50,670 research outputs found
Neuro-fuzzy knowledge processing in intelligent learning environments for improved student diagnosis
In this paper, a neural network implementation for a fuzzy logic-based model of the diagnostic process is proposed as a means to achieve accurate student diagnosis and updates of the student model in Intelligent Learning Environments. The neuro-fuzzy synergy allows the diagnostic model to some extent "imitate" teachers in diagnosing students' characteristics, and equips the intelligent learning environment with reasoning capabilities that can be further used to drive pedagogical decisions depending on the student learning style. The neuro-fuzzy implementation helps to encode both structured and non-structured teachers' knowledge: when teachers' reasoning is available and well defined, it can be encoded in the form of fuzzy rules; when teachers' reasoning is not well defined but is available through practical examples illustrating their experience, then the networks can be trained to represent this experience. The proposed approach has been tested in diagnosing aspects of student's learning style in a discovery-learning environment that aims to help students to construct the concepts of vectors in physics and mathematics. The diagnosis outcomes of the model have been compared against the recommendations of a group of five experienced teachers, and the results produced by two alternative soft computing methods. The results of our pilot study show that the neuro-fuzzy model successfully manages the inherent uncertainty of the diagnostic process; especially for marginal cases, i.e. where it is very difficult, even for human tutors, to diagnose and accurately evaluate students by directly synthesizing subjective and, some times, conflicting judgments
Evaluating intermediate Spanish students\u27 speaking skills through a taped test: A pilot study
A pilot study used the Spanish Oral Proficiency Test (SOPT)-a taped oral test to evaluate oral proficiency level of students of Intermediate Spanish. Based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (1986), the Intermediate-Mid was the appropriate level of oral proficiency for students at the end of two years of college- level language study. The study also examined what variables might affect the development of students\u27 oral skills. The results showed that foreign language learning experience in academic settings or outside of class, such as study abroad and travel abroad, might affect students\u27 overall speaking proficiency. In addition, lin- guistic inaccuracy from informal training may keep speakers to lower levels of proficiency. Learners should be more aware of the need to speak correctly to maintain a balance between function, content, and accuracy
Psychometrics in Practice at RCEC
A broad range of topics is dealt with in this volume: from combining the psychometric generalizability and item response theories to the ideas for an integrated formative use of data-driven decision making, assessment for learning and diagnostic testing. A number of chapters pay attention to computerized (adaptive) and classification testing. Other chapters treat the quality of testing in a general sense, but for topics like maintaining standards or the testing of writing ability, the quality of testing is dealt with more specifically.\ud
All authors are connected to RCEC as researchers. They present one of their current research topics and provide some insight into the focus of RCEC. The selection of the topics and the editing intends that the book should be of special interest to educational researchers, psychometricians and practitioners in educational assessment
Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), psychiatry and the clinical assessment of skills and competencies (CASC) : same evidence, different judgement
Background: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), originally developed in the 1970âs, has been
hailed as the "gold standard" of clinical assessments for medical students and is used within medical schools
throughout the world. The Clinical assessment of Skills and Competencies (CASC) is an OSCE used as a clinical
examination gateway, granting access to becoming a senior Psychiatrist in the UK.
Discussion: Van der Vleutenâs utility model is used to examine the CASC from the viewpoint of a senior
psychiatrist. Reliability may be equivalent to more traditional examinations. Whilst the CASC is likely to have
content validity, other forms of validity are untested and authenticity is poor. Educational impact has the potential
to change facets of psychiatric professionalism and influence future patient care. There are doubts about
acceptability from candidates and more senior psychiatrists.
Summary: Whilst OSCEs may be the best choice for medical student examinations, their use in post graduate
psychiatric examination in the UK is subject to challenge on the grounds of validity, authenticity and educational
impact
Beyond the Bubble: Technology and the Future of Student Assessment
Provides an overview of information technology's potential to enable better assessments of student achievement. Outlines promising models for testing complex skills, cognition, and learning and for utilizing such assessments to improve instruction
Digital communities: context for leading learning into the future?
In 2011, a robust, on-campus, three-element Community of Practice model consisting of growing community, sharing of practice and building domain knowledge was piloted in a digital learning environment. An interim evaluation of the pilot study revealed that the three-element framework, when used in a digital environment, required a fourth element. This element, which appears to happen incidentally in the face-to-face context, is that of reflecting, reporting and revising. This paper outlines the extension of the pilot study to the national tertiary education context in order to explore the implications for the design, leadership roles, and selection of appropriate technologies to support and sustain digital communities using the four-element model
A Software Radio Challenge Accelerating Education and Innovation in Wireless Communications
This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents our methodology and tools for
introducing competition in the electrical engineering curriculum to accelerate
education and innovation in wireless communications. Software radio or
software-defined radio (SDR) enables wireless technology, systems and standards
education where the student acts as the radio developer or engineer. This is
still a huge endeavor because of the complexity of current wireless systems and
the diverse student backgrounds. We suggest creating a competition among
student teams to potentiate creativity while leveraging the SDR development
methodology and open-source tools to facilitate cooperation. The proposed
student challenge follows the European UEFA Champions League format, which
includes a qualification phase followed by the elimination round or playoffs.
The students are tasked to build an SDR transmitter and receiver following the
guidelines of the long-term evolution standard. The metric is system
performance. After completing this course, the students will be able to (1)
analyze alternative radio design options and argue about their benefits and
drawbacks and (2) contribute to the evolution of wireless standards. We discuss
our experiences and lessons learned with particular focus on the suitability of
the proposed teaching and evaluation methodology and conclude that competition
in the electrical engineering classroom can spur innovation.Comment: Frontiers in Education 2018 (FIE 2018
EviPlant: An efficient digital forensic challenge creation, manipulation and distribution solution
Education and training in digital forensics requires a variety of suitable
challenge corpora containing realistic features including regular
wear-and-tear, background noise, and the actual digital traces to be discovered
during investigation. Typically, the creation of these challenges requires
overly arduous effort on the part of the educator to ensure their viability.
Once created, the challenge image needs to be stored and distributed to a class
for practical training. This storage and distribution step requires significant
time and resources and may not even be possible in an online/distance learning
scenario due to the data sizes involved. As part of this paper, we introduce a
more capable methodology and system as an alternative to current approaches.
EviPlant is a system designed for the efficient creation, manipulation, storage
and distribution of challenges for digital forensics education and training.
The system relies on the initial distribution of base disk images, i.e., images
containing solely base operating systems. In order to create challenges for
students, educators can boot the base system, emulate the desired activity and
perform a "diffing" of resultant image and the base image. This diffing process
extracts the modified artefacts and associated metadata and stores them in an
"evidence package". Evidence packages can be created for different personae,
different wear-and-tear, different emulated crimes, etc., and multiple evidence
packages can be distributed to students and integrated into the base images. A
number of additional applications in digital forensic challenge creation for
tool testing and validation, proficiency testing, and malware analysis are also
discussed as a result of using EviPlant.Comment: Digital Forensic Research Workshop Europe 201
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