Models of student knowledge provide intelligent tutoring systems(ITS) with the required information to make informed adaptations that improve student learning. Student models are often based on a domain model and can be cumbersome to build. This work demonstrates that it is possible to create a model of student interactions with a Learning Management System(LMS) that can be used to predict student success at any point during the semester without a domain model or the use of formal evaluations. This research shows that it is possible to predict student success or failure early and accurately for students who will do very poorly or very well in the course. This work describes the framework of a domain independent student model that can predict student success throughout the semester.

Over the last few decades Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) has become a well established technology that is used throughout the manufacturing sector. In this time, changes in generator technology as well as tool design have brought about a many fold increase in EDM machining rates, particularly in Wire EDM. Yet in Ram-EDM issues with flushing of the inter-electrode gap hinders such improvements to material removal rates. In order to improve the removal rates in Ram-EDM new flushing methodologies are necessary. With this in mind an investigation into novel tooling kinematics, aimed at enhancing inter-electrode gap flushing is presented. Theses novel kinematics are inspired by the Reuleaux Triangle and its ability to machine near sharp comers. This concept is expanded upon in 1)rder to generate tool kinematics, which can machine regular as well as irregular polygons with sharp comers using rotating tools. The curvilinear tooling geometries described in this work are moved along complex orbits which necessitate a 4-axis CNC EDM machining center. Furthermore the slow axis travel speeds on current EDM machining centers presents an obstacle to properly implementing a rapid orbit meant to generating flushing. This problem is obviated in new ED-milling machines, but in the absence of such a machine alternative testing methods were investigated to prove the concept. It is shown that the Reuleaux Triangle inspired tooling machines at constant speed independent of depth, unlike traditional Ram-EDM tools that slow down as greater depths are reached. Thus tr e novel tooling geometries are capable of many fold improvements of machining rates. Ur fortunately these improved removal rates are achieved at the expense of localized tool wear. The novel tooling kinematics result in uneven tool wear patterns that cannot be modded using currently available techniques, thus a new simulation technique is presented. This technique reduces the 3D wear experienced by tools to allow a 2D simulation thereof. A number of examples area shown in order to validate this simulation technique. Due to uneven wear and poor machining rates at low pulse energies, the novel tooling kinematics are deemed unsuitable for finishing operations, but they excel in roughing regimes. It is therefore suggested that the novel tooling be used for the bulk material removal and a conventional Ram-EDM form tool be used to finish the cavity. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Educational Data Mining (EDM) is a developing discipline, concerned with expanding the classical Data Mining (DM) methods and developing new methods for discovering the data that originate from educational systems. It aims to use those methods to achieve a logical understanding of students, and the educational environment they should have for better learning. These data are characterized by their large size and randomness and this can make it difficult for educators to extract knowledge from these data. Additionally, knowledge extracted from data by means of counting the occurrence of certain events is not always reliable, since the counting process sometimes does not take into consideration other factors and parameters that could affect the extracted knowledge. Student attendance in Higher Education has always been dealt with in a classical way, i.e. educators rely on counting the occurrence of attendance or absence building their knowledge about students as well as modules based on this count. This method is neither credible nor does it necessarily provide a real indication of a student s performance. On other hand, the choice of an effective student assessment method is an issue of interest in Higher Education. Various studies (Romero, et al., 2010) have shown that students tend to get higher marks when assessed through coursework-based assessment methods - which include either modules that are fully assessed through coursework or a mixture of coursework and examinations than assessed by examination alone. There are a large number of Educational Data Mining (EDM) studies that pre-processed data through the conventional Data Mining processes including the data preparation process, but they are using transcript data as it stands without looking at examination and coursework results weighting which could affect prediction accuracy. This thesis explores the above problems and tries to formulate the extracted knowledge in a way that guarantees achieving accurate and credible results. Student attendance data, gathered from the educational system, were first cleaned in order to remove any randomness and noise, then various attributes were studied so as to highlight the most significant ones that affect the real attendance of students. The next step was to derive an equation that measures the Student Attendance s Credibility (SAC) considering the attributes chosen in the previous step. The reliability of the newly developed measure was then evaluated in order to examine its consistency. In term of transcripts data, this thesis proposes a different data preparation process through investigating more than 230,000 student records in order to prepare students marks based on the assessment methods of enrolled modules. The data have been processed through different stages in order to extract a categorical factor through which students module marks are refined during the data preparation process. The results of this work show that students final marks should not be isolated from the nature of the enrolled module s assessment methods; rather they must be investigated thoroughly and considered during EDM s data pre-processing phases. More generally, it is concluded that Educational Data should not be prepared in the same way as exist data due to the differences such as sources of data, applications, and types of errors in them. Therefore, an attribute, Coursework Assessment Ratio (CAR), is proposed to use in order to take the different modules assessment methods into account while preparing student transcript data. The effect of CAR and SAC on prediction process using data mining classification techniques such as Random Forest, Artificial Neural Networks and k-Nears Neighbors have been investigated. The results were generated by applying the DM techniques on our data set and evaluated by measuring the statistical differences between Classification Accuracy (CA) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of all models. Comprehensive evaluation has been carried out for all results in the experiments to compare all DM techniques results, and it has been found that Random forest (RF) has the highest CA and lowest RMSE. The importance of SAC and CAR in increasing the prediction accuracy has been proved in Chapter 5. Finally, the results have been compared with previous studies that predicted students final marks, based on students marks at earlier stages of their study. The comparisons have taken into consideration similar data and attributes, whilst first excluding average CAR and SAC and secondly by including them, and then measuring the prediction accuracy between both. The aim of this comparison is to ensure that the new preparation process stage will positively affect the final results.

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EDM is widely accepted in tool and die industries for its versatility in machining hardened steels. Its ability to machine heat treated hardened steels eliminates the conventional method of heat treatment after machining which results in distortions. However one draw back of the EDM process, which makes its uses limited, is the high cost and time for the electrode manufacture. The die sinking EDM process employs complex shaped electrodes which require specialized machining operation and often results in high lead times. Solid free form fabrication is found to be an excellent alternative for the conventional all metal electrodes for EDM. Rapid prototyping of the electrode models and electroforming with copper is a fervently studied method of producing cost effective electrodes. However most of the studies have reported premature failure of the electroformed electrodes, limiting its commercial use on a large scale. This study attempts to analyze the failure mechanism of electroformed stereo-lithography electrodes by conducting a finite element analysis of the electrode model using LSDYNA- 970. It has been shown that high temperatures and coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch are the primary reasons for the premature failures experienced in these types of electrodes. The study also proposes some design modifications to improve the electrode performance during repeated thermal loading. The modified electrodes showed significantly improved performance in analysis studies. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering / "December 2005." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 109--111)

Le travail réalisé au cours de cette thèse concerne le développement du système de bobines de l'expérience n2EDM à l'Institut Paul Sherrer (PSI). Le but de cette expérience est de mettre en évidence de nouvelles sources de violation CP à travers la mesure du moment dipolaire électrique du neutron. L'actuelle limite supérieure sur la mesure de nEDM, $2.9 \cross 10^{-26}$ e.cm (90\% C.L.) à été obtenue par la collaboration RAL-Sussex-ILL en 2006.L'expérience n2EDM vise à améliorer d'un ordre de grandeur la sensibilité statistique en gardant sous contrôle les effets systématiques. Cela requiert la production d'un champ magnétique très uniforme. Les non-uniformités de ce dernier sont en effet responsable de la dépolarisation des neutrons et impliqués dans plusieurs effets systématiques.Dans le premier chapitre, les motivations physiques sont discutées.Le second chapitre décrit le principe de mesure de l'expérience n2EDM, ainsi que l'importance de l'uniformité du champ magnétique. Le chapitre s'achève par une présentation globale du dispositif expérimental.Le troisième chapitre présente le logiciel COMSOL et discute du design et des performances de la bobine B$_{0}$, en charge de la production du champ magnétique principal.Dans le quatrième chapitre, le système de bobines correctrices chargées de corriger les non-uniformités du champ magnétique et celles devant produire des gradients spécifiques sont présentées.Finalement, le cinquième et dernier chapitre présente l'étude des dipôles magnétiques localisés et de leur influence sur l'expérience. / This work presents the design of the coils system developed for the n2EDM experiment at the Paul Sherrer Institute (PSI). The goal of this experiment is to reveal new sources of CP violation through the measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment. The current upper limit of the nEDM measurement, $2.9 \cross 10^{-26}$ e.cm (90\% C.L.) was achieved by the RAL-Sussex-ILL collaboration in 2006.The n2EDM experiment aims at improving by one order of magnitude the statistical sensitivity while keeping under control the systematics effects. It requires to produce a very uniform field, its non-uniformities being responsible of the neutron's depolarization and of severals systematic effects.In the first chapter, the theoretical motivation are discussed.The second chapter describes the measurement principle of the n2EDM experiment, as well as the importance of the magnetic field uniformity. This chapter ends by an overview of the apparatus.The third chapter introduces the COMSOL software and discuss the design and the performances of the B0 coil, in charge of the production of the main magnetic field.In the fourth chapter, the correcting coils used to suppress the non-uniformities of the magnetic field and the ones which produce specific gradients are presented.Finally, the fifth and last chapter talks about the study of localised magnetic dipoles and their influence on the experiment.

<p>Idag produceras, utväxlas och lagras fler och fler dokument elektroniskt i samma takt som ledtiderna blir kortare och kortare. Detta ställer högre krav på hur den stora mängd dokument som strömmar genom ett projekt ska hanteras; dels för att datorn som hjälpmedel inte ska väljas bort på grund av dålig struktur, säkerhet och användarvänlighet och dels för att inblandade aktörer skall ha möjlighet till rätt information vid rätt tillfälle.</p><p>Denna rapport ger grundläggande kunskaper om vilka system som finns för lagring och utväxling av information, vilka filformat för utväxling av information det förekommer inom byggbranschen samt ett exempel på ett eget utvecklat dokumenthanteringssystem enligt de krav som ställs.</p><p>De system som redogörs i rapporten är Electronic Document Management tillsammans med projektnätverk, Product Document Management, Product Life Cycle Management och Byggnads Informations Modell.</p><p>Slutligen redovisas exemplet vilket är ett projektverktyg utvecklat i programmet Microsoft Sharepoint.</p>

Idag produceras, utväxlas och lagras fler och fler dokument elektroniskt i samma takt som ledtiderna blir kortare och kortare. Detta ställer högre krav på hur den stora mängd dokument som strömmar genom ett projekt ska hanteras; dels för att datorn som hjälpmedel inte ska väljas bort på grund av dålig struktur, säkerhet och användarvänlighet och dels för att inblandade aktörer skall ha möjlighet till rätt information vid rätt tillfälle. Denna rapport ger grundläggande kunskaper om vilka system som finns för lagring och utväxling av information, vilka filformat för utväxling av information det förekommer inom byggbranschen samt ett exempel på ett eget utvecklat dokumenthanteringssystem enligt de krav som ställs. De system som redogörs i rapporten är Electronic Document Management tillsammans med projektnätverk, Product Document Management, Product Life Cycle Management och Byggnads Informations Modell. Slutligen redovisas exemplet vilket är ett projektverktyg utvecklat i programmet Microsoft Sharepoint.

No description available.

Along with the fashion of personal marketing, the traditional print media make a breakthrough by taking the advantage of digital technology to leap over the limitation of time and space. Take eDM as an example, the brand-new advertising technique that arranges bills, expenditure records and other personal information in group with the eDM, results in significant recommendation effect. Meanwhile it eradicates the prejudice that eDM is nothing more than spam and makes the eDM fresh and new! Therefore the recommendation effect appears. In the recent years, numbers of marketing researches pay much attention to the classical intimacy theory and put it into applications. Furthermore, the positive effect of personalization is verified by academical researches and business practices. Based on the manipulation of personalization and the theoretical application, this study is objective to confer the recommendation effect of personalized eDM and the mediating effect through intimacy. A two-stage survey by questionnaires was used with these samples of 490 ordinary consumers which are capable of using E-mail, and data were analyzed using the SPSS and AMOS for statistical tests. The results reveal that 1.the significant factor in influencing on intimacy is the personalization of eDM; 2.the significant factor in influencing on recommendation effect is the intimacy conceived by the eDM reader; 3.in the causal relationship between personalization and recommendation effect, intimacy is indeed an indispensable mediator. In the end, according to the findings, we draw upon some suggestions and limitations for future research.