Computer support of effective peer assessment in an undergraduate programming class

Abstract Active learning is considered by many academics as an important and effective learning strategy. Assessment is integrated in learning as a tool for learning, but traditional assessment methods often encourage surface learning (passive learning) rather than deep learning (active learning). Peer assessment is a method of motivating students, involving students discussing, marking and providing feedback on other students' work, and is one of the successful approaches which can be used to enhance deep learning. Students are required to think critically about what they are learning during the peer assessment process. Tutors' marking is usually accepted as reliable, but student peers' marking in a peer assessment process is suspect. As part of a study investigating whether peer assessment can be an accurate assessment method in a computer programming course, a novel web-based peer assessment tool has been developed. In this paper, we describe the tool and report the results of evaluating the tool through experiments involving large programming classes. The results suggest that computer-mediated peer assessment is a valuable assessment approach which promotes active learning and is an accurate assessment method in a programming course.     

Evaluating choice in universal access: an example from rehabilitation robotics

This paper describes a technique using dimensional analysis that so far has been rarely, if ever, used in studies of universal access. However, this procedure can produce a robust decision support process for inclusive designs. In this paper, it is applied to a case study of a wheelchair robot computer interface with choices in data input methods, addressing disparate requirements of different groups of intended users. The main underlying issue is to combine technical measurements, speed of operation and cost with subjective opinion. It turns out that Braglia’s method has greater robustness in determining rank compared to standard techniques. In this, case a simple switch was rated better than a mouse or voice operation for control.     

计算机教学的新模式——计算机全程教学

把计算机的教学紧紧联系市场前沿，通过教学改革，让学生能够接触到最新的计算机技术，大大提高动手能力，让老师掌握最好的教学方法，动态地与学生交流，取得最好的教学效果.     

计算机教学的新模式——计算机全程教学

把计算机的教学紧紧联系市场前沿,通过教学改革,让学生能够接触到最新的计算机技术,大大提高动手能力,让老师掌握最好的教学方法,动态地与学生交流,取得最好的教学效果。     

The Revised Strain Index: an improved upper extremity exposure assessment model

Abstract

The Revised Strain Index (RSI) is a distal upper extremity (DUE) physical exposure assessment model based on: intensity of exertion, frequency of exertion, duration per exertion, hand/wrist posture and duration of task per day. The RSI improves upon the 1995 Strain Index (SI) by using continuous rather than categorical multipliers, and replacing duty cycle with duration per exertion. In a simulation of 13,944 tasks, the RSI and 1995 SI showed good agreement in risk predictions for 1995 SI scores ≤3 (safe) and >13.5 (hazardous). For tasks with 1995 SI scores of >3 and ≤13.5, the two models showed marked disagreement, with the RSI providing much greater discriminations between ‘safe’ and ‘hazardous’ tasks for various combinations of force, repetition and duty cycle. We believe the RSI is a substantially improved model that will be useful for DUE task analysis, intervention and design.

Practitioner Summary: RSI is a substantial improvement over the 1995 SI. It should be a valuable tool for designing and analysing tasks to determine risk of musculoskeletal injuries. RSI is applicable to a wide variety of tasks including very low force and very high repetition tasks such as keyboard use.     

Literary criticism and literary computing: The difficulties of a synthesis

Currently most literary critics reject the use of science and technology to gain information about texts, while most computer text-analysts have become absorbed in science and technology and forgotten they were seeking information about literature. Whether these two trends will continue into the 1990's remains to be seen; that they explain a good deal about the world we work in now can, I think, be demonstrated. This essay looks at the questions of what literary computing could offer to literary critics, why computer users get lost in scientific jargon, what happens when text becomes input and, most importantly, what happens when text becomes output; it closes with a discussion of why the synthesis will be so difficult.Rosanne G. Potter is associate professor in the English Department at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011.     

The static stability of support factor-based rectangular packings: an assessment by regression analysis

This work presents new insights about how solutions of support factor-based rectangular packings behave in relation to their static stability. In particular, we address the constrained two-dimensional packing problem, for the solution of which is used a known integer linear programming model that positions items over a grid of points. The model has embedded constraints based on a support factor parameter that ensure a minimum support for the base of items. The solutions obtained from the model are then evaluated by a procedure that verifies the conditions for the static stability. Computational tests were performed on a large variety of randomly generated instances, and the outputs were assessed by means of regression analysis (linear and logistic). The results show which characteristics of the instances contribute directly and inversely to the probability of obtaining statically stable packing patterns. This outcome may be useful to guide the choice of support factor values in some practical contexts.     

Offline Chinese handwriting recognition :an assessment of current technology

Offline Chinese handwriting recognition (OCHR) is a typically difficult pattern recognition problem. Many authors have presented various approaches to recognizing its different aspects. We present a survey and an assessment of relevant papers appearing in recent publications of relevant conferences and journals, including those appearing in ICDAR, SDIUT, IWFHR, ICPR, PAMI, PR, PRL, SPIEDRR, and IJDAR. The methods are assessed in the sense that we document their technical approaches, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as the data sets on which they were reportedly tested and on which results were generated. We also identify a list of technology gaps with respect to Chinese handwriting recognition and identify technical approaches that show promise in these areas as well as identify the leading researchers for the applicable topics, discussing difficulties associated with any given approach.     

Accuracy assessment of the ASTER GDEM and SRTM3 DEM: an example in the Loess Plateau and North China Plain of China

The digital elevation model (DEM) produced by the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) has provided important fundamental data for topographic analysis in many fields. The recently released global digital elevation model (GDEM) produced by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) has higher spatial resolution and wider coverage than the SRTM3 DEM, and thus may be of more value to researchers. Taking two typical study areas—the Loess Plateau and the North China Plain of China—as an example, this article assesses the accuracy of the SRTM3 DEM and ASTER GDEM by collecting ground control points from topographical maps. It is found that both the SRTM3 DEM and the ASTER GDEM are far more accurate for the North China Plain than for the Loess Plateau. For the Loess Plateau, the accuracy of the ASTER GDEM is similar to that of the SRTM3 DEM; whereas for the North China Plain, it is much worse than that of the SRTM3 DEM. Considering the negative bias of the ASTER GDEM for flat or gentle regions, we improve its accuracy by adding the difference of the mean value between the SRTM3 DEM and ASTER GDEM for the North China Plain; then, the root mean square error (RMSE) of ±7.95 m from the original ASTER GDEM is improved to ±5.26 m, which demonstrates that it is a simple but useful way to improve the accuracy of the ASTER GDEM in flat or gentle regions.     

计算机图象图形技术在口腔医学领域中的应用

口腔医学领域中通过形态学的分析作出诊断，制订治疗方案和评价疗效，电子计算机图象形技术对此提供了极大的方便，目前主要的应用领域包括：口腔颌面摄影图象的处理和放射影象计算机技术（如计算机X线断层，磁共振，无胶片X线视频图象系统等）。口腔医学领域中还以计算机处理和表现一些利用特殊方法提取的颅颌面形态图象（如激光全息图）和生理功能图象（如运动轨迹图和咬合接触点分布图等）。近年来，计算机图象图形技术还被广泛地应用于口腔修复体CAD／CAM和口腔医学CAI中，虚拟实现技术也已在口腔医学领域中得到了开展。     

Computer systems simulation in education: Description of an experience

Computer Simulation will play an important role in future changes in Education. Here we will review how the Spanish National Project for Computers in Education, called Atenea, looks at Modelling and Simulation and how the first training courses for teachers, recommended by this project, are being carried out. We will give particular attention to the applications of the Simulation in the classroom using System Dynamics techniques. A real case study, developed by the pupils of a Simulation course for teachers, is outlined showing numerical and graphics results. Afterwards, SDSE—System Dynamics Simulator for Education—is superficially described: it is a microcomputer based system which has been developed by the authors to assist the process of building and simulating System Dynamics models in educative environments.Finally, some pedagogical applications, alternatives of use and major problems of the Simulation in educational environments are presented.     

计算机在原子光谱分析中的应用进展

本文介绍了我国近十年来计算机在原子光谱分析领域的应用概况,所涉及的应用方面包括:仪器、实验设计和分析条件优化、分析数据处理、质量控制和实验室管理、机理研究和教学等.     

The impact of verbal interaction on driver lateral control: an experimental assessment

Driver distraction is acknowledged as one of the key contributors to driver accidents (Treat, J.R., et al., 1977 Treat, J. R. 1977. Tri-level study of the causes of traffic accidents (No. DOT-HS-034-535-77-TAC(1)), Bloomington, IN: Institute for Research in Public Safety – Indiana University.  [Google Scholar]. Tri-level study of the causes of traffic accidents (No. DOT-HS-034‐535‐77-TAC(1)). Bloomington, IN: Institute for Research in Public Safety – Indiana University; Knipling, R.R., et al., 1993 Knipling, R. R. 1993. Assessment of IVHS countermeasures for collision avoidance: Rear-end crashes (No. DOT HS 807 995), Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  [Google Scholar]. Assessment of IVHS countermeasures for collision avoidance: Rear-end crashes (No. DOT HS 807 995). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). As driving is mainly considered a visual task (Wierwille, W.W., 1993 Wierwille, W. W. 1993. “Visual and manual demands of in-car controls and displays”. In Automotive ergonomics, Edited by: Peakock, B. and Karwowski, W. 229–320. London: Taylor and Francis.  [Google Scholar]. Visual and manual demands of in-car controls and displays. In: B. Peakock and W. Karwowski, eds. Automotive ergonomics. London: Taylor and Francis, 229–320) the use of auditory channels for interacting with intelligent vehicle systems has been suggested as a solution to possible visual overload. This article presents two studies which assess the potential impact of distraction caused by verbal interaction on the driving task. The first study used a low-cost, game-based, simulation and the second study used the same experimental design with a generic driving simulation, the Lane Change Task (Mattes, S., 2003. The lane change task as a tool for driver distraction evaluation. In: H. Strasser, H. Rascher, and H. Bubb, eds. Quality of work and products in enterprises of the future. Stuttgart: Ergonomia Verlag, 57–60). Twenty-four young adults, 12 males and 12 females, participated in the first study and 12 young adults, 6 males and 6 females, in the second study. Road departures, time/speed and subjective workload were the measures in the first study, while the second study used mean course-departure and subjective workload as dependent variables. The results indicated that game-based simulation can be a solution when realism is needed but resources are limited, and suggested that concurrent verbal interaction may impair lateral vehicle control.     

Automatic assignment of reviewers in an online peer assessment task based on social interactions

Online peer assessment tasks are very popular and have unique characteristics that improve learning and encourage social interactions in a distance education environment. Unfortunately, social factors have usually been ignored in the process of selecting reviewers for online peer assessment tasks. We hypothesise that this fact could have some influence on the lack of engagement and participation by some learners. For this reason, we propose an approach in which social network analysis techniques, expert criteria, and Bayesian reasoning are applied to select reviewers with the objective of increasing participation in peer review tasks. The approach is divided into two elements. On the one hand, we have developed an influence diagram template that structures a set of proposed social network analysis variables in accordance with expert criteria. This influence diagram template can be easily updated for any course simply by eliciting a minimal set of parameters. On the other hand, we have instantiated the proposed influence diagram template to produce an influence diagram network to quantify the quality of reviewer assignment for an online peer assessment task. In an online experiment, we verified that the consideration of social factors can increase participation in a peer assessment task.     

The pachyderm and the pixel: an assessment of elephant habitat suitability in Sonitpur,India

Remote sensing and geographic information systems (GISs) are increasingly being used in protected area monitoring and habitat suitability studies. In this article, Erdas Imagine's Expert Classifier tool was used to assess the specific trajectories of habitat suitability change during 1994–2007 in the Sonitpur elephant habitat, India. Sonitpur has been witness to increasing human–elephant conflict in the past decade. The suitability analysis took into account information relating to forest type and density, elevation, slope, source of water, human activities in terms of settlement, agriculture, tea plantations, roads, and railways. Satellite imagery, data from topographical maps, digital elevation data, and global positioning system readings formed the major data inputs that were incorporated into a GIS. Various decision rules were created and confidence levels assigned to the input layers to generate high, medium, and low habitat suitability. The area witnessed a sharp decline in suitability from 63% in 1994 to less than 38% by 2007. The high-suitability area declined by more than 50% during this period. The unique natural protected areas of Sonitpur, which are a mix of reserved forests, wildlife sanctuaries, and a national park, urgently need to be protected from further habitat degradation.     

Understanding post‐adoption IS usage stages: an empirical assessment of self‐service information systems

Organisations have invested in self‐service information systems (IS) to provide a direct interface for service delivery. Enriching the usage of these systems can provide organisations with immense benefits. However, limited research has been directed towards understanding post‐adoption IS usage behaviour in general and specifically in the context of self‐service IS. This study proposes post‐adoption IS usage behaviour as a broader concept constituting feature level usage of IS, integration of IS in the work system and exploration of new uses of IS. We evaluate how the new conceptualisation can be used to classify users at different stages of self‐service IS usage. Further, we examine user perceptions that differentiate among the users situated at different self‐service IS usage stages. Data were collected in the context of a self‐service Web‐based IS to validate the post‐adoption IS usage constructs and to examine the proposed thesis. The newly developed conceptual structure and measures for post‐adoption IS usage behaviour exhibit strong psychometric properties. The analysis shows three distinct post‐adoption IS usage stages and highlights that usefulness, user‐initiated learning, ease of use, satisfaction and voluntariness of use differentiate users at the different stages of post‐adoption IS usage. The results show that these variables aggregate into value confirmation and learning orientation as two higher‐level concepts. Further, we evaluate the predictive efficacy of the research model in classifying users into different post‐adoption self‐service IS usage stages. Implications are drawn for future research.