Fusing different information retrieval systems according to query-topics: a study based on correlation in information retrieval systems and TREC topics

To evaluate Information Retrieval Systems on their effectiveness, evaluation programs such as TREC offer a rigorous methodology as well as benchmark collections. Whatever the evaluation collection used, effectiveness is generally considered globally, averaging the results over a set of information needs. As a result, the variability of system performance is hidden as the similarities and differences from one system to another are averaged. Moreover, the topics on which a given system succeeds or fails are left unknown. In this paper we propose an approach based on data analysis methods (correspondence analysis and clustering) to discover correlations between systems and to find trends in topic/system correlations. We show that it is possible to cluster topics and systems according to system performance on these topics, some system clusters being better on some topics. Finally, we propose a new method to consider complementary systems as based on their performances which can be applied for example in the case of repeated queries. We consider the system profile based on the similarity of the set of TREC topics on which systems achieve similar levels of performance. We show that this method is effective when using the TREC ad hoc collection.     

The rating of perceived exertion predicts intermittent vertical jump demand and performance

The aims of this study were (a) to assess the ability of the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) to predict performance (i.e. number of vertical jumps performed to a fixed jump height) of an intermittent vertical jump exercise, and (b) to determine the ability of RPE to describe the physiological demand of such exercise. Eight healthy men performed intermittent vertical jumps with rest periods of 4, 5, and 6 s until fatigue. Heart rate and RPE were recorded every five jumps throughout the sessions. The number of vertical jumps performed was also recorded. Random coefficient growth curve analysis identified relationships between the number of vertical jumps and both RPE and heart rate for which there were similar slopes. In addition, there were no differences between individual slopes and the mean slope for either RPE or heart rate. Moreover, RPE and number of jumps were highly correlated throughout all sessions (r = 0.97-0.99; P < 0.001), as were RPE and heart rate (r = 0.93-0.97; P < 0.001). The findings suggest that RPE can both predict the performance of intermittent vertical jump exercise and describe the physiological demands of such exercise.     

An exploratory study on academic staff perception towards blended learning in higher education

Education and Information Technologies - As the years progresses, higher education has move towards implementing Blended Learning (BL) which is a combination of face-to-face and online mode of...     

An emerging community in online mathematics teacher professional development: an interactional perspective

Online collaborative and content-focused professional development (PD) is becoming an increasingly important setting for supporting mathematics teachers’ professional learning. The purpose of this study was to better understand the process by which a community emerges in such a PD setting by examining how the cohesiveness of 21 mathematics teachers’ social network evolves and associated shifts in the quality of mathematics teachers’ mathematical discourse. We employed social network analysis (SNA) to examine the evolving cohesiveness of mathematics teachers’ social network and coding procedures to examine teachers’ mathematical discourse. A key finding was the documentation of an emergent divide between participation in the core and periphery during initial weeks of the PD and then a reduced divide and emergence of a social network that resembles a community. We argue that the instructor’s pattern of participation that included distributing their interactions across the subgroups while sending a common message regarding expectations for mathematical discourse in the PD may have contributed to the community formation process. We propose the Interaction Assessment Model, which outlines an approach for PD facilitators to use SNA as a feedback mechanism to differentiate facilitation of online collaborative and content-focused PD and build online communities.

     

English for Scientific Purposes (EScP): Technology,Trends, and Future Challenges for Science Education

To date, the concept of English for Specific Purposes has brought about a great impact on English language learning across various disciplines, including those in science education. Hence, this review paper aimed to address current English language learning in the science disciplines through the practice of computer-assisted language learning to identify the use of learning technologies in science-based literacy. In the literature review, the researchers found that science-based literacy instruction shares many pedagogical aims with English language teaching in terms of reading, writing, listening and speaking, allowing it to be classified as English for Scientific Purposes (EScP). To answer the research questions, the researchers conducted the survey by extracting related articles and teaching examples from the Web of Science. In the search procedure, the researchers used the keywords science OR scientific AND technolog* OR comput* in ten selected journals of social science citation index. Only articles which are specified as journal articles rather than other document types were included. After compiling the corpora, the researchers compared the trends, methodologies and results of EScP instruction in science education. The implications of this study include the opportunities, advantages and challenges for EScP instruction in science education to further develop better educational approaches, adopt new technologies, as well as offer some directions for researchers to conduct future studies.     

Experimental Evaluation of the Value Added by Raising a Reader and Supplemental Parent Training in Shared Reading

Research Findings: In an effort toward developing a comprehensive, effective, scalable, and sustainable early childhood education program for at-risk populations, we conducted an experimental evaluation of the value added by 2 family involvement programs to the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM). A total of 91 preschool classrooms that served minority populations of low socioeconomic status were randomly assigned to TEEM, TEEM plus Raising a Reader (RAR), or TEEM plus RAR augmented by Family Nights. Assessments of oral language and print knowledge were completed by more than 500 children at the beginning and end of the school year. Multilevel analyses of covariance controlled for classroom nesting and individual differences in age, ethnicity, and pretest scores. Although RAR alone demonstrated no added value, augmentation of RAR with Family Nights demonstrated significant impacts on measures of oral language (ts = 1.81–2.51, .05 < ps < .01) and print knowledge (t = 2.39, p < .01). Practice or Policy: Thus, parent training in shared reading practices appears to be necessary for children to benefit from programs that enrich the home literacy environment. That the combined program particularly benefited children who started preschool lagging behind in school readiness (ts = 1.64–2.49, ps < .05) suggests that this comprehensive model offers hope for closing the achievement gap.     

Concurrent object-discrimination learning in rats

Investigations employing primates have sometimes used tests of concurrent object-discrimination as indexes of multiproblem memory in comparative studies of neuropathological impairment. The present investigation was an attempt to employ a comparable test procedure with rats. Data from two experiments indicated that rats could indeed be trained on a concurrent object-discrimination task. Furthermore, results from the second experiment indicated that these performances and brightness discriminations shared the property of disruption by posterior decortication. Implications for the neuropsychology of learning and memory are discussed.     

A static method for obtaining a calibration factor for SRM bicycle power cranks

Many scientists and coaches are interested in mechanical power produced during cycling, and use Schoberer Rad Me\technik (SRM) bicycle power cranks to obtain this data. However, it has been expensive and difficult to calibrate SRM cranks, causing much of the collected data to be unreliable. We present a static method, derived from first principles, for obtaining a calibration factor for SRM cranks. A known mass and lever arm (chainring of a known diameter) are used to apply a known torque load to the instrument in four positions, and the output frequencies are used to calculate the calibration factor in Hz/Nm. The reproducibility of this method is ±0.01 Hz/Nm, which is acceptable for the application of the instrument, which is measurement of mechanical power application by cyclists at the crank. The method is reliable, inexpensive, and easy to set up, and will allow higher confidence in data collected using SRM power cranks. We recommend calibration of the power meter once every six months because of the measured drift of the calibration factor over time.     

Core Skills and the Idea of the Graduate

The question ‘What is a graduate?’ is under scrutiny from Government, employers and the higher education community itself. There are two current approaches—one originating within the philosophy of higher education, one emerging from the demands of employers and the focus on ‘core skills’—which might appear to have something to offer to the debate but which when first examined seem hard to reconcile and both of them difficult to translate into ‘threshold standards’. However, more detailed examination suggests the possibility of a new synthesis which could, if supported by further research and action by the Higher Education community collectively, answer the question to the satisfaction of all stakeholders whilst preserving essential academic autonomy.