Contextualizing Nature of Science Instruction in Socioscientific Issues

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two learning contexts for explicit-reflective nature of science (NOS) instruction, socioscientific issues (SSI) driven and content driven, on student NOS conceptions. Four classes of 11th and 12th grade anatomy and physiology students participated. Two classes experienced a curricular sequence organized around SSI (the SSI group), and two classes experienced a content-based sequence (the Content group). An open-ended NOS questionnaire was administered to both groups at the beginning and end of the school year and analyzed to generate student profiles. Quantitative analyses were performed to compare pre-instruction NOS conceptions between groups as well as pre to post changes within groups and between groups. Both SSI and Content groups showed significant gains in most NOS themes, but between-group gains were not significantly different. Qualitative analysis of post-instruction responses, however, revealed that students in the SSI group tended to use examples to describe their views of the social/cultural NOS. The findings support SSI contexts as effective for promoting gains in students’ NOS understanding and suggest that these contexts facilitate nuanced conceptions that should be further explored.     

International students’ course satisfaction and continuance behavioral intention in higher education setting: an empirical assessment in Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of perceived brand orientation, intercultural friendship, and university reputation on international students’ course satisfaction and continuance behavioral intention towards the higher education in Malaysia. A total of 348 questionnaires, administered on international students, were collected to empirically test the research model using partial least squares path modeling approach, a structural equation modeling technique for the assessment of measurement and structural model. The empirical results imply that perceived brand orientation and university reputation positively influence course satisfaction and course continuance behavioral intention, while intercultural friendships influences course continuance intention but not course satisfaction. The implications and limitations of research are discussed in the following sections.     

System-on-a-chip (SoC)-based hardware acceleration for foreground and background identification

The rapid growth of embedded vision applications and accessibility in recent years has instigated a philosophical shift in algorithm and implementation design for artificial intelligence. With the popularization of high-definition video, the amount of data available to be processed has also increased substantially, posing massive computational and communication demands. Hardware acceleration through specialization has received renewed interest in recent years; such acceleration has generally been implemented using two chips, with the image signal processing (ISP) part being performed by a DSP, a GPU or an FPGA and the video content analytics (VCA) part being executed by a processor. GPUs consume a substantial amount of power; thus, it is challenging to deploy them in embedded environments. However, the new generation of SoC-FPGAs that are fabricated with both the microprocessor and FPGA on a single chip consumes less power and can be built into small systems, thereby offering an attractive platform for embedded applications. This study presents the hardware acceleration of a real-time adaptive background and foreground identification algorithm in a SoC, including the capture, processing and display stages. The algorithm can be performed in either 2D or 3D space. The proposed platform uses photometric invariant color, depth data and local binary patterns (LBPs) to distinguish background from foreground. The system uses minimal cell resources, an elastically pipelined architecture is used to absorb variations in processing time, and each pipeline stage is optimized to use the available FPGA primitives. Additionally, the communication-centric architecture used in this work simplifies the implementation of embedded vision algorithms.     

Multi-location wideband synthetic aperture imaging for urban sensing applications

The presence of significant multipath propagation and heavy clutter in indoor environments imposes severe limitations on imaging through walls, rendering through-the-wall radar imaging a difficult and complex proposition. It is highly desirable to properly interpret the radar images and determine the contents of the indoor scene with a high level of confidence. Data collected from multiple vantage points around a structure can be used to improve imaging visibility into the indoor scene, which, in turn, enhances indoor target detection and localization. In this paper, we consider multi-location radar imaging. Image fusion techniques for combining synthetic aperture radar images acquired from multiple locations along two sides of an enclosed structure are presented. Supporting results, based on real-data collected in a semi-controlled laboratory environment, are provided which demonstrate the improved performance of the multiple location scheme compared to operation from a single vantage point.     

Current/voltage-mode universal filter using FTFNs

A new configuration realizing current/voltage-mode (CM/VM) universal filter using two four terminal floating nullors (FTFN) and four passive components is presented. The current-mode configuration has single input and three outputs and realises simultaneously lowpass (LP), bandpass (BP) and highpass (HP) responses from which allpass (AP) and notch functions can also be implemented. The voltage-mode filter has three inputs and two outputs and can be configured to realise all the five filtering functions. The circuit in current-mode uses grounded capacitors which are ideal for monolithic integration. Besides using a bare minimum number of passive components, the topology enjoys low active and passive sensitivity figures. Experimental and PSPICE simulation results are also included.     

Gender as a Discriminating Factor in the Evaluation of Teaching

One purpose of the present study was to rank order the variables that significantly predict the overall rating of a course. The second objective was to establish the variables on which male and female students vary in their evaluation of instruction.

Data were collected on 1064 students registered on various courses in the Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences (FLSS) of the University of Yaounde. A Teaching Evaluation questionnaire was constructed, validated and administered to students in the first, second and third years. Multiple regression techniques were used to rank order the variables, and discriminant analysis employed to determine the variables which show gender differences.

The results showed that variables such as development of interest in the course, overall organisation of the course, whether or not the student gains from the course, the use of the chalkboard as a teaching aid, and students' background preparation for the course are considered important, in that order. The teachers' rapport with the class and the language of instruction do not seem to be important in the prediction of overall evaluation of courses.

On the other hand, the four most important variables that maximally distinguish the male students from the female students in evaluation of instruction are fairness in marking, overall judgement of the course, organisation of individual class sessions, and overall organisation of the course.     

慈善组织微博影响力评价研究--基于17家全国公募基金会官方微博的实证研究

作为一种新型的自媒体,微博为慈善组织提供不可或缺的宣传平台和传播媒介,搭建网络平台新模式,不断提升慈善组织的公信力和影响力。以17家全国公募基金会官方微博作为研究样本,甄选11项指标构成慈善组织微博影响力评价指标体系,并运用因子分析方法,建立了慈善组织微博影响力评价模型。研究结果发现,反馈因子具有较高载荷,对慈善组织微博影响力的贡献率最大,其次是互动因子和公开因子。进而通过对单一因子排名和综合因子排名的对比分析发现,慈善组织微博影响力除了与开博时间、内容、形式、公开程度、互动和反馈等相关,还与基金会的性质和宗旨有密切关系。