Challenges and needs of ESL teachers in implementing portfolio assessment as alternative assessment in teaching English

Traditional assessment does not confirm and result in learning. Assessment in Malaysia is now shifting from assessment of learning and for learning to assessment as learning to prepare students to face life beyond classroom to meet global challenges. This study intends to identify the challenges and needs of ESL teachers in implementing alternative assessment in the form of portfolio assessment in teaching English language. Qualitative study specifically online classroom observation and interviews with five ESL teachers were carried in the district of Perak. Findings revealed that the teachers still faced challenges in implementing alternative assessment in teaching English language. These challenges include selecting the content and learning standards to determine assessment activities, selection of authentic assessment, assessing student work based on learning objectives, providing feedback and educating students on using feedback to improve learning. Finally, the findings on teachers’ need for portfolio assessment showed that teachers preferred a range of authentic assessments with proper instructions and rubrics to guide them. Teachers expressed the need for training to expose them on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ to implement alternative assessment in classrooms

EduBal: An open balancing robot platform for teaching control and system theory

In this work we present EduBal, an educational open-source hardware and software platform for a balancing robot. The robot is designed to be low-cost, safe and easy to use by students for control education. Along with the robot we present example tasks from system identification as well as SISO and MIMO control. Using Simulink, students can quickly implement their control algorithms on the robot. Individual control parameters can be tuned online while analyzing the resulting behavior in live signal plots. At RWTH Aachen University and ETH Zurich 28 units have so far been built and used in control classes. In first laboratory experiences students show high intrinsic motivation and creativity to apply the studied concepts of control theory to the real system.Comment: Accepted for publication at the 21st IFAC World Congress 202

Controlling An-Inverted Pendulum System Using A Microcontroller

A self-balancing robot is basically an inverted pendulum. It can balance better if the centre of mass is higher than the wheel axels. A greater centre of mass equals a higher moment of inertia, which equals a lower angular acceleration. Particularly during movement, a well-implemented TWSB robot is able to maintain an upright stance. The majority of papers focus on either creating controllers through the implementation of low-level microcontroller units, such as Arduino Uno, or on dynamic modelling features in which simulation findings are used to decide results rather than real-world applications. This study will concentrate on comparing simulation results to the actual installation of a TWSB robot since fewer researchers have done so. This project intends to study the performance of the produced TWSB robot, examine the applicability of MATLAB to the programming of the TWSB robot, and compare the performance of the TWSB robot to the simulation results from MATLAB. Concurrently, a comparison is made between the present project and earlier work to assess the advantages and disadvantages of each. In this instance, a TWSB robot is constructed utilising an Arduino UNO microcontroller and a PID algorithm controller. The MPU 6050 gyroscope is calibrated before being mounted to the robot in order to maximise the accuracy of the acquired results by determining offset values. MATLAB is used to establish the appropriate control term values for the PID controller in order to replace the human tuning procedure and facilitate the stabilisation of the TWSB robot. According to the results, control term values of Kp = 64, Ki = 45, and Kd = 1.3 are adequate to maintain the posture of the TWSB robot, enabling it to maintain stability on a variety of surfaces, including flat and uneven surfaces, with or without the application of forces and obstructions

Self-Balancing Bot Using Concept of Inverted Pendulum

Self-balancing robot is based on the principle of Inverted pendulum, which is a two wheel vehicle balances itself up in the vertical position with reference to the ground. It consist both hardware and software implementation. Mechanical model based on the state space design of the cart, pendulum system. To find its stable inverted position, I used a generic feedback controller (i.e. PID controller). According to the situation we have to control both angel of pendulum and position of cart. Mechanical design consist of two dc gear motor with encoder, one arduino microcontroller, IMU (inertial mass unit) sensor and motor driver as a basic need. IMU sensor which consists of accelerometer and gyroscope gives the reference acceleration and angle with respect to ground (vertical), When encoder which is attached with the motor gives the speed of the motor. These parameters are taken as the system parameter and determine the external force needed to balance the robot up. It will be prevented from falling by giving acceleration to the wheels according to its inclination from the vertical. If the bot gets tilts by an angle, than in the frame of the wheels; the centre of mass of the bot will experience a pseudo force which will apply a torque opposite to the direction of tilt