16,637 research outputs found
Exploring parental behavior and child interactive engagement : a study on children with a significant cognitive and motor developmental delay
Background and aims: Parenting factors are one of the most striking gaps in the current scientific literature on the development of young children with significant cognitive and motor disabilities. We aim to explore the characteristics of, and the association between, parental behavior and children's interactive engagement within this target group. Methods and procedures: Twenty-five parent-child dyads (with children aged 6-59 months) were video-taped during a 15-min unstructured play situation. Parents were also asked to complete the Parental Behavior Scale for toddlers. The video-taped observations were scored using the Child and Maternal Behavior Rating Scales. Outcomes and results: Low levels of parental discipline and child initiation were found. Parental responsivity was positively related to child attention and initiation. Conclusions and implications: Compared to children with no or other levels of disabilities, this target group exhibits large differences in frequency levels and, to a lesser extent, the concrete operationalization of parenting domains Further, this study confirms the importance of sensitive responsivity as the primary variable in parenting research
Code Shrew: Software platform for teaching programming through drawings and animations
In this paper, we present Code Shrew, a new software platform accompanied by
an interactive programming course. Its aim is to teach the fundamentals of
computer programming by enabling users to create their own drawings and
animations. The programming language has a straightforward syntax based on
Python, with additions that enable easy drawing and animating using
object-oriented code. The editor reacts seamlessly and instantly, providing an
engaging and interactive environment for experimenting and testing ideas. The
programming course consists of lessons that cover essential programming
principles, as well as challenges to test users' skills as they progress
through the course. Both the lessons and challenges take advantage of the
editor's instant feedback, allowing for a focus on learning-by-doing. We
describe the software and the content, the motivation behind them, and their
connection to constructionism.Comment: 7 page
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View-dependent adaptive cloth simulation
This paper describes a method for view-dependent cloth simulation using dynamically adaptive mesh refinement and coarsening. Given a prescribed camera motion, the method adjusts the criteria controlling refinement to account for visibility and apparent size in the camera's view. Objectionable dynamic artifacts are avoided by anticipative refinement and smoothed coarsening. This approach preserves the appearance of detailed cloth throughout the animation while avoiding the wasted effort of simulating details that would not be discernible to the viewer. The computational savings realized by this method increase as scene complexity grows, producing a 2× speed-up for a single character and more than 4× for a small group
Material Thermal Inputs of Iowa Materials for MEPDG, 2011
The thermal properties of concrete materials, such as coeffi cient of thermal expansion (CTE), thermal conductivity, and heat capacity, are required by the MEPDG program as the material inputs for pavement design. However, a limited amount of test data is available on the thermal properties of concrete in Iowa. The default values provided by the MEPDG program may not be suitable for Iowa concrete, since aggregate characteristics have signifi cant infl uence on concrete thermal properties
A Mimetic Strategy to Engage Voluntary Physical Activity In Interactive Entertainment
We describe the design and implementation of a vision based interactive
entertainment system that makes use of both involuntary and voluntary control
paradigms. Unintentional input to the system from a potential viewer is used to
drive attention-getting output and encourage the transition to voluntary
interactive behaviour. The iMime system consists of a character animation
engine based on the interaction metaphor of a mime performer that simulates
non-verbal communication strategies, without spoken dialogue, to capture and
hold the attention of a viewer. The system was developed in the context of a
project studying care of dementia sufferers. Care for a dementia sufferer can
place unreasonable demands on the time and attentional resources of their
caregivers or family members. Our study contributes to the eventual development
of a system aimed at providing relief to dementia caregivers, while at the same
time serving as a source of pleasant interactive entertainment for viewers. The
work reported here is also aimed at a more general study of the design of
interactive entertainment systems involving a mixture of voluntary and
involuntary control.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, ECAG08 worksho
CacophonyViz: Visualisation of Birdsong Derived Ecological Health Indicators
The purpose of this work was to create an easy to interpret visualisation of a simple index that represents the quantity and quality of bird life in New Zealand. The index was calculated from an algorithm that assigned various weights to each species of bird.
This work is important as it forms a part of the ongoing work by the Cacophony Project which aims to eradicate pests that currently destroy New Zealand native birds and their habitat. The map will be used to promote the Cacophony project to a wide public audience and encourage their participation by giving relevant feedback on the effects of intervention such as planting and trapping in their communities.
The Design Science methodology guided this work through the creation of a series of prototypes that through their evaluation built on lessons learnt at each stage resulting in a final artifact that successfully displayed the index at various locations across a map of New Zealand.
It is concluded that the artifact is ready and suitable for deployment once the availability of real data from the automatic analysis of audio recordings from multiple locations becomes available
CacophonyViz : Visualisation of birdsong derived ecological health indicators
The purpose of this work was to create an easy to interpret visualisation of a simple index that represents the quantity and quality of bird life in New Zealand. The index
was calculated from an algorithm that assigned various weights to each species of
bird.
This work is important as it forms a part of the ongoing work by the Cacophony Project which aims to eradicate pests that currently destroy New Zealand native birds and their habitat. The map will be used to promote the Cacophony project to a wide public audience and encourage their participation by giving relevant feedback on the
effects of intervention such as planting and trapping in their communities.
The Design Science methodology guided this work through the creation of a series of prototypes that through their evaluation built on lessons learnt at each stage resulting
in a final artifact that successfully displayed the index at various locations across a map of New Zealand.
It is concluded that the artifact is ready and suitable for deployment once the availability of real data from the automatic analysis of audio recordings from multiple
locations becomes available
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