450 research outputs found
Using the Internet to improve university education: Problem-oriented web-based learning and the MUNICS environment
Up to this point, university education has largely remained unaffected by the developments of novel approaches to web-based learning. The paper presents a principled approach to the design of problem-oriented, web-based learning at the university level. The principles include providing authentic contexts with multimedia, supporting collaborative knowledge construction, making thinking visible with dynamic visualisation, quick access to content resources via Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and flexible support by tele-tutoring. These principles are used in the Munich Net-based Learning In Computer Science (MUNICS) learning environment, which is designed to support students of computer science to apply their factual knowledge from the lectures to complex real-world problems. For example, students can model the knowledge management in an educational organisation with a graphical simulation tool. Some more general findings from a formative evaluation study with the MUNICS prototype are reported and discussed. E.g., the students' ignorance of the additional content resources is discussed in the light of the well-known finding of insufficient use of help systems in software applicationsBislang wurden neuere Ansätze zum web-basierten Lernen in nur geringem Maße zur Verbesserung des Universitätsstudiums genutzt. Es werden theoretisch begründete Prinzipien für die Gestaltung problemorientierter, web-basierter Lernumgebungen an der Universität formuliert. Zu diesen Prinzipien gehören die Nutzung von Multimedia-Technologien für die Realisierung authentischer Problemkontexte, die Unterstützung der gemeinsamen Wissenskonstruktion, die dynamische Visualisierung, der schnelle Zugang zu weiterführenden Wissensressourcen mit Hilfe von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien sowie die flexible Unterstützung durch Teletutoring. Diese Prinzipien wurden bei der Gestaltung der MUNICS Lernumgebung umgesetzt. MUNICS soll Studierende der Informatik bei der Wissensanwendung im Kontext komplexer praktischer Problemstellungen unterstützen. So können die Studierenden u.a. das Wissensmanagement in einer Bildungsorganisation mit Hilfe eines graphischen Simulationswerkzeugs modellieren. Es werden Ergebnisse einer formativen Evaluationsstudie berichtet und diskutiert. Beispielsweise wird die in der Studie festgestellte Ignoranz der Studierenden gegenüber den weiterführenden Wissensressourcen vor dem Hintergrund des häufig berichteten Befunds der unzureichenden Nutzung von Hilfesystemen beleuchte
Critical Casimir forces between planar and crenellated surfaces
We study critical Casimir forces between planar walls and geometrically
structured substrates within mean-field theory. As substrate structures,
crenellated surfaces consisting of periodic arrays of rectangular crenels and
merlons are considered. Within the widely used proximity force approximation,
both the top surfaces of the merlons and the bottom surfaces of the crenels
contribute to the critical Casimir force. However, for such systems the full,
numerically determined critical Casimir forces deviate significantly fromthe
pairwise addition formalismunderlying the proximity force approximation. A
first-order correction to the proximity force approximation is presented in
terms of a step contribution arising from the critical Casimir interaction
between a planar substrate and the right-angled steps of the merlons consisting
of their upper and lower edges as well as their sidewalls.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Line contribution to the critical Casimir force between a homogeneous and a chemically stepped surface
Recent experimental realizations of the critical Casimir effect have been
implemented by monitoring colloidal particles immersed in a binary liquid
mixture near demixing and exposed to a chemically structured substrate. In
particular, critical Casimir forces have been measured for surfaces consisting
of stripes with periodically alternating adsorption preferences, forming
chemical steps between them. Motivated by these experiments, we analyze the
contribution of such chemical steps to the critical Casimir force for the film
geometry and within the Ising universality class. By means of Monte Carlo
simulations, mean-field theory, and finite-size scaling analysis we determine
the universal scaling function associated with the contribution to the critical
Casimir force due to individual, isolated chemical steps facing a surface with
homogeneous adsorption preference or with Dirichlet boundary condition. In line
with previous findings, these results allow one to compute the critical Casimir
force for the film geometry and in the presence of arbitrarily shaped, but wide
stripes. In this latter limit the force decomposes into a sum of the
contributions due to the two homogeneous parts of the surface and due to the
chemical steps between the stripes. We assess this decomposition by comparing
the resulting sum with actual simulation data for the critical Casimir force in
the presence of a chemically striped substrate.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures; v2: added references, 17 pages, 14 figures.
This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article published in
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any
errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived
from it. The Version of Record is available online at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/27/21/21401
Gamification – Does it lead to higher motivation?
Since ever humans strive for recognition and success. That could be put down to the fact that centuries in the past the rule of the survival of the fittest was valid. According to Darwinians the fittest person is therefore more successful in surviving than the other ones. This rule is still in the head of humans. For instance, the competition between women regarding beauty can be seen as its legacy. It is almost a certainty that more beautiful women are more successful than not that beautiful ones. Humans do always try to be better than others to gain prestige and recognition.
Also the American psychologist Abraham Maslow illustrated this in the “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs”. It says that humans have different kind of needs like basic needs, psychological needs and self-fulfillment needs. Within the psychological needs Maslow defined the Self-Esteem needs which include the need for prestige and the feeling of accomplishment. Driven by those needs, humans compare with each other
Alignment of cylindrical colloids near chemically patterned substrates induced by critical Casimir torques
Recent experiments have demonstrated a fluctuation-induced lateral trapping
of spherical colloidal particles immersed in a binary liquid mixture near its
critical demixing point and exposed to chemically patterned substrates.
Inspired by these experiments, we study this kind of effective interaction,
known as the critical Casimir effect, for elongated colloids of cylindrical
shape. This adds orientational degrees of freedom. When the colloidal particles
are close to a chemically structured substrate, a critical Casimir torque
acting on the colloids emerges. We calculate this torque on the basis of the
Derjaguin approximation. The range of validity of the latter is assessed via
mean-field theory. This assessment shows that the Derjaguin approximation is
reliable in experimentally relevant regimes, so that we extend it to Janus
particles endowed with opposing adsorption preferences. Our analysis indicates
that critical Casimir interactions are capable of achieving well-defined,
reversible alignments both of chemically homogeneous and of Janus cylinders.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures; v2: 22 pages, 12 figure
Critical Casimir effect for colloids close to chemically patterned substrates
Colloids immersed in a critical or near-critical binary liquid mixture and
close to a chemically patterned substrate are subject to normal and lateral
critical Casimir forces of dominating strength. For a single colloid we
calculate these attractive or repulsive forces and the corresponding critical
Casimir potentials within mean-field theory. Within this approach we also
discuss the quality of the Derjaguin approximation and apply it to Monte Carlo
simulation data available for the system under study. We find that the range of
validity of the Derjaguin approximation is rather large and that it fails only
for surface structures which are very small compared to the geometric mean of
the size of the colloid and its distance from the substrate. For certain
chemical structures of the substrate the critical Casimir force acting on the
colloid can change sign as a function of the distance between the particle and
the substrate; this provides a mechanism for stable levitation at a certain
distance which can be strongly tuned by temperature, i.e., with a sensitivity
of more than 200nm/K.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figure
Computation of generalized solution spaces
Solution spaces are applied in distributed design processes. They enable an independent and robust development of the components of a target design. A solution space is a region which contains only good designs and lies in a potentially high-dimensional design space. By finding an appropriate solution space, the design processes for individual components can be decoupled from each other. This increases the efficiency of the overall design process and saves valuable resources.
An established method to find solution spaces is the box optimization algorithm. It provides solution spaces which are products of intervals and take on the shape of a high-dimensional, axis-parallel box. We review this method and give a detailed account of how different parameter settings affect the outcome of the algorithm.
The box optimization algorithm yields sometimes intervals that are too small. To this end, we develop the rotated box optimization algorithm. It couples specific pairs of components and rotates the corresponding box. Thus, it is able to find boxes with a larger volume and increases the amount of available good designs.
An algorithm which might yield even larger solution spaces is the polytope optimization algorithm. Instead of trying to find boxes which are as large as possible, it maximizes the volume of polytopes. Because polytopes have a much more flexible shape than boxes, this gives rise to larger solution spaces compared to the previous algorithms. However, the algorithm is more complex and requires additional steps to handle the polytopes.
We compare these algorithms by applying them to several high-dimensional optimization problems. Our results show that, indeed, the polytope optimization algorithm yields the solution spaces with the largest volume
Critical adsorption and critical Casimir forces for geometrically structured confinements
We study the behavior of fluids, confined by geometrically structured
substrates, upon approaching a critical point at T = Tc in their bulk phase
diagram. As generic substrate structures periodic arrays of wedges and ridges
are considered. Based on general renormalization group arguments we calculate,
within mean field approximation, the universal scaling functions for order
parameter profiles of a fluid close to a single structured substrate and
discuss the decay of its spatial variation into the bulk. We compare the excess
adsorption at corrugated substrates with the one at planar walls. The
confinement of a critical fluid by two walls generates effective critical
Casimir forces between them. We calculate corresponding universal scaling
functions for the normal critical Casimir force between a flat and a
geometrically structured substrate as well as the lateral critical Casimir
force between two identically patterned substrates.Comment: 25 pages, 21 figure
A sampling-based optimization algorithm for solution spaces with pair-wise-coupled design variables
Solution spaces are sets of good designs that satisfy all design goals. They serve as target regions for robust and independent component development in a distributed design process. So-called solution boxes provide best decoupling; however, they are often small and therefore impractical. This article proposes an algorithm that computes two-dimensional permissible regions for pairs of design variables that are substantially larger than solution boxes. This is accomplished by modifying the existing sampling-based optimization algorithm for boxes and extending it by box-rotation
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