scholarly journals The collaborative development of didactic materials

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Padron ◽  
Juanma Dodero ◽  
Paloma Diaz ◽  
Ignacio Aedo

In this paper we present an analysis of the development process of technology-supported didactic material. Such analysis considers didactic materials as the conjunction of contents and instructional design used to guide learning and teaching processes. And we examine why several features such as reusability, semantic interoperability and collaboration support must be ensured from the earlier stages of the material creation process. For those reasons didactic material development is not a trivial task and demands of a development methodology support and a high-quality authoring environment. We describe how the MD2 research project provides an integrated solution for creation of didactic materials that take into account those rationales. The MD2 solution is based on two approaches first, the definition of a method for the collaborative creation of didactic materials and second, the elaboration of a quality evaluation framework for a priori testing of educational products. We also present CASLO a collaborative authoring tool used to facilitate these endeavors.

Author(s):  
Chiara Treghini ◽  
Alfonso Dell’Accio ◽  
Franco Fusi ◽  
Giovanni Romano

AbstractChronic lung infections are among the most diffused human infections, being often associated with multidrug-resistant bacteria. In this framework, the European project “Light4Lungs” aims at synthesizing and testing an inhalable light source to control lung infections by antimicrobial photoinactivation (aPDI), addressing endogenous photosensitizers only (porphyrins) in the representative case of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. In the search for the best emission characteristics for the aerosolized light source, this work defines and calculates the photo-killing action spectrum for lung aPDI in the exemplary case of cystic fibrosis. This was obtained by applying a semi-theoretical modelling with Monte Carlo simulations, according to previously published methodology related to stomach infections and applied to the infected trachea, bronchi, bronchioles and alveoli. In each of these regions, the two low and high oxygen concentration cases were considered to account for the variability of in vivo conditions, together with the presence of endogenous porphyrins and other relevant absorbers/diffusers inside the illuminated biofilm/mucous layer. Furthermore, an a priori method to obtain the “best illumination wavelengths” was defined, starting from maximizing porphyrin and light absorption at any depth. The obtained action spectrum is peaked at 394 nm and mostly follows porphyrin extinction coefficient behavior. This is confirmed by the results from the best illumination wavelengths, which reinforces the robustness of our approach. These results can offer important indications for the synthesis of the aerosolized light source and definition of its most effective emission spectrum, suggesting a flexible platform to be considered in further applications.


Author(s):  
Brian A. Weiss ◽  
Linda C. Schmidt ◽  
Harry A. Scott ◽  
Craig I. Schlenoff

As new technologies develop and mature, it becomes critical to provide both formative and summative assessments on their performance. Performance assessment events range in form from a few simple tests of key elements of the technology to highly complex and extensive evaluation exercises targeting specific levels and capabilities of the system under scrutiny. Typically the more advanced the system, the more often performance evaluations are warranted, and the more complex the evaluation planning becomes. Numerous evaluation frameworks have been developed to generate evaluation designs intent on characterizing the performance of intelligent systems. Many of these frameworks enable the design of extensive evaluations, but each has its own focused objectives within an inherent set of known boundaries. This paper introduces the Multi-Relationship Evaluation Design (MRED) framework whose ultimate goal is to automatically generate an evaluation design based upon multiple inputs. The MRED framework takes input goal data and outputs an evaluation blueprint complete with specific evaluation elements including level of technology to be tested, metric type, user type, and, evaluation environment. Some of MRED’s unique features are that it characterizes these relationships and manages their uncertainties along with those associated with evaluation input. The authors will introduce MRED by first presenting relationships between four main evaluation design elements. These evaluation elements are defined and the relationships between them are established including the connections between evaluation personnel (not just the users), their level of knowledge, and decision-making authority. This will be further supported through the definition of key terms. An example will be presented in which these terms and relationships are applied to the evaluation design of an automobile technology. An initial validation step follows where MRED is applied to the speech translation technology whose evaluation design was inspired by the successful use of a pre-existing evaluation framework. It is important to note that MRED is still in its early stages of development where this paper presents numerous MRED outputs. Future publications will present the remaining outputs, the uncertain inputs, and MRED’s implementation steps that produce the detailed evaluation blueprints.


1944 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Arthur Child
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  

Author(s):  
J. L. ÁLVAREZ-MACÍAS ◽  
J. MATA-VÁZQUEZ ◽  
J. C. RIQUELME-SANTOS

In this paper we present a new method for the application of data mining tools on the management phase of software development process. Specifically, we describe two tools, the first one based on supervised learning, and the second one on unsupervised learning. The goal of this method is to induce a set of management rules that make easy the development process to the managers. Depending on how and to what is this method applied, it will permit an a priori analysis, a monitoring of the project or a post-mortem analysis.


Author(s):  
D. Egorov

Adam Smith defined economics as “the science of the nature and causes of the wealth of nations” (implicitly appealing – in reference to the “wealth” – to the “value”). Neo-classical theory views it as a science “which studies human behavior in terms of the relationship between the objectives and the limited funds that may have a different use of”. The main reason that turns the neo-classical theory (that serves as the now prevailing economic mainstream) into a tool for manipulation of the public consciousness is the lack of measure (elimination of the “value”). Even though the neo-classical definition of the subject of economics does not contain an explicit rejection of objective measures the reference to “human behavior” inevitably implies methodological subjectivism. This makes it necessary to adopt a principle of equilibrium: if you can not objectively (using a solid measurement) compare different states of the system, we can only postulate the existence of an equilibrium point to which the system tends. Neo-classical postulate of equilibrium can not explain the situation non-equilibrium. As a result, the neo-classical theory fails in matching microeconomics to macroeconomics. Moreover, a denial of the category “value” serves as a theoretical basis and an ideological prerequisite of now flourishing manipulative financial technologies. The author believes in the following two principal definitions: (1) economics is a science that studies the economic system, i.e. a system that creates and recombines value; (2) value is a measure of cost of the object. In our opinion, the value is the information cost measure. It should be added that a disclosure of the nature of this category is not an obligatory prerequisite of its introduction: methodologically, it is quite correct to postulate it a priori. The author concludes that the proposed definitions open the way not only to solve the problem of the measurement in economics, but also to address the issue of harmonizing macro- and microeconomics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syamsuddin Syamsuddin ◽  
Jamaluddin Al Afgani

Each learner has different needs in learning, as well as the students at the English Department Sawerigading University Makassar. This study aims at determining the effectiveness of a needs analysis to design a syllabus for the speaking 1 course to enhance the students’ communicative competence. Research and Development Methods (R & D) are used with three systematic steps: input, development, and output. The input step begins with a needs analysis (NA) involving 40 respondents who are chosen purposively. The data are collected through NA questionnaires and they are analyzed descriptively. Development Step is made to formulate the objectives and course targets that are then used to determine the course subject of speaking 1. The output step is done to design lesson plans and prototype of teaching materials. This study has found a teaching material development methodology that has resulted lesson plans and prototypes for a unit of instruction-based resource needs. This methodology can be used by designers or lecturers to develop other English teaching materials in various courses.


2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radoslav Rakovic

Successful management of a software project, besides a well-defined project development process, requires an early estimate of project complexity. In a prevailing practice, software development costs usually have been determined a posteriori i.e. after software project implementation. It is essential however, to know this estimate a priori, i.e., before commencement of works. This paper presents an attempt to construct a methodology that would enable an early estimate of software development cost and its refinements during subsequent development phases. The methodology assumes an object-oriented approach based on the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Unified Software Development Process (USDP). It outlines an Use Case Driven Architecture-Centric, Iterative and Incremental estimate process that could significantly improve and simplify early cost estimates. The presented methodology is illustrated on example of the POST software development project.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (05) ◽  
pp. 8131-8138
Author(s):  
Anne Lauscher ◽  
Goran Glavaš ◽  
Simone Paolo Ponzetto ◽  
Ivan Vulić

Distributional word vectors have recently been shown to encode many of the human biases, most notably gender and racial biases, and models for attenuating such biases have consequently been proposed. However, existing models and studies (1) operate on under-specified and mutually differing bias definitions, (2) are tailored for a particular bias (e.g., gender bias) and (3) have been evaluated inconsistently and non-rigorously. In this work, we introduce a general framework for debiasing word embeddings. We operationalize the definition of a bias by discerning two types of bias specification: explicit and implicit. We then propose three debiasing models that operate on explicit or implicit bias specifications and that can be composed towards more robust debiasing. Finally, we devise a full-fledged evaluation framework in which we couple existing bias metrics with newly proposed ones. Experimental findings across three embedding methods suggest that the proposed debiasing models are robust and widely applicable: they often completely remove the bias both implicitly and explicitly without degradation of semantic information encoded in any of the input distributional spaces. Moreover, we successfully transfer debiasing models, by means of cross-lingual embedding spaces, and remove or attenuate biases in distributional word vector spaces of languages that lack readily available bias specifications.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Sinta Dewi Ratnawati

This English for Specific/Occupational Purpose (ESP/EOP) program was meant to answer the needs of the Indonesian migrant labourers to improve their English for future employment as tour guides. The objectives of this research were to identify the contents that should be in the materials, to investigate the students’ response about the later developed materials, and to study the lacks in the program. The material development process underwent the 7 stages of material development proposed by Nation and Macalister (2010), consisted of analysing the environment and the needs, following principles, setting goals and objectives, choosing contents and sequence, finding the format and presentation, monitoring and assessing, and evaluating the course. However, since it is online learning, the stages had to be combined with the stages specifically for online materials proposed by Hartoyo (2012). Thus, the content and sequence choosing stage consisted of the selection of the types of program, materials, software and tasks. The materials consisted of 2 parts which were the tutorials and the lessons. Using the Task-Based Language Teaching approach (Nunan, 2004), the materials were developed and implemented combined with real time online classes. The students’ responses after the implementation were generally positive, although some improvements were still needed.   Keywords: English for specific purpose (ESP), English for occupational purpose (EOP), material development, online learning, English for tour guides, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)


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