier; Howarth, Kath

    2014-01-01

    Only a handful of research studies have been conducted to determine whether or not physical educators or pre-service physical education teachers are utilizing learning standards in their teaching. While pre-service teachers are typically required to align lesson objectives and content, their extent of their understanding of how learning standards…

  7. RuleML-Based Learning Object Interoperability on the Semantic Web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biletskiy, Yevgen; Boley, Harold; Ranganathan, Girish R.

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The present paper aims to describe an approach for building the Semantic Web rules for interoperation between heterogeneous learning objects, namely course outlines from different universities, and one of the rule uses: identifying (in)compatibilities between course descriptions. Design/methodology/approach: As proof of concept, a rule…

  8. Experiences with Reusable E-Learning Objects: From Theory to Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muzio, Jeanette A.; Heins, Tanya; Mundell, Roger

    2002-01-01

    Explains reusable electronic learning objects (ELOs) that are stored in a database and discusses the practical application of creating and reusing ELOs at Royal Roads University (Canada). Highlights include ELOs and the instructional design of online courses; and examples of using templates to develop interactive ELOs. (Author/LRW)

  9. How does the brain rapidly learn and reorganize view-invariant and position-invariant object representations in the inferotemporal cortex?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Yongqiang; Grossberg, Stephen; Markowitz, Jeffrey

    2011-12-01

    All primates depend for their survival on being able to rapidly learn about and recognize objects. Objects may be visually detected at multiple positions, sizes, and viewpoints. How does the brain rapidly learn and recognize objects while scanning a scene with eye movements, without causing a combinatorial explosion in the number of cells that are needed? How does the brain avoid the problem of erroneously classifying parts of different objects together at the same or different positions in a visual scene? In monkeys and humans, a key area for such invariant object category learning and recognition is the inferotemporal cortex (IT). A neural model is proposed to explain how spatial and object attention coordinate the ability of IT to learn invariant category representations of objects that are seen at multiple positions, sizes, and viewpoints. The model clarifies how interactions within a hierarchy of processing stages in the visual brain accomplish this. These stages include the retina, lateral geniculate nucleus, and cortical areas V1, V2, V4, and IT in the brain's What cortical stream, as they interact with spatial attention processes within the parietal cortex of the Where cortical stream. The model builds upon the ARTSCAN model, which proposed how view-invariant object representations are generated. The positional ARTSCAN (pARTSCAN) model proposes how the following additional processes in the What cortical processing stream also enable position-invariant object representations to be learned: IT cells with persistent activity, and a combination of normalizing object category competition and a view-to-object learning law which together ensure that unambiguous views have a larger effect on object recognition than ambiguous views. The model explains how such invariant learning can be fooled when monkeys, or other primates, are presented with an object that is swapped with another object during eye movements to foveate the original object. The swapping procedure is

  10. Catalogue of Interactive Learning Objectives to improve an Integrated Medical and Dental Curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoodi, Benjamin; Sagheb, K; Sagheb, Ka; Schulz, P; Willershausen, B; Al-Nawas, B; Walter, C

    2016-12-01

    Online learning media are increasingly being incorporated into medical and dental education. However, the coordination between obligatory and facultative teaching domains still remains unsatisfying. The Catalogue of Interactive Learning Objectives of the University Clinic of Mainz (ILKUM), aims to offer knowledge transfer for students while being mindful of their individual qualifications. Its hierarchical structure is designed according to the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) levels of competence. The ILKUM was designed to establish a stronger interconnection between already existing and prospective learning strategies. All contents are linked to the current lectures as well as to e-learning modules, e.g., clinical case studies and OR videos. Students can conduct self-examinations regarding specific learning objectives. Since 2007, ILKUM has been developed and analyzed regarding its acceptance among dental students. These improved e-learning techniques foster time and location-independent access to study materials and allow an estimation of the knowledge achieved by students. Surveys of our students clearly show a large demand for upgrading ILKUM content (89%; n = 172) with integrated self-testing (89%; n = 174). In parallel to the advancement of our e-learning offering, a portion of internet-based learning is constantly rising among students. The broad acceptance and demand for the development of ILKUM show its potential. Moreover, ILKUM grants fast, topic-oriented querying of learning content without time and locale limitations as well as direct determination of the individually needed knowledge conditions. The long-term goal of the ILKUM project is to be a sustainable, important additional modality of teaching and training for dental and medical students.

  11. The Implementation of Medical Informatics in the National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrends, Marianne; Steffens, Sandra; Marschollek, Michael

    2017-01-01

    The National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) describes medical skills and attitudes without being ordered by subjects or organs. Thus, the NKLM enables systematic curriculum mapping and supports curricular transparency. In this paper we describe where learning objectives related to Medical Informatics (MI) in Hannover coincide with other subjects and where they are taught exclusively in MI. An instance of the web-based MERLIN-database was used for the mapping process. In total 52 learning objectives overlapping with 38 other subjects could be allocated to MI. No overlap exists for six learning objectives describing explicitly topics of information technology or data management for scientific research. Most of the overlap was found for learning objectives relating to documentation and aspects of data privacy. The identification of numerous shared learning objectives with other subjects does not mean that other subjects teach the same content as MI. Identifying common learning objectives rather opens up the possibility for teaching cooperations which could lead to an important exchange and hopefully an improvement in medical education. Mapping of a whole medical curriculum offers the opportunity to identify common ground between MI and other medical subjects. Furthermore, in regard to MI, the interaction with other medical subjects can strengthen its role in medical education.

  12. Communication in Health Professions: A European consensus on inter- and multi-professional learning objectives in German.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bachmann, Cadja; Kiessling, Claudia; Härtl, Anja; Haak, Rainer

    2016-01-01

    Communication is object of increasing attention in the health professions. Teaching communication competencies should already begin in undergraduate education or pre-registration training. The aim of this project was to translate the Health Professions Core Communication Curriculum (HPCCC), an English catalogue of learning objectives, into German to make its content widely accessible in the German-speaking countries. This catalogue lists 61 educational objectives and was agreed on by 121 international communication experts. A European reference framework for inter- and multi-professional curriculum development for communication in the health professions in German-speaking countries should be provided. The German version of the HPCCC was drafted by six academics and went through multiple revisions until consensus was reached. The learning objectives were paired with appropriate teaching and assessment tools drawn from the database of the teaching Committee of the European Association for Communication Health Care (tEACH). The HPCCC learning objectives are now available in German and can be applied for curriculum planning and development in the different German-speaking health professions, the educational objectives can also be used for inter-professional purposes. Examples for teaching methods and assessment tools are given for using and implementing the objectives. The German version of the HPCCC with learning objectives for communication in health professions can contribute significantly to inter- and multi-professional curriculum development in the health care professions in the German-speaking countries. Examples for teaching methods and assessment tools from the materials compiled by tEACH supplement the curricular content and provide suggestions for practical implementation of the learning objectives in teaching and assessment. The relevance of the German HPCCC to the processes of curriculum development for the various health professions and inter

  13. Small Schools Student Learning Objectives, 9-12: Mathematics, Reading, Reading in the Content Areas, Language Arts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, JoAnne, Ed.; Hartl, David, Ed.

    Designed by Washington curriculum specialists and secondary teachers to assist teachers in small schools with the improvement of curriculum and instruction and to aid smaller districts lacking curriculum personnel to comply with Washington's Student Learning Objectives Law, this handbook contains learning objectives in the areas of language arts,…

  14. A Meta-Relational Approach for the Definition and Management of Hybrid Learning Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navarro, Antonio; Fernandez-Pampillon, Ana Ma.; Fernandez-Chamizo, Carmen; Fernandez-Valmayor, Alfredo

    2013-01-01

    Electronic learning objects (LOs) are commonly conceived of as digital units of information used for teaching and learning. To facilitate their classification for pedagogical planning and retrieval purposes, LOs are complemented with metadata (e.g., the author). These metadata are usually restricted by a set of predetermined tags to which the…

  15. 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

  16. Database functionality for learning objects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sessink, O.D.T.; Beeftink, H.H.; Hartog, R.J.M.

    2005-01-01

    The development of student-activating digital learning material in six research projects revealed several shortcomings in the current learning management systems. Once the SCORM 2004 and the IMS Sharable State Persistence specifications are implemented in learning management systems, some of these

  17. Assuring the Quality of Agricultural Learning Repositories: Issues for the Learning Object Metadata Creation Process of the CGIAR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zschocke, Thomas; Beniest, Jan

    The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Re- search (CGIAR) has established a digital repository to share its teaching and learning resources along with descriptive educational information based on the IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard. As a critical component of any digital repository, quality metadata are critical not only to enable users to find more easily the resources they require, but also for the operation and interoperability of the repository itself. Studies show that repositories have difficulties in obtaining good quality metadata from their contributors, especially when this process involves many different stakeholders as is the case with the CGIAR as an international organization. To address this issue the CGIAR began investigating the Open ECBCheck as well as the ISO/IEC 19796-1 standard to establish quality protocols for its training. The paper highlights the implications and challenges posed by strengthening the metadata creation workflow for disseminating learning objects of the CGIAR.

  18. Evaluating the Use of Learning Objects for Improving Calculus Readiness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kay, Robin; Kletskin, Ilona

    2010-01-01

    Pre-calculus concepts such as working with functions and solving equations are essential for students to explore limits, rates of change, and integrals. Yet many students have a weak understanding of these key concepts which impedes performance in their first year university Calculus course. A series of online learning objects was developed to…

  19. Lessons learned from curriculum changes and setting curriculum objectives at the University of Pennsylvania's Earth and Environmental Science Department

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dmochowski, J. E.

    2009-12-01

    Recent restructuring of the University of Pennsylvania’s curriculum, including a revised multi-disciplinary Environmental Studies major and a proposed Environmental Science major has led to several changes, including a mandatory junior research seminar. Feedback from students indicates that a more structured curriculum has helped guide them through the multi-disciplinary Environmental Studies major. The addition of mandatory courses in Statistics, Geographical and Environmental Modeling, as well as Economics and Policy has ensured that students have important skills needed to succeed after graduation. We have compiled a curriculum objective matrix to clarify both the broad and focused objectives of our curriculum and how each course helps to fulfill these objectives. An important aspect of both majors is the Senior Thesis. The junior research seminar was recently revised to help students prepare for their thesis research. Topic selection, library research, data presentation, basic research methods, advisor identification, and funding options are discussed. Throughout the course, faculty from within the department lecture about their research and highlight opportunities for undergraduates. In one assignment, students are given a few types of datasets and asked to present the data and error analysis in various formats using different software (SPSS and Excel). The final paper was a research proposal outlining the student’s Senior Thesis. Based on both the university and instructor written course evaluations, students felt they benefited most from writing their senior thesis proposal; doing assignments on data analysis, library research and critical analysis; and the faculty research lectures. The lessons learned in restructuring this flexible major and providing a research seminar in the junior year may benefit other departments considering such changes.

  20. Major Assumptions of Mastery Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Lorin W.

    Mastery learning can be described as a set of group-based, individualized, teaching and learning strategies based on the premise that virtually all students can and will, in time, learn what the school has to teach. Inherent in this description are assumptions concerning the nature of schools, classroom instruction, and learners. According to the…

  1. Humanoid infers Archimedes' principle: understanding physical relations and object affordances through cumulative learning experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Emerging studies indicate that several species such as corvids, apes and children solve ‘The Crow and the Pitcher’ task (from Aesop's Fables) in diverse conditions. Hidden beneath this fascinating paradigm is a fundamental question: by cumulatively interacting with different objects, how can an agent abstract the underlying cause–effect relations to predict and creatively exploit potential affordances of novel objects in the context of sought goals? Re-enacting this Aesop's Fable task on a humanoid within an open-ended ‘learning–prediction–abstraction’ loop, we address this problem and (i) present a brain-guided neural framework that emulates rapid one-shot encoding of ongoing experiences into a long-term memory and (ii) propose four task-agnostic learning rules (elimination, growth, uncertainty and status quo) that correlate predictions from remembered past experiences with the unfolding present situation to gradually abstract the underlying causal relations. Driven by the proposed architecture, the ensuing robot behaviours illustrated causal learning and anticipation similar to natural agents. Results further demonstrate that by cumulatively interacting with few objects, the predictions of the robot in case of novel objects converge close to the physical law, i.e. the Archimedes principle: this being independent of both the objects explored during learning and the order of their cumulative exploration. PMID:27466440

  2. Employing Machine-Learning Methods to Study Young Stellar Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Nicholas

    2018-01-01

    Vast amounts of data exist in the astronomical data archives, and yet a large number of sources remain unclassified. We developed a multi-wavelength pipeline to classify infrared sources. The pipeline uses supervised machine learning methods to classify objects into the appropriate categories. The program is fed data that is already classified to train it, and is then applied to unknown catalogues. The primary use for such a pipeline is the rapid classification and cataloging of data that would take a much longer time to classify otherwise. While our primary goal is to study young stellar objects (YSOs), the applications extend beyond the scope of this project. We present preliminary results from our analysis and discuss future applications.

  3. Social interaction facilitates word learning in preverbal infants: Word-object mapping and word segmentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakuno, Yoko; Omori, Takahide; Yamamoto, Jun-Ichi; Minagawa, Yasuyo

    2017-08-01

    In natural settings, infants learn spoken language with the aid of a caregiver who explicitly provides social signals. Although previous studies have demonstrated that young infants are sensitive to these signals that facilitate language development, the impact of real-life interactions on early word segmentation and word-object mapping remains elusive. We tested whether infants aged 5-6 months and 9-10 months could segment a word from continuous speech and acquire a word-object relation in an ecologically valid setting. In Experiment 1, infants were exposed to a live tutor, while in Experiment 2, another group of infants were exposed to a televised tutor. Results indicate that both younger and older infants were capable of segmenting a word and learning a word-object association only when the stimuli were derived from a live tutor in a natural manner, suggesting that real-life interaction enhances the learning of spoken words in preverbal infants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Clarity in Teaching and Active Learning in Undergraduate Microbiology Course for Non-Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marbach-Ad, Gili; McGinnis, J. Randy; Pease, Rebecca; Dai, Amy H.; Schalk, Kelly A.; Benson, Spencer

    2010-01-01

    We investigated a pedagogical innovation in an undergraduate microbiology course (Microbes and Society) for non-majors and education majors. The goals of the curriculum and pedagogical transformation were to promote active learning and concentrate on clarity in teaching. This course was part of a longitudinal project (Project Nexus) which…

  5. Learning to Appraise the Quality of Qualitative Research Articles: A Contextualized Learning Object for Constructing Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chenail, Ronald J.

    2011-01-01

    Helping beginning qualitative researchers critically appraise qualitative research articles is a common learning objective for introductory methodology courses. To aid students in achieving competency in appraising the quality of qualitative research articles, a multi-part activity incorporating the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme's (CASP)…

  6. #gottacatchemall: Exploring Pokemon Go in Search of Learning Enhancement Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cacchione, Annamaria; Procter-Legg, Emma; Petersen, Sobah Abbas

    2017-01-01

    The Augmented Reality Game, Pokemon Go, took the world by storm in the summer of 2016. City landscapes were decorated with amusing, colourful objects called Pokemon, and the holiday activities were enhanced by catching these wonderful creatures. In light of this, it is inevitable for mobile language learning researchers to reflect on the impact of…

  7. DROpS: an object of learning in computer simulation of discrete events

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hugo Alves Silva Ribeiro

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This work presents the “Realistic Dynamics Of Simulated Operations” (DROpS, the name given to the dynamics using the “dropper” device as an object of teaching and learning. The objective is to present alternatives for professors teaching content related to simulation of discrete events to graduate students in production engineering. The aim is to enable students to develop skills related to data collection, modeling, statistical analysis, and interpretation of results. This dynamic has been developed and applied to the students by placing them in a situation analogous to a real industry, where various concepts related to computer simulation were discussed, allowing the students to put these concepts into practice in an interactive manner, thus facilitating learning

  8. The Role of Reusable Learning Objects in Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan M. Gee

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Out of early research, Cisco Systems (1999 have built an impressive foundation that advocates for reusable learning objects (RLOs. As the need for online methods for delivering both formal and informal educational content has increased, the prospect of greater influence through carefully constructed RLOs has grown. RLOs are any digital resource that can be used and reused to enhance online learning. RLOs typically are small, discrete, self-contained digital objects that may be sequenced, combined, and used within a variety of instructional activities. RLOs have been implemented in nursing, pharmacy, and physician assistant programs. However, there is a lack of literature regarding RLOs in occupational therapy education. An attitudinal survey was administered to occupational therapy students after they had used an RLO focused on goal writing. Student preferences toward RLO content, instructional design, and eLearning were generally positive. Nearly three-quarters of the students who responded to the survey indicated that the RLO presented was beneficial. All respondents noted that they would use the RLO for future occupational therapy courses. It is argued that incorporating RLOs offers a cost-effective, efficient learning tool, and also adds credibility to the given curriculum program as being innovative with instructing occupational-therapy related concepts.

  9. Behavioral Objectives, the Cult of Efficiency, and Foreign Language Learning: Are They Compatible?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tumposky, Nancy Rennau

    1984-01-01

    Surveys the literature regarding the use of behavioral objectives in education and in foreign language instruction and examines the roots of the behavioral objectives movement in behaviorist psychology and the scientific management movement of the 1920s. Discusses implications for foreign and second language learning and provides suggestions for…

  10. Video Cases in Teacher Education: A review study on intended and achieved learning objectives by video cases

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geerts, Walter; Van der Werff, Anne; Hummel, Hans; Van Geert, Paul

    2014-01-01

    This literature review focuses on the use of video cases in the education of preservice teachers as a means of achieving higher order learning objectives that are necessary for gaining situated knowledge. An overview of both intended and achieved learning objectives in relevant studies involving

  11. Creative Generation of 3D Objects with Deep Learning and Innovation Engines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lehman, Joel Anthony; Risi, Sebastian; Clune, Jeff

    2016-01-01

    Advances in supervised learning with deep neural networks have enabled robust classification in many real world domains. An interesting question is if such advances can also be leveraged effectively for computational creativity. One insight is that because evolutionary algorithms are free from st...... creativity. The results of this automated process are interesting and recognizable 3D-printable objects, demonstrating the creative potential for combining evolutionary computation and deep learning in this way....

  12. Learning of perceptual grouping for object segmentation on RGB-D data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richtsfeld, Andreas; Mörwald, Thomas; Prankl, Johann; Zillich, Michael; Vincze, Markus

    2014-01-01

    Object segmentation of unknown objects with arbitrary shape in cluttered scenes is an ambitious goal in computer vision and became a great impulse with the introduction of cheap and powerful RGB-D sensors. We introduce a framework for segmenting RGB-D images where data is processed in a hierarchical fashion. After pre-clustering on pixel level parametric surface patches are estimated. Different relations between patch-pairs are calculated, which we derive from perceptual grouping principles, and support vector machine classification is employed to learn Perceptual Grouping. Finally, we show that object hypotheses generation with Graph-Cut finds a globally optimal solution and prevents wrong grouping. Our framework is able to segment objects, even if they are stacked or jumbled in cluttered scenes. We also tackle the problem of segmenting objects when they are partially occluded. The work is evaluated on publicly available object segmentation databases and also compared with state-of-the-art work of object segmentation.

  13. Resident Space Object Characterization and Behavior Understanding via Machine Learning and Ontology-based Bayesian Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furfaro, R.; Linares, R.; Gaylor, D.; Jah, M.; Walls, R.

    2016-09-01

    In this paper, we present an end-to-end approach that employs machine learning techniques and Ontology-based Bayesian Networks (BN) to characterize the behavior of resident space objects. State-of-the-Art machine learning architectures (e.g. Extreme Learning Machines, Convolutional Deep Networks) are trained on physical models to learn the Resident Space Object (RSO) features in the vectorized energy and momentum states and parameters. The mapping from measurements to vectorized energy and momentum states and parameters enables behavior characterization via clustering in the features space and subsequent RSO classification. Additionally, Space Object Behavioral Ontologies (SOBO) are employed to define and capture the domain knowledge-base (KB) and BNs are constructed from the SOBO in a semi-automatic fashion to execute probabilistic reasoning over conclusions drawn from trained classifiers and/or directly from processed data. Such an approach enables integrating machine learning classifiers and probabilistic reasoning to support higher-level decision making for space domain awareness applications. The innovation here is to use these methods (which have enjoyed great success in other domains) in synergy so that it enables a "from data to discovery" paradigm by facilitating the linkage and fusion of large and disparate sources of information via a Big Data Science and Analytics framework.

  14. Associative vocabulary learning: development and testing of two paradigms for the (re-) acquisition of action- and object-related words.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freundlieb, Nils; Ridder, Volker; Dobel, Christian; Enriquez-Geppert, Stefanie; Baumgaertner, Annette; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Gerloff, Christian; Hummel, Friedhelm C; Liuzzi, Gianpiero

    2012-01-01

    Despite a growing number of studies, the neurophysiology of adult vocabulary acquisition is still poorly understood. One reason is that paradigms that can easily be combined with neuroscientfic methods are rare. Here, we tested the efficiency of two paradigms for vocabulary (re-) acquisition, and compared the learning of novel words for actions and objects. Cortical networks involved in adult native-language word processing are widespread, with differences postulated between words for objects and actions. Words and what they stand for are supposed to be grounded in perceptual and sensorimotor brain circuits depending on their meaning. If there are specific brain representations for different word categories, we hypothesized behavioural differences in the learning of action-related and object-related words. Paradigm A, with the learning of novel words for body-related actions spread out over a number of days, revealed fast learning of these new action words, and stable retention up to 4 weeks after training. The single-session Paradigm B employed objects and actions. Performance during acquisition did not differ between action-related and object-related words (time*word category: p = 0.01), but the translation rate was clearly better for object-related (79%) than for action-related words (53%, p = 0.002). Both paradigms yielded robust associative learning of novel action-related words, as previously demonstrated for object-related words. Translation success differed for action- and object-related words, which may indicate different neural mechanisms. The paradigms tested here are well suited to investigate such differences with neuroscientific means. Given the stable retention and minimal requirements for conscious effort, these learning paradigms are promising for vocabulary re-learning in brain-lesioned people. In combination with neuroimaging, neuro-stimulation or pharmacological intervention, they may well advance the understanding of language learning

  15. From brain synapses to systems for learning and memory: Object recognition, spatial navigation, timed conditioning, and movement control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossberg, Stephen

    2015-09-24

    This article provides an overview of neural models of synaptic learning and memory whose expression in adaptive behavior depends critically on the circuits and systems in which the synapses are embedded. It reviews Adaptive Resonance Theory, or ART, models that use excitatory matching and match-based learning to achieve fast category learning and whose learned memories are dynamically stabilized by top-down expectations, attentional focusing, and memory search. ART clarifies mechanistic relationships between consciousness, learning, expectation, attention, resonance, and synchrony. ART models are embedded in ARTSCAN architectures that unify processes of invariant object category learning, recognition, spatial and object attention, predictive remapping, and eye movement search, and that clarify how conscious object vision and recognition may fail during perceptual crowding and parietal neglect. The generality of learned categories depends upon a vigilance process that is regulated by acetylcholine via the nucleus basalis. Vigilance can get stuck at too high or too low values, thereby causing learning problems in autism and medial temporal amnesia. Similar synaptic learning laws support qualitatively different behaviors: Invariant object category learning in the inferotemporal cortex; learning of grid cells and place cells in the entorhinal and hippocampal cortices during spatial navigation; and learning of time cells in the entorhinal-hippocampal system during adaptively timed conditioning, including trace conditioning. Spatial and temporal processes through the medial and lateral entorhinal-hippocampal system seem to be carried out with homologous circuit designs. Variations of a shared laminar neocortical circuit design have modeled 3D vision, speech perception, and cognitive working memory and learning. A complementary kind of inhibitory matching and mismatch learning controls movement. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Brain and Memory

  16. Practicing doctors' perceptions on new learning objectives for Vietnamese medical schools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoat, L; Dung, DV; Wright, E.P.

    2008-01-01

    Background. As part of the process to develop more community-oriented medical teaching in Vietnam, eight medical schools prepared a set of standard learning objectives with attention to the needs of a doctor working with the community. Because they were prepared based on government documents and the

  17. Designing Learning Object Repositories as Systems for Managing Educational Communities Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sampson, Demetrios G.; Zervas, Panagiotis

    2013-01-01

    Over the past years, a number of international initiatives that recognize the importance of sharing and reusing digital educational resources among educational communities through the use of Learning Object Repositories (LORs) have emerged. Typically, these initiatives focus on collecting digital educational resources that are offered by their…

  18. iLOG: A Framework for Automatic Annotation of Learning Objects with Empirical Usage Metadata

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, L. D.; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Samal, Ashok; Nugent, Gwen

    2012-01-01

    Learning objects (LOs) are digital or non-digital entities used for learning, education or training commonly stored in repositories searchable by their associated metadata. Unfortunately, based on the current standards, such metadata is often missing or incorrectly entered making search difficult or impossible. In this paper, we investigate…

  19. Reporting Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in Major Incidents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fattah, Sabina; Johnsen, Anne Siri; Sollid, Stephen J M

    2016-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Research on helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in major incidents is predominately based on case descriptions reported in a heterogeneous fashion. Uniform data reported with a consensus-based template could facilitate the collection, analysis, and exchange of experiences...... variables were determined by consensus. These variables were formatted in a template with 4 main categories: HEMS background information, the major incident characteristics relevant to HEMS, the HEMS response to the major incident, and the key lessons learned. CONCLUSION: Based on opinions from European...

  20. Curriculum development for a national cardiotocography education program: a Delphi survey to obtain consensus on learning objectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thellesen, Line; Hedegaard, Morten; Bergholt, Thomas; Colov, Nina P; Hoegh, Stinne; Sorensen, Jette L

    2015-08-01

    To define learning objectives for a national cardiotocography (CTG) education program based on expert consensus. A three-round Delphi survey. One midwife and one obstetrician from each maternity unit in Denmark were appointed based on CTG teaching experience and clinical obstetric experience. Following national and international guidelines, the research group determined six topics as important when using CTG: fetal physiology, equipment, indication, interpretation, clinical management, and communication/responsibility. In the first Delphi round, participants listed one to five learning objectives within the predefined topics. Responses were analyzed by a directed approach to content analysis. Phrasing was modified in accordance with Bloom's taxonomy. In the second and third Delphi rounds, participants rated each objective on a five-point relevance scale. Consensus was predefined as objectives with a mean rating value of ≥ 3. A prioritized list of CTG learning objectives. A total of 42 midwives and obstetricians from 21 maternity units were invited to participate, of whom 26 completed all three Delphi rounds, representing 18 maternity units. The final prioritized list included 40 objectives. The highest ranked objectives emphasized CTG interpretation and clinical management. The lowest ranked objectives emphasized fetal physiology. Mean ratings of relevance ranged from 3.15 to 5.00. National consensus on CTG learning objectives was achieved using the Delphi methodology. This was an initial step in developing a valid CTG education program. A prioritized list of objectives will clarify which topics to emphasize in a CTG education program. © 2015 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  1. Evaluation of a digital learning object (DLO) to support the learning process in radiographic dental diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busanello, F H; da Silveira, P F; Liedke, G S; Arús, N A; Vizzotto, M B; Silveira, H E D; Silveira, H L D

    2015-11-01

    Studies have shown that inappropriate therapeutic strategies may be adopted if crown and root changes are misdiagnosed, potentially leading to undesirable consequences. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate a digital learning object, developed to improve skills in diagnosing radiographic dental changes. The object was developed using the Visual Basic Application (VBA) software and evaluated by 62 undergraduate students (male: 24 and female: 38) taking an imaging diagnosis course. Participants were divided in two groups: test group, which used the object and control group, which attended conventional classes. After 3 weeks, students answered a 10-question test and took a practice test to diagnose 20 changes in periapical radiographs. The results show that test group performed better that control group in both tests, with statistically significant difference (P = 0.004 and 0.003, respectively). In overall, female students were better than male students. Specific aspects of object usability were assessed using a structured questionnaire based on the System Usability Scale (SUS), with a score of 90.5 and 81.6 by male and female students, respectively. The results obtained in this study suggest that students who used the DLO performed better than those who used conventional methods. This suggests that the DLO may be a useful teaching tool for dentistry undergraduates, on distance learning courses and as a complementary tool in face-to-face teaching. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Self-regulated learning: A key learning effect of feedback in a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background. Problem-based learning (PBL) has been adopted across many health professions training institutions. Small-group student tutorials are a major component of PBL. Facilitator feedback during a tutorial is a key activity to promote self-regulated learning. Objective. To explore ways in which students use feedback ...

  3. E-learning teaches attendings "how to" objectively assess pediatric urology trainees' surgery skills for orchiopexy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez, Nicolas; Maizels, Max; Farhat, Walid; Smith, Edwin; Liu, Dennis; Chua, Michael; Bhanji, Yasin

    2018-04-01

    Established methods to train pediatric urology surgery by residency training programs require updating in response to administrative changes such as new, reduced trainee duty hours. Therefore, new objective methods must be developed to teach trainees. We approached this need by creating e-learning to teach attendings objective assessment of trainee skills using the Zwisch scale, an established assessment tool. The aim of this study was to identify whether or not e-learning is an appropriate platform for effective teaching of this assessment tool, by assessing inter-rater correlation of assessments made by the attendings after participation in the e-learning. Pediatric orchiopexy was used as the index case. An e-learning tool was created to teach attending surgeons objective assessment of trainees' surgical skills. First, e-learning content was created which showed the assessment method videotape of resident surgery done in the operating room. Next, attendings were enrolled to e-learn this method. Finally, the ability of enrollees to assess resident surgery skill performance was tested. Namely, test video was made showing a trainee performing inguinal orchiopexy. All enrollees viewed the same online videos. Assessments of surgical skills (Zwisch scale) were entered into an online survey. Data were analyzed by intercorrelation coefficient kappa analysis (strong correlation was ICC ≥ 0.7). A total of 11 attendings were enrolled. All accessed the online learning and then made assessments of surgical skills trainees showed on videotapes. The e-learning comprised three modules: 1. "Core concepts," in which users learned the assessment tool methods; 2. "Learn to assess," in which users learned how to assess by watching video clips, explaining the assessment method; and 3. "Test," in which users tested their skill at making assessments by watching video clips and then actively inputting their ratings of surgical and global skills as viewed in the video clips (Figure

  4. Learning Object Metadata in a Web-Based Learning Environment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Avgeriou, Paris; Koutoumanos, Anastasios; Retalis, Symeon; Papaspyrou, Nikolaos

    2000-01-01

    The plethora and variance of learning resources embedded in modern web-based learning environments require a mechanism to enable their structured administration. This goal can be achieved by defining metadata on them and constructing a system that manages the metadata in the context of the learning

  5. Smart learning objects for smart education in computer science theory, methodology and robot-based implementation

    CERN Document Server

    Stuikys, Vytautas

    2015-01-01

    This monograph presents the challenges, vision and context to design smart learning objects (SLOs) through Computer Science (CS) education modelling and feature model transformations. It presents the latest research on the meta-programming-based generative learning objects (the latter with advanced features are treated as SLOs) and the use of educational robots in teaching CS topics. The introduced methodology includes the overall processes to develop SLO and smart educational environment (SEE) and integrates both into the real education setting to provide teaching in CS using constructivist a

  6. Consideration of learning orientations as an application of achievement goals in evaluating life science majors in introductory physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, Andrew J.; Bertram, Charles A.

    2018-06-01

    When considering performing an Introductory Physics for Life Sciences course transformation for one's own institution, life science majors' achievement goals are a necessary consideration to ensure the pedagogical transformation will be effective. However, achievement goals are rarely an explicit consideration in physics education research topics such as metacognition. We investigate a sample population of 218 students in a first-semester introductory algebra-based physics course, drawn from 14 laboratory sections within six semesters of course sections, to determine the influence of achievement goals on life science majors' attitudes towards physics. Learning orientations that, respectively, pertain to mastery goals and performance goals, in addition to a learning orientation that does not report a performance goal, were recorded from students in the specific context of learning a problem-solving framework during an in-class exercise. Students' learning orientations, defined within the context of students' self-reported statements in the specific context of a problem-solving-related research-based course implementation, are compared to pre-post results on physics problem-solving items in a well-established attitudinal survey instrument, in order to establish the categories' validity. In addition, mastery-related and performance-related orientations appear to extend to overall pre-post attitudinal shifts, but not to force and motion concepts or to overall course grade, within the scope of an introductory physics course. There also appears to be differentiation regarding overall course performance within health science majors, but not within biology majors, in terms of learning orientations; however, health science majors generally appear to fare less well on all measurements in the study than do biology majors, regardless of learning orientations.

  7. Embedded or linked learning objects: Implications for content development, course design and classroom use

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gail Kopp

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available This research explores the idea of embedding and linking to existing content in learning object repositories and investigates teacher-designer use of learning objects within one high school mathematics course in an online school. This qualitative case study supports and extends the learning object literature, and brings forward context-specific examples of issues around repository design, autonomy and self-containment, technical support and granularity. Moreover, these findings have implications for building learning objects and repositories that could better support teachers in their instructional design and pedagogical decision-making. Résumé : La présente recherche étudie la possibilité d’effectuer un emboîtement et d’établir des liens avec le contenu existant dans les référentiels sur les objets d’apprentissage et explore l’utilisation par les enseignants-concepteurs des objets d’apprentissage au sein d’un cours de mathématique du secondaire donné dans une école en ligne. Cette étude de cas qualitative appuie et vise la littérature sur les objets d’apprentissage et met en avant plan des exemples de questions touchant la conception de référentiels, l’autonomie et l’indépendance, le soutien technique et la granularité propres au contexte. De plus, ces conclusions ont des répercussions sur l’élaboration d’objets et de référentiels d’apprentissage qui pourraient mieux appuyer les enseignants dans le cadre de leur conception pédagogique et de leur prise de décision touchant l’enseignement.

  8. Assessing Program Learning Objectives to Improve Undergraduate Physics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menke, Carrie

    2014-03-01

    Our physics undergraduate program has five program learning objectives (PLOs) focusing on (1) physical principles, (2) mathematical expertise, (3) experimental technique, (4) communication and teamwork, and (5) research proficiency. One PLO is assessed each year, with the results guiding modifications in our curriculum and future assessment practices; we have just completed our first cycle of assessing all PLOs. Our approach strives to maximize the ease and applicability of our assessment practices while maintaining faculty's flexibility in course design and delivery. Objectives are mapped onto our core curriculum with identified coursework collected as direct evidence. We've utilized mostly descriptive rubrics, applying them at the course and program levels as well as sharing them with the students. This has resulted in more efficient assessment that is also applicable to reaccreditation efforts, higher inter-rater reliability than with other rubric types, and higher quality capstone projects. We've also found that the varied quality of student writing can interfere with our assessment of other objectives. This poster outlines our processes, resources, and how we have used PLO assessment to strengthen our undergraduate program.

  9. Learning Rich Features from RGB-D Images for Object Detection and Segmentation

    OpenAIRE

    Gupta, Saurabh; Girshick, Ross; Arbeláez, Pablo; Malik, Jitendra

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we study the problem of object detection for RGB-D images using semantically rich image and depth features. We propose a new geocentric embedding for depth images that encodes height above ground and angle with gravity for each pixel in addition to the horizontal disparity. We demonstrate that this geocentric embedding works better than using raw depth images for learning feature representations with convolutional neural networks. Our final object detection system achieves an av...

  10. Credit assignment between body and object probed by an object transportation task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Gaiqing; Zhou, Zhihao; Wang, Qining; Kording, Konrad; Wei, Kunlin

    2017-10-17

    It has been proposed that learning from movement errors involves a credit assignment problem: did I misestimate properties of the object or those of my body? For example, an overestimate of arm strength and an underestimate of the weight of a coffee cup can both lead to coffee spills. Though previous studies have found signs of simultaneous learning of the object and of the body during object manipulation, there is little behavioral evidence about their quantitative relation. Here we employed a novel weight-transportation task, in which participants lift the first cup filled with liquid while assessing their learning from errors. Specifically, we examined their transfer of learning when switching to a contralateral hand, the second identical cup, or switching both hands and cups. By comparing these transfer behaviors, we found that 25% of the learning was attributed to the object (simply because of the use of the same cup) and 58% of the learning was attributed to the body (simply because of the use of the same hand). The nervous system thus seems to partition the learning of object manipulation between the object and the body.

  11. Libraries in Second Life: New Approaches to Education, Information Sharing, Learning Object Implementation, User Interactions and Collaborations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susan Smith Nash

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Three-dimensional virtual worlds such as Second Life continue to expand the way they provide information, learning activities, and educational applications. This paper explores the types of learning activities that take place in Second Life and discusses how learning takes place, with a view toward developing effective instructional strategies. As learning objects are being launched in Second Life, new approaches to collaboration, interactivity, and cognition are being developed. Many learning-centered islands appeal to individuals who benefit from interaction with peers and instructors, and who can access learning objects such as information repositories, simulations, and interactive animations. The key advantages that Second Life offers include engaging and meaningful interaction with fellow learners, media-rich learning environments with embedded video, graphics, and interactive quizzes and assessments, an engaging environment for simulations such as virtual labs, and culturally inclusive immersive environments. However, because of the steep learning curve, technical difficulties, and cultural diversity, learners may become frustrated in Second Life. Since Second Life is social learning environment that emphasizes the creation of a self, effective learning requires step-by-step empowerment of that new, constructed self.

  12. Construction and validation of a virtual learning object on intestinal elimination stoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecílio Soares Rodrigues Braga

    Full Text Available Objective.To construct and validate a virtual learning object (VLO on intestinal elimination stoma. Methods. Applied, descriptive and quantitative study. In 2014, eight stoma therapists and eight experts in computer science took part of the research. The VLO included four steps: i planning, ii construction of VLO and changes of content; iii development of dynamic, and iv conclusion and analysis. The VLO was inserted into the Moodle virtual learning environment. The ergonomic and pedagogical validation of the VLO was performed. Results. The experts appreciated the VLO satisfactorily, and scored it between good and full agreement. Conclusion. The VLO on intestinal elimination stoma is a tool that can be implemented at undergraduate programs in nursing and continuing education programs for nurses in clinical practice, contributing significantly to improve the theoretical skills necessary for the care of ostomized people safely, with quality and enabling self-care.

  13. Object-Location-Aware Hashing for Multi-Label Image Retrieval via Automatic Mask Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Chang-Qin; Yang, Shang-Ming; Pan, Yan; Lai, Han-Jiang

    2018-09-01

    Learning-based hashing is a leading approach of approximate nearest neighbor search for large-scale image retrieval. In this paper, we develop a deep supervised hashing method for multi-label image retrieval, in which we propose to learn a binary "mask" map that can identify the approximate locations of objects in an image, so that we use this binary "mask" map to obtain length-limited hash codes which mainly focus on an image's objects but ignore the background. The proposed deep architecture consists of four parts: 1) a convolutional sub-network to generate effective image features; 2) a binary "mask" sub-network to identify image objects' approximate locations; 3) a weighted average pooling operation based on the binary "mask" to obtain feature representations and hash codes that pay most attention to foreground objects but ignore the background; and 4) the combination of a triplet ranking loss designed to preserve relative similarities among images and a cross entropy loss defined on image labels. We conduct comprehensive evaluations on four multi-label image data sets. The results indicate that the proposed hashing method achieves superior performance gains over the state-of-the-art supervised or unsupervised hashing baselines.

  14. Aspects on Teaching/Learning with Object Oriented Programming for Entry Level Courses of Engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Clara Amelia; Conte, Marcos Fernando; Riso, Bernardo Goncalves

    This work presents a proposal for Teaching/Learning, on Object Oriented Programming for Entry Level Courses of Engineering and Computer Science, on University. The philosophy of Object Oriented Programming comes as a new pattern of solution for problems, where flexibility and reusability appears over the simple data structure and sequential…

  15. Objective-guided image annotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Qi; Tsang, Ivor Wai-Hung; Gao, Shenghua

    2013-04-01

    Automatic image annotation, which is usually formulated as a multi-label classification problem, is one of the major tools used to enhance the semantic understanding of web images. Many multimedia applications (e.g., tag-based image retrieval) can greatly benefit from image annotation. However, the insufficient performance of image annotation methods prevents these applications from being practical. On the other hand, specific measures are usually designed to evaluate how well one annotation method performs for a specific objective or application, but most image annotation methods do not consider optimization of these measures, so that they are inevitably trapped into suboptimal performance of these objective-specific measures. To address this issue, we first summarize a variety of objective-guided performance measures under a unified representation. Our analysis reveals that macro-averaging measures are very sensitive to infrequent keywords, and hamming measure is easily affected by skewed distributions. We then propose a unified multi-label learning framework, which directly optimizes a variety of objective-specific measures of multi-label learning tasks. Specifically, we first present a multilayer hierarchical structure of learning hypotheses for multi-label problems based on which a variety of loss functions with respect to objective-guided measures are defined. And then, we formulate these loss functions as relaxed surrogate functions and optimize them by structural SVMs. According to the analysis of various measures and the high time complexity of optimizing micro-averaging measures, in this paper, we focus on example-based measures that are tailor-made for image annotation tasks but are seldom explored in the literature. Experiments show consistency with the formal analysis on two widely used multi-label datasets, and demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed method over state-of-the-art baseline methods in terms of example-based measures on four

  16. A Comparison of Motivation to Learn English between English Major and Non-English Major Students in a Vietnamese University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngo, Huong; Spooner-Lane, Rebecca; Mergler, Amanda

    2017-01-01

    Despite the plethora of literature examining higher education students' motivation to learn a second language, it is not known if students who choose to study English as their major differ from those who are required to study English as the minor component of their wider degree. Drawing on self-determination theory, this paper reports on the…

  17. Incremental Structured Dictionary Learning for Video Sensor-Based Object Tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Ming; Yang, Hua; Zheng, Shibao; Zhou, Yi; Yu, Zhenghua

    2014-01-01

    To tackle robust object tracking for video sensor-based applications, an online discriminative algorithm based on incremental discriminative structured dictionary learning (IDSDL-VT) is presented. In our framework, a discriminative dictionary combining both positive, negative and trivial patches is designed to sparsely represent the overlapped target patches. Then, a local update (LU) strategy is proposed for sparse coefficient learning. To formulate the training and classification process, a multiple linear classifier group based on a K-combined voting (KCV) function is proposed. As the dictionary evolves, the models are also trained to timely adapt the target appearance variation. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations on challenging image sequences compared with state-of-the-art algorithms demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm achieves a more favorable performance. We also illustrate its relay application in visual sensor networks. PMID:24549252

  18. The Major Field Test in Business: A Direct Measure of Learning in Common Business Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simmons, Susan A.; Jones, Wesley M., Jr; Bolt, Cynthia E.

    2015-01-01

    Assurance of learning and its assessment are critical focal points in collegiate schools of business as programs strive to achieve or maintain Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation. Prior research suggests that student learning in business core disciplines can be measured by the Educational Testing Service Major Field…

  19. Information Recovery Algorithm for Ground Objects in Thin Cloud Images by Fusing Guide Filter and Transfer Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HU Gensheng

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Ground object information of remote sensing images covered with thin clouds is obscure. An information recovery algorithm for ground objects in thin cloud images is proposed by fusing guide filter and transfer learning. Firstly, multi-resolution decomposition of thin cloud target images and cloud-free guidance images is performed by using multi-directional nonsubsampled dual-tree complex wavelet transform. Then the decomposed low frequency subbands are processed by using support vector guided filter and transfer learning respectively. The decomposed high frequency subbands are enhanced by using modified Laine enhancement function. The low frequency subbands output by guided filter and those predicted by transfer learning model are fused by the method of selection and weighting based on regional energy. Finally, the enhanced high frequency subbands and the fused low frequency subbands are reconstructed by using inverse multi-directional nonsubsampled dual-tree complex wavelet transform to obtain the ground object information recovery images. Experimental results of Landsat-8 OLI multispectral images show that, support vector guided filter can effectively preserve the detail information of the target images, domain adaptive transfer learning can effectively extend the range of available multi-source and multi-temporal remote sensing images, and good effects for ground object information recover are obtained by fusing guide filter and transfer learning to remove thin cloud on the remote sensing images.

  20. From Learning Object to Learning Cell: A Resource Organization Model for Ubiquitous Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Shengquan; Yang, Xianmin; Cheng, Gang; Wang, Minjuan

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a new model for organizing learning resources: Learning Cell. This model is open, evolving, cohesive, social, and context-aware. By introducing a time dimension into the organization of learning resources, Learning Cell supports the dynamic evolution of learning resources while they are being used. In addition, by introducing a…

  1. Constraints on Perceptual Learning: Objects and Dimensions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bedford, Felice L.

    1995-01-01

    Addresses two questions that may be unique to perceptual learning: What are the circumstances that produce learning? and What is the content of learning? Suggests a critical principle for each question. Provides a discussion of perceptual learning theory, how learning occurs, and what gets learned. Includes a 121-item bibliography. (DR)

  2. Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning-Based Deep Neural Networks for Cognitive Space Communications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreria, Paulo Victor R.; Paffenroth, Randy; Wyglinski, Alexander M.; Hackett, Timothy M.; Bilen, Sven G.; Reinhart, Richard C.; Mortensen, Dale J.

    2017-01-01

    Future communication subsystems of space exploration missions can potentially benefit from software-defined radios (SDRs) controlled by machine learning algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid radio resource allocation management control algorithm that integrates multi-objective reinforcement learning and deep artificial neural networks. The objective is to efficiently manage communications system resources by monitoring performance functions with common dependent variables that result in conflicting goals. The uncertainty in the performance of thousands of different possible combinations of radio parameters makes the trade-off between exploration and exploitation in reinforcement learning (RL) much more challenging for future critical space-based missions. Thus, the system should spend as little time as possible on exploring actions, and whenever it explores an action, it should perform at acceptable levels most of the time. The proposed approach enables on-line learning by interactions with the environment and restricts poor resource allocation performance through virtual environment exploration. Improvements in the multiobjective performance can be achieved via transmitter parameter adaptation on a packet-basis, with poorly predicted performance promptly resulting in rejected decisions. Simulations presented in this work considered the DVB-S2 standard adaptive transmitter parameters and additional ones expected to be present in future adaptive radio systems. Performance results are provided by analysis of the proposed hybrid algorithm when operating across a satellite communication channel from Earth to GEO orbit during clear sky conditions. The proposed approach constitutes part of the core cognitive engine proof-of-concept to be delivered to the NASA Glenn Research Center SCaN Testbed located onboard the International Space Station.

  3. Bayesian feature weighting for unsupervised learning, with application to object recognition

    OpenAIRE

    Carbonetto , Peter; De Freitas , Nando; Gustafson , Paul; Thompson , Natalie

    2003-01-01

    International audience; We present a method for variable selection/weighting in an unsupervised learning context using Bayesian shrinkage. The basis for the model parameters and cluster assignments can be computed simultaneous using an efficient EM algorithm. Applying our Bayesian shrinkage model to a complex problem in object recognition (Duygulu, Barnard, de Freitas and Forsyth 2002), our experiments yied good results.

  4. Incremental Structured Dictionary Learning for Video Sensor-Based Object Tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Xue

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available To tackle robust object tracking for video sensor-based applications, an online discriminative algorithm based on incremental discriminative structured dictionary learning (IDSDL-VT is presented. In our framework, a discriminative dictionary combining both positive, negative and trivial patches is designed to sparsely represent the overlapped target patches. Then, a local update (LU strategy is proposed for sparse coefficient learning. To formulate the training and classification process, a multiple linear classifier group based on a K-combined voting (KCV function is proposed. As the dictionary evolves, the models are also trained to timely adapt the target appearance variation. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations on challenging image sequences compared with state-of-the-art algorithms demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm achieves a more favorable performance. We also illustrate its relay application in visual sensor networks.

  5. Exploring the impact of learning objects in middle school mathematics and science classrooms: A formative analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robin H. Kay

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The current study offers a formative analysis of the impact of learning objects in middle school mathematics and science classrooms. Five reliable and valid measure of effectiveness were used to examine the impact of learning objects from the perspective of 262 students and 8 teachers (14 classrooms in science or mathematics. The results indicate that teachers typically spend 1-2 hours finding and preparing for learning-object based lesson plans that focus on the review of previous concepts. Both teachers and students are positive about the learning benefits, quality, and engagement value of learning objects, although teachers are more positive than students. Student performance increased significantly, over 40%, when learning objects were used in conjunction with a variety of teaching strategies. It is reasonable to conclude that learning objects have potential as a teaching tool in a middle school environment. L’impacte des objets d’apprentissage dans les classes de mathématique et de sciences à l’école intermédiaire : une analyse formative Résumé : Cette étude présente une analyse formative de l’impacte des objets d’apprentissage dans les classes de mathématique et de sciences à l’école intermédiaire. Cinq mesures de rendement fiables et valides ont été exploitées pour examiner l’effet des objets d’apprentissage selon 262 élèves et 8 enseignants (414 classes en science ou mathématiques. Les résultats indiquent que les enseignants passent typiquement 1-2 heures pour trouver des objets d’apprentissage et préparer les leçons associées qui seraient centrées sur la revue de concepts déjà vus en classe. Quoique les enseignants aient répondu de façon plus positive que les élèves, les deux groupes ont répondu positivement quant aux avantages au niveau de l’apprentissage, à la qualité ainsi qu’à la valeur motivationnelle des objets d’apprentissage. Le rendement des élèves aurait aussi augment

  6. Deep Learning for Detection of Object-Based Forgery in Advanced Video

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ye Yao

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Passive video forensics has drawn much attention in recent years. However, research on detection of object-based forgery, especially for forged video encoded with advanced codec frameworks, is still a great challenge. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-based approach to detect object-based forgery in the advanced video. The presented deep learning approach utilizes a convolutional neural network (CNN to automatically extract high-dimension features from the input image patches. Different from the traditional CNN models used in computer vision domain, we let video frames go through three preprocessing layers before being fed into our CNN model. They include a frame absolute difference layer to cut down temporal redundancy between video frames, a max pooling layer to reduce computational complexity of image convolution, and a high-pass filter layer to enhance the residual signal left by video forgery. In addition, an asymmetric data augmentation strategy has been established to get a similar number of positive and negative image patches before the training. The experiments have demonstrated that the proposed CNN-based model with the preprocessing layers has achieved excellent results.

  7. Interaction between the Learners' Initial Grasp of the Object of Learning and the Learning Resource Afforded

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Ming Fai; Marton, Ference

    2013-01-01

    Two studies are reported in this paper. The object of learning in both is the economic principle of changes in price as a function of changes in the relative magnitude of changes in demand and supply. The patterns of variation and invariance, defining the conditions compared were built into pedagogical tools (text, graphs, and worksheets). The…

  8. A Mobile Service Oriented Multiple Object Tracking Augmented Reality Architecture for Education and Learning Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rattanarungrot, Sasithorn; White, Martin; Newbury, Paul

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the design of our service-oriented architecture to support mobile multiple object tracking augmented reality applications applied to education and learning scenarios. The architecture is composed of a mobile multiple object tracking augmented reality client, a web service framework, and dynamic content providers. Tracking of…

  9. Object learning improves feature extraction but does not improve feature selection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linus Holm

    Full Text Available A single glance at your crowded desk is enough to locate your favorite cup. But finding an unfamiliar object requires more effort. This superiority in recognition performance for learned objects has at least two possible sources. For familiar objects observers might: 1 select more informative image locations upon which to fixate their eyes, or 2 extract more information from a given eye fixation. To test these possibilities, we had observers localize fragmented objects embedded in dense displays of random contour fragments. Eight participants searched for objects in 600 images while their eye movements were recorded in three daily sessions. Performance improved as subjects trained with the objects: The number of fixations required to find an object decreased by 64% across the 3 sessions. An ideal observer model that included measures of fragment confusability was used to calculate the information available from a single fixation. Comparing human performance to the model suggested that across sessions information extraction at each eye fixation increased markedly, by an amount roughly equal to the extra information that would be extracted following a 100% increase in functional field of view. Selection of fixation locations, on the other hand, did not improve with practice.

  10. Active Prior Tactile Knowledge Transfer for Learning Tactual Properties of New Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Di Feng

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Reusing the tactile knowledge of some previously-explored objects (prior objects helps us to easily recognize the tactual properties of new objects. In this paper, we enable a robotic arm equipped with multi-modal artificial skin, like humans, to actively transfer the prior tactile exploratory action experiences when it learns the detailed physical properties of new objects. These experiences, or prior tactile knowledge, are built by the feature observations that the robot perceives from multiple sensory modalities, when it applies the pressing, sliding, and static contact movements on objects with different action parameters. We call our method Active Prior Tactile Knowledge Transfer (APTKT, and systematically evaluated its performance by several experiments. Results show that the robot improved the discrimination accuracy by around 10 % when it used only one training sample with the feature observations of prior objects. By further incorporating the predictions from the observation models of prior objects as auxiliary features, our method improved the discrimination accuracy by over 20 % . The results also show that the proposed method is robust against transferring irrelevant prior tactile knowledge (negative knowledge transfer.

  11. Practicing doctors' perceptions on new learning objectives for Vietnamese medical schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dung Do Van

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background As part of the process to develop more community-oriented medical teaching in Vietnam, eight medical schools prepared a set of standard learning objectives with attention to the needs of a doctor working with the community. Because they were prepared based on government documents and the opinions of the teachers, it was necessary to check them with doctors who had already graduated and were working at different sites in the community. Methods Each of the eight medical faculties asked 100 practising recent graduates to complete a questionnaire to check the relevance of the skills that the teachers considered most important. We used mean and standard deviation to summarize the scores rated by the respondents for each skill and percentile at four points: p50, p25, p10 and p5 to describe the variation of scores among the respondents. Correlation coefficient was used to measure the relationship between skill levels set by the teachers and the perception of practicing doctors regarding frequency of using skills and priority for each skill. Additional information was taken from the records of focus group discussions to clarify, explain or expand on the results from the quantitative data. Results In many cases the skills considered important by teachers were also rated as highly necessary and/or frequently used by the respondents. There were, however, discrepancies: some skills important to teachers were seldom used and not considered important by the doctors. In focus group discussions the doctors also identified skills that are not taught at all in the medical schools but would be needed by practising doctors. Conclusion Although most of the skills and skill levels included in the learning objectives by the teachers were consistent with the opinions of their graduates, the match was not perfect. The experience of the graduates and their additional comments should be included as inputs to the definition of learning objectives for

  12. Hoarding behaviors in children with learning disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Testa, Renée; Pantelis, Christos; Fontenelle, Leonardo F

    2011-05-01

    Our objective was to describe the prevalence, comorbidity, and neuropsychological profiles of children with hoarding and learning disabilities. From 61 children with learning disabilities, 16.4% exhibited hoarding as a major clinical issue. Although children with learning disabilities and hoarding displayed greater rates of obsessive-compulsive disorder (30%) as compared to those with learning disabilities without hoarding (5.9%), the majority of patients belonging to the former group did not display obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnosis. When learning disability patients with hoarding were compared to age-, sex-, and IQ-matched learning disability subjects without hoarding, hoarders exhibited a slower learning curve on word list-learning task. In conclusion, salient hoarding behaviors were found to be relatively common in a sample of children with learning disabilities and not necessarily associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder, supporting its nosological independence. It is unclear whether underlying cognitive features may play a major role in the development of hoarding behaviors in children with learning disabilities.

  13. The ambiguous and bewitching power of knowledge, skills and attitudes leads to confusing statements of learning objectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilbert, J-J

    2002-01-01

    The words "knowledge", "skills" and "attitudes" are given different meanings by health personnel when discussing educational issues. Ambiguity is known as a handicap to efficient communication. In the design of a curriculum the quality of the definition of learning objectives plays a fundamental role. If learning objectives lack clarity, learners and teachers will face operational difficulties. As Robert Mager said, "If you are not certain of where you are going you may very well end up somewhere else and not even know it". Knowledge is not only memory of facts but what you do with it. The complexity of human behaviour should not be underestimated. This is why educational objectives need active non-ambiguous verbs in order to achieve better communication between teachers and learners and to assess that complexity. This is why I suggest using the expression intellectual skill (or competence) as meaning "a rational decision or act". Sensomotor skill (or competence) would replace "skills" as presently used and cover only "acts which require a neuromuscular coordination". Interpersonal communication skill (or competence) would replace "attitude(s)" and be limited to "verbal and non-verbal relation between persons". As the level of validity of assessment of learners' competencies is linked to the clarity of learning objectives, it is hoped that the above suggestions will raise the overall level of validity of the evaluation system. This is why it is important that everybody understands, in the same manner, the meaning of a learning objective. It will help learners to focus their learning efforts on the right target. It will help teachers to ensure the relevance to health needs of their teaching and the validity of assessment instruments. In both cases it will be beneficial to the health of the population.

  14. Development and Implementation Costs of Student Learning Objectives: Considerations for TIF Grantees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fermanich, Mark; Carl, Brad; Finster, Matthew

    2015-01-01

    This brief explores the costs of developing and implementing Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) in order to help Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grantees interested in adopting SLOs anticipate and understand the costs of implementing them in a district or school. The brief focuses on the costs involved with the initial design and implementation of an…

  15. Science Integrating Learning Objectives: A Cooperative Learning Group Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spindler, Matt

    2015-01-01

    The integration of agricultural and science curricular content that capitalizes on natural and inherent connections represents a challenge for secondary agricultural educators. The purpose of this case study was to create information about the employment of Cooperative Learning Groups (CLG) to enhance the science integrating learning objectives…

  16. Informal Learning in Science, Math, and Engineering Majors for African American Female Undergraduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    McPherson, Ezella

    2014-01-01

    This research investigates how eight undergraduate African American women in science, math, and engineering (SME) majors accessed cultural capital and informal science learning opportunities from preschool to college. It uses the multiple case study methodological approach and cultural capital as frameworks to better understand the participants'…

  17. Joint Attention and Object Learning in 5- and 7-Month-Old Infants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cleveland, Allison; Schug, Mariah; Striano, Tricia

    2007-01-01

    We examined the effects of joint attention for object learning in 5- and 7-month-old infants. Infants interacted with an adult social partner who taught them about a novel toy in two conditions. In the "Joint Attention" condition, the adult spoke about the toy while alternating gaze between the infant and the toy, while in the…

  18. Design and Use of a Learning Object for Finding Complex Polynomial Roots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benitez, Julio; Gimenez, Marcos H.; Hueso, Jose L.; Martinez, Eulalia; Riera, Jaime

    2013-01-01

    Complex numbers are essential in many fields of engineering, but students often fail to have a natural insight of them. We present a learning object for the study of complex polynomials that graphically shows that any complex polynomials has a root and, furthermore, is useful to find the approximate roots of a complex polynomial. Moreover, we…

  19. Posthuman learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasse, Cathrine

    This book shall explore the concept of learning from the new perspective of the posthuman. The vast majority of cognitive, behavioral and part of the constructionist learning theories operate with an autonomous individual who learn in a world of separate objects. Technology is (if mentioned at all......) understood as separate from the individual learner and perceived as tools. Learning theory has in general not been acknowledging materiality in their theorizing about what learning is. A new posthuman learning theory is needed to keep up with the transformations of human learning resulting from new...... technological experiences. One definition of learning is that it is a relatively permanent change in behavior as the result of experience. During the first half of the twentieth century, two theoretical approaches dominated the domain of learning theory: the schools of thought commonly known as behaviorism...

  20. The effects of short-term and long-term learning on the responses of lateral intraparietal neurons to visually presented objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sigurdardottir, Heida M; Sheinberg, David L

    2015-07-01

    The lateral intraparietal area (LIP) is thought to play an important role in the guidance of where to look and pay attention. LIP can also respond selectively to differently shaped objects. We sought to understand to what extent short-term and long-term experience with visual orienting determines the responses of LIP to objects of different shapes. We taught monkeys to arbitrarily associate centrally presented objects of various shapes with orienting either toward or away from a preferred spatial location of a neuron. The training could last for less than a single day or for several months. We found that neural responses to objects are affected by such experience, but that the length of the learning period determines how this neural plasticity manifests. Short-term learning affects neural responses to objects, but these effects are only seen relatively late after visual onset; at this time, the responses to newly learned objects resemble those of familiar objects that share their meaning or arbitrary association. Long-term learning affects the earliest bottom-up responses to visual objects. These responses tend to be greater for objects that have been associated with looking toward, rather than away from, LIP neurons' preferred spatial locations. Responses to objects can nonetheless be distinct, although they have been similarly acted on in the past and will lead to the same orienting behavior in the future. Our results therefore indicate that a complete experience-driven override of LIP object responses may be difficult or impossible. We relate these results to behavioral work on visual attention.

  1. Linking actions and objects: Context-specific learning of novel weight priors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trewartha, Kevin M; Flanagan, J Randall

    2017-06-01

    Distinct explicit and implicit memory processes support weight predictions used when lifting objects and making perceptual judgments about weight, respectively. The first time that an object is encountered weight is predicted on the basis of learned associations, or priors, linking size and material to weight. A fundamental question is whether the brain maintains a single, global representation of priors, or multiple representations that can be updated in a context specific way. A second key question is whether the updating of priors, or the ability to scale lifting forces when repeatedly lifting unusually weighted objects requires focused attention. To investigate these questions we compared the adaptability of weight predictions used when lifting objects and judging their weights in different groups of participants who experienced size-weight inverted objects passively (with the objects placed on the hands) or actively (where participants lift the objects) under full or divided attention. To assess weight judgments we measured the size-weight illusion after every 20 trials of experience with the inverted objects both passively and actively. The attenuation of the illusion that arises when lifting inverted object was found to be context-specific such that the attenuation was larger when the mode of interaction with the inverted objects matched the method of assessment of the illusion. Dividing attention during interaction with the inverted objects had no effect on attenuation of the illusion, but did slow the rate at which lifting forces were scaled to the weight inverted objects. These findings suggest that the brain stores multiple representations of priors that are context specific, and that focused attention is important for scaling lifting forces, but not for updating weight predictions used when judging object weight. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Depth Value Pre-Processing for Accurate Transfer Learning Based RGB-D Object Recognition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aakerberg, Andreas; Nasrollahi, Kamal; Rasmussen, Christoffer Bøgelund

    2017-01-01

    of an existing deeplearning based RGB-D object recognition model, namely the FusionNet proposed by Eitel et al. First, we showthat encoding the depth values as colorized surface normals is beneficial, when the model is initialized withweights learned from training on ImageNet data. Additionally, we show...

  3. Learning Mathematics by Designing, Programming, and Investigating with Interactive, Dynamic Computer-Based Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Neil; Buteau, Chantal

    2014-01-01

    As part of their undergraduate mathematics curriculum, students at Brock University learn to create and use computer-based tools with dynamic, visual interfaces, called Exploratory Objects, developed for the purpose of conducting pure or applied mathematical investigations. A student's Development Process Model of creating and using an Exploratory…

  4. Error-Driven Learning in Visual Categorization and Object Recognition: A Common-Elements Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soto, Fabian A.; Wasserman, Edward A.

    2010-01-01

    A wealth of empirical evidence has now accumulated concerning animals' categorizing photographs of real-world objects. Although these complex stimuli have the advantage of fostering rapid category learning, they are difficult to manipulate experimentally and to represent in formal models of behavior. We present a solution to the representation…

  5. Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in Support of (Re)-Learning Native Languages: The Case of Runyakitara

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katushemererwe, Fridah; Nerbonne, John

    2015-01-01

    This study presents the results from a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system of Runyakitara (RU_CALL). The major objective was to provide an electronic language learning environment that can enable learners with mother tongue deficiencies to enhance their knowledge of grammar and acquire writing skills in Runyakitara. The system…

  6. Objects of Desire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zielinski, Dave

    2000-01-01

    Describes learning objects, also known as granules, chunks, or information nuggets, and likens them to help screens. Discusses concerns about how they can go wrong: (1) faulty pretest questions; (2) missing links in the learning object chain; (3) poor frames of reference; and (4) lack of customization. (JOW)

  7. Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers' Experiences of Learning to Program in an Object-Oriented Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Govender, I.; Grayson, D. J.

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents the results of an investigation into the various ways in which pre-service and in-service teachers experience learning to program in an object-oriented language. Both groups of teachers were enrolled in university courses. In most cases, the pre-service teachers were learning to program for the first time, while the in-service…

  8. Enhancing Learning Power through First-Year Experiences for Students Majoring in STEM Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, Robert; Kucsera, John; Angus, Kathryn Bartle; Norman, Kimberly; Bowers, Erica; Nair, Pradeep; Moon, Hye Sun; Karimi, Afshin; Barua, Susamma

    2018-01-01

    Academic programs targeted for first-time students can help their persistence in STEM majors. Our project, ASCEND STEM, included three first-year experiences (FYEs) designed to offer students the skills that would help them successfully traverse potential barriers to academic success. In the FYEs, we sought to strengthen the learning power,…

  9. Learning Clinical Procedures Through Internet Digital Objects: Experience of Undergraduate Students Across Clinical Faculties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tse Yan; Wong, Kin; Tse, Christine Shuk Kwan; Chan, Ying Yee

    2015-01-01

    Background Various digital learning objects (DLOs) are available via the World Wide Web, showing the flow of clinical procedures. It is unclear to what extent these freely accessible Internet DLOs facilitate or hamper students’ acquisition of clinical competence. Objective This study aimed to understand the experience of undergraduate students across clinical disciplines—medicine, dentistry, and nursing—in using openly accessible Internet DLOs, and to investigate the role of Internet DLOs in facilitating their clinical learning. Methods Mid-year and final-year groups were selected from each undergraduate clinical degree program of the University of Hong Kong—Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), and Bachelor of Nursing (BNurs). All students were invited to complete a questionnaire on their personal and educational backgrounds, and their experiences and views on using Internet DLOs in learning clinical procedures. The questionnaire design was informed by the findings of six focus groups. Results Among 439 respondents, 97.5% (428/439) learned a variety of clinical procedures through Internet DLOs. Most nursing students (107/122, 87.7%) learned preventive measures through Internet DLOs, with a lower percentage of medical students (99/215, 46.0%) and dental students (43/96, 45%) having learned them this way (both Pstudents accessed DLOs through public search engines, whereas 93.2% (409/439) accessed them by watching YouTube videos. Students often shared DLOs with classmates (277/435, 63.7%), but rarely discussed them with teachers (54/436, 12.4%). The accuracy, usefulness, and importance of Internet DLOs were rated as 6.85 (SD 1.48), 7.27 (SD 1.53), and 7.13 (SD 1.72), respectively, out of a high score of 10. Conclusions Self-exploration of DLOs in the unrestricted Internet environment is extremely common among current e-generation learners and was regarded by students across clinical faculties as an important

  10. On hierarchical models for visual recognition and learning of objects, scenes, and activities

    CERN Document Server

    Spehr, Jens

    2015-01-01

    In many computer vision applications, objects have to be learned and recognized in images or image sequences. This book presents new probabilistic hierarchical models that allow an efficient representation of multiple objects of different categories, scales, rotations, and views. The idea is to exploit similarities between objects and object parts in order to share calculations and avoid redundant information. Furthermore inference approaches for fast and robust detection are presented. These new approaches combine the idea of compositional and similarity hierarchies and overcome limitations of previous methods. Besides classical object recognition the book shows the use for detection of human poses in a project for gait analysis. The use of activity detection is presented for the design of environments for ageing, to identify activities and behavior patterns in smart homes. In a presented project for parking spot detection using an intelligent vehicle, the proposed approaches are used to hierarchically model...

  11. OBJECTIVE STRUCTURED PRACTICAL EXAMINATION AS A LEARNING AND EVALUATION TOOL FOR BIOCHEMISTRY- FIRST EXPERIENCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vidyabati Devi Rajkumari

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Assessment plays an important role in helping learners identify their own learning needs. The objective structured practical examination assesses practical skills in an objective and structured manner with direct observation of the students’ performance during planned clinical test. The aim of the study is to evaluate OSPE as a method of learning and formative assessment to the practical skill and to explore faculty perception of OSPE as a learning and assessment tool. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 98 students of first year MBBS student admitted for 2015-16 batch of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, were the subjects for the study. Day one- Group A (1-50 students were evaluated by OSPE method of assessment. Day two- Group B (51-98 were evaluated by standard practical examination. To avoid examiners Bias on Day 3- Group C (51- 98 who were evaluated by SPE were evaluated by OSPE with minor variations. Group A underwent OSPE. Questionnaire was given to students after the assessment on the fourth day to get the feedback. RESULTS Independent sample t-test comparing mean percent scores of OSPE and SPE between the groups. There is no statistically significant difference in the mean percent scores for OSPE and SPE among the two groups. Paired sample t-test comparing mean percent scores of OSPE and SPE of group B students. The mean percentage score for OSPE is higher than the percentage scores obtained in SPE among the group B students, but the difference was not found to be statistically significant. The feedback from the students showed that more than 80% agreed that OSPE was less stressful to perform that it was a more objective assessment. CONCLUSION In conclusion, OSPE has several distinct advantages. From our first experience, we found that OSPE was more objective, measured practical skills better and eliminated examiner bias.

  12. Teaching tools in Evidence Based Practice: evaluation of reusable learning objects (RLOs for learning about Meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wharrad Heather

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background All healthcare students are taught the principles of evidence based practice on their courses. The ability to understand the procedures used in systematically reviewing evidence reported in studies, such as meta-analysis, are an important element of evidence based practice. Meta-analysis is a difficult statistical concept for healthcare students to understand yet it is an important technique used in systematic reviews to pool data from studies to look at combined effectiveness of treatments. In other areas of the healthcare curricula, by supplementing lectures, workbooks and workshops with pedagogically designed, multimedia learning objects (known as reusable learning objects or RLOs we have shown an improvement in students' perceived understanding in subjects they found difficult. In this study we describe the development and evaluation of two RLOs on meta-analysis. The RLOs supplement associated lectures and aim to improve students' understanding of meta-analysis in healthcare students. Methods Following a quality controlled design process two RLOs were developed and delivered to two cohorts of students, a Master in Public Health course and Postgraduate diploma in nursing course. Students' understanding of five key concepts of Meta-analysis were measured before and after a lecture and again after RLO use. RLOs were also evaluated for their educational value, learning support, media attributes and usability using closed and open questions. Results Students rated their understanding of meta-analysis as improved after a lecture and further improved after completing the RLOs (Wilcoxon paired test, p Conclusions Meta-analysis RLOs that are openly accessible and unrestricted by usernames and passwords provide flexible support for students who find the process of meta-analysis difficult.

  13. The Computer Book of the Internal Medicine Resident: competence acquisition and achievement of learning objectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oristrell, J; Oliva, J C; Casanovas, A; Comet, R; Jordana, R; Navarro, M

    2014-01-01

    The Computer Book of the Internal Medicine resident (CBIMR) is a computer program that was validated to analyze the acquisition of competences in teams of Internal Medicine residents. To analyze the characteristics of the rotations during the Internal Medicine residency and to identify the variables associated with the acquisition of clinical and communication skills, the achievement of learning objectives and resident satisfaction. All residents of our service (n=20) participated in the study during a period of 40 months. The CBIMR consisted of 22 self-assessment questionnaires specific for each rotation, with items on services (clinical workload, disease protocolization, resident responsibilities, learning environment, service organization and teamwork) and items on educational outcomes (acquisition of clinical and communication skills, achievement of learning objectives, overall satisfaction). Associations between services features and learning outcomes were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate analysis. An intense clinical workload, high resident responsibilities and disease protocolization were associated with the acquisition of clinical skills. High clinical competence and teamwork were both associated with better communication skills. Finally, an adequate learning environment was associated with increased clinical competence, the achievement of educational goals and resident satisfaction. Potentially modifiable variables related with the operation of clinical services had a significant impact on the acquisition of clinical and communication skills, the achievement of educational goals, and resident satisfaction during the specialized training in Internal Medicine. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

  14. A Survey Study of Autonomous Learning by Chinese Non-English Major Post-Graduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jianping

    2009-01-01

    This thesis reports a survey study of the autonomous L2 learning by 100 first-year non-English-major Chinese post-graduates via the instruments of a questionnaire and semi-structured interview after the questionnaire. It attends to address the following research question: To what extent do Chinese postgraduate students conduct autonomous L2…

  15. Influence of personality on objective and subjective social support among patients with major depressive disorder: a prospective study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leskelä, Ulla; Melartin, Tarja; Rytsälä, Heikki; Jylhä, Pekka; Sokero, Petteri; Lestelä-Mielonen, Paula; Isometsä, Erkki

    2009-10-01

    Personality and social support (SS) influence risk for depression and modify its outcome through multiple pathways. The impact of personality dimensions neuroticism and extraversion on SS among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) has been little studied. In the Vantaa Depression Study, we assessed neuroticism and extraversion with the Eysenck Personality Inventory, objective SS with the Interview Measure of Social Relationships, and subjective SS with the Perceived Social Support Scale-Revised at baseline, at 6 and 18 months among 193 major depressive disorder patients diagnosed according to the fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMS-IV). At all time-points, low neuroticism and high extraversion associated significantly with between-subject differences in levels of objective and subjective SS. Lower neuroticism (beta = 0.213, p = 0.003) and higher extraversion (beta = 0.159, p = 0.038) predicted greater within-subject change of subjective, but not objective SS. Thus, neuroticism and extraversion associated with the size of objective and subjective SS and predicted change of subjective SS. Modification of subjective SS, particularly, may indirectly influence future vulnerability to depression.

  16. Learning User Preferences for Sets of Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    desJardins, Marie; Eaton, Eric; Wagstaff, Kiri L.

    2006-01-01

    Most work on preference learning has focused on pairwise preferences or rankings over individual items. In this paper, we present a method for learning preferences over sets of items. Our learning method takes as input a collection of positive examples--that is, one or more sets that have been identified by a user as desirable. Kernel density estimation is used to estimate the value function for individual items, and the desired set diversity is estimated from the average set diversity observed in the collection. Since this is a new learning problem, we introduce a new evaluation methodology and evaluate the learning method on two data collections: synthetic blocks-world data and a new real-world music data collection that we have gathered.

  17. A multi-objective improved teaching-learning based optimization algorithm for unconstrained and constrained optimization problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Venkata Rao

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The present work proposes a multi-objective improved teaching-learning based optimization (MO-ITLBO algorithm for unconstrained and constrained multi-objective function optimization. The MO-ITLBO algorithm is the improved version of basic teaching-learning based optimization (TLBO algorithm adapted for multi-objective problems. The basic TLBO algorithm is improved to enhance its exploration and exploitation capacities by introducing the concept of number of teachers, adaptive teaching factor, tutorial training and self-motivated learning. The MO-ITLBO algorithm uses a grid-based approach to adaptively assess the non-dominated solutions (i.e. Pareto front maintained in an external archive. The performance of the MO-ITLBO algorithm is assessed by implementing it on unconstrained and constrained test problems proposed for the Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2009 (CEC 2009 competition. The performance assessment is done by using the inverted generational distance (IGD measure. The IGD measures obtained by using the MO-ITLBO algorithm are compared with the IGD measures of the other state-of-the-art algorithms available in the literature. Finally, Lexicographic ordering is used to assess the overall performance of competitive algorithms. Results have shown that the proposed MO-ITLBO algorithm has obtained the 1st rank in the optimization of unconstrained test functions and the 3rd rank in the optimization of constrained test functions.

  18. Concept Maps as Instructional Tools for Improving Learning of Phase Transitions in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Shin-Shing

    2016-01-01

    Students attending object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) courses typically encounter difficulties transitioning from requirements analysis to logical design and then to physical design. Concept maps have been widely used in studies of user learning. The study reported here, based on the relationship of concept maps to learning theory and…

  19. Space Objects Maneuvering Detection and Prediction via Inverse Reinforcement Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linares, R.; Furfaro, R.

    This paper determines the behavior of Space Objects (SOs) using inverse Reinforcement Learning (RL) to estimate the reward function that each SO is using for control. The approach discussed in this work can be used to analyze maneuvering of SOs from observational data. The inverse RL problem is solved using the Feature Matching approach. This approach determines the optimal reward function that a SO is using while maneuvering by assuming that the observed trajectories are optimal with respect to the SO's own reward function. This paper uses estimated orbital elements data to determine the behavior of SOs in a data-driven fashion.

  20. Discriminative kernel feature extraction and learning for object recognition and detection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pan, Hong; Olsen, Søren Ingvor; Zhu, Yaping

    2015-01-01

    Feature extraction and learning is critical for object recognition and detection. By embedding context cue of image attributes into the kernel descriptors, we propose a set of novel kernel descriptors called context kernel descriptors (CKD). The motivation of CKD is to use the spatial consistency...... even in high-dimensional space. In addition, the latent connection between Rényi quadratic entropy and the mapping data in kernel feature space further facilitates us to capture the geometric structure as well as the information about the underlying labels of the CKD using CSQMI. Thus the resulting...... codebook and reduced CKD are discriminative. We report superior performance of our algorithm for object recognition on benchmark datasets like Caltech-101 and CIFAR-10, as well as for detection on a challenging chicken feet dataset....

  1. The Effects of Discipline on the Application of Learning Object Metadata in UK Higher Education: The Case of the Jorum Repository

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balatsoukas, Panos; O'Brien, Ann; Morris, Anne

    2011-01-01

    Introduction: This paper reports on the findings of a study investigating the potential effects of discipline (sciences and engineering versus humanities and social sciences) on the application of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers learning object metadata elements for the description of learning objects in the Jorum learning…

  2. Delivery of Learning Knowledge Objects Using Fuzzy Clustering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabitha, A. Sai; Mehrotra, Deepti; Bansal, Abhay

    2016-01-01

    e-Learning industry is rapidly changing and the current learning trends are based on personalized, social and mobile learning, content reusability, cloud-based and talent management. The learning systems have attained a significant growth catering to the needs of a wide range of learners, having different approaches and styles of learning. Objects…

  3. Characterization of medical students recall of factual knowledge using learning objects and repeated testing in a novel e-learning system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taveira-Gomes, Tiago; Prado-Costa, Rui; Severo, Milton; Ferreira, Maria Amélia

    2015-01-24

    Spaced-repetition and test-enhanced learning are two methodologies that boost knowledge retention. ALERT STUDENT is a platform that allows creation and distribution of Learning Objects named flashcards, and provides insight into student judgments-of-learning through a metric called 'recall accuracy'. This study aims to understand how the spaced-repetition and test-enhanced learning features provided by the platform affect recall accuracy, and to characterize the effect that students, flashcards and repetitions exert on this measurement. Three spaced laboratory sessions (s0, s1 and s2), were conducted with n=96 medical students. The intervention employed a study task, and a quiz task that consisted in mentally answering open-ended questions about each flashcard and grading recall accuracy. Students were randomized into study-quiz and quiz groups. On s0 both groups performed the quiz task. On s1 and s2, the study-quiz group performed the study task followed by the quiz task, whereas the quiz group only performed the quiz task. We measured differences in recall accuracy between groups/sessions, its variance components, and the G-coefficients for the flashcard component. At s0 there were no differences in recall accuracy between groups. The experiment group achieved a significant increase in recall accuracy that was superior to the quiz group in s1 and s2. In the study-quiz group, increases in recall accuracy were mainly due to the session, followed by flashcard factors and student factors. In the quiz group, increases in recall accuracy were mainly accounted by flashcard factors, followed by student and session factors. The flashcard G-coefficient indicated an agreement on recall accuracy of 91% in the quiz group, and of 47% in the study-quiz group. Recall accuracy is an easily collectible measurement that increases the educational value of Learning Objects and open-ended questions. This metric seems to vary in a way consistent with knowledge retention, but further

  4. Development of Learning Virtual Objects as a Strategy to Foster Student Retention in Higher Education

    OpenAIRE

    Yois S. Pascuas Rengifo; César Omar Jaramillo Morales; Fredy Antonio Verástegui González

    2015-01-01

    Rev.esc.adm.neg One of the problems that the Colombian higher education system is facing is the problem of student desertion, shwoing that a great amount of students leave their university studies during the first semesters. For this reason, the National Education Ministry and Universidad de la Amazonia implement a new strategy to foster student retention and graduation through academic levelling. This paper shows eight learning virtual objects from different learning áreas, applying tech...

  5. Cognitive Learning Strategy as a Partial Effect on Major Field Test in Business Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strang, Kenneth David

    2014-01-01

    An experiment was developed to determine if cognitive learning strategies improved standardized university business exam results. Previous studies revealed that factors such as prior ability, age, gender, and culture predicted a student's Major Field Test in Business (MFTB) score better than course content. The experiment control consisted of…

  6. The effects of social concern goals on the value of learning and on the intentions of medical students to change their majors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Soowon; Cho, Seunghee; Lee, Jun-Young

    2017-01-01

    In the process of developing a professional medical expertise, goals can become a psychological impetus and act as a source of retaining an individual's persistency. Therefore, the goals of medical students should be considered when designing a curriculum for health professions. The purpose of this study was to examine relative effects of goal categories on the value of learning and intention to change one's major. Data were obtained from the Korea Education Longitudinal Study, which included 1938 representative Korean college freshmen majoring in medicine, engineering, natural science and humanities. They answered a survey questionnaire about goal categories (i.e., social concern, affiliation, self-growth, leisure, wealth, and fame), the value of learning, and intention to change one's major. For medical students, social concern goals were positively related to the value of learning and negatively related to the intention to change one's major. Social concern goals decreased the intention to change one's major directly, and also indirectly through increased value of learning. Providing context for enhancing medical students' social concern goals is necessary in a medical training curriculum, not only for the students' professional development but also for improving society. GCT: Goal contents theory GPA: Grade point average KELS: Korea education longitudinal study SDLA: Self-directed learning abilities SDT: Self-determination theory.

  7. Statistical learning of recurring sound patterns encodes auditory objects in songbird forebrain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Kai; Vicario, David S

    2014-10-07

    Auditory neurophysiology has demonstrated how basic acoustic features are mapped in the brain, but it is still not clear how multiple sound components are integrated over time and recognized as an object. We investigated the role of statistical learning in encoding the sequential features of complex sounds by recording neuronal responses bilaterally in the auditory forebrain of awake songbirds that were passively exposed to long sound streams. These streams contained sequential regularities, and were similar to streams used in human infants to demonstrate statistical learning for speech sounds. For stimulus patterns with contiguous transitions and with nonadjacent elements, single and multiunit responses reflected neuronal discrimination of the familiar patterns from novel patterns. In addition, discrimination of nonadjacent patterns was stronger in the right hemisphere than in the left, and may reflect an effect of top-down modulation that is lateralized. Responses to recurring patterns showed stimulus-specific adaptation, a sparsening of neural activity that may contribute to encoding invariants in the sound stream and that appears to increase coding efficiency for the familiar stimuli across the population of neurons recorded. As auditory information about the world must be received serially over time, recognition of complex auditory objects may depend on this type of mnemonic process to create and differentiate representations of recently heard sounds.

  8. Representations and Techniques for 3D Object Recognition and Scene Interpretation

    CERN Document Server

    Hoiem, Derek

    2011-01-01

    One of the grand challenges of artificial intelligence is to enable computers to interpret 3D scenes and objects from imagery. This book organizes and introduces major concepts in 3D scene and object representation and inference from still images, with a focus on recent efforts to fuse models of geometry and perspective with statistical machine learning. The book is organized into three sections: (1) Interpretation of Physical Space; (2) Recognition of 3D Objects; and (3) Integrated 3D Scene Interpretation. The first discusses representations of spatial layout and techniques to interpret physi

  9. Performance monitoring and empathy during active and observational learning in patients with major depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoma, Patrizia; Norra, Christine; Juckel, Georg; Suchan, Boris; Bellebaum, Christian

    2015-07-01

    Previous literature established a link between major depressive disorder (MDD) and altered reward processing as well as between empathy and (observational) reward learning. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of MDD on the electrophysiological correlates - the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the P300 - of active and observational reward processing and to relate them to trait cognitive and affective empathy. Eighteen patients with MDD and 16 healthy controls performed an active and an observational probabilistic reward-learning task while event- related potentials were recorded. Also, participants were assessed with regard to self-reported cognitive and affective trait empathy. Relative to healthy controls, patients with MDD showed overall impaired learning and attenuated FRN amplitudes, irrespective of feedback valence and learning type (active vs. observational), but comparable P300 amplitudes. In the patient group, but not in controls, higher trait perspective taking scores were significantly correlated with reduced FRN amplitudes. The pattern of results suggests impaired prediction error processing and a negative effect of higher trait empathy on feedback-based learning in patients with MDD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Predictors of Successful Learning in Multilingual Older Adults Acquiring a Majority Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrike K. Blumenfeld

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Understanding language learning in later life can elucidate how linguistic experiences and age-specific cognitive skills can be leveraged for language acquisition, providing insight into how lifelong experiences configure our learning capacity. In this study, we examined to what extent acquisition and maintenance of a non-native language (English is scaffolded by cognitive skills and previous linguistic experiences in older adults; and to what extent these cognitive/linguistic factors predict older learners’ success in acquiring novel functional language. We recruited 53 participants who were native speakers of Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, and Somali, had continued to learn English as adults, and were currently exposed to majority-English contexts. To identify contributors to participants’ English skills, we administered a language history and self-reported proficiency interview, brief cognitive testing, and verbal fluency tasks in L1 and English. We found that digit span and orientation measures were cognitive predictors of English proficiency, while similarity of known languages to English, L1 skills, and English language exposure were linguistic predictors of English skills. To examine participants’ ability to maintain language knowledge and to learn new functional English, we also conducted a preliminary longitudinal service-based study in a subset of 19 participants using our Specific-Purpose English Communication System for Seniors (SPECSS curriculum. In this subset of SPECSS learners, we identified digit span and orientation, but not age, as cognitive predictors of short-term language maintenance. Further, better novel English learning as a result of our curriculum was observed in learners whose other known languages were less similar to English. Findings inform best practices in developing language curricula for older adults, and help generate new hypotheses on preparedness for language learning across the adult lifespan with a

  11. A Conceptual Framework for Error Remediation with Multiple External Representations Applied to Learning Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leite, Maici Duarte; Marczal, Diego; Pimentel, Andrey Ricardo; Direne, Alexandre Ibrahim

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the application of some concepts of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) to elaborate a conceptual framework that uses the remediation of errors with Multiple External Representations (MERs) in Learning Objects (LO). To this is demonstrated a development of LO for teaching the Pythagorean Theorem through this framework. This…

  12. Diagram, a Learning Environment for Initiation to Object-Oriented Modeling with UML Class Diagrams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Py, Dominique; Auxepaules, Ludovic; Alonso, Mathilde

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents Diagram, a learning environment for object-oriented modelling (OOM) with UML class diagrams. Diagram an open environment, in which the teacher can add new exercises without constraints on the vocabulary or the size of the diagram. The interface includes methodological help, encourages self-correcting and self-monitoring, and…

  13. Alignment of learning objectives and assessments in therapeutics courses to foster higher-order thinking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    FitzPatrick, Beverly; Hawboldt, John; Doyle, Daniel; Genge, Terri

    2015-02-17

    To determine whether national educational outcomes, course objectives, and classroom assessments for 2 therapeutics courses were aligned for curricular content and cognitive processes, and if they included higher-order thinking. Document analysis and student focus groups were used. Outcomes, objectives, and assessment tasks were matched for specific therapeutics content and cognitive processes. Anderson and Krathwohl's Taxonomy was used to define higher-order thinking. Students discussed whether assessments tested objectives and described their thinking when responding to assessments. There were 7 outcomes, 31 objectives, and 412 assessment tasks. The alignment for content and cognitive processes was not satisfactory. Twelve students participated in the focus groups. Students thought more short-answer questions than multiple choice questions matched the objectives for content and required higher-order thinking. The alignment analysis provided data that could be used to reveal and strengthen the enacted curriculum and improve student learning.

  14. Development of Learning Virtual Objects as a Strategy to Foster Student Retention in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yois S. Pascuas Rengifo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Rev.esc.adm.neg One of the problems that the Colombian higher education system is facing is the problem of student desertion, shwoing that a great amount of students leave their university studies during the first semesters. For this reason, the National Education Ministry and Universidad de la Amazonia implement a new strategy to foster student retention and graduation through academic levelling. This paper shows eight learning virtual objects from different learning áreas, applying technological tolos to design didactic interactive and creative environments.

  15. Discriminative object tracking via sparse representation and online dictionary learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Yuan; Zhang, Wensheng; Li, Cuihua; Lin, Shuyang; Qu, Yanyun; Zhang, Yinghua

    2014-04-01

    We propose a robust tracking algorithm based on local sparse coding with discriminative dictionary learning and new keypoint matching schema. This algorithm consists of two parts: the local sparse coding with online updated discriminative dictionary for tracking (SOD part), and the keypoint matching refinement for enhancing the tracking performance (KP part). In the SOD part, the local image patches of the target object and background are represented by their sparse codes using an over-complete discriminative dictionary. Such discriminative dictionary, which encodes the information of both the foreground and the background, may provide more discriminative power. Furthermore, in order to adapt the dictionary to the variation of the foreground and background during the tracking, an online learning method is employed to update the dictionary. The KP part utilizes refined keypoint matching schema to improve the performance of the SOD. With the help of sparse representation and online updated discriminative dictionary, the KP part are more robust than the traditional method to reject the incorrect matches and eliminate the outliers. The proposed method is embedded into a Bayesian inference framework for visual tracking. Experimental results on several challenging video sequences demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our approach.

  16. Learning Auditory Discrimination with Computer-Assisted Instruction: A Comparison of Two Different Performance Objectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinhaus, Kurt A.

    A 12-week study of two groups of 14 college freshmen music majors was conducted to determine which group demonstrated greater achievement in learning auditory discrimination using computer-assisted instruction (CAI). The method employed was a pre-/post-test experimental design using subjects randomly assigned to a control group or an experimental…

  17. Object tracking by occlusion detection via structured sparse learning

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu

    2013-06-01

    Sparse representation based methods have recently drawn much attention in visual tracking due to good performance against illumination variation and occlusion. They assume the errors caused by image variations can be modeled as pixel-wise sparse. However, in many practical scenarios these errors are not truly pixel-wise sparse but rather sparsely distributed in a structured way. In fact, pixels in error constitute contiguous regions within the object\\'s track. This is the case when significant occlusion occurs. To accommodate for non-sparse occlusion in a given frame, we assume that occlusion detected in previous frames can be propagated to the current one. This propagated information determines which pixels will contribute to the sparse representation of the current track. In other words, pixels that were detected as part of an occlusion in the previous frame will be removed from the target representation process. As such, this paper proposes a novel tracking algorithm that models and detects occlusion through structured sparse learning. We test our tracker on challenging benchmark sequences, such as sports videos, which involve heavy occlusion, drastic illumination changes, and large pose variations. Experimental results show that our tracker consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art. © 2013 IEEE.

  18. Transforming Clinical Imaging and 3D Data for Virtual Reality Learning Objects: HTML5 and Mobile Devices Implementation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trelease, Robert B.; Nieder, Gary L.

    2013-01-01

    Web deployable anatomical simulations or "virtual reality learning objects" can easily be produced with QuickTime VR software, but their use for online and mobile learning is being limited by the declining support for web browser plug-ins for personal computers and unavailability on popular mobile devices like Apple iPad and Android…

  19. Reaching Consensus on Essential Biomedical Science Learning Objectives in a Dental Curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Best, Leandra; Walton, Joanne N; Walker, Judith; von Bergmann, HsingChi

    2016-04-01

    This article describes how the University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry reached consensus on essential basic biomedical science objectives for DMD students and applied the information to the renewal of its DMD curriculum. The Delphi Method was used to build consensus among dental faculty members and students regarding the relevance of over 1,500 existing biomedical science objectives. Volunteer panels of at least three faculty members (a basic scientist, a general dentist, and a dental specialist) and a fourth-year dental student were formed for each of 13 biomedical courses in the first two years of the program. Panel members worked independently and anonymously, rating each course objective as "need to know," "nice to know," "irrelevant," or "don't know." Panel members were advised after each round which objectives had not yet achieved a 75% consensus and were asked to reconsider their ratings. After a maximum of three rounds to reach consensus, a second group of faculty experts reviewed and refined the results to establish the biomedical science objectives for the renewed curriculum. There was consensus on 46% of the learning objectives after round one, 80% after round two, and 95% after round three. The second expert group addressed any remaining objectives as part of its review process. Only 47% of previous biomedical science course objectives were judged to be essential or "need to know" for the general dentist. The consensus reached by participants in the Delphi Method panels and a second group of faculty experts led to a streamlined, better integrated DMD curriculum to prepare graduates for future practice.

  20. Larger error signals in major depression are associated with better avoidance learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James F eCavanagh

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC is particularly reactive to signals of error, punishment, and conflict in the service of behavioral adaptation and it is consistently implicated in the etiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD. This association makes conceptual sense, given that MDD has been associated with hyper-reactivity in neural systems associated with punishment processing. Yet in practice, depression-related variance in measures of mPFC functioning often fails to relate to performance. For example, neuroelectric reflections of mediofrontal error signals are often found to be larger in MDD, but a deficit in post-error performance suggests that these error signals are not being used to rapidly adapt behavior. Thus, it remains unknown if depression-related variance in error signals reflects a meaningful alteration in the use of error or punishment information. However, larger mediofrontal error signals have also been related to another behavioral tendency: increased accuracy in avoidance learning. The integrity of this error-avoidance system remains untested in MDD. In this study, EEG was recorded as 21 symptomatic, drug-free participants with current or past MDD and 24 control participants performed a probabilistic reinforcement learning task. Depressed participants had larger mPFC EEG responses to error feedback than controls. The direct relationship between error signal amplitudes and avoidance learning accuracy was replicated. Crucially, this relationship was stronger in depressed participants for high conflict lose-lose situations, demonstrating a selective alteration of avoidance learning. This investigation provided evidence that larger error signal amplitudes in depression are associated with increased avoidance learning, identifying a candidate mechanistic model for hypersensitivity to negative outcomes in depression.

  1. Fast automated segmentation of multiple objects via spatially weighted shape learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandra, Shekhar S.; Dowling, Jason A.; Greer, Peter B.; Martin, Jarad; Wratten, Chris; Pichler, Peter; Fripp, Jurgen; Crozier, Stuart

    2016-11-01

    Active shape models (ASMs) have proved successful in automatic segmentation by using shape and appearance priors in a number of areas such as prostate segmentation, where accurate contouring is important in treatment planning for prostate cancer. The ASM approach however, is heavily reliant on a good initialisation for achieving high segmentation quality. This initialisation often requires algorithms with high computational complexity, such as three dimensional (3D) image registration. In this work, we present a fast, self-initialised ASM approach that simultaneously fits multiple objects hierarchically controlled by spatially weighted shape learning. Prominent objects are targeted initially and spatial weights are progressively adjusted so that the next (more difficult, less visible) object is simultaneously initialised using a series of weighted shape models. The scheme was validated and compared to a multi-atlas approach on 3D magnetic resonance (MR) images of 38 cancer patients and had the same (mean, median, inter-rater) Dice’s similarity coefficients of (0.79, 0.81, 0.85), while having no registration error and a computational time of 12-15 min, nearly an order of magnitude faster than the multi-atlas approach.

  2. Unsupervised classification of major depression using functional connectivity MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Ling-Li; Shen, Hui; Liu, Li; Hu, Dewen

    2014-04-01

    The current diagnosis of psychiatric disorders including major depressive disorder based largely on self-reported symptoms and clinical signs may be prone to patients' behaviors and psychiatrists' bias. This study aims at developing an unsupervised machine learning approach for the accurate identification of major depression based on single resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans in the absence of clinical information. Twenty-four medication-naive patients with major depression and 29 demographically similar healthy individuals underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We first clustered the voxels within the perigenual cingulate cortex into two subregions, a subgenual region and a pregenual region, according to their distinct resting-state functional connectivity patterns and showed that a maximum margin clustering-based unsupervised machine learning approach extracted sufficient information from the subgenual cingulate functional connectivity map to differentiate depressed patients from healthy controls with a group-level clustering consistency of 92.5% and an individual-level classification consistency of 92.5%. It was also revealed that the subgenual cingulate functional connectivity network with the highest discriminative power primarily included the ventrolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, superior temporal gyri and limbic areas, indicating that these connections may play critical roles in the pathophysiology of major depression. The current study suggests that subgenual cingulate functional connectivity network signatures may provide promising objective biomarkers for the diagnosis of major depression and that maximum margin clustering-based unsupervised machine learning approaches may have the potential to inform clinical practice and aid in research on psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. AN ANALYSIS ON USAGE PREFERENCES OF LEARNING OBJECTS AND LEARNING OBJECT REPOSITORIES AMONG PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amirul ISLAM

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This study draws on the experience of a cohort of 22 students from 09 tutorial centers enrolled in a Master of Education (M Ed distance learning program administered by the Bangladesh Open University (BOU. It's purpose is to locate the aims and philosophies of distance learning within the experiences of actual distance learners in order to see if learners' needs were being met by the program and to obtain a fuller understanding of core aspects of distance education. The study found that students were, on the whole, satisfied with the course materials, the choice of modules, assignment feedback, and length of time given to complete the assignments, but significant problems surfaced regarding issues of student support, and access to and provision of resource materials. Arguably, these are issues intrinsic to the successful provision of distance learning courses, and the results both concord with aspects of the research literature (Burge & Howard, 1990; Chen, 1997; Hyland, 2001; Morgan, 1995; Robinson, 1995; Simpson, 2000; Tait, 2000 and raise some interesting questions regarding the provision of distance education and its ability to meet the needs of learners

  4. Category Specificity in Normal Episodic Learning: Applications to Object Recognition and Category-Specific Agnosia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bukach, Cindy M.; Bub, Daniel N.; Masson, Michael E. J.; Lindsay, D. Stephen

    2004-01-01

    Studies of patients with category-specific agnosia (CSA) have given rise to multiple theories of object recognition, most of which assume the existence of a stable, abstract semantic memory system. We applied an episodic view of memory to questions raised by CSA in a series of studies examining normal observers' recall of newly learned attributes…

  5. A Cultured Learning Environment: Implementing a Problem- and Service-Based Microbiology Capstone Course to Assess Process- and Skill-Based Learning Objectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Rachel M.; Willford, John D.; Pfeifer, Mariel A.

    2018-01-01

    In this study, a problem-based capstone course was designed to assess the University of Wyoming Microbiology Program's skill-based and process-based student learning objectives. Students partnered with a local farm, a community garden, and a free downtown clinic in order to conceptualize, propose, perform, and present studies addressing problems…

  6. Learning Clinical Procedures Through Internet Digital Objects: Experience of Undergraduate Students Across Clinical Faculties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tse Yan; Gao, Xiaoli; Wong, Kin; Tse, Christine Shuk Kwan; Chan, Ying Yee

    2015-04-14

    Various digital learning objects (DLOs) are available via the World Wide Web, showing the flow of clinical procedures. It is unclear to what extent these freely accessible Internet DLOs facilitate or hamper students' acquisition of clinical competence. This study aimed to understand the experience of undergraduate students across clinical disciplines-medicine, dentistry, and nursing-in using openly accessible Internet DLOs, and to investigate the role of Internet DLOs in facilitating their clinical learning. Mid-year and final-year groups were selected from each undergraduate clinical degree program of the University of Hong Kong-Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), and Bachelor of Nursing (BNurs). All students were invited to complete a questionnaire on their personal and educational backgrounds, and their experiences and views on using Internet DLOs in learning clinical procedures. The questionnaire design was informed by the findings of six focus groups. Among 439 respondents, 97.5% (428/439) learned a variety of clinical procedures through Internet DLOs. Most nursing students (107/122, 87.7%) learned preventive measures through Internet DLOs, with a lower percentage of medical students (99/215, 46.0%) and dental students (43/96, 45%) having learned them this way (both Plearning in the planned curriculum. This trend calls for a transformation of the educator's role from dispensing knowledge to guidance and support.

  7. Machine learning algorithm accurately detects fMRI signature of vulnerability to major depression

    OpenAIRE

    Sato, Jo?o R.; Moll, Jorge; Green, Sophie; Deakin, John F.W.; Thomaz, Carlos E.; Zahn, Roland

    2015-01-01

    Standard functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses cannot assess the potential of a neuroimaging signature as a biomarker to predict individual vulnerability to major depression (MD). Here, we use machine learning for the first time to address this question. Using a recently identified neural signature of guilt-selective functional disconnection, the classification algorithm was able to distinguish remitted MD from control participants with 78.3% accuracy. This demonstrates the hi...

  8. Conceptions of Memorizing and Understanding in Learning, and Self-Efficacy Held by University Biology Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Tzu-Chiang; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to explore Taiwanese university students' conceptions of learning biology as memorizing or as understanding, and their self-efficacy. To this end, two questionnaires were utilized to survey 293 Taiwanese university students with biology-related majors. A questionnaire for measuring students' conceptions of memorizing and…

  9. Pareto Optimal Solutions for Network Defense Strategy Selection Simulator in Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yang Sun

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Using Pareto optimization in Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning (MORL leads to better learning results for network defense games. This is particularly useful for network security agents, who must often balance several goals when choosing what action to take in defense of a network. If the defender knows his preferred reward distribution, the advantages of Pareto optimization can be retained by using a scalarization algorithm prior to the implementation of the MORL. In this paper, we simulate a network defense scenario by creating a multi-objective zero-sum game and using Pareto optimization and MORL to determine optimal solutions and compare those solutions to different scalarization approaches. We build a Pareto Defense Strategy Selection Simulator (PDSSS system for assisting network administrators on decision-making, specifically, on defense strategy selection, and the experiment results show that the Satisficing Trade-Off Method (STOM scalarization approach performs better than linear scalarization or GUESS method. The results of this paper can aid network security agents attempting to find an optimal defense policy for network security games.

  10. LONS: Learning Object Negotiation System

    Science.gov (United States)

    García, Antonio; García, Eva; de-Marcos, Luis; Martínez, José-Javier; Gutiérrez, José-María; Gutiérrez, José-Antonio; Barchino, Roberto; Otón, Salvador; Hilera, José-Ramón

    This system comes up as a result of the increase of e-learning systems. It manages all relevant modules in this context, such as the association of digital rights with the contents (courses), management and payment processing on rights. There are three blocks:

  11. Construction and validation of clinical contents for development of learning objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flávia Tatiana Pedrolo Hortense

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the process of construction and validation of clinical contents for health learning objects, aimed at patients in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Method: descriptive, methodological study. The development of the script and the storyboard were based on scientific evidence and submitted to the appreciation of specialists for validation of content. The agreement index was checked quantitatively and the suggestions were qualitatively evaluated. Results: The items described in the roadmap were approved by 99% of expert experts. The suggestions for adjustments were inserted in their entirety in the final version. The free-marginal kappa statistical test, for multiple evaluators, presented value equal to 0.68%, granting a substantial agreement. Conclusion: The steps taken in the construction and validation of the content for the production of educational material for patients with head and neck cancer were adequate, relevant and suitable for use in other subjects.

  12. Examining the Use of Web-Based Reusable Learning Objects by Animal and Veterinary Nursing Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapman-Waterhouse, Emily; Silva-Fletcher, Ayona; Whittlestone, Kim David

    2016-01-01

    This intervention study examined the interaction of animal and veterinary nursing students with reusable learning objects (RLO) in the context of preparing for summative assessment. Data was collected from 199 undergraduates using quantitative and qualitative methods. Students accessed RLO via personal devices in order to reinforce taught…

  13. Agency Construction and Navigation in Oral Narratives of English Learning by Chinese College English Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Qiuming

    2017-01-01

    The current study aims to investigate the discursive construction and navigation of agency in oral narratives of English learning by Chinese college English majors. Based on the theoretical framework integrating Bamberg et. al.'s theory of identity dilemma and Hallidayan systemic functional linguistics, the study has addressed two research…

  14. Rapid e-Learning Tools Selection Process for Cognitive and Psychomotor Learning Objectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ku, David Tawei; Huang, Yung-Hsin

    2012-01-01

    This study developed a decision making process for the selection of rapid e-learning tools that could match different learning domains. With the development of the Internet, the speed of information updates has become faster than ever. E-learning has rapidly become the mainstream for corporate training and academic instruction. In order to reduce…

  15. Grids in topographic maps reduce distortions in the recall of learned object locations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edler, Dennis; Bestgen, Anne-Kathrin; Kuchinke, Lars; Dickmann, Frank

    2014-01-01

    To date, it has been shown that cognitive map representations based on cartographic visualisations are systematically distorted. The grid is a traditional element of map graphics that has rarely been considered in research on perception-based spatial distortions. Grids do not only support the map reader in finding coordinates or locations of objects, they also provide a systematic structure for clustering visual map information ("spatial chunks"). The aim of this study was to examine whether different cartographic kinds of grids reduce spatial distortions and improve recall memory for object locations. Recall performance was measured as both the percentage of correctly recalled objects (hit rate) and the mean distance errors of correctly recalled objects (spatial accuracy). Different kinds of grids (continuous lines, dashed lines, crosses) were applied to topographic maps. These maps were also varied in their type of characteristic areas (LANDSCAPE) and different information layer compositions (DENSITY) to examine the effects of map complexity. The study involving 144 participants shows that all experimental cartographic factors (GRID, LANDSCAPE, DENSITY) improve recall performance and spatial accuracy of learned object locations. Overlaying a topographic map with a grid significantly reduces the mean distance errors of correctly recalled map objects. The paper includes a discussion of a square grid's usefulness concerning object location memory, independent of whether the grid is clearly visible (continuous or dashed lines) or only indicated by crosses.

  16. A Learning Research Informed Design and Evaluation of a Web-Enhanced Object Oriented Programming Seminar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Georgantaki, Stavroula C.; Retalis, Symeon D.

    2007-01-01

    "Object-Oriented Programming" subject is included in the ACM Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs in Computer Science as well as in Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science. In a few research studies learning problems and difficulties have been recorded, and therefore, specific pedagogical guidelines and…

  17. Learning from Negative Feedback in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder is Attenuated by SSRI Antidepressants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad M. Herzallah

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available One barrier to interpreting past studies of cognition and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD has been the failure in many studies to adequately dissociate the effects of MDD from the potential cognitive side effects of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI use. To better understand how remediation of depressive symptoms affects cognitive function in MDD, we evaluated three groups of subjects: medication-naïve patients with MDD, medicated patients with MDD receiving the SSRI paroxetine and healthy control subjects. All were administered a category-learning task that allows for dissociation between learning from positive feedback (reward versus learning from negative feedback (punishment. Healthy subjects learned significantly better from positive feedback than medication-naïve and medicated MDD groups, whose learning accuracy did not differ significantly. In contrast, medicated patients with MDD learned significantly less from negative feedback than medication-naïve patients with MDD and healthy subjects, whose learning accuracy was comparable. A comparison of subject’s relative sensitivity to positive versus negative feedback showed that both the medicated MDD and healthy control groups conform to Kahneman and Tversky’s (1979 Prospect Theory, which expects losses (negative feedback to loom psychologically slightly larger than gains (positive feedback. However, medicated MDD and HC profiles are not similar, which indicates that the state of medicated MDD is not ‘normal’ when compared to HC, but rather balanced with less learning from both positive and negative feedback. On the other hand, medication-naïve patients with MDD violate Prospect Theory by having significantly exaggerated learning from negative feedback. This suggests that SSRI antidepressants impair learning from negative feedback, while having negligible effect on learning from positive feedback. Overall, these findings shed light on the importance of dissociating the

  18. The effects of problem-based learning on the self-efficacy and attitudes of beginning biology majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajab, Adel Mohammad

    The problem of low persistence of science majors has resulted in calls for changes in undergraduate instruction toward environments that foster positive self-efficacy among beginning science majors. Low science self-efficacy and poor attitudes toward science may contribute to high attrition rates of science majors. Classroom environments that foster positive self-efficacy development include pedagogies that promote authentic learning contexts and involve collaborative learning teams. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional model that attempts to create both conditions and may provide every source of information needed for the development of self-efficacy (i.e., mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological states) as postulated by Albert Bandura. The degree to which these sources of self-efficacy are delivered to individuals within a PBL group may depend on how the group members interact and how students perceive the PBL process itself. This study examined the development of biology self-efficacy and attitudes among biology majors in a PBL setting and in a traditional lecture-based setting. Specifically, this project investigated changes in students' biology self-efficacy beliefs, mediating aspects of PBL in self-efficacy development, the relationship between PBL processes and group collective efficacy, the predictive nature of entering self-efficacy levels on attitudes toward PBL and mid-term grades, and changes in student attitudes toward biology. The study design was quasi-experimental and included quantitative pre- and post-surveys, qualitative interviews, and classroom observations. Findings revealed that students enrolled in a PBL class exhibited greater gains in biology self-efficacy and were likely to report more favorable attitudes toward biology compared to students enrolled in a traditional class. The aspects of PBL that most accounted for these findings were students' ownership of the learning process, their

  19. Recurrent processing during object recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Randall C. O'Reilly

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available How does the brain learn to recognize objects visually, and perform this difficult feat robustly in the face of many sources of ambiguity and variability? We present a computational model based on the biology of the relevant visual pathways that learns to reliably recognize 100 different object categories in the face of of naturally-occurring variability in location, rotation, size, and lighting. The model exhibits robustness to highly ambiguous, partially occluded inputs. Both the unified, biologically plausible learning mechanism and the robustness to occlusion derive from the role that recurrent connectivity and recurrent processing mechanisms play in the model. Furthermore, this interaction of recurrent connectivity and learning predicts that high-level visual representations should be shaped by error signals from nearby, associated brain areas over the course of visual learning. Consistent with this prediction, we show how semantic knowledge about object categories changes the nature of their learned visual representations, as well as how this representational shift supports the mapping between perceptual and conceptual knowledge. Altogether, these findings support the potential importance of ongoing recurrent processing throughout the brain's visual system and suggest ways in which object recognition can be understood in terms of interactions within and between processes over time.

  20. E-Learning as a Knowledge Management Approach for Intellectual Capital Utilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shehabat, Issa; Mahdi, Saad A.; Khoualdi, Kamel

    2008-01-01

    This paper addresses human resources utilization at the university environment. We address the design issues of e-learning courses that can capture the teacher knowledge. The underlying objective is that e-learning is a key knowledge and major resources for many universities. Therefore, the design of e-learning should be an important part of the…

  1. Learning e-Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel ZAMFIR

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available What You Understand Is What Your Cognitive Integrates. Scientific research develops, as a native environment, knowledge. This environment consists of two interdependent divisions: theory and technology. First division occurs as a recursive research, while the second one becomes an application of the research activity. Over time, theories integrate methodologies and technology extends as infrastructure. The engine of this environment is learning, as the human activity of knowledge work. The threshold term of this model is the concepts map; it is based on Bloom’ taxonomy for the cognitive domain and highlights the notion of software scaffolding which is grounded in Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory with its major theme, Zone of Proximal Development. This article is designed as a conceptual paper, which analyzes specific structures of this type of educational research: the model reflects a foundation for a theory and finally, the theory evolves as groundwork for a system. The outcomes of this kind of approach are the examples, which are, theoretically, learning outcomes, and practically exist as educational objects, so-called e-learning.

  2. Assessing Complex Learning Objectives through Analytics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horodyskyj, L.; Mead, C.; Buxner, S.; Semken, S. C.; Anbar, A. D.

    2016-12-01

    A significant obstacle to improving the quality of education is the lack of easy-to-use assessments of higher-order thinking. Most existing assessments focus on recall and understanding questions, which demonstrate lower-order thinking. Traditionally, higher-order thinking is assessed with practical tests and written responses, which are time-consuming to analyze and are not easily scalable. Computer-based learning environments offer the possibility of assessing such learning outcomes based on analysis of students' actions within an adaptive learning environment. Our fully online introductory science course, Habitable Worlds, uses an intelligent tutoring system that collects and responds to a range of behavioral data, including actions within the keystone project. This central project is a summative, game-like experience in which students synthesize and apply what they have learned throughout the course to identify and characterize a habitable planet from among hundreds of stars. Student performance is graded based on completion and accuracy, but two additional properties can be utilized to gauge higher-order thinking: (1) how efficient a student is with the virtual currency within the project and (2) how many of the optional milestones a student reached. In the project, students can use the currency to check their work and "unlock" convenience features. High-achieving students spend close to the minimum amount required to reach these goals, indicating a high-level of concept mastery and efficient methodology. Average students spend more, indicating effort, but lower mastery. Low-achieving students were more likely to spend very little, which indicates low effort. Differences on these metrics were statistically significant between all three of these populations. We interpret this as evidence that high-achieving students develop and apply efficient problem-solving skills as compared to lower-achieving student who use more brute-force approaches.

  3. Approximate ideal multi-objective solution Q(λ) learning for optimal carbon-energy combined-flow in multi-energy power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Xiaoshun; Yu, Tao; Yang, Bo; Zheng, Limin; Huang, Linni

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A novel optimal carbon-energy combined-flow (OCECF) model is firstly established. • A novel approximate ideal multi-objective solution Q(λ) learning is designed. • The proposed algorithm has a high convergence stability and reliability. • The proposed algorithm can be applied for OCECF in a large-scale power grid. - Abstract: This paper proposes a novel approximate ideal multi-objective solution Q(λ) learning for optimal carbon-energy combined-flow in multi-energy power systems. The carbon emissions, fuel cost, active power loss, voltage deviation and carbon emission loss are chosen as the optimization objectives, which are simultaneously optimized by five different Q-value matrices. The dynamic optimal weight of each objective is calculated online from the entire Q-value matrices such that the greedy action policy can be obtained. Case studies are carried out to evaluate the optimization performance for carbon-energy combined-flow in an IEEE 118-bus system and the regional power grid of southern China.

  4. Machine learning in infrared object classification - an all-sky selection of YSO candidates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marton, Gabor; Zahorecz, Sarolta; Toth, L. Viktor; Magnus McGehee, Peregrine; Kun, Maria

    2015-08-01

    Object classification is a fundamental and challenging problem in the era of big data. I will discuss up-to-date methods and their application to classify infrared point sources.We analysed the ALLWISE catalogue, the most recent public source catalogue of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to compile a reliable list of Young Stellar Object (YSO) candidates. We tested and compared classical and up-to-date statistical methods as well, to discriminate source types like extragalactic objects, evolved stars, main sequence stars, objects related to the interstellar medium and YSO candidates by using their mid-IR WISE properties and associated near-IR 2MASS data.In the particular classification problem the Support Vector Machines (SVM), a class of supervised learning algorithm turned out to be the best tool. As a result we classify Class I and II YSOs with >90% accuracy while the fraction of contaminating extragalactic objects remains well below 1%, based on the number of known objects listed in the SIMBAD and VizieR databases. We compare our results to other classification schemes from the literature and show that the SVM outperforms methods that apply linear cuts on the colour-colour and colour-magnitude space. Our homogenous YSO candidate catalog can serve as an excellent pathfinder for future detailed observations of individual objects and a starting point of statistical studies that aim to add pieces to the big picture of star formation theory.

  5. The Study of Supporting Learning Sufficiency Economy Philosophy of Students Majoring in Early Childhood Education by Backyard Gardening Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vannisa Hakoon

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This research was aimed to make students majoring in early childhood education learn about the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy by integrating learning process through practicing planting vegetables and herbs, harvesting, processing products and selling the products at the CEECE farm. This case study include 104 students in total, 2 males students and 102 females students majoring in early childhood education in the second semester of academic year 2016, Mahasarakham university. The researcher integrated the learning with subjects in early childhood education field such as Story and literature for young Children, Thai languages and literacy for young children, Independent study in early childhood education and Early childhood education quality assurance. The research instruments were 1 CEECE Farm area for practicing growing vegetables and herbs and 2 Self Reflection from the students. Data collection was conducted through three phases including 1 preparation 2 process and 3 data collection. The researcher analyzed the content by describing and drawing conclusions from students opinions about the learning. This research revealed: 1. Factors affecting success or barriers to learning include students, location, materials, budget, academic advisors and other factors such as climate and workloads of students. 2. Students majoring in early childhood education learn the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy through practicing at the CEECE farm. Students learn Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and knowledge as follows ; 2.1 Moderation: Students learn to use the resources sufficiently. Students realize the value and use resources in order to maximize savings ; location, materials and budget. 2.2 Reasonableness: Students learn to apply the principles of reason and critical thinking to planning decisions and resolving issues arising from the implementation based on information that they have gathered and relies on the concept, “if students are consumers, will they

  6. A Comparative Study on Cooperative Learning in Multimedia and Network Environment Used by English Majors between China Mainland and Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Gong; Lingling, Liu

    2018-01-01

    This paper first based on the theory of cooperative learning research. It analyses the characteristics and advantages of cooperative learning under the multimedia network environment. And then take China Three Gorges University and Taiwan I-Shou University English major students for example, using questionnaires and interviews to investigate the…

  7. Personalización del proceso de aprendizaje usando learning objects reutilizables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Minguillón

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available En este artículo se describe el diseño de una plataforma de e-learning que integra el uso de learning objects (objetos de aprendizaje reutilizables como elementos básicos para la construcción de itinerarios que permiten la personalización del proceso de aprendizaje en función de las características especiales de cada curso y de cada perfil de estudiante. El objetivo es describir las características deseadas de tal plataforma y las problemáticas que se presentan cuando se integran diferentes tecnologías, especialmente el salto existente entre las definiciones de metadatos proporcionadas por los estándares de marcado de objetos de aprendizaje, y la aplicación de un modelo de diseño instruccional adecuado a este nuevo escenario. La plataforma propuesta apuesta por el uso del estándard SCORM y, por extensión, del estándar LOM para el marcado de los objetos de aprendizaje, teniendo en cuenta que el objetivo central es el seguimiento del proceso de aprendizaje y la personalización del mismo.

  8. Development and Factor Analysis of an Instrument to Measure Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Learning Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahin, Sami

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire to measure student teachers' perception of digital learning objects. The participants included 308 voluntary senior students attending courses in a college of education of a public university in Turkey. The items were extracted to their related factors by the principal axis factoring method.…

  9. Problem-Based Learning Associated by Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS) Theory to Enhance Students' High Order Mathematical Thinking Ability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mudrikah, Achmad

    2016-01-01

    The research has shown a model of learning activities that can be used to stimulate reflective abstraction in students. Reflective abstraction as a method of constructing knowledge in the Action-Process-Object-Schema theory, and is expected to occur when students are in learning activities, will be able to encourage students to make the process of…

  10. The Inclusion Potential of Student Production of Digital Learning Objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Levinsen, Karin Tweddell; Sørensen, Birgitte Holm

    2016-01-01

    This account of the inclusion potential of students’ digital production is based on the large-scale research and development project Students’ Digital Production and Students as Learning Designers (2013–2015), funded by the Danish Ministry of Education. The target groups were primary and lower......-designed framework that accommodates and empowers students’ agency. The Danish parliament passed the Law of Inclusion In 2012 with the objective that by 2015, 96% of all students would be included in normal classes. Inclusion was not part of the initial research agenda, but this changed unexpectedly during...... the project. Specifically, students who did not participate or participated only sporadically in everyday school activities at the beginning of the project adopted new positions as participants and agents. We understand these changes as inclusive processes initiated by the combination of teacher...

  11. A Cognitive Skill Classification Based on Multi Objective Optimization Using Learning Vector Quantization for Serious Games

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moh. Aries Syufagi

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, serious games and game technology are poised to transform the way of educating and training students at all levels. However, pedagogical value in games do not help novice students learn, too many memorizing and reduce learning process due to no information of player’s ability. To asses the cognitive level of player ability, we propose a Cognitive Skill Game (CSG. CSG improves this cognitive concept to monitor how players interact with the game. This game employs Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ for optimizing the cognitive skill input classification of the player. CSG is using teacher’s data to obtain the neuron vector of cognitive skill pattern supervise. Three clusters multi objective XE "multi objective"  target will be classified as; trial and error, carefully and, expert cognitive skill. In the game play experiments employ 33 respondent players demonstrates that 61% of players have high trial and error, 21% have high carefully, and 18% have high expert cognitive skill. CSG may provide information to game engine when a player needs help or when wanting a formidable challenge. The game engine will provide the appropriate tasks according to players’ ability. CSG will help balance the emotions of players, so players do not get bored and frustrated. 

  12. Learning object repositories as knowledge management systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Demetrios G. Sampson

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Over the past years, a number of international initiatives that recognize the importance of sharing and reusing digital educational resources among educational communities through the use of Learning Object Repositories (LORs have emerged. Typically, these initiatives focus on collecting digital educational resources that are offered by their creators for open access and potential reuse. Nevertheless, most of the existing LORs are designed more as digital repositories, rather than as Knowledge Management Systems (KMS. By exploiting KMSs functionalities in LORs would bare the potential to support the organization and sharing of educational communities’ explicit knowledge (depicted in digital educational resources constructed by teachers and/or instructional designers and tacit knowledge (depicted in teachers’ and students’ experiences and interactions of using digital educational resources available in LORs. Within this context, in this paper we study the design and the implementation of fourteen operating LORs from the KMSs’ perspective, so as to identify additional functionalities that can support the management of educational communities’ explicit and tacit knowledge. Thus, we propose a list of essential LORs’ functionalities, which aim to facilitate the organization and sharing of educational communities’ knowledge. Finally, we present the added value of these functionalities by identifying their importance towards addressing the current demands of web-facilitated educational communities, as well as the knowledge management activities that they execute.

  13. Developing Goals and Objectives for Gameplay and Learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Weitze, Charlotte Lærke

    2014-01-01

    This chapter introduces goals in games and then potential differences between learning goals and goalsin games, as well as the difficulties that may occur when implementing learning goals in games....

  14. Where's Waldo? How perceptual, cognitive, and emotional brain processes cooperate during learning to categorize and find desired objects in a cluttered scene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen eGrossberg

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The Where’s Waldo problem concerns how individuals can rapidly learn to search a scene to detect, attend, recognize, and look at a valued target object in it. This article develops the ARTSCAN Search neural model to clarify how brain mechanisms across the What and Where cortical streams are coordinated to solve the Where's Waldo problem. The What stream learns positionally-invariant object representations, whereas the Where stream controls positionally-selective spatial and action representations. The model overcomes deficiencies of these computationally complementary properties through What and Where stream interactions. Where stream processes of spatial attention and predictive eye movement control modulate What stream processes whereby multiple view- and positionally-specific object categories are learned and associatively linked to view- and positionally-invariant object categories through bottom-up and attentive top-down interactions. Gain fields control the coordinate transformations that enable spatial attention and predictive eye movements to carry out this role. What stream cognitive-emotional learning processes enable the focusing of motivated attention upon the invariant object categories of desired objects. What stream cognitive names or motivational drives can prime a view- and positionally-invariant object category of a desired target object. A volitional signal can convert these primes into top-down activations that can, in turn, prime What stream view- and positionally-specific categories. When it also receives bottom-up activation from a target, such a positionally-specific category can cause an attentional shift in the Where stream to the positional representation of the target, and an eye movement can then be elicited to foveate it. These processes describe interactions among brain regions that include visual cortex, parietal cortex inferotemporal cortex, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, basal ganglia, and superior colliculus.

  15. Towards a Standards-Based Approach to E-Learning Personalization Using Reusable Learning Objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conlan, Owen; Dagger, Declan; Wade, Vincent

    E-Learning systems that produce personalized course offerings for the learner are often expensive, both from a time and financial perspective, to develop and maintain. Learning content personalized to a learners' cognitive preferences has been shown to produce more effective learning, however many approaches to realizing this form of…

  16. The Visual Object Tracking VOT2016 Challenge Results

    KAUST Repository

    Kristan, Matej

    2016-11-02

    The Visual Object Tracking challenge VOT2016 aims at comparing short-term single-object visual trackers that do not apply pre-learned models of object appearance. Results of 70 trackers are presented, with a large number of trackers being published at major computer vision conferences and journals in the recent years. The number of tested state-of-the-art trackers makes the VOT 2016 the largest and most challenging benchmark on short-term tracking to date. For each participating tracker, a short description is provided in the Appendix. The VOT2016 goes beyond its predecessors by (i) introducing a new semi-automatic ground truth bounding box annotation methodology and (ii) extending the evaluation system with the no-reset experiment. The dataset, the evaluation kit as well as the results are publicly available at the challenge website (http://votchallenge.net).

  17. The Visual Object Tracking VOT2016 Challenge Results

    KAUST Repository

    Kristan, Matej; Leonardis, Aleš; Matas, Jiři; Felsberg, Michael; Pflugfelder, Roman; Čehovin, Luka; Vojí r̃, Tomá š; Hä ger, Gustav; Lukežič, Alan; Ferná ndez, Gustavo; Gupta, Abhinav; Petrosino, Alfredo; Memarmoghadam, Alireza; Garcia-Martin, Alvaro; Solí s Montero, André s; Vedaldi, Andrea; Robinson, Andreas; Ma, Andy J.; Varfolomieiev, Anton; Alatan, Aydin; Erdem, Aykut; Ghanem, Bernard; Liu, Bin; Han, Bohyung; Martinez, Brais; Chang, Chang-Ming; Xu, Changsheng; Sun, Chong; Kim, Daijin; Chen, Dapeng; Du, Dawei; Mishra, Deepak; Yeung, Dit-Yan; Gundogdu, Erhan; Erdem, Erkut; Khan, Fahad; Porikli, Fatih; Zhao, Fei; Bunyak, Filiz; Battistone, Francesco; Zhu, Gao; Roffo, Giorgio; Subrahmanyam, Gorthi R. K. Sai; Bastos, Guilherme; Seetharaman, Guna; Medeiros, Henry; Li, Hongdong; Qi, Honggang; Bischof, Horst; Possegger, Horst; Lu, Huchuan; Lee, Hyemin; Nam, Hyeonseob; Chang, Hyung Jin; Drummond, Isabela; Valmadre, Jack; Jeong, Jae-chan; Cho, Jae-il; Lee, Jae-Yeong; Zhu, Jianke; Feng, Jiayi; Gao, Jin; Choi, Jin Young; Xiao, Jingjing; Kim, Ji-Wan; Jeong, Jiyeoup; Henriques, Joã o F.; Lang, Jochen; Choi, Jongwon; Martinez, Jose M.; Xing, Junliang; Gao, Junyu; Palaniappan, Kannappan; Lebeda, Karel; Gao, Ke; Mikolajczyk, Krystian; Qin, Lei; Wang, Lijun; Wen, Longyin; Bertinetto, Luca; Rapuru, Madan Kumar; Poostchi, Mahdieh; Maresca, Mario; Danelljan, Martin; Mueller, Matthias; Zhang, Mengdan; Arens, Michael; Valstar, Michel; Tang, Ming; Baek, Mooyeol; Khan, Muhammad Haris; Wang, Naiyan; Fan, Nana; Al-Shakarji, Noor; Miksik, Ondrej; Akin, Osman; Moallem, Payman; Senna, Pedro; Torr, Philip H. S.; Yuen, Pong C.; Huang, Qingming; Martin-Nieto, Rafael; Pelapur, Rengarajan; Bowden, Richard; Laganiè re, Robert; Stolkin, Rustam; Walsh, Ryan; Krah, Sebastian B.; Li, Shengkun; Zhang, Shengping; Yao, Shizeng; Hadfield, Simon; Melzi, Simone; Lyu, Siwei; Li, Siyi; Becker, Stefan; Golodetz, Stuart; Kakanuru, Sumithra; Choi, Sunglok; Hu, Tao; Mauthner, Thomas; Zhang, Tianzhu; Pridmore, Tony; Santopietro, Vincenzo; Hu, Weiming; Li, Wenbo; Hü bner, Wolfgang; Lan, Xiangyuan; Wang, Xiaomeng; Li, Xin; Li, Yang; Demiris, Yiannis; Wang, Yifan; Qi, Yuankai; Yuan, Zejian; Cai, Zexiong; Xu, Zhan; He, Zhenyu; Chi, Zhizhen

    2016-01-01

    The Visual Object Tracking challenge VOT2016 aims at comparing short-term single-object visual trackers that do not apply pre-learned models of object appearance. Results of 70 trackers are presented, with a large number of trackers being published at major computer vision conferences and journals in the recent years. The number of tested state-of-the-art trackers makes the VOT 2016 the largest and most challenging benchmark on short-term tracking to date. For each participating tracker, a short description is provided in the Appendix. The VOT2016 goes beyond its predecessors by (i) introducing a new semi-automatic ground truth bounding box annotation methodology and (ii) extending the evaluation system with the no-reset experiment. The dataset, the evaluation kit as well as the results are publicly available at the challenge website (http://votchallenge.net).

  18. Courseware Integration into Task-Based Learning: A Case Study of Multimedia Courseware-Supported Oral Presentations for Non-English Major Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Shu-Chiao

    2011-01-01

    This study reports on the integration of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) multimedia courseware for oral presentations into a self-learning and elective program for non-English major students in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting. A computer-aided instruction approach, combined with a task-based learning approach, was adopted.…

  19. Mathematical learning instruction and teacher motivation factors affecting science technology engineering and math (STEM) major choices in 4-year colleges and universities: Multilevel structural equation modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ahlam

    2011-12-01

    Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002/06, this study examined the effects of the selected mathematical learning and teacher motivation factors on graduates' science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related major choices in 4-year colleges and universities, as mediated by math performance and math self-efficacy. Using multilevel structural equation modeling, I analyzed: (1) the association between mathematical learning instruction factors (i.e., computer, individual, and lecture-based learning activities in mathematics) and students' STEM major choices in 4-year colleges and universities as mediated by math performance and math self-efficacy and (2) the association between school factor, teacher motivation and students' STEM major choices in 4-year colleges and universities via mediators of math performance and math self-efficacy. The results revealed that among the selected learning experience factors, computer-based learning activities in math classrooms yielded the most positive effects on math self-efficacy, which significantly predicted the increase in the proportion of students' STEM major choice as mediated by math self-efficacy. Further, when controlling for base-year math Item Response Theory (IRT) scores, a positive relationship between individual-based learning activities in math classrooms and the first follow-up math IRT scores emerged, which related to the high proportion of students' STEM major choices. The results also indicated that individual and lecture-based learning activities in math yielded positive effects on math self-efficacy, which related to STEM major choice. Concerning between-school levels, teacher motivation yielded positive effects on the first follow up math IRT score, when controlling for base year IRT score. The results from this study inform educators, parents, and policy makers on how mathematics instruction can improve student math performance and encourage more students to prepare for STEM careers. Students

  20. The Deflector Selector: A machine learning framework for prioritizing hazardous object deflection technology development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nesvold, E. R.; Greenberg, A.; Erasmus, N.; van Heerden, E.; Galache, J. L.; Dahlstrom, E.; Marchis, F.

    2018-05-01

    Several technologies have been proposed for deflecting a hazardous Solar System object on a trajectory that would otherwise impact the Earth. The effectiveness of each technology depends on several characteristics of the given object, including its orbit and size. The distribution of these parameters in the likely population of Earth-impacting objects can thus determine which of the technologies are most likely to be useful in preventing a collision with the Earth. None of the proposed deflection technologies has been developed and fully tested in space. Developing every proposed technology is currently prohibitively expensive, so determining now which technologies are most likely to be effective would allow us to prioritize a subset of proposed deflection technologies for funding and development. We present a new model, the Deflector Selector, that takes as its input the characteristics of a hazardous object or population of such objects and predicts which technology would be able to perform a successful deflection. The model consists of a machine-learning algorithm trained on data produced by N-body integrations simulating the deflections. We describe the model and present the results of tests of the effectiveness of nuclear explosives, kinetic impactors, and gravity tractors on three simulated populations of hazardous objects.

  1. The Deflector Selector: A Machine Learning Framework for Prioritizing Hazardous Object Deflection Technology Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nesvold, Erika; Greenberg, Adam; Erasmus, Nicolas; Van Heerden, Elmarie; Galache, J. L.; Dahlstrom, Eric; Marchis, Franck

    2018-01-01

    Several technologies have been proposed for deflecting a hazardous Solar System object on a trajectory that would otherwise impact the Earth. The effectiveness of each technology depends on several characteristics of the given object, including its orbit and size. The distribution of these parameters in the likely population of Earth-impacting objects can thus determine which of the technologies are most likely to be useful in preventing a collision with the Earth. None of the proposed deflection technologies has been developed and fully tested in space. Developing every proposed technology is currently prohibitively expensive, so determining now which technologies are most likely to be effective would allow us to prioritize a subset of proposed deflection technologies for funding and development. We will present a new model, the Deflector Selector, that takes as its input the characteristics of a hazardous object or population of such objects and predicts which technology would be able to perform a successful deflection. The model consists of a machine-learning algorithm trained on data produced by N-body integrations simulating the deflections. We will describe the model and present the results of tests of the effectiveness of nuclear explosives, kinetic impactors, and gravity tractors on three simulated populations of hazardous objects.

  2. The Use of Facebook in an Introductory MIS Course: Social Constructivist Learning Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ractham, Peter; Kaewkitipong, Laddawan; Firpo, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    The major objective of this article is to evaluate via a Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) the implementation of a Social Constructivist learning framework for an introductory Management Information System (MIS) course. Facebook was used as a learning artifact to build and foster a learning environment, and a series of features and…

  3. Activities Joining Learning Objectives to Assessments in Introductory Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palen, Stacy E.; Larson, Ana M.

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, accreditation boards and other governing bodies have been pushing hard for explicit learning goals and quantitative measures of assessment for general education courses such as Astronomy 101. This added assessment burden can be problematic, especially for harried adjuncts teaching multiple courses at multiple institutions. It would be helpful to have a field-tested set of combined hands-on activities and assessment tools that help instructors meet these assessment requirements. The authors have produced just such a set. We have been using hands-on activities in our classrooms for more than 15 years. These activities require no special equipment or preparation and can be completed within an hour by most students working in groups of two or three. The sections of each activity are arranged in steps, guiding the students from initial knowledge-level questions or practice to a final evaluation or synthesis of what they have just accomplished. Students thus get practice thinking at higher cognitive levels. A recent addition to these activities is the inclusion of formalized learning objectives and accompanying pre- and post-activity questions. The pre-activity questions address common misconceptions, relate familiar analogous terrestrial examples to the activity, and act as a brief refresher meta-concepts like scale factors, measurements, and basic mathematics review. The post-activity questions review the most important concepts introduced in the activity. We present a number of examples as well as a summary as to how we have initiated their use in a large lecture setting of 300 students, in smaller classrooms of 15 students, and in a community college online course.

  4. Evaluation of Learning Environments for Object-Oriented Programming: Measuring Cognitive Load with a Novel Measurement Technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uysal, Murat Pasa

    2016-01-01

    Various methods and tools have been proposed to overcome the learning obstacles for Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). However, it remains difficult especially for novice learners. The problem may be not only adopting an instructional method, but also an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Learners employ IDEs as a means to solve programming…

  5. Using Environmental Science as a Motivational Tool to Teach Physics to Non-Science Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busch, Hauke C.

    2010-01-01

    A traditional physical science course was transformed into an environmental physical science course to teach physics to non-science majors. The objective of the new course was to improve the learning of basic physics principles by applying them to current issues of interest. A new curriculum was developed with new labs, homework assignments,…

  6. Compositions of fuzzy relations applied to veryfication learning outcomes on the example of the major “Geodesy and Cartography”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Mreła

    2015-05-01

        Abstract The paper presents discussion about using mathematical functions in order to help academic teachers to verify acquirement of learning outcomes by students on the example of the major “geodesy and cartography”. It is relatively easy to build fuzzy relation describing levels of realization and validation learning outcomes during subject examinations and the fuzzy relation with students’ grades is already built by teachers, the problem is to combine these two relations to get one which describes the level of acquiring learning outcomes by students. There are two main requirements facing this combinations and the paper shows that the best combination according to these requirements is algebraic composition.   Keywords: learning outcome, fuzzy relation, algebraic composition.

  7. An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming with a Didactic Microworld: "objectKarel"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xinogalos, Stelios; Satratzemi, Maya; Dagdilelis, Vassilios

    2006-01-01

    The objects-first strategy to teaching programming has prevailed over the imperative-first and functional-first strategies during the last decade. However, the objects-first strategy has created added difficulties to both the teaching and learning of programming. In an attempt to confront these difficulties and support the objects-first strategy…

  8. Machine learning algorithm accurately detects fMRI signature of vulnerability to major depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, João R; Moll, Jorge; Green, Sophie; Deakin, John F W; Thomaz, Carlos E; Zahn, Roland

    2015-08-30

    Standard functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses cannot assess the potential of a neuroimaging signature as a biomarker to predict individual vulnerability to major depression (MD). Here, we use machine learning for the first time to address this question. Using a recently identified neural signature of guilt-selective functional disconnection, the classification algorithm was able to distinguish remitted MD from control participants with 78.3% accuracy. This demonstrates the high potential of our fMRI signature as a biomarker of MD vulnerability. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Learning to Detect Human-Object Interactions

    KAUST Repository

    Chao, Yu-Wei; Liu, Yunfan; Liu, Xieyang; Zeng, Huayi; Deng, Jia

    2017-01-01

    In this paper we study the problem of detecting human-object interactions (HOI) in static images, defined as predicting a human and an object bounding box with an interaction class label that connects them. HOI detection is a fundamental problem in computer vision as it provides semantic information about the interactions among the detected objects. We introduce HICO-DET, a new large benchmark for HOI detection, by augmenting the current HICO classification benchmark with instance annotations. We propose Human-Object Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks (HO-RCNN), a novel DNN-based framework for HOI detection. At the core of our HO-RCNN is the Interaction Pattern, a novel DNN input that characterizes the spatial relations between two bounding boxes. We validate the effectiveness of our HO-RCNN using HICO-DET. Experiments demonstrate that our HO-RCNN, by exploiting human-object spatial relations through Interaction Patterns, significantly improves the performance of HOI detection over baseline approaches.

  10. Learning to Detect Human-Object Interactions

    KAUST Repository

    Chao, Yu-Wei

    2017-02-17

    In this paper we study the problem of detecting human-object interactions (HOI) in static images, defined as predicting a human and an object bounding box with an interaction class label that connects them. HOI detection is a fundamental problem in computer vision as it provides semantic information about the interactions among the detected objects. We introduce HICO-DET, a new large benchmark for HOI detection, by augmenting the current HICO classification benchmark with instance annotations. We propose Human-Object Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks (HO-RCNN), a novel DNN-based framework for HOI detection. At the core of our HO-RCNN is the Interaction Pattern, a novel DNN input that characterizes the spatial relations between two bounding boxes. We validate the effectiveness of our HO-RCNN using HICO-DET. Experiments demonstrate that our HO-RCNN, by exploiting human-object spatial relations through Interaction Patterns, significantly improves the performance of HOI detection over baseline approaches.

  11. Portal and repository for sharing mathematical learning objects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zanden, van der A.H.W.; Cuypers, H.; Luca, J.; Weippl, E.R.

    2008-01-01

    Now that Virtual Learning Environments are common within higher education in the Netherlands it is time to work with online validated informational resources. Technologies such as repositories are the systems to manage learning content but are most inconvenient in use. The national project NKBW aims

  12. A unified computational model of the development of object unity, object permanence, and occluded object trajectory perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franz, A; Triesch, J

    2010-12-01

    The perception of the unity of objects, their permanence when out of sight, and the ability to perceive continuous object trajectories even during occlusion belong to the first and most important capacities that infants have to acquire. Despite much research a unified model of the development of these abilities is still missing. Here we make an attempt to provide such a unified model. We present a recurrent artificial neural network that learns to predict the motion of stimuli occluding each other and that develops representations of occluded object parts. It represents completely occluded, moving objects for several time steps and successfully predicts their reappearance after occlusion. This framework allows us to account for a broad range of experimental data. Specifically, the model explains how the perception of object unity develops, the role of the width of the occluders, and it also accounts for differences between data for moving and stationary stimuli. We demonstrate that these abilities can be acquired by learning to predict the sensory input. The model makes specific predictions and provides a unifying framework that has the potential to be extended to other visual event categories. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Multi-centre diagnostic classification of individual structural neuroimaging scans from patients with major depressive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mwangi, Benson; Ebmeier, Klaus P; Matthews, Keith; Steele, J Douglas

    2012-05-01

    individual subjects. Furthermore, machine learning weighting factors may reflect an objective biomarker of major depressive disorder illness severity, based on abnormalities of brain structure.

  14. Integrated approach to e-learning enhanced both subjective and objective knowledge of aEEG in a neonatal intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poon, W B; Tagamolila, V; Toh, Y P; Cheng, Z R

    2015-03-01

    Various meta-analyses have shown that e-learning is as effective as traditional methods of continuing professional education. However, there are some disadvantages to e-learning, such as possible technical problems, the need for greater self-discipline, cost involved in developing programmes and limited direct interaction. Currently, most strategies for teaching amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) worldwide depend on traditional teaching methods. We implemented a programme that utilised an integrated approach to e-learning. The programme consisted of three sessions of supervised protected time e-learning in an NICU. The objective and subjective effectiveness of the approach was assessed through surveys administered to participants before and after the programme. A total of 37 NICU staff (32 nurses and 5 doctors) participated in the study. 93.1% of the participants appreciated the need to acquire knowledge of aEEG. We also saw a statistically significant improvement in the subjective knowledge score (p = 0.041) of the participants. The passing rates for identifying abnormal aEEG tracings (defined as ≥ 3 correct answers out of 5) also showed a statistically significant improvement (from 13.6% to 81.8%, p e-learning can help improve subjective and objective knowledge of aEEG.

  15. Abstraction ability as an indicator of success for learning object-oriented programming?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bennedsen, Jens Benned; Caspersen, Michael Edelgaard

    2006-01-01

    ability is operationalized as stages of cognitive development (for which validated tests exist). Programming ability is operationalized as grade in the final assessment of a model-based objects-first CS1. The validity of the operationalizations is discussed. Surprisingly, our study shows......Computer science educators generally agree that abstract thinking is a crucial component for learning computer science in general and programming in particular. We report on a study to confirm the hypothesis that general abstraction ability has a positive impact on programming ability. Abstraction...... that there is no correlation between stage of cognitive development (abstraction ability) and final grade in CS1 (programming ability). Possible explanations are identified....

  16. Data quality objectives lessons learned for tank waste characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eberlein, S.J.

    1996-01-01

    The tank waste characterization process is an integral part of the overall effort to control the hazards associated with radioactive wastes stored in underground tanks at the Hanford Reservation. The programs involved in the characterization of the wastes are employing Data Quality Objective (DQO) process in all information and data collection activities. The DQO process is used by the programs to address an issue or problem rather than a specific sampling event. Practical limits do not always allow for precise characterization of a tank or the implementation of the DQO process. Because of the flexibility of the DQO process, it can be used as a tool for sampling and analysis of the underground waste storage tanks. The iterative nature of the DQO process allows it to be used as additional information is claimed or lessons are learned concerning an issue or problem requiring sampling and analysis of tank waste. In addition, the application of DQO process forces alternative actions to be considered when precise characterization of a tank or the full implementation of the DQO process is not practical

  17. Challenges in Physical Characterization of Dim Space Objects: What Can We Learn from NEOs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, V.; Sanchez, J.; Thirouin, A.; Rivera-Valentin, E.; Ryan, W.; Ryan, E.; Mokovitz, N.; Tegler, S.

    2016-09-01

    Physical characterization of dim space objects in cis-lunar space can be a challenging task. Of particular interest to both natural and artificial space object behavior scientists are the properties beyond orbital parameters that can uniquely identify them. These properties include rotational state, size, shape, density and composition. A wide range of observational and non-observational factors affect our ability to characterize dim objects in cis-lunar space. For example, phase angle (angle between Sun-Target-Observer), temperature, rotational variations, temperature, and particle size (for natural dim objects). Over the last two decades, space object behavior scientists studying natural dim objects have attempted to quantify and correct for a majority of these factors to enhance our situational awareness. These efforts have been primarily focused on developing laboratory spectral calibrations in a space-like environment. Calibrations developed correcting spectral observations of natural dim objects could be applied to characterizing artificial objects, as the underlying physics is the same. The paper will summarize our current understanding of these observational and non-observational factors and present a case study showcasing the state of the art in characterization of natural dim objects.

  18. Spared internal but impaired external reward prediction error signals in major depressive disorder during reinforcement learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakic, Jasmina; Pourtois, Gilles; Jepma, Marieke; Duprat, Romain; De Raedt, Rudi; Baeken, Chris

    2017-01-01

    Major depressive disorder (MDD) creates debilitating effects on a wide range of cognitive functions, including reinforcement learning (RL). In this study, we sought to assess whether reward processing as such, or alternatively the complex interplay between motivation and reward might potentially account for the abnormal reward-based learning in MDD. A total of 35 treatment resistant MDD patients and 44 age matched healthy controls (HCs) performed a standard probabilistic learning task. RL was titrated using behavioral, computational modeling and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) data. MDD patients showed comparable learning rate compared to HCs. However, they showed decreased lose-shift responses as well as blunted subjective evaluations of the reinforcers used during the task, relative to HCs. Moreover, MDD patients showed normal internal (at the level of error-related negativity, ERN) but abnormal external (at the level of feedback-related negativity, FRN) reward prediction error (RPE) signals during RL, selectively when additional efforts had to be made to establish learning. Collectively, these results lend support to the assumption that MDD does not impair reward processing per se during RL. Instead, it seems to alter the processing of the emotional value of (external) reinforcers during RL, when additional intrinsic motivational processes have to be engaged. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. Audiovisual communication of object-names improves the spatial accuracy of recalled object-locations in topographic maps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lammert-Siepmann, Nils; Bestgen, Anne-Kathrin; Edler, Dennis; Kuchinke, Lars; Dickmann, Frank

    2017-01-01

    Knowing the correct location of a specific object learned from a (topographic) map is fundamental for orientation and navigation tasks. Spatial reference systems, such as coordinates or cardinal directions, are helpful tools for any geometric localization of positions that aims to be as exact as possible. Considering modern visualization techniques of multimedia cartography, map elements transferred through the auditory channel can be added easily. Audiovisual approaches have been discussed in the cartographic community for many years. However, the effectiveness of audiovisual map elements for map use has hardly been explored so far. Within an interdisciplinary (cartography-cognitive psychology) research project, it is examined whether map users remember object-locations better if they do not just read the corresponding place names, but also listen to them as voice recordings. This approach is based on the idea that learning object-identities influences learning object-locations, which is crucial for map-reading tasks. The results of an empirical study show that the additional auditory communication of object names not only improves memory for the names (object-identities), but also for the spatial accuracy of their corresponding object-locations. The audiovisual communication of semantic attribute information of a spatial object seems to improve the binding of object-identity and object-location, which enhances the spatial accuracy of object-location memory.

  20. Using reusable learning objects (rlos) in injection skills teaching: Evaluations from multiple user types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Julia; O'Connor, Mórna; Windle, Richard; Wharrad, Heather J

    2015-12-01

    Clinical skills are a critical component of pre-registration nurse education in the United Kingdom, yet there is widespread concern about the clinical skills displayed by newly-qualified nurses. Novel means of supporting clinical skills education are required to address this. A package of Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) was developed to supplement pre-registration teaching on the clinical skill of administering injection medication. RLOs are electronic resources addressing a single learning objective whose interactivity facilitates learning. This article evaluates a package of five injection RLOs across three studies: (1) questionnaires administered to pre-registration nursing students at University of Nottingham (UoN) (n=46) evaluating the RLO package as a whole; (2) individual RLOs evaluated in online questionnaires by educators and students from UoN; from other national and international institutions; and healthcare professionals (n=265); (3) qualitative evaluation of the RLO package by UoN injection skills tutors (n=6). Data from all studies were assessed for (1) access to, (2) usefulness, (3) impact and (4) integration of the RLOs. Study one found that pre-registration nursing students rate the RLO package highly across all categories, particularly underscoring the value of their self-test elements. Study two found high ratings in online assessments of individual RLOs by multiple users. The global reach is particularly encouraging here. Tutors reported insufficient levels of student-RLO access, which might be explained by the timing of their student exposure. Tutors integrate RLOs into teaching and agree on their use as teaching supplements, not substitutes for face-to-face education. This evaluation encompasses the first years postpackage release. Encouraging data on evaluative categories in this early review suggest that future evaluations are warranted to track progress as the package is adopted and evaluated more widely. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

  1. La interfaz del objeto de aprendizaje/ The interface of the Learning Object

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pilar Hernandez

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Este artículo hace parte del proceso de investigación documental y teórico, que se realizó en el marco de la investigación mencionada, con el fin de dar soporte conceptual a los importantes aportes que hace el diseño gráfico al proceso de construcción de objetos de aprendizaje. Se presenta a continuación un breve recorrido por las diferentes concepciones de los conceptos de interfaz y usabilidad, en tanto fundamentales en el logro, en primera instancia, de la comunicación y, en segunda instancia, la potenciación de los aprendizajes. This article is a part of the documental and theoretical process of investigation, of the project mention before, this has as a purpose to give a conceptual support to the important contributions from the graphic design to the process of construction of learning objects. In this is presented a brief journey about the different conceptions of the notion of interface and usability, as well as they are fundamental to consolidate of, in first place, the communication and, in second place, the promotion of the learning process.

  2. Developing "Green" Business Plans: Using Entrepreneurship to Teach Science to Business Administration Majors and Business to Biology Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Letovsky, Robert; Banschbach, Valerie S.

    2011-01-01

    Biology majors team with business administration majors to develop proposals for "green" enterprise for a business plan competition. The course begins with a series of student presentations so that science students learn about the fundamentals of business, and business students learn about environmental biology. Then mixed biology-business student…

  3. A Comparative Study on Cooperative Learning in Multimedia and Network Environment Used by English Majors between China Mainland and Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gong Xue

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper first based on the theory of cooperative learning research. It analyses the characteristics and advantages of cooperative learning under the multimedia network environment.And then take China Three Gorges University and Taiwan I-Shou University English major students for example, using questionnaires and interviews to investigate the students's cooperative learning in the network environment. Survey results showed that cooperative learning teaching mode has been widely used in English classrooms across the Taiwan Strait. Students think highly of cooperative learning in the multimedia-aided, and it can have a positive effect on learning; but on cooperative learning ability and the specific learning process, students still have some problems.Nowadays,cooperative learning in the network environment has various ways, but there exist certain differences in the learning styles across the Strait. Taiwan students rely more on teachers’ help and teachers feedback, while students in mainland depend mainly on networking and panel discussion. On qualitative analysis of interview is a supplement to the questionnaire and further explore its deeper causes, which provide valuable evidence for the study and learning practice. Finally, according to the comparative analysis ,the author puts forward some constructive suggestions.

  4. Object Knowledge Modulates Colour Appearance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christoph Witzel

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigated the memory colour effect for colour diagnostic artificial objects. Since knowledge about these objects and their colours has been learned in everyday life, these stimuli allow the investigation of the influence of acquired object knowledge on colour appearance. These investigations are relevant for questions about how object and colour information in high-level vision interact as well as for research about the influence of learning and experience on perception in general. In order to identify suitable artificial objects, we developed a reaction time paradigm that measures (subjective colour diagnosticity. In the main experiment, participants adjusted sixteen such objects to their typical colour as well as to grey. If the achromatic object appears in its typical colour, then participants should adjust it to the opponent colour in order to subjectively perceive it as grey. We found that knowledge about the typical colour influences the colour appearance of artificial objects. This effect was particularly strong along the daylight axis.

  5. Object knowledge modulates colour appearance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witzel, Christoph; Valkova, Hanna; Hansen, Thorsten; Gegenfurtner, Karl R

    2011-01-01

    We investigated the memory colour effect for colour diagnostic artificial objects. Since knowledge about these objects and their colours has been learned in everyday life, these stimuli allow the investigation of the influence of acquired object knowledge on colour appearance. These investigations are relevant for questions about how object and colour information in high-level vision interact as well as for research about the influence of learning and experience on perception in general. In order to identify suitable artificial objects, we developed a reaction time paradigm that measures (subjective) colour diagnosticity. In the main experiment, participants adjusted sixteen such objects to their typical colour as well as to grey. If the achromatic object appears in its typical colour, then participants should adjust it to the opponent colour in order to subjectively perceive it as grey. We found that knowledge about the typical colour influences the colour appearance of artificial objects. This effect was particularly strong along the daylight axis. PMID:23145224

  6. Children's Reactions to a Children's News Program: Reception, Recognition and Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Sara Ann

    The major objectives of this study were to determine the reception of "In the News" by children within the target audience's ages, to determine if children within the target audience recognize the news program as a program, to determine if children learn from "In the News," and to compare children's learning from hard news…

  7. An object memory bias induced by communicative reference

    OpenAIRE

    Marno, Hanna; Davelaar, Eddy J.; Csibra, Gergely

    2015-01-01

    In humans, a good proportion of knowledge, including knowledge about objects and object kinds, is acquired via social learning by direct communication from others. If communicative signals raise the expectation of social learning about objects, intrinsic (permanent) features that support object recognition are relevant to store into memory, while extrinsic (accidental) object properties can be ignored. We investigated this hypothesis by instructing participants to memorise shape-colour associ...

  8. Object Oriented Learning Objects in Online Education: A Framework and Example.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rincon, Lilian; Parker, Drew

    Online learning is coming of age in both postsecondary education and industry. The courses now offered online range from kinesiology to mathematics to complete M.B.A. programs. The growing popularity of online education has created a need to reduce costs without diminishing the value of the edification. In response to this need, an instructional…

  9. The association between subjective memory complaint and objective cognitive function in older people with previous major depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Chung-Shiang; Sun, I-Wen; Begum, Aysha; Liu, Shen-Ing; Chang, Ching-Jui; Chiu, Wei-Che; Chen, Chin-Hsin; Tang, Hwang-Shen; Yang, Chia-Li; Lin, Ying-Chin; Chiu, Chih-Chiang; Stewart, Robert

    2017-01-01

    The goal of this study is to investigate associations between subjective memory complaint and objective cognitive performance in older people with previous major depression-a high-risk sample for cognitive impairment and later dementia. A cross-sectional study was carried out in people aged 60 or over with previous major depression but not fulfilling current major depression criteria according to DSM-IV-TR. People with dementia or Mini-Mental State Examination score less than 17 were excluded. Subjective memory complaint was defined on the basis of a score ≧4 on the subscale of Geriatric Mental State schedule, a maximum score of 8. Older people aged equal or over 60 without any psychiatric diagnosis were enrolled as healthy controls. Cognitive function was evaluated using a series of cognitive tests assessing verbal memory, attention/speed, visuospatial function, verbal fluency, and cognitive flexibility in all participants. One hundred and thirteen older people with previous major depression and forty-six healthy controls were enrolled. Subjective memory complaint was present in more than half of the participants with depression history (55.8%). Among those with major depression history, subjective memory complaint was associated with lower total immediate recall and delayed verbal recall scores after adjustment. The associations between subjective memory complaint and worse memory performance were stronger in participants with lower depressive symptoms (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scorememory complaint may be a valid appraisal of memory performance in older people with previous major depression and consideration should be given to more proactive assessment and follow-up in these clinical samples.

  10. Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain as a Learning Tool to Assess Acute Pain in Nursing: An Analysis of the Mental Workload.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alvarez, Ana Graziela; Sasso, Grace; Iyengar, Sriram

    2015-11-06

    The inclusion of new technologies in education has motivated the development of studies on mental workload. These technologies are now being used in the teaching and learning process. The analysis enables identification of factors intervening in this workload as well as planning of overload prevention for educational activities using these technologies. To analyze the mental workload of an educational intervention with the Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain in adults and newborns, according to the NASA Task Load Index criteria. A methodological study with data collected from 5 nurses and 75 students, from November of 2013 to February of 2014. The highest students' and specialists' means were in the dimensions of "Mental demand" (57.20 ± 22.27; 51 ± 29.45) and "Performance" (58.47 ± 24.19; 73 ± 28.85). The specialists' mental workload index was higher (50.20 ± 7.28) when compared with students' (47.87 ± 16.85) on a scale from 0 to 100 (P=.557). The instrument allowed for the assessment of mental workload after an online educational intervention with a mobile learning virtual object. An excessive overload was not identified among participants. Assessing mental workload from the use of educational technologies at the end of a task is a key to their applicability, with the aim of providing a more effective, stimulating, and long-lasting experience of the learning process.

  11. Learning Science Through Visualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaudhury, S. Raj

    2005-01-01

    In the context of an introductory physical science course for non-science majors, I have been trying to understand how scientific visualizations of natural phenomena can constructively impact student learning. I have also necessarily been concerned with the instructional and assessment approaches that need to be considered when focusing on learning science through visually rich information sources. The overall project can be broken down into three distinct segments : (i) comparing students' abilities to demonstrate proportional reasoning competency on visual and verbal tasks (ii) decoding and deconstructing visualizations of an object falling under gravity (iii) the role of directed instruction to elicit alternate, valid scientific visualizations of the structure of the solar system. Evidence of student learning was collected in multiple forms for this project - quantitative analysis of student performance on written, graded assessments (tests and quizzes); qualitative analysis of videos of student 'think aloud' sessions. The results indicate that there are significant barriers for non-science majors to succeed in mastering the content of science courses, but with informed approaches to instruction and assessment, these barriers can be overcome.

  12. QUALITATIVE INDICATORS OF EFFICIENCY OF TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPING ESP COMPETENCE IN STUDENTS MAJORING IN SCIENCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Наталія Микитинко

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The article is dedicated to identifying and diagnosing qualitative indicators of efficiency of technologies developing ESP competence in students majoring in Sciences, namely: indicators of objective and subjective assessment  of students’ ESP competence, students’ motivation regarding professional choice, organizational features of professional training, its contents, the most popular learning activities, use of active methods of study in educational process. The paradigm of experimental research of efficiency of technologies developing ESP competence in students majoring in Sciences has been defined. Based on the interpretation of the qualitative indicators the hypothesis of efficiency of technologies developing ESP competence in students majoring in Sciences has been proven.

  13. Object oriented programming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunz, P.F.

    1990-01-01

    This paper is an introduction to object oriented programming techniques. It tries to explain the concepts by using analogies with traditional programming. The object oriented approach not inherently difficult, but most programmers find a relatively high threshold in learning it. Thus, this paper will attempt to convey the concepts with examples rather than explain the formal theory

  14. Why Inquiry? Primary Teachers' Objectives in Choosing Inquiry- and Context-Based Instructional Strategies to Stimulate Students' Science Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walan, Susanne; Nilsson, Pernilla; Ewen, Birgitta Mc

    2017-10-01

    Studies have shown that there is a need for pedagogical content knowledge among science teachers. This study investigates two primary teachers and their objectives in choosing inquiry- and context-based instructional strategies as well as the relation between the choice of instructional strategies and the teachers' knowledge about of students' understanding and intended learning outcomes. Content representations created by the teachers and students' experiences of the enacted teaching served as foundations for the teachers' reflections during interviews. Data from the interviews were analyzed in terms of the intended, enacted, and experienced purposes of the teaching and, finally, as the relation between intended, enacted, and experienced purposes. Students' experiences of the teaching were captured through a questionnaire, which was analyzed inductively, using content analysis. The results show that the teachers' intended teaching objectives were that students would learn about water. During the enacted teaching, it seemed as if the inquiry process was in focus and this was also how many of the students experienced the objectives of the activities. There was a gap between the intended and experienced objectives. Hardly any relation was found between the teachers' choice of instructional strategies and their knowledge about students' understanding, with the exception that the teacher who also added drama wanted to support her students' understanding of the states of water.

  15. Object-Based Change Detection in Urban Areas from High Spatial Resolution Images Based on Multiple Features and Ensemble Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xin Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available To improve the accuracy of change detection in urban areas using bi-temporal high-resolution remote sensing images, a novel object-based change detection scheme combining multiple features and ensemble learning is proposed in this paper. Image segmentation is conducted to determine the objects in bi-temporal images separately. Subsequently, three kinds of object features, i.e., spectral, shape and texture, are extracted. Using the image differencing process, a difference image is generated and used as the input for nonlinear supervised classifiers, including k-nearest neighbor, support vector machine, extreme learning machine and random forest. Finally, the results of multiple classifiers are integrated using an ensemble rule called weighted voting to generate the final change detection result. Experimental results of two pairs of real high-resolution remote sensing datasets demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the traditional methods in terms of overall accuracy and generates change detection maps with a higher number of homogeneous regions in urban areas. Moreover, the influences of segmentation scale and the feature selection strategy on the change detection performance are also analyzed and discussed.

  16. Making environmental health interesting for medical students-internet assisted facilitated collaborative learning approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sudharsanam, Manni Balasubramaniam

    2014-01-01

    Topics on environmental health are usually neglected by students and it is necessary for them to learn this area with a public health perspective as environment plays a vital role in multi-factorial causation of diseases. Hence there is a need for alternative teaching/learning methods to facilitate students in acquiring the required knowledge. To increase the student interest and enhance their participation in acquiring knowledge in public health perspective of environmental health. Teaching Objectives/Learning Were: At the end of the session students should know the importance of air as an environmental factor in disease causation in special reference to public health hazards, the major sources of air pollution, major pollutants causing the health hazards, the way to measure pollutants and control them. The whole class of students was divided into two batches and one session was planned for each batch. Each batch was divided into six small groups. The groups were given task of exploring the internet on the different topics mentioned in the learning objectives. All the students were asked to explore, compile information and collectively prepare a presentation and present their findings based on their reviews. Students' feedback was collected at the end of each session. Eighty five percent of them were clear about the learning objectives and interested about internet learning. Most of them gave a positive opinion about the newer teaching learning method. Internet assisted group study served as a valuable alternative, innovative, and interesting tool to teach and learn the environmental health as revealed by students' feedback.

  17. Special issue on multi-objective reinforcement learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Drugan, Madalina; Wiering, Marco; Vamplew, Peter; Chetty, Madhu

    2017-01-01

    Many real-life problems involve dealing with multiple objectives. For example, in network routing the criteria may consist of energy consumption, latency, and channel capacity, which are in essence conflicting objectives. As in many problems there may be multiple (conflicting) objectives, there

  18. E-learning objects and actor-networks as configuring information literacy teaching

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schreiber, Trine Louise

    2017-01-01

    Introduction. With actor-network theory (ANT) as the theoretical lens the aim of the paper is to examine attempts to build network for shaping information literacy teaching. Method. The paper is based on a study of a project in 2014-2016 where information professionals representing ten educational...... libraries produced and implemented e-learning objects in information literacy teaching. The material was collected through interviews, observations, documents and feedback sessions. Analysis. Latour´s concept of translation and Callon´s four translation moments are used to analyze the network building...... that a network configuring information literacy teaching based on new interactive roles has not been stabilized. Conclusion. The paper concludes that the strength of ANT is first of all the mediation of an overview of different kinds of actors involved in network building. Further, the paper proposes to combine...

  19. Student anxiety in introductory biology classrooms: Perceptions about active learning and persistence in the major

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Many researchers have called for implementation of active learning practices in undergraduate science classrooms as one method to increase retention and persistence in STEM, yet there has been little research on the potential increases in student anxiety that may accompany these practices. This is of concern because excessive anxiety can decrease student performance. Levels and sources of student anxiety in three introductory biology lecture classes were investigated via an online survey and student interviews. The survey (n = 327) data revealed that 16% of students had moderately high classroom anxiety, which differed among the three classes. All five active learning classroom practices that were investigated caused student anxiety, with students voluntarily answering a question or being called on to answer a question causing higher anxiety than working in groups, completing worksheets, or answering clicker questions. Interviews revealed that student anxiety seemed to align with communication apprehension, social anxiety, and test anxiety. Additionally, students with higher general anxiety were more likely to self-report lower course grade and the intention to leave the major. These data suggest that a subset of students in introductory biology experience anxiety in response to active learning, and its potential impacts should be investigated. PMID:28771564

  20. Reinforcement learning modulates the stability of cognitive control settings for object selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony William Sali

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Cognitive flexibility reflects both a trait that reliably differs between individuals and a state that can fluctuate moment-to-moment. Whether individuals can undergo persistent changes in cognitive flexibility as a result of reward learning is less understood. Here, we investigated whether reinforcing a periodic shift in an object selection strategy can make an individual more prone to switch strategies in a subsequent unrelated task. Participants completed two different choice tasks in which they selected one of four objects in an attempt to obtain a hidden reward on each trial. During a training phase, objects were defined by color. Participants received either consistent reward contingencies in which one color was more often rewarded, or contingencies in which the color that was more often rewarded changed periodically and without warning. Following the training phase, all participants completed a test phase in which reward contingencies were defined by spatial location and the location that was more often rewarded remained constant across the entire task. Those participants who received inconsistent contingencies during training continued to make more variable selections during the test phase in comparison to those who received the consistent training. Furthermore, a difference in the likelihood to switch selections on a trial-by-trial basis emerged between training groups: participants who received consistent contingencies during training were less likely to switch object selections following an unrewarded trial and more likely to repeat a selection following reward. Our findings provide evidence that the extent to which priority shifting is reinforced modulates the stability of cognitive control settings in a persistent manner, such that individuals become generally more or less prone to shifting priorities in the future.

  1. The association between subjective memory complaint and objective cognitive function in older people with previous major depression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chung-Shiang Chu

    Full Text Available The goal of this study is to investigate associations between subjective memory complaint and objective cognitive performance in older people with previous major depression-a high-risk sample for cognitive impairment and later dementia. A cross-sectional study was carried out in people aged 60 or over with previous major depression but not fulfilling current major depression criteria according to DSM-IV-TR. People with dementia or Mini-Mental State Examination score less than 17 were excluded. Subjective memory complaint was defined on the basis of a score ≧4 on the subscale of Geriatric Mental State schedule, a maximum score of 8. Older people aged equal or over 60 without any psychiatric diagnosis were enrolled as healthy controls. Cognitive function was evaluated using a series of cognitive tests assessing verbal memory, attention/speed, visuospatial function, verbal fluency, and cognitive flexibility in all participants. One hundred and thirteen older people with previous major depression and forty-six healthy controls were enrolled. Subjective memory complaint was present in more than half of the participants with depression history (55.8%. Among those with major depression history, subjective memory complaint was associated with lower total immediate recall and delayed verbal recall scores after adjustment. The associations between subjective memory complaint and worse memory performance were stronger in participants with lower depressive symptoms (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score<7. The results suggest subjective memory complaint may be a valid appraisal of memory performance in older people with previous major depression and consideration should be given to more proactive assessment and follow-up in these clinical samples.

  2. Academic Staff Perspectives Towards Adoption of E-learning at Melaka Manipal Medical College: Has E-learning Redefined our Teaching Model?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhardwaj, A; Nagandla, K; Swe, K Mm; Abas, A Bl

    2015-01-01

    E-learning is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to provide online education and learning. E- Learning has now been integrated into the traditional teaching as the concept of 'blended learning' that combines digital learning with the existing traditional teaching methods to address the various challenges in the field of medical education. Structured e-learning activities were started in Melaka Manipal Medical College in 2009 via e-learning platform (MOODLE-Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). The objective of the present study is to investigate the faculty opinions toward the existing e-learning activities, and to analyse the extent of adopting and integration of e-learning into their traditional teaching methods. A cross sectional study was conducted among faculties of Medicine and Dentistry using pre-tested questionnaires. The data was analyzed by using the statistical package for social science, SPSS, version 16.0. The result of our survey indicates that majority of our faculty (65.4%) held positive opinion towards e-learning. Among the few, who demonstrated reservations, it is attributed to their average level of skills and aptitude in the use of computers that was statistically significant (pe-learning that enables smooth transition of the faculty from their traditional teaching methods into blended approach. Our results are anticipated to strengthen the existing e-learning activities of our college and other universities and convincingly adopt e-learning as a viable teaching and learning strategy.

  3. Modellus: Learning Physics with Mathematical Modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teodoro, Vitor

    Computers are now a major tool in research and development in almost all scientific and technological fields. Despite recent developments, this is far from true for learning environments in schools and most undergraduate studies. This thesis proposes a framework for designing curricula where computers, and computer modelling in particular, are a major tool for learning. The framework, based on research on learning science and mathematics and on computer user interface, assumes that: 1) learning is an active process of creating meaning from representations; 2) learning takes place in a community of practice where students learn both from their own effort and from external guidance; 3) learning is a process of becoming familiar with concepts, with links between concepts, and with representations; 4) direct manipulation user interfaces allow students to explore concrete-abstract objects such as those of physics and can be used by students with minimal computer knowledge. Physics is the science of constructing models and explanations about the physical world. And mathematical models are an important type of models that are difficult for many students. These difficulties can be rooted in the fact that most students do not have an environment where they can explore functions, differential equations and iterations as primary objects that model physical phenomena--as objects-to-think-with, reifying the formal objects of physics. The framework proposes that students should be introduced to modelling in a very early stage of learning physics and mathematics, two scientific areas that must be taught in very closely related way, as they were developed since Galileo and Newton until the beginning of our century, before the rise of overspecialisation in science. At an early stage, functions are the main type of objects used to model real phenomena, such as motions. At a later stage, rates of change and equations with rates of change play an important role. This type of equations

  4. On Learning Motivation and Strategies of Non-English Major College Students

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2007-01-01

    <正>Based on the positive correlation between learning motivation and strategies,this paper investigates the influence of different motivation orientations on learner’s management of learning strategies.The relation between learning strategies and language proficiency is further probed in order to highlight the significance of managing learning strategies and adjusting motivational orientation in the process of language learning.

  5. Linking Course-Embedded Assessment Measures and Performance on the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test in Business

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barboza, Gustavo A.; Pesek, James

    2012-01-01

    Assessment of the business curriculum and its learning goals and objectives has become a major field of interest for business schools. The exploratory results of the authors' model using a sample of 173 students show robust support for the hypothesis that high marks in course-embedded assessment on business-specific analytical skills positively…

  6. Economic emission dispatching with variations of wind power and loads using multi-objective optimization by learning automata

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao, H.L.; Wu, Q.H.; Li, Y.Z.; Jiang, L.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Apply multi-objective optimization by learning automata to power system. • Sequentially dimensional search and state memory are incorporated. • Track dispatch under significant variations of wind power and load demand. • Good performance in terms of accuracy, distribution and computation time. - Abstract: This paper is concerned with using multi-objective optimization by learning automata (MOLA) for economic emission dispatching in the environment where wind power and loads vary. With its capabilities of sequentially dimensional search and state memory, MOLA is able to find accurate solutions while satisfying two objectives: fuel cost coupled with environmental emission and voltage stability. Its searching quality and efficiency are measured using the hypervolume indicator for investigating the quality of Pareto front, and demonstrated by tracking the dispatch solutions under significant variations of wind power and load demand. The simulation studies are carried out on the modified midwestern American electric power system and the IEEE 118-bus test system, in which wind power penetration and load variations present. Evaluated on these two power systems, MOLA is fully compared with multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition (MOEA/D) and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II). The simulation results have shown the superiority of MOLA over NAGA-II and MOEA/D, as it is able to obtain more accurate and widely distributed Pareto fronts. In the dynamic environment where the operation condition of both wind speed and load demand varies, MOLA outperforms the other two algorithms, with respect to the tracking ability and accuracy of the solutions

  7. Distributed Generation Planning using Peer Enhanced Multi-objective Teaching-Learning based Optimization in Distribution Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selvam, Kayalvizhi; Vinod Kumar, D. M.; Siripuram, Ramakanth

    2017-04-01

    In this paper, an optimization technique called peer enhanced teaching learning based optimization (PeTLBO) algorithm is used in multi-objective problem domain. The PeTLBO algorithm is parameter less so it reduced the computational burden. The proposed peer enhanced multi-objective based TLBO (PeMOTLBO) algorithm has been utilized to find a set of non-dominated optimal solutions [distributed generation (DG) location and sizing in distribution network]. The objectives considered are: real power loss and the voltage deviation subjected to voltage limits and maximum penetration level of DG in distribution network. Since the DG considered is capable of injecting real and reactive power to the distribution network the power factor is considered as 0.85 lead. The proposed peer enhanced multi-objective optimization technique provides different trade-off solutions in order to find the best compromise solution a fuzzy set theory approach has been used. The effectiveness of this proposed PeMOTLBO is tested on IEEE 33-bus and Indian 85-bus distribution system. The performance is validated with Pareto fronts and two performance metrics (C-metric and S-metric) by comparing with robust multi-objective technique called non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II and also with the basic TLBO.

  8. Automated training for algorithms that learn from genomic data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cilingir, Gokcen; Broschat, Shira L

    2015-01-01

    Supervised machine learning algorithms are used by life scientists for a variety of objectives. Expert-curated public gene and protein databases are major resources for gathering data to train these algorithms. While these data resources are continuously updated, generally, these updates are not incorporated into published machine learning algorithms which thereby can become outdated soon after their introduction. In this paper, we propose a new model of operation for supervised machine learning algorithms that learn from genomic data. By defining these algorithms in a pipeline in which the training data gathering procedure and the learning process are automated, one can create a system that generates a classifier or predictor using information available from public resources. The proposed model is explained using three case studies on SignalP, MemLoci, and ApicoAP in which existing machine learning models are utilized in pipelines. Given that the vast majority of the procedures described for gathering training data can easily be automated, it is possible to transform valuable machine learning algorithms into self-evolving learners that benefit from the ever-changing data available for gene products and to develop new machine learning algorithms that are similarly capable.

  9. Blended learning – integrating E-learning with traditional learning methods in teaching basic medical science

    OpenAIRE

    J.G. Bagi; N.K. Hashilkar

    2014-01-01

    Background: Blended learning includes an integration of face to face classroom learning with technology enhanced online material. It provides the convenience, speed and cost effectiveness of e-learning with the personal touch of traditional learning. Objective: The objective of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of a combination of e-learning module and traditional teaching (Blended learning) as compared to traditional teaching alone to teach acid base homeostasis to Phase I MB...

  10. The role of play objects and object play in human cognitive evolution and innovation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riede, Felix; Johannsen, Niels N; Högberg, Anders; Nowell, April; Lombard, Marlize

    2018-01-01

    In this contribution, we address a major puzzle in the evolution of human material culture: If maturing individuals just learn their parental generation's material culture, then what is the origin of key innovations as documented in the archeological record? We approach this question by coupling a life-history model of the costs and benefits of experimentation with a niche-construction perspective. Niche-construction theory suggests that the behavior of organisms and their modification of the world around them have important evolutionary ramifications by altering developmental settings and selection pressures. Part of Homo sapiens' niche is the active provisioning of children with play objects - sometimes functional miniatures of adult tools - and the encouragement of object play, such as playful knapping with stones. Our model suggests that salient material culture innovation may occur or be primed in a late childhood or adolescence sweet spot when cognitive and physical abilities are sufficiently mature but before the full onset of the concerns and costs associated with reproduction. We evaluate the model against a series of archeological cases and make suggestions for future research. © 2018 The Authors Evolutionary Anthropology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. The role of play objects and object play in human cognitive evolution and innovation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johannsen, Niels N.; Högberg, Anders; Nowell, April; Lombard, Marlize

    2018-01-01

    Abstract In this contribution, we address a major puzzle in the evolution of human material culture: If maturing individuals just learn their parental generation's material culture, then what is the origin of key innovations as documented in the archeological record? We approach this question by coupling a life‐history model of the costs and benefits of experimentation with a niche‐construction perspective. Niche‐construction theory suggests that the behavior of organisms and their modification of the world around them have important evolutionary ramifications by altering developmental settings and selection pressures. Part of Homo sapiens' niche is the active provisioning of children with play objects — sometimes functional miniatures of adult tools — and the encouragement of object play, such as playful knapping with stones. Our model suggests that salient material culture innovation may occur or be primed in a late childhood or adolescence sweet spot when cognitive and physical abilities are sufficiently mature but before the full onset of the concerns and costs associated with reproduction. We evaluate the model against a series of archeological cases and make suggestions for future research. PMID:29446561

  12. Construction and validation of clinical contents for development of learning objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hortense, Flávia Tatiana Pedrolo; Bergerot, Cristiane Decat; Domenico, Edvane Birelo Lopes de

    2018-01-01

    to describe the process of construction and validation of clinical contents for health learning objects, aimed at patients in the treatment of head and neck cancer. descriptive, methodological study. The development of the script and the storyboard were based on scientific evidence and submitted to the appreciation of specialists for validation of content. The agreement index was checked quantitatively and the suggestions were qualitatively evaluated. The items described in the roadmap were approved by 99% of expert experts. The suggestions for adjustments were inserted in their entirety in the final version. The free-marginal kappa statistical test, for multiple evaluators, presented value equal to 0.68%, granting a substantial agreement. The steps taken in the construction and validation of the content for the production of educational material for patients with head and neck cancer were adequate, relevant and suitable for use in other subjects.

  13. A modified teaching–learning based optimization for multi-objective optimal power flow problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shabanpour-Haghighi, Amin; Seifi, Ali Reza; Niknam, Taher

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A new modified teaching–learning based algorithm is proposed. • A self-adaptive wavelet mutation strategy is used to enhance the performance. • To avoid reaching a large repository size, a fuzzy clustering technique is used. • An efficiently smart population selection is utilized. • Simulations show the superiority of this algorithm compared with other ones. - Abstract: In this paper, a modified teaching–learning based optimization algorithm is analyzed to solve the multi-objective optimal power flow problem considering the total fuel cost and total emission of the units. The modified phase of the optimization algorithm utilizes a self-adapting wavelet mutation strategy. Moreover, a fuzzy clustering technique is proposed to avoid extremely large repository size besides a smart population selection for the next iteration. These techniques make the algorithm searching a larger space to find the optimal solutions while speed of the convergence remains good. The IEEE 30-Bus and 57-Bus systems are used to illustrate performance of the proposed algorithm and results are compared with those in literatures. It is verified that the proposed approach has better performance over other techniques

  14. Object oriented JavaScript

    CERN Document Server

    Stefanov, Stoyan

    2013-01-01

    You will first be introduced to object-oriented programming, then to the basics of objects in JavaScript. This book takes a do-it-yourself approach when it comes to writing code, because the best way to really learn a programming language is by writing code. You are encouraged to type code into Firebug's console, see how it works and then tweak it and play around with it. There are practice questions at the end of each chapter to help you review what you have learned.For new to intermediate JavaScript developer who wants to prepare themselves for web development problems solved by smart JavaSc

  15. Can machine learning explain human learning?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vahdat, M.; Oneto, L.; Anguita, D.; Funk, M.; Rauterberg, G.W.M.

    2016-01-01

    Learning Analytics (LA) has a major interest in exploring and understanding the learning process of humans and, for this purpose, benefits from both Cognitive Science, which studies how humans learn, and Machine Learning, which studies how algorithms learn from data. Usually, Machine Learning is

  16. Safety culture in nuclear installations: Bangladesh perspectives and key lessons learned from major events

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jalil, A.; Rabbani, G.

    2002-01-01

    Steps necessary to be taken to ensure safety in nuclear installations are suggested. One of the steps suggested is enhancing the safety culture. It is necessary to gain a common understanding of the concept itself, the development stages of safety culture by way of good management practices and leadership for safety culture improvement in the long-term. International topical meetings on safety culture may serve as an important forum for exchange of experiences. From such conventions new initiatives and programmes may crop up which when implemented around the world is very likely to improve safety management and thus boost up the safety culture in nuclear installations. International co-operation and learning are to be prompted to facilitate the sharing of the achievements to face the challenges involved in the management of safety and fixing priorities for future work and identify areas of co-operations. Key lessons learned from some major events have been reported. Present status and future trend of nuclear safety culture in Bangladesh have been dealt with. (author)

  17. [Effect of object consistency in a spatial contextual cueing paradigm].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeda, Yuji

    2008-04-01

    Previous studies demonstrated that attention can be quickly guided to a target location in a visual search task when the spatial configurations of search items and/or the object identities were repeated in the previous trials. This phenomenon is termed contextual cueing. Recently, it was reported that spatial configuration learning and object identity learning occurred independently, when novel contours were used as search items. The present study examined whether this learning occurred independently even when the search items were meaningful. The results showed that the contextual cueing effect was observed even if the relationships between the spatial locations and object identities were jumbled (Experiment 1). However, it disappeared when the search items were changed into geometric patterns (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the spatial configuration can be learned independent of the object identities; however, the use of the learned configuration is restricted by the learning situations.

  18. Rasgos Pedagógicos de los Objetos de Aprendizaje Pedagogical Features of Learning Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiappe Laverde Andres

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Los objetos de aprendizaje (OA son considerados hoy como una alternativa viable e interesante para el desarrollo de contenidos para programas educativos mediados por las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC. No obstante la pertinencia del tema para el momento actual de la educación superior en toda Latinoamérica, es preciso reflexionar más en profundidad acerca de lo que significan los OA y su impacto en el proceso educativo. El estudio de los rasgos pedagógicos de los objetos de aprendizaje coloca a la comunidad académica frente a un escenario que requiere la pronta identificación de sus retos y limitaciones de cara a la inminente ejecución de procesos de incorporación de los OA en las dinámicas de las instituciones educativas. Learning objects (LO are regarded today as a viable and interesting alternative for development of content for educational programs mediated by information and communication technologies (ICT. Attending the relevance of this topic just for this historic moment of higher education throughout Latin America, we need to think more deeply about what LO means and its impact on the educational process. The study of the pedagogical features of learning objects placed to the academic community in front of a scenario that requires prompt identification of their challenges and constraints facing the imminent execution of incorporation processes of LO in educational institutions dynamics.

  19. Do Biology Majors Really Differ from Non–STEM Majors?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotner, Sehoya; Thompson, Seth; Wright, Robin

    2017-01-01

    Recent calls to action urge sweeping reform in science education, advocating for improved learning for all students—including those majoring in fields beyond the sciences. However, little work has been done to characterize the differences—if any exist—between students planning a career in science and those studying other disciplines. We describe an attempt to clarify, in broad terms, how non–STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors differ from life sciences majors, and how they are similar. Using survey responses and institutional data, we find that non–STEM majors are not unilaterally science averse; non–STEM majors are more likely than biology majors to hold misconceptions about the nature of science, yet they are not completely ignorant of how science works; non–STEM majors are less likely than biology majors to see science as personally relevant; and non–STEM majors populations are likely to be more diverse—with respect to incoming knowledge, perceptions, backgrounds, and skills—than a biology majors population. We encourage science educators to consider these characteristics when designing curricula for future scientists or simply for a well-informed citizenry. PMID:28798210

  20. Development of Object-understanding Among Students in the Humanities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindholm, Morten

    This paper describes a on-going empirical study, inspired by phenomenography, aiming at understanding how students from the humanities learn the concepts of objects and object-orientation during a programming course.  ......This paper describes a on-going empirical study, inspired by phenomenography, aiming at understanding how students from the humanities learn the concepts of objects and object-orientation during a programming course.  ...

  1. Machine-learning-based real-bogus system for the HSC-SSP moving object detection pipeline

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Hsing-Wen; Chen, Ying-Tung; Wang, Jen-Hung; Wang, Shiang-Yu; Yoshida, Fumi; Ip, Wing-Huen; Miyazaki, Satoshi; Terai, Tsuyoshi

    2018-01-01

    Machine-learning techniques are widely applied in many modern optical sky surveys, e.g., Pan-STARRS1, PTF/iPTF, and the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam survey, to reduce human intervention in data verification. In this study, we have established a machine-learning-based real-bogus system to reject false detections in the Subaru/Hyper-Suprime-Cam Strategic Survey Program (HSC-SSP) source catalog. Therefore, the HSC-SSP moving object detection pipeline can operate more effectively due to the reduction of false positives. To train the real-bogus system, we use stationary sources as the real training set and "flagged" data as the bogus set. The training set contains 47 features, most of which are photometric measurements and shape moments generated from the HSC image reduction pipeline (hscPipe). Our system can reach a true positive rate (tpr) ˜96% with a false positive rate (fpr) ˜1% or tpr ˜99% at fpr ˜5%. Therefore, we conclude that stationary sources are decent real training samples, and using photometry measurements and shape moments can reject false positives effectively.

  2. Usage Volume and Trends Indicate Academic Library Online Learning Objects and Tutorials Are Being Used

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruby Muriel Lavallee Warren

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available A Review of: Hess, A. N., & Hristova, M. (2016. To search or to browse: How users navigate a new interface for online library tutorials. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 23(2, 168-183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2014.963274 Objective – To discover how users interact with a new online interface for learning objects, user preferences for types of access when given both browsing and searching options, and user needs for tutorial subject matter. Design – Mixed methods, with quantitative analysis of web traffic and qualitative analysis of recorded search terms through grounded textual theory. Setting – An academic library in the Western United States of America. Subjects – Users of the Libraries’ online tutorials and learning objects. Methods – The researchers collected web traffic statistics and organically occurring searches from the Libraries’ tutorial access interface. They defined the collection period as the 2013/2014 academic year, with collection beginning in September 2013 and ending in April 2014. Web traffic for organic searches, facilitated searches (search results accessed through clicking on particular words in a tag cloud, and categorical browsing was collected via Google Analytics. They categorized other interaction types (accessing featured content, leaving the page, etc. under an umbrella term of “other.” Their analysis of web traffic was limited to unique page views, with unique page views defined as views registered to different browser sessions. Unique page views were analyzed to determine which types of interface interaction occurred most frequently, both on-campus and off-campus, and whether there were differences in types of interaction preferred over time or by users with different points of origin. Individual organic search keywords and phrases, and the dates and times of those searches, were separately collected and recorded. One of the researchers coded the recorded organic search terms using

  3. An Automatic Indicator of the Reusability of Learning Objects Based on Metadata That Satisfies Completeness Criteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanz-Rodríguez, Javier; Margaritopoulos, Merkourios; Margaritopoulos, Thomas; Dodero, Juan Manuel; Sánchez-Alonso, Salvador; Manitsaris, Athanasios

    The search for learning objects in open repositories is currently a tedious task, owing to the vast amount of resources available and the fact that most of them do not have associated ratings to help users make a choice. In order to tackle this problem, we propose a reusability indicator, which can be calculated automatically using the metadata that describes the objects, allowing us to select those materials most likely to be reused. In order for this reusability indicator to be applied, metadata records must reach a certain amount of completeness, guaranteeing that the material is adequately described. This reusability indicator is tested in two studies on the Merlot and eLera repositories, and results obtained offer evidence to support their effectiveness.

  4. Episodic Visual Learning/Memory and Attentional Flexibility in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder After Clinically Effective Electroconvulsive Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalogerakou, Stamatina; Oulis, Panagiotis; Anyfandi, Eleni; Konstantakopoulos, George; Papakosta, Vasiliki-Maria; Kontis, Dimitrios; Theochari, Eirini; Angelopoulos, Elias; Zervas, Ioannis M; Mellon, Robert C; Papageorgiou, Charalambos C; Tsaltas, Eleftheria

    2015-12-01

    This study is a follow-up of a previous one reporting that the neuropsychological profile of pharmacoresistant patients with major depressive disorder referred for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, ECT group) contrasted with that of their pharmacorespondent counterparts (NECT group). The NECT group exhibited severe visuospatial memory and minor executive deficits; the ECT group presented the reverse pattern. In that same ECT group, the current follow-up study examined the effects of clinically effective ECT on both cognitive domains 2 months later. Fifteen ECT patients were administered Hamilton Depression (HAMD-24), Hamilton Anxiety (HAMA), Mini-Mental State Examination Scales and 5 tests of Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery at intake (pre-ECT), end of ECT course (post-ECT), and 2 months thereafter (follow-up). Electroconvulsive therapy was effective in relieving clinical depression. After a post-ECT decline, the patients exhibited significant improvement in both Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, paired associate learning, and Stockings of Cambridge. By contrast, their major pre-ECT deficit in intra/extradimensional set shifting remained virtually unaffected. Our findings suggest that attentional flexibility deficits may constitute a neuropsychological trait-like feature of pharmacoresistant, ECT-referred major depressive disorder patients. However, this deficit does not seem generalized, given patient improvement in episodic visual learning/memory and some indication of improvement in spatial planning after ECT.

  5. Effects of hippocampal lesions on the monkey's ability to learn large sets of object-place associations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belcher, Annabelle M; Harrington, Rebecca A; Malkova, Ludise; Mishkin, Mortimer

    2006-01-01

    Earlier studies found that recognition memory for object-place associations was impaired in patients with relatively selective hippocampal damage (Vargha-Khadem et al., Science 1997; 277:376-380), but was unaffected after selective hippocampal lesions in monkeys (Malkova and Mishkin, J Neurosci 2003; 23:1956-1965). A potentially important methodological difference between the two studies is that the patients were required to remember a set of 20 object-place associations for several minutes, whereas the monkeys had to remember only two such associations at a time, and only for a few seconds. To approximate more closely the task given to the patients, we trained monkeys on several successive sets of 10 object-place pairs each, with each set requiring learning across days. Despite the increased associative memory demands, monkeys given hippocampal lesions were unimpaired relative to their unoperated controls, suggesting that differences other than set size and memory duration underlie the different outcomes in the human and animal studies. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  6. Research on Daily Objects Detection Based on Deep Neural Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Sheng; Zhao, Kun

    2018-03-01

    With the rapid development of deep learning, great breakthroughs have been made in the field of object detection. In this article, the deep learning algorithm is applied to the detection of daily objects, and some progress has been made in this direction. Compared with traditional object detection methods, the daily objects detection method based on deep learning is faster and more accurate. The main research work of this article: 1. collect a small data set of daily objects; 2. in the TensorFlow framework to build different models of object detection, and use this data set training model; 3. the training process and effect of the model are improved by fine-tuning the model parameters.

  7. Object Permanence and Relational Words: A Lexical Training Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomasello, Michael; Farrar, Michael Jeffrey

    1986-01-01

    Describes a lexical training program developed to teach object, visible movement, and invisible movement words to children at stage 5 (N=7) and stage 6 (N=16) object permanence development. Stage 6 children learned all three types of words equally well, while stage 5 children learned object and visible movement but not invisible movement words.…

  8. Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilley, John W; Reid, Alliston K

    2011-02-01

    Four experiments investigated the ability of a border collie (Chaser) to acquire receptive language skills. Experiment 1 demonstrated that Chaser learned and retained, over a 3-year period of intensive training, the proper-noun names of 1022 objects. Experiment 2 presented random pair-wise combinations of three commands and three names, and demonstrated that she understood the separate meanings of proper-noun names and commands. Chaser understood that names refer to objects, independent of the behavior directed toward those objects. Experiment 3 demonstrated Chaser's ability to learn three common nouns--words that represent categories. Chaser demonstrated one-to-many (common noun) and many-to-one (multiple-name) name-object mappings. Experiment 4 demonstrated Chaser's ability to learn words by inferential reasoning by exclusion--inferring the name of an object based on its novelty among familiar objects that already had names. Together, these studies indicate that Chaser acquired referential understanding of nouns, an ability normally attributed to children, which included: (a) awareness that words may refer to objects, (b) awareness of verbal cues that map words upon the object referent, and (c) awareness that names may refer to unique objects or categories of objects, independent of the behaviors directed toward those objects. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. The Relationships Between Epistemic Beliefs in Biology and Approaches to Learning Biology Among Biology-Major University Students in Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yi-Chun; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2012-12-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between students' epistemic beliefs in biology and their approaches to learning biology. To this end, two instruments, the epistemic beliefs in biology and the approaches to learning biology surveys, were developed and administered to 520 university biology students, respectively. By and large, it was found that the students reflected "mixed" motives in biology learning, while those who had more sophisticated epistemic beliefs tended to employ deep strategies. In addition, the results of paired t tests revealed that the female students were more likely to possess beliefs about biological knowledge residing in external authorities, to believe in a right answer, and to utilize rote learning as a learning strategy. Moreover, compared to juniors and seniors, freshmen and sophomores tended to hold less mature views on all factors of epistemic beliefs regarding biology. Another comparison indicated that theoretical biology students (e.g. students majoring in the Department of Biology) tended to have more mature beliefs in learning biology and more advanced strategies for biology learning than those students studying applied biology (e.g. in the Department of Biotechnology). Stepwise regression analysis, in general, indicated that students who valued the role of experiments and justify epistemic assumptions and knowledge claims based on evidence were more oriented towards having mixed motives and utilizing deep strategies to learn biology. In contrast, students who believed in the certainty of biological knowledge were more likely to adopt rote learning strategies and to aim to qualify in biology.

  10. Flash Learning Games Wow Students and Instructors: Moving Toward An Academic Gaming Portal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan H Lim

    2003-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes and discusses the rationale, background, design, and implementation of Flash learning games. The paper explains why Macromedia Flash has been selected as the authoring tool in the development of highly interactive learning games for online learning. The background evolutionary process of developing the learning games points out why it has been a daunting task to create compelling learning games that impact learning. Designing learning game objects that allow other educators to customize game content is the core of this paper. The author envisions this academic gaming project will evolve into an academic gaming portal, developed in conjunction with other major institutional partners.

  11. A Major in Science? Initial Beliefs and Final Outcomes for College Major and Dropout

    OpenAIRE

    Ralph Stinebrickner; Todd R. Stinebrickner

    2014-01-01

    Taking advantage of unique longitudinal data, we provide the first characterization of what college students believe at the time of entrance about their final major, relate these beliefs to actual major outcomes, and provide an understanding of why students hold the initial beliefs about majors that they do. The data collection and analysis are based directly on a conceptual model in which a student's final major is best viewed as the end result of a learning process. We find that students en...

  12. Object interaction competence model v. 2.0

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bennedsen, Jens; Schulte, C.

    2013-01-01

    Teaching and learning object oriented programming has to take into account the specific object oriented characteristics of program execution, namely the interaction of objects during runtime. Prior to the research reported in this article, we have developed a competence model for object interaction...

  13. The Effectiveness of Grammar Learning in Impro ving Reading Comprehension of English Majors

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    田晓

    2015-01-01

    The importance of grammar knowledge has al-ways been neglected in reading comprehension. To help English teachers and learners see the value of grammar analysis, this pa-per, therefore, explores the correlation between grammar and reading comprehension. Forty-four freshmen of English majors were involved in the experiment, completing two tests of grammar and reading comprehension respectively, and it was followed by a personal interview for some exceptional cases after a week. The result of data analysis shows that grammar analysis accompanying with vocabulary, emotion, as well as other factors produce an ef-fect on learners’reading comprehension to a certain degree. It is suggested that language teachers as well as learners therefore should attach importance to learning grammatical knowledge.

  14. Objectives and Outcomes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Segalman, D.J.

    1998-11-30

    a significant exposure to biomedical topics and the integration of those topics with chemical (electrical or mechanical) engineering. o We shall provide unique opportunities for our students to work with clinicians and researchers in hospitals and other medical institutions. combined criteria a-k of ABET and 1-6 of AICHE (or IEEE or ASME) in some sensible manner. Here I have just estimated the number of distinct criteria that would be extracted from the AICHE paragraphs. These criteria are necessarily included because of the objective to producing chemical (electrical or mechanical) engineers. every student who desires an internship or independent study at a medical institution will be placed. a majority of our students will take either the FE exam or the M-CAT exam. demonstrating a commitment to professionalism and to life-long learning. a majority of our students will go on to graduate school or other post-graduate school. (I do not assert that this sort of outcome is appropriate to all excellent schools. In the case of this hypothetical school though, this outcome might be a reasonable expectation.) medical schools will rank our school as among the best from which to admit

  15. Applying Fuzzy Possibilistic Methods on Critical Objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yazdani, Hossein; Ortiz-Arroyo, Daniel; Choros, Kazimierz

    2016-01-01

    Providing a flexible environment to process data objects is a desirable goal of machine learning algorithms. In fuzzy and possibilistic methods, the relevance of data objects is evaluated and a membership degree is assigned. However, some critical objects objects have the potential ability to affect...... the performance of the clustering algorithms if they remain in a specific cluster or they are moved into another. In this paper we analyze and compare how critical objects affect the behaviour of fuzzy possibilistic methods in several data sets. The comparison is based on the accuracy and ability of learning...... methods to provide a proper searching space for data objects. The membership functions used by each method when dealing with critical objects is also evaluated. Our results show that relaxing the conditions of participation for data objects in as many partitions as they can, is beneficial....

  16. A Constrained Multi-Objective Learning Algorithm for Feed-Forward Neural Network Classifiers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Njah

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a new approach to address the optimal design of a Feed-forward Neural Network (FNN based classifier. The originality of the proposed methodology, called CMOA, lie in the use of a new constraint handling technique based on a self-adaptive penalty procedure in order to direct the entire search effort towards finding only Pareto optimal solutions that are acceptable. Neurons and connections of the FNN Classifier are dynamically built during the learning process. The approach includes differential evolution to create new individuals and then keeps only the non-dominated ones as the basis for the next generation. The designed FNN Classifier is applied to six binary classification benchmark problems, obtained from the UCI repository, and results indicated the advantages of the proposed approach over other existing multi-objective evolutionary neural networks classifiers reported recently in the literature.

  17. Developing an M-Learning Application for iOS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul POCATILU

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The mobile market development has a high impact on all domains including education. Smart mobile devices started to be affordable and the massive use on educational processes does not seem to be too far. Mobile learning applications are be targeted for all major mobile operating systems as native applications or Web-based. The objective of this paper is to present the implementation of the evaluation module for an m-learning application developed for iOS devices. The m-learning application is targeted to a higher education institution. The application uses Web services in order to obtain the content and to authenticate the users.

  18. The use of objective structured self-assessment and peer-feedback (OSSP) for learning communication skills: evaluation using a controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perera, Jennifer; Mohamadou, Galy; Kaur, Satpal

    2010-05-01

    Feedback is essential to guide students towards expected performance goals. The usefulness of teacher feedback on improving communication skills (CS) has been well documented. It has been proposed that self-assessment and peer-feedback has an equally important role to play in enhancing learning. This is the focus of this study. Objectively structured self-assessment and peer feedback (OSSP) was incorporated into small group CS teaching sessions of a group of semester one medical students who were learning CS for the first time, to minimise the influence of previous educational interventions. A control group matched for academic performance, gender and age was used to enable parallel evaluation of the innovation. A reflective log containing closed and open ended questions was used for OSSP. Facilitators and simulated patients provided feedback to students in both groups during CS learning as per routine practice. Student perceptions on OSSP and acceptability as a learning method were explored using a questionnaire. CS were assessed in both groups using objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as per routine practice and assessors were blinded as to which group the student belonged. Mean total score and scores for specific areas of interview skills were significantly higher in the experimental group. Analysis of the questionnaire data showed that students gained fresh insights into specific areas such as empathy, addressing patients' concerns and interview style during OSSP which clearly corroborated the specific differences in scores. The free text comments were highly encouraging as to acceptability of OSSP, in spite of 67% being never exposed to formal self- and peer-assessment during pre-university studies. OSSP promotes effective CS learning and learner acceptability is high.

  19. Project for Teaching and Learning of English Based on Blended Learning in the Accounting Career

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enrique del Valle–Reus

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper gathers some aspects related to the improvement on teaching-learning process of English to students who specialize in Accounting through blended learning. Its objective is to integrate the use of the foreign language with the contents of the area in the solution of professional problems. The project is methodologically based on the contradiction between the professional needs of using the foreign language and its limited application in the teaching-learning process. It shows the activities to be carried out during the first two years of the major. The integration of the contents of English with those of Accounting is mainly focused in oral and written communication without neglecting the development of reading and listening comprehension. In this way, the syllabuses of English are enriched. 

  20. Developing and Evaluating Medical Humanities Problem-Based Learning Classes Facilitated by the Teaching Assistants Majored in the Liberal Arts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tseng, Fen-Yu; Shieh, Jeng-Yi; Kao, Tze-Wah; Wu, Chau-Chung; Chu, Tzong-Shinn; Chen, Yen-Yuan

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Although medical humanities courses taught by teachers from nonmedical backgrounds are not unusual now, few studies have compared the outcome of medical humanities courses facilitated by physicians to that by teaching assistants majored in the liberal arts. The objectives of this study were to (1) analyze the satisfaction of medical students with medical humanities problem-based learning (PBL) classes facilitated by nonmedical teaching assistants (TAF) majored in the liberal arts, and those facilitated by the attending physicians (APF) and (2) examine the satisfaction of medical students with clinical medicine-related and clinical medicine-unrelated medical humanities PBL classes. A total of 123 medical students, randomly assigned to 16 groups, participated in this study. There were 16 classes in the course: 8 of them were TAF classes; and the others were APF classes. Each week, each group rotated from 1 subject of the 16 subjects of PBL to another subject. All of the 16 groups went through all the 16 subjects in the 2013 spring semester. We examined the medical students’ satisfaction with each class, based on a rating score collected after each class was completed, using a scale from 0 (the lowest satisfaction) to 100 (the highest satisfaction). We also conducted multivariate linear regression analysis to examine the association between the independent variables and the students’ satisfaction. Medical students were more satisfied with the TAF (91.35 ± 7.75) medical humanities PBL classes than APF (90.40 ± 8.42) medical humanities PBL classes (P = 0.01). Moreover, medical students were more satisfied with the clinical medicine-unrelated topics (92.00 ± 7.10) than the clinical medicine-related topics (90.36 ± 7.99) in the medical humanities PBL course (P = 0.01). This medical humanities PBL course, including nonmedical subjects and topics, and nonmedical teaching assistants from the liberal arts as class facilitators, was

  1. Development of Geriatric Mental Health Learning Objectives for Medical Students: A Response to the Institute of Medicine 2012 Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, Susan W; Brooks, William B; Popeo, Dennis; Wilkins, Kirsten M; Blazek, Mary C

    2017-10-01

    America is aging as the population of older adults increases. The shortage of geriatric mental health specialists means that most geriatric mental healthcare will be provided by physicians who do not have specialty training in geriatrics. The Institute of Medicine Report of 2012 highlighted the urgent need for development of national competencies and curricula in geriatric mental health for all clinicians. Virtually all physicians can expect to treat older patients with mental health symptoms, yet currently there are no widely accepted learning objectives in geriatric mental health specific for medical students. The authors describe the development of a set of such learning objectives that all medical students should achieve by graduation. The iterative process included initial drafting by content experts from five medical schools with input and feedback from a wider group of geriatric psychiatrists, geriatricians, internists, and medical educators. The final document builds upon previously published work and includes specific knowledge, attitudes and skills in six key domains: Normal Aging, Mental Health Assessment of the Geriatric Patient, Psychopharmacology, Delirium, Depression, and Dementia. These objectives address a pressing need, providing a framework for national standards and curriculum development. Copyright © 2017 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. The Use Of Social Networking Sites For Learning In Institutions Of Higher Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mange Gladys Nkatha

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Institutions of higher learning are facing greater challenges to change and subjected to various transformations in the surrounding environment including technology. These challenge and motivate them to explore new ways to improve their teaching approaches. This study sought to investigate the use of social networking site in institutions of higher learning. To this end two objectives were formulated 1 to investigate the current state of the use of social networking sites by the students 2 investigate how social networking sites can be used to promote authentic learning in institutions of higher learning. The study adopted exploratory approach using descriptive survey design where a sample of 10 67 students were picked from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology JKUAT main campus. The findings indicate the use of social networking sites is a viable option as the students are not only members of social networking sites but also that majority have access to the requisite technological devices. Additionally recommendations for ensuring authentic learning were presented. The researcher recommends the exploration of the leveraging of the existing social networking sites for learning in conjunction with key stakeholders.

  3. Designing Instructional Strategies which Facilitate Learning for Mastery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Lorin W.; Jones, Beau Fly

    The "state of the craft" of instruction within the context of the mastery learning model is discussed. Little has been said in the past about specific instructional strategies that are applicable to particular instructional units or objectives, or to the daily classroom life of teachers. This paper is organized into six major sections. The first…

  4. ADAPTIVE SELECTION OF AUXILIARY OBJECTIVES IN MULTIOBJECTIVE EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. A. Petrova

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Subject of Research.We propose to modify the EA+RL method, which increases efficiency of evolutionary algorithms by means of auxiliary objectives. The proposed modification is compared to the existing objective selection methods on the example of travelling salesman problem. Method. In the EA+RL method a reinforcement learning algorithm is used to select an objective – the target objective or one of the auxiliary objectives – at each iteration of the single-objective evolutionary algorithm.The proposed modification of the EA+RL method adopts this approach for the usage with a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm. As opposed to theEA+RL method, in this modification one of the auxiliary objectives is selected by reinforcement learning and optimized together with the target objective at each step of the multiobjective evolutionary algorithm. Main Results.The proposed modification of the EA+RL method was compared to the existing objective selection methods on the example of travelling salesman problem. In the EA+RL method and its proposed modification reinforcement learning algorithms for stationary and non-stationary environment were used. The proposed modification of the EA+RL method applied with reinforcement learning for non-stationary environment outperformed the considered objective selection algorithms on the most problem instances. Practical Significance. The proposed approach increases efficiency of evolutionary algorithms, which may be used for solving discrete NP-hard optimization problems. They are, in particular, combinatorial path search problems and scheduling problems.

  5. Neural dynamics of object-based multifocal visual spatial attention and priming: object cueing, useful-field-of-view, and crowding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foley, Nicholas C; Grossberg, Stephen; Mingolla, Ennio

    2012-08-01

    How are spatial and object attention coordinated to achieve rapid object learning and recognition during eye movement search? How do prefrontal priming and parietal spatial mechanisms interact to determine the reaction time costs of intra-object attention shifts, inter-object attention shifts, and shifts between visible objects and covertly cued locations? What factors underlie individual differences in the timing and frequency of such attentional shifts? How do transient and sustained spatial attentional mechanisms work and interact? How can volition, mediated via the basal ganglia, influence the span of spatial attention? A neural model is developed of how spatial attention in the where cortical stream coordinates view-invariant object category learning in the what cortical stream under free viewing conditions. The model simulates psychological data about the dynamics of covert attention priming and switching requiring multifocal attention without eye movements. The model predicts how "attentional shrouds" are formed when surface representations in cortical area V4 resonate with spatial attention in posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC), while shrouds compete among themselves for dominance. Winning shrouds support invariant object category learning, and active surface-shroud resonances support conscious surface perception and recognition. Attentive competition between multiple objects and cues simulates reaction-time data from the two-object cueing paradigm. The relative strength of sustained surface-driven and fast-transient motion-driven spatial attention controls individual differences in reaction time for invalid cues. Competition between surface-driven attentional shrouds controls individual differences in detection rate of peripheral targets in useful-field-of-view tasks. The model proposes how the strength of competition can be mediated, though learning or momentary changes in volition, by the basal ganglia. A new explanation of

  6. Learning object-to-class kernels for scene classification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lei; Zhen, Xiantong; Shao, Ling

    2014-08-01

    High-level image representations have drawn increasing attention in visual recognition, e.g., scene classification, since the invention of the object bank. The object bank represents an image as a response map of a large number of pretrained object detectors and has achieved superior performance for visual recognition. In this paper, based on the object bank representation, we propose the object-to-class (O2C) distances to model scene images. In particular, four variants of O2C distances are presented, and with the O2C distances, we can represent the images using the object bank by lower-dimensional but more discriminative spaces, called distance spaces, which are spanned by the O2C distances. Due to the explicit computation of O2C distances based on the object bank, the obtained representations can possess more semantic meanings. To combine the discriminant ability of the O2C distances to all scene classes, we further propose to kernalize the distance representation for the final classification. We have conducted extensive experiments on four benchmark data sets, UIUC-Sports, Scene-15, MIT Indoor, and Caltech-101, which demonstrate that the proposed approaches can significantly improve the original object bank approach and achieve the state-of-the-art performance.

  7. From Procedures To Objects: A Research Agenda For The Psychology Of Object-oriented Programming Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorma Sajaniemi

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Programming education has experienced a shift from imperative and procedural programming to object-orientation. This shift has been motivated by educators' desire to please the information technology industry and potential students; it is not motivated by research either in psychology of programming or in computer science education. There are practically no results that would indicate that such a shift is desirable, needed in the first place, or even effective for learning programming. Moreover, there has been an implicit assumption that classic results on imperative and procedural programming education and learning apply to object-oriented programming (OOP as well. We argue that this is not the case and call for systematic research into the fundamental cognitive and educational issues in learning and teaching OOP. We also present a research agenda intended to improve the understanding of OOP and OOP education.

  8. A single-rate context-dependent learning process underlies rapid adaptation to familiar object dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ingram, James N; Howard, Ian S; Flanagan, J Randall; Wolpert, Daniel M

    2011-09-01

    Motor learning has been extensively studied using dynamic (force-field) perturbations. These induce movement errors that result in adaptive changes to the motor commands. Several state-space models have been developed to explain how trial-by-trial errors drive the progressive adaptation observed in such studies. These models have been applied to adaptation involving novel dynamics, which typically occurs over tens to hundreds of trials, and which appears to be mediated by a dual-rate adaptation process. In contrast, when manipulating objects with familiar dynamics, subjects adapt rapidly within a few trials. Here, we apply state-space models to familiar dynamics, asking whether adaptation is mediated by a single-rate or dual-rate process. Previously, we reported a task in which subjects rotate an object with known dynamics. By presenting the object at different visual orientations, adaptation was shown to be context-specific, with limited generalization to novel orientations. Here we show that a multiple-context state-space model, with a generalization function tuned to visual object orientation, can reproduce the time-course of adaptation and de-adaptation as well as the observed context-dependent behavior. In contrast to the dual-rate process associated with novel dynamics, we show that a single-rate process mediates adaptation to familiar object dynamics. The model predicts that during exposure to the object across multiple orientations, there will be a degree of independence for adaptation and de-adaptation within each context, and that the states associated with all contexts will slowly de-adapt during exposure in one particular context. We confirm these predictions in two new experiments. Results of the current study thus highlight similarities and differences in the processes engaged during exposure to novel versus familiar dynamics. In both cases, adaptation is mediated by multiple context-specific representations. In the case of familiar object dynamics

  9. A single-rate context-dependent learning process underlies rapid adaptation to familiar object dynamics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James N Ingram

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Motor learning has been extensively studied using dynamic (force-field perturbations. These induce movement errors that result in adaptive changes to the motor commands. Several state-space models have been developed to explain how trial-by-trial errors drive the progressive adaptation observed in such studies. These models have been applied to adaptation involving novel dynamics, which typically occurs over tens to hundreds of trials, and which appears to be mediated by a dual-rate adaptation process. In contrast, when manipulating objects with familiar dynamics, subjects adapt rapidly within a few trials. Here, we apply state-space models to familiar dynamics, asking whether adaptation is mediated by a single-rate or dual-rate process. Previously, we reported a task in which subjects rotate an object with known dynamics. By presenting the object at different visual orientations, adaptation was shown to be context-specific, with limited generalization to novel orientations. Here we show that a multiple-context state-space model, with a generalization function tuned to visual object orientation, can reproduce the time-course of adaptation and de-adaptation as well as the observed context-dependent behavior. In contrast to the dual-rate process associated with novel dynamics, we show that a single-rate process mediates adaptation to familiar object dynamics. The model predicts that during exposure to the object across multiple orientations, there will be a degree of independence for adaptation and de-adaptation within each context, and that the states associated with all contexts will slowly de-adapt during exposure in one particular context. We confirm these predictions in two new experiments. Results of the current study thus highlight similarities and differences in the processes engaged during exposure to novel versus familiar dynamics. In both cases, adaptation is mediated by multiple context-specific representations. In the case of familiar

  10. Overview of deep learning in medical imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Kenji

    2017-09-01

    The use of machine learning (ML) has been increasing rapidly in the medical imaging field, including computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), radiomics, and medical image analysis. Recently, an ML area called deep learning emerged in the computer vision field and became very popular in many fields. It started from an event in late 2012, when a deep-learning approach based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) won an overwhelming victory in the best-known worldwide computer vision competition, ImageNet Classification. Since then, researchers in virtually all fields, including medical imaging, have started actively participating in the explosively growing field of deep learning. In this paper, the area of deep learning in medical imaging is overviewed, including (1) what was changed in machine learning before and after the introduction of deep learning, (2) what is the source of the power of deep learning, (3) two major deep-learning models: a massive-training artificial neural network (MTANN) and a convolutional neural network (CNN), (4) similarities and differences between the two models, and (5) their applications to medical imaging. This review shows that ML with feature input (or feature-based ML) was dominant before the introduction of deep learning, and that the major and essential difference between ML before and after deep learning is the learning of image data directly without object segmentation or feature extraction; thus, it is the source of the power of deep learning, although the depth of the model is an important attribute. The class of ML with image input (or image-based ML) including deep learning has a long history, but recently gained popularity due to the use of the new terminology, deep learning. There are two major models in this class of ML in medical imaging, MTANN and CNN, which have similarities as well as several differences. In our experience, MTANNs were substantially more efficient in their development, had a higher performance, and required a

  11. A Cognitive Skill Classification Based On Multi Objective Optimization Using Learning Vector Quantization for Serious Games

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moh. Aries Syufagi

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, serious games and game technology are poised to transform the way of educating and training students at all levels. However, pedagogical value in games do not help novice students learn, too many memorizing and reduce learning process due to no information of player’s ability. To asses the cognitive level of player ability, we propose a Cognitive Skill Game (CSG. CSG improves this cognitive concept to monitor how players interact with the game. This game employs Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ for optimizing the cognitive skill input classification of the player. CSG is using teacher’s data to obtain the neuron vector of cognitive skill pattern supervise. Three clusters multi objective target will be classified as; trial and error, carefully and, expert cognitive skill. In the game play experiments using 33 respondent players demonstrates that 61% of players have high trial and error cognitive skill, 21% have high carefully cognitive skill, and 18% have high expert cognitive skill. CSG may provide information to game engine when a player needs help or when wanting a formidable challenge. The game engine will provide the appropriate tasks according to players’ ability. CSG will help balance the emotions of players, so players do not get bored and frustrated. Players have a high interest to finish the game if the player is emotionally stable. Interests in the players strongly support the procedural learning in a serious game.

  12. Designing the Object Game

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Filip, Diane; Lindegaard, Hanne

    2016-01-01

    The Object Game is an exploratory design game and an experiment of developing a tangible object that can spark dialogue and retrospection between collaborative partners and act as a boundary object. The objective of this article is to show and elaborate on the development of the Object Game......, and to provide case examples of the game in action. The Object Game has two parts – Story-building and Co-rating of objects – with the aim of stimulating a collaborative reflection on knowledge sharing with different objects. In Story-building, the participants visualize their knowledge sharing process...... these facilitated knowledge transfer, knowledge exchange, knowledge generation, and knowledge integration. The participants collaborative reflected on their use of different objects for knowledge sharing and learn which objects have been effective (and which have not been effective) in their collaborative...

  13. ATLes: the strategic application of Web-based technology to address learning objectives and enhance classroom discussion in a veterinary pathology course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hines, Stephen A; Collins, Peggy L; Quitadamo, Ian J; Brahler, C Jayne; Knudson, Cameron D; Crouch, Gregory J

    2005-01-01

    A case-based program called ATLes (Adaptive Teaching and Learning Environments) was designed for use in a systemic pathology course and implemented over a four-year period. Second-year veterinary students working in small collaborative learning groups used the program prior to their weekly pathology laboratory. The goals of ATLes were to better address specific learning objectives in the course (notably the appreciation of pathophysiology), to solve previously identified problems associated with information overload and information sorting that commonly occur as part of discovery-based processes, and to enhance classroom discussion. The program was also designed to model and allow students to practice the problem-oriented approach to clinical cases, thereby enabling them to study pathology in a relevant clinical context. Features included opportunities for students to obtain additional information on the case by requesting specific laboratory tests and/or diagnostic procedures. However, students were also required to justify their diagnostic plans and to provide mechanistic analyses. The use of ATLes met most of these objectives. Student acceptance was high, and students favorably reviewed the online ''Content Links'' that made useful information more readily accessible and level appropriate. Students came to the lab better prepared to engage in an in-depth and high-quality discussion and were better able to connect clinical problems to underlying changes in tissue (lesions). However, many students indicated that the required time on task prior to lab might have been excessive relative to what they thought they learned. The classroom discussion, although improved, was not elevated to the expected level-most likely reflecting other missing elements of the learning environment, including the existing student culture and the students' current discussion skills. This article briefly discusses the lessons learned from ATLes and how similar case-based exercises might be

  14. The Effect of General Objectives Defined by Behavioral Objectives on Achievement in a College Zoology Course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushin, John W.; Baller, William

    1981-01-01

    Tests the effect of developmental level objectives on student achievement and efficiency in a zoology course. These objectives were found to have no significant effect on achievement, but they did significantly increase student efficiency in learning the content material of the module. (Author)

  15. The Impact of Transformational Leadership, Experiential Learning, and Reflective Journaling on the Conservation Ethic of Tertiary-Level Non-Science Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Bradley Robert

    2013-01-01

    The impact of transformational leadership, experiential learning, and reflective journaling on the conservation ethic of non-science majors in a general education survey course was investigated. The main research questions were: (1) Is the Conservation of Biodiversity professor a transformational leader? (2) Is there a difference in the…

  16. Contribution of Personality to Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectations in Selecting a High School Major among Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Dikla; Cinamon, Rachel Gali

    2016-01-01

    The current study focuses on the contribution of five personality traits to the development of self-efficacy and outcome expectations regarding selecting a high school major among adolescents with learning disabilities (LD). Social cognitive career theory and the Big Five personality traits model served as the theoretical framework. Participants…

  17. Learning Analytics for Supporting Seamless Language Learning Using E-Book with Ubiquitous Learning System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mouri, Kousuke; Uosaki, Noriko; Ogata, Hiroaki

    2018-01-01

    Seamless learning has been recognized as an effective learning approach across various dimensions including formal and informal learning contexts, individual and social learning, and physical world and cyberspace. With the emergence of seamless learning, the majority of the current research focuses on realizing a seamless learning environment at…

  18. Reconstructing tuberculosis services after major conflict: experiences and lessons learned in East Timor.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson Martins

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB is a major public health problem in developing countries. Following the disruption to health services in East Timor due to violent political conflict in 1999, the National Tuberculosis Control Program was established, with a local non-government organisation as the lead agency. Within a few months, the TB program was operational in all districts. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Using the East Timor TB program as a case study, we have examined the enabling factors for the implementation of this type of communicable disease control program in a post-conflict setting. Stakeholder analysis was undertaken, and semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2003 with 24 key local and international stakeholders. Coordination, cooperation, and collaboration were identified as major contributors to the success of the TB program. The existing local structure and experience of the local non-government organisation, the commitment among local personnel and international advisors to establishing an effective program, and the willingness of international advisers and local counterparts to be flexible in their approach were also important factors. This success was achieved despite major impediments, including mass population displacement, lack of infrastructure, and the competing interests of organisations working in the health sector. CONCLUSIONS: Five years after the conflict, the TB program continues to operate in all districts with high notification rates, although the lack of a feeling of ownership by government health workers remains a challenge. Lessons learned in East Timor may be applicable to other post-conflict settings where TB is highly prevalent, and may have relevance to other disease control programs.

  19. Introductory geology for elementary education majors utilizing a constructivist approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, L.M.; Kelso, P.R.; Rexroad, C.B.

    2001-01-01

    "Field Excursions in Earth Science" is designed as a non-prerequisite field-based course for elementary education majors. Classic Canadian Shield and Michigan Basin outcrops and Quaternary features are used to teach those Earth science objectives considered most important for K-8 teachers by the Michigan State Board of Education and by others. We integrated these objectives into five conceptual pathways rather than presenting them as discrete pieces of information. A variety of teaching techniques based on constructivist educational theory are employed, so that pre-service teachers experience active-learning strategies in the context of how science is practiced. Our learning strategies address the cognitive and affective domains and utilize personal experiences in conjunction with pre- and post-experience organizers to allow students to develop individual meanings. We place emphasis on observations and concepts and we encourage students to explain their understanding of concepts verbally and in a variety of written formats. Activities address spatial concepts and map reading; mineral, rock, and fossil identification; formation of rocks; surficial processes and landform development; structural deformation and plate tectonics; and environmental issues. Students keep field notes and have daily projects. They address the pedagogical structure of the course in a daily diary.

  20. Enhanced learning of natural visual sequences in newborn chicks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Justin N; Prasad, Aditya; Goldman, Jason G; Wood, Samantha M W

    2016-07-01

    To what extent are newborn brains designed to operate over natural visual input? To address this question, we used a high-throughput controlled-rearing method to examine whether newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) show enhanced learning of natural visual sequences at the onset of vision. We took the same set of images and grouped them into either natural sequences (i.e., sequences showing different viewpoints of the same real-world object) or unnatural sequences (i.e., sequences showing different images of different real-world objects). When raised in virtual worlds containing natural sequences, newborn chicks developed the ability to recognize familiar images of objects. Conversely, when raised in virtual worlds containing unnatural sequences, newborn chicks' object recognition abilities were severely impaired. In fact, the majority of the chicks raised with the unnatural sequences failed to recognize familiar images of objects despite acquiring over 100 h of visual experience with those images. Thus, newborn chicks show enhanced learning of natural visual sequences at the onset of vision. These results indicate that newborn brains are designed to operate over natural visual input.

  1. A Comparative Study of University of Wisconsin-Stout Freshmen and Senior Education Majors Computing and Internet Technology Skills / Knowledge and Associated Learning Experiences

    OpenAIRE

    Sveum, Evan Charles

    2010-01-01

    A study comparing University of Wisconsin-Stout freshmen and senior education majors’ computing and Internet technology skills/knowledge and associated learning experiences was conducted. Instruments used in this study included the IC³® Exam by Certiport, Inc. and the investigator’s Computing and Internet Skills Learning Experiences survey. UW-Stout freshmen education majors participating in the study demonstrated poor computing and Internet technology skills/knowledge. UW-Stout senior educat...

  2. The use of the Emotional-Object Recognition as an assay to assess learning and memory associated to an aversive stimulus in rodents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brancato, Anna; Lavanco, Gianluca; Cavallaro, Angela; Plescia, Fulvio; Cannizzaro, Carla

    2016-12-01

    Emotionally salient experiences induce the formation of explicit memory traces, besides eliciting automatic or implicit emotional memory in rodents. This study aims at investigating the implementation of a novel task for studying the formation of limbic memory engrams as a result of the acquisition- and retrieval- of fear-conditioning - biased declarative memory traces, measured by animal discrimination of an "emotional-object". Moreover, by using this new method we investigated the potential interactions between stimulation of cannabinoid transmission and integration of emotional information and cognitive functioning. The Emotional-Object Recognition task is composed of 3 following sessions: habituation; cued fear-conditioned learning; emotional recognition. Rats are exposed to Context "B chamber" for habituation and cued fear-conditioning, and tested in Context "A chamber" for emotional-object recognition. Cued fear-conditioning induces a reduction in emotional-object exploration time during the Emotional-Object Recognition task in controls. The activation of cannabinoid signalling impairs limbic memory formation, with respect to vehicle. The Emotional-Object Recognition test overcomes several limitations of commonly employed methods that explore declarative-, spatial memory and fear-conditioning in a non-integrated manner. It allows the assessment of unbiased cognitive indicators of emotional learning and memory. The Emotional-Object Recognition task is a valuable tool for investigating whether, and at what extent, specific drugs or pathological conditions that interfere with the individual affective/emotional homeostasis, can modulate the formation of emotionally salient explicit memory traces, thus jeopardizing control and regulation of animal behavioural strategy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Infants Track Word Forms in Early Word-Object Associations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamuner, Tania S.; Fais, Laurel; Werker, Janet F.

    2014-01-01

    A central component of language development is word learning. One characterization of this process is that language learners discover objects and then look for word forms to associate with these objects (Mcnamara, 1984; Smith, 2000). Another possibility is that word forms themselves are also important, such that once learned, hearing a familiar…

  4. Exploring objects for recognition in the real world

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kootstra, Gert; Ypma, Jelmer; de Boer, Bart

    2007-01-01

    Perception in natural systems is a highly active process. In this paper, we adopt the strategy of natural systems to explore objects for 3D object recognition using robots. The exploration of objects enables the system to learn objects from different viewpoints, which is essential for 3D object

  5. Multi-Label Object Categorization Using Histograms of Global Relations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mustafa, Wail; Xiong, Hanchen; Kraft, Dirk

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we present an object categorization system capable of assigning multiple and related categories for novel objects using multi-label learning. In this system, objects are described using global geometric relations of 3D features. We propose using the Joint SVM method for learning......). The experiments are carried out on a dataset of 100 objects belonging to 13 visual and action-related categories. The results indicate that multi-label methods are able to identify the relation between the dependent categories and hence perform categorization accordingly. It is also found that extracting...

  6. Sensorimotor memory of object weight distribution during multidigit grasp.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albert, Frederic; Santello, Marco; Gordon, Andrew M

    2009-10-09

    We studied the ability to transfer three-digit force sharing patterns learned through consecutive lifts of an object with an asymmetric center of mass (CM). After several object lifts, we asked subjects to rotate and translate the object to the contralateral hand and perform one additional lift. This task was performed under two weight conditions (550 and 950 g) to determine the extent to which subjects would be able to transfer weight and CM information. Learning transfer was quantified by measuring the extent to which force sharing patterns and peak object roll on the first post-translation trial resembled those measured on the pre-translation trial with the same CM. We found that the overall gain of fingertip forces was transferred following object rotation, but that the scaling of individual digit forces was specific to the learned digit-object configuration, and thus was not transferred following rotation. As a result, on the first post-translation trial there was a significantly larger object roll following object lift-off than on the pre-translation trial. This suggests that sensorimotor memories for weight, requiring scaling of fingertip force gain, may differ from memories for mass distribution.

  7. QUASI-STELLAR OBJECT SELECTION ALGORITHM USING TIME VARIABILITY AND MACHINE LEARNING: SELECTION OF 1620 QUASI-STELLAR OBJECT CANDIDATES FROM MACHO LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD DATABASE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Dae-Won; Protopapas, Pavlos; Alcock, Charles; Trichas, Markos; Byun, Yong-Ik; Khardon, Roni

    2011-01-01

    We present a new quasi-stellar object (QSO) selection algorithm using a Support Vector Machine, a supervised classification method, on a set of extracted time series features including period, amplitude, color, and autocorrelation value. We train a model that separates QSOs from variable stars, non-variable stars, and microlensing events using 58 known QSOs, 1629 variable stars, and 4288 non-variables in the MAssive Compact Halo Object (MACHO) database as a training set. To estimate the efficiency and the accuracy of the model, we perform a cross-validation test using the training set. The test shows that the model correctly identifies ∼80% of known QSOs with a 25% false-positive rate. The majority of the false positives are Be stars. We applied the trained model to the MACHO Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) data set, which consists of 40 million light curves, and found 1620 QSO candidates. During the selection none of the 33,242 known MACHO variables were misclassified as QSO candidates. In order to estimate the true false-positive rate, we crossmatched the candidates with astronomical catalogs including the Spitzer Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution LMC catalog and a few X-ray catalogs. The results further suggest that the majority of the candidates, more than 70%, are QSOs.

  8. Situating Student Learning in Rich Contexts: A Constructionist Approach to Digital Archives Education

    OpenAIRE

    Anthony Cocciolo

    2011-01-01

    Objective - This paper sought to determine whether a constructionist pedagogical approach to digital archives education could positively influence student perceptions of their learning. Constructionism is a learning theory that places students in the role of designers and emphasizes creating tangible artifacts in a social environment. This theory was used in the instructional design of the Digital Archive Creation Project (DACP), a major component of a digital archives course offered to stude...

  9. Does Participation in a Computer-Based Learning Program in Introductory Financial Accounting Course Lead to Choosing Accounting as a Major?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owhoso, Vincent; Malgwi, Charles A.; Akpomi, Margaret

    2014-01-01

    The authors examine whether students who completed a computer-based intervention program, designed to help them develop abilities and skills in introductory accounting, later declared accounting as a major. A sample of 1,341 students participated in the study, of which 74 completed the intervention program (computer-based assisted learning [CBAL])…

  10. Learning Styles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Missouri Univ., Columbia. Coll. of Education.

    Information is provided regarding major learning styles and other factors important to student learning. Several typically asked questions are presented regarding different learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic, and multisensory learning), associated considerations, determining individuals' learning styles, and appropriate…

  11. Evaluating the diagnostic utility of applying a machine learning algorithm to diffusion tensor MRI measures in individuals with major depressive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnyer, David M; Clasen, Peter C; Gonzalez, Christopher; Beevers, Christopher G

    2017-06-30

    Using MRI to diagnose mental disorders has been a long-term goal. Despite this, the vast majority of prior neuroimaging work has been descriptive rather than predictive. The current study applies support vector machine (SVM) learning to MRI measures of brain white matter to classify adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and healthy controls. In a precisely matched group of individuals with MDD (n =25) and healthy controls (n =25), SVM learning accurately (74%) classified patients and controls across a brain map of white matter fractional anisotropy values (FA). The study revealed three main findings: 1) SVM applied to DTI derived FA maps can accurately classify MDD vs. healthy controls; 2) prediction is strongest when only right hemisphere white matter is examined; and 3) removing FA values from a region identified by univariate contrast as significantly different between MDD and healthy controls does not change the SVM accuracy. These results indicate that SVM learning applied to neuroimaging data can classify the presence versus absence of MDD and that predictive information is distributed across brain networks rather than being highly localized. Finally, MDD group differences revealed through typical univariate contrasts do not necessarily reveal patterns that provide accurate predictive information. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Technically Speaking: Transforming Language Learning through Virtual Learning Environments (MOOs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    von der Emde, Silke; Schneider, Jeffrey; Kotter, Markus

    2001-01-01

    Draws on experiences from a 7-week exchange between students learning German at an American college and advanced students of English at a German university. Maps out the benefits to using a MOO (multiple user domains object-oriented) for language learning: a student-centered learning environment structured by such objectives as peer teaching,…

  13. Semantic Web, Reusable Learning Objects, Personal Learning Networks in Health: Key Pieces for Digital Health Literacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konstantinidis, Stathis Th; Wharrad, Heather; Windle, Richard; Bamidis, Panagiotis D

    2017-01-01

    The knowledge existing in the World Wide Web is exponentially expanding, while continuous advancements in health sciences contribute to the creation of new knowledge. There are a lot of efforts trying to identify how the social connectivity can endorse patients' empowerment, while other studies look at the identification and the quality of online materials. However, emphasis has not been put on the big picture of connecting the existing resources with the patients "new habits" of learning through their own Personal Learning Networks. In this paper we propose a framework for empowering patients' digital health literacy adjusted to patients' currents needs by utilizing the contemporary way of learning through Personal Learning Networks, existing high quality learning resources and semantics technologies for interconnecting knowledge pieces. The framework based on the concept of knowledge maps for health as defined in this paper. Health Digital Literacy needs definitely further enhancement and the use of the proposed concept might lead to useful tools which enable use of understandable health trusted resources tailored to each person needs.

  14. Do Biology Majors Really Differ from Non-STEM Majors?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotner, Sehoya; Thompson, Seth; Wright, Robin

    2017-01-01

    Recent calls to action urge sweeping reform in science education, advocating for improved learning for all students-including those majoring in fields beyond the sciences. However, little work has been done to characterize the differences-if any exist-between students planning a career in science and those studying other disciplines. We describe an attempt to clarify, in broad terms, how non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors differ from life sciences majors, and how they are similar. Using survey responses and institutional data, we find that non-STEM majors are not unilaterally science averse; non-STEM majors are more likely than biology majors to hold misconceptions about the nature of science, yet they are not completely ignorant of how science works; non-STEM majors are less likely than biology majors to see science as personally relevant; and non-STEM majors populations are likely to be more diverse-with respect to incoming knowledge, perceptions, backgrounds, and skills-than a biology majors population. We encourage science educators to consider these characteristics when designing curricula for future scientists or simply for a well-informed citizenry. © 2017 S. Cotner et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2017 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  15. Object permanence in the food-storing coal tit (Periparus ater) and the non-storing great tit (Parus major): Is the mental representation required?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marhounová, Lucie; Frynta, Daniel; Fuchs, Roman; Landová, Eva

    2017-05-01

    Object permanence is a cognitive ability that enables animals to mentally represent the continuous existence of temporarily hidden objects. Generally, it develops gradually through six qualitative stages, the evolution of which may be connected with some specific ecological and behavioral factors. In birds, the advanced object permanence skills were reported in several storing species of the Corvidae family. In order to test the association between food-storing and achieved performance within the stages, we compared food-storing coal tits (Periparus ater) and nonstoring great tits (Parus major) using an adapted version of Uzgiris & Hunt's Scale 1 tasks. The coal tits significantly outperformed the great tits in searching for completely hidden objects. Most of the great tits could not solve the task when the object disappeared completely. However, the upper limit for both species is likely to be Stage 4. The coal tits could solve problems with simply hidden objects, but they used alternative strategies rather than mental representation when searching for completely hidden objects, especially if choosing between two locations. Our results also suggest that neophobia did not affect the overall performance in the object permanence tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. Multi-sensory learning and learning to read.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blomert, Leo; Froyen, Dries

    2010-09-01

    The basis of literacy acquisition in alphabetic orthographies is the learning of the associations between the letters and the corresponding speech sounds. In spite of this primacy in learning to read, there is only scarce knowledge on how this audiovisual integration process works and which mechanisms are involved. Recent electrophysiological studies of letter-speech sound processing have revealed that normally developing readers take years to automate these associations and dyslexic readers hardly exhibit automation of these associations. It is argued that the reason for this effortful learning may reside in the nature of the audiovisual process that is recruited for the integration of in principle arbitrarily linked elements. It is shown that letter-speech sound integration does not resemble the processes involved in the integration of natural audiovisual objects such as audiovisual speech. The automatic symmetrical recruitment of the assumedly uni-sensory visual and auditory cortices in audiovisual speech integration does not occur for letter and speech sound integration. It is also argued that letter-speech sound integration only partly resembles the integration of arbitrarily linked unfamiliar audiovisual objects. Letter-sound integration and artificial audiovisual objects share the necessity of a narrow time window for integration to occur. However, they differ from these artificial objects, because they constitute an integration of partly familiar elements which acquire meaning through the learning of an orthography. Although letter-speech sound pairs share similarities with audiovisual speech processing as well as with unfamiliar, arbitrary objects, it seems that letter-speech sound pairs develop into unique audiovisual objects that furthermore have to be processed in a unique way in order to enable fluent reading and thus very likely recruit other neurobiological learning mechanisms than the ones involved in learning natural or arbitrary unfamiliar

  17. Deformation-specific and deformation-invariant visual object recognition: pose vs identity recognition of people and deforming objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tristan J Webb

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available When we see a human sitting down, standing up, or walking, we can recognise one of these poses independently of the individual, or we can recognise the individual person, independently of the pose. The same issues arise for deforming objects. For example, if we see a flag deformed by the wind, either blowing out or hanging languidly, we can usually recognise the flag, independently of its deformation; or we can recognise the deformation independently of the identity of the flag. We hypothesize that these types of recognition can be implemented by the primate visual system using temporo-spatial continuity as objects transform as a learning principle. In particular, we hypothesize that pose or deformation can be learned under conditions in which large numbers of different people are successively seen in the same pose, or objects in the same deformation. We also hypothesize that person-specific representations that are independent of pose, and object-specific representations that are independent of deformation and view, could be built, when individual people or objects are observed successively transforming from one pose or deformation and view to another. These hypotheses were tested in a simulation of the ventral visual system, VisNet, that uses temporal continuity, implemented in a synaptic learning rule with a short-term memory trace of previous neuronal activity, to learn invariant representations. It was found that depending on the statistics of the visual input, either pose-specific or deformation-specific representations could be built that were invariant with respect to individual and view; or that identity-specific representations could be built that were invariant with respect to pose or deformation and view. We propose that this is how pose-specific and pose-invariant, and deformation-specific and deformation-invariant, perceptual representations are built in the brain.

  18. On the Relationship among Critical Thinking, Language Learning Strategy Use and University Achievement of Iranian English as a Foreign Language Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afshar, Hassan Soodmand; Movassagh, Hossein

    2017-01-01

    The study investigated the relationship among critical thinking, strategy use and university achievement. To this end, 76 English major students sat the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and filled out Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning. Participants' Grade Point Averages were regarded as their university achievement. The…

  19. A Mobile Outdoor Augmented Reality Method Combining Deep Learning Object Detection and Spatial Relationships for Geovisualization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Jinmeng; Qiao, Yanjun; Ren, Fu; Wang, Junxing; Du, Qingyun

    2017-08-24

    The purpose of this study was to develop a robust, fast and markerless mobile augmented reality method for registration, geovisualization and interaction in uncontrolled outdoor environments. We propose a lightweight deep-learning-based object detection approach for mobile or embedded devices; the vision-based detection results of this approach are combined with spatial relationships by means of the host device's built-in Global Positioning System receiver, Inertial Measurement Unit and magnetometer. Virtual objects generated based on geospatial information are precisely registered in the real world, and an interaction method based on touch gestures is implemented. The entire method is independent of the network to ensure robustness to poor signal conditions. A prototype system was developed and tested on the Wuhan University campus to evaluate the method and validate its results. The findings demonstrate that our method achieves a high detection accuracy, stable geovisualization results and interaction.

  20. A Mobile Outdoor Augmented Reality Method Combining Deep Learning Object Detection and Spatial Relationships for Geovisualization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinmeng Rao

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to develop a robust, fast and markerless mobile augmented reality method for registration, geovisualization and interaction in uncontrolled outdoor environments. We propose a lightweight deep-learning-based object detection approach for mobile or embedded devices; the vision-based detection results of this approach are combined with spatial relationships by means of the host device’s built-in Global Positioning System receiver, Inertial Measurement Unit and magnetometer. Virtual objects generated based on geospatial information are precisely registered in the real world, and an interaction method based on touch gestures is implemented. The entire method is independent of the network to ensure robustness to poor signal conditions. A prototype system was developed and tested on the Wuhan University campus to evaluate the method and validate its results. The findings demonstrate that our method achieves a high detection accuracy, stable geovisualization results and interaction.

  1. A Mobile Outdoor Augmented Reality Method Combining Deep Learning Object Detection and Spatial Relationships for Geovisualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Jinmeng; Qiao, Yanjun; Ren, Fu; Wang, Junxing; Du, Qingyun

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop a robust, fast and markerless mobile augmented reality method for registration, geovisualization and interaction in uncontrolled outdoor environments. We propose a lightweight deep-learning-based object detection approach for mobile or embedded devices; the vision-based detection results of this approach are combined with spatial relationships by means of the host device’s built-in Global Positioning System receiver, Inertial Measurement Unit and magnetometer. Virtual objects generated based on geospatial information are precisely registered in the real world, and an interaction method based on touch gestures is implemented. The entire method is independent of the network to ensure robustness to poor signal conditions. A prototype system was developed and tested on the Wuhan University campus to evaluate the method and validate its results. The findings demonstrate that our method achieves a high detection accuracy, stable geovisualization results and interaction. PMID:28837096

  2. MODELI: An Emotion-Based Software Engineering Methodology for the Development of Digital Learning Objects for the Preservation of the Mixtec Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivia Allende-Hernández

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a methodology termed MODELI (methodology for the design of educational digital objects for indigenous languages is presented for the development of digital learning objects (DLOs for the Mixtec language, which is an indigenous Mexican language. MODELI is based on the spiral model of software development and integrates three important aspects for the analysis and design of DLOs: pedagogical, affective-emotional and technological-functional. The premise of MODELI is that the emotional aspect with the inclusion of cultural factors has an important effect on the learning motivation of indigenous users when interacting with the DLO. Principles of the visual, auditory (or aural, read/write, kinesthetic (VARK model and Kansei engineering were considered for the inclusion of the pedagogical, emotional and technological-functional aspects within the spiral model for the development of MODELI. The methodology was validated with the development of a DLO for a previously unknown variant of the Mixtec language. Usability tests of the DLO built with MODELI evidenced an improvement on the learning motivation and the value of cultural identity of indigenous children. These results are important for the preservation of indigenous languages in Mexico, because most of them are partially documented, and there is social rejection of indigenous culture caused by discrimination of ethnic communities.

  3. Sleep deprivation impairs object recognition in mice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Palchykova, S; Winsky-Sommerer, R; Meerlo, P; Durr, R; Tobler, Irene

    2006-01-01

    Many studies in animals and humans suggest that sleep facilitates learning, memory consolidation, and retrieval. Moreover, sleep deprivation (SD) incurred after learning, impaired memory in humans, mice, rats, and hamsters. We investigated the importance of sleep and its timing in in object

  4. End-to-End Airplane Detection Using Transfer Learning in Remote Sensing Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhong Chen

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Airplane detection in remote sensing images remains a challenging problem due to the complexity of backgrounds. In recent years, with the development of deep learning, object detection has also obtained great breakthroughs. For object detection tasks in natural images, such as the PASCAL (Pattern Analysis, Statistical Modelling and Computational Learning VOC (Visual Object Classes Challenge, the major trend of current development is to use a large amount of labeled classification data to pre-train the deep neural network as a base network, and then use a small amount of annotated detection data to fine-tune the network for detection. In this paper, we use object detection technology based on deep learning for airplane detection in remote sensing images. In addition to using some characteristics of remote sensing images, some new data augmentation techniques have been proposed. We also use transfer learning and adopt a single deep convolutional neural network and limited training samples to implement end-to-end trainable airplane detection. Classification and positioning are no longer divided into multistage tasks; end-to-end detection attempts to combine them for optimization, which ensures an optimal solution for the final stage. In our experiment, we use remote sensing images of airports collected from Google Earth. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is highly accurate and meaningful for remote sensing object detection.

  5. Object recognition based on Google's reverse image search and image similarity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horváth, András.

    2015-12-01

    Image classification is one of the most challenging tasks in computer vision and a general multiclass classifier could solve many different tasks in image processing. Classification is usually done by shallow learning for predefined objects, which is a difficult task and very different from human vision, which is based on continuous learning of object classes and one requires years to learn a large taxonomy of objects which are not disjunct nor independent. In this paper I present a system based on Google image similarity algorithm and Google image database, which can classify a large set of different objects in a human like manner, identifying related classes and taxonomies.

  6. Rapid Object Detection Systems, Utilising Deep Learning and Unmanned Aerial Systems (uas) for Civil Engineering Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, D.; Boehm, J.

    2018-05-01

    With deep learning approaches now out-performing traditional image processing techniques for image understanding, this paper accesses the potential of rapid generation of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for applied engineering purposes. Three CNNs are trained on 275 UAS-derived and freely available online images for object detection of 3m2 segments of railway track. These includes two models based on the Faster RCNN object detection algorithm (Resnet and Incpetion-Resnet) as well as the novel onestage Focal Loss network architecture (Retinanet). Model performance was assessed with respect to three accuracy metrics. The first two consisted of Intersection over Union (IoU) with thresholds 0.5 and 0.1. The last assesses accuracy based on the proportion of track covered by object detection proposals against total track length. In under six hours of training (and two hours of manual labelling) the models detected 91.3 %, 83.1 % and 75.6 % of track in the 500 test images acquired from the UAS survey Retinanet, Resnet and Inception-Resnet respectively. We then discuss the potential for such applications of such systems within the engineering field for a range of scenarios.

  7. Big Java late objects

    CERN Document Server

    Horstmann, Cay S

    2012-01-01

    Big Java: Late Objects is a comprehensive introduction to Java and computer programming, which focuses on the principles of programming, software engineering, and effective learning. It is designed for a two-semester first course in programming for computer science students.

  8. Learning Photometric Invariance for Object Detection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Álvarez, J.M.; Gevers, T.; López, A.M.

    2010-01-01

    Color is a powerful visual cue in many computer vision applications such as image segmentation and object recognition. However, most of the existing color models depend on the imaging conditions that negatively affect the performance of the task at hand. Often, a reflection model (e.g., Lambertian

  9. Assurance of Learning in an MBA Program: Exploration of the Value Added by the Graduate Major Field Test in Business

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kass, Darrin; Grandzol, Christian

    2014-01-01

    The use of standardized tests as a piece of outcomes assessment has risen in recent years in order to satisfy external accrediting bodies such as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. The authors explore the value added by the Graduate Major Field Test in Business (GMFT-B) for assurance of learning in a master of…

  10. A Pharmacy Preregistration Course Using Online Teaching and Learning Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowell, Jenny; Marriott, Jennifer L.; Calandra, Angela; Duncan, Gregory

    2009-01-01

    Objective To design and evaluate a preregistration course utilizing asynchronous online learning as the primary distance education delivery method. Design Online course components including tutorials, quizzes, and moderated small-group asynchronous case-based discussions were implemented. Online delivery was supplemented with self-directed and face-to-face learning. Assessment Pharmacy graduates who had completed the course in 2004 and 2005 were surveyed. The majority felt they had benefited from all components of the course, and that online delivery provided benefits including increased peer support, shared learning, and immediate feedback on performance. A majority of the first cohort reported that the workload associated with asynchronous online discussions was too great. The course was altered in 2005 to reduce the online component. Participant satisfaction improved, and most felt that the balance of online to face-to-face delivery was appropriate. Conclusion A new pharmacy preregistration course was successfully implemented. Online teaching and learning was well accepted and appeared to deliver benefits over traditional distance education methods once workload issues were addressed. PMID:19777092

  11. A Survey of Learning Motivation among Junior and Senior English Ma?jors in Non-governmental Universities—A Case Study in Ningbo Dahon?gying University

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    GU Qian-qian

    2017-01-01

    Motivation is an important factor to English learning, it plays an important role. In this thesis, the instrument used in the study is a questionnaire, and this thesis was conducted on December 5th, 2016 at Ningbo Dahongying University involving 182 students. Based on the questionnaire investigation, this thesis discusses the learning motivation of English major juniors and seniors in Ningbo Dahongying University from the motivation types, factors and strategies...

  12. Identification of Auditory Object-Specific Attention from Single-Trial Electroencephalogram Signals via Entropy Measures and Machine Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yun Lu

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Existing research has revealed that auditory attention can be tracked from ongoing electroencephalography (EEG signals. The aim of this novel study was to investigate the identification of peoples’ attention to a specific auditory object from single-trial EEG signals via entropy measures and machine learning. Approximate entropy (ApEn, sample entropy (SampEn, composite multiscale entropy (CmpMSE and fuzzy entropy (FuzzyEn were used to extract the informative features of EEG signals under three kinds of auditory object-specific attention (Rest, Auditory Object1 Attention (AOA1 and Auditory Object2 Attention (AOA2. The linear discriminant analysis and support vector machine (SVM, were used to construct two auditory attention classifiers. The statistical results of entropy measures indicated that there were significant differences in the values of ApEn, SampEn, CmpMSE and FuzzyEn between Rest, AOA1 and AOA2. For the SVM-based auditory attention classifier, the auditory object-specific attention of Rest, AOA1 and AOA2 could be identified from EEG signals using ApEn, SampEn, CmpMSE and FuzzyEn as features and the identification rates were significantly different from chance level. The optimal identification was achieved by the SVM-based auditory attention classifier using CmpMSE with the scale factor τ = 10. This study demonstrated a novel solution to identify the auditory object-specific attention from single-trial EEG signals without the need to access the auditory stimulus.

  13. Challenges of Transitioning to an e-Learning System with Learning Objects Capabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raspopovic, Miroslava; Cvetanovic, Svetlana; Jankulovic, Aleksandar

    2016-01-01

    In order for higher education institutions, which implements blended and/or online learning to remain competitive and innovative it needs to keep up with the cutting edge technological and educational advances. This task is usually very difficult, keeping in mind the budget constraints that many institutions have. This usually implies that…

  14. A survey on deep learning in medical image analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litjens, Geert; Kooi, Thijs; Bejnordi, Babak Ehteshami; Setio, Arnaud Arindra Adiyoso; Ciompi, Francesco; Ghafoorian, Mohsen; van der Laak, Jeroen A W M; van Ginneken, Bram; Sánchez, Clara I

    2017-12-01

    Deep learning algorithms, in particular convolutional networks, have rapidly become a methodology of choice for analyzing medical images. This paper reviews the major deep learning concepts pertinent to medical image analysis and summarizes over 300 contributions to the field, most of which appeared in the last year. We survey the use of deep learning for image classification, object detection, segmentation, registration, and other tasks. Concise overviews are provided of studies per application area: neuro, retinal, pulmonary, digital pathology, breast, cardiac, abdominal, musculoskeletal. We end with a summary of the current state-of-the-art, a critical discussion of open challenges and directions for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Assessment of Online Information Literacy Learning Objects For First Year Community

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    Mara Bordignon

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective – The main objective was to determine whether information literacy (IL learning objects (LOs impact student IL competency, specifically in a foundational first year English composition course. The primary research question was: What is the effectiveness of IL LOs compared to face-to-face instruction in terms of students’ skill acquisition? Methods – The methods involved testing student IL competency through a multiple-choice test given pre- and post-IL intervention. Effectiveness was measured by assessing whether IL competency improves after exposure to one of two interventions: online IL LOs or face-to-face librarian-led workshop. Over two semesters, equal sections of the course were tested for each of these interventions. For the IL LOs group, students first completed a pre-test, then they worked independently through three online IL LOs. The three IL LOs were videos comprised of animation, screen casting, and video capture on these topics: Finding Articles at Seneca Libraries (hereafter referred to as Finding Articles, Finding Articles on Current Issues, and Popular and Scholarly Sources. The students were then given the same test again. For the face-to-face group, the pre- and post-tests were also required for the same number of sections. This study was conducted under institutional ethics approval. Results – Descriptive analysis revealed student test scores increased for both interventions, IL LOs and face-to-face. Test scores increased, on average, between 14 to 37%. In comparing post-tests, results revealed a statistically significant difference only with the first topic, Finding Articles. In this case, the IL LOs (video group outperformed the face-to-face group by at least 10%. No significance, in terms of performance from pre- and post-test scores, was found for the other two topics. Conclusion – Both IL LO and face-to-face library led workshop interventions had a positive impact on students’ IL skill acquisition

  16. Discovery of the Collaborative Nature of Science with Undergraduate Science Majors and Non-Science Majors through the Identification of Microorganisms Enriched in Winogradsky Columns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramirez, Jasmine; Pinedo, Catalina Arango; Forster, Brian M

    2015-12-01

    Today's science classrooms are addressing the need for non-scientists to become scientifically literate. A key aspect includes the recognition of science as a process for discovery. This process relies upon interdisciplinary collaboration. We designed a semester-long collaborative exercise that allows science majors taking a general microbiology course and non-science majors taking an introductory environmental science course to experience collaboration in science by combining their differing skill sets to identify microorganisms enriched in Winogradsky columns. These columns are self-sufficient ecosystems that allow researchers to study bacterial populations under specified environmental conditions. Non-science majors identified phototrophic bacteria enriched in the column by analyzing the signature chlorophyll absorption spectra whereas science majors used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to identify the general bacterial diversity. Students then compiled their results and worked together to generate lab reports with their final conclusions identifying the microorganisms present in their column. Surveys and lab reports were utilized to evaluate the learning objectives of this activity. In pre-surveys, nonmajors' and majors' answers diverged considerably, with majors providing responses that were more accurate and more in line with the working definition of collaboration. In post-surveys, the answers between majors and nonmajors converged, with both groups providing accurate responses. Lab reports showed that students were able to successfully identify bacteria present in the columns. These results demonstrate that laboratory exercises designed to group students across disciplinary lines can be an important tool in promoting science education across disciplines.

  17. Anticipatory Learning for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience

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    Petra Tschakert

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper is a methodological contribution to emerging debates on the role of learning, particularly forward-looking (anticipatory learning, as a key element for adaptation and resilience in the context of climate change. First, we describe two major challenges: understanding adaptation as a process and recognizing the inadequacy of existing learning tools, with a specific focus on high poverty contexts and complex livelihood-vulnerability risks. Then, the article examines learning processes from a dynamic systems perspective, comparing theoretical aspects and conceptual advances in resilience thinking and action research/learning (AR/AL. Particular attention is paid to learning loops (cycles, critical reflection, spaces for learning, and power. Finally, we outline a methodological framework to facilitate iterative learning processes and adaptive decision making in practice. We stress memory, monitoring of key drivers of change, scenario planning, and measuring anticipatory capacity as crucial ingredients. Our aim is to identify opportunities and obstacles for forward-looking learning processes at the intersection of climatic uncertainty and development challenges in Africa, with the overarching objective to enhance adaptation and resilient livelihood pathways, rather than learning by shock.

  18. Applying CIPP Model for Learning-Object Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgado, Erla M. Morales; Peñalvo, Francisco J. García; Martín, Carlos Muñoz; Gonzalez, Miguel Ángel Conde

    Although knowledge management process needs to receive some evaluation in order to determine their suitable functionality. There is not a clear definition about the stages where LOs need to be evaluated and the specific metrics to continuously promote their quality. This paper presents a proposal for LOs evaluation during their management for e-learning systems. To achieve this, we suggest specific steps for LOs design, implementation and evaluation into the four stages proposed by CIPP model (Context, Input, Process, Product).

  19. Grasha-richmann college students’ learning styles of classroom participation: Role of gender and major

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALI REZA BANESHI

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the male and female students’ learning styles of classroom participation and these styles’ differences between Humanities and Science majors. Methods: 1039 individuals were selected through the proportional stratified random sampling method among undergraduate and graduate students in Humanities (n=421 and Science (n=618 faculties of Tehran University. In the Humanities group, there were 285 females and 136 males, and in the Science group, there were 208 females and 410 males. The participants answered the Grasha-Riechmann student learning styles scale. Results: The findings indicated that the females obtained significantly higher means in collaborative, participative, and dependent styles than males, but in avoidant, and independent styles, the means for males were higher than those for females. Also, the science group’s means in collaborative, participative, dependent, and competitive styles were significantly higher than those for the humanities group. Conclusion: According to the findings, it seems that due to psychological characteristics, female students tend to collaborate with other students of the same sex and participate in their activities. In this way, they also are more dependent on their teacher and classroom, because otherwise they will face some problems such as anxiety. In addition, it seems that science students in comparison to humanities students are more participative and collaborative because they need more collaboration in their projects and course work.

  20. Nonlinear Motion Tracking by Deep Learning Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Arnav; Samaiya, Devesh; Gupta, Karunesh K.

    2018-03-01

    In the world of Artificial Intelligence, object motion tracking is one of the major problems. The extensive research is being carried out to track people in crowd. This paper presents a unique technique for nonlinear motion tracking in the absence of prior knowledge of nature of nonlinear path that the object being tracked may follow. We achieve this by first obtaining the centroid of the object and then using the centroid as the current example for a recurrent neural network trained using real-time recurrent learning. We have tweaked the standard algorithm slightly and have accumulated the gradient for few previous iterations instead of using just the current iteration as is the norm. We show that for a single object, such a recurrent neural network is highly capable of approximating the nonlinearity of its path.