3,196 research outputs found

    Inclusion within the classroom: transition planning for youths with special education needs (mild intellectual disability) in Trinidad and Tobago

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    The purpose of my research was to understand how special schools in Trinidad and Tobago are preparing youths (15-18 years) with special education needs (mild intellectual disability) for life after school. I wanted to understand the present-day experiences for youths with a mild intellectual disability, the views of their parents/legal guardians who are aware of their child’s experience, and educators who are using the education system to share knowledge and develop skills for youths with a mild intellectual disability. I interviewed 20 individuals (youths, parents/legal guardians, educators) from private, public and vocational special schools over three months. The experiences of youths with a mild intellectual disability at special schools who are preparing to transition from compulsory schooling showed them as having supportive learning environments and being prepared for potential future jobs in the skilled trades. The views of educators at special schools who are preparing youths with a mild intellectual disability to transition from compulsory schooling revealed them having a sense of pride, passion and purpose, and special schools having a curriculum focussed on skills-trade and remedial academics. The views of parents and/or legal guardians whose child with a mild intellectual disability is preparing to transition from compulsory schooling revealed them having a positive outlook of special schools, with special schools having a role in transition planning and wanting their child to be happy. However, there is uncertainty in post-compulsory school destinations for youths with a mild intellectual disability due to resource constraints and after school pathways that are not always clear. Recommendations for policy and practice provide options for how policymakers, parents/legal guardians, youths and special schools in Trinidad and Tobago can collaborate to prepare youths with a mild intellectual disability for life after school

    Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law

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    This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    A Critical Review Of Post-Secondary Education Writing During A 21st Century Education Revolution

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    Educational materials are effective instruments which provide information and report new discoveries uncovered by researchers in specific areas of academia. Higher education, like other education institutions, rely on instructional materials to inform its practice of educating adult learners. In post-secondary education, developmental English programs are tasked with meeting the needs of dynamic populations, thus there is a continuous need for research in this area to support its changing landscape. However, the majority of scholarly thought in this area centers on K-12 reading and writing. This paucity presents a phenomenon to the post-secondary community. This research study uses a qualitative content analysis to examine peer-reviewed journals from 2003-2017, developmental online websites, and a government issued document directed toward reforming post-secondary developmental education programs. These highly relevant sources aid educators in discovering informational support to apply best practices for student success. Developmental education serves the purpose of addressing literacy gaps for students transitioning to college-level work. The findings here illuminate the dearth of material offered to developmental educators. This study suggests the field of literacy research is fragmented and highlights an apparent blind spot in scholarly literature with regard to English writing instruction. This poses a quandary for post-secondary literacy researchers in the 21st century and establishes the necessity for the literacy research community to commit future scholarship toward equipping college educators teaching writing instruction to underprepared adult learners

    AI: Limits and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence

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    The emergence of artificial intelligence has triggered enthusiasm and promise of boundless opportunities as much as uncertainty about its limits. The contributions to this volume explore the limits of AI, describe the necessary conditions for its functionality, reveal its attendant technical and social problems, and present some existing and potential solutions. At the same time, the contributors highlight the societal and attending economic hopes and fears, utopias and dystopias that are associated with the current and future development of artificial intelligence

    Mining Butterflies in Streaming Graphs

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    This thesis introduces two main-memory systems sGrapp and sGradd for performing the fundamental analytic tasks of biclique counting and concept drift detection over a streaming graph. A data-driven heuristic is used to architect the systems. To this end, initially, the growth patterns of bipartite streaming graphs are mined and the emergence principles of streaming motifs are discovered. Next, the discovered principles are (a) explained by a graph generator called sGrow; and (b) utilized to establish the requirements for efficient, effective, explainable, and interpretable management and processing of streams. sGrow is used to benchmark stream analytics, particularly in the case of concept drift detection. sGrow displays robust realization of streaming growth patterns independent of initial conditions, scale and temporal characteristics, and model configurations. Extensive evaluations confirm the simultaneous effectiveness and efficiency of sGrapp and sGradd. sGrapp achieves mean absolute percentage error up to 0.05/0.14 for the cumulative butterfly count in streaming graphs with uniform/non-uniform temporal distribution and a processing throughput of 1.5 million data records per second. The throughput and estimation error of sGrapp are 160x higher and 0.02x lower than baselines. sGradd demonstrates an improving performance over time, achieves zero false detection rates when there is not any drift and when drift is already detected, and detects sequential drifts in zero to a few seconds after their occurrence regardless of drift intervals

    Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion. Collected Works, Volume 5

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    This ïŹfth volume on Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion collects theoretical and applied contributions of researchers working in different ïŹelds of applications and in mathematics, and is available in open-access. The collected contributions of this volume have either been published or presented after disseminating the fourth volume in 2015 in international conferences, seminars, workshops and journals, or they are new. The contributions of each part of this volume are chronologically ordered. First Part of this book presents some theoretical advances on DSmT, dealing mainly with modiïŹed Proportional ConïŹ‚ict Redistribution Rules (PCR) of combination with degree of intersection, coarsening techniques, interval calculus for PCR thanks to set inversion via interval analysis (SIVIA), rough set classiïŹers, canonical decomposition of dichotomous belief functions, fast PCR fusion, fast inter-criteria analysis with PCR, and improved PCR5 and PCR6 rules preserving the (quasi-)neutrality of (quasi-)vacuous belief assignment in the fusion of sources of evidence with their Matlab codes. Because more applications of DSmT have emerged in the past years since the apparition of the fourth book of DSmT in 2015, the second part of this volume is about selected applications of DSmT mainly in building change detection, object recognition, quality of data association in tracking, perception in robotics, risk assessment for torrent protection and multi-criteria decision-making, multi-modal image fusion, coarsening techniques, recommender system, levee characterization and assessment, human heading perception, trust assessment, robotics, biometrics, failure detection, GPS systems, inter-criteria analysis, group decision, human activity recognition, storm prediction, data association for autonomous vehicles, identiïŹcation of maritime vessels, fusion of support vector machines (SVM), Silx-Furtif RUST code library for information fusion including PCR rules, and network for ship classiïŹcation. Finally, the third part presents interesting contributions related to belief functions in general published or presented along the years since 2015. These contributions are related with decision-making under uncertainty, belief approximations, probability transformations, new distances between belief functions, non-classical multi-criteria decision-making problems with belief functions, generalization of Bayes theorem, image processing, data association, entropy and cross-entropy measures, fuzzy evidence numbers, negator of belief mass, human activity recognition, information fusion for breast cancer therapy, imbalanced data classiïŹcation, and hybrid techniques mixing deep learning with belief functions as well

    Developing a Governance Framework for a Commercially Successful, Inclusive, and Safe Metaverse

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    This study aimed to fill a significant gap in the literature on empirical research on the governance structure of the Metaverse. The purpose of this study was to describe Metaverse strategy and innovation management experts’ views on how business leaders and policymakers may collaborate on shaping a governance structure for the Metaverse. This study used a multiple case study design to collect data from a purposeful sample of eight Metaverse experts using a semistructured interview format. This study was framed by three key concepts: Rogers’s concept of diffusion of innovations, Ball’s concept of the Metaverse, and Fernandez and Hiu’s concept of privacy, ethics, and governance in the Metaverse. Twelve themes emerged from the analysis of the data: (a) the Metaverse as disruptors across all industries, (b) human adoption and collaboration as drivers of future business innovation in the Metaverse, (c) the challenge of interoperability across public and private platforms, (d) global network of stakeholders that fosters a holistic and innovative approach to data governance, (e) governance framework that creates value for the consumer, (f) centralized and decentralized options for governance, (g), advantages and challenges of user control over personal data, (h) collaborative policies as regulators of human behavior in the Metaverse, (i) multi-stakeholder generated Metaverse security and privacy policy, (j) policies that regulate user-generated content, (k) incorporation of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles for organizations operating in the Metaverse, and (l) accessibility to all consumers. This study’s result may drive positive social change by presenting practical information on developing a governance framework to regulate the Metaverse

    Comment sections and their role in a democratic society

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    Kommentarfelt lar lesere uttrykke seg offentlig innen en rekke temaer, gjĂžr det mulig med direkte tilbakemelding til journalister og redaktĂžrer, og de kan potensielt legge til rette for en demokratisk verdifull offentlig debatt. Til tross for dette er kommentarfelt blitt kritisert pĂ„ grunn av uhemmet atferd, usiviliserte og uhĂžflige kommentarer, samt politisk polariserende innhold. I den offentlige debatten blir kommentarfelt ofte beskrevet som problematiske, og det meste av forskning relatert til kommentarfelt setter sĂžkelys pĂ„ slik uhemmet atferd. Denne avhandlingen utforsker rollen kommentarfelt har i et demokratisk samfunn. NĂ„r man ser pĂ„ kommentarfelt gjennom rammeverk basert pĂ„ demokratiske teorier kan det virke som at kommentarfelt ikke lever opp til demokratiske standarder. Kommentarfelt har en tendens til Ă„ bli dĂžmt basert pĂ„ standardene til deliberative demokratiske teorier. Slike teorier legger vekt pĂ„ Ă„pen deltakelse og verdsetter beslutningstaking basert pĂ„ rimelig argumentasjon. Å benytte slike teorier kan derimot vĂŠre problematisk. Det vanskelig Ă„ bruke deliberative teorier som et rammeverk fordi kommentarfelt ikke har et spesifikt punkt der en beslutning blir tatt pĂ„ bakgrunn av den foregĂ„ende diskusjonen. En diskusjon i et kommentarfelt tar slutt nĂ„r alle deltakere har sagt det de skulle si, slik at debatten dĂžr pĂ„ egen hĂ„nd uten at noen beslutninger har blitt tatt. Et annet sett med demokratiske teorier som kanskje passer kommentarfelt bedre, som for eksempel participatory liberal theory og agonistic democracy, fokuserer mer pĂ„ deltakelse som viktig for demokratier. Kommentarfelt gjĂžr i fĂžrste Ăžyekast deltakelse i offentlige debatter enklere. Men slike teorier fokuserer ogsĂ„ pĂ„ gjensidig respekt som et grunnlag for offentlig debatt, noe kommentarfelt er kritisert for Ă„ mangle. Det kan vĂŠre at den beste teorien for Ă„ forstĂ„ kommentarfelts rolle i et demokratisk samfunn er ideen om post-demokrati, der kommentarfelt kan ha en rolle som et anti-establishment, ikke-profesjonelt forum pĂ„ profesjonelle nyhetsnettsteder. I denne avhandlingen er tre interessefelt blitt forsket pĂ„ gjennom tre artikler: effekten av anonymitet pĂ„ antisosial atferd, anklagelser av trolling, og mediekritikk i kommentarfelt. Avhandlingen presenterer disse forskningsprosjektene og diskuterer kommentarfelts rolle I et demokratisk samfunn, samt de metodologiske utfordringene som fĂžlger med nĂ„r man forsker pĂ„ kommentarfelt. Siden antisosial atferd blir diskutert mye og anonymitet ofte blir brukt for Ă„ forklare slik atferd, ble en studie gjennomfĂžrt der anonyme og ikke-anonyme kommentarer fra samme plattformer ble analysert. Anonymitet hadde en liten, men statistisk signifikant effekt pĂ„ antisosial atferd. Avhandlingen har ogsĂ„ funnet at anklagelser av trolling ofte var politisk motivert og brukt for Ă„ se bort fra andres argumenter man ikke var enige i, og at disse anklagelsene stort sett ble ignorert av andre deltakere og de som ble anklaget. Til slutt utforsker og kategoriserer avhandlingen kritikk av media i kommentarfelt. Tre typer kritikker blitt identifisert: kritikk av fokus, kvalitet og integritet. En andre dimensjon, mĂ„let for kritikk, ble ogsĂ„ identifisert: journalister, nyhetsorganisasjoner, og media. Denne avhandlingen konkluderer med at kommentarfelts rolle i et demokratisk samfunn er utfordrende, og at det stĂžrste hinderet for at kommentarfelt skal spille ne viktig positiv rolle er antisosial atferd. Men kommentarfelt har stort potensial til Ă„ kunne bli en demokratisk verdifull form for offentlige ytringer som fĂ„r folk til Ă„ besĂžke nyhetsnettsteder, det er en plattform der folks meninger blir utfordret, og en plattform for konstruktiv kritikk av media.Newspaper comment sections provide readers with a public platform to voice their opinion on a wide range of topics, provide a direct line of feedback for journalists and editors, and have the potential of facilitating a democratically valuable public debate. However, comment sections have come under scrutiny for the prevalence of disinhibited behavior, uncivil and impolite comments, as well as politically polarizing content. In the public debate, comment sections are often described as problematic, and most research that relates to comment sections, tend to focus on incivility and impoliteness. This thesis explores the role of comment sections in a democratic society. When considering comment sections through frameworks based on democratic theories, comment sections appear to fail to live up to democratically valuable standards. Comment sections tend to be judged by the standards of theories such as deliberative democracy and discursive, which emphasize open participation and places high value on making decisions based on reasonable argumentation. Using these theories, however, might be problematic. It is difficult to use these theories as a framework for discussing comment sections, because comment sections do not have a set point when a decision is made based on a preceding discussion. A discussion in a comment section only ends when all commenters have said what they wanted to say, at which point the debate dies down on its own without any decision having been made. Comment sections might be more suited within democratic frameworks that focus more on participation, such as participatory liberal theory and agonistic democracy. Participatory theories focus more on the participation aspect of democracy, and comment sections do, at least on first glance, make participation in the public debate easier. However, these theories also emphasize mutual respect as a basis for public discussion, something that comment sections are criticized for lacking. In the end, it might be that the best theory to understand the role of comment sections in a democratic society is the idea of the post-democracy, in which comment sections may serve a role as an anti-establishment, non-professional forum on professional, establishment news sites. For this thesis, three topics of interest have been investigated in three papers: the effect of anonymity on toxicity, accusations of trolling, and media criticism in comment sections. This thesis presents these research projects and discusses the role of comment sections in a democratic society, as well as the methodological challenges when researching comment sections. As toxicity is a much-debated topic, and anonymity is often used to explain such behavior, a study was devised where anonymous and non-anonymous comments from the same platform were analyzed, showing that anonymity has a small, but statistically significant effect on toxicity. This thesis also found that accusations of trolling are often politically motivated and used to dismiss opposing arguments and that these accusations were mostly ignored by other debaters and the accused. Finally, this thesis explores and categorizes criticism of the media found in comment sections. Three kinds of media criticism were identified: criticism of focus, quality and of integrity. A second dimension, target of criticism, was also identified: journalists, news organizations, and the media. The thesis concludes that the role of comment sections in a democratic society is challenging and that the greatest obstacle for comment sections playing an important, positive role is the prevalence of toxic disinhibition. There is, however, great potential for comment sections being a democratically valuable forum for public expression that incentivizes people to engage with the news media, where people have their opinions challenged and a platform for constructive criticism of the media.Doktorgradsavhandlin
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