Towards a minimalist approach to lesson planning of an introductory database course

Research addressing learning of individual database topics is much more common than research that attempts to address broader issues in learning of database. This paper proposes a lesson planning approach for an introductory database course based on selected principles of the minimalist instructional design and the ARCS model of motivational design. The basic idea is to design action oriented lessons in a way to involve student participation as early as possible and to foster confidence of students in the learning process. The adoption of the approach results in an ordering of database topics which is significantly different from mainstream practices. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

A method to measure EMI due to electric field coupling on PCB

A new method to measure electric field coupling between PCB copper traces is presented. This method enables measurement of noise from waveforms obtainable from breadboard prototypes, which is available in an early stage in the design process. The measurement result can then be analyzed and provide information for further PCB design. This method is verified by experiments and applied to an off-line flyback converter.published_or_final_versio

Book Recommendation System using Data Mining for the University of Hong Kong Libraries

This paper describes the theoretical design of a Library Recommendation System, employing k- means clustering Data Mining algorithm, with subject headings of borrowed items as the basis for generating pertinent recommendations. Sample data from the University of Hong Kong Libraries (HKUL) has been used in a Quantitative approach to study the existing Library Information System, Innopac. Data Warehousing and Data Mining (k-means clustering) techniques are discussed. The primary benefit of the system is higher quality of academic research ensuing from better search results. Personalization improves individual effectiveness of learners and overall in better utilizing library resources.published_or_final_versio

EFL students’ perception of the use of text-to-speech synthesis in pronunciation learning

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners usually find speaking particularly challenging. One way to improve speaking skills in a foreign language is to speak with native speakers of the target language as often as possible. However this is not always easy in places where the population of speakers of the target language is scarce. Language anxiety is another major hurdle that EFL learners need to overcome. Being afraid of making mistakes, students tend to be reluctant to speak in the classroom. Teachers who constantly correct students' errors can intensify the students' apprehension. A key challenge in EFL learning is that how adequate help can be provided to learners with limited teachers' intervention. This paper reports the design of a study on the use of text‐to‐speech (TTS) synthesis in English pronunciation learning with the aims to alleviate EFL students' language anxiety, and to empower them to learn pronunciation with limited teachers' support. The study adopts TTS synthesis as a pronunciation model in exercises focusing on the supra‐segmental level. While coverage of the segmental level is not planned in the study, TTS synthesis facilitates learners to learn pronunciation of unfamiliar words by listening to the synthesized speech. The research question of this study is whether TTS synthesis can help alleviate EFL students' language anxiety, resulting in improving students' perception towards English pronunciation learning. Six one‐hour sessions on English pronunciation are planned for a class of secondary 3 students over a two‐month period. The instructional design is based on the John Keller's work which emphasises the motivation design. Data about the students' perception on English pronunciation learning will be collected in the first and the last sessions for analysis. Selected students will be asked for any perception change on English pronunciation learning in the study and the reasons behind in subsequent interviews.published_or_final_versio

Local and regional movements of the Australian white ibis threskiornis molucca in eastern Australia

Little is known about the movements of Australian birds. Information is particularly scarce on large, aquatic birds, which are usually difficult to access and handle. Their movements are also often complex, and therefore difficult to Identify. Here we present data on the local and long distance movements of the Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca, a highly mobile bird, which as many other waterbirds, continues to decline In its traditional ranges in inland Australia. At the same time it has invaded coastal urban environments, where its high abundances cause many problems and require management. Our analysis of past and present banding studies reveals that Australian White Ibis travel throughout the urban environment and visit landfills, where they forage in large numbers. They also conduct long distance movements, which lead birds from breeding sites In south-eastern Australia along the eastern coast to regions further north (Queensland and Papua New Guinea). Young birds return to their hatching site, when sexually mature. Their preferences for landfills, high mobility, complex movements and current decline in inland Australia need to be considered, when developing and implementing management strategies for Australian White Ibis and ecologically similar birds

On the Formal Verification of Diffusion Phenomena in Open Dynamic Agent Networks

International audienceThe paper is a contribution at the interface of social network theory and multi-agent systems. As realistic models of multi-agent systems, we assume agent networks to be open, that is, agents may join or leave the network at run-time, and dynamic, that is, the network structure may change as a result of agents actions. We provide a formal model of open dynamic agent networks (ODAN) in terms of interpreted systems, and define the problem of model checking properties of diffusion phenomena, such as the spread of information or diseases, expressed in a first-order version of computation-tree logic. We establish the decidability of the model checking problem by showing that, under specific conditions, the verification of infinite-state ODAN can be reduced to model checking finite bisimulations