Conversations as a Holistic Assessment Tool : An Action Research Report

As Japanese educational policy places greater emphasis on spoken communication skills (MEXT, 26 September 2014), a greater need arises for appropriate assessments that can provide meaningful information to all stakeholders. This paper presents data collected from student performances on an experimental spoken English assessment task conducted at a Japanese university. Designed as the foundation for a reconstructed English communication curriculum for first-year university students enrolled in compulsory English classes (Tempest, 2018), the assessment task elicited free-form conversation, which was then transcribed and analyzed for specific metrics of spoken L2 output. Data deriving from student-generated transcriptions of recorded conversations included total words spoken, total turns taken, average turn length, and longest turn length. Preliminary analysis of the data indicates positive student gains over the course of the semester. As an investigative report of the assessment task trial period, few claims can be made at this point. However, future studies are forthcoming with support from JSPS KAKENHI grant number 19K13309

An Examination of Body Dissatisfaction and Media Exposure

The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between muscle magazine consumption and body dissatisfaction. The study also examined the relationship between muscle magazine consumption and the amount of disparity between ideal and real body shape. Participants (N = 108) were recruited via study board, and also on a volunteer basis, from a mid-Western university with a population of 20,674 students. The first hypothesis stated that men with greater exposure to muscle magazines would indicate that their actual body shape falls further away from their ideal body shape, in terms of both muscularity and fat level, than men who read fewer magazines that focus on muscle building. The second hypothesis stated that men with greater exposure to muscle magazines would indicate higher levels of body dissatisfaction than men who read fewer magazines focused on muscle building. To evaluate the first hypothesis, a linear regression analysis was conducted to determine whether magazine consumption would predict the distance between real and ideal body shape, in terms of both fat and muscle content. Results did not support the first hypothesis and are not consistent with prior research that showed higher levels of muscle and fitness magazine consumption correlating positively with a greater drive for thinness and a greater drive for muscularity. Results did not support the second hypothesis: greater exposure to muscle magazines did not lead to greater levels of body dissatisfaction. Regression analysis found that there was no predictive relationship between muscle magazine consumption and body dissatisfaction or muscle magazine consumption and greater distance between ideal and real body shapes. Additional t-test analysis found that men who read muscle magazines actually indicated significantly lower levels of dissatisfaction with their bodies than men who did not read muscle magazines; however, that result is restricted to collegiate athletes only. Results from this study are important in that they indicate, in men, there are other factors involved in determining how individuals end up with increased levels of body dissatisfaction. Prior findings also concluded that men’s concerns with body shape thrive as a combination of multiple constructs involving social, personal, and mass media factors. Although magazine literature has some bearing on body image concern, particularly with women, it is unclear as to whether magazine consumption contributes to its effect on men. One limitation of this study is that participants reported on the degree to which they were dissatisfied with their bodies. Some individuals may not have acknowledged their level of dissatisfaction with their own bodies. Information based upon self-reporting measures may have been inaccurate due to under or over reporting in surveys. Another limitation of this study, particularly when using the results as a comparison tool toward previous studies, is that the measures used to determine levels of body dissatisfaction differ. Researchers abroad have used different measures to arrive at what would be considered similar conclusions regarding body dissatisfaction. There are multiple measures that can be used to determine a person’s level of satisfaction and drive for muscularity. Some measures are better than others at capturing variable characteristics. Another important limitation is that muscle magazines only represent one form of media consumption. A study that incorporated other forms of media may be more fruitful in its findings. Therefore, results should be interpreted with caution. However, with everexpanding information technology capabilities, society is increasingly bombarded with information more so than ever before. This study provides additional insight into the question of whether or not more is better. It also identifies a gender difference in the predicting power of magazine consumption and body dissatisfaction

Continuous PDE Dynamics Forecasting with Implicit Neural Representations

Effective data-driven PDE forecasting methods often rely on fixed spatial and / or temporal discretizations. This raises limitations in real-world applications like weather prediction where flexible extrapolation at arbitrary spatiotemporal locations is required. We address this problem by introducing a new data-driven approach, DINo, that models a PDE's flow with continuous-time dynamics of spatially continuous functions. This is achieved by embedding spatial observations independently of their discretization via Implicit Neural Representations in a small latent space temporally driven by a learned ODE. This separate and flexible treatment of time and space makes DINo the first data-driven model to combine the following advantages. It extrapolates at arbitrary spatial and temporal locations; it can learn from sparse irregular grids or manifolds; at test time, it generalizes to new grids or resolutions. DINo outperforms alternative neural PDE forecasters in a variety of challenging generalization scenarios on representative PDE systems

Le développement de la compétence textuelle à travers les stades acquisitionnels en français L2

Dans le cadre d’un travail plus vaste sur les stades acquisitionnels des suédophones en français L2 nous examinons de manière pluridimensionnelle trois dimensions de la compétence textuelle de 24 apprenants pré- avancés et avancés : la complexité syntaxique des énoncés, le rôle des connecteurs au niveau textuel et l’analyse fonctionne des propositions relatives. Les résultas sont présentés sous forme de faisceaux de traits caractéristiques du développement de la compétence textuelle des stades intermédiaires à avancés en mettant l’accent sur ce que sont les derniers bastions à acquérir. Ces recherches sont effectuées au sein du nouveau projet InterFra La dynamique des stades acquisitionnels en français L2 financé par Le Conseil Suédois de la Recherche.This article proposes to investigate the textual competence of 24 intermediate and advanced learners from a pluridimensional perspective. The study is carried out accordingly along three dimensions of textual competence : syntactic complexity, the role of connectors at the textual level and a functional analysis of the acquisition of relative clauses. The results, which are presented as bundles of features characteristic of textual competence through the acquisitional stages, focus on the last ramparts to be acquired by advanced and very advanced learners and show that learners go from local to global planning, reproduce native macro-syntactic patterns. The research is being carried out within the new InterFra project Developmental stages in French L2 financed by The Swedish Rese arch Council

Reflections on designing and implementing a task-based unit using gamebooks

A small scale action-research project was designed to explore the effectiveness of using interactive narratives to facilitate L2 output in a communicative English class. A four-week unit of instruction was implemented across five classes comprised of non-English major students at a university in Japan. Using graded reader gamebooks from the Atama-ii series, activities were designed to simultaneously engage students in English reading while also promoting active discussion in English. Data was collected in the form of instructor field logs and student surveys. Researchers concluded that although the activities did not facilitate in-class L2 communicative output, the gamebooks did serve to increase students’ willingness to engage in English activities

All-trans retinoic acid suppresses interleukin-6 expression in interleukin-1-stimulated synovial fibroblasts by inhibition of ERK1/2 pathway independently of RAR activation

International audienc

Student Survey of Information Technology

Survey of 400 WKU students about information technology used in strategic operations planning for Information Technology. The survey attempted to determine the depth and breadth of student computer use and knowledge of a variety of hardware and software. The report was presented to the WKU Board of Regents at the August 17, 2001 meeting

Modelo matemático para o apoio à decisão de abertura de um armazém de soja quanto à viabilidade econômica e financeira

Monografia (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Departamento de Administração, 2016.O agronegócio é um dos principais mercados que influenciam de maneira positiva a economia brasileira, tendo a soja como o produto de maior representatividade em volume (USDA, 2016). O Brasil é hoje o primeiro exportador de soja do mundo, e segundo maior produtor. Esse promissor mercado, não tem tido, entretanto, a infraestrutura logística necessária para o seu crescimento. Ao analisar a logística agroindustrial fica evidente alguns gargalos que limitam a qualidade dos serviços, em especial a armazenagem. A falta de armazéns induz os produtores de grãos a vender seus produtos logo após a colheita, não existindo, portanto, a possibilidade de estocar seus produtos e estudar as melhores épocas de produção e venda. Contudo, a decisão de ter um armazém não é simples, visto que esse mecanismo logístico possui um alto custo de aquisição e manutenção. Diante desse cenário, o presente trabalho tem o objetivo de elaborar modelo matemático para o apoio à decisão de construção de um armazém de soja quanto à viabilidade econômica e financeira. A pesquisa realizada foi de natureza aplicada, com objetivos descritivos e abordagem mista, quantitativa e qualitativa. A coleta de dados foi essencialmente de pesquisa bibliográfica, por meio de revisão narrativa e sistemática de literatura, com análise de conteúdo. A revisão sistemática de literatura permitiu definir quais são os aspectos financeiros que influenciam na análise de viabilidade econômica e financeira de um armazém de soja. Com isso, Foram desenvolvidos dois modelos, divididos conforme seus planejamentos, sendo um tático e o outro estratégico. Os modelos foram implementados no software Lingo 15.0 versão acadêmica, com dados aleatórios e resultaram em um desempenho computacional de 0.14 a 0.35 segundos, contando com um computador de processador Intel Core 3, com dois núcleos de 1.40GHz e 4Gb de memória RAM. Os modelos desenvolvidos apresentam um considerável ganho, pois permitem a análise de viabilidade econômica e financeira de um armazém de soja e produtos similares de maneira eficiente, com resultados objetivos e claros

Learner Profiles for EFL in Japanese Higher Education : Incoming Student Beliefs, Experiences, and Expectations

Research in language learning suggests that learner profiles can help teachers develop more appropriate and differentiated student-centered learning environments. A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate learner beliefs, experiences, and expectations. Quantitative and qualitative instruments were developed to collect data from incoming first-year students of a compulsory English communication course at a university in Japan. Data was categorized and analyzed regarding learners’ orientation to English learning, willingness to communicate, and readiness for e-learning. Results indicate that while this group of learners retain more traditional orientations towards language learning, they are generally willing to interact with others in a language class, are relatively comfortable using web technology, and have positive expectations for the course. Similarity of results across departments and gender suggests that learner profiles may be more helpful to teachers at the level of individual learners. Further research exploring teacher perceptions of the utility of this data for pedagogical agendas is recommended