Reading with Strategies： A Study of Young EFL Learners＇ Use of Online Reading Strategies

To assist young learners to cultivate efficient learning strategies in the early ages, students in the current study were guided to read three authentic online storybooks and then write their own digital stories with tablet PCs. The study aims to investigate Taiwanese elementary school students＇ use of online reading strategies, and their relationship with students＇ performance on reading proficiency tests. The target population consisted of upper-grade learners （n = 83）. The instruments were a M-SORS （modified survey of reading strategy） questionnaire and a reading proficiency test. Major findings were as follows： （l） Students used online reading strategies at medium level; （2） problem solving strategies were proven to significantly correlate with students＇ performance on reading comprehension test; and （3） there was a significant difference between higher and lower reading proficiency learners＇ use of online reading strategies. Pedagogical implications of the findings and suggestion for future research are discussed.     

Code Attention: translating source code to comments by exploiting the code constructs

Appropriate comments of code snippets provide insight for code functionality, which are helpful for program comprehension. However, due to the great cost of authoring with the comments, many code projects do not contain adequate comments. Automatic comment generation techniques have been proposed to generate comments from pieces of code in order to alleviate the human efforts in annotating the code. Most existing approaches attempt to exploit certain correlations (usually manually given) between code and generated comments, which could be easily violated if coding patterns change and hence the performance of comment generation declines. In addition, recent approaches ignore exploiting the code constructs and leveraging the code snippets like plain text. Furthermore, previous datasets are also too small to validate the methods and show their advantage. In this paper, we propose a new attention mechanism called CodeAttention to translate code to comments, which is able to utilize the code constructs, such as critical statements, symbols and keywords. By focusing on these specific points, CodeAttention could understand the semantic meanings of code better than previous methods. To verify our approach in wider coding patterns, we build a large dataset from open projects in GitHub. Experimental results in this large dataset demonstrate that the proposed method has better performance over existing approaches in both objective and subjective evaluation. We also perform ablation studies to determine effects of different parts in CodeAttention.     

FinalReferencing within Code in Software Engineering Education!

Traditionally computer sciences courses will assess software code.It is common and accepted good practice(as in written reports) to reference other sources of appropriate material.However there appears to be no explicit method,recommendation or advice available to computer science tutors and students on a referencing approach! This paper aims to stimulate discussion from peers involved in software engineering education.By discussing the apparent lack of "referencing within code" advice to students and proposing suggestions for appropriate solutions.This will be based on the authors' experience of assessing code and the current advice given to their students.     

Validating Academic Training versus Organizational Training： An Analysis in the Enterprise Resource Planning （ERP） Field

ERP （enterprise resource planning） systems are packaged software applications that support most of an organization＇s informational needs within and across functional areas of the organization. Modern ERP systems serve as the foundation for a wide range of e-business models within one company, as well as throughout the value chain. This study explored industry ERP training of employees new to ERP, and compared this latter group to college students prepared with ERP skills from a college ERP class. The students remotely accessed the ERP systems featured here for class requirements. University and industry collaborations allow for a hands-on experience in the classroom that replicates industry applications by using real world tools. This synergistic relationship provides opportunities for students to acquire knowledge using a tangible tool that imitates what is utilized in the industry. The study noted that schools supported by several ERP vendor initiatives are increasingly integrating enterprise systems in their curricula. The resultant data identifies pertinent information that businesses consider valuable in their employees＇ ERP training. This noteworthy correlation, between college prepared students and employees new to ERP who have gone through ERP training, examined case studies of students who are now in the workforce. This study exposes these students＇ distinct advantage because of their ERP learning experience, and compares it to companies＇ ERP training practices. The intent, as in any educational environment, is not only to help students attain an understanding of the material, but to also master that material in the environment in which they will be required to use it.     

Multimedia Production as an Upgrade of ICT in Elementary Schools

Numerous classic multimedia activities already exist in elementary schools, alongside regular classes which are more or less technically supported and offer many possibilities for a sensible introduction of modem ICT （information-communication technology） into schools. By using modem technologies, it is possible to upgrade multimedia activities, enrich and at the same time raise work quality and efficiency in schools, increase knowledge, skills and competences in an unforced way, and increase the competitiveness of teachers and students with modem information communication equipment and technologies. By introducing modem technologies to school work, a modem organisation of school and class activities is enabled, technical culture improves, parents and experts from the environment are more involved as mentors to students and assistants to teachers. Realisation of students＇ ideas and projects is enabled on different projects where the students can express various forms of talent, as numerous possibilities for developing entrepreneur thinking will open. Schools acquire multimedia material which can enhance the learning process, archives, activities, school image, and website; they connect to local media and can cooperate in international school web projects, improve their recognition and competitiveness, and increase the chances of acquiring additional resources for their work.     

Visualization of Understanding of Media Characteristics Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

The purpose of this study is to design a tool, adapted to students＇ individual contexts and to enable students to reflect on their understanding of media characteristics. AHP （analytic hierarchy process） is a structured technique for organizing and analyzing complex decisions. Using AHP, students have to define appropriate criteria and priorities for using media. It is expected that students＂ understanding of the characteristics of different types of media will emerge through reflection. Seventy two university students took part in this research. They were asked to prioritize their ways.of obtaining information about current affairs using sets of media such as TV, books, newspapers and web pages, Twitter and Facebook. AHP enables us to visualize a ＂real＂ understanding of media characteristics and students can reflect on that basis. As far as ＂information sources and media＂ is concerned, a few students indicated that it was the information source itself that was important rather than the type of media. Our tool fulfils the role of encouraging this type of reflection.     

Improving Fault Detection in Modified Code ——- A Study from the Telecommunication Industry

Many software systems are developed in a number of consecutive releases. In each release not only new code is added but also existing code is often modified. In this study we show that the modified code can be an important source of faults. Faults are widely recognized as one of the major cost drivers in software projects. Therefore, we look for methods that improve the fault detection in the modified code. We propose and evaluate a number of prediction models that increase the efficiency of fault detection. To build and evaluate our models we use data collected from two large telecommunication systems produced by Ericsson. We evaluate the performance of our models by applying them both to a different release of the system than the one they are built on and to a different system. The performance of our models is compared to the performance of the theoretical best model, a simple model based on size, as well as to analyzing the code in a random order （not using any model）. We find that the use of our models provides a significant improvement over not using any model at all and over using a simple model based on the class size. The gain offered by our models corresponds to 38-57% of the theoretical maximum gain.     

Metacognition in Solving Process of Basic Electric Circuit ProblemmComparison of Metacognitive Characteristics between Non-major and Major Students in Electric Engineering

There are learners who cannot solve practical problems in spite of mastering basic scientific knowledge and formula necessary for the solution. One of the reasons might be attributed to the lack in metacognitive abilities. The aim of this study was to compare the metacognitive characteristics between non-major and major students in electric engineering and clarify the difference of metacognitive process between these two groups when solving basic problems of electronic circuit. In the experiment, the solving process was compared between non-major and major students in electric engineering using five basic problems. We found that the scores on prediction of result and confidence of own answer differed significantly between non-major and major students, and inferred that the difference of performance was due to the lack in metacognitive ability, especially the plan and the execution abilities. Both prediction of results and confidence of own answer were also found to play a significant role in effective problem solving as important components （subsystems） of metacognition.     

Can You Explain This？ Personality and Willingness to Commit Various Acts of Academic Misconduct

The rapid development of IT has created a problematic situation in higher education by providing individuals with a greater opportunity to engage in academic dishonesty especially in online courses, in contrast to traditional classroom courses. There are various factors that were used in research to explain the phenomenon of academic dishonesty. Among them are personality traits that were found to be effective in explaining unethical behaviors. Therefore, this study explores students＇ personality traits as predictors of academic dishonesty in the context of traditional and distance-learning courses in higher education. Data from 1,365 students enrolled in academic institutes in the U.S.A and Israel were surveyed to assess their personality and their willingness to commit various acts of academic misconduct. The findings indicate that in both countries dishonest behaviors are greater in face-to-face than in online courses. In addition, both American and Israeli students identified with the personality trait of agreeableness showed a negative correlation with academic dishonesty, Furthermore, Israeli students identified with the personality traits of conscientiousness and emotional stability demonstrated a negative correlation with academic dishonesty. In contrast, the personality trait of extraversion among American students was positively correlated with academic misconduct. Implications for further research are discussed.     

I Did Not Know Its Prohibited-Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses

There is a disagreement among researchers in regard to academic dishonesty in online as compared to traditional learning settings. Based on this, the aim of the current study was to investigate the connection between academic dishonesty in the virtual versus face-to face teaching/learning settings in relation to students＇ learning motivation, while examining the phenomenon from a cross-cultural perspective. The sample consisted of 1,574 participants-803 from USA and 771 from Israel. The results showed that there are significant differences in students＇ likelihood to engage in academic dishonesty based on the type of course, such that students in face-to-face courses are more likely to engage in acts of academic dishonesty than their counterparts in online courses. In addition, it was found that students＇ propensity to engage in academic dishonesty is explained by motivational orientation, type of course and age. The findings were consistent across student groups in both countries. The phenomenon can be explained by the fact that more intrinsically motivated students self-select online as opposed to traditional classroom courses, and because online instruction facilitates increasing levels of intrinsic motivation.     

Research of Graduation Project Management System Based on B/S Mode

Graduation project management system is designed and developed on B/S mode with C# language. The main flow of the system is students＇ selecting projects. System is designed on teachers, students and administrators, students. Focus on the project application, the project audit, the select projects and the results generated summary ect. It enables instructors to assign projects and students to select them online quickly and conveniently, and instructors can track and manage the graduation design in the whole course through the system. This system provides a good interactive platform of graduation design for teachers and students, which improves the efficiency and quality of the project selection of graduation design.     

Knowledge assessment-practical example in testing

Knowledge assessment is inseparable part of current e-learning technologies. It can be used for self-assessment of students to give them feedback about their progress in a study or for an intermediate or final grading for tutors. However, knowledge tests are not developed with the adequate care. Author＇s experience in the area of knowledge assessment led to a confidence the ＂unstructured＂ testing is usually used in this process. It means that many of knowledge tests are not designed to reveal the reached level of knowledge. Moreover, testing suites are reviewed very seldom regarding their validity and items correlation. This paper presents experiences gained during the design and implementation of specific software focused on teaching several principles of the Unix-like operating systems. The structure of the specific assignment follows the Bloom＇s taxonomy of educational objectives.     

Which is the Best PID Variant for Pneumatic Soft Robots?An Experimental Study

This paper presents an experimental study to compare the performance of model-free control strategies for pneumatic soft robots.Fabricated using soft materials,soft robots have gained much attention in academia and industry during recent years because of their inherent safety in human interaction.However,due to structural flexibility and compliance,mathematical models for these soft robots are nonlinear with an infinite degree of freedom(DOF).Therefore,accurate position(or orientation)control and optimization of their dynamic response remains a challenging task.Most existing soft robots currently employed in industrial and rehabilitation applications use model-free control algorithms such as PID.However,to the best of our knowledge,there has been no systematic study on the comparative performance of model-free control algorithms and their ability to optimize dynamic response,i.e.,reduce overshoot and settling time.In this paper,we present comparative performance of several variants of model-free PID-controllers based on extensive experimental results.Additionally,most of the existing work on modelfree control in pneumatic soft-robotic literature use manually tuned parameters,which is a time-consuming,labor-intensive task.We present a heuristic-based coordinate descent algorithm to tune the controller parameter automatically.We presented results for both manual tuning and automatic tuning using the Ziegler-Nichols method and proposed algorithm,respectively.We then used experimental results to statistically demonstrate that the presented automatic tuning algorithm results in high accuracy.The experiment results show that for soft robots,the PID-controller essentially reduces to the PI controller.This behavior was observed in both manual and automatic tuning experiments;we also discussed a rationale for removing the derivative term.     

同行导师体验报告(英文)

Students at the University of Derby are required to complete a year in industry as part of their Bachelor of Science degrees.This is a daunting prospect for some of them,and they can be reluctant to engage in the process of finding a placement position.As part of a second year module,students seeking placement are paired with students already on placement in a mentee/mentor relationship to support the second year students in their search for an internship.This arrangement helps the mentees by introducing them to potential role models close to their experience,receiving encouragement from peers and the inculcation of belief that it is possible to find a placement.The mentors also benefit from a recognition of how much they have learnt.However,there are difficulties in establishing and managing the scheme which should be recognised.This paper reports our experience over the last three years.     

Formal verification of synchronous data-flow program transformations toward certified compilers

Translation validation was invented in the 90＇s by Pnueli et al. as a technique to formally verify the correctness of code generators. Rather than certifying the code generator or exhaustively qualifying it, translation validators attempt to verify that program transformations preserve semantics. In this work, we adopt this approach to formally verify that the clock semantics and data dependence are preserved during the compilation of the Signal compiler. Translation valida- tion is implemented for every compilation phase from the initial phase until the latest phase where the executable code is generated, by proving the transformation in each phase of the compiler preserves the semantics. We represent the clock semantics, the data dependence of a program and its trans- formed counterpart as first-order formulas which are called clock models and synchronous dependence graphs （SDGs）, respectively. We then introduce clock refinement and depen- dence refinement relations which express the preservations of clock semantics and dependence, as a relation on clock mod- els and SDGs, respectively. Our validator does not require any instrumentation or modification of the compiler, nor any rewriting of the source program.     

The Instructional Media for Different Levels in the Philippine Educational System

In the Philippines, the K＋I2 system is newly introduced and the readiness for its implementation undoubtedly made the teaching community confused and confounded. Thus, extra efforts are being done to upgrade and update all instructional materials. Even it＂ the Department of Education are preparing the faculty members through trainings, seminars and providing them with syllabus accompanying the new curriculum, still the confidence for the coming teaching assignments for the additional two years in the system is vet3.＇ Iow~ The faculty members are now strategizing teaching methodology for the subjects they have to handle through upgrading not only their knowledge but also the teaching materials they are to use in their classroom. With the changing environment, the learning style of students also advances. Children are now exposed to various modern gadgets, thus, they learn more advanced knowledge about their environment. These modern medium must be an advantage to the teaching profession. Teachers must know how and what the children learn through these medium and create some learning materials that will augment this knowledge in schools. This study is a partial analysis of the learning style of students in different levels of the educational system and the knowledge they acquire through different modern medium and test the gap between this and the knowledge they must learn in school. Also, this study will come up with what medium can be used as instructional medium that will aid the faculty members in their teaching courses or subjects in school.     

An Ontology-based System to Support Distributed Software Development

Distributed software development has become an option for software companies to expand their horizons and work with geographically dispersed teams, exploiting the advantages brought by this approach. However, this way of developing software enables new challenges to arise, such as the inexistence of a formal, normalized model of a project＇s data and artifacts accessible to all the individuals involved, which makes it harder for them to communicate, understand each other and what is specified on the project＇s artifacts. With what being said, this paper proposes a knowledge management tool that utilizes a domain-specific ontology for distributed development environments, aiming to help distributed teams overcome the challenges brought by this modality of software development proposing techniques and best practices. Thus, the main output of this work is ontology-based system to support the software development process with distributed teams.     

Audio recording of rock/metal music using personal computers

Personal computers and their relevant technologies have been widely used by artists and musicians to create and record their own music and electroacoustic compositions. ＂Laptoppers＂ are famous for using their laptops for their dance/electronic beats and music. A genre that has not relied on the use of PCs for the production of its music is rock/heavy metal, since bands of these genres usually book recording studio time where professionals take on the task of the production using expensive equipment. This study shows that in today＇s day and age, and with the software and hardware currently available, it is possible for rock/metal artists to use their PC to record and produce their own CD successfully and at an extremely competitive cost. The effort＇s of a rock band that does just this is followed from the beginning and the results of their CD production and song successes is presented. The article also serves as a ＂HowTo＂ guide that bands on a low budget can follow to make good quality demo CDs and enter the music business industry.     

An object-oriented approach to teaching mathematics for engineering and science students

It is suggested to teach mathematics for engineering and science students as exploration of mathematics-related classes. Similarity with classes and objects of object-oriented programming is demonstrated. In the framework of the suggested approach, each relatively self-contained unit of mathematics curriculum is assigned a data type and is considered a class. In such setting, a theorem proof may be viewed as an assignment of values to object properties. The approach augments the role of recognition of mathematical objects, their properties and methods （operations） and diminishes the value of comprehensive study of rigorous proofs. The approach emphasizes the importance of development of mathematical intuition and combines conceptual and operational approaches to teaching and learning mathematics. Prospective implementation assumes using of computer-based systems of formal proof.     

You Are How You Behave-Spatiotemporal Representation Learning for College Student Academic Achievement

Scholarships are a reflection of academic achievement for college students.The traditional scholarship assignment is strictly based on final grades and cannot recognize students whose performance trend improves or declines during the semester.This paper develops the Trajectory Mining on Clustering for Scholarship Assignment and Academic Warning(TMS)approach to identify the factors that affect the academic achievement of college students and to provide decision support to help low-performing students attain better performance.Specifically,we first conduct feature engineering to generate a set of features to characterize the lifestyles patterns,learning patterns,and Internet usage patterns of students.We then apply the objective and subjective combined weighted k-means(Wosk-means)algorithm to perform clustering analysis to identify the characteristics of different student groups.Considering the difficulty in obtaining the real global positioning system(GPS)records of students,we apply manually generated spatiotemporal trajectories data to quantify the direction of trajectory deviation with the assistance of the PrefixSpan algorithm to identify low-performing students.The experimental results show that the silhouette coefficient and Calinski-Harabasz index of the Wosk-means algorithm are both approximately 1.5 times to that of the best baseline algorithm,and the sum of the squared error of the Wosk-means algorithm is only the half of the best baseline algorithm.