The perception of incorporating digital information into online educational systems and the ideal of developing digital schools for lifelong learning have drawn much attention of the governments, academia, and industries around the world. The techniques of interactive learning have become a primary research topic in E-learning. However, most existing E-learning systems provide static instructional materials. The techniques of dynamic learning content management that adaptive to individual user knowledge level and learning goals have been tough challenges for the related research communities. The resulting repetitive and blind learning phenomena have significantly reduced user performance and motivation. We hypothesized that new algorithms of adaptive learning based on the integration of current information technologies, the use of fuzzy theory to express the uncertainty features of the user knowledge, and the exploitation of clustering techniques to analyze the knowledge of a user for the comprehended areas of the domain knowledge will effectively improve user satisfaction. In this study, a prototype system is developed, implemented, and experimented by using SCORM run-time environment. The knowledge of teaching domain and the features of the learner behavior are modeled by ontology to represent the hierarchy and relationship of the learning concepts. To quantify user knowledge and learning ability, fuzzy sets are applied with multiple analysis dimensions based on the pedagogical strategies and user learning experiences. The performance of a user for learning knowledge concepts is then evaluated. In particular, an algorithm is designed to extract the existing learning paths of a user by the relative position of the concepts that the user attains in the domain knowledge. Furthermore, the candidate direction types for recommending concepts are inferred and the candidate learning concepts that are appropriate or inappropriate to learn followed up can be identified by rules. Moreover, the candidate learning concepts are scheduled to construct customizable learning routes by clustering techniques. The personalized learning contents that best matching user learning intention would then be presented to the user. Simulations study in the uniform and normal distributions for the grades of users is conducted to evaluate the tutoring model for three levels of users. The experimental results show that the proposed model helps different levels of users to learn the domain knowledge effectively and the accuracy of recommending the relevant learning object contents is superior than the random selection method. With a richer description of user knowledge and features, the proposed adaptive system for online learning assistance may better diagnose the understanding of a learner and enhance the pertinence of the retrieved courses to user intended learning to improve the service quality for the user.

We propose a novel framework for motion planning and control that is based on a manifold encoding of the desired solution set. We present an alternate, model-free, approach to path planning, replanning and control. Our approach is founded on the idea of encoding the set of possible trajectories as a skill manifold, which can be learnt from data such as from demonstration. We describe the manifold representation of skills, a technique for learning from data and a method for generating trajectories as geodesics on such manifolds. We extend the trajectory generation method to handle dynamic obstacles and constraints. We show how a state metric naturally arises from the manifold encoding and how this can be used for reactive control in an on-line manner. Our framework tightly integrates learning, planning and control in a computationally efficient representation, suitable for realistic humanoid robotic tasks that are defined by skill specifications involving high-dimensional nonlinear dynamics, kinodynamic constraints and non-trivial cost functions, in an optimal control setting. Although, in principle, such problems can be handled by well understood analytical methods, it is often difficult and expensive to formulate models that enable the analytical approach. We test our framework with various types of robotic systems – ranging from a 3-link arm to a small humanoid robot – and show that the manifold encoding gives significant improvements in performance without loss of accuracy. Furthermore, we evaluate the framework against a state-of-the-art imitation learning method. We show that our approach, by learning manifolds of robotic skills, allows for efficient planning and replanning in changing environments, and for robust and online reactive control.

The main objective of this research is to adopt SCORM SSS (Simple Sequence Specification) standard to develop an adaptive learning system and to access its effectiveness for adaptive learning. The dependent variable of this research is the learners¡¦ learning outcomes, including three constructs that are the learning performance, satisfaction and learning efficiency. The subjects of this research are two classes with total of 61 students in the fifth grade of elementary school, the experiment group has 31 students, and the control group has 30 students. Experiment learning topic is decimal division in mathematics of primary school. The learning materials are designed by a professional teacher in the field of mathematics domain. The concept map and instructional flow chart were used to guide the content design. The result has found that the adaptive learning not only has the same level of learning performance, but also has a higher learning efficiency comparing with the traditional learning. The contributions of this research are; to provide an exemplification of how to design an adaptive learning course using SCORM SSS compliant LMS; to show the advantage that learners don¡¦t have to strict on a fixed learning path like in a traditional courses; and to demonstrate the potential for those competent students who can use less time to complete normal tasks and hence get chances to explore more in depth knowledge.

With an ever-growing number of publications in the biomedical domain, it becomes likely that important implicit connections between individual concepts of biomedical knowledge are overlooked. Literature based discovery (LBD) is in practice for many years to identify plausible associations between previously unrelated concepts. In this paper, we present a new, completely automatic and interactive system that creates a graph-based knowledge base to capture multifaceted complex associations among biomedical concepts. For a given pair of input concepts, our system auto-generates a list of ranked subgraphs uncovering possible previously unnoticed associations based on context information. To rank these subgraphs, we implement a novel ranking method using the context information obtained by performing random walks on the graph. In addition, we enhance the system by training a Neural Network Classifier to output the likelihood of the two concepts being likely related, which provides better insights to the end user.

This dissertation consists of two studies, which respectively investigate L2 Chinese learners' acquisition of simple wh-questions of different grammatical functions longitudinally over their first-year learning and their acquisition of indirect questions and wh-questions in complements at the end of their first year. The participants consisted of 21 first-year English-speaking learners of Chinese. Both grammaticality judgment (GJ) and oral production (OP) tests were used. Study 1 reports that only attributive wh-questions posed more difficulty to the participants than object wh-questions in OP test at the beginning stage, and adverbial wh-questions and object wh-questions were not found to be significantly different to the participants as reported in some L1 and L2 studies. This author attributed this to the different syntactic mechanism that L2 learners of movement language and learners of in-situ language go through. The initial stage of participants' grammar did not display a clear presence of [+wh] feature strength, and the development of the [-wh] feature strength in learners' L2 grammar was not linear, but U-shaped. Study 2 reveals that learners' performance on indirect questions and wh-questions in object complements was not as good as their performance on simple wh-questions at the end of first year learning. For indirect questions, the initial stage of participants' L2 grammar showed an obvious L1 influence, the embedded [+wh]. For wh-questions in complements, it did not show an L1 influence, the matrix [+wh], but an embedded [+wh], which is non-target like but resembles wide-scope wh-questions with an embedded [+wh] in Malay and Madurese. Learners' performance on simple wh-questions patterned together with that in matrix clauses of wh-questions in complements, which was better than their performance on embedded clauses of the two types of complex wh-questions. Evidence for connection between their performance on simple wh-questions and matrix clauses of wh-questions in complements regarding the grammatical feature that wh-words are not allowed in clause initial position was revealed, but there was no strong evidence for connection between their performance on embedded clauses of the two types of complex wh-questions. It suggests that learners might be using different strategies for acquisition of structures of different natures.

This dissertation presents a scalable web framework leaning system, Web-based Learning System (WebLS), addressing the distance learning scenario. Since the speed popularity of the Internet infrastructure and World Wide Web Services that have become the most commonly used information platform and an important medium for education; and expand to the Web-based e-Learning model. The Web-based e-Learning is not subject to the boundary of time or space that has greatly enhanced the effectiveness of online distance learning. The WebLS aims at bringing together the most promising web technologies and standards, in order to attain a scalability and highly availability online learning environment. Moreover, the scalable web framework includes a SCORM based learning management system (named LMS), a server cluster infrastructure, a learning content management service, an information and content repository (named LMS database), and an agent system supporting the innovative solutions taken to implement scalability, availability, portability, reusability, and standardization. The WebLS can store and provide Web access portal to learning contents from teachers, voluntaries, and institutions that lack resources or expertise to offer curriculums over the Internet. So, in the first we design and implement the web-based learning managemnt sytem, Learning Management System (LMS), which conform the e-Learning standard, SCORM 1.2 specification, that established by ADL, and satisfy the requirements of the basic functionality at online web-based learning. Besides, in point of the research topic of learning behavior analysis, we propose a study result for extracting better learning path, Experience Matrix System with Time Fragment Extraction (EMST), which can analyse the learner¡¦s study behavior in Web-based learing environment. Then the information is used to explore, analyse students¡¦ learning path in order to find out the suitable learning path for the more learners. As masses of learners concurrently enter the learning system, the system is often unable to serve such a massive workload, particularly during peak periods of learning activity. We use the server-cluster architecture as a way to create scalable and highly available solutions. However, hosting a variety of learning contents from different owners on such a distributed server system faces new design and management problems and requires new solutions. This dissertation describes the research work we are pursuing for constructing a system to address the challenges faced by hosting learning content on a server farm environment.

The e-Learning issues have been discussed and investigated recent years. People can learn on the Internet and feel more comfortable. But in the e-Learning environment, we discovered the learners might have some troubles in learning. They may encounter disorientation, cognitive overloading and learner control. Using some teaching methods or strategies from teachers can reduce these problems. So the Learning Management System (LMS) must have some mechanisms to accomplish these purposes. This thesis is trying to design a learning path control mechanisms that can help teachers to achieve their teaching goals and help learner to build their learning paths. The learning path control mechanisms are designed with Pre_Condition and Post_Condition. By using these mechanisms, teachers can control the learner¡¦s studying progress and guide learners to the suitable ways. And solving the issues of designing the learning path control mechanisms and user navigation. These mechanisms proposed conform to the e-Learning specification: The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) and used the Learning Object and the Run-Time Environment. Finally, this thesis developed a system not only provide the mechanisms but also help teachers to achieve their teaching goals and learners to establish their learning path.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-08-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:01:49Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 fiorante_fb_dr_arafcl.pdf: 626183 bytes, checksum: eb89079fe89bef938d3c76f2f03f3373 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a trajetória escolar dos alunos e alunas do último semestre dos cursos de licenciatura e bacharelado em Educação Física das Faculdades Integradas Einstein de Limeira. O intuito é desvendar as condicionantes que os levaram a optar por uma ou outra formação e conhecer a relação dessas com o sucesso ou fracasso nos seus itinerários escolares. Busca-se, também, analisar as diversas frações de classes advindas de meios econômicos e sócio-culturais diferentes. O objetivo foi, então, conhecer seu histórico familiar, suas práticas, comportamentos, estratégias, expectativas em relação à vida acadêmica e profissional. A autora, com essa análise, procura apontar os mecanismos que pudessem garantir, ou não, o êxito acadêmico desses estudantes. Para tanto, a metodologia utilizada é a pesquisa bibliográfica, a documental e a pesquisa de campo, composta por uma entrevista semi-estruturada. O trabalho é estruturado em quatro partes: na primeira foi feito um estudo sobre os pressupostos legais da formação profissional em Educação Física. Na segunda, são apresentadas informações sobre a cidade de Limeira, sobre as Faculdades Integradas Einstein de Limeira, e sobre o Projeto Pedagógico dos cursos de licenciatura e bacharelado em Educação Física dessa instituição. Na sequência, realizou-se uma apresentação da matriz teórica sobre os estudos do sociólogo francês, Pierre Bourdieu. Posteriormente, apresenta-se as bases teóricas do método praxiológico bourdiano, utilizado para as análises posteriores. O instrumento utilizado para a coleta de dados foi uma entrevista semi-estruturada, com perguntas abertas, as quais davam margem para respostas bem amplas. Visando atender os objetivos deste trabalho, o roteiro de questões foi elaborado de acordo com as categorias bourdianas, tais como: habitus primário, estruturado... / This work aims to evaluate the learning path of the students attending the last semester in Physical Education teacher and bachelor degrees in Faculdades Integradas Einstein of Limeira. The goal of this study was to find out the reasons why these students chose teacher or bachelor degrees and the relation between their choice and the success or failure through their school itineraries. It was also important to analyze the different economic, social and cultural class backgrounds. The goal was to check out the family history, its costumes, behavior, strategies and expectation related to academic and professional lives. In this way, the author intended to point out the mechanisms which could ensure, or not, the success of the education of these students. The methodology used was the bibliography, documental and field researches, using a semi structured interview. The work is composed of four parts: in the first part, a study on legal purposes of professional formation in Physical Education was carried out; in the second part, some information about the City of Limeira, Faculdades Integradas Einstein of Limeira and the pedagogical project on teacher and bachelor degrees in Physical Education of this college were presented. Next, the theoretical matrix on the studies of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu was described. Then the theoretical bases of Bourdieu‟s praxiology method were pointed out, to be used for further analysis. In order to collect some data, a semi structured interview, with questions which allowed general answers, was used. To obtain the results for this work, it was made up a questionnaire based on some Bourdieu‟s categories like primary habitus, structured, cultural capital, economic capital, social capital, school strategies among others. In the last part of the work, the learning path of ten students, of Physical Education major, selected for this study, was... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Orientador: Luci Regina Muzzeti / Banca: Ana Angélica Freitas Gois / Banca: Regina Maria Rovigatti Simões / Banca: Mauro Romanato / Banca: Fábio Tadeu Reina / Resumo: O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a trajetória escolar dos alunos e alunas do último semestre dos cursos de licenciatura e bacharelado em Educação Física das Faculdades Integradas Einstein de Limeira. O intuito é desvendar as condicionantes que os levaram a optar por uma ou outra formação e conhecer a relação dessas com o sucesso ou fracasso nos seus itinerários escolares. Busca-se, também, analisar as diversas frações de classes advindas de meios econômicos e sócio-culturais diferentes. O objetivo foi, então, conhecer seu histórico familiar, suas práticas, comportamentos, estratégias, expectativas em relação à vida acadêmica e profissional. A autora, com essa análise, procura apontar os mecanismos que pudessem garantir, ou não, o êxito acadêmico desses estudantes. Para tanto, a metodologia utilizada é a pesquisa bibliográfica, a documental e a pesquisa de campo, composta por uma entrevista semi-estruturada. O trabalho é estruturado em quatro partes: na primeira foi feito um estudo sobre os pressupostos legais da formação profissional em Educação Física. Na segunda, são apresentadas informações sobre a cidade de Limeira, sobre as Faculdades Integradas Einstein de Limeira, e sobre o Projeto Pedagógico dos cursos de licenciatura e bacharelado em Educação Física dessa instituição. Na sequência, realizou-se uma apresentação da matriz teórica sobre os estudos do sociólogo francês, Pierre Bourdieu. Posteriormente, apresenta-se as bases teóricas do método praxiológico bourdiano, utilizado para as análises posteriores. O instrumento utilizado para a coleta de dados foi uma entrevista semi-estruturada, com perguntas abertas, as quais davam margem para respostas bem amplas. Visando atender os objetivos deste trabalho, o roteiro de questões foi elaborado de acordo com as categorias bourdianas, tais como: habitus primário, estruturado... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This work aims to evaluate the learning path of the students attending the last semester in Physical Education teacher and bachelor degrees in Faculdades Integradas Einstein of Limeira. The goal of this study was to find out the reasons why these students chose teacher or bachelor degrees and the relation between their choice and the success or failure through their school itineraries. It was also important to analyze the different economic, social and cultural class backgrounds. The goal was to check out the family history, its costumes, behavior, strategies and expectation related to academic and professional lives. In this way, the author intended to point out the mechanisms which could ensure, or not, the success of the education of these students. The methodology used was the bibliography, documental and field researches, using a semi structured interview. The work is composed of four parts: in the first part, a study on legal purposes of professional formation in Physical Education was carried out; in the second part, some information about the City of Limeira, Faculdades Integradas Einstein of Limeira and the pedagogical project on teacher and bachelor degrees in Physical Education of this college were presented. Next, the theoretical matrix on the studies of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu was described. Then the theoretical bases of Bourdieu‟s praxiology method were pointed out, to be used for further analysis. In order to collect some data, a semi structured interview, with questions which allowed general answers, was used. To obtain the results for this work, it was made up a questionnaire based on some Bourdieu‟s categories like primary habitus, structured, cultural capital, economic capital, social capital, school strategies among others. In the last part of the work, the learning path of ten students, of Physical Education major, selected for this study, was... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

The Master’s thesis deals with the issue of the road detection in the outdoor environment using image processing. It is highly required that the methods selected are robust to sudden light changes within the image and effective in detection of wide variety of road surfaces possibly comprising certain kinds of pollution. Two methods have been used in order to reach the desired goal. The initial method uses standard algorithms of the image processing. Main outcome of this method are highlighted road boundaries. The following methodisbasedonconvolutionalneuralnetworks.Inthiscasewehaveclassificationtask. The result of this method is the estimation of the road direction. In the whole process, severalneuralnetworkstructureshavebeendesigned.Afterthenetworktrainingthemost suitable one was selected. Eventually, the results have been retested using newly created test set. Both of these methods are implemented in programming language Python.