Inquiry-based mobile learning in secondary school science education: A systematic review

Recent years have seen a growing call for inquiry-based learning in science education, and mobile technologies are perceived as increasingly valuable tools to support this approach. However, there is a lack of understanding of mobile technology-supported inquiry-based learning (mIBL) in secondary science education. More evidence-based, nuanced insights are needed into how using mobile technologies might facilitate students' engagement with various levels of inquiry and enhance their science learning. We, therefore, conducted a robust systematic literature review (SLR) of the research articles on mIBL in secondary school science education that have been published from 2000 to 2019. We reviewed and analysed 31 empirical studies (34 articles) to explore the types of mIBL, and the benefits and constraints of mIBL in secondary school science education. The findings of this SLR suggest new research areas for further exploration and provide implications for science teachers' selection, use and design of mIBL approaches in their teaching.     

Micro-persistence and difficulty in a game-based learning environment for computational thinking acquisition

Persistence has been identified as a crucial quality of learning. However, it is hard to attain in online game-based environments as the drive to progress in the game may influence the ability to achieve the learning goals. This study aimed to examine the associations between micro-persistence, that is, the tendency to complete an individual task successfully, and task difficulty while acquiring computational thinking (CT). We further explored whether contextual or personal attributes better explain micro-persistence. We analysed data of 111 school students who used the CodeMonkey platform. We took a learning analytics approach for analysing the platform's log files. We found that micro-persistence is associated with task difficulty and that students who demonstrated an aptitude to learn new material are motivated to achieve the best solution. We also found that contextual variables better-explained micro-persistence than personal attributes. Encouraging micro-persistence can improve CT acquisition and the learning processes involved.     

Automatic Channel Detection Using DNN on 2D Seismic Data

Geologists interpret seismic data to understand subsurface properties and subsequently to locate underground hydrocarbon resources. Channels are among the most important geological features interpreters analyze to locate petroleum reservoirs. However, manual channel picking is both time consuming and tedious. Moreover, similar to any other process dependent on human intervention, manual channel picking is error prone and inconsistent. To address these issues, automatic channel detection is both necessary and important for efficient and accurate seismic interpretation. Modern systems make use of real-time image processing techniques for different tasks. Automatic channel detection is a combination of different mathematical methods in digital image processing that can identify streaks within the images called channels that are important to the oil companies. In this paper, we propose an innovative automatic channel detection algorithm based on machine learning techniques. The new algorithm can identify channels in seismic data/images fully automatically and tremendously increases the efficiency and accuracy of the interpretation process. The algorithm uses deep neural network to train the classifier with both the channel and non-channel patches. We provide a field data example to demonstrate the performance of the new algorithm. The training phase gave a maximum accuracy of 84.6% for the classifier and it performed even better in the testing phase, giving a maximum accuracy of 90%.     

Stock Price Forecasting: An Echo State Network Approach

Forecasting stock prices using deep learning models suffers from problems such as low accuracy, slow convergence, and complex network structures. This study developed an echo state network (ESN) model to mitigate such problems. We compared our ESN with a long short-term memory (LSTM) network by forecasting the stock data of Kweichow Moutai, a leading enterprise in China’s liquor industry. By analyzing data for 120, 240, and 300 days, we generated forecast data for the next 40, 80, and 100 days, respectively, using both ESN and LSTM. In terms of accuracy, ESN had the unique advantage of capturing nonlinear data. Mean absolute error (MAE) was used to present the accuracy results. The MAEs of the data forecast by ESN were 0.024, 0.024, and 0.025, which were, respectively, 0.065, 0.007, and 0.009 less than those of LSTM. In terms of convergence, ESN has a reservoir state-space structure, which makes it perform faster than other models. Root-mean-square error (RMSE) was used to present the convergence time. In our experiment, the RMSEs of ESN were 0.22, 0.27, and 0.26, which were, respectively, 0.08, 0.01, and 0.12 less than those of LSTM. In terms of network structure, ESN consists only of input, reservoir, and output spaces, making it a much simpler model than the others. The proposed ESN was found to be an effective model that, compared to others, converges faster, forecasts more accurately, and builds time-series analyses more easily.     

Toward in-situ flaw detection in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing through layerwise imagery and machine learning

Process monitoring in additive manufacturing may allow components to be certified cheaply and rapidly and opens the possibility of healing defects, if detected. Here, neural networks (NNs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are trained to detect flaws in layerwise images of a build, using labeled XCT data as a ground truth. Multiple images were recorded after each layer before and after recoating with various lighting conditions. Classifying networks were given a single image or multiple images of various lighting conditions for training and testing. CNNs demonstrated significantly better performance than NNs across all tasks. Furthermore, CNNs demonstrated improved generalizability, i.e., the ability to generalize to more diverse data than either the training or validation data sets. Specifically, CNNs trained on high-resolution layerwise images from one build showed minimal loss in performance when applied to data from an independent build, whereas the performance of the NNs degraded significantly. CNN accuracy was also demonstrated to be a function of flaw size, suggesting that smaller flaws may be produced by mechanisms that do not alter the surface morphology of the build plate. CNNs demonstrated accuracies of 93.5 % on large (>200 μm) flaws when testing and training on components from the same build and accuracies of 87.3 % when testing on a previously unseen build. Finally, evidence linking the formation of large lack-of-fusion defects to the presence of process ejecta is presented.     

Semisupervised Encrypted Traffic Identification Based on Auxiliary Classification Generative Adversarial Network

The rapidly increasing popularity of mobile devices has changed the methods with which people access various network services and increased network traffic markedly. Over the past few decades, network traffic identification has been a research hotspot in the field of network management and security monitoring. However, as more network services use encryption technology, network traffic identification faces many challenges. Although classic machine learning methods can solve many problems that cannot be solved by port- and payload-based methods, manually extract features that are frequently updated is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Deep learning has good automatic feature learning capabilities and is an ideal method for network traffic identification, particularly encrypted traffic identification; Existing recognition methods based on deep learning primarily use supervised learning methods and rely on many labeled samples. However, in real scenarios, labeled samples are often difficult to obtain. This paper adjusts the structure of the auxiliary classification generation adversarial network (ACGAN) so that it can use unlabeled samples for training, and use the wasserstein distance instead of the original cross entropy as the loss function to achieve semisupervised learning. Experimental results show that the identification accuracy of ISCX and USTC data sets using the proposed method yields markedly better performance when the number of labeled samples is small compared to that of convolutional neural network (CNN) based classifier.     

Making costly manufacturing smart with transfer learning under limited data: A case study on composites autoclave processing

The integration of advanced manufacturing processes with ground-breaking Artificial Intelligence methods continue to provide unprecedented opportunities towards modern cyber-physical manufacturing processes, known as smart manufacturing or Industry 4.0. However, the “smartness” level of such approaches closely depends on the degree to which the implemented predictive models can handle uncertainties and production data shifts in the factory over time. In the case of change in a manufacturing process configuration with no sufficient new data, conventional Machine Learning (ML) models often tend to perform poorly. In this article, a transfer learning (TL) framework is proposed to tackle the aforementioned issue in modeling smart manufacturing. Namely, the proposed TL framework is able to adapt to probable shifts in the production process design and deliver accurate predictions without the need to re-train the model. Armed with sequential unfreezing and early stopping methods, the model demonstrated the ability to avoid catastrophic forgetting in the presence of severely limited data. Through the exemplified industry-focused case study on autoclave composite processing, the model yielded a drastic (88%) improvement in the generalization accuracy compared to the conventional learning, while reducing the computational and temporal cost by 56%.     

A fuzzy hierarchical reinforcement learning based scheduling method for semiconductor wafer manufacturing systems

Scheduling semiconductor wafer manufacturing systems has been viewed as one of the most challenging optimization problems owing to the complicated constraints, and dynamic system environment. This paper proposes a fuzzy hierarchical reinforcement learning (FHRL) approach to schedule a SWFS, which controls the cycle time (CT) of each wafer lot to improve on-time delivery by adjusting the priority of each wafer lot. To cope with the layer correlation and wafer correlation of CT due to the re-entrant process constraint, a hierarchical model is presented with a recurrent reinforcement learning (RL) unit in each layer to control the corresponding sub-CT of each integrated circuit layer. In each RL unit, a fuzzy reward calculator is designed to reduce the impact of uncertainty of expected finishing time caused by the rematching of a lot to a delivery batch. The results demonstrate that the mean deviation (MD) between the actual and expected completion time of wafer lots under the scheduling of the FHRL approach is only about 30 % of the compared methods in the whole SWFS.     

Physics-guided logistic classification for tool life modeling and process parameter optimization in machining

This paper describes a physics-guided logistic classification method for tool life modeling and process parameter optimization in machining. Tool life is modeled using a classification method since the exact tool life cannot be measured in a typical production environment where tool wear can only be directly measured when the tool is replaced. In this study, laboratory tool wear experiments are used to simulate tool wear data normally collected during part production. Two states are defined: tool not worn (class 0) and tool worn (class 1). The non-linear reduction in tool life with cutting speed is modeled by applying a logarithmic transformation to the inputs for the logistic classification model. A method for interpretability of the logistic model coefficients is provided by comparison with the empirical Taylor tool life model. The method is validated using tool wear experiments for milling. Results show that the physics-guided logistic classification method can predict tool life using limited datasets. A method for pre-process optimization of machining parameters using a probabilistic machining cost model is presented. The proposed method offers a robust and practical approach to tool life modeling and process parameter optimization in a production environment.     

Intelligent tool wear monitoring based on parallel residual and stacked bidirectional long short-term memory network

Effective tool wear monitoring (TWM) is essential for accurately assessing the degree of tool wear and for timely preventive maintenance. Existing data-driven monitoring methods mainly rely on complex feature engineering, which reduces the monitoring efficiency. This paper proposes a novel TWM model based on a parallel residual and stacked bidirectional long short-term memory (PRes–SBiLSTM) network. First, a parallel residual network (PResNet) is used to extract the multi-scale local features of sensor signals adaptively. Subsequently, a stacked bidirectional long short-term memory (SBiLSTM) network is used to obtain the time-series features related to the tool wear characteristics. Finally, the predicted tool wear value is outputted through a fully connected network. A smoothing correction method is applied to improve the prediction accuracy. The proposed model is experimentally verified to have a high prediction accuracy without sacrificing its generalization ability. A TWM system framework based on the PRes–SBiLSTM network is proposed, which has a certain reference value for TWM in actual industrial environments.