ICT in higher education: evaluating outcomes for health education

Abstract This paper presents an investigation that examined and compared the effectiveness of collaborative tutorial activities carried out in both web-based and face-to-face learning environments within an undergraduate health education subject. Effectiveness of the different learning environments was measured in terms of observed learning outcomes, analysis of learner interactions and reported perceptions of the learners regarding their experience. Results demonstrated that web-based environments, with embedded collaborative activities, can effectively foster rich learning experiences that result in attaining positive learning outcomes.  

Prediction of geometric errors of robot manipulators with Particle Swarm Optimisation method

This paper reports on the prediction of the expected positioning errors of robot manipulators due to the errors in their geometric parameters. A Swarm Intelligence (SI) based algorithm, which is known as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), has been used to generate error estimation functions. The experimental system used is a Motoman SK120 manipulator. The error estimation functions are based on the robot position data provided by a high precision laser measurement system. The functions have been verified for three test trajectories, which contain various configurations of the manipulator. The experimental results demonstrate that the positioning errors of robot manipulators can be effectively predicted using some constant coefficient polynomials whose coefficients are determined by employing the PSO algorithm. It must be emphasized that once the estimation functions are obtained, there may be no need of any further experimental data in order to determine the expected positioning errors for a subsequent use in the error correction process.  

Application of hidden Markov model to acquisition of manipulation skills from haptic rendered virtual environment

This paper explores the feasibility of reconstructing human manipulation skills in complex constrained motion by tracing and learning the manipulation performed by the operator. The peg-in-hole insertion problem is used as a case study, which represents a typical constrained motion force sensitive manufacturing task with the attendant issues of jamming, tight clearance and the need for quick assembly times. In the developed system, position and contact force and torque as well as orientation data generated in the haptic rendered virtual environment combined with a priori knowledge about the task are used to identify and learn the skills in the newly demonstrated task. The recorded training data is classified into contact states, which are identified with hidden Markov model (HMM) as human skills. The HMM parameters are obtained from the training data. By evaluating the controller's performance in each contact state from haptic rendered virtual environment, the robot develops the best trajectories to imitate the human behaviour. In this paper the significance of this research project is highlighted and the developed approach and the progress made so far on this project are reported.  

Original, Authentic, Copy: Conceptual Issues in Digital Texts

This article focuses on the conceptual issues faced by scholarlyeditors and textual studies specialists. Theoretical debatein this general field is still active as digital texts presentspecial problems and magnify others. Older theory and methodologyare hampered by unacknowledged, sometimes inappropriate culturalvalues and other limitations, and are not always useful in connectionwith digital texts. Nevertheless, the distinction between theabstract work and its concrete expression is influential bothwithin and outside the field. In this approach, the conceptof authenticity relates to the degree of change a work undergoesor the accuracy of the ‘instructions’ for its reconstitution.Whether the digital text is best thought of as immaterial ormaterial is not as crucial as might first appear. The way adigital text is made visible is important, though potentiallyparadoxical. In order to be workable, the concept of authenticationby instructions needs further technical assistance, like thatprovided by the Just-in-Time Markup System. But, despite itslimitations, traditional textual scholarship still has muchto offer textual studies in digital environments.  

Iterated Belief Change

Most existing formalizations treat belief change as a single-step process, and ignore several problems that become important when a theory, or belief state, is revised over several steps. This paper identifies these problems, and argues for the need to retain all of the multiple possible outcomes of a belief change step, and for a framework in which the effects of a belief change step persist as long as is consistently possible. To demonstrate that such a formalization is indeed possible, we develop a framework, which uses the language of PJ-default logic (Delgrande and Jackson 1991) to represent a belief state, and which enables the effects of a belief change step to persist by propagating belief constraints . Belief change in this framework maps one belief state to another, where each belief state is a collection of theories given by the set of extensions of the PJ-default theory representing that belief state. Belief constraints do not need to be separately recorded; they are encoded as clearly identifiable components of a PJ-default theory. The framework meets the requirements for iterated belief change that we identify and satisfies most of the AGM postulates (Alchourrón, Gärdenfors, and Makinson 1985) as well.  

Relaxations of semiring constraint satisfaction problems

The Semiring Constraint Satisfaction Problem (SCSP) framework is a popular approach for the representation of partial constraint satisfaction problems. In this framework preferences can be associated with tuples of values of the variable domains. Bistarelli et al. [S. Bistarelli, U. Montanari, F. Rossi, Semiring-based constraint solving and optimization, Journal of the ACM 44 (2) (1997) 201-236] defines a maximal solution to a SCSP as the best set of solution tuples for the variables in the problem. Sometimes this maximal solution may not be good enough, and in this case we want to change the constraints so that we solve a problem that is slightly different from the original problem but has an acceptable solution. We propose a relaxation of a SCSP, and use a semiring to give a measure of the difference between the original SCSP and the relaxed SCSP. We introduce a relaxation scheme but do not address the computational aspects.  

An intelligent search method for project scheduling problems

We develop an approach for implementing a real time admissible heuristic search algorithm for solving project scheduling problems with resource constraints. This algorithm is characterized by the complete heuristic learning process: state selection, heuristic learning, and search path review. The implementation approach is based on the network structure and the activity status of a project; which consists of definition of states, state transition operator, heuristic estimation, and state transition cost. The performance analysis with a benchmark problem shows that, the accumulation of heuristic learning during the search process leads to the re-scheduling of more promising activities, and finds an optimal schedule efficiently.  

Cardiovascular and thermal consequences of protective clothing: a comparison of clothed and unclothed states

We have undertaken a laboratory-based examination of the cardiovascular and thermal impact of wearing thermal (heat) protective clothing during fatiguing exercise in the heat. Seven males completed semi-recumbent, intermittent cycling (39.6 degrees C, 45% relative humidity) wearing either protective clothing or shorts (control). Mean core and skin temperatures, cardiac frequency (f(c)), stroke volume (Q), cardiac output (Q), arterial pressure, forearm blood flow (Q(f)), plasma volume change, and sweat rates were measured. In the clothed trials, subjects experienced significantly shorter times to fatigue (52.5 vs. 58.9 min), at lower peak work rates (204.3 vs. 277.4 W), and with higher core (37.9 degrees vs. 37.5 degrees C) and mean skin temperatures (37.3 degrees vs. 36.9 degrees C). There was a significant interaction between time and clothing on f(c), such that, over time, the clothing effect became more powerful. Clothing had a significant main affect on Q, but not Q, indicating the higher Q was chronotropically driven. Despite a greater sweat loss when clothed (923.0 vs. 547.1 g.m(-2) x h(-1); P<0.05), Q(f) and plasma volume change remained equivalent. Protective clothing reduced exercise tolerance, but did not affect overall cardiovascular function, at the point of volitional fatigue. It was concluded that, during moderately heavy, semi-recumbent exercise under hot, dry conditions, the strain on the unclothed body was already high, such that the additional stress imparted by the clothing ensemble represented a negligible, further impact upon cardiovascular stability.  

Implementing Web 2.0 technologies in higher education: A collective case study

Web 2.0 technologies are becoming more popular in the everyday lives of students. As a result, teachers and designers have begun to explore their use in formal education. This paper presents evaluation findings from a collective case study of six Web 2.0 implementations in Australian higher education. The research was undertaken as part of a larger study that sought to understand how today’s students use information and communication technologies to support their learning. Conducted across three universities, the research included a range of disciplines, class sizes and year levels. A common evaluation strategy was used in order to collect comparable data from which commonalities and differences could be identified. This paper provides an overview of the study, describes the methodology used, summarises the implementation experiences of staff and students involved and presents the key findings. The results suggest that most students had little prior experience with relevant technologies and that many struggled to see the value of using Web 2.0 technologies for learning and teaching, both of which have important implications for the design of appropriate learning tasks. While the argument can be made for improving the design through better task-technology alignment, this study also highlights inherent tensions between Web 2.0 and educational practices.