Using wavelet analysis for text categorization in digital libraries: a first experiment with Strathprints

Digital libraries increasingly benefit from research on automated text categorization for improved access. Such research is typically carried out by means of standard test collections. In this article, we present a pilot experiment of replacing such test collections by a set of 6,000 objects from a real-world digital repository, indexed by Library of Congress Subject Headings, and test support vector machines in a supervised learning setting for their ability to reproduce the existing classification. To augment the standard approach, we introduce a combination of two novel elements: using functions for document content representation in Hilbert space, and adding extra semantics from lexical resources to the representation. Results suggest that wavelet-based kernels slightly outperformed traditional kernels on classification reconstruction from abstracts and vice versa from full-text documents, the latter outcome being due to word sense ambiguity. The practical implementation of our methodological framework enhances the analysis and representation of specific knowledge relevant to large-scale digital collections, in this case the thematic coverage of the collections. Representation of specific knowledge about digital collections is one of the basic elements of the persistent archives and the less studied one (compared to representations of digital objects and collections). Our research is an initial step in this direction developing further the methodological approach and demonstrating that text categorization can be applied to analyse the thematic coverage in digital repositories.     

The historical and situated nature design experiments – Implications for data analysis

This article is a methodological contribution to the use of design experiments in educational research. We will discuss the implications of a historical and situated interpretation to design experiments, the consequences this has for the analysis of the collected data and empirically based suggestions to improve the designs of the computer-based learning resources. This interpretation differs from that of the majority of other researchers who consider design experiments as fixed interventions. Our interpretation allows for an understanding of students' learning trajectories as part of the school's overall activities, which in turn has implications for suggestions regarding the improvement of computer-based learning resources. We develop argument in three different ways. First, we discuss our interpretation of design experiments and compare it with the dominant debate about design experiments as a methodological approach. Second, we discuss the implications this position has for interaction analysis methods. Finally, we empirically demonstrate this methodological implication by illustrating how vital it might be to consider data collected as part of design experiments as an element of a larger, established institutional setting characterized by inherent socio-cultural features. A conclusion that may be drawn from our situated interpretation of this design experiment is that, to improve students' knowledge constructions, it is not enough – nor is it in principle possible – to perfect the design of the technology. We also need to improve institutional aspects on how schools support students' knowledge constructions when using these technological tools, where the teacher's role in this work is invaluable. A historical and situated interpretation of design experiments provides insight into how these improvements may be made.     

UK rail workers' perceptions of accident risk factors: An exploratory study

Although non-fatal injuries remain a frequent occurrence in Rail work, very few studies have attempted to identify the perceived factors contributing to accident risk using qualitative research methods. This paper presents the results from a thematic analysis of ten interviews with On Track Machine (OTM) operatives. The inductive methodological approach generated five themes, of which two are discussed here in detail, ‘Pressure and fatigue’, and ‘Decision making and errors’. It is concluded that for companies committed to proactive accident risk reduction, irrespective of current injury rates, the collection and analysis of worker narratives and broader psychological data across safety-critical job roles may prove beneficial.     

Citations,research topics and active countries in software engineering: A bibliometrics study

Context: An enormous number of papers (more than 70,000) have been published in the area of Software Engineering (SE) since its inception in 1968. To better characterize and understand this massive research literature, there is a need for comprehensive bibliometrics assessments in this vibrant field.Objective: The objective of this study is to utilize automated citation and topic analysis to characterize the software engineering research literature over the years. While a few bibliometrics studies have appeared in the field of SE, this article aims to be the most comprehensive bibliometrics assessments in this vibrant field.Method: To achieve the above objective, we report in this paper a bibliometrics study with data collected from Scopus database consisting of over 70,000 articles. For thematic analysis, we used topic modeling to automatically generate the most probable topic distributions given the data.Results: We found that number of papers published per year has grown tremendously and currently 6000–7000 papers are published every year. At the same time, nearly half of the papers are not cited at all. Using text mining of articles titles, we found that currently the hot research topics in software engineering are: (1) web services, (2) mobile and cloud computing, (3) industrial (case) studies, (4) source code and (5) test generation. Finally, we found that a small share of large countries produce the majority of the papers in SE while small European countries are proportionally the most active in the area of SE, based on the number of papers.Conclusion: Due to large volumes of research in SE, we suggest using the automated analysis of bibliometrics as we have done in this paper. By picking out the most cited papers, we can present the land marks of SE and, with thematic analysis, we can characterize the entire field. This can be useful for students and other new comers to SE and for presenting our achievements to other disciplines. In particular, we see and report the value of such an analysis in situations where performing a full scale SLR is not feasible due to restrictions on time or to lack of exact research questions.     

基于CFN的汉语篇章连贯性研究

篇章连贯性研究是篇章分析领域的重要课题之一。基于Chinese FrameNet(CFN),该文构建了汉语篇章连贯性描述体系,该描述体系研究了框架语义与篇章单元的关系,探讨了篇章如何通过框架与框架之间的语义关系实现篇章的连贯,为篇章连贯提供了合适的描写机制和计算基础。从《人民日报》选取了160篇文章进行标注实践,在篇章结构和篇章关系两方面均取得了大于0.8的kappa值,验证了描述体系具有较高的人工标注一致性,可作为进一步进行大规模篇章标注语料构建的依据。     

When sex, drugs, and violence enter the classroom: Conversations between adolescents and a female pedagogical agent

In this article, we investigate the discourse between a female conversational pedagogical agent and 59 adolescents in the context of a social studies lesson. We note that previous pedagogical agent research has focused on the positive effects of agents, while failing to take into account the intricacies of learner–agent discourse, and subsequently missing the abuse suffered by pedagogical agents at users’ fingertips. Our analysis indicates that learners readily misuse and abuse pedagogical agents while placing them in a subordinate and inferior role. We conclude by making recommendations on agent design and future research.