The role of teachers in facilitating learning is undoubtedly important as they are responsible for selecting appropriate instructional approaches. Project-Based learning (PrBL) has gained recognition as an effective teaching approach as it encourages students to think critically, collaboratively, and systematically. PrBL refers to an educational approach that emphasizes student engagement and active learning through the completion of real-world projects. Students are required to acquire information, search, and experiment to solve a specific problem. PrBL is largely adopted by the higher educational level. Limited use in primary schools has been highlighted by much research. The decision to adopt such a method depends on several factors. The main drivers to make such a decision are the teachers’ preference and the readiness for support from the school. The location of the school largely contributes to the readiness, facilities, support, and quality of education. This paper examines the teachers’ point of view on the utilization of PrBL. Comparing the points of view of the teachers who taught in different locations allows us to observe the factors that should be carefully addressed in order to promote the use of PrBL in primary schools. By using both qualitative and quantitative data, this study aims to understand the potential drawbacks preventing from using the PrBL. The data mining techniques were used to discover insights from both types of data including Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) and sequence mining. ENA employs various mathematical and statistical techniques to analyze and visualize the network structure and dynamics. It can measure the strength of connections, identify central key concepts, and compare the differences in the structure between groups. Sequence mining allows us to observe the pattern of PrBL utilization. The results showed that even though teachers viewed PrBL as a useful approach, not many of them are using it. Also, there are some inconsistencies of knowledge on the steps in the PrBL process. Additionally, teachers often mentioned several problems they faced when using the PrBL. Hence, extra support and knowledge provision are needed, especially for schools located in suburban and rural areas.

Бесплатно

Use of Intelligent Agents in Collaborative M-Learning: Case of Facilitating Group Learner Interactions

Stephen T. Njenga, Robert O. Oboko, Elijah I. Omwenga, Elizaphan M. Maina

Статья научная

Intelligent agents have been used in collaborative learning. However, they are rarely used to facilitate group interactions in collaborative m-learning environments. In view of this, the paper discusses the use of intelligent agents in facilitating collaborative learning in mobile learning environments. The paper demonstrates how to design intelligent agents and integrate them in collaborative mobile learning environments to allow group learners to improve their levels of group knowledge construction. The design was implemented in a collaborative mobile learning system running on Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (Moodle) platform. The application was used in some experiments to investigate the effects of those facilitated interactions on the level of group knowledge construction. The results showed improved levels of group knowledge construction in instances where the facilitations were enabled compared to where they were disabled. The paper concludes that the use of intelligent agents in facilitating learner group interactions in collaborative mobile learning environments improves the levels of group knowledge construction. For future work, the use of intelligent agents can be tested in other areas of group interactions to enhance group learning.

Бесплатно

Using Components of Corpus Linguistics and Annotation Tools in Sign Language Teaching

Katarzyna Barczewska, Jakub Gałka, Dorota Szulc, Mariusz Mąsior, Rafał Samborski, Tomasz J. Wilczyński

Статья научная

As an interdisciplinary group of people working on automatic sign language recognition, authors of the article developed concept how to facilitate the process of understanding Sign Language (SL) utterances by hearing learners. Concept is based on Polish SL, and was created in response to signals from the students who indicate understanding of SL messages as the hardest part of learning process, but can be easily adapted to other SLs. In comparison to speech corpora, SL databases constitute only a small fraction. From the other side thanks to the Internet there are available video recordings with native-signers, as well as tools which enable their analysis. Developed concept is based on using one of the available annotation tools used by professionals all over the world to describe SL corpora in SL classes. Making annotations helps students in understanding foreign language, corpora analysis helps to find objective rules governing SL, computer assisted language learning can be attractive way of study and Internet – great source of materials.

Бесплатно

Using Computer Aided Assessment System to Assess College Students Writing Skill

Huihua He, Jin Liu, Hongmin Ren

Статья научная

College students are facing challenges to present their ideas by writing a paper because they rely more on information from computer and web. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel computer aided assessment system, to assess college students’ writing ability. The CAAS system comprises of an expert team, a set of achievement standard for assessment, and software systems to conduct data analysis and store related information. It has been used by institute in U.S. It yields face validity and consistency reliability. Objective evaluation results will be provided by randomly-assigned multiple reviewers. CAAS can assist college students improve writing skills, can describ a brief picture and detailed information for both school administrators and policy makers as well.

Бесплатно

Using Extra Credit to Facilitate Extra Learning in Students

Mohammad Muztaba Fuad, Elva J. Jones

Статья научная

Giving students extra credit work is a hotly debated pedagogical issue. This paper shares experience of using extra credit quizzes to push students to think critically and beyond the boundaries. This particular type of quizzes are not announced before and presented to students as a surprise quiz. A certain percentage of the grade earned in these quizzes was included in student's final grade calculations. With a well-developed model of questions, quiz structure and grade calculation, the presented model of extra credit eliminates negativity related to extra credit work and also motivates students into course work. Our findings showed that by relieving students from the mental pressure of testtaking andby making those tests/quizzes as extra credit; students actually performs better in solving harder problems and eventually learns more of the advanced course topics.

Бесплатно

Using FAHP in the educational and vocational guidance

Essaid EL Haji, Abdellah Azmani, Mohamed El Harzli

Статья научная

This paper presents the use of the FAHPmethod (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process) to help young people choose the most appropriate activity sectors for their profile. This choice is based on three criteria: Professional interests, professional sub-interests and personality traits. This work is a part of a global context aiming to apply the Multi-criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods in the vocational guidance according to the process schematized in Figure 3.

Бесплатно

Using Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model to Predict Students' Behavioral Intention to Adopt and Use E-Counseling in Ghana

Emmanuel Awuni Kolog, Erkki Sutinen, Marjatta Vanhalakka-Ruoho, Jarkko Suhonen, Ebenezer Anohah

Статья научная

The urge to progressively motivate e-counselling in schools is somewhat dependent on students’ behavioural intention towards the use of counselling technologies. This paper presents an empirical approach of using Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model to ascertain students’ behavioural intention to adopt and use e-counselling in Ghana. Questionnaires were used to collect data from two hundred and fifty (N=250) randomly selected students from Ghana. Cronbach alpha (α) was first employed to validate and ascertain the reliability of the data. Subsequently, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) was employed in analysing the data. After that, a follow-up interview was conducted to explore the variance in our findings from the collected data through the questionnaires. In the end, the reliability of the test items contained in the questionnaire yielded strongly at 87.6%. Also, whereas the outcome of the research suggests Performance Expectancy and Social Influence as the influencing constructs (factors) towards students’ behavioural intention to adopt and use e-counselling, Facilitation Condition and Effort Expectancy had no effect on the behavioural intention of students to adopt and use e-counselling in Ghana. The findings shall be considered in developing e-counselling system for counselling delivery.

Бесплатно

Using Virtual Security Lab in Teaching Cryptography

Salma M. Gaffer, Daniyal M. Alghazzawi

Статья научная

Teaching Information Security for undergraduate students requires a safe hand-on environment for practicing. This paper focuses on using a virtual lab for two modules in cryptography concepts. At the end, a survey was conducted on a group of students at the Information Systems Department at the King Abdulaziz University to measure the performance of the students’ outcomes in the lab comparing with other students from a previous semester. The result of the survey shows a significant feedback on the system.

Бесплатно

Using Wavelet-Based Contourlet Transform Illumination Normalization for Face Recognition

Long B. Tran, Thai H. Le

Статья научная

Evidently, the results of a face recognition system can be influenced by image illumination conditions. Regarding this, the authors proposed a system using wavelet-based contourlet transform normalization as an efficient method to enhance the lighting conditions of a face image. Particularly, this method can sharpen a face image and enhance its contrast simultaneously in the frequency domain to facilitate the recognition. The achieved results in face recognition tasks experimentally performed on Yale Face Database B have demonstrated that face recognition system with wavelet-based contourlet transform can perform better than any other systems using histogram equalization for its efficiency under varying illumination conditions.

Бесплатно

Utilization of Data Mining Techniques for Prediction and Diagnosis of Tuberculosis Disease Survivability

K.R.Lakshmi, M.Veera Krishna, S.Prem Kumar

Статья научная

The prediction and diagnosis of Tuberculosis survivability has been a challenging research problem for many researchers. Since the early dates of the related research, much advancement has been recorded in several related fields. For instance, thanks to innovative biomedical technologies, better explanatory prognostic factors are being measured and recorded; thanks to low cost computer hardware and software technologies, high volume better quality data is being collected and stored automatically; and finally thanks to better analytical methods, those voluminous data is being processed effectively and efficiently. Tuberculosis is one of the leading diseases for all people in developed countries including India. It is the most common cause of death in human being. The high incidence of Tuberculosis in all people has increased significantly in the last years. In this paper we have discussed various data mining approaches that have been utilized for Tuberculosis diagnosis and prognosis. This study paper summarizes various review and technical articles on Tuberculosis diagnosis and prognosis also we focus on current research being carried out using the data mining techniques to enhance the Tuberculosis diagnosis and prognosis. Here, we took advantage of those available technological advancements to develop the best prediction model for Tuberculosis survivability.

Бесплатно

Utilizing Random Forest and XGBoost Data Mining Algorithms for Anticipating Students’ Academic Performance

Mukesh Kumar, Navneet Singh, Jessica Wadhwa, Palak Singh, Girish Kumar, Ahmed Qtaishat

Статья научная

The growing field of educational data mining seeks to analyse educational data in order to develop models for improving education and the effectiveness of educational institutions. Educational data mining is utilised to develop novel approaches for extracting information from educational databases, enabling improved decision-making within the educational system. The main objective of this research paper is to investigate recent advancements in data mining techniques within the field of educational research, while also analysing the methodologies employed by previous researchers in this area. The predictive capabilities of various machine learning algorithms, namely Logistic Regression, Gaussian Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, K-Nearest Neighbour, and XGBoost Classifier, were evaluated and compared for their effectiveness in determining students' academic performance. The utilisation of Random Forest and XGBoost classifiers in analysing scholastic, behavioural, and additional student features has demonstrated superior accuracy compared to other algorithms. The training and testing of these classification models achieved an impressive accuracy rate of approximately (96.46% & 87.50%) and (95.05% & 84.38%), respectively. Employing this technique can provide educators with valuable insights into students' motivations and behaviours, ultimately leading to more effective instruction and reduced student failure rates. Students' achievements significantly influence the delivery of education.

Бесплатно

Various Types of Image Noise and De-noising Algorithm

Gourav, Tejpal Sharma

Статья научная

Image de-noising is a procedure that used to upgrade the picture quality after corrupted by the noise. There are a few techniques have been proposed for picture de-noising. Noise lessening and reclamation of image is relied upon to enhance the subjective review of a picture and the execution criteria of quantitative picture examination systems Digital picture is slanted to an assortment of commotion which influences the nature of picture. The criteria of the commotion expulsion issue rely on upon the noise sort by which the picture is defiling. To diminish the image commotion a few sorts of direct and non strategies separating methods and de-noising calculation have been proposed. Straight channels are not ready to successfully take out motivation commotion as they tend to obscure the edges of a picture. Then again non straight channels are suited for managing drive commotion. Diverse methodologies for decrease of commotion and image upgrade have been viewed as, each of which has their own restriction and favorable circumstances.

Бесплатно

Vector Image Retrieval Methods Based on Fuzzy Patterns

Yevgeniya Sulema, Etienne Kerre, Oksana Shkurat

Статья научная

In this work we present two methods of vector graphic objects retrieval based on a fuzzy description of their shapes. Both methods enable the retrieval of vector images resembling to a given fuzzy pattern. The basic method offers a geometrical interpretation of a fuzziness measure as a radius of a circle with the center in each vertex of a given candidate object. It enables the representation of uncertain information about a pattern object defined by its “fuzzy” vertices. The advanced method generalizes this approach by considering an ellipse instead of a circle. The basic method can be used for the comparison of polygons and other primitives in vector images. The advanced method can be used for complex shapes retrieval. To enable saving a “fuzzy” image as a file, the modification of the SVG format with a new attribute “fuzziness” is proposed for both methods. The advanced method practical implementation is illustrated by the retrieval of medical images, namely, heart computer tomography images.

Бесплатно

Virtual Examination Supervision System for Nigerian Universities

Akazue Maureen I., Ajenaghughrure Ighoyota Ben.

Статья научная

Examination malpractice is a dishonest conduct by a candidate prior to examination and through the examination to attain success effortlessly. Examination malpractice is a plague that heralds severe menace for the nation and has constantly remained a bother in the Nigerian educational system. Supervising examination has been manual since the inception of examinations in Delta State University. Likewise, most of the State Universities and Federal Universities in Nigeria utilize manual supervision of examination though visit by examination supervisors. Thus, this research paper presents a virtual examination supervision system (VESS) that checks candidates who are writing examination. VESS is an information technology approach towards curbing the problem of cheating in examination hall, using computer vision motion detection technique on real-time IP-camera video stream from examination. The implementation and practical experiment of VESS was carried out in Delta State University and result analysis indicated shift in position by examinees during examination at every milliseconds, which is difficult for human eye to monitor accurately and other cases such as copying and impersonation. These further proved that VESS is a solution to mitigating examination malpractice of all kinds and protection of the invigilators. Furthermore, the stored result in VESS can be used as evidence to punish the culprit.

Бесплатно

Visual Association Analytics Approach to Predictive Modelling of Students’ Academic Performance

Udoinyang G. Inyang, Imo J. Eyoh, Samuel A. Robinson, Edward N. Udo

Статья научная

Persistent and quality graduation rates of students are increasingly important indicators of progressive and effective educational institutions. Timely analysis of students’ data to guide instructors in the provision of academic interventions to students who are at risk of performing poorly in their courses or dropout is vital for academic achievement. In addition there is need for performance attributes relationship mining for the generation of comprehensible patterns. However, there is dearth in pieces of knowledge relating to predicting students’ performance from patterns. This therefore paper adopts hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) to analyze students’ performance dataset for the discovery of optimal number of fail courses clusters and partitioning of the courses into groups, and association rule mining for the extraction of interesting course-status association. Agglomerative HCA with Ward’s linkage method produced the best clustering structure (five clusters) with a coefficient of 92% and silhouette width 0.57. Apriori algorithm with support (0.5%), confidence (80%) and lift (1) thresholds were used in the extraction of rules with student’s status as consequent. Out of the twenty one courses offered by students in the first year, seven courses frequently occur together as failed courses, and their impact on the respective students’ performance status were assessed in the rules. It is conjectured that early intervention by the instructors and management of educational activities on these seven courses will increase the students’ learning outcomes leading to increased graduation rate at minimum course duration, which is the overarching objective of higher educational institutions. As further work, the integration of other machine learning and nature inspired tools for the adaptive learning and optimization of rules respectively would be performed.

Бесплатно

Visual Block-based Programming for ICT Training of Prospective Teachers in Morocco

Ibrahim Ouahbi, Hassane Darhmaoui, Fatiha Kaddari

Статья научная

We conducted a training experimentation on computer coding whose aim is to probe ICT skills enhancement of pre-service teachers in Morocco. For that, we have developed and implemented training sessions using a visual programming tool (Scratch) targeting 63 prospective teachers at the Faculty of Educational Sciences (FSE) and the Regional Center for Education and Training Professions (CRMEF) in Nador, Morocco. During these sessions, trainees were introduced to algorithmic thinking where they implemented teaching sequences in their specialty subjects using Scratch. Pre and post surveys were conducted to measure the evolution of the trainees’ perceptions towards the integration of computer coding in the teaching and learning of their specialties. The analysis of the surveys showed the potential of integrating computer coding in the development of learners’ transversal skills. The training revealed different possibilities of exploiting visual block-based programming environments in the teaching and learning process.

Бесплатно

Voltage quality evaluation of distribution network based on probabilistic load flow

Guowei Dong, Hengrui Ma

Статья научная

Voltage quality for residents of 10kV and below is affected by some factors: voltages of substation 10kV buses, power supply topologies, line types, and power supply distances of 10kV lines, reactive power compensation and loads of distribution transformers. As loads of distribution transformers vary randomly in space and time, voltages of distribution transformers fluctuate randomly as well as distribution network power flows, even network structures and parameters are invariable when voltages of 10kV buses. According to the definition of voltage eligibility rate, a random fluctuation model of distribution transformer loads was built through long term statistical analysis of distribution transformer loads on actual distribution network. By calculating the probabilistic load flows and considering correlation of random fluctuations, static voltages of distribution transformers were analyzed with probability method and power supply voltage eligibility rates of all 10kV lines could be calculated. The simulations show that the power supply voltage eligibility rates can be analyzed and evaluated more comprehensively by probabilistic load flow calculation, such a calculation provides the theoretical calculation basis for both reasonably controlling the bus voltages and improving the power supply voltage eligibility rates.

Бесплатно

Web Pages Retrieval with Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy System based on Content and Structure

Mohammad Saber Iraji, Hakimeh Maghamnia, Marzieh Iraji

Статья научная

Volume of web pages and information on the web is constantly increasing. In this paper, we presented a system to retrieve pages relevant to a query, that can be used by the search engines. The design of our proposed system, content, Page content of neighbors, Connectivity (link analysis) features were used and the methods of fuzzy Sugeno and adaptive fuzzy neural network methods considered .Results showed that the neural method, the error is less than other methods, in the retrieval of web pages tailored to the users search query on the Web, can increase the efficiency of search engines.

Бесплатно

Web Services Privacy Preserving Based on Negotiation and Certificate Authorities

A. Meligy, Emad Elabd, Sahar Kotb

Статья научная

Nowadays, Web services are the leading solution for solving the problem of information systems' integration. Web services are based on the service oriented architecture (SOA). Preserving privacy of web services is one of the main challenges during their interaction. Therefore, minimizing the number of the disclosed credentials that are required for accessing the web services resources during the interaction is a desirable behavior. Credentials generalization and substitution and credentials encryption can be used for privacy preserving. To the best of our knowledge, in the current privacy preserving approaches for web services, there is no technique that uses the negotiation for credential generalization and substitution between the consumer and the provider in conjunction with the credentials encryption using certificate authority as a third party. In this paper, a proposed approach for web services privacy preserving is proposed. This approach is based on the negotiation, encryption, and certificate authorities as third parties. The proposed approach is implemented and tested. The results show that the number of disclosed sensitive credential is the minimum number of credentials that can be disclosed to guarantee the accessing of the service.

Бесплатно

Web-based application tool for recommendation of open source software for higher learning institution in Tanzania

Ambokile Okey, Anael E. Sam

Статья научная

Open Source Software (OSS) provide a number of advantages to Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs) in developing countries, such as Tanzania. This is because they are freely available, free to make copies and free to distribute. Through literature reviewed, it has been observed that OSS usage in HLIs in Tanzania is low due to lack of awareness of OSS designed for academic purposes. This paper presents a study on how to implement a reliable and effective web-based application tool for recommendation of OSS for enhancing awareness of HLIs on existing OSS designed for academic purposes. There are three recommendation algorithms that were employed for filtering the OSS in this study: the content-based, collaborative, and demographic filtering. We used various web technologies for the implementation of application functionalities. The result is the reliable and effective web-based application tool that recommends OSS to individuals in HLIs for enhancing their awareness of OSS designed for academic purposes.

Бесплатно

Журнал