Testing genetic algorithm, recombination strategies and the normalized compression distance for computer-generated music

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the WSEAS International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Engineering and Data Bases (AIKED 2006) held in Madrid (Spain) on 2006This paper analyzes the use of the normalized compression distance as a fitness function for the automatic generation of music by means of genetic algorithms, and tests the effect on performance of several genetic recombination procedures. The minimization of the distance of the generated music to a set of musical guides or targets makes it possible to obtain computer-generated music that reminds the style of a certain human author. In spite of the simplicity of the algorithm, the procedure obtains interesting results. The paper includes some considerations on the use of procedures that improve the performance of heavytailed distribution processes.This work has been sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC), project number TSI2005-08225-C07-06

An alternative measurement of the entropy evolution of a genetic algorithm

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at The European Simulation and Modelling Conference (ESM), held in Leicester (United Kingdom) on 2009In a genetic algorithm, fluctuations of the entropy of a genome over time are interpreted as fluctuations of the information that the genome’s organism is storing about its environment, being this reflected in more complex organisms. The computation of this entropy presents technical problems due to the small population sizes used in practice. In this work we propose and test an alternative way of measuring the entropy variation in a population by means of algorithmic information theory, where the entropy variation between two generational steps is the Kolmogorov complexity of the first step conditioned to the second one. We also report experimental differences in entropy evolution between systems in which sexual reproduction is present or absent.This work has been partially sponsored by MICINN, project TIN2008-02081/TIN and by DGUI CAM/UAM, project CCG08-UAM/TIC-4425

Automatic generation of benchmarks for plagiarism detection tools using grammatical evolution

This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in {Source Publication}, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/10.1145/1276958.1277388An extended version of this poster is available at arXiv‘. See: http://arxiv.org/abs/cs/0703134v4Student plagiarism is a major problem in universities worldwide. In this paper, we focus on plagiarism in answers to computer programming assignments, where students mix and/or modify one or more original solutions to obtain counterfeits. Although several software tools have been developed to help the tedious and time consuming task of detecting plagiarism, little has been done to assess their quality, because determining the real authorship of the whole submission corpus is practically impossible for graders. In this article we present a Grammatical Evolution technique which generates benchmarks for testing plagiarism detection tools. Given a programming language, our technique generates a set of original solutions to an assignment, together with a set of plagiarisms of the former set which mimic the basic plagiarism techniques performed by students. The authorship of the submission corpus is predefined by the user, providing a base for the assessment and further comparison of copy-catching tools. We give empirical evidence of the suitability of our approach by studying the behavior of one state-of-the-art detection tool (AC) on four benchmarks coded in APL2, generated with our technique.Work supported by grant TSI2005-08255-C07-06 of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science

Common Pitfalls Using the Normalized Compression Distance: What to Watch Out for in a Compressor

Using the mathematical background for algorithmic complexity developed by Kolmogorov in the sixties, Cilibrasi and Vitanyi have designed a similarity distance named normalized compression distance applicable to the clustering of objects of any kind, such as music, texts or gene sequences. The normalized compression distance is a quasi-universal normalized admissible distance under certain conditions. This paper shows that the compressors used to compute the normalized compression distance are not idempotent in some cases, being strongly skewed with the size of the objects and window size, and therefore causing a deviation in the identity property of the distance if we don't take care that the objects to be compressed fit the windows. The relationship underlying the precision of the distance and the size of the objects has been analyzed for several well-known compressors, and specially in depth for three cases, bzip2, gzip and PPMZ which are examples of the three main types of compressors: block-sorting, Lempel-Ziv, and statistic.This work was partially supported by grant TSI 2005- 08255-C07-06 of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science

La televisión como recurso educativo en un contexto iberoamericano

pags. 121-13

Las redes y la mejora del prácticum en la formación inicial de maestros

En el número doce de esta revista abordamos el uso de los audiovisuales y los multimedias en la formación del practicum de maestros. Aquí seguiremos en esta misma temática, analizando las posibilidades de las redes, mostrando algunas experiencias y model

ICT in higher education: Study, analysis and trends

Monographic Editoria

Erubric for the assessment of skills and content in the external practices: legal aspects

The external practices is one of the most specific research topics in the field of university education (Raposo Rivas & Martinez-Figueira, 2013). Despite the external practices long history as a topic of research, there are still some important aspects worth researching, especially following the recent degree changes, which have lead to an increased importance of credits and presence in all degrees in Spain (Gallego & García, 2010), the need to study in the learning environments and collaboration between Company - University. Likewise, the boom in practices based on ICTs, such as digital portfolios, poses the need to prop up technological solutions and methods with rigorous research studies, especially due to wide popularity of ICTs in general. The supervision process in the external practices clearly requires communication and follow-up to be done remotely, by using ePortfolios (Barrett, 2006). In addition to competence-based assessment and the need for students to provide learning evidences, the supervision process in the external practices also poses the need to analyse students’ ability to carry out such processes (Falchikov, 2005; Jonsson, A. & Svingby, 2007; Reddy & Andrade, 2010), as well as the need to find out the best supervision methods to be used with eportfolios. Amongst the eportfolio’s elements, we find a tool for design, communication and competence-based assessment known as the eRubric. This project aims [EDU2013-41974-P][1] to consolidate a research line that has already been undertaken with other R+D+i, and which currently intends to expand to different researchers and Centres of Excellence in Spain and other countries [Harvard University –EEUU-; Colonia University –Germany-; Sined –México-; Universidad Federal do Paraná and Sta. Catalina –Brasil- y Stockholm University –Sweden-]. The previous project R+D+i [EDU2010-15432][2] was investigated on subjects with class attendance (Raposo Rivas; Cebrián de la Serna and Martínez-Figueira, 2013; Cebrián de la Serna; Serrano Angulo & Ruiz Torres, 2014), without the mediation of distance-learning. Such circumstances have therefore been exempt from the extra dimension that technology often gives human communication. In addition, no research studies have been conducted on the highly specific field of the external practices, nor on the supervision of distance-learning competences. In this context, teachers and students exchanged numerous documents which can benefit from legal issues such as data protection and image of the child, copyrights and / or the right of access to information for all people regardless of their abilities and specific educational needs. Distance learning, which represents a teaching method undoubtedly on the rise as a great technology mediator. eRubric evaluation falls within the concept of formative assessment; it is valuable for both the formal and non-formal education systems (vocational training, the unemployed, training of civil servants, etc.) both public and private companies.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. R+D+i project: Study of the Impact of federated eRubrics on the evaluation of external practices competences EDU2013-41974-P web: http://goo.gl/CN6ID

Análisis, prospectiva y descripción de las nuevas competencias que necesitan las instituciones educativas y los profesores para adaptarse a la sociedad de la información

Adivinar el futuro es dificil pero siempre necesitamos disponer de una visión o prospectiva para planificar nuestros proyectos educativos. Aquí realizamos una prospectiva sobre las TIC en la educación, indicando las competencias que necesitará dominar e