Learning–testing process in classroom: An empirical simulation model

This paper presents an empirical micro-simulation model of the teaching and the testing process in the classroom (Programs and sample data are available – the actual names of pupils have been hidden). It is a non-econometric micro-simulation model describing informational behaviors of the pupils, based on the observation of the pupils’ communication behavior during lessons and tests. The representation of the knowledge process is very simplified. However, we tried to study the involvements of individual motivation, capability and relationship with other pupils of each pupil, to compare them to the new-classical (and keynesian) and Austrian information and knowledge theoretical results. It is a first step and future development should concern expectation behaviors and dynamics. This paper aims too to give, we hope so, some criteria of pupils’ rationality in the classroom.     

Learning from instructional animations: How does prior knowledge mediate the effect of visual cues?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cueing and prior knowledge on learning and mental effort of students studying an animation with narration. This study employed a 2 (no cueing vs. visual cueing) × 2 (low vs. high prior knowledge) between‐subjects factorial design. The results revealed a significant interaction effect between prior knowledge and cueing on learning. Low prior knowledge learners had higher scores after studying an instructional animation with visual cues, compared to those who studied the same instructional animation without visual cues. Conversely, when cues were not provided, high prior knowledge learners outperformed those high prior knowledge learners who studied with the cued version of an instructional animation. These results indicated that the effects of cueing in an instructional animation change depending on the learners' level of prior knowledge. Specifically, low prior knowledge learners benefited more when visual cues were provided, whereas cues did not facilitate learning for high prior knowledge learners.     

Comparison of AMSR‐E and TMI sea surface temperature with Argo near‐surface temperature over the Indian Ocean

Sea surface temperature (SST) measurements from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR‐E) and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) are compared with near‐surface temperature (foundation SST) in situ measurements obtained from Argo floats over the Indian Ocean. Spatial variation was compared for 2002–2006 and 11 floats were used for temporal variation collocated observations. The results show that TMI and AMSR‐E SST measurements are slightly overestimated during the pre‐ and post‐monsoon seasons and underestimated during the monsoon season. Statistical analysis shows that the SST from the AMSR‐E is better correlated with the Argo foundation SST compared to the TMI. The standard deviation (SD) and root mean square error (RMSE) for AMSR‐E SST are 0.58°C and 0.35°C, respectively, over the Equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO). The corresponding values for the TMI are 0.66°C and 0.47°C. Over the Arabian Sea the SD values are slightly higher compared to the EIO values, whereas RMSE values are less for both TMI and AMSR‐E SST. These retrieval accuracies are above the expected retrieval accuracy. The seasonal average spatial distribution of AMSR‐E SST shows a better match with the Argo foundation SST compared to TMI SST distributions. The robustness of the good spatial match during the monsoon season may be attributed to strong winds.     

Friendship: An old concept with a new meaning?

Today many young people form and maintain what they consider friendships through the net. Internet friendship appears to some as modifying the meaning of real friendship and replacing it with something more trivial. In this paper we explore the complexity of online friendship. We start by seeking to gain an understanding of why and how friendship relates to wellbeing. We then look at how friendships are formed, focusing on the concepts of propinquity and homophily and how they play out within the context of online friendships. We delineate the major dimensions of friendship that have emerged in theory and research and then comment on how these features of friendship may be affected by the advent of widespread electronic communication. The differences between offline and online companionship, social support, tangible support and protection, exclusiveness, conflict resolution and relationship stability are also considered. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the challenges of conducting research on the behaviour of children and young people on the Internet and the difficulties in defining the term “friendship.”     

An extended AVHRR 8‐km NDVI dataset compatible with MODIS and SPOT vegetation NDVI data

Daily daytime Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) 4‐km global area coverage data have been processed to produce a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) 8‐km equal‐area dataset from July 1981 through December 2004 for all continents except Antarctica. New features of this dataset include bimonthly composites, NOAA‐9 descending node data from August 1994 to January 1995, volcanic stratospheric aerosol correction for 1982–1984 and 1991–1993, NDVI normalization using empirical mode decomposition/reconstruction to minimize varying solar zenith angle effects introduced by orbital drift, inclusion of data from NOAA‐16 for 2000–2003 and NOAA‐17 for 2003–2004, and a similar dynamic range with the MODIS NDVI. Two NDVI compositing intervals have been produced: a bimonthly global dataset and a 10‐day Africa‐only dataset. Post‐processing review corrected the majority of dropped scan lines, navigation errors, data drop outs, edge‐of‐orbit composite discontinuities, and other artefacts in the composite NDVI data. All data are available from the University of Maryland Global Land Cover Facility (http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/gimms/).     

Being your own role model for improving self‐efficacy: An elementary teacher self‐actualizes through drama‐based science teaching

Abstract:

Many teachers in elementary schools lack school science self‐efficacy, largely because of their inexperience with the subject. This frequently leads them to avoid teaching science or to teach it in ways that compromise the development of aspects of students’ scientific literacy. This paper describes how one teacher was able to improve her school science self‐efficacy through facilitated action research. In response to becoming aware of a discrepancy between her school science practices and her fundamental educational beliefs, Lisa developed a drama‐based, integrated science unit that she judged successful in helping students to achieve relevant learning goals. This experience led Lisa and her students to feel much more positive about teaching and learning in school science. Rather than learning from another, however, “Lisa, the science teacher” learned— to a great extent—from “Lisa, the drama‐based educator.” This finding has implications for science‐phobic teachers and for facilitators of their action research.     

Learning the “Whys”: Discovering design rationale using text mining — An algorithm perspective

Collecting design rationale (DR) and making it available in a well-organized manner will better support product design, innovation and decision-making. Many DR systems have been developed to capture DR since the 1970s. However, the DR capture process is heavily human involved. In addition, with the increasing amount of DR available in archived design documents, it has become an acute problem to research a new computational approach that is able to capture DR from free textual contents effectively. In our previous study, we have proposed an ISAL (issue, solution and artifact layer) model for DR representation. In this paper, we focus on algorithm design to discover DR from design documents according to the ISAL modeling. For the issue layer of the ISAL model, we define a semantic sentence graph to model sentence relationships through language patterns. Based on this graph, we improve the manifold-ranking algorithm to extract issue-bearing sentences. To discover solution–reason bearing sentences for the solution layer, we propose building up two sentence graphs based on candidate solution-bearing sentences and reason-bearing sentences respectively, and propagating information between them. For artifact information extraction, we propose two term relations, i.e. positional term relation and mutual term relation. Using these relations, we extend our document profile model to score the candidate terms. The performance and scalability of the algorithms proposed are tested using patents as research data joined with an example of prior art search to illustrate its application prospects.     

Linking objective design factors with subjective aesthetics: An experimental study on how structure and color of websites affect the facets of users’ visual aesthetic perception

The present study examines how objective design factors of a website are linked to different facets of subjective aesthetic perception. Five online experiments based upon the screenshots of real-existing websites with a total of N = 194 participants were conducted to isolate and analyze the effects of two objective structural factors (vertical symmetry, visual complexity) and three objective color factors (hue, saturation, brightness) on the different facets of subjective aesthetic perception (simplicity, diversity, colorfulness, craftsmanship) measured with the Visual Aesthetics of Website Inventory (Moshagen & Thielsch, 2010). Although all investigated factors are apparent features in website design, their effects on different facets of subjective aesthetic perception are not yet well understood. Our results show that websites of high symmetry, low complexity, blue hue, medium brightness or medium and high saturation received the highest overall aesthetics ratings. Furthermore, data reveal that structural factors compared to color factors have a manifold and greater impact on the different facets of subjective aesthetic perception than the color factors. Both structural factors have a great impact on simplicity, diversity and craftsmanship whereas the color factors have a great impact especially on colorfulness. Only complexity affects all facets of subjective aesthetic perception. The other objective design factors had effects on specific facets. Our findings shed light on the relationship between objective and subjective factors of aesthetic perception and may help designers to systematically target specific facets of visual aesthetics.     

Pre‐service teachers’ understanding and teaching of nature of science: An intervention study

Abstract:

This study is the third in a line of investigations that examines pre‐service teachers’ conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and the translation of those conceptions into classroom practice. The purpose of the present study was to delineate the effectiveness of an intervention designed to facilitate pre‐service teachers’ inclusion of NOS in their classroom teaching. Four factors were identified as most influential in participants’ teaching efforts: (1) knowledge of NOS, (2) knowledge of subject matter, (3) pedagogical knowledge, and (4) intentions towards teaching NOS. Intentions were the most critical factor. Participants, regardless of NOS views or science background, did not teach in accordance with their NOS views if they had not internalized the importance of teaching NOS. Those with strong intentions to address NOS explicitly were more successful. Those participants with strong intentions, well‐developed NOS views, and extensive knowledge of science content were most successful in their instruction. Implications for the development of pedagogical content knowledge for NOS are discussed.     

Publishers’ relationships on the web: An examination of how publishers’ websites are causing changes in relations in the book industry

This research, funded by the British National Bibliography Research Fund, examined how publishers’ websites are causing changes in relations in the book industry in order to gain further understanding of the implications of the impact of the Internet on the publishing chain. The paper is set within the context of the development of electronic commerce and how business to consumer commerce is now being overtaken by the activity in business to business trading. Publishers have followed the main business trends in using their websites to develop relationships directly with the consumer, but have been rather slower in developing their business to business activity through the Internet. This study investigated what changes were taking place as a result of current publisher activity on the Web and how these changes were affecting the traditional lines of communication in the book industry. An analysis of a range of consumer publishers’ websites was carried out to see what facilities they were offering both to the general public and to business partners within the industry. Questionnaires and interviews were then conducted to establish how publishers, booksellers and wholesalers were using publishers’ websites and whether these sites were beneficial to the industry as a whole. Facilities found on the websites were examined and analysed in order to determine their usefulness and how they might be developed to aid business to business commerce. Additionally, several issues relating to online sales, changes in sales patterns and changes in working methods were discussed. Although an amount of quantitative data is included in the report, many of the issues raised relied on the perceptions and opinions of practitioners in the book trade.     

WATeRS: an open Web Map Service with near‐real time MODIS Level‐2 standard chlorophyll products of the North Sea

WATeRS (http://ivm10.ivm.vu.nl/mapserver/WATeRS) is a portal for near‐real time (NRT) satellite‐derived water quality (chlorophyll) information products that is openly and interactively available for all on the Internet. It is based on automated conversion of remotely sensed data (in scientific formats) to geographic information system (GIS) formats, and comprises a customized Arc Internet Map Server (ArcIMS) application with an OpenGIS compliant Web Map Server connector. The resulting GIS‐based open map service comprises a simple, clear and intuitive user interface, grid‐cell query functionality, and is complemented by a metadata catalogue that provides full lineage of the chlorophyll maps, and automated archiving. WATeRS enables users to interactively explore remote sensing products, and to seamlessly combine this with other geographical data.     

Process and Pitfalls of Online Teaching and Learning with Design Study “Lite” Methodology: A Retrospective Analysis

Design studies are an integral method of visualization research with hundreds of instances in the literature. Although taught as a theory, the practical implementation of design studies is often excluded from visualization pedagogy due to the lengthy time commitments associated with such studies. Recent research has addressed this challenge and developed an expedited design study framework, the Design Study “Lite” Methodology (DSLM), which can implement design studies with novice students within just 14 weeks. The framework was developed and evaluated based on five semesters of in-person data visualization courses with 30 students or less and was implemented in conjunction with Service-Learning (S-L). With the growth and popularity of the data visualization field—and the teaching environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic—more academic institutions are offering visualization courses online. Therefore, in this paper, we strengthen and validate the epistemological foundations of the DSLM framework by testing its (1) adaptability to online learning environments and conditions and (2) scalability to larger classes with up to 57 students. We present two online implementations of the DSLM framework, with and without Service-Learning (S-L), to test the adaptability and scalability of the framework. We further demonstrate that the framework can be applied effectively without the S-L component. We reflect on our experience with the online DSLM implementations and contribute a detailed retrospective analysis using thematic analysis and grounded theory methods to draw valuable recommendations and guidelines for future applications of the framework. This work verifies that DSLM can be used successfully in online classes to teach design study methodology. Finally, we contribute novel additions to the DSLM framework to further enhance it for teaching and learning design studies in the classroom. The preprint and supplementary materials for this paper can be found at https://osf.io/6bjx5/.     

Examining pine spectral separability using hyperspectral data from an airborne sensor: An extension of field‐based results

Three southern USA forestry species, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), were previously shown to be spectrally separable (83% accuracy) using data from a full‐range spectroradiometer (400–2500 nm) acquired above tree canopies. This study focused on whether these same species are also separable using hyperspectral data acquired using the airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS). Stepwise discriminant techniques were used to reduce data dimensionality to a maximum of 10 spectral bands, followed by discriminant techniques to measure separability. Discriminatory variables were largely located in the visible and near‐infrared regions of the spectrum. Cross‐validation accuracies ranged from 65% (1 pixel radiance data) to as high as 85% (3×3 pixel radiance data), indicating that these species have strong potential to be classified accurately using hyperspectral data from air‐ or space‐borne sensors.     

Blind users’ expectations of touch interfaces: factors affecting interface accessibility of touchscreen-based smartphones for people with moderate visual impairment

Universal Access in the Information Society - Although current touchscreen-based smartphones are equipped with some accessibility functions for visually impaired people, these users still face...     

Situational awareness architecture for smart grids developed in accordance with dispatcher’s thought process: a review

The operational environment of today’s smart grids is becoming more complicated than ever before. A number of factors, including renewable penetration, marketization, cyber security, and hazards of nature, bring challenges and even threats to control centers. New techniques are anticipated to help dispatchers become aware of the accurate situations as they manipulate and navigate the situations as quickly as possible. To address the issues, we first introduce the background for this topic as well as the emerging technical demands of situational awareness in the dispatcher’s environment. The general concepts and technical requirements of situational awareness are then summarized, aimed at offering an overview for readers to understand the state-of-the-art progress in this area. In addition, we discuss the importance of integrating the architecture of support tools in accordance with the dispatcher’s thought process, which in fact guides correct and swift reactions in real-time operations. Finally, the prospects for situational awareness architecture are investigated with the goal of presenting situational awareness modules in an advanced and visualized manner.     

Web-based Personalised System of Instruction: An effective approach for diverse cohorts with virtual learning environments?

The Personalised System of Instruction is a form of mastery learning which, though it has been proven to be educationally effective, has never seriously challenged the dominant lecture-tutorial teaching method in higher education and has largely fallen into disuse. An information and communications technology assisted version of the Personalised System of Instruction using a virtual learning environment is promoted here based on the authors’ longitudinal design research into this pedagogy. The particular elements of the virtual learning environment which are promoted are short video clips, online formative tests and an assessment management system. The authors present their experiences of developing and deploying this pedagogy for the teaching of introductory discrete mathematics to large classes of Computer Science students at two UK higher education institutions both with whole cohorts and ‘at risk’ groups of students. In particular, this method is promoted as particularly helpful to students who do not adopt a deep approach to learning as many students fail to do. Moreover ‘at risk’ students using this method (n = 71) demonstrated an average Glass effect size of 0.83 compared with other ‘at risk’ students who did not (n = 35). Based on these experiences, this pedagogy is promoted as an effective approach to teaching in higher education, especially the teaching of cognitive skills to diverse cohorts of students on foundation level modules.     

Direct binding of microRNA-21 pre-element with Regorafenib: An alternative mechanism for anti-colorectal cancer chemotherapy?

The Regorafenib is a broad-spectrum kinase inhibitor that has been approved to treat colorectal cancer (CRC). However, evidences have shown that the agent is also implicated in drug interaction with microRNA-21 (miR-21), an oncogenic miRNA which plays a key role in resisting programmed cell death in CRC cells. Here, we supposed that, instead of kinase inhibition, Regorafenib can directly bind to and then stabilize miR-21 pre-element, thus preventing RNase Dicer-meditated cleavage of the pre-element to mature miR-21. In order to verify the notion, an in silico-in vitro integrated investigation of the direct intermolecular interaction between Regorafenib and miR-21 pre-element was performed by using active pocket identification, RNA–ligand docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, binding energetic analysis, and fluorescence-based assay. It was revealed that the Regorafenib can bind at the major groove-like stem region of miR-21 pre-element through three geometrically satisfactory hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) as well as a number of hydrophobic forces and π-π stacking, conferring strong specificity and high stability to the RNA–ligand complex system (K_d = 0.73 μM). Separate inversion mutation of two base pairs (G6C, C12G) and (A13U, U4A) that are involved in the H-bonding can considerably impair the affinity of Regorafenib to miR-21 pre-element, with K_d increase to 27 and 96 μM, respectively. All these supported that Regorafenib can directly bind to miR-21 pre-element at molecular level and the binding mode can be properly modeled by using the proposed integrated strategy. This study would provide a potential, alternative mechanism for anti-colorectal cancer chemotherapy with Regorafenib.