Student and teacher response system : development of an interactive anonymous real-timeformative feedback system

This paper is focusing IT-supported real-time formative feedback in a classroom context. The development of a Student and Teacher Response System (STRS) is described. Since there are a number of obstacles for effective interaction in large classes IT can be used to support the teachers aim to find out if students understand the lecture and accordingly adjust the content and design of the lecture. The system can be used for formative assessment before, during, and after a lecture. It is also possible for students to initiate interaction during lectures by posing questions anonymously. The main contributions of the paper are a) the description of the interactive real-time system and b) the development process behind it.

The Key Role of the School Principal’s Leadership in the Schooling of Newly Arrived Immigrant Pupils in Sweden : Experiences from an Interactive Action Research Project

When newly immigrated children and young people begin school in Sweden, certain challengesarise. These may result from weak Swedish-language skills and different schooling backgrounds,as well as organizational and pedagogical limitations in the schools. This generates demands onschool leaders to lead and develop the organization and teachers competences to meet these pupils’needs. This situation was behind the initiation of the project “New Immigrants and Learning—Competence Development for Teachers and School Principals.” The project ran in schools infour Swedish municipalities, its aim was to develop leadership, organizational and pedagogicalskills that would facilitate the schooling and integration of newly arrived pupils. This article aimsto describe and discuss a Participant Action Research (PAR) based on a think tank and researchcircles, drawing special attention to the role of the school leaders. It will also examine whether theresearch circles and the project overall served to develop educational and intercultural leadership,organizational conditions, collegial learning, pedagogical methods and competence in terms ofschooling for this pupil group.

Differential Habituation of Male Betta Splendens to Qualitatively Different Stimuli

Habituation is a learning mechanism that functions to decrease the amount of energy and attention focused on a certain stimuli. Male Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens, are territorial animals that defend their territories using a number of aggressive displays. Male Bettas have previously shown the ability to habituate to the presence of a conspecific male when visually exposed to each other. Due to the costly nature of many of the male Betta’s displays, I hypothesized that male Bettas should differentially habituate to qualitatively different stimuli. I presented each of three groups of male Betta splendens with a different stimulus, each presenting a different level of interactivity. I predicted that the Bettas would be more likely to habituate to a less interactive stimulus than a more interactive one. No significant habituation was observed in any of the groups and no significant differences in latency to display or length of display between all three groups were observed. However, overall data trends suggest that habituation was indeed occurring and that the three different stimuli elicited different levels of display. The limited amount of visual exposure to the stimuli in this experiment might account for why results were insignificant.

Building an Interactive, Three-dimensional Virtual World

The movement of graphics and audio programming towards three dimensions is to better simulate the way we experience our world. In this project I looked to use methods for coming closer to such simulation via realistic graphics and sound combined with a natural interface. I did most of my work on a Dell OptiPlex with an 800 MHz Pentium III processor and an NVIDlA GeForce 256 AGP Plus graphics accelerator -high end products in the consumer market as of April 2000. For graphics, I used OpenGL [1], an open·source, multi-platform set of graphics libraries that is relatively easy to use, coded in C . The basic engine I first put together was a system to place objects in a scene and to navigate around the scene in real time. Once I accomplished this, I was able to investigate specific techniques for making parts of a scene more appealing.

Software Tools For Large Scale Interactive Hydrodynamic Modeling

Running hydrodynamic models interactively allows both visual exploration and change of model state during simulation. One of the main characteristics of an interactive model is that it should provide immediate feedback to the user, for example respond to changes in model state or view settings. For this reason, such features are usually only available for models with a relatively small number of computational cells, which are used mainly for demonstration and educational purposes. It would be useful if interactive modeling would also work for models typically used in consultancy projects involving large scale simulations. This results in a number of technical challenges related to the combination of the model itself and the visualisation tools (scalability, implementation of an appropriate API for control and access to the internal state). While model parallelisation is increasingly addressed by the environmental modeling community, little effort has been spent on developing a high-performance interactive environment. What can we learn from other high-end visualisation domains such as 3D animation, gaming, virtual globes (Autodesk 3ds Max, Second Life, Google Earth) that also focus on efficient interaction with 3D environments? In these domains high efficiency is usually achieved by the use of computer graphics algorithms such as surface simplification depending on current view, distance to objects, and efficient caching of the aggregated representation of object meshes. We investigate how these algorithms can be re-used in the context of interactive hydrodynamic modeling without significant changes to the model code and allowing model operation on both multi-core CPU personal computers and high-performance computer clusters.

When a local competitor (slightly) shakes up the global giant: a case on the soft drink market

As marcas globais mantiveram muita atenção no campo do marketing (Kotler, 1997; Holt, Quelch, e Taylor, 2004; Özsomer e Altaras, 2008), enquanto as marcas locais foram subestimadas (Ger, 1999; Schuiling e Kapferer, 2004). No entanto, o debate adaptação contra padronização foi amplamente discutido. Centra-se na definição de como uma empresa internacional deve construir a sua estratégia: ao padronizar sua estratégia de marketing ou, adaptando para melhor atender a cultura e às necessidades locais (Levitt, 1983; Subhash, 1989; Herbig, 1998; Holt, 2004; Melewar e Vemmervik , 2004; Heerden e Barter, 2008). No entanto, este assunto não foi discutido no contexto específico do consumo alternativo oferecido por concorrentes locais específicos. Hoje em dia, um aumento na oferta de produtos alternativos é observado. O consumo socialmente responsável está crescendo (Sen e Bhattacharya, 2001; Holt, 2002; Loureiro, 2002; François-Lecompte e Valette-Florence, 2006). O mercado dos refrigerantes de cola é de interesse particular. Colas alternativas são refrigerantes de cola que surgiram durante a última década em algumas regiões ou zonas específicas do mundo. Estas colas claramente posicionam-se como uma alternativa ao refrigerante global Coca-Cola. A alternativa não é baseada no preço mas nas características especiais dos produtos que constituem uma proposição de valor específica, diferente da Coca-Cola. Na França, desde uma década, o número de colas regionais aumentou, sendo mais de quinze hoje. O refregirante Breizh Cola foi lançado em 2002 e atinge quase uma quota de mercado de 10% na região Bretanha hoje. Em 2009, a Coca-Cola Entreprise iniciou uma campanha de marketing específica, na Bretanha, baseada em recursos visuais e parcerias regionais. Este caso de adaptação em um contexto de concorrência local específico é explorado nesta dissertação que incide sobre as razões da preferência para Breizh Cola, de um lado, e sobre as acções empreendidas pela Coca-Cola na Bretanha, do outro lado. Este estudo mostra que a Coca-Cola anda nos passos de Breizh Cola, a fim de melhor atender às expectativas local.

Interactive interface for stress relief

Every time more we hear in our everyday statements like "I'm stressed!", "Don´t worry me more than I am." But in what sense can we use technology to combat these congestions that we deal with daily? Well, one way would be to use technology to create objects, systems or applications that can spoil us and preferably be imperceptible by the user and, for this we have the ubiquitous computing and nurturant technologies. The ubiquitous computing is increasingly discussed as well as ways to make your computer more subtle in the view of the user, which is subject of research and development. The use of technology as a source of relaxation and spoil us is a strand that is being explored in the context of nurturant technologies. Accordingly, this thesis is focused on the development of an object and several applications with which we can interact. The object and applications have the purpose to spoil us and help us relax after a long day at work or in some situation more stressful. The object developed employs technologies like the use of accelerometers and the applications developed employs communications between computers and Web cameras. This thesis begins with a brief introduction to the areas of research and others that we can include in this thesis, such as ubiquitous computing and the nurturant technologies, providing yet general information on stress and ways to mitigate it. Later is described some of the work already done and that influenced this thesis as well as the prototypes developed and the experiences performed, ending with a general conclusion and future work.

Interactive music visualization: implementation, realization and evaluation

This thesis describes all process of the development of music visualization, starting with the implementation, followed by realization and then evaluation. The main goal is to have to knowledge of how the audience live performance experience can be enhanced through music visualization. With music visualization is possible to give a better understanding about the music feelings constructing an intensive atmosphere in the live music performance, which enhances the connection between the live music and the audience through visuals. These visuals have to be related to the live music, furthermore has to quickly respond to live music changes and introduce novelty into the visuals. The mapping between music and visuals is the focus of this project, in order to improve the relationship between the live performance and the spectators. The implementation of music visualization is based on the translation of music into graphic visualizations, therefore at the beginning the project was based on the existent works. Later on, it was decided to introduce new ways of conveying music into visuals. Several attempts were made in order to discover the most efficient mapping between music and visualization so people can fully connect with the performance. Throughout this project, those attempts resulted in several music visualizations created for four live music performances, afterwards it was produced an online survey to evaluate those live performances with music visualization. In the end, all conclusions are presented based on the results of the online survey, and also is explained which music elements should be depicted in the visuals, plus how those visuals should respond to the selected music elements.

Rapid prototyping of ubiquitous computing environments

Ubiquitous computing raises new usability challenges that cut across design and development. We are particularly interested in environments enhanced with sensors, public displays and personal devices. How can prototypes be used to explore the users' mobility and interaction, both explicitly and implicitly, to access services within these environments? Because of the potential cost of development and design failure, these systems must be explored using early assessment techniques and versions of the systems that could disrupt if deployed in the target environment. These techniques are required to evaluate alternative solutions before making the decision to deploy the system on location. This is crucial for a successful development, that anticipates potential user problems, and reduces the cost of redesign. This thesis reports on the development of a framework for the rapid prototyping and analysis of ubiquitous computing environments that facilitates the evaluation of design alternatives. It describes APEX, a framework that brings together an existing 3D Application Server with a modelling tool. APEX-based prototypes enable users to navigate a virtual world simulation of the envisaged ubiquitous environment. By this means users can experience many of the features of the proposed design. Prototypes and their simulations are generated in the framework to help the developer understand how the user might experience the system. These are supported through three different layers: a simulation layer (using a 3D Application Server); a modelling layer (using a modelling tool) and a physical layer (using external devices and real users). APEX allows the developer to move between these layers to evaluate different features. It supports exploration of user experience through observation of how users might behave with the system as well as enabling exhaustive analysis based on models. The models support checking of properties based on patterns. These patterns are based on ones that have been used successfully in interactive system analysis in other contexts. They help the analyst to generate and verify relevant properties. Where these properties fail then scenarios suggested by the failure provide an important aid to redesign.

The history of the introduction of the giant river prawn, Macrobrachium cf. rosenbergii (Decapoda, Palaemonidae), in Brazil: new insights from molecular data

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effect of nitrite on larval development of giant river prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

The effects of ambient nitrite concentrations on larval development of giant river prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were evaluated. The trials were conducted in two phases: phase 1, larvae from stages I through VIII and phase 2, larvae from stage VIII until post-larvae. In both phases larvae were kept in water with nitrite (NO2-N) concentrations of 0, 2, 4, 8 and 16 mg/L. Oxygen consumption was analyzed for larvae in stage II at nitrite concentrations of 0, 4, and 8 mg/L. Survival, weight gain, larval stage index and metamorphosis rate decreased linearly with increasing ambient nitrite concentration. However, there was no significant difference between larvae subjected to 0 and 2 mg/L NO2-N. In phase 1, there was total mortality at 16 mg/L NO2-N, while in phase 2 larval development stopped at stage X in this treatment. The oxygen consumption in stage II increased significantly at NO2-N concentration from 0 to 4 mg/L, but there was no difference between 4 and 8 mg/L NO2-N. In conclusion, increasing ambient nitrite up to 16 mg/L NO2-N delays larval development, reduces larval growth rate and causes mortality, whereas no significant effect occurs for levels below 2 mg/L NO2-N. However, the establishment of a general safe level of nitrite to M rosenbergii hatchery may be difficult due to the great variability in larvae individual sensitivity. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.