Enhancing an evolving tree-based text document visualization model with fuzzy c-Means clustering

An improved evolving model, i.e., Evolving Tree (ETree) with Fuzzy c-Means (FCM), is proposed for undertaking text document visualization problems in this study. ETree forms a hierarchical tree structure in which nodes (i.e., trunks) are allowed to grow and split into child nodes (i.e., leaves), and each node represents a cluster of documents. However, ETree adopts a relatively simple approach to split its nodes. Thus, FCM is adopted as an alternative to perform node splitting in ETree. An experimental study using articles from a flagship conference of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), i.e., Engineering Conference (ENCON), is conducted. The experimental results are analyzed and discussed, and the outcome shows that the proposed ETree-FCM model is effective for undertaking text document clustering and visualization problems.

Developing teacher-researchers: a practice-based Masters of Education

Teachers’ work can increasingly be described as knowledge work conducted in a rapidly changing globalised, digital environment. In order to support contemporary teachers’ work, professional learning needs to be grounded in the contexts and identities of teachers, while engaging them in theoretical discourse. Such an approach challenges traditional approaches to the offering of a Masters in Education by distance learning. This presentation reports on a university-educational authority partnership designed to enable practising teachers to gain Masters qualifications through practice-based ethnographic data collection and research. The context of this partnership is a new professional learning program being offered by Deakin University, Australia and the Catholic Education Office Melbourne. Teachers plan and conduct projects in which they identify an issue to be addressed at their school; research the issue identified; develop and implement an intervention to address the issue; and report on the intervention. Teachers have the option of gaining credit towards a Masters of Education by submitting their work for formal assessment. The participants in this mixed methods study are teachers who are undertaking the post-graduate units embedded in a professional learning program. Teachers are invited to undertake anonymous online pre- and post- surveys with both qualitative and quantitative data collected. Data is also collected through teacher interviews and collection of classroom artefacts including planning documents and work samples. Initial findings illustrate that a practice-based approach to Masters studies engages teachers as creators rather than reproducers of knowledge. The use of a range of print and new digital media both within the design and operation of an online learning environment and pedagogies for effective adult professional learning enable flexible and creative pedagogical responses and knowledge creation by teachers.

Student Dis/satisfaction and Academic Dis/enchantment with Edu-capitalism

Over three decades there has been a shift from ideologies of idealism and educationalism towards instrumentalism in higher education due to the global circulation of neoliberal ideologies. Facilitated by digital technologies and encouraged by international ranking systems, there is a paradoxical trend towards homogenisation rather than heterogeneity in terms of what counts as valued knowledge, producing tensions in national policies, institutional responses and academic work in Australia as elsewhere. The paper identifies the implications of trends driving universities towards entrepreneurialism, hyper-instrumentalism, continual rebranding in their search for distinctiveness in global markets, restructuring towards specialisation, focusing on immediate use-value of research, vocationalising teaching, demand driven curriculum that makes students happy, and the disaggregation of curriculum underpinning new multimodal forms of online learning / management technologies.

Hydrological modelling with a dynamic neural fuzzy inference system

Dynamic Evolving Neural-Fuzzy Inference System (DENFIS) is a Takagi-Sugeno-type fuzzy inference system for online learning which can be applied for dynamic time series prediction. Data from Heshui catchment (2,275 km2) which is rural catchment in China, comprising daily time series of rainfall and discharge from January 1, 1990 to January 21, 2006 were analyzed. Rainfall and discharge antecedents were the inputs used for the DENFIS and ANFIS models and the output was discharge at the present time. DENFIS model results were compared with the results obtained from the physically-based University Regina Hydrologic Model (URHM) and an Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) which employs offline learning. Our analysis shows that DENFIS results are better or at least comparable to URHM, but almost identical to ANFIS.

Dynamic evolving neural-fuzzy inference system for rainfall-runoff (R-R) modelling

Dynamic Evolving Neural-Fuzzy Inference System (DENFIS) is a Takagi-Sugeno-type fuzzy inference system for online learning which can be applied for dynamic time series prediction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that DENFIS has been used for rainfall-runoff (R-R) modeling. DENFIS model results were compared to the results obtained from the physically-based Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) and an Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) which employs offline learning. Data from a small (5.6 km2) catchment in Singapore, comprising 11 separated storm events were analyzed. Rainfall was the only input used for the DENFIS and ANFIS models and the output was discharge at the present time. It is concluded that DENFIS results are better or at least comparable to SWMM, but similar to ANFIS. These results indicate a strong potential for DENFIS to be used in R-R modeling.

Open-source vs proprietary VLE: An explanatory study of staff perceptions

This paper explores staff perceptions of two open-source Virtual learning environments (VLEs), Sakai 2.4.1 and Moodle 1.8, compared to Blackboard Vista 4. In general, staff felt that Sakai was simpler to use, but lacked some of the richer functionality available in Blackboard. A general dissatisfaction with both Sakai and Blackboard led to trialling of Moodle which was percieved more favourably than Blackboard

Teacher immigrants

In the 21st century teachers are migrating into the Information Age. How effective is their learning in the field of ICT to enhance the learning of their students in their classroom. This paper will examine Learning Styles and the learning process into the Information Age. The data collection is on the Learning Styles and ICT skills of experienced teachers who have extensive classroom teaching experience however who are limited in their ICT skills

Using the Internet in high school mathematics

Whilst the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) model has been increasingly adopted for understanding teachers’ use of technology, there have been many calls for greater discussion about the constituent constructs, their relationship with one another and the central TPACK. This paper analyses qualitatively the TPACK demonstrated by the teacher of a Year 11class who used web-based simulated contexts and interactive web objects in a Mathematics Studies course. The findings indicate aspects of TPK relating to academiclearning time and the transformational mode of the technology were not fully realised in this case study. The implications these has for teacher professional development are discussed.