Jaime D. L. Caro

User Modeling for Language Learning in Facebook

The rise of Facebook presents new challenges for matching users with content of their preferences. In this way, the educational aspect of Facebook is accentuated. In order to emphasize the educational usage of Facebook, we implemented an educational application, which is addressed to Greek users who want to learn the Conditionals grammatical structure in Filipino and vice versa. Given that educational applications are targeted to a heterogeneous group of people, user adaptation and individualization are promoted. Hence, we incorporated a student modeling component, which retrieves data from the user’s Facebook profile and from a preliminary test to create a personalized learning profile. Furthermore, the system provides advice to each user, adapted to his/her knowledge level. To illustrate the modeling component, we presented a prototype Facebook application. Finally, this study indicates that the wider adoption of Facebook as an educational tool can further benefit from the user modeling component.

Data crowdsourcing and traffic sensitive routing for a mixed mode public transit system

In this paper, we propose transit journaling, a crowdsourcing solution for public transit data collection, and we describe CommYouTer, an Android app for this purpose. CommYouTer enables the user to (1) document his public transit trips with automated transfer detection, (2) participate in crowdsourcing real-time traffic conditions and other relevant data, and (3) query for efficient commuting directions via a traffic-sensitive routing algorithm. For transit journaling, the app offers a recording feature that uses the smartphones GPS antenna and accelerometer to track the users location and activity. Activity detection is applied to the mobile phones accelerometer data to differentiate between two user states (walking vs. non-walking), which are then used to determine vehicle transfers along the journey. We also implement our modification of RAPTOR, an existing round-based public transit routing algorithm. Our modification allows the system to account for real-time crowdsourced traffic conditions. We test our system in Metro Manila, Philippines, where public transit is primarily headway-based (non-scheduled).

Use of analytics to improve student behavior and performance in an online course implementation

This paper discusses the usage of learning analytics as a tool to enhance teaching methods. To achieve this, we will provide visual representations on the different teaching methods used and their relation to the performance of the students. We will also show possible relationships between the learning analytics and the student behavior and performance in the course, and the importance of data analytics in open online course implementations. In addition, the methods applied are explained. The system is implemented and run on existing data sets from MITx and HarvardX.

Requirements gathering as an essential process in customizing Health Information Systems for small scale health care facilities

This paper discusses the manual billing system of a primary health care facility in a state university, and integration of a Health Information System (HIS) using GNU Health. This paper provides a solution on how to efficiently and effectively carry out the conversion of a small-scale health care facilitys existing forms and represent it in an HIS platform. By meeting the usability and needs of the target users, it is expected that the HIS would be easily adopted by health care personnel and the long-term use of the system will be assured across the functional units of the institution. Cognizant of the needs of UHS, the success of deploying the HIS and importantly, the billing system, will depend on the structured, efficiency, completeness, and quality of data gathering activities which will be carried out by the system developers.

A kinesthetic game as a motivational aid and monitor in upper extremities burns rehabilitation

Lack of motivation is often cited as one of the most common reasons as to why only few burn patients with physical conditions do the recommended rehabilitation exercises regularly. Many games have been created to address this problem but most of them require subjects to wear sensors and devices which can be intrusive. A non-intrusive kinesthetic game that uses a Kinect sensor to incorporate range of motion (ROM) exercises was developed to motivate second-degree or higher burns patients in the sub-acute stage aged 5-8 years old in upper extremity rehabilitation. The game also aids therapists in monitoring each patients progress by providing information regarding performance (i.e., reaction time, limb speed, and range of motion) and allows therapists to tweak parameters (e.g., joint to train, range area of focus) to address specific needs.

A Metric for User Requirements Traceability in Sequence, Class Diagrams, and Lines-Of-Code via Robustness Diagrams

In this work, we propose a metric based on the ICONIX paradigm to calibrate the consistency, completeness, and correctness of commonly used dynamic and static models of software design with a pre-specified set of user requirements expressed as Use Case Texts. A depth-first search-based algorithm is presented to extract scenarios and describe the temporal aspect of software development-related tasks embedded in the Robustness Diagram of ICONIX to derive results needed to perform further verification of these models. A procedure to perform a similar verification of a software’s set of Lines-of-Codes is also proposed. Finally, we perform empirical tests on real-world data and report the results.

On the diameter of a class of the generalized de Bruijn graphs

The generalized de Bruijn digraph denoted by G/sub B/(n, m) is defined to be the digraph with m vertices labelled by 0, 1, 2, ..., m-1 and with the adjacency defined as follows: If i is a vertex in G/sub B/(n, m) then i is connected to each vertex in the set E(i), where E(i)={ni+/spl alpha/(mod m)|/spl alpha//spl isin/[0, n-1]}. The generalized de Bruijn graph denoted by UG/sub B/(n, m) is defined to be the undirected version of G/sub B/(n, m) obtained by replacing each arc by an undirected edge and eliminating self-loops and multi-edges. In this paper we show that the diameter of UG/sub B/(n, m) is 2 for any m in [n+1, n/sup 2/] where n divides m and that the diameter is 3 for any m in [n/sup 2/+1, n/sup 3/] where n divides m.

Student analytics using support vector machines

The University of the Philippines places a high regard on its undergraduate programs. A significant budget is allocated by the Philippine government for the universitys undergraduate programs because of its impact to the countrys research and development, education, governance, and other aspects. However, a number of undergraduate students drop out of the campus or shift out from one program to another, affecting the universitys productivity and wasting its resources. The objective of this study is to present valuable information surrounding attrition, evaluate the factors affecting it, and develop a prediction model for the attrition of the whole campus.

Analysis of ICT Integration Initiatives in Basic Education and Lessons Learned: The Case of the Philippines

This paper presents an analysis of thirty-two (32) ICT integration initiatives of different extent and reach coming from the private sector, academe, and the government over the past ten years. This study uses the ICT for Education (ICT4E) vision of the Philippine Department of Education as the framework in analyzing these initiatives. This study seeks to: 1) identify particular components of ICT integration these initiatives were oriented, 2) characterize the main actors that drove these initiatives into action, 3) assess the sustainability of the said initiatives, and 4) categorize best practices and lessons learned. The study shows that the main bulk of the initiatives went to infrastructure (38%) and of which 65% went to secondary schools. The private sector implemented 70% of the infrastructure initiatives while the academe implemented only 4% of ICT4E vision. Of the still active initiatives, 67% of them are found in the secondary schools. The least sustainable initiatives were observed for the infrastructure component (60%). Finally, this study connects how these initiatives have paved the way in further refining the implementation of the ICT4E vision by presenting the lessons learned and the best practices which will serve as a guide for the funding institutions, the government, and the benefiting schools.

Design and development of a registry system for primary vasculitis

The aim of this paper is to design and develop a registry system for Primary Vasculitis through a mobile and web application. The Primary Vasculitis (PV) is an orphan disease and a good start to help patients afflicted through a nationwide registry. This is one of the tasks of the recently-formed Philippine Vasculitis Study Group (PVSG). There have been attempts at creating a crude, Excel-based PV registry system by a few institutions but so far none is web-based nor applicable for nationwide consumption. There is also no existing mobile application, which are more widely used even by physicians due to its accessibility, for this purpose. The use of a mobile application for both offline/online data collection and a web application for a tabular view and download of the database is therefore proposed. The study created a more accessible, efficient, and secure way of collecting and collating patient data using the criteria endorsed by the American College of Rheumatology to pre-evaluate the patient during examination. AngularJS was the script language used for both mobile and web application. Ionic Framework and PouchDB were chosen to develop the mobile application for both Android and iOS platforms. CouchDB was used to synchronize data between web and mobile applications. The applications features are divided into four parts: (1) Authentication, (2) Data Collection, (3) Search, and (4) Data Synchronization. A mobile and web application registry system for Primary Vasculitis was created for the PVSG to be used at a national and possibly international level.