40,799 research outputs found
Feeling what you hear: tactile feedback for navigation of audio graphs
Access to digitally stored numerical data is currently very limited for sight impaired people. Graphs and visualizations are often used to analyze relationships between numerical data, but the current methods of accessing them are highly visually mediated. Representing data using audio feedback is a common method of making data more accessible, but methods of navigating and accessing the data are often serial in nature and laborious. Tactile or haptic displays could be used to provide additional feedback to support a point-and-click type interaction for the visually impaired. A requirements capture conducted with sight impaired computer users produced a review of current accessibility technologies, and guidelines were extracted for using tactile feedback to aid navigation. The results of a qualitative evaluation with a prototype interface are also presented. Providing an absolute position input device and tactile feedback allowed the users to explore the graph using tactile and proprioceptive cues in a manner analogous to point-and-click techniques
Geometry in the Transition from Primary to Post-Primary
This article is intended as a kind of precursor to the document Geometry for
Post-primary School Mathematics, part of the Mathematics Syllabus for Junior
Certicate issued by the Irish National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in
the context of Project Maths.
Our purpose is to place that document in the context of an overview of plane
geometry, touching on several important pedagogical and historical aspects, in
the hope that this will prove useful for teachers.Comment: 19 page
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Networked Living: a new approach to teaching introductory ICT
The course T175 Networked Living is a 300 hour, multiple media, distance learning course offered by the UK
Open University. The first presentation of the course, in 2005, attracted over 1600 students. T175 introduces
students to general concepts of information and communication technology in a range of contexts, including:
communication and identity; entertainment and information; and health, transport and government. It is an
introductory (level 1) course for a variety of bachelors’ degrees, including the BSc programmes in: Information
and Communication Technology; IT and Computing; and Technology; as well as the BEng engineering
programme. The course was designed with a focus on retention of students and preparing them for further study.
Student workload and pacing was carefully planned and there is a significant study skills component. The course
uses a range of media, including: text, audio, computer animation and other software, and a website. Active
learning is encouraged by means of activities, online quizzes, animations, spreadsheets and a learning journal.
Continuous assessment is carried out via a mix of multiple-choice assignments (to test factual and numerical
skills) and written assignments (which include elementary research into new topics). The course culminates with
a written end-of-course assessment. This includes a major reflective component, as well as more traditional
questions designed to test knowledge and understanding
Learning Parallel Computations with ParaLab
In this paper, we present the ParaLab teachware system, which can be used for learning the parallel computation methods. ParaLab provides the tools for simulating the multiprocessor computational systems with various network topologies, for carrying out the computational experiments in the simulation mode, and for evaluating the efficiency of the parallel computation methods. The visual presentation of the parallel computations taking place in the computational experiments is the key feature of the system. ParaLab can be used for the laboratory training within various teaching courses in the field of parallel, distributed, and supercomputer computations
Geometric combinatorics and computational molecular biology: branching polytopes for RNA sequences
Questions in computational molecular biology generate various discrete
optimization problems, such as DNA sequence alignment and RNA secondary
structure prediction. However, the optimal solutions are fundamentally
dependent on the parameters used in the objective functions. The goal of a
parametric analysis is to elucidate such dependencies, especially as they
pertain to the accuracy and robustness of the optimal solutions. Techniques
from geometric combinatorics, including polytopes and their normal fans, have
been used previously to give parametric analyses of simple models for DNA
sequence alignment and RNA branching configurations. Here, we present a new
computational framework, and proof-of-principle results, which give the first
complete parametric analysis of the branching portion of the nearest neighbor
thermodynamic model for secondary structure prediction for real RNA sequences.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
Chippenham College (FEFC inspection report; 27/95 and 20/98)
Comprises two Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) inspection reports for the periods 1994-95 (27/95), and 1997-98 (20/98). The FEFC has a legal duty to make sure further education in England is properly assessed. Inspections and reports on each college of further education are conducted according to a four-year cycle. Chippenham College is a general further
education college serving the education and
training needs of market towns and rural
villages in north-west Wiltshire
'Not Quite Right': Helping Students to Make Better Arguments
This paper looks at the need for a better understanding of the impediments to critical thinking in relation to graduate student work. The paper argues that a distinction is needed between two vectors that influence student writing: (1) the word-level–sentence-level vector; and (2) the grammar–inferencing vector. It is suggested that much of the work being done to assist students is only done on the first vector. This paper suggests a combination of explicit use of deductive syllogistic inferences and computer-aided argument mapping is needed. A methodology is suggested for tackling assignments that require students to ‘make an argument’. It is argued that what lecturers understand tacitly, now needs to be made a focus of deliberate educational practices
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