Supporting authoring of adaptive hypermedia

It is well-known that students benefit from personalised attention. However, frequently teachers are unable to provide this, most often due to time constraints. An Adaptive Hypermedia (AH) system can offer a richer learning experience, by giving personalised attention to students. The authoring process, however, is time consuming and cumbersome. Our research explores the two main aspects to authoring of AH: authoring of content and adaptive behaviour. The research proposes possible solutions, to overcome the hurdles towards acceptance of AH in education. Automation methods can help authors, for example, teachers could create linear lessons and our prototype can add content alternatives for adaptation. Creating adaptive behaviour is more complex. Rule-based systems, XML-based conditional inclusion, Semantic Web reasoning and reusable, portable scripting in a programming language have been proposed. These methods all require specialised knowledge. Hence authoring of adaptive behaviour is difficult and teachers cannot be expected to create such strategies. We investigate three ways to address this issue. 1. Reusability: We investigate limitations regarding adaptation engines, which influence the authoring and reuse of adaptation strategies. We propose a metalanguage, as a supplement to the existing LAG adaptation language, showing how it can overcome such limitations. 2. Standardisation: There are no widely accepted standards for AH. The IMSLearning Design (IMS-LD) specification has similar goals to Adaptive Educational Hypermedia (AEH). Investigation shows that IMS-LD is more limited in terms of adaptive behaviour, but the authoring process focuses more on learning sequences and outcomes. 3. Visualisation: Another way is to simplify the authoring process of strategies using a visual tool. We define a reference model and a tool, the Conceptual Adaptation Model (CAM) and GRAPPLE Authoring Tool (GAT), which allow specification of an adaptive course in a graphical way. A key feature is the separation between content, strategy and adaptive course, which increases reusability compared to approaches that combine all factors in one model

Building capacity in climate change policy analysis and negotiation: methods and technologies

Capacity building is often cited as the reason “we cannot just pour money into developing countries” and why so many development projects fail because their design does not address local conditions. It is therefore a key technical and political concept in international development. Some of the poorest countries in the world are also some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is in part due to a lack of capacity to plan and anticipate the effects of climate change on crops, water resources, urban electricity demand etc. What capacities do these countries lack to deal with climate change? How will they cope? What steps can they take to reduce their vulnerability? This innovative and high-profile research project was part of a larger project (called C3D) and conducted with non-governmental organisations in Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The research involved several participatory workshops and a questionnaire to all three research centres

Equity by Design and Delivery Model in Online Learning: Educator and Student Perceptions and Behaviors as Leading Indicators of Systemic Change

The purpose of this study is to explore educator and student perceptions of and behaviors in the Equity by Design and Delivery (EDD) model and its online courses as leading indicators of systemic change. The EDD model is a pilot intervention to eliminate opportunity to learn gaps at the program level in a mid-sized northwestern college in the United States. It shifts instructional behavior from individual efforts to collective approaches to limit quality variances in online courses, theorized to be a major contributor of missed opportunities to learn at high levels, by developing and delivering reliable quality courses based on collective agreements to apply evidence-based practices. It improves course and credentialing outcomes (e.g., course grades, course and degree completion rates) as it eliminates significant outcome disparities between student groups in programs with a strong online learning presence. It uses systems theory, improvement and implementation sciences, as well as principles of adaptive leadership as an operational framework to increase the likely efficacy of the EDD model. A convergent mixed methods of a single-site case study research design is used. It collects primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative data to conduct a comprehensive analysis of and findings from the pilot. It ends with recommendations for implementation at scale and scholar-practitioner reflections of practice

Implementing a Flexible Delivery Model at a Large Canadian Polytechnic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examining the Faculty Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic may irreversibly leave its mark on education around the globe. As Canada’s post-secondary institutions pivoted to online learning in March of 2020, faculty and administrators struggled to meet the needs of a new reality. The speed at which schools moved to remote learning was unprecedented (Hodges et al., 2020). Faculty adapted their lessons, administrators adapted their policies, and support staff compiled and created resources. Red River College of Applied Arts and Sciences in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was just one institution that struggled to adhere to the ever-changing realities of the health orders the Province of Manitoba implemented. How did we do? This research seeks to analyze instructor feedback, from their perspective, on how they viewed the rollout of the flexible online delivery model and the supports and resources provided to faculty. Pragmatism guided the philosophical approach of this study, which examined the individual perceptions of faculty as they navigated the move to online and blended learning. The CIPP framework (Stufflebeam, 1971) provided the steps and guidance of the evaluation process. The data collection included 1) an online survey which was offered to all faculty, and 2) one-on-one interviews with volunteer participants. Key themes were analyzed, coded, and then compared between the two instruments. The findings suggest that, while the work of administration and support staff was appreciated by faculty, room remains for improvement to staff resources and the continuation of quality professional development. Central to that, the flexible online delivery model should be adapted and simplified. In addition, the resources to support it should be focused, streamlined, and reorganized to improve accessibility. Finally, RRC may consider re-examining its crisis management and emergency management policies. While policies exist for sudden and short-term natural disasters, they were not prepared for an extended disruption of services. If Red River College embedded mentorships and support networks into their future crisis plans, this would facilitate the formal reconnection of managers, faculty, and staff to provide a safety net for wellness and professional development. Participants indicated that the pacing of resource offerings to faculty was intense and overwhelming due to a lack of cohesive leadership and oversight. Addressing this issue in iv RRC’s crises policies could clarify how the administration would, in the future, communicate instructions and designate who would oversee resource development and ensure accountability

Simple identification tools in FishBase

Simple identification tools for fish species were included in the FishBase information system from its inception. Early tools made use of the relational model and characters like fin ray meristics. Soon pictures and drawings were added as a further help, similar to a field guide. Later came the computerization of existing dichotomous keys, again in combination with pictures and other information, and the ability to restrict possible species by country, area, or taxonomic group. Today, www.FishBase.org offers four different ways to identify species. This paper describes these tools with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests various options for further development. It explores the possibility of a holistic and integrated computeraided strategy

Measuring the star formation rate density from CNOC2

This thesis charts the evolution of the Universal Star Formation Rate Density (SFRD) across the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.6, using the 2nd Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Survey (CN0C2). The redshift range covered by the Survey marks an important transitional period in the history of the Universe, over which the SFRD is thought to undergo rapid evolution. The various Star Formation Rate (SFR) indicators from the literature are reviewed and it is shown that the [OII] forbidden emission line can provide a very similar SFR to that reported by the Ha recombination line, if reddening is accounted for. We explain the CN0C2 Survey in detail, including the observation strategy and the instrumentation used. The Survey weighting scheme is also discussed. The purpose written code, used to measure the strengths of the [OII] emission line in each of the Survey spectra, is explained and tested, against both another automated code and by-eye measurements from IRAF. The procedure of re-normalising the on equivalent width errors that are reported by the code is also detailed. This leaves the line measurement errors very well quantified. We investigate the accuracy of the photometric redshift codes ImpZ and Hyperz in returning dust estimates, A(_v) from photometry alone. The benchmark for this comparison is set by Balmer Decrement measurements of a sub-set of the CN0C2 dataset. Combining the [OII] line strength measurements with the dust correction from the photometric redshift code ImpZ, we compute SFRs for individual galaxies in the CN0C2 Survey. These are combined with a weighting scheme to chart the evolution of SFRD with redshift and luminosity. It is found that giant galaxies undergo a strong evolution in terms of the fraction of those galaxies that are rapidly star forming, but that the absolute SFRD from giants does not change as quickly as that from lower luminosity galaxies. At all redshifts and luminosities covered by the Survey, galaxies with [OII] emission <30Å contribute roughly half the total SFRD. This means narrow band imaging surveys may miss a large fraction of star formation activity at those epochs. At z ~ 0.25 it is found that dwarf galaxies dominate the overall SFRD, in-keeping with results from the local Universe. We produce a best estimate Lilly-Madau plot based on our findings and compare it to several studies from the literature. It is shown that although the overall rise found by previous studies is confirmed, the shape of the rise is not consistent with other works, showing a sharper increase at low (0.2 < z < 0.4) redshift followed by a slowing at z ~0.6. The significance of this result remains unquantified however

SPEIR: Scottish Portals for Education, Information and Research. Final Project Report: Elements and Future Development Requirements of a Common Information Environment for Scotland

The SPEIR (Scottish Portals for Education, Information and Research) project was funded by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC). It ran from February 2003 to September 2004, slightly longer than the 18 months originally scheduled and was managed by the Centre for Digital Library Research (CDLR). With SLIC's agreement, community stakeholders were represented in the project by the Confederation of Scottish Mini-Cooperatives (CoSMiC), an organisation whose members include SLIC, the National Library of Scotland (NLS), the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU), the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), regional cooperatives such as the Ayrshire Libraries Forum (ALF)1, and representatives from the Museums and Archives communities in Scotland. Aims; A Common Information Environment For Scotland The aims of the project were to: o Conduct basic research into the distributed information infrastructure requirements of the Scottish Cultural Portal pilot and the public library CAIRNS integration proposal; o Develop associated pilot facilities by enhancing existing facilities or developing new ones; o Ensure that both infrastructure proposals and pilot facilities were sufficiently generic to be utilised in support of other portals developed by the Scottish information community; o Ensure the interoperability of infrastructural elements beyond Scotland through adherence to established or developing national and international standards. Since the Scottish information landscape is taken by CoSMiC members to encompass relevant activities in Archives, Libraries, Museums, and related domains, the project was, in essence, concerned with identifying, researching, and developing the elements of an internationally interoperable common information environment for Scotland, and of determining the best path for future progress

New Trends in Development of Services in the Modern Economy

The services sector strategic development unites a multitude of economic and managerial aspects and is one of the most important problems of economic management. Many researches devoted to this industry study are available. Most of them are performed in the traditional aspect of the voluminous calendar approach to strategic management, characteristic of the national scientific school. Such an approach seems archaic, forming false strategic benchmarks. The services sector is of special scientific interest in this context due to the fact that the social production structure to the services development model attraction in many countries suggests transition to postindustrial economy type where the services sector is a system-supporting sector of the economy. Actively influencing the economy, the services sector in the developed countries dominates in the GDP formation, primary capital accumulation, labor, households final consumption and, finally, citizens comfort of living. However, a clear understanding of the services sector as a hyper-sector permeating all spheres of human activity has not yet been fully developed, although interest in this issue continues to grow among many authors. Target of strategic management of the industry development setting requires substantive content and the services sector target value assessment