International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 28-31, 1996 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / Generally, to meet the Telemetry and Tracking functions in space probes, RF packages are realised using dedicated circuit configurations and different building blocks. While this approach is warranted for certain Space missions, for some Space programmes, which are basically Technology demonstrators and where the main emphasis is on higher flexibility with minimal complexity - usage of multifunction RF modules (MFRM), would be highly avantageous. The MFRM, which can be considered as a RF package, has a flexible configuration and is built around Common basic building blocks like broadband MMIC, wide band amplifiers, switches, Dielectric Resonant Oscillators (DRO), Numerically Controlled Oscillators (NCO), etc. It also has a Microcontroller, whose function is to select the required configuration and make necessary interconnections between the building blocks, so as to achieve a specific end function, based on the pre set commands from system designer. The commands can either be preprogrammed or they can be through uplink Telecommand signals from the ground stations. A brief outline of the results of the proto unit of a MFRM which can be configured for different end RF functions, through a microcontroller is presented in the paper. It is expected that in Space missions like LEO programmes, Microsats, Reentry, Microgravity experiments etc, the MFRM approach would offer greater flexibility to the system designer at reduced-cost, complexity and production turn around time.

The purpose of this study is to explore a potentially more practical approach to direct writing assessment using computer algorithms. Traditional rubric rating (RR) is a common yet highly resource-intensive evaluation practice when performed reliably. This study compared the traditional rubric model of ESL writing assessment and many-facet Rasch modeling (MFRM) to comparative judgment (CJ), the new approach, which shows promising results in terms of reliability and validity. We employed two groups of raters”novice and experienced”and used essays that had been previously double-rated, analyzed with MFRM, and selected with fit statistics. We compared the results of the novice and experienced groups against the initial ratings using raw scores, MFRM, and a modern form of CJ”randomly distributed comparative judgment (RDCJ). Results showed that the CJ approach, though not appropriate for all contexts, can be valid and as reliable as RR while requiring less time to generate procedures, train and norm raters, and rate the essays. Additionally, the CJ approach is more easily transferable to novel assessment tasks while still providing context-specific scores. Results from this study will not only inform future studies but can help guide ESL programs to determine which rating model best suits their specific needs.

Developing speaking proficiency in English has been highly demanded in the field of English education in Japan; however, teaching speaking in academic settings is difficult because of its complex nature. Many Japanese high school students cannot organize their spoken production coherently because they have not been explicitly taught how to meet the expectation of particular contexts or genres. Research on genre-based instruction has shown its effectiveness in the development of reading, writing, and listening skills; however, investigations of genre-based instruction have not been fully applied to the teaching of speaking. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of genre-based instruction to develop the academic speaking ability of Japanese high school students through a one-year longitudinal study. The effectiveness of genre-based instruction was assessed by focusing on the development of a macro-genre, academic monologic speech, and three micro-genres—procedure, definition, and causation—for within-group assessment as well as one oral summary of a research project micro-genre for between-group assessment. The research design was a multistage intervention mixed-method approach with qualitative data gathered after the experiment. Three analytical techniques were employed: (a) multi-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM) was used to assess the extent to which the participants’ performance improved quantitatively, (b) descriptive analyses were used to investigate frequency changes in the use of target lexis, and (c) genre analysis was used to analyze how the discourse structure of the target genres changed qualitatively. The results indicated that genre-based instruction led to improvements in the participants’ speaking ability. The findings from the analysis of the three micro-genres—procedure, definition, causation—revealed statistically significant differences between the pretest and the posttest speeches in the procedure and causation micro-genres. A descriptive analysis also revealed the increases in the use of the target lexis in the micro-genres. A genre analysis of the three micro- genres illustrated how the schematic and rhetorical structure of the participants’ speech changed to meet the genre expectations of the target micro- and macro-genre. The analysis of the oral summary of a research project micro-genre demonstrated the effectiveness of genre-based instruction, as the experimental group outperformed the comparison group. This result was supported by the MFRM results, the descriptive analysis of lexis, and quantitative and qualitative genre analyses. The external validity analysis using the TOEIC Speaking Test also confirmed the effectiveness of genre-based instruction. In sum, the results provide evidence that genre-based instruction can improve Japanese high school students’ speaking ability. / Teaching & Learning