Tomislava Lauc

Croatian text summarizer (CROSUM)

The paper describes automatic summarization of the scientific papers in Croatian language. The goal of the CROSUM is to generate extracts with high percent of extract- worthiness and about the same size as the authors abstract. This preliminary research shows that extracts generated using the lemmatized wordforms dictionary are not quite different from extracts that are given on the base of the non-lemmatized wordforms dictionary. The research brought us to conclusion that we should develop a technique for identifying cue phrases from training corpus or some linguistic technique in order to improve the text summarization for Croatian language.

A Rationale for Multi-modality in Multimedia Instructional Design

This paper describes a multi-modal approach to multimedia instructional design in a virtual learning environment. The research was conducted within an online course offering multimedia and multi-modal lessons, each of which was comprised of three different types of resources, specifically designed for the acquisition of computer literacy skills. The resources vary from textual resources, pictorial resources accompanied by text and video resources. All the resources are designed by the course lecturers, i.e. the authors of this paper. The purpose of the research was to investigate user perceptual modalities in terms of their preference towards educational multimedia for the acquisition of computer literacy. The methodology of this research is based on data mining techniques through log data which represents user navigation and behavior within the learning management system. The approach fosters self-regulated technology enhanced learning where the end user has control over the choice of learning resources according to personal preferences. The results of cluster analysis show that there are consistent user preferences in selecting a particular type of resources representing particular modality. The results provide a rationale for a multi-modal approach in designing a learning system based on multimedia instructional design and developed specifically for the acquisition of computer literacy, as a requirement for information literacy of the 21st century.

Multimedia Resources in an Online Course: Access and Usage with/Multimedijski resursi e-kolegija: pristup i upotreba s obzirom na osjetilni modalitet

Abstract In this paper we present a research on students’ perceptual modes and their learning activity with respect to use of multimedia learning resources in a virtual learning environment within an online course. The course content is offered in the form of lessons designed in the Moodle course management system. Lessons contain three different types of resources: textual, pictorial resources accompanied by text, and video resources. Considering the results of the VARK questionnaire, which labels the students’ learning styles, i.e. perceptual modes, as visual, aural, read/write and kinesthetic, we investigate the relation between the students’ perceptual modes and their learning activity regarding different types of resources. The results show that two out of three students are multimodal regarding their perceptual modality, and that students prefer pictorial resources accompanied by text. The research findings on learners’ preferences lead to more effective instructional design in an online learning environment. Key words: multimedia learning; perceptual modality; VARK. --- Sažetak U radu je prikazano istraživanje odnosa osjetilnog modaliteta i aktivnosti studenata s obzirom na odabir multimedijskih resursa e-kolegija. Sadržaj kolegija prezentiran je upotrebom lekcija izrađenih u sustavu za upravljanje nastavnim sadržajima Moodle. Lekcije sadrže tri tipa resursa: tekstualni, slikovno-tekstualni i video resurs. Upotrebom upitnika VARK utvrđeni su nacini ucenja utemeljeni na senzornom modalitetu (vizualni, auralni, tekstualni i kinesteticki), zatim istraženi odnosi modaliteta studenata i aktivnosti s obzirom na odabir razlicitih multimedijskih resursa. Rezultati pokazuju da su dva od tri studenta multimodalni i da su u ucenju skloni odabiru slikovno-tekstualnog resursa. Kljucne rijeci: multimedijsko ucenje; osjetilni modalitet; VARK.

Motion Event in Croatian, English, German and Italian Concerning Path Prefixes and Prepositions

We present an approach to encode translocative meaning and explore not only the possible, but also the preferred patterns for expressing this phenomenon in four languages: Croatian, English, German and Italian. We manually developed verb subcategorization frames for translocative meaning of prefixes PRE- and PRO-, enlarged the Croatian part of the bilingual dictionaries with the appropriate subcategorization frames and created the frame transition rules for three language pairs. The analysis presented here should indicate the possibilities of using obtained results for the development of both monolingual and bilingual verb dictionaries to facilitate foreign language acquisition, but also to improve the native language proficiency.