A problem-based learning project supported by the internet

This case study looks at how bank sites with interactive calculators can be used to enhance directed investigations of students in a Mathematics Studies course. In the course of these investigations, students access simulated contexts which enabled them to have a feel of how they would spend money in the real world. This case study reveals the confidence of students in carrying out searches and transferring data, learning about bank calculators and their role in real life, how hidden costs are incorporated into loans and being able to validate what is presented in these calculators with their own calculations. This case study also highlights the perceptions of the teacher regarding this strategy in teaching this topic and the areas that need improvement. This paper analyses what has happened in the teaching and learning process and endeavours to shed some light into how the Internet can be used to promote a quality mathematics education.

An agent-based hybrid system for microarray data analysis

This article reports our experience in agent-based hybrid construction for microarray data analysis. The contributions are twofold: We demonstrate that agent-based approaches are suitable for building hybrid systems in general, and that a genetic ensemble system is appropriate for microarray data analysis in particular. Created using an agent-based framework, this genetic ensemble system for microarray data analysis excels in both sample classification accuracy and gene selection reproducibility.

A particle swarm based hybrid system for imbalances medical data sampling

Background
Medical and biological data are commonly with small sample size, missing values, and most importantly, imbalanced class distribution. In this study we propose a particle swarm based hybrid system for remedying the class imbalance problem in medical and biological data mining. This hybrid system combines the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm with multiple classifiers and evaluation metrics for evaluation fusion. Samples from the majority class are ranked using multiple objectives according to their merit in compensating the class imbalance, and then combined with the minority class to form a balanced dataset.

Results
One important finding of this study is that different classifiers and metrics often provide different evaluation results. Nevertheless, the proposed hybrid system demonstrates consistent improvements over several alternative methods with three different metrics. The sampling results also demonstrate good generalization on different types of classification algorithms, indicating the advantage of information fusion applied in the hybrid system.

Conclusion
The experimental results demonstrate that unlike many currently available methods which often perform unevenly with different datasets the proposed hybrid system has a better generalization property which alleviates the method-data dependency problem. From the biological perspective, the system provides indication for further investigation of the highly ranked samples, which may result in the discovery of new conditions or disease subtypes.

Preparing pre-service physical education teachers for uncertain future(s) : a scenario-based learning case study from Australia

Background: A key aim of a physical education teacher education (PETE) program is to promote wide and deep knowledge, enabling students to establish connections and understand contexts within and beyond education, physical education and their life worlds. Most often PETE programs equip students with content knowledge and pedagogical strategies that help them address current challenges, but less attention is directed to helping the students anticipate future challenges and engage with opportunities they may face as teachers.
Purpose: This paper presents a case study of scenario-based learning as it was implemented in a final year PETE program in an Australian university, as a means of preparing students for their future teaching careers.
Participants and setting: Twenty-five final year pre-service physical education teachers enrolled in the culminating unit of their physical education degree.
Data collection: Scenario-based learning was introduced to the students via class discussion and assigned tasks. Examples of student-written scenarios and reflection on the experience from the lecturer and student perspectives are analysed.
Findings: Although the cohort found the process of scenario-based learning daunting the post-unit questionnaires revealed that it was a valued and valuable means of exploring professional issues they will face in the future. Scenario-based learning was a powerful tool of learning as well as modelling a pedagogy students could use in the upper levels of secondary school.
Conclusion: This paper argues that scenario-based learning should be a key component of forward-looking PETE programs that encourage their graduates to solve problems about issues they may face as beginning teachers.

An evaluation of a project-based learning initiative in engineering education

Project-based learning (PBL) is a well-known methodology for engineering design education due to a number of benefits it is claimed to offer. This paper presents the initial offering of a first-year engineering PBL unit at Griffith University in Australia. An evaluation of student perceptions of the unit revealed that students generally enjoyed the experience, with the oral presentation aspect receiving the lowest satisfaction rating. There was no significant difference in the ratings between any demographic grouping, suggesting that all students were able to participate in, and experience, the unit in essentially the same way. The best aspects of the unit and those aspects needing improvement were similar to the findings of other investigations documented in the literature. It is proposed that future offerings of the unit will reduce the number of design projects from three to two per semester and will attempt more sophisticated individualisation of marks for group work activities.

Optimising e-mail communication : the impact of seminar-and computer-based training

Employees continue to report multifarious e-mail concerns ('e-mail defects') including ambiguous unclear messages, e-mail overload, security and privacy issues, and e-mail interruptions. These defects have an effect on employee efficiency and effectiveness. This paper explores the importance of identifying e-mail defects and the effectiveness of training employees in efficient use of e-mail at four UK organisations, using Seminar-Based Training (SBT) and Computer-Based Training (CBT) delivery modes. The findings suggest that SBT has a diminishing impact over a very short period of time, but a combined approach of SBT and CBT is more effective and provides better results.

Zebra fingerprints : towards a computer-aided identification system for individual zebra

Information regarding wildlife behavioural patterns provides researchers with clearer understanding of species. Social interactions, breeding habits, feeding and migration trends are key factors influencing decisions in game management and ecological impact assessment. In order to obtain such information researchers must be able to track individual animals over a period of time. One of the commonest methods of identifying individual animals is to tag them with radio, satellite, or GPS transmitters (Mech & Barber, 2002). While these systems are very effective, they are often costly and can be traumatic for tagged animals.

(Dis)ordering teacher education : from problem students to problem-based learning

This paper takes issue with the 'disabling' of students enrolled in teacher education courses, perpetrated by definitions of students' learning disorders and by the structures and pedagogies engaged by teacher educators. Focusing on one case, but with relevance for similarly affected systems, the paper begins by outlining the changed student entry credentials of Australian universities and their faculties of education. These are seen as induced by a shift from elite to mass provision of higher education and the particular effect on teacher education providers (especially those located in regional institutions) of the politics of government funding and the continuing demand for teachers by education systems. While these changed conditions are often used to argue an increased university population of students with learning disorders, the paper suggests that such arguments often have more to do with how student problems are defined by institutions and how these definitions serve to secure additional government funding. More pertinently, the paper argues that such definition tends to locate the problem in individual students, deferring considerations of teacher educators' pedagogy and the learning arrangements of their institutions. The paper concludes that the place to begin addressing these issues of difficulty would seem to be with a different conception of knowledge production.

A new sliding mode-based learning control scheme

 A new sliding mode-based learning control scheme for a class of SISO dynamic systems is developed in this paper. It is seen that, based on the most recent information on the closed-loop stability, a recursive learning chattering-free sliding mode controller can be designed to drive the closed-loop dynamics to reach the sliding mode surface in a finite time, on which the desired closed-loop dynamics with the zero-error convergence can be achieved.