A framework for the Comparative analysis of text summarization techniques

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Science and Advanced Analytics, specialization in Data ScienceWe see that with the boom of information technology and IOT (Internet of things), the size of information which is basically data is increasing at an alarming rate. This information can always be harnessed and if channeled into the right direction, we can always find meaningful information. But the problem is this data is not always numerical and there would be problems where the data would be completely textual, and some meaning has to be derived from it. If one would have to go through these texts manually, it would take hours or even days to get a concise and meaningful information out of the text. This is where a need for an automatic summarizer arises easing manual intervention, reducing time and cost but at the same time retaining the key information held by these texts. In the recent years, new methods and approaches have been developed which would help us to do so. These approaches are implemented in lot of domains, for example, Search engines provide snippets as document previews, while news websites produce shortened descriptions of news subjects, usually as headlines, to make surfing easier. Broadly speaking, there are mainly two ways of text summarization – extractive and abstractive summarization. Extractive summarization is the approach in which important sections of the whole text are filtered out to form the condensed form of the text. While the abstractive summarization is the approach in which the text as a whole is interpreted and examined and after discerning the meaning of the text, sentences are generated by the model itself describing the important points in a concise way

Toward Extractive Summarization of Online Forum Discussions via Hierarchical Attention Networks

Forum threads are lengthy and rich in content. Concise thread summaries will benefit both newcomers seeking information and those who participate in the discussion. Few studies, however, have examined the task of forum thread summarization. In this work we make the first attempt to adapt the hierarchical attention networks for thread summarization. The model draws on the recent development of neural attention mechanisms to build sentence and thread representations and use them for summarization. Our results indicate that the proposed approach can outperform a range of competitive baselines. Further, a redundancy removal step is crucial for achieving outstanding results.Comment: 5 page

Toward Extractive Summarization of Online Forum Discussions via Hierarchical Attention Networks

Forum threads are lengthy and rich in content. Concise thread summaries will benefit both newcomers seeking information and those who participate in the discussion. Few studies, however, have examined the task of forum thread summarization. In this work we make the first attempt to adapt the hierarchical attention networks for thread summarization. The model draws on the recent development of neural attention mechanisms to build sentence and thread representations and use them for summarization. Our results indicate that the proposed approach can outperform a range of competitive baselines. Further, a redundancy removal step is crucial for achieving outstanding results.Comment: 5 page

K-12 Community of Inquiry: A Case Study of K-12 Online Social Studies Teacher Practice in a Virtual School

Teaching practices, rationales, and roles of experienced online social studies teachers at one fully online high school in the southeastern United States were examined using the descriptive case study method. Three male teachers and one female social studies teacher, all with three or more years of experience in the online classroom, were studied using interviews, observations, and document analysis. The resultant data was then coded according to open and theoretical coding methods. Results demonstrated the teaching practices, rationales, and roles of experienced online social studies teachers. Results led to an adaptation of the Community of Inquiry framework to the K-12 setting entitled the K-12 Community of Inquiry framework. In addition, the author presents an Expanded Online Learner Support Roles (EOLSR) framework that addresses seventeen roles of K-12 online teachers. Further research is needed to identify practices of K-12 fully online teachers for all subject areas and to verify the applicability of the K-12 Community of Inquiry framework and the EOLSR framework

'Looking okay': exploring constructions of fluctuating or recurring impairments in UK Higher Education

This research explores constructions and understandings of fluctuating or recurring impairments in Higher Education in the UK. It considers ways in which institutional discourses within one UK University have shaped policy and provision for disabled students, and how students with fluctuating or recurring impairments negotiate and enact identities in this context. For many students, impairments such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/ myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), epilepsy or diabetes, for example, have the potential to vary in intensity, and thus impact, on participation in learning activities and on self-perception/ identity. With increasing disclosure, yet limited recognition, of such types of impairment comes a need for institutions to better understand changing impact in terms of inclusion and in observing anticipatory aspects of legislation, as well as furthering insight into how student identities are negotiated and constructed in an educational context. This research uses a social constructionist framework to explore constructions and subjectivities as regards fluctuating or recurring impairments, and comprises both staff and student perspectives. The staff perspective is based on the thematic narrative analysis of interviews with three members of staff, and is presented in conjunction with an example of institutional policy to highlight discourses drawn upon in constructing disability and disabled students. The impact of these discourses on institutional constructions and practice is key to the analysis. The student perspective is based on two phases of data collection: firstly, 24 semi-structured interviews with students who self-described a fluctuating or recurring impairment; and secondly, five students’ responses to six bi-weekly emails over the course of one academic trimester (January – April 2011). Summary data from the first phase is used to frame discussion on issues raised by students regarding institutional constructions and support. A ‘hybrid’ narrative analysis framework incorporating positioning analysis as well as both ‘big’ and ‘small stories’ has been used in analysing the phase two data. The approach considers the influence of institutional discourses on how students are positioned institutionally and position themselves, as well as ways in which performances of identity may be shaped. The thesis concludes by considering the implications of the research outcomes for Higher Education. In so doing, it notes the significance of policy implementation and cultural change, and makes recommendations for areas of focus in raising institutional awareness of fluctuating or recurring impairments within existing constructions of disability