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Editorial volume 10 (1–2)
No full textWe are very pleased to present the latest issue (Volume 10, Number 1/2, December 2018) of the e-Journal of the International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media
Automated salamander recognition using deep neural networks and feature extraction
Get PDFThis paper presents a study conducted to recognize salamanders by using their unique body markings based on images. The detection and matching of unique patterns in a salamander’s body can be complex due variability in individual animals size, shape, orientation and also influence from the external enviornment. While traditional methods require time intensive manual image corrections of the salamanders to achieve accurate recognition, in this work we propose a fully automatic techinque for straigthening. We also propose a matching technique based on the corrected images. The convolutional neural network ResNet50 and dense scale-invariant feature transform (DSIFT) are used for belly pattern localization, and matching for salamander recognition
Mandatory coursework in higher Norwegian IT education
Get PDFObligatory exercise, mandatory activity and work requirement are all examples of terms describing the same phenomenon in higher Norwegian education: Something a student needs to pass in order to get access to an exam. In this paper we call them mandatory coursework in alignment with relevant existing research. Some argue that mandatory coursework assignments can, and should, be eliminated. Before we can discuss this within Norwegian IT education, we need to know to what extent mandatory coursework is in use. A course description should describe any mandatory coursework within a course. In this paper we present extracted data from course descriptions from 12 institutions delivering IT education in Norway. The data tells us the frequency in which mandatory coursework is in use, the different types used, how many there are, in what stages within a study programme they are most commonly in use and the variation between the 12 institutions. The results tell us that mandatory coursework to a large extent is in use in Norwegian IT education, although there are significant variations among the different institutions. The most common coursework are labs, assignments and submissions, but participation is also quite common. Mandatory coursework is in use in both bachelor and master programmes with year one in a study as the most coursework intensive
Board Games as Educational Media: Creating and Playing Board Games for Acquiring Knowledge of History
Get PDFThe paper presents qualitative research in creating and using board games as educational media in history teaching. The research was conducted during a course of the history of schooling in Serbia (Belgrade University), with 58 pedagogy students divided in two groups (13 game-designers and 45 evaluators) and a subject teacher. Students were engaged in project-based learning, with the assignment to create board games, and then play and evaluate them. Following these activities, students presented their views on the possibilities of board games application in history teaching within focus groups. Students-designers pointed out that creating a board game was a challenge that required sophisticated intellectual and emotional engagement and that they had acquired knowledge of history with understanding and through problem-solving. They perceived the teacher as an initiator and facilitator in the learning process. Students-evaluators argued that the games had helped them in acquiring and revising the knowledge from a new and unusual perspective.
Este artículo presenta una investigación cualitativa sobre la creación y el uso de juegos de mesa como recursos educativos en la enseñanza de la historia. La investigación se llevó a cabo durante un curso de historia de la escolarización en Serbia (Universidad de Belgrado), con 58 estudiantes de pedagogía divididos en dos grupos (13 diseñadores de juegos y 45 evaluadores) y un profesor de la asignatura. Los estudiantes aplicarón el aprendizaje basado en proyectos, con la tarea de crear juegos de mesa, y también jugarlos y evaluarlos. Después de estas actividades, los estudiantes presentaron sus puntos de vista sobre las posibilidades de aplicación de los juegos de mesa en la enseñanza de la historia dentro de los grupos de discusión. Los estudiantes-diseñadores señalaron que la creación de un juego de mesa era un reto que requería un compromiso intelectual y emocional sofisticado y que habían adquirido conocimientos de historia a través de la resolución de problemas. Percibieron al profesor como un iniciador y facilitador en el proceso de aprendizaje. Los estudiantes-evaluadores argumentaron que los juegos les habían ayudado a adquirir y revisar el conocimiento desde una perspectiva nueva e inusual
Survey of interactions in popular VR experiences
Get PDFAs the first step in a project to examine the quality of interactions in the relatively young field ofVirtualReality (VR), this study showcases the creative variation among modes of interaction. The present paper reports on a multiple case study reviewing VR applications focusing primarily on interactions. By surveying a set of popular applications, we explore the variety as well as the developing conventions within user interactions in VR. Because this research is work-in-progress we provide some preliminary insight that we can build on and discuss in upcoming studies. Our results show a wide array of different ways of interacting with such applications. Generally, these can be categorised in one of a few groups; menus, locomotion and interaction with the virtual environment. We also argue that theory from the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) can be applied to VR in regards to design of user interfaces
Autonomous Vehicle Control: End-to-end Learning in Simulated Environments
Get PDFThis paper examines end-to-end learning for autonomous vehicles in diverse, simulated environments containing other vehicles, traffic lights, and traffic signs; in weather conditions ranging from sunny to heavy rain. The paper proposes an architecture combing a traditional Convolutional Neural Network with a recurrent layer to facilitate the learning of both spatial and temporal relationships. Furthermore, the paper suggests a model that supports navigational input from the user to facilitate the use of a global route planner to achieve a more comprehensive system. The paper also explores some of the uncertainties regarding the implementation of end-to-end systems. Specifically, how a system’s overall performance is affected by the size of the training dataset, the allowed prediction frequency, and the number of hidden states in the system’s recurrent module. The proposed system is trained using expert driving data captured in various simulated settings and evaluated by its real-time driving performance in unseen simulated environments. The results of the paper indicate that end-to-end systems can operate autonomously in simulated environments, in a range of different weather conditions. Additionally, it was found that using ten hidden states for the system’s recurrent module was optimal. The results further show that the system was sensitive to small reductions in dataset size and that a prediction frequency of 15 Hz was required for the system to perform at its full potential
A Case Study of Cooperation between Teachers and EdTech Companies: LeWebPédagogique
Get PDFThis article aims at exploring the strategies developed by LeWebPédagogique, an actor from the educational technology sector, when describing itself as a “community of teachers”. Owing to data collected during a participant observation and semi-structured interviews led with members of the firm, we show that this expression lies at the heart of LeWebPédagogique’s marketing strategy and economical model. It also epitomizes its capacity to address teachers and to mobilize them to produce school-proof content displayed on various platforms, playing on the appeal that the “author” status exerts on teachers.
On the other hand, we try to expose the motivations of teachers who chose to collaborate with LeWebPédagogique while developing “proto-communities” (Baron & Zablot, 2017). Could teachers build specific “strategies” (de Certeau, 1980) in order to stage themselves as innovative or “teaching stars”? Owing to the analysis of semi-structured interviews led with teachers occupying the roles of beta-testers, content producers or target audience, we also tried to understand if these collaborations could throw light upon a deprofessionalization feeling in an institutional context that would lead teachers to work with a private actor
Geological Multi-scenario Reasoning
Get PDFIn the oil and gas industry, during exploration prospect assessment, explorationists rely on ad hoc manual work practices and tools for developing and communicating multiple hypothetical geological scenarios of the prospect. This leaves them with little efficient means to make the fullest use of state of the art digital technologies to communicate and systematically compare and assess different hypothetical geological scenarios before deciding which scenario to pursue. In this paper, we present a formal framework for geological multi-scenario reasoning, a novel tool-based method for geologically oriented subsurface evaluation. The methodology applies formal methods and logic-based techniques to subsurface evaluation and expresses interpretive uncertainty as discrete scenarios with branches of potential alternatives. This framework consists of (i) a proto-scenario generator that takes user observations and geological evidence as input and generates semantically valid initial states based on formalized geological knowledge in first-order logic (ii) geological processes formalized as a rewrite theory that are executable in Maude. By applying geological rewrite rules onto the proto-scenarios, we are able to assist explorationists with multi-scenario generation and reasoning beyond human capacity
Cloud-based Implementation and Validation of a Predictive Fire Risk Indication Model
Get PDFThe high representation of wooden houses in Norwegian cities combined with periods of dry and cold climate during the winter time often results in a high risk of severe fires. This makes it important for public authorities and fire departments to have an accurate estimate of the current fire risk in order to take proper precautions. We report on the implementation of a predictive mathematical model based on first order principles which exploits cloud-provided measurements from weather stations and weather forecasts from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute to predict the current and future fire risk at a given geographical location. We have experimentally validated the model during the winter 2018-2019 at selected geographical locations, and by considering weather data from the time of several historical fires. Our results show that our cloud and web-based implementation is both time and storage efficient, and capable of being able to accurately predict the fire risk measured in terms of the estimated time to ashover. The paper demonstrates that our methodology in the near future may become a valuable risk predicting tool for Norwegian fire brigades
VisAST: Generic AST Visualiser for Software Language Education
Get PDFStructural concepts such as abstract syntax trees (ASTs) are often best explained through visual representations. Students may, however, struggle with connecting such visual representations with the corresponding program text. To bridge this gap, we developed visAST, a tool for easily visualising ASTs of small languages written in Haskell. To assess the benets and usability of visAST we conducted a user study in the context of students implementing interpreters. Students reported liking visAST and it being benecial for learning. The experiment's results were not conclusive, but hint at visAST use improving students' performance