Use of portfolios in assessing competency in applied learning of multimedia

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.With a view to be integrated into the new senior secondary curriculum from 2009/10 school year, Applied Learning (formerly known as Career-oriented Studies) courses have been piloting for senior secondary students in Hong Kong since 2003. The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of the implementation of portfolio assessment as an authentic assessment method in an applied learning of multimedia course. Specifically, the study had to answer questions of what is the improvement of the students' achievement, what are the changes in learning attitude and satisfaction of the participants, how can portfolios provide evidence of the students' competency, and what are the needs of professional development of teachers using portfolio assessment in applied learning. To evaluate the impact of portfolio implementation, the study collected data from both students and teachers to answer the research questions concerning students and teachers respectively. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were utilized for the study and relevant research on competence, portfolio and authentic assessment provided the primary theoretical context. Despite the finding that the introduction of portfolio assessment as one of the assessment methods did not significantly improve the students' achievement, the main contribution of this study is that it was evident that completing a portfolio benefit applied learning students and their portfolio compilation process can lead to an enhancement in student motivation towards learning. The results of the study also provided support that portfolios can be a form of authentic assessment for applied learning. The study found that portfolios can improve teacher understanding of competency and its assessment which led to a more professional approach by the teachers involved. Finally, the results suggested that teacher professional development should have a significant impact on the portfolio implementation. In order for this form of assessment to be effective, teachers must be trained in the various aspects of the approach. This study contributed to the literature of new senior secondary education, specifically the development of applied learning courses. To the extent that this study helped identify perceptions of the portfolio assessment by students and teachers, this study also contributed to the teaching and learning using portfolios. It is hoped that the encouraging findings of this study would shed light on the multifaceted benefits of portfolio assessment and would provide sound justifications for its integration into the applied learning curriculums

Deep Learning Based Vehicle Make-Model Classification

This paper studies the problems of vehicle make & model classification. Some of the main challenges are reaching high classification accuracy and reducing the annotation time of the images. To address these problems, we have created a fine-grained database using online vehicle marketplaces of Turkey. A pipeline is proposed to combine an SSD (Single Shot Multibox Detector) model with a CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) model to train on the database. In the pipeline, we first detect the vehicles by following an algorithm which reduces the time for annotation. Then, we feed them into the CNN model. It is reached approximately 4% better classification accuracy result than using a conventional CNN model. Next, we propose to use the detected vehicles as ground truth bounding box (GTBB) of the images and feed them into an SSD model in another pipeline. At this stage, it is reached reasonable classification accuracy result without using perfectly shaped GTBB. Lastly, an application is implemented in a use case by using our proposed pipelines. It detects the unauthorized vehicles by comparing their license plate numbers and make & models. It is assumed that license plates are readable.Comment: 10 pages, ICANN 2018: Artificial Neural Networks and Machine Learnin

Energy bands and Landau levels of ultracold fermions in the bilayer honeycomb optical lattice

We investigate the spectrum and eigenstates of ultracold fermionic atoms in the bilayer honeycomb optical lattice. In the low energy approximation, the dispersion relation has parabolic form and the quasiparticles are chiral. In the presence of the effective magnetic field, which is created for the system with optical means, the energy spectrum shows an unconventional Landau level structure. Furthermore, the experimental detection of the spectrum is proposed with the Bragg scattering techniques.Comment: To appear in Journal of Modern Optic

Phase transformation behaviour of porous NiTi alloys fabricated by capsule-free hot isostatic pressing

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to characterize the phase transformation behaviour of porous Ni50Ti50 alloys fabricated by capsule-free hot isostatic pressing (CF-HIP) with different cold compaction pressures. Experimental results reveal that a multi-stage martensitic transformation (MST) exists in the sintered porous NiTi alloys on cooling while the reverse transformation upon heating is either a single or two-stage phase transformation. The DSC thermal analysis indicates that the cold compaction pressure has great effect on the subsequent transformation temperatures. Generally, the phase transformation temperatures of porous NiTi alloys with lower cold compaction pressure are higher than those compacted with higher pressure. With increase in the annealing time, the transformation temperatures increase quickly when the cold compaction pressure was 150MPa. On the other hand, the transformation temperatures change only slightly when the cold compaction pressure was varied from 300MPa to 400MPa. These phenomena can be attributed to the combined effect of larger plastic deformation with higher dislocations density produced by cold compaction and the precipitation of the second phase in the porous NiTi alloys.published_or_final_versio

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Essential Oil of Aerial Parts of Glycosmis parviflora (Sims) Little (Rutaceae)

Purpose: To investigate the chemical composition and toxicity of the essential oil of Glycosmis parviflora (Sims) Little aerial parts against root-knot nematode and two grain storage insects (maize weevil and red flour beetle).Methods: Steam distillation of G. parviflora was carried out using Clavenger apparatus in order to extract its volatile oil. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis (HP-5MS column) of the essential oil was performed and the toxicity of the oil determined by contact test.Results: A total of 37 components comprising 98.7 % of the essential oil were identified, of which (Z)- caryophyllene (20.6 %), methyl isoeugenol (11.1 %), (Z)-β-ocimene (8.9 %), α-cubebene (6.4 %), nerolidol (5.4 %), aromandendrene (4.9 %) and γ-pyronene (4.7 %) were found to be the major components. The essential oil possessed strong nematicidal activity against M. incognita with an LC50 value of 92.84 μg/ml. The essential oil of G. parviflora exhibited strong contact toxicity against S. zeamais and T. castaneum adults with LD50 values of 41.7 and 22.6 μg/adult,  respectively.Conclusion: The study indicates that the essential oil of G. parviflora aerial parts has a potential for development into a natural insecticide/nematicide for control of nematodes and grain storage insects.Keywords: Glycosmis parviflora, Essential oil, Meloidogyne incognita, Sitophilus zeamais, Triboliumcastaneum, Contact toxicit

Large-scale molecular dynamics simulation of magnetic properties of amorphous iron under pressure

Author name used in this publication: C. H. Woo2006-2007 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Trophic strategy of diverse methanogens across a river-to-sea gradient

Methanogens are an important biogenic source of methane, especially in estuarine waters across a river-to-sea gradient. However, the diversity and trophic strategy of methanogens in this gradient are not clear. In this study, the diversity and trophic strategy of methanogens in sediments across the Yellow River (YR) to the Bohai Sea (BS) gradient were investigated by high-throughput sequencing based on the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that the diversity of methanogens in sediments varied from multitrophic communities in YR samples to specific methylotrophic communities in BS samples. The methanogenic community in YR samples was dominated by Methanosarcina, while that of BS samples was dominated by methylotrophic Methanococcoides. The distinct methanogens suggested that the methanogenic community of BS sediments did not originate from YR sediment input. High-throughput sequencing of the mcrA gene revealed that active Methanococcoides dominated in the BS enrichment cultures with trimethylamine as the substrate, and methylotrophic Methanolobus dominated in the YR enrichment cultures, as detected to a limited amount in in situ sediment samples. Methanosarcina were also detected in this gradient sample. Furthermore, the same species of Methanosarcina mazei, which was widely distributed, was isolated from the area across a river-to-sea gradient by the culture-dependent method. In summary, our results showed that a distribution of diverse methanogens across a river-to-sea gradient may shed light on adaption strategies and survival mechanisms in methanogens

Characterization of a continuous feline mammary epithelial cell line susceptible to feline epitheliotropic viruses.

Mucosal epithelial cells are the primary targets for many common viral pathogens of cats. Viral infection of epithelia can damage or disrupt the epithelial barrier that protects underlying tissues. In vitro cell culture systems are an effective means to study how viruses infect and disrupt epithelial barriers, however no true continuous or immortalized feline epithelial cell culture lines are available. A continuous cell culture of feline mammary epithelial cells (FMEC UCD-04-2) that forms tight junctions with high transepithelial electrical resistance (>2000Omegacm(-1)) 3-4 days after reaching confluence was characterized. In addition, it was shown that FMECs are susceptible to infection with feline calicivirus (FCV), feline herpesvirus (FHV-1), feline coronavirus (FeCoV), and feline panleukopenia virus (FPV). These cells will be useful for studies of feline viral disease and for in vitro studies of feline epithelia

Growth of long-period gratings in H₂-loaded fiber after 193-nm UV inscription

2000-2001 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

An emigration genetic algorithm and its application to multiobjective optimal designs of electromagnetic devices

Author name used in this publication: S. L. Ho2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe