Reggie Kwan

Saving weak programming students: applying constructivism in a first programming course

The Perform approach aims to improve the success rate of weak students in a first programming course. The approach, based on constructivism, takes a tight control on the mental model construction process in the weak students, and allows the students to navigate through many conceptual pitfalls in programming fundamentals. The paper covers a discussion of applying constructivism in programming, exposes common hazards in the learning process, illustrates why weak students are weak, and then suggests several guidelines that can help the weak students to attain at least foundation level programming. The paper ends with a summary of our experiences in the effect of the Perform approach.

Post-processing methodologies for off-line robot programming within computer integrated manufacture

Abstract A robot simulation system has been used not only as a design and simulation tool, but it also serves as an off-line programming system for industrial robots and other machines with a computer integrated manufacture (CIM) system. A robot simulation system is one of the essential elements for virtual manufacturing and agile manufacturing. A post-processor is an important element of an off-line robot programming system, as it allows the commercially available robot simulation systems to be used as off-line robot programming tools. The post-processor translates output statements from a robot simulator to a target robot language. Typically, the sequence of motion and data required to drive the robot can be transmitted through the use of a serial or parallel data link, between an off-line computer and a robot controller. The design of a general post-processor capable of translating the output of multiple robot simulators to multiple robot programming languages is an extremely complex problem. There are two basic ways of describing robot movements in robot control systems; one describes the manipulator movements in terms of the manipulator end-effector location (in compound transformation or absolute); whilst the other describes the movements in terms of manipulator joint angles. The former approach is suitable for future and present generation robots with a language processor installed in their controllers, whilst the latter is only specifically linked to earlier generation robot languages. Discrepancies between a specific robot simulation system and a real robot system which should be resolved as part of the post-processing, are analysed. The feasibility of generalising the post-processor was studied. In this paper different approaches of post-processing for off-line programs and methods of downloading off-line programs to robot controller are discussed also.

A web-based environment to improve teaching and learning of computer programming in distance education

Learning computer programming is not an easy task. Students need to spend hours doing practical activities in order to comprehend the techniques of writing computer programs and beginners usually face a number of obstacles associated with installing and using a compiler or integrated development environment. This paper introduces an online web-based system that provides an interactive integrated environment for students doing programming activities and coursework in a distance learning institution. The interactive system provides students with timely and effective feedback about programming activities without the need to have instructors and students meet at the same time and the same place. The web-based system provides students with an editing, compiling, testing and debugging environment for learning computer programming on the web. Instructors can monitor the learning progress of students, compile the students program and view the error messages through the students workplace in the online system.

An empirical examination of the use of NN5 for Hong Kong stock price forecasting

Reliable stock market movement prediction is a challenging task. The difficulty is mainly due to the close to random-walk behaviour of a stock time series. A number of published techniques have emerged in the trading community for prediction tasks. One of them is neural network, NN. In this paper, the theoretical background of neural networks and the backpropagation algorithm is reviewed. Subsequently, an attempt on building a stock buying/selling alert system using a backpropagation neural network, NN5, is presented. The system is tested with data from one of the Hong Kong stocks, The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) holdings. The system is shown capable of achieving an overall hit rate of 78%.

SOCIAL CAPITAL CREATION AND RECIPROCITY IN ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORMS

This paper investigates the creation of social capital in online courses. The advantages of using social capital to abstract the complex set of beneficial factors for online learning and collaboration are exploited. The role of online learning platforms in facilitating social capital creation is highlighted in a strategy based on trust development and reciprocity. The strategy is realized in social interaction components that can be integrated into any online learning platform. The paper reviewed several social interaction components that have been successfully deployed in an online course.

An Explicit Learner Profiling Model for Personalized Word Learning Recommendation

Word knowledge is the foundation of language acquisition for second language learners. Due to the diversity of background knowledge and language proficiency levels of different learners, it is essential to understand and cater for various needs of users in an e-learning system. A personalized learning system which meets this requirement is therefore necessary. Users may also be concerned about the possible risk of revealing their private information and prefer controls on the personalization of a system. To leverage these two factors: personalization and control, we propose an explicit learner profiling model for word learning task recommendation in this paper. This proposed profiling model can be fully accessed and controlled by users. Moreover, the proposed system can recommend learning tasks based on explicit user profiles. The experimental results of a preliminary study further verify the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Hybrid Learning: Innovation in Educational Practices

Virtual Reality (VR) technologies bring new opportunities and challenges to teaching and learning. Virtual Reality Learning Environment (VRLE), a VR-based interactive environment incorporating instructional design for educational purposes, nowadays draws great attention of interdisciplinary scholars. In this paper, we first introduce the current status of VRLE-based research studies from various perspectives and then summarise the on-going challenges based on previous research studies and our own experience in this research area.

An advanced organizer for asynchronous discussion forums

This paper presents an advanced organizer called SmartTag as a solution to ease the effort in identifying relevant messages in asynchronous discussion forums. SmartTag includes two tools for solving the problem: first, a message organizer for tagging relevant messages for future references, and second, a message filter that computationally evaluates the relevance of new messages for a user based on the personal preferences of this and other users. SmartTag employs techniques in statistical text analysis, recommender systems and collaborative filtering.

Application of Quality Assurance in Web-Based Laboratories

Asynchronous communication in traditional courses has proven to be inadequate in both the turn-around time and the lack of physical and psychological connection between the learners and the facilitators. A Web-based course provides new challenges regarding communications. Some students are already isolated geographically and have a difficult time making a connection with the facilitator and other students. This paper describes the closed lab conducted on the Internet in a programming course and how the conditions be monitored through the application of quality assurance (QA). Components of this course such as animated learning materials, notes, assignments, laboratories, and exams are all provided entirely through the Web. In this course, a virtual lab is run once a week to synchronize learning materials, to answer programming questions instantaneously, and to promote a learning community. This paper summarizes the experience in adopting the 5S in condition monitoring in the virtual laboratory, adoption of QA in condition monitoring and how this methodology can be extended to wider education sector.

Investigating the Effectiveness of Vocabulary Learning Tasks from the Perspective of the Technique Feature Analysis: The Effects of Pictorial Annotations

This research examines the effectiveness of vocabulary learning tasks from the perspective of Nation and Webb’s (2011) technique feature analysis. Three frequently practiced word learning exercises (reading comprehension, cloze-exercises, and sentence writing), and two types of annotations for target words (pictorial annotations, and textual annotations) were investigated. One hundred and twenty undergraduate students participated in the study and were randomly assigned to four groups to complete four tasks: reading comprehension with pictorial annotations, cloze-exercises with textual annotations, cloze-exercises with pictorial annotations, and sentence-writing with textual annotations. The post-test scores showed that the tasks of reading comprehension with pictorial annotations and doing cloze-exercises with textual annotations were similarly effective; and cloze-exercises with pictorial annotations were similarly effective as sentence-writing with textual annotations. Such results are consistent with the checklist for technique feature analysis, indicating that this framework is reliable in evaluating and predicting task effectiveness. It also shows that the involvement of imaging in an activity is conducive to word learning, and pictorial annotations promote effective learning. More integration of pictorial annotations in language learning materials is therefore suggested.